A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone's having some good holidays, wherever you are and whatever you celebrate, and munching on some nice holiday food ^_^ This is for the AMAZING The Copy Mistress for our discord Secret Santa exchange. I hope you enjoy it, love!

To avoid confusion, the numbers at the beginning of each snippet (it's more of a section really lol) indicate the day this snippet's events happen in.

Finally, a HUGE thanks for RavineMichelle and Nerazenn for helping me get my gears for this story running, the amazing YummyFoods for being the most wonderful beta and supporter, and Ohayohimawari for helping me come up with the title.

Hang on tight, this is going to be a long ride with these two :3

One

The last thing Sakura remembered was unenthusiastically, but successfully, listing all the different nuclei comprising the Basal Ganglia and enjoying the warmth the sunrays cast upon her legs, the breeze gently playing with her hair. And certainly not the slight chill that was now giving her goosebumps. Or the smell of paper in her nose.

It seems she'd been enjoying the weather too much.

Because now, from what she could tell, she was lying on the patch of grass she's picked earlier that day, her book shielding her face from the sun. And a wet thing was poking at her chin.

Lifting the book up from her person, Sakura found herself face to face with a small snout, white and tan fur surrounding it as its owner sniffed and bumped at her face.

Sitting up on her elbows, Sakura eyed the dog that was half on top of her, who curiously eyed her back. He couldn't have been any older than a puppy, and was way too cute not to cuddle.

"Aren't you adorable?" she cooed, holding out her palm to him. Instantly, he was bumping her nose with his and Sakura grinned, taking his face in her hands and scratching his neck, marvelling at how smooth his fur was.

"What's your name, hm?" she asked. He just continued to nuzzle her affectionately. "Where's your human, boy?"

"Oi, Guruko!"

Mirroring the dog in her arms, Sakura turned her head to the right towards the person now jogging towards them, a tall, lean man with shaggy grey hair.

And she told herself that he did not look cute at all. Not one bit. The tiny, awkward smile playing on his lips didn't steal her breath away and the way his muscles flexed under his form-fitting t-shirt didn't make her blink once, twice, and a third time to make sure she wasn't imagining them. Absolutely not.

"Ah, sorry!" the man started to apologise, "He slipped away from the rest of the pack over the hill there when I was filling the water bowls for them."

"It's alright," Sakura brushed off his apology, "he was just poking around."

"Yeah, he's a curious pup." The man blinked at her and scrutinized her features. "You're new here."

Sakura cocked her head.

"Is there a community here that I don't know about or something?"

The man chuckled, a deep, low timbre should probably be banned from existence. Sakura told herself the shiver that ran through her body had nothing to do with it.

"More or less. At this time of the day, the park mostly has a few regular families and dog walkers, so the dogs are pretty used to them by now. I think Guruko was just curious about the new person around."

"Ah." Sakura nodded in understanding.

A few moments of silence stretched between them, Sakura's brain short-circuiting and failing to come up with whatever appropriate words she needed at the moment. The stranger awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Well... I hope he wasn't too much of a bother." He nodded to her now discarded book, reminding her of what she was originally here to do.

So much for studying.

"Not at all," she said, patting and scratching at the pleasantly affectionate dog, "he's a very good boy. Aren't you, Guruko?"

The dog's ears twitched at the sound of his name, and he gave her nose a tentative lick, making her laugh and hug him to her.

The man standing beside her laughed, running his hand through his messy mane of hair.

"I'm glad that's the case. I'm sorry, I really need to take him away now, though. It's almost dinner time and he get cranky when he misses his meals."

"Oh, of course." Sakura nuzzled the dog one more time before his owner sounded out a short whistle.

"Come on, Guruko! The rest of the boys are waiting!"

The pup responded with a soft bark, immediately trotting over to where his owner stood, who then started jogging with the dog following closely.

"It was nice to meet you!" he called out to her as he ran, his hand raised in farewell with a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you too!" Sakura hollered, watching his disappearing back as he ran out of sight.

Two

The next day had Sakura plopped down on the same patch of grass she'd occupied the day before, this time with a Pharmacology textbook in her lap.

Which she was totally not ignoring. Not at all.

The park had been an experience she was willing to try in order to boost her productivity while studying, sick as she was of the library and her desk at home. Her desk chair pretty much had an engraving of her butt on it by now.

Not that the experience was the most successful, as evident by the events of the day before. But it had enough potential that Sakura was willing to give it another shot. Or a few.

It certainly had nothing to do with a random stranger that may or may not be walking his dogs at that time.

