It had all seemed so simple. Infiltrate a Kirigakure prison on Mokuzu Island, investigate the rumors that one of the prison guards had developed a jutsu capable of eliminating one of the five senses and was testing it on prisoners, find sufficient evidence that it was complete bullshit, then promptly escape. Kakashi had been on many missions with a similar itinerary with varying locations and rumors, and every single one of them had been completed without a hitch as he'd discovered that most of the time, the outlandish claims were usually just elaborate genjutsu. There was no reason for this mission to go any differently, but somehow it had and for the first time in years, Kakashi was terrified.

His eyes darted around the large holding cell frantically as he reached for the small blade he'd hidden in his leg wraps, taking in the chaos around him while trying to get his bearings. There were easily 50 men and women surrounding him in the cell, some of them civilian and some of them ninja, but all of them were in various states of panic. A brawl had broken out amidst the confusion, bodies leaping around him as punches were thrown at anyone and everyone. The man who had cast the jutsu that caused the scene had escaped long ago and would likely be impossible to track at this point.

Kakashi felt his nostrils flare as the scent of blood grew closer to his back, and he quickly swung his body around to drive his blade into the stomach of the man who'd been trying to sneak up on him. The man fell to the ground with a heavy thump, a sound that he should have been able to hear. Kakashi stared down at the man, watched as his mouth opened and closed rapidly as if yelling at him, and felt the panic that had been slowly seeping into his system hit him with full force. He could no longer hear anything.

From the corner of his eyes, he watched as a pink blur made its way through the room, pummeling through men faster than they could appear. Sakura looked up at him and opened her mouth, yelling something at him that he couldn't hear. Her eyes were focused on something behind him, so he took his best educated guess of what she was trying to tell him and quickly ducked to the floor and swung his leg out, tripping the three men who had been trying to attack him with one swift movement, following up with a kick that sent them flying into the wall so hard that it cracked.

Kakashi looked back at Sakura just as the ground beneath him started to rumble, his eyes wincing from the harsh sunlight that was now illuminating the prison cell. Sakura had gathered a pile of bodies to stand on and punched her way through the ceiling, a dent in the wall next to her indicating that she'd tried to break through that first. She held her hand out as she opened her mouth and (presumably) yelled something at him, probably something along the lines of 'Hurry up already' knowing her. Kakashi felt himself pause for the tiniest of moments before his feet ran toward her where she stood atop the pile of bodies. Sakura grabbed his hand and lifted him to the top of the pile, and then they were escaping. They ran across the top of the prison and jumped to the ground when they reached the edge, following the direction of the setting sun for hours until they reached the small port where their ship was supposed to meet them at nightfall.

Kakashi was, for a lack of a better word, scared. For hours he ran, feeling the ground beneath his feet, smelling the changes in the landscapes as he watched them change from bustling towns to empty clearings. He could feel the sweat on his skin, taste the salt in the air from the sea, but he never once heard the wind rushing past his ears. He didn't hear the rustling of the branches as they jumped through the trees, couldn't hear the waves crashing against the cliff they ran along. The only sound he was able to hear was his own breathing, and even then something felt off, like he wasn't actually hearing it and instead it was just resonating through his mind because it was something he should have been able to hear. There was something else strange about the sound, but he couldn't place his finger on it and by the time they reached the port, he was too exhausted to question it.

They managed to reach their destination just in time for the ship to appear. Kakashi smiled wearily at Sakura as they boarded the ship, finding a small storage room beneath the deck to hide out for the trip back to Fire Country. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized that she had probably paid their captain before following him into the cramped room, but he was far too disoriented to really register any thought except for the obvious one questioning what the hell was going on.

He didn't know how long he was staring at the floor before a small hand had invaded his vision, waving itself up and down wildly. Kakashi blinked and looked up to see Sakura staring at him, her eyebrows knitted together and lips pursed. It was the same look she gave him when he told her he didn't need healing even when there was a kunai sticking awkwardly out of his thigh. Her expression was two parts concerned and one part frustrated, and he realized belatedly that she had probably been trying to get his attention for a while. Kakashi watched as her lips moved and knew that she was asking if he was alright, but that was more so because he just knew her; his ability to read lips had diminished significantly without his sharingan to help him.

"I'm fine, Sakura. Just shake me awake when we get there," Kakashi said, or at least that's what he hoped he said. He could feel the rumbling in his chest, but without his hearing it was impossible to tell if he had slurred his words at all and had no idea if he'd just whispered or spoke in a normal volume. He saw her eyes narrow and he offered her a small smile in return before leaning his head back against the crates and letting his eyes slip closed.

