Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in this story taken from the anime/manga Naruto. All characters taken from said anime/manga belong to their original creator Masashi Kishimoto. The script for the second scene belongs to the original creator of the well-known KakaSaku doujin informally named 'Three Kisses' whose identity regrettably eludes me; it was the original inspiration for this fic and I in no way claim ownership to the script of the doujin itself but do however claim creative ownership to my adaption of it.

Chapter One

Sake Kisses vs. Doggy Licks

I shiver when I hear your name, think about you but it's not the same.

I won't be satisfied 'til I'm under your skin.

Shiver by Maroon 5

Sakura sighed heavily as she tilted her head back, allowing her jade green eyes to take in the sight of the leaves upon the branches of the tree she sat under, which fluttered in the cool breeze that moved through the brisk night air. It was the same breeze that made strands of her bubblegum pink hair dance around her heart-shaped face, and erupted goose bumps upon the exposed flesh of her arms and legs. The mission to transport a secret scroll from Konoha to Suna had been a complete success. Even though they had had little trouble along the way and were currently headed back to the hidden leaf village Kakashi, their team's ever-vigilant leader, had insisted that precaution still be taken; having the team sleep in shifts so that one would always be awake to keep look-out.

Naruto had of course taken the first shift. Always the determined loud-mouth he had exclaimed, much to the annoyance of Sakura, the disinterest of Kakashi, and the indifference of Sasuke, that it was his duty as the future Hokage of Konohagakure to jump at any and every opportunity to assist his fellow shinobi and be a true hero. Naruto; 'What a rambunctious idiot.' Sakura thought with an affectionate smile as she looked to the blond who snored audibly through his peaceful slumber. Green irises flicked to the other boy who had long since been her teammate and friend; Sasuke, he had been the one to take second shift and was the face that-much to her liking-Sakura got to see looming over her as she was woken for her shift.

It had been about a year since his return to Konoha after having exacting his revenge upon his brother, and forced to see reason and give up on his revenge against his birth village. Sakura stared longingly at the young Uchiha-the final Uchiha-as he slept soundly, his chest rising and falling with his every breath. It was funny in a sort of bittersweet way; they had finally brought him back and yet the boy seemed farther away from Sakura than ever. What had she expected? Had she honestly thought that he would return with a carefree smile on his face, ready to let go of his past and welcome Sakura into his heart with open arms? 'I did.' And she had, foolish as it was, she had.

Alas, Sasuke was as cold and distant as ever and once again Sakura's heart was handed back to her in pieces.

Again Sakura sighed as she leaned her back more fully against the tree. Her eyes drooped, she was tired and she knew her shift was almost over as the moon sunk lower in the starry sky above. Sunrise was an hour away, it was Kakashi's turn, but where the hell was he? Sakura faintly remembered the older man saying something about scouting the area before she had fallen asleep, but when she had woke up to take her shift Kakashi still wasn't back. Sasuke hadn't seemed worried about it, so Sakura had thought nothing of it. Now that she was anxious to get a bit more sleep before they continued their journey back to the village, the fact that Kakashi was no where to be seen concerned her.

'That lazy closet pervert!' Inner Sakura fumed. 'Where the hell is he?' That was exactly what Sakura wanted to know.

With a heavy groan, Sakura rose to her feet, smoothing out her skirt over her shorts as a chill ran down her spine. It was a particularly cool night, the fire having died out hours ago, and she wanted nothing more than to crawl into her sleeping bag and once again envelope herself in it's warmth. First she had to find that no-good team leader of hers. 'He better be hurt or dead because if he aint he's gonna be!' 'Damn right.' Sakura agreed as she tilted her head to one side and then the other, an audible crack breaking through the songs of the many crickets that hid in the grass around her feet.

When focused it didn't take long for Sakura to pin-point Kakashi's chakra, he was close and Sakura was thankful because her legs ached with tired strain as they carried her through the forest. Not long after she had started walking did Sakura's finely tuned ears pick up on the sounds of running water trickling over rocks, and she knew before she saw that Kakashi was by the river. Giving a little boost to her pride, Sakura was pleased to discover that she was right, though her pleasure quickly diminished and was replaced with raging annoyance as Sakura's eyes fell upon Kakashi.

The older man was perched at the top of a small setting of large rocks that acted as a mini-waterfall for the river, sprawled out with his back lounged against a rock that stuck up higher than all the rest and asleep. The fact that he was asleep wasn't what annoyed Sakura; it was that lying beside him upon the rock he sat on near his limp hand was an empty bottle of sake.

"He came out here to get drunk." She whispered into the night. 'That no good bastard!'