Focusing on the different classes of antihypertensives instead, the girl tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, mentally listing comparisons between Alpha and Beta blockers as she tried to ignore whatever was happening in her peripheral vision.

And she succeeded. For about thirty minutes. Until a familiar light-coloured dog made its way onto her outstretched legs.

"Oh, hi there!" Marking where she'd left off, she set her book aside, reaching with her hand for the puppy, who eagerly walked over her to reach her lap.

"Looks like he really likes you."

It seemed that his owner wasn't too far behind this time.

Looking up, Sakura found the man from yesterday smiling down at her, his finger pointing at something in front of her.

"I caught him this time before he managed to disappear. The tail was a good enough indication." Following his finger, she found him pointing at the dog wagging his tail excitedly.

She couldn't help the smile that stretched her lips.

"Good for me, I guess. He made such a good impression yesterday, I can't help but like him too."

He chuckled, giving the dog a couple of pats as he lowered himself onto the ground beside her. Sakura had to remind herself to breathe at his body's close proximity to hers.

"I realise this is a bit awkward, considering you have no idea who I am," he began, wringing his hands with embarrassment, "I just didn't think he'd take to you so easily."

"You didn't?" Sakura blinked at him. "He seems pretty friendly."

"Oh he is, don't get me wrong," he corrected, "he just doesn't make it a habit to run off towards strangers repeatedly."

She nodded in understanding. "He's no bother at all. Besides, we're not strangers anymore. This is Guruko," she patted his head and he nuzzled her chest, "and I'm Sakura."

The man laughed, shaking his head slightly as he responded, "Pleasure to meet you, Sakura. I'm Kakashi."

"Pleasure's all mine." Sakura nodded at him, cuddling the now snoozing dog closer to her.

"So," Kakashi started, "since we've established that you're new here. What brings you over to our humble little park?"

She pointed towards the book lying on the grass beside her. "Studying."

He blinked curiously at her, but then his eyes widened and he made to stand up, reaching for the puppy in her arms.

"I'm so sorry! I wouldn't have let him stay if I knew-"

"It's okay! Really!" Sakura assured him quickly. "He's no bother at all, and I needed a break for a bit anyway," she lied.

At her words, he started to sit back down hesitantly, the guilty look still etched on his features.

"It's fine," she told him again, "really. Cuddling such a fluffy dog is good for my soul, anyway. Relaxes me enough to focus after."

Not quite convinced, Kakashi nodded anyway, the smile making its way back on his face.

"Alright, then. We'll have to leave in a bit anyway. Dinner time again and all."

"Aw, that's too bad," she lamented. "I'm happy to have this cute guy to myself for as long as I could, though."

Sakura scratched at Guruko's ears, and Kakashi stretched to give him a few rubs too. The dog gave a little whine of approval, and Sakura giggled at Kakashi's mumble about dogs hogging all the attention.

They continued to spoil him anyway with rubs and scratches for the next fifteen minutes between friendly words of conversation until her guests had to leave, jogging away again and leaving her all by herself, with nothing but Pharmacology to keep her company.

Three

The third day Sakura decided to go to the park, she went a little early. If she was going to be expecting her new friend, she needed to actually get some studying done before the dog showed up for some snuggles.

Starting at mid-day, Sakura sat at her usual spot, basking in the warmth the sun provided that day, her book sitting open on her lap. She actually managed to power through four topics that day, feeling a lot more productive than the two days before.

Maybe the park really was the perfect spot to get her motivated again.

Now that it was approaching four though, she started getting a bit fidgety. True to Kakashi's word, the occupants of the park had dwindled down to a few familiar faces that she'd already glimpsed on her previous visits here. But so far, there was no sign of Guruko.

Or Kakashi.

'Maybe they're running a bit late', she told herself. Although if she were more honest, she had no guarantee that the little pup -or his owner- would even be keen on seeking her out again. And she was definitely not about to go look for them herself.

But Guruko had come to her on his own, repeatedly, and he seemed to be quite happy to be in her company, right?

Right?

She sat there for an hour, too antsy for some reason to be able to focus anymore on her studies, and diligently waited for her new friend to show up.

She kept on waiting, even when it kept on getting colder and the people around her kept on getting fewer. When it got too dark for her to be able to make out the words in her book, Sakura collected her things with a sigh, disappointedly making her way home.

Four

Despite the disappointment of the day before, Sakura found herself in the park yet again. Regardless of her company not showing up at the end of the day, the rest of it had been pretty productive. And she seriously needed to be more productive if she wanted to pass those exams.

She was just there to study. Seriously. There was probably no chance of Guruko coming to her again and she didn't have any hopes for him to.