As he felt himself drift off to sleep, he could have sworn he heard Sakura muttering something about Tsunade and something being strange. He found comfort in the thought, hoping that maybe the jutsu only had a temporary effect or was reset by sleep or something else that would allow him to return to normal once the ship reached Fire Country in two days. As far as reasons for jutsus to cancel themselves, it didn't make a whole lot of sense, but neither did anything that had happened in the last twelve hours.

It had been a long time since Kakashi had gone to the Hokage office immediately after a mission; usually he was either forced into the hospital, or wound up hiding in his apartment to leave the mission reports to someone else. This time he hadn't had much of a choice as Sakura had gripped his wrist with bruising strength the second they'd entered Konoha, dragging him along behind her all the way to Tsunades' office. To her credit, she had offered him an apologetic smile and healed his wrist as soon as the door had shut behind them, but it didn't really do much to make him feel better about being trapped in a room with three of the strongest kunoichi in the entire village without his hearing.

Kakashi watched as Tsunade read through the mission report, noticing the way her eyebrows furrowed together as she got toward the end of the scroll. The blonde woman looked up at him and said something, to which he just stared at her blankly and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He knew that saying the wrong thing to Tsunade was always a gamble, and it was one that he wasn't willing to bet on without knowing what she said first.

Tsunades' eyes narrowed as she watched him for a long moment before turning her attention to Shizune. They spoke for a long moment before glancing back at him. Tsunade opened her mouth again and said something which Shizune nodded at before turning and approaching him. Kakashi felt himself stiffen uncomfortably, his heart jumping into his throat for the briefest of seconds. He knew he could trust these women with his life, and often did when he came back battered and bruised, but it was hard to convince his more innate survival instincts of that when they were thrown so far off balance with the sudden loss of a very necessary function for a shinobi.

Kakashi felt a hand slip into the crook of his arm, gripping his forearm just hard enough to break his focus. He glanced down to his right where Sakura was smiling at him, trying to be reassuring despite the concern etched across her features. A breath he hadn't known he was holding escaped him, and he did his best to offer her a weak smile in return before shifting his gaze back to where it had been previously.

Shizune was standing in front of him now, her hands gently placed on either side of his temples. He closed his eyes as the grip on his arm tightened, nodding his head slowly to let Shizune know he was ready for her to probe around and try to figure out what was wrong. Kakashi sighed as he felt the chakra seep into his system, felt it moving around inside of his head and gently touch his nerves to assess the damage.

It felt like a lifetime later when the chakra flow slowly pulled back. His eyes opened cautiously to observe Shizunes' expression, instantly regretting it when he saw the downward tug of her lips as she shook her head. His gaze turned back to Tsunade, asking all of the questions he wasn't sure he could articulate at the moment. She seemed to sigh from her desk, her eyes lifting over to Sakura before speaking.

"Yes, Shishou."

Kakashi blinked, his eyes narrowing as he turned to look at Sakura. For a split second, he could have sworn he heard her speak. It wasn't possible, obviously, because he knew his hearing wasn't suddenly back. His eyes had been trained on Tsunade the entire time and she had also been speaking. If anything, his mind had probably started playing tricks on him from being so desperate to hear something, anything, and out of everyone in the room, he knew Sakuras' voice the best. Yes, that was the only logical explanation.

"When I examined him on the ship while he was asleep, it seemed like there was something... off, with his cochlea. I tried everything I could think of to heal it, but it didn't seem like there was anything to fix. It was just different, like it had stopped sending out any responses to stimuli even though everything appeared to be intact. The amount of liquid was correct, the hairs themselves were responsive, the ossicles were perfectly fine, and there was nothing wrong with the eardrum or the ear canal. There should be nothing stopping him from hearing. It's almost as if the signals have been completely cut off without actually being severed or altered in any way."

Okay, now he was for sure going crazy. Kakashi had watched Sakura the entire time she spoke, and the movement of her lips had matched the words he could hear. His lips tugged into a deep frown as he mulled over that thought, realizing that 'hear' wasn't exactly the correct word to use. It didn't feel like he was hearing what she said, but more like he was feeling what she said directly in his mind. But it wasn't like she had any of the Yamanaka Clan's telepathic ability, so it couldn't be that either.

Suddenly, Kakashi was pulled from his thoughts as he felt the floor vibrate under his feet. He looked up, confused, until he saw Tsunade holding a piece of paper toward him with the words 'What's wrong?' written on it. She must have stomped her foot hard enough to get his attention after realizing that yelling wasn't working.

