Sakura did a double take as she passed by her window. There he was again. She stopped and leaned near the window, unable to stop herself from staring. He was just so…damn hot. No one would blame her for ogling her new neighbor. Really, it was his fault for never closing his curtains and then proceeding to strip in front of the window. She had the perfect view too. Her window was directly across from his, a happy coincidence because of the replica houses. The only difference was that her window was to her living room and his was to his bedroom.

The first time she saw him, she'd blushed and closed her own curtains. But as time wore on, she felt a little bolder and started to linger by her window whenever she caught sight of him. She didn't even know his name, but she had probably seen more of him than some of his friends. She guessed he was a bit older than her if his silver hair was anything to go by, but he honestly looked as young as she did. She didn't think he was a day over forty at most. He was pale and had scars sprinkled across his body. It made her wonder where they had come from. A rough past or maybe a job. Either way he was toned with smooth skin that stretched out across his muscles.

It was hot today – okay, maybe scorching was a better word – and she had already been fanning herself with a magazine before she noticed him through the window. But as her eyes took him in as he pulled his shirt off to reveal lean muscle, she could feel the room getting hotter. Something coiled in her stomach and she shifted beside her window, leaning her hip against the pane.

She didn't know if he ever noticed her through the window she couldn't help but keep open in response. But even if he had seen her, it wasn't like she stripped in front of hers. Besides her pink hair, there wasn't really anything eye catching about her. She was pretty, but she wasn't beautiful like Ino or glowing with confidence like Naruto. Even if she did walk around her house stark naked – like Ino had suggested to catch his attention – she didn't think he'd care enough to notice. When she confided in Ino about her mysterious neighbor, she had tried to talk her into going and saying hi to him or something. But Sakura could never build up the courage to.

She was interrupted from her thoughts when his head turned in her direction. She gasped and immediately spun to press her back against the wall beside her window. Did he catch her? Sakura cursed under her breath, praying to anyone who was listening that she wasn't going to be labelled as the neighborhood peeping tom. She waited a minute before peeking out the window to see if he was still there.

He met her eyes and she squeaked in surprise before returning to her hiding place. She was sure her face was beet red and wanted to go die in a hole when she heard a shout, "Hey!"

Sakura took a deep breath before turning back to the window as casually as she could manage. He was leaning out his window shirtless with the top of his jeans unbuttoned. She tried to keep her eyes on his face. She leaned out her window in response. "Y-Yeah?"

He asked her, throwing her off guard, "Is your power out?"

She looked at him confused and then behind her. She turned back to him, now noticing his lights were out in his room. "No."

"Damn." He leaned back and glanced behind him. "Must've blew a breaker or something."

The white pane was hot underneath Sakura fingers and she could feel the heat on her skin from barely leaning out the window. Before he could turn back into his room, she built up enough courage to ask him, "Do you want to come over here?"

He looked at her and laughed in surprise. "What?"

God, his smile was breathtaking. Sakura felt a blush rising to her cheeks again and she stuttered out, "I just – you – I mean, it's really hot and if you don't have any power…I uh, have AC?" Sakura internally cringed, knowing Ino would be laughing at her if she could see her, or maybe she would give her pity. That was somehow worse.

He stared at her for a moment thinking and glanced away from her then back. He cocked a grin at her and said, "You sure? You don't even know me."

Sakura shrugged and smiled at him. "Well, then, what's your name?"

"Kakashi," he answered with a chuckle and raised an eyebrow back at her.

"Sakura." She bit her lip and asked, "So..?"

He nodded and shrugged. "Alright, thanks, Sakura. I'll be right over."

Sakura nodded back and shut her window before turning back to her living room. She could feel her heart racing in her chest and she put her hand over her heart. "Oh my god."

She looked down at herself wishing she was wearing something nicer, but he had already seen her and it would be weird if she changed now. She just had a red tank top on and little black shorts to go with it. She glanced around her living room, relieved that she was such a clean freak and the place was practically spotless. She glanced in a nearby mirror and barely had enough time to comb her fingers through her hair before the doorbell rang.

She felt her heart skip a beat and walked over to answer the door. She opened it and wasn't surprised that he was even more gorgeous up close. He'd put a shirt on and she couldn't decide if she disappointed or relieved by the fact. She looked at him with a smile. "Hi."

"Hi." He smiled back at her, looking amused.

It took her a second to realize why he was staring at her and then she gestured behind her. "Well, come in."