That wasn't at all like Kakashi though. Maybe this was a trap, perhaps that was an impostor and the real Kakashi had been taken prisoner and was being held captive at that very moment. One look at that orange book clutched so possessively to his chest however, and Sakura knew that this was indeed the real Hatake Kakashi.

Grumbling with irritation as she rolled her eyes and kicked a small pebble into the shallow river, as if that would help quench her thirst for vengeful violence, Sakura moved toward the gathering of rocks and climbed up. She took extra caution because some were slippery due to the water; the last thing she needed was to fall into the river. She stood over Kakashi, her hands upon the swell of her hips in a moralistic fashion as she glared down heatedly at the older man. This was no way for a shinobi of the great Konohagakure to act, especially a legendary one such as Hatake Kakashi, the great Copy-nin.

Sakura aimed a swift kick to the side of his right leg. "Get up you lazy bum." She called down to him but Kakashi only grunted and turned his head and continued to sleep undisturbed. "C'mon Kakashi-sensei, it's your shift!" She complained harshly as she offered another, harder kick to his leg but still Kakashi did not stir. A frustrated sigh left her lips as Sakura crossed her arms over her diminutive chest and shook her head lightly as she regarded the passed out man before her.

"Great Copy-nin my ass." She grumbled bitterly.

To think she had once idolized him. 'What a joke!' Indeed. She had to admit though, he looked so at peace when he was asleep, it was rather cute. Cute... Sakura could never say with certainty whether Kakashi was attractive or not. Of course she didn't think it was possible for her to feel any sort of attraction to the infuriatingly easy-going older man, but still it would be nice to know whether or not this man whom she had known through most of her childhood was anything special to look at.

Eyes were drawn from his one bare lidded eye down to the blue mask that covered most of his face. She had known him for almost four years and not once had she seen his face. 'Now's your chance, go for it!' 'But it's not right; I mean if he wanted anyone to see his face then he wouldn't wear the mask, right? What if he wakes up and gets mad at me?' 'The man's completely trashed, there's no way he's gonna wake up, just do it!' 'I really shouldn't...' 'Do it!'

"Okay." She whispered out loud.

Biting softly at her lower lip Sakura bent her knees to crouch down beside the older man, her hand carefully rising and slowly reaching for his face. She chewed desperately at her lower lip, her hand trembling as it neared his face, her eyes widening in anticipation and anxiety as she watched his exposed eye for any hint of him waking up. He remained in a serene state of slumber, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen. Her ears were pounding with her erratic heartbeat as Sakura's fingers gingerly tucked into the top of Kakashi's mask and carefully began to draw it down. The sounds of the forest that surrounded them and the river they sat on completely died, the scenery fell away until all that was left in the world was Sakura and Kakashi. Finally she would get to see his face.

"Finally." She murmured excitedly as she pulled his mask down to reveal a sharp nose.

The scenery and the sounds of the forest came rushing back to Sakura as in one swift motion Kakashi shot up, tearing a cry from Sakura's lips as she fell backward and landed right in the river. Freezing water wrapped around her, covering her entire body save the top half of her neck as Sakura lay upon the river's floor, held up only by her elbows. It was cold, so cold that it hurt and forced another cry from Sakura as she tried to push herself onto her feet, only to go plopping back down into the water as her feet slipped on the sleek rocks upon the riverbed beneath her.

Her teeth chattered uncontrollably as Sakura gripped tighter at the blanket that lay wrapped around her and glared harshly at her former sensei, who was currently hanging up the remainder of her soaked clothes upon a tree branch for her. It was a good thing she had packed herself something extra to wear, sure it was just a plain white sleeveless dress that reached her knees, but at least it was something. Next to her dripping uniform Kakashi also hung his own vest, pants, sweater and hitai-ite, which he had also gotten wet when he had hoisted Sakura out of the river. Only after he had dropped her three times. Lucky for him he had packed himself an extra sweater and a pair of slacks so unlike poor Sakura-who shivered uncontrollably in her flimsy little gown even under the blanket she clutched around her-he was quite warm and comfortable.

Kakashi was wobbly on his feet and looked like he would fall from the high tree branch at any moment and, feeling very bitter about the whole situation, Sakura found herself hoping, even praying that he would. 'That no good, lazy, perverted, unprofessional...' 'Son of a bitch.' Sakura finished for her inner self. 'Yeah, that's it!'

"Don't look at me like that Sakura." Kakashi said softly as he hopped from the tree branch and landed in front of her on unsteady feet, but much to Sakura's dismay he did not fall over. "It's not my fault you fell in the river."

"I-i-is s-so!" Sakura spat venomously in a hushed and stuttering tone, not wanting to wake up Sasuke or Naruto who slept just a few feet away from the tree Sakura was perched under. "I-if y-y-you h-hadn't b-been out there g-getting d-drunk I w-w-w-wouldn't have h-had to come l-l-looking for y-you."