"I... I think I heard Sakura speak just now," Kakashi said, knowing that there would be a questioning tone to his voice. It had been two days since his hearing had suddenly disappeared, at the hands of some jutsu he hadn't even believed in before, and for some reason he could only hear Sakura's voice? It seemed impossible, but then again, so had the jutsu.

Tsunades brow furrowed as she seemed to think about this for a long moment, before rubbing her fingers over her temples and waving a hand in Sakuras' direction, her lips opening and closing as she said something to her apprentice. Kakashi let his eyes fall back to the woman next to him, noticing that her expression was just as confused as his probably was. Their eyes locked for a long moment as she seemed to contemplate something, the frown on her lips becoming more prominent.

"Kakashi?" She asked softly, her eyes darting to focus on each of his eyes in turn.

"Yes, Sakura?"

He saw the intake of breath she took as her eyes glanced back over to Tsunade immediately. She was obviously shaken, and if he was being honest, so was he. Kakashi had always considered himself somewhat of a loner, but after more than forty eight hours of hearing absolutely nothing, it was nice to hear something again.

"I'm going to tell you to do some things, and I need you to listen to me. I know you hate following instructions, especially when it comes to anything medical, but please do this. For me."

Kakashi watched her for a long moment before letting a small chuckle escape his lips, feeling his chest vibrate with the sound he was undoubtedly making. He nodded his head slowly, and the smile that appeared on her lips was so hopeful it made him smile in return.

"Okay, just to make sure you're not reading my lips, turn around to face the bookshelf."

Kakashi complied, turning away from her and keeping his eyes trained on the bookshelf, tilting his head to the side as he noticed a few orange spines that looked familiar. Was Tsunade even aware that she had the entire Icha Icha collection sitting out in the open in the Hokage office?

"Raise your right hand," Came the first command, which Kakashi followed easily. "Okay, put that hand back down. On your hip, but not in your pocket." Kakashi rolled his eyes a little as he followed the instruction, practically hearing the squeal of excitement coming from the pink haired woman, though a part of him had to wonder if maybe he actually had heard it, given the current situation.

The instructions flowed easily from then on, and he easily followed each one, even as her instructions started becoming more silly.

"Stand on just your left foot. Cross your arms. Put your finger on your nose. Lean your head back to look at me."

At the last one Kakashi laughed before tilting his head all the way back to look at her. Even with everything turned upside down he could tell that she was positively beaming, obviously excited that the situation wasn't completely hopeless.

"Hello," Sakura grinned, earning another chuckle from Kakashi before she gathered herself. "Oh right, you can stand back up straight again and you can put your foot back down. Um, let's see... What's the first test you ever put us through?"

"The bell test?"

"What's my least favorite food?"

"Anything spicy."

"Aww, I didn't actually expect you to remember," Sakura giggled, her voice trailing off as she seemed to be thinking of something else to ask. After a long moment of silence Kakashi felt his panic start bubbling back up (when had it left?) because maybe she was saying things to him and he just couldn't hear her again.

"Sakura?"

"Take off your mask."

Kakashi blinked, for some reason finding himself more surprised than he ought to be. It was just like her to try to pull some sly method like this, using her position as a medic to hang over his head. Still, the fact that even after all these years she was still curious made him happy and he found himself smiling in spite of himself.

"You know I'm not going to do that, Sakura. You didn't even say please."

"Oh, fine."

Kakashi chuckled as he turned around, ruffling her hair as revenge for even trying it. She squealed, quickly trying to pat it back down neatly, but the damage was already done. Sakuras' hair was frizz city, and he found himself storing the image away in his mind for the next time he needed a laugh at his favorite ex-students expense.

The somewhat pleasant moment suddenly plummeted as Kakashi glanced back over at Tsunade and Shizune, seeing them speak to each other in hurried voices (if the speed at which their lips moved was any indication) while glancing up at him every so often. He remembered why he was there to begin with, the sinking feeling in his gut growing heavier as he wondered out loud to no one in particular.

"Well, what now?"

Apparently he was going to be staying at Sakura's place for a while, that was what. The logic behind it was completely sound and he knew it made sense, but for some reason it still made him uncomfortable to be relying on someone who he used to teach. He knew that Sakura was an adult now and she'd had her own place for years. It was even bigger than his shabby little apartment with its own seperate guest room, but it didn't make him feel any better.

The current theory was that the only reason he could hear Sakura was because she had been close to him when the jutsu was cast. It made as much sense as anything else had recently, but given the fact that he all of a sudden couldn't hear, he wasn't sure that anything actually made sense anymore.