He followed her inside, kicking his shoes off near the door. He glanced around curiously as she led him to her living room. "Your place is pretty nice. Thank you for inviting me over again by the way."

"No problem," she said shyly and tucked her hair behind her ear.

She gestured for him to sit on her couch and went to go grab some drinks, knowing she needed at least something to calm her nerves. She'd felt incredibly anxious when she sat down next to him, her heart beating so hard against her chest she felt like there'd be bruises. But after a couple drinks, she could feel herself unwinding. Besides her ever apparent blush, you wouldn't even be able to tell she was nervous.

Kakashi was an interesting man to say the least. She learned a lot about him in the quickly passing hours on her couch. He'd recently retired from the army (her answer to the scars that sprinkled his body) and was now working to get his teaching certificate. He said it was something he wanted to do, even though he wasn't sure he'd be any good at it. She'd been attracted to him before she'd even knew his name, but the shy way he had admitted he was nervous around children made him so endearing. He was a bit older than her like she had expected, but she tried not to show any reaction to the news in case it discouraged…whatever it was they were doing. Her eyes slowly stopped ogling the hard lines of his body to meet his charcoal grey ones and pay more attention to what he was saying. She could feel herself getting in over her head the longer they talked. Now, she liked less superficial things about him besides his body; like his laugh, his love of dogs, or the way he'd wink at her after saying a joke. She liked him and she was totally screwed.

She'd noticed out of the corner of her eye through the window that his lights had come back on, but made no comment on it. It was selfish and he may even have somewhere he needed to be, but she didn't want him to go. She didn't know if he'd want to come back when he didn't have to and she wanted to savor the short time she was getting with him. She didn't know if he noticed, but even if he did, he didn't mention it either and she was more than fine with that.

He'd been telling her a story about one of his soldier buddies that had her laughing through the whole thing, when he gestured to his side. "Then, he swung the curling iron and burnt me on the side. It even left a scar –" He cut off suddenly and eyed her with a sly smile. Before she could ask, he shrugged with a smirk. "But I'm sure you've already seen it."

Sakura's eyes widened and she cleared her throat, glancing away from him and saying innocently into her drink, "I don't know what you mean."

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow at her. "Oh?" He moved closer to her on the couch, his hand that was resting on the back of the couch moving to play with the ends of her hair. His eyes watching the pink strands moving through his pale fingers. Sakura fought down a shiver when his fingers brushed her neck.

She felt herself flush and was proud that her voice didn't raise an octave when she hummed in reply, "Not a clue."

His eyes went to hers and even without his crooked smile, she could tell she was done for by the mischievous glint in his eyes. His voice was low as he told her, "I know you watch me through the window, Sakura-chan."

Sakura blushed so hard, her neck was probably even covered in the red splotches. She stuttered, "I-I didn't – um, I –"

Her excuses stopped when she felt his hand move to the back of her head and he leaned forward. She could feel his breath on her ear and wasn't able to hold back a shiver when he whispered, "I watch you, too, you know."

Sakura's eyes widened at the confession. "But I –"

He leaned back, his face just inches from hers and cocked a smile at her. "Did you know you dance when you clean?"

"I –"

"Or that you sing along to the radio? Loudly?"

Sakura couldn't be any redder and if she thought she could move, she'd probably have her face in her hands in embarrassment.

His other hand went to her waist and she was vaguely aware that Kakashi was guiding her onto her back as he leaned over her. She could feel her heart racing with anticipation and her eyes never left the intense grey ones above her.

"The songs range from cheesy pop songs to romantic swing music and you're so off pitch but I don't think I've heard anything so beautiful before." His voice had gone softer at the end and Sakura's breath caught.

"I can still remember one time you were sweeping and swaying your hips to the beat of the song, then without noticing you bumped into a table and made a glass vase fall and break."

Sakura remembered that. She also remembered being extremely grateful no one had seen her do that.

Kakashi went on, "When your friends come over, it's always really loud. But I can still pick out your laugh among the noise." He paused for a moment and his eyes flickered to her lips. "You know, you may not strip in front of your window like I do, but I've been just as entranced by you."

When he didn't say anything else, Sakura found her voice and asked a little breathlessly, "You knew…the whole time?"

He chuckled and his smile became more crooked. God, that was becoming her favorite look on him. "You think I would make a habit of stripping in front of an open window otherwise?"

He didn't give her a chance to reply before pressing his lips to her. She sighed against him before kissing him back, her fingers twisting into his silver mop of hair.

She could hear the crickets chirping form outside and had never been more thankful for the summer heat.