"I wasn't getting drunk." Kakashi defended indifferently with a casual shrug. "I was just having a drink and thinking over the mission, is that a crime?" He asked and Sakura glared at him. He was clearly drunk. He wasn't slurring his words but that was only because he was talking so slowly. "Besides, you wouldn't have fallen into the river if you hadn't been trying to take off my mask; it was bad karma that got you all wet and cold." Sakura's cheeks flared red with frustration and embarrassment. There was no way she was losing this fight.

"Y-yeah w-well y-you're... y-you're..." Damn it, she couldn't think of anything. "You're j-just a d-dirty old man w-who r-reads dirty old b-books!" She shot at him in a harsh whisper.

True that had absolutely nothing to do with this fight, and by all accounts attacking Kakashi's character was completely unfair, but the older man seemed by all accounts unfazed by Sakura's comment and only stared down at her in that casually indifferent way of his. It infuriated Sakura to no end, so much so that she felt the urge to gather her chakra into her fists and give him the beating of a lifetime. She resisted though, he was still her captain and her sempai, and she didn't want to disturb Sasuke or Naruto. So instead of beating her former sensei to a bloody pulp, Sakura sulked silently and hung her head; ignoring Kakashi as he continued to stare down at her and even when he crouched down in front of her.

"Sakura..." He called to her softly but Sakura refused to look at him. It was only when she felt his index finger push lightly against her lips as he once again cooed her name quietly that Sakura looked back up to him, her eyes wide, shining with question.

He was close, so close that she could feel his breath moving past the fabric of his mask and blowing against her face. It shouldn't have made her stomach jump up to crash into her heart with a harsh but somehow pleasant pang, something that had only ever happened to her whenever Sasuke was near her, after all, this was Kakashi. However having him so close made her stomach flutter anxiously, and though her body tingled with the urge to move away she couldn't bring herself to move.

"Do you know the three levels of kisses?" He asked her in that same hushed tone. It was an odd question, one that made her heart ache with longing and her mind scream with foreboding, one that silenced even the tenacious inner Sakura and left both her and the real Sakura staring up into the older silver-haired man's mismatched eyes with wondrous green orbs. She couldn't bring herself to form words, she didn't know what to say, she didn't know what he meant. So she simply shook her head and he smiled beneath his mask. "Then I'll show you...

"The first is the Naruto kiss." He went on as he leaned up to offer a soft, sweet kiss to Sakura's forehead. Sakura couldn't help but giggle quietly. Kakashi sure was acting strange, it was probably all the sake in his system. Sakura definitely planned to tell Naruto and Sasuke about this, it'd be amusing to see them overreact and blow the whole thing completely out of proportion she though. Or at least Naruto would, Sasuke probably wouldn't care.

Sakura's thoughts were quite suddenly interrupted as she felt the warmth of Kakashi's hand encompass one of her cheeks, and her eyes shifted to look to his hand before locking once again with his own. He was staring at her so strangely; his mismatched eyes so dazed as if he wasn't really there or was deep in his own thoughts. It made Sakura's stomach jump up against her heart once again.

"The second is the Sasuke kiss." He continued as he stared down at her, still cupping her cheek gently. "Now close your eyes..."

The rational part of her mind screamed at her not to do it, inner Sakura still sat in stunned silence and as for the real Sakura, her heart began to race with the same anticipation she had felt when she had almost removed Kakashi's mask. In the end, despite the warnings of her mind, Sakura closed her eyes. For a moment she sat there, eyes closed and ears open to the gentle song of the crickets and the steady whoosh of the cool breeze around her. She was no longer shivering, the closeness of Kakashi's body offering her new found warmth. Then she felt the gentle brush of fabric on her lips. She was confused for a moment, but as she felt ample lips push beneath the fabric she knew that Kakashi was kissing her. Her heart raced in such a way that left Sakura breathless and though the kiss was brief the side-effects lingered well on after Kakashi's cloth-covered mouth parted from her own.

Her eyes fluttered open as her head bowed, her eyes unable to look up at Kakashi's which bore into her, as heat rose in her body and turned her cheeks a faint pink color. He had kissed her, Kakashi had kissed her, and though Sakura knew she should have been worried or offended she was neither. All she could feel was her heart racing in her chest and her lips tingling with the lingering warmth of Kakashi's lips. This was so wrong. Then why wasn't she screaming and lashing out at him with her fists? Why was she just continuing to sit there like a naive little girl curious to see what her sensei would do next? 'Because that's what I am.'