"Is this everything you want to bring?"

Kakashi looked up from his dresser drawer to where Sakura stood. She was hovering around the doorway to his bedroom, several of his favorite books in one hand and Mr. Ukki in the other.

"That should be about it," Kakashi replied, hoping that his voice wasn't too loud as he reached out, grabbing the books from her one hand and tossing them into the backpack he'd been throwing clothes into for the last ten minutes. He supposed that most people would consider the fact that the only worldly possessions he cared about were books and a plant quite sad, but it suited him just fine. There weren't even many clothes to go through either, and they were all pretty much the same. He'd just been trying to find the ones that were the least worn out, since they had no idea how long he would be forced to stay at Sakuras apartment. The time estimate had essentially been until the jutsu wore off or until they figured out a way to fix the signals that should be going to his brain, but since they weren't actually damaged or different in any way, that option seemed very unlikely to happen.

Sakura stepped through the doorway into his bedroom and looked around, humming softly as she took in what would no doubt look like a barren wasteland compared to her place. Her gaze wandered over every inch of the small room, her eyes softening a little when she noticed the picture he had of team seven on his windowsill by his bed. Kakashi smiled sheepishly before tossing the last of the clothing he was bringing into the bag.

"Well, should we be off?"

It was an odd feeling for sure, being unable to hear anything but still being accutely aware of the things going on around him. It had been a few weeks since Kakashi had lost his hearing, and he was learning to get by without it. His vision had remained the same and he'd learned how to judge the volume of his voice by practicing with Sakura. After a few days he found himself able to feel footsteps through the vibrations in the wooden floor of Sakuras apartment, and his already good sense of smell had become even better, alerting him to the presence of people whose footsteps were unusually quiet. Which was a good thing, given that the people around him were almost all shinobi and quiet footsteps kind of came with the territory.

Within the first week he had managed to convince Sakura to go out and spar with him every other day when her shifts at the hospital were shorter than normal. Tsunade had taken her off active duty so that she could be around to monitor his condition, which he was more than a little thankful for. He could have probably dealt with being unable to converse with anyone for such a long period of time, if it weren't for the fact that he would have had to make himself food every day. Without Sakura, he probably would have died from all the instant ramen.

"On impulse he crowds into Minho's space, close enough to see the way Minho's pupils blow wide at his proximity. He presses flush against Minho's taller body and Jinki tilts his head invitingly. It doesn't take much for Minho to slant his mouth against Jinki's and sag into his loose embrace; like a suppliant before a deity. Wanton and begging.

They kiss slowly, drinking the other in like they've been starved for it. Minho curls his hand against the back of Jinki's head, blunt nails dragging across his scalp, and Jinki shivers. His fingers dig into Minho's shirt. It's a moment he wishes they could stretch out longer, preferably in their bed."

Kakashi froze as he felt Sakuras' footsteps approaching the front door of the apartment from his place on the living room floor. With a few quick movements that he'd gotten used to over the last few weeks, he stood up and returned her romance novel to the bookshelf, maneuvered around the coffee table to reach the front door, and opened it for her before she had even gotten her keys out.

"I swear, if you're lying about not being able to hear, I will break your legs and throw you in the hospital to heal naturally without any chakra aid."

"I can't believe you think I would do that."

Sakura rolled her eyes in response as she stepped into the apartment, kicking off her shoes before passing the threshold. Kakashi just grinned at her, knowing that her threats weren't completely empty, but also knowing that in that scenario she would probably only break one of his legs out of kindness.

"Well, I know you can't hear anyone else because you didn't even react last week when Tsunade was over and kept trashing Icha Icha in front of you."

Kakashi blinked, his eyes widening with surprise as he watched Sakura walk off toward her bedroom, not even realizing that she had placed a bag in his hands. He remembered when Tsunade had been over the week before to check in on him. She had stayed there for hours, mostly talking with Shizune while looking at him and judging his reactions. Sakura had laughed a few times and even told her she was going too far once, but he had expected her to be talking badly about him. He would have never thought she would go so low as to trash Icha Icha in front of him. When he got his hearing back, he would have to have words with her about respecting the literary masterpieces Jiraiya had left behind.

Sakura emerged from her room in a tank top and shorts, her short hair tied back into a small pony tail at the nape of her neck. She looked up at him with a relaxed smile before heading into the living room, knowing that he would follow. In the weeks he had been there, they'd developed a routine. Every day that she worked a full shift at the hospital, she would come home with something to eat for dinner, and every day that she worked shorter shifts, they would pick up dinner on the way home after they sparred. Kakashi found it comforting to have some sense of normalcy even while he was still unsure if anything would actually be normal ever again.