"And then..." She heard Kakashi murmur, drawing her eyes up to his face as his free hand reached up and his fingers curled into his mask to draw it down. "The highest level..." He went on as he tucked his mask beneath his chin to expose his face, causing Sakura's eyes to widen in shock.

Kakashi's face was perhaps the most handsome Sakura had ever laid eyes upon; with a strong and defined jaw line, a handsomely pointed nose, and two full lips that smiled so slyly at her as he spoke. There was not a flaw in sight save the long scar that ran down from his left eye onto his cheek, which for some reason Sakura found appealing and felt herself desiring to caress. Sakura couldn't help but wonder why on earth the older man would hide his face from view.

Before she could utter such a sentence, or even a soft gasp of surprise, Kakashi's hold upon the side of her face tightened and he drew her forward as he pressed against her. Before Sakura even knew what was happening his lips were against her own. This kiss was not like the "Sasuke kiss", it was much different; not only were Kakashi's lips now bare, allowing Sakura to feel the full potential of their warmth, but the kiss was so heated and passionate that Sakura couldn't react to it's intensity. She could only sit there, her eyes wide as Kakashi pushed further against her, trapping her against the tree behind her and holding her face in place with his hands surrounding her cheeks. Something warm and wet pushed against her lips and Sakura gasped with the realization that it was Kakashi's tongue. This seemed to please Kakashi, because he grunted into the kiss as his tongue invaded her mouth and found her own, sliding and rubbing against it.

His tongue tasted of sake and Sakura groaned with distaste into the kiss, she hated the taste of sake. Her hands reached up, fists clinging to the fabric of his sweater as she tried to push him away, continuing to moan and grunt her objections into the kiss as Kakashi's tongue pushed against her own. It rubbed and caressed the inside of her mouth, as if coaxing her to respond. Her protest only fueled Kakashi's passion and his hand slipped off her cheek to the back of her head, fingers tangling into her short pink locks and pushing her into the kiss to deepen it. His other arm wrapped around her and pressed against her lower back to push her body flush between his spread knees.

She could feel him, every part of him; his chest, his stomach and especially his groin which he seemed most eager to introduce Sakura to. With every struggled shift of her body, which in the end only served to make her small frame rub against his larger one, Kakashi would groan softly into the kiss and push his slight bulge tighter against Sakura stomach. It was a foreign grinding motion that made Sakura shiver and whimper as it both scared her and brought her senses to new extremes of excitement.

Sakura felt herself growing weak, felt her protests becoming quieter until there were none at all, and her pushing against his chest weaken until she was merely holding onto his shirt with her fists. Much to her shock and Kakashi's delight, she was soon responding to the movements of his tongue and the grinding of his hips in a timid and unskilled manner. This was so wrong. Her mind was racing and her heart was pounding but her body felt so warm in his arms, and though Sakura knew she should have continued to fight him she just couldn't. This was Kakashi, her former sensei and her current sempai-a man fourteen years her senior and she was kissing him-allowing his tongue to ravish her mouth in a way that no man had ever tried. Letting his body touch hers in a way she had never dreamed and despite the scandal of it all she liked it; the fact that it was so wrong only making her body feel hotter.

She wasn't sure how long their lips were locked and their tongues were intertwined, but soon Kakashi was pulling back, leaving a trail of saliva that connected their tongues as if to remind Sakura of their fit of passion. Her eyes drifted open to stare up at the older man. Her breathing was heavy, her body was trembling, but it was not from the cold, quite the contrary, it was from the heat. That heat that Kakashi's lips and tongue left inside her mouth along with the bitter taste of sake, and the fire his body against hers had caused within her belly.

He licked his lips and began to push his mask back over his face. "The Kakashi kiss." He finished but Sakura could barely hear him over the sound of her heart which pounded in her ears. "But if you use this kiss on someone that isn't me..." He went on as he stared down at her, his mask now returned over his face but the image of its beauty forever locked in Sakura's mind. "I'm going to have to punish you." He smiled there, his eyes crinkling in that way of his as he pushed back onto his feet and moved away from her, leaving Sakura to stare after him as if in a daze.

"Heeelloooo, Earth to Sakura!" Ino shouted as she shoved the young rosette-haired woman who shook her head as she was snapped out of her thoughts. Jade eyes fell upon Ino, and Sakura frowned softly.

"What."

"Answer the question." Ino demanded irately.

"What question?" Sakura inquired in confusion and Ino sighed with aggravation as she regarded her old time friend and rival.

"Who was your first kiss?"

"Oh..." Sakura looked away there, focusing all her attention on gathering up the medical files she had been looking over back into their correct folders.

Being head of Konoha's hospital was no easy task, but Sakura took pride in her work and liked to think she did it well. It was only her first year running the hospital, but much to Sakura's delight many had claimed that the young women had made quite a few improvements while in her state of power. It was the end of the day and Ino had dropped by as she usually did, to groan and complain about how Sakura worked too much as she waited impatiently for the young woman to finish up whatever work she happened to be doing. Sakura was always doing something and it agitated Ino.

"So..." Ino pressed and Sakura shrugged.

"I don't remember..." Sakura offered simply. "I think it was Naruto."

Ino scoffed. "I'm not talking sweet, childish tap kisses Sakura; I'm talking your first full-blown passionate kiss. Full of heated want and unspoken-but clearly indicated-desire. The first kiss that made your knees go weak and took your breath away!" Ino sighed dramatically as she leaned against Sakura's desk, throwing her head back to press the back of her hand against her forehead for theatrical affect.

Sakura couldn't help but blush slightly as she looked toward her friend. There was no way she was telling Ino about that night in the forest with Kakashi; she'd blow it completely out of proportion and it would be the hottest gossip in Konoha so fast that Sakura's head would spin. She loved the other female, but there was no denying that Ino had a big mouth ready to spew any and all secrets she heard to the world.

"I've never had one like that." Sakura lied as she finished stacking the folders neatly on the desk.

She looked up to find Ino gaping at her, her blue eyes wide and her mouth hanging open in what was clearly a fit of shock and disbelief. Sakura merely rolled her eyes as she removed her white hospital coat to reveal her uniform, which hadn't changed much over the years, beneath it. Ino could be so melodramatic.

"Haruno Sakura!" Ino suddenly gasped and once again Sakura rolled her eyes as she flicked off the light of her office and headed out. Ino was quick to follow, looming behind Sakura as she locked her office door. "Do you mean to tell me that you, at the age of twenty-one, have never had a toe-curling kiss?" Ino spat the words as if they tasted foul on her lips.

"There's more to life than dating Ino, I have priorities and dating the silly boys around Konoha is not one of them." Sakura explained passively as she turned from her office door, slipping the key into one of the pockets of her skirt.

"Priorities, please." Ino scoffed as she followed Sakura down the dimly lit hallways of the hospital. "No wonder you're always so tightly wound and bitchy, you need to get laid Sakura!" Ino exclaimed bluntly.

Sakura's face turned a bright shade of red as her lips parted in awe, her face twisted in disgust as she looked to her long-time friend. "I am not tightly wound. I'm just..." The young woman gave pause, searching for her words. "Professional."

Ino smirked. "Professionally bitchy." The blonde corrected making Sakura huff.

"Whatever, this discussion is over." Sakura gave a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Oh no it's not!" Ino shot, hurrying down the stairs after Sakura, refusing to be silenced. 'What a surprise.' "It's not healthy to be so wrapped up in work all the time Forehead; you're bound to have a nervous breakdown or something."

"Oh please." Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation as they reached the first floor and past the main desk. Sakura offered a friendly little wave to the plump nurse behind it, who smiled and nodded before Sakura's attention turned back to Ino. "Why do you suddenly care so much about my love life Ino-Pig?"

"Because, despite popular belief, I care about you and your well-being Sakura." Ino offered sincerely as both women exited the hospital. Sakura couldn't help but smile, Ino did have her moments of utter sweetness. "Besides, I'm sick of seeing you so miserable on those rare occasions you come out with Chouji and me. It's a serious mood-killer and can't be good for our relationship." Sakura's smile fell to a frown, well that moment certainly ended quickly.

'Slug the invasive bitch!' Inner Sakura offered animatedly, but Sakura just sighed. Though Ino worked in questionable ways she knew the blonde was only trying to help. It was true, even Sakura could see that she worked far too hard for her own good. She honestly didn't think she was ready to start dating though, not when she was still holding out for...

"You have to forget about him." Ino's soft voice broke through Sakura's thoughts and the young woman looked at her friend with question. "I know that look Sakura, I know Sasuke was your first love, but you know as well as anybody that he can't give you what you need."

"Oh right." Sakura gave off a strained laugh and nodded, looking away from Ino's piercing gaze.

What Ino didn't know was that Sakura had come to previously stated realization years before, and by now she was well over Sasuke. Of course she still cared for the man and sincerely hoped that he could one day find a girl that could break through that hard shell he set up around himself, and give him the family he so longed for, but any feelings of love she had harbored for the young man had died long ago. What Ino didn't know, what Sakura had never mustered up the courage to tell her, is that the final Uchiha was not the man Sakura was holding out for so desperately. The man that Sakura was saving herself for was none other then her one-time mentor Hatake Kakashi. After all, in giving the older man her first kiss-as unwilling as it may have been initially-Sakura had always held onto the thought, childish as it was, that she had promised herself to the much older man.