Kakashi placed the bag of food onto the coffee table in the living room before sitting on the floor beside Sakura where they usually ate dinner together. The first few nights, she had sat on the couch asking why he always sat on the floor. When he told her it was more comfortable because he could feel vibrations through the floor, she had hummed softly before sliding onto the floor next to him with a grin. Ever since then, she had sat on the floor as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and it always made him smile just a little bit. It was a kind gesture, another small comfort in the chaos of a world with almost no sound, and even though he never expressed his gratitude, he knew she was aware that it meant the world to him.

"I'm not sure which one is yours and which one is mine," Sakura mumbled, her eyebrows knitted together as a frown tugged at her lips. She sniffed at both of the dishes before handing one to Kakashi hesitantly.

Kakashi watched Sakura out of the corner of his eyes, fighting to keep his expression neutral as he grabbed his chopsticks, acting as if he was about to take a bite. He couldn't keep his lips from tugging downward as he watched her pick at the spicy dish as if it had no smell. Her eyes glanced up at him, and he could see a flash of nervousness in her expression, as if asking him for reassurance, before she tossed some food into her mouth and began chewing. She looked confused for a moment before her expression turned into shock and probably pain. She jumped up from the floor and darted out of the living room toward the kitchen.

"Why didn't you tell me I had the wrong one?!" Sakura asked incredulously as she came back into the living room, a tall glass of water in one hand. She plopped down next to him again and quickly traded their dishes, her anger apparent in the way she slammed the glass of water onto the table so hard he felt the table shake.

"Sakura," Kakashi began, his voice trailing off momentarily as he watched her eat her food. "Are you sure you didn't lose any of your senses from the jutsu as well?"

Sakura looked up at him, her eyes wide with surprise just long enough for Kakashi to notice it before she laughed, shooting him a cheerful grin. Her reaction only made him more suspicious, and he felt the frown tug deeper on his lips as he watched her.

"Don't worry so much about me, Kakashi. I must be coming down with a cold or something. My nose has been kind of stuffy lately."

It sounded like a plausible reason, but Kakashi knew better. For over a month, her voice had been the only thing he was able to hear, which meant that he would be able to pick out any differences in her speech better than anyone else. There was nothing in her tone of voice to indicate sickness, but he knew that if Sakura was lying about something, there had to be a good reason. He hummed softly before digging into his food, choosing to let it slide. He would press her for more information later.

"Can't we just stay home today?"

Kakashi sighed faintly before turning his eyes to the pouting woman sitting beside him on the living room floor. Her pink hair had fallen into her eyes despite her best attempts to keep it held back with a hair tie. She was lounging around in her standard pajamas of a tank top and shorts, which made Kakashi feel slightly overdressed in his black slacks and sleeveless shirt with attached mask. He had grown used to seeing her walk around the apartment in very little clothing, but for some reason his eyes had started wandering against his will recently. They had been, for all intents and purposes, living together for two months now. His hearing had yet to show any signs of recovery and the missions Tsunade had sent people on to find and kill the man who had cast the jutsu all came up empty. They'd been hoping that killing him would deactivate the effects, but it looked like luck wasn't on his side.

"Sakura, you finally have a day off. I figured you would want to go out and see some of your friends."

"I see them all the time at the hospital and besides, it's raining," Sakura replied, waving her arm at the window as if to show him that yes, it was in fact raining.

"You're a ninja. We've worked in worse conditions and fought for our lives in them. Why does it matter if it's raining?"

Sakura stared blankly for a long moment before letting out an exasperated groan, throwing her hands in the air as if he was the most infuriating person in the world. Kakashi did everything he could to keep his eyes blank, grateful for his mask hiding the smirk playing along his lips. He was being difficult on purpose to see her reaction, but he would never tell her that. He found far too much amusement in it to risk destroying their new dynamic, where he was an intentional pain in her ass and she rose to the bait every time.

"You know what? This is my apartment and you haven't been my teacher in years and we're both jonin and I don't care what you say, I'm staying home today and that's the end of it."

Kakashi felt the smirk grow into a full blown grin as a chuckle escaped his lips. "Sakura, if you wanted to spend an entire day at home with me, you could have just said so."

Sakura froze, her eyes widening as she gaped at him in shock. He tried his best to not react, he really did, but she was staring at him like an electrocuted fish and before he realized it he was laughing out loud, head falling back onto the couch cushions. His eyes were tearing up at the corners and he found it hard to breathe.

He took a quick glance at Sakuras expression through watery eyes, watching as she went from disbelief to embarassment to anger in one fell swoop. Once anger hit, she let out an indignant scream and threw a rogue couch pillow into his stomach, sending him into another fit of laughter despite the pain her throw had caused.

"You're insufferable!"

Kakashi kept laughing even as she stalked off to the other end of the apartment. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed this hard or had this much fun with just one person. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized that every time either of them used the word 'home' it started to feel a little bit more like what he imagined to be the truth. He had never felt truly relaxed in his apartment, having had it for the sole intent of having a place to sleep between missions. If he had free time, he would always spend it outside of his apartment, somewhere in a tree or laying in the grass reading a book. In Sakuras home, however, he found himself able to unwind in a way that he hadn't known was possible for him. He wasn't sure if it was because of the way the place was decorated or if it was the company, but he was beginning to feel like he was heading into dangerous territory.

Kakashi looked up at the faint vibration of shuffling feet somewhere to his left, blinking in surprise for a moment before biting back another laugh.

"Sakura, I think you better come out here! Your comforter has learned to walk on its own!" He yelled out, grinning as her pink hair appeared from over the top of the giant wad of blankets that she was carrying in her arms. He heard her let out a huff of annoyance and felt himself chuckle before standing up to take the giant lump of fabric from her arms.

"Thank you," Sakura grinned, their earlier argument seemingly forgotten as her eyes shined with laughter. "I'm going to make some tea to keep warm, would you like some?"

Kakashi nodded and watched as she headed off into the kitchen, his eyes lingering on her bare shoulders for just a moment too long. A frown tugged at the edge of his lips as he turned to place the comforter on the couch instead of the usual floor, knowing that she would want to cuddle herself in the giant ball of fluff on top of the soft cushions since the room was pretty chilly.

"You know, you could have just put more clothes on when you were back there if you were so cold," Kakashi said, trying his best to keep his voice flat so she wouldn't realize the reason he made the statement.

"Oh, you would like that, wouldn't you?" Sakura asked, her voice teasing as she poked her head out of the kitchen with a smirk playing at the edge of her lips. "That's too bad though. I hate wearing too many clothes in my own apartment, and honestly if you weren't here I would be wearing a lot less."

Kakashi felt his jaw drop ever so slightly, his gaze staying focused on where her head had been long after she'd popped it back into the kitchen. He remembered the vague feeling of entering 'dangerous territory' that he'd pushed aside just moments ago as the precarious feeling hit him in the head like a steel beam. Images were appearing in his mind of Sakura walking around her apartment like he was so used to her doing, calm and relaxed and smiling like always, only in these images she wasn't wearing anything. He had seen her naked many times over the years, since it kind of came with the frequent traveling together that was associated with their particular profession, so the image was easy enough to create. The part that made him worried, however, was his own reaction.

"No. No no no no no. Stop it, Hatake," Kakashi thought to himself as he made a beeline toward her bathroom, doing his best to keep his composure and keep his pace normal even though he felt like running. When the door shut behind him, he let out a deep breath and leaned his forearms on the sink, closing his eyes as he let his head hang low enough for his chin to hit his chest.

Kakashi did his best to squash every image that appeared in his mind, but with every picture that was destroyed another one rose up to take its place. Logically he knew that Sakura was no longer his twelve year old student who could do nothing but obsess over Sasuke, and he had known this for a very long time. Her body was that of a woman, and he had no problem admitting that. The issue he was having was that he realized with the images popping up in his mind, he wasn't reacting to her body at all; he was simply reacting to her. He found it more difficult to suppress the images of her smile and the sounds of her laughter than the flashes of her figure. His own body was reacting, not with the lust he would have expected, but with a nervous tension he hadn't felt in years.

Dangerous didn't even begin to cover the land mine filled crossing he found himself at. If the feeling bubbling in his chest had just been lust, it would have been easy enough to take care of with his hand or just ignore, but instead his mind and body had decided betray him like the assholes they were and procure feelings of actual, well, feelings. He shook his head vigorously as he willed that particular train of thought to fall of the railway before it had time to fully form. He would not, under any circumstance, allow himself to think about that as if it were possible for him to feel something for Sakura.

Kakashi finally opened his eyes and looked up, glaring at himself in the mirror for a long moment before pulling his mask down and splashing his face with cold water until his cheeks were numb. He would have to do everything in his power to ignore whatever was going on, and if that failed he would need to find a way to get himself away from her. After glaring at himself for another long while, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before lifting his mask back up to his face and leaving the bathroom, his eyes filled with focused determination to ignore whatever the hell had just come over him.