It was silly really, Sakura knew it was because Kakashi never showed any signs that he even remembered the exchange of heated kisses between them. Why would he? He was so drunk that night it was doubtful that the man had any idea what he was doing when he drew down his mask and gave Sakura her first and only toe-curling kiss. It seemed more like a dream now, so unreal that Sakura often had to stop and wonder if maybe she really had just dreamed it all. Yet somehow she couldn't let go of the hope that someday Kakashi would look upon her with the same dazed eyes he had gazed upon her with that night, and tell her that it was time to make her his once and for all. It would be beautiful, perfect, Sakura knew it would. So she held on, held out for that fateful day when Kakashi would scoop her up into his arms,and descend his lips upon hers in one of his expert kisses as his hands roamed her body which pressed so tightly with his as they joined and became one...

"Sakura look out!"

So wrapped up in her… admittedly rather naughty daydreams, Sakura did not notice the small black cat until it ran through her legs. She stumbled a bit backward, and by the time she looked up to see the large white dog that was bounding toward her it was too late. The beast collided with Sakura, and with a squeal the young pink-haired woman was sent toppling gracelessly to the ground. Imprints of paw prints tracked up her skirt and chest as the enormous dog ran right over her and disappeared around a corner, chasing the cat.

Dazed by the impact, Sakura lay sprawled out on the street, staring up wide-eyed at the starry sky above before the vision of the distant flaming orbs was blocked out as a face loomed over hers, fixed into an expression of concern. Sakura stared at the face, that face, she knew that face; Kiba.

"Shit, Sakura-chan, are you alright?" The young man asked as he crouched down beside Sakura, sliding his arm behind her neck to guide her head up off the ground, forcing her spine to curl as he cradled her back against his thigh, his knee curled to rest behind her as his arm lay draped over her shoulders.

"Don't worry about her Kiba." Ino offered as she sat kneeling beside the worried man and peering at Sakura over his shoulder. "All the grease in her hair absorbed the impact so there's probably no brain damage, at least none that wasn't there before." Kiba looked to Ino with a frown as the young blonde woman was grinning from ear to ear, clearly amused by the whole thing.

"Go roll in the mud with the rest of your family Ino-pig." Sakura offered; her tone slow and her eyes still a bit dazed.

Ino only grinned wider. "See she's fine; just get her onto her feet." Kiba nodded, but instead of hoisting Sakura to her feet he slid his free arm under her knees and rose, carrying her upward in a bridal fashion, still cradling her against his chest. His arm that had been around her shoulders shifted to the middle of her back to help her sit up in his arms.

"Sorry about Akamaru, he really can't stand that cat. I swear the damn thing just likes to taunt him and get a rise out of him but he's too stubborn to listen to me." Kiba offered apologetically with an unsure little smile but Sakura only shook her head, rubbing her palm over the back of it.

"Its fine, I'm okay." Sakura waved her hand nonchalantly before unconsciously wrapping her arms around Kiba's neck as he smiled at her. Ino was still grinning like a Cheshire cat, having stepped away from the two to stand on the sidelines and just watch. "But seriously Kiba-san, you should put that damn dog on a leash." Sakura offered sternly.

Kiba laughed uneasily. "Yeah, my sister says I give him too much freedom, but I just can't bear to see the poor guy confined like that you know?" Usually Kiba would have gone off on anyone who referred to Akamaru as "that damn dog" but for whatever reason he let the comment slide right off his shoulders.

"Mm... yeah I suppose. It could be just until he settles things with that cat he was chasing." Sakura's eyes widened as she turned her head to look toward the corner. "He won't hurt it will he?"

"No way!" Kiba laughed and offered Sakura a large reassuring grin as she shifted her eyes back to him. "He'll just terrorize it a bit, show it who's boss."

Sakura bit her lower lip and nodded, her eyes locked with Kiba's for a long moment, a rather awkward silence, at least awkward for Sakura as Kiba didn't seem to mind in the slightest, stretching between them. Her eyes strayed from Kiba's, tilting a bit to run down the length of his body to the ground as Sakura seemed to only just then realize that Kiba had swept her up off her feet.

"Kiba-san, you can put me down now, I'm okay." She said softly as her jade eyes met his once more to find that Kiba's cheeks had turned a faint red.

"Oh right, of course." An awkward laugh followed as he crouched and bent to return Sakura to her feet carefully, though he did not immediately relinquish his hold on her. Slowly, so slowly that the gentleness of the movement made Sakura shiver slightly, Kiba's hand caressed down her spine and shifted onto her hip to turn her to face him.

Sakura looked up to the young man with question in her eyes as his thumb brushed against her right cheek. "You've got a paw print on your face." He explained softly and Sakura frowned, reaching up to brush Kiba's thumb away as she rubbed her cheek vigorously. He shook his head, that signature grin spreading across his cheeks. "It's still there." Sakura frowned a bit deeper and rubbed a bit harder to turn her cheek a dim red. "Still there." He laughed and Sakura gave him a haughty little glare.

"I got it." Kiba offered with a light chuckle as he reached up and grasped Sakura's wrist, drawing her hand down to her side.

Sakura's eyebrows arched, eyes widening slightly as she found Kiba leaning in until she could feel his warm breath on the side of her face. It smelled like brisk cinnamon, which for some reason Sakura found very odd; since Kiba was so dog-like, she had always assumed his breath would be just as musty and foul as ones. In fact, Sakura had never noticed before but Kiba no longer smelled distinctly dog-like as he had when they were in school together. Though she could pick up the faint smell of Akamaru on him it was mixed with an odd sort of musk that balanced it into a scent that Sakura not only found pleasant but rather appealing. Her eyes shifted to the side, watching all the while as Kiba drew closer to her cheek and though Sakura was sure time was still running as it always did, she could swear that everything was moving at the speed of light around them; just a blur that encircled them while her and Kiba were stuck in slow motion. It was strange, something quite unlike anything she had ever experienced before, and for the first time in a long time-since that time that seemed like so long ago when she had pined after Sasuke, and that night Kakashi had given her her first kiss-Sakura felt butterflies erupt in her stomach. It was blissful, so much so that when Kiba's tongue slipped from his lips to slide over her cheek, an action that normally would have disgusted her enough to beat the dog of a man senseless, Sakura was completely unfazed by it. In fact it brought a quiet giggle from her own lips, a sound that seemed to please Kiba for again his tongue slipped over her cheek before his hand came up to gently rub his warm saliva, cooled by the air, into Sakura's cheek to remove the dirt-formed paw print.

"There, all gone." He revealed with one of his broad grins, causing the butterflies in Sakura's stomach to explode one after the other in a rushing flurry of tingling warmth. She returned his smile with a soft one of her own.

"Thank you." Sakura said softly and for the longest moment the two simply stood there, Kiba's hand still pressed lightly into Sakura's cheek, his other still grasping her wrist to gently hold it at her side. The moment ended when the echoing sound of Ino clearing her throat broke Sakura out of her trance-like state.

Sakura shook her head, Kiba's having turned so that his deep brown eyes could find Ino and trap her in a hard stare that only grew harder when Sakura pulled her wrist from Kiba's grasp and stepped away from him. 'What was that?' Sakura thought to herself as she ran her fingers down through her hair along the sides of her face, trying to hide how flustered she was but not doing a very good job. 'Y'know... Kiba's pretty sexy under the right light.' Inner Sakura suddenly chimed in, flustering Sakura even further. 'Shut up you!'

"Well I better get going." Kiba suddenly said, drawing Sakura's eyes toward him, the jade pools swimming with a modest bit of disappointment but judging by the way Ino was staring at Sakura, with that huge all-knowing smile of hers, it was not modest enough. "I gotta catch up to Akamaru before he tramples all over every pretty girl in the village." Kiba grinned as Sakura's cheeks turned an intense shade of red.

"He didn't trample me." Ino offered with a slight frown as Kiba looked to her with disinterest.

"Yeah I know." Ino's frown deepened as she huffed, but Kiba didn't even seem to notice. Once again he looked Sakura's way and smiled. "Later Sakura-chan." That said, he was off and running down the street, his nose up in the air to sniff out Akamaru's scent as he turned the corner the dog had just moments earlier.

Sakura stood there, nibbling at her lower lip as she watched the corner Kiba had turned on for a long moment. She had known Kiba a long time, but it was only recently she had found his status in her life switching from a one-time fellow classmate who became her fellow shinobi, to an actual friend. It was around the time of the jounin exams, where the remaining members of the rookie nine had made their passage into jounin territory, when the three teams had merged into one large group of friends. Whenever they could take time from their busy lives they would all head to the bar to crowd around a table and tell stories and laugh. Of course it had been quite a while since Sakura had actually attended one of those little get-togethers but even so somehow Kiba and she had gotten rather close. He was always coming to the hospital, whether it was to bring in one of his poor students-all of which had had countless head injuries over the span of being under Kiba's guidance due to his recklessness-or it was he himself who needed medical attention. For some reason Kiba often needed medical attention. He was always getting deep gashes that needed healing in places he couldn't reach himself with a needle and nylon thread, usually along his back, and would always come to Sakura to do it. He claimed it was because Sakura was the greatest medic around, and he would sit in the hospital for hours with such minor injuries, refusing to let anyone touch him until Sakura came to take a look at his wound. Sakura had never found it strange or suspicious, mostly she just found it annoying. Though she had to admit that she enjoyed the talks she and Kiba had while she was treating his wounds.