"Oh! There you are," Sakura called out, her back turned to him as she stood by her bookshelf. Kakashi could practically hear the smile in her voice as he shuffled over to the coffee table, taking his usual place on the floor and glancing across the room to where Sakura stood. "Pick a number one through three."

"Four," Kakashi replied instantly, fighting off a squirm at the way her laughter carried across the living room and left a small tingle running down his spine.

"I figured you might say that, so I actually had five choices," Sakura shot back with a grin as she grabbed something from the bookshelf and turned back to face him. "I figured we could watch a movie tonight for a change of pace."

"Um, Sakura," Kakashi started, his voice trailing off as he waited for her to realize the obvious. When she stared back at him as innocently as ever, he let out a small sigh and pointed to his ear. It took her a moment to realize what he was trying to explain, but when she did she gave him a sheepish grin and shrugged her shoulders.

"Sorry, Kakashi. I sometimes forget that you can't actually hear because you're perfectly fine talking to me."

Sakura hummed softly to herself as she walked over to the small TV, sliding the DVD into the player anyway and grabbing the remote before going back over toward where he sat. She fell onto the couch instead of the floor, as he'd predicted, and huddled into the corner, pulling the comforter around herself and holding the remote in front of her outside the blankets. She hesitated, as if trying to decide on something before a grin took over her lips in a blinding smile.

"I got it! We'll make our own dialogue!"

"What?" Kakashi asked, his eyebrows knitting together as he stared at the pink haired woman as if she'd lost her mind.

"We'll watch the movie and make up the dialogue as it plays. I'll have the volume muted so I can't hear anything either, and we can just kind of make our own story."

Kakashi stared at her blankly for a long moment before letting a smile tug at the corners of his lips. Maybe this was why he felt so comfortable around her recently, and a small part of him wondered if maybe this was the reason for his new reactions to her as well. Since finding out that he couldn't hear anyone but her, she hadn't pitied him once and had instead tried to find a way to merge their two worlds together. She sat on the floor with him because it made him relax, sparred with him like he still had his hearing instead of treating him like he was disabled, and found ways to do normal everyday things with him so that he didn't feel alone. He felt his chest grow warm with the realization of how compassionate these small gestures really were. The warmth in his chest was quickly replaced with cold however, as he realized that his mask had gotten wet in the bathroom. He fought back a shiver, even though he knew the effort was pointless when facing a medic of her caliber; she was trained to look for anything that might make him sick.

"Hey, why don't you come up here on the couch?" Sakura asked, her voice hesitant as she watched him closely, something flashing through her eyes that he couldn't recognize, or maybe didn't want to recognize. "I promise I'll listen for anything going on outside and you can summon your ninken if you think it'll help you feel more comfortable. It really is cold in here and this comforter is big enough for both of us and most of the dogs, except maybe Bull."

Kakashi thought about arguing for a moment before he felt another shiver travel down his spine. His mind ran through his options as he tried to think of a way to remain on the floor without inciting Sakuras medic mode wrath. He could go and change into a dry shirt, but all of his long sleeved shirts were currently in the washer and the sleeveless shirts would do very little to protect him from the low temperature of the room. He could sit on the floor in front of Sakura and wrap himself in the comforter that way, but he wasn't sure he trusted himself being that close to her under the blanket after the way he had reacted earlier. He could claim that he was actually quite tired and just go to bed, but it was still relatively early in the day and he would never be able to get out of it without further questioning. He could-

"You don't trust me to keep you safe, do you?" Sakura asked, her voice soft as she curled further into the covers. Kakashis eyes flew up to study her expression, finding himself more surprised than he should have been at the genuine hurt playing over her features. After a long moment of silence, Sakura looked up at him and offered a small smile, but the sadness hidden behind the gesture was enough to make his chest squeeze with guilt. "It's okay, I understand. It must be hard for you, being unable to hear anything besides my voice. You can stay on the floor, but you should at least grab some blankets from your- I mean, from the guest room. I may be able to reattach severed limbs, but my healing abilities are useless against the common cold."

There was a pause as the silence stretched between them uncomfortably. Kakashi knew that it would probably make more sense to grab blankets from the second bedroom, but the expression on Sakuras face lingered in his mind. She had done so much over the last two months to help make him feel comfortable without him having to ask once, yet he was hesitating to accept the only request she had made of him so far because he didn't want to potentially feel awkward.

With a sigh, Kakashi relented and bit his thumb to summon his favorite ninken. Pakkun showed up with a pop and turned to ask Sakura what the situation was. Kakashi had tried summoning his ninken multiple times, hoping that the bond they shared would override the jutsu only to be proved horribly wrong. It had honestly been one of the worst parts of losing his hearing. He could maybe become accustomed to feeling the world around him through his other senses, and he knew that if this went on much longer he would have to learn sign language to communicate with other people. Those things were easy enough to handle, but not being able to hear his ninken had devastated him.

Kakashi listened idly to the explanation Sakura gave as he crawled his way onto the opposite couch corner from where the pink haired woman sat. He pulled the covers around himself and within moments felt the warmth of the comforter surround him.

Pakkun jumped onto the couch and slid underneath the heavy blanket to rest on the cushion between the two ninja, circling the same spot for a few moments before finally plopping down. Kakashi smiled, automatically reaching a hand out to scratch the pug softly behind his ears.

"So, the basic concept of this movie is that there's a woman hell bent on revenge who travels the country interrogating and murdering people as she goes. We should probably give her a background story, or at least a reason for her revenge so that it's easier to come up with our own plot."

"Someone stole her dog and she's trying to find them," Kakashi replied instantly, his hand that was scratching Pakkun pausing as he frowned at his own answer. Surely there were better reasons to go on a murdering rampage? Her family could have been massacred, her lover could have betrayed her, she could have been trying to find some kind of sacred treasure. Did he go with any of those theories? No, he went with someone stealing her dog.

Kakashi turned his eyes to glare at the lump under the blankets that was his little pug for making him unconsciously think of such a ridiculous answer, but before he had time to become actually annoyed, he heard a small snort come from the other end of the couch. His eyes darted up to look at Sakura, who had a hand over her mouth in a very meager attempt to hide her laughter. Kakashi tilted his head to the side curiosly, and apparently that was the funniest thing on the planet because suddenly Sakura burst out laughing, startling the small pug under the blankets as her head fell back in a fit of giggles. Kakashi just watched as she fell into hysterics, not noticing the way his lips had curled upwards in a smile as he was too busy watching the woman in front of him grip her sides through the blankets. After several unsuccesful attempts to calm herself, she had finally quieted down enough that only a few small snickers occasionally slipped through her lips.

"Sure, let's go with that," Sakura grinned as she wiped away the tears that had started streaming down her face. She picked the remote up from the blankets and hit the play button before curling herself further into the comforter, everything but her head hidden beneath the depths of fabric.

Throughout the duration of the movie, Kakashi found himself glancing over at Sakura more than he was willing to admit to himself. Her eyes were bright and playful as she shouted random lines in place of whatever the main character was actually saying. The joy was radiating off of her in waves so strong that even Kakashi felt himself being pulled in. He voiced his lines with more enthusiasm than he knew was possible, sometimes saying something completely ridiculous just so that he could glance to his side and watch as Sakura burst out laughing again. The smile remained on his lips as they went through scene after scene, breaking into a full blown grin when a scene played out where the main character had actually grabbed a dog and held it in her arms during a fight scene. (Sakura had just shouted "This is not my dog! This dog is too ugly to be my dog!" while giggling.)

The dialogue began to slow down as the movie started to reach the ending. Kakashi watched as the main character walked through a field of wild flowers, her eyes gazing up at the night sky with tears falling down her cheeks and a smile on her lips. He turned his head to glance at Sakura again, his breath catching in his throat as he realized that her green eyes had been fixed on him. She offered him a smile that seemed far too shy for the normally brash woman, her hand squeezing his hand that had been resting on Pakkun under the covers. Faintly, he became aware of the fact that at some point during the movie her hand had come to rest on top of his and she had never moved it away. Kakashi felt the smallest of frowns tug at his lips as his eyes searched hers, but she was unreadable. At least, that's what he was going to tell himself.

Kakashi felt the fluttering in his stomach return as he found himself getting lost until he couldn't see anything but her jade orbs and the upward tilt of her pink lips. He was falling endlessly, and he was scared. Scared of his own feelings, and scared of hers. He found himself unable to figure out the meaning hidden in her eyes and he didn't know if he wanted to.

He wasn't sure how he ended up in bed that night, wasn't sure if they had spoken again before eventually retiring to their own rooms. He was in a daze, his mind filled with nothing but the way she had smiled at him as they sat together, her eyes fixed on his in a way that was almost demure but still with a hint of her stubborn determination hidden beneath it all.

Kakashi was teetering on the edge of a cliff, and he knew that he had to make a choice. He could jump back and save both of them, or let himself fall and see where he landed.