"Haruno Sakura!" Ino suddenly yelled, breaking Sakura from her thoughts with a jolt. She turned to gaze at the blonde woman who was still grinning from ear to ear. "Why didn't you ever tell me you had a thing for Kiba?"

"What?" Once again Sakura's face was beet-red and she was nervously dragging her fingers through her hair along the sides of her face. "I-I don't know what you're talking about." She continued defensively as she turned from Ino and hurried on her way down the street.

"Oh please!" Ino laughed, easily catching up to a very flustered Sakura, who hung her head low and continued to run her fingers anxiously through her hair. "It's so obvious that you like him, just about as clearly as it is that he's itching to get his hands on you." Ino smirked as Sakura looked up at her, eyes wide.

"You really think so?"

Ino scoffed. "I know so Sakura, if there's one thing the great and beautiful Yamanaka Ino knows, it's the ways of the heart." Sakura rolled her eyes at Ino's self-given title. "And let me tell you something Sakura, that boy's got it bad for you."

Sakura couldn't help but smile softly as she bowed her head once more. So Kiba really did like her according to Ino. Though the blonde was a bit eccentric and dramatic, Sakura always trusted her when it came to things like this.

It had been a long time since anyone had liked Sakura, at least to her knowledge, the only boy to ever have a serious crush on her was Naruto, and that had dwindled long ago. Sakura had eventually grown to care very deeply for Naruto, but it was more a feeling she would have for an annoying little brother. Then there had been Sasuke, who though never willing to express anything but contempt toward Sakura or anyone else that looked his way, Sakura had declared ever-lasting love to. Of course those feelings had dimmed to that which a girl would have for her detached older brother, and for the longest time Sakura had plastered a wall around her heart and had made herself incapable of feeling much more than friendship for any of the men around her.

Now there was Kiba, a man who not only seemed to like her very much, but who Sakura felt herself growing very fond of. It made Sakura think that perhaps it was time to open her heart up to someone and it seemed Ino agreed. Then the memory of that night, which seemed like a lifetime ago now, filled her mind and reluctance gripped Sakura's heart.

"But if you use this kiss on someone that isn't me, I'm going to have to punish you."

Sakura shook her head vigorously; she couldn't let the memory of that night plague her and affect every romantic decision she made. It had meant nothing, and even if it pained her to think that her first kiss was meaningless, that was just how it was. Kakashi had been drunk, he hadn't known what he was doing and it was foolish of her to dwell on it. She and Kakashi would never be together, it just wasn't feasible, it just wasn't possible, especially now that he was…

"It's settled then." Ino's voice racked Sakura from her thoughts and she turned her head to find the blonde standing beside her, grinning broadly and nodding with determination.

Sakura's eyebrows rose with question. "What's settled?"

"I'm going to have Chouji convince Kiba to act on his feelings and ask you out." Ino was still nodding as if her plan was playing over in her mind and she greatly approved of it. "Can't have you asking him out; you have to play a little hard to get to keep him interested." Sakura frowned.

"I don't know about this Ino. I mean, Kiba and I are friends and I don't want to mess-" But Ino cut Sakura off with a harsh scoff and a wave of her hand.

"Don't start Sakura." Ino rolled her eyes and planted her fists on her hips, glaring almost accusingly at Sakura, who felt a bit awkward under Ino's flaring gaze. "You're always working, and if you're not working you're training, and if you're not training you're at home reading your medical scrolls or sleeping. You need to lay some time aside for fun, and Kiba is more than capable-and obviously more then willing-to give you that fun." Ino smirked knowingly and Sakura blushed.

She was right and Sakura knew it; she did work way too hard, it had been so long since Sakura had let loose and had some fun. Maybe this would be good for her, and despite herself Sakura thought she might even enjoy it. Just thinking about how close Kiba had been to her just moments ago was making those butterflies in her stomach flutter.

Sakura gave a defeated sigh. "Alright Ino, I'll play your match-making game." She was trying to sound beaten, as if Ino was twisting her arm, but Sakura smiled dreamily as she thought about her possible date with Kiba. No doubt it would be fun; Kiba had a notorious reputation for being a bit of a party animal.

"Well then let the games begin." Ino smiled mischievously as she slipped her arm inside Sakura's and the two headed down the street together.

Revised: 9/21/2015

Story is still the same, glaring grammar mistakes (those detected) were edited.