'That's a lie,' a voice in her head spoke up. Sakura chose to ignore it in favour of going over her Biochemistry notes.

She was being genuine when she decided that the park was a good studying spot. The warm weather made her feel toasty and comfortable, but not comfortable enough to fall asleep again, thankfully. The sounds of kids playing and running around were low and calm enough to lull her into a state of focus, serving as the perfect background noise to prevent her from getting distracted by her own stray thoughts. Possibly thoughts of a man with oddly-coloured hair and a low voice that she really did not want to recall right now.

Sakura shook her head, banishing the offending notion from her mind and allowing herself to be absorbed back into the information in the notebook in front of her, remaining engrossed in it for the next few hours. When she checked the time on her phone, it was almost four, but this time she chose to stretch and relax her muscles, then began to gather her things. There was no reason for her to wait needlessly anymore. Especially because whatever she'd be waiting for wasn't the reason she was here in the first place. Or the main reason, at least.

Standing up, Sakura stretched again, feeling a satisfying crack in her neck. Rolling her shoulders, she bent down to grab her bag. And heard a little woof from behind her.

Turning around, her eyes widened in delight when she found Guruko trotting excitedly towards her.

And he'd brought a friend.

Behind him, there was another small dog, also covered in tan fur, looking a bit darker right above his paws like tiny leg warmers. He was carrying his leash in his mouth, limping a bit as he followed the other pup.

Sakura immediately melted.

"Hey you!" she cooed, getting down on her knees so they could snuggle up to her. Guruko immediately went to her, tail wagging excitedly as she ran her fingers through his fur. His new friend was a bit more hesitant, cautiously approaching Sakura and sniffing at her palm, before calmly tucking himself into her arms for some pats and rubs.

"Hi there." She looked up from the two pups in her arms to find Kakashi smiling down at her, hands tucked into his pockets.

"Hi!" She grinned at him, quickly turning back her attention to the dogs in her lap, who'd started nudging her frantically when she stopped petting them to greet their owner.

"I see you're becoming more and more popular with my little furry friends."

"They're just looking for some love. Who am I to say no to these wonderful creatures?" Sakura replied, laughing lightly when her newest friend stumbled a bit and fell onto his side. She picked him up and plopped him back onto her lap.

"What's your name, little guy?" She rubbed behind his ears, watching his tail begin to mimic his brother's in its movement.

"This is Bisuke," Kakashi said, sitting down in front of her with his feet tucked underneath him and grabbing Guruko, guiding him onto his own lap, "he's from the same litter as Guruko here."

"Yeah, they do look pretty similar," Sakura remarked. "Why is he limping, though?"

"Ah… He had a little accident yesterday," Kakashi started, "he tried to climb to the top of the bookcase after another dog and fell off. We had to go to the vet yesterday and get his leg checked out."

"Aw, poor baby." She grabbed his paw, rubbing it comfortingly with her fingers. "Is he going to be alright?"

"Oh yeah. It was just a sprain, thankfully. It wasn't a long fall." Kakashi's eyes crinkled as he smiled fondly at his dog, directing her eyes towards the faint scar vertically bisecting his left eye.

'Huh… It's interesting that I haven't noticed it before,' she thought to herself.

"He needs to stop copying the older dogs in everything they do though." His voice snapped her attention back to him. She blinked.

"How many dogs do you have, exactly?" she asked, the question full of obvious curiosity.

"Ah…"

Kakashi almost looked embarrassed.

"Would you… would you like to see the rest of them?

"-this right here is Akino, this is Urushi, and the big guy over there is Bull."

The silence that greeted him made Kakashi blush.

"What?"

"You… you have eight dogs?"

Kakashi laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I like dogs… and the shelter nearby has so many cute ones that need homes," he explained.

She blinked for a few seconds, before a smile appeared on her face.

"That's actually very sweet," she said as she picked up the tiniest dog of the bunch, a brown pug that looked a bit grumpy but was actually pretty cuddly as soon as he'd familiarised himself with her. Which didn't take long in the first place.

"Pakkun was my first dog," he pointed to the dog in her arms, "he's been with me for seven years now."

Pakkun let out a little yap at the sound of his name and Sakura couldn't help the 'aww' that escaped from her mouth.

"He's so cute!" she almost squealed.

'Just like his owner.'

She banished the thought quickly and hugged the dog to her. He snuggled against her chest for a few minutes while she patted the others whenever they came to her, but then he squirreled out of her hold and over to Bull, whose body he climbed up and settled onto his head; his favourite spot, according to Kakashi.

For an hour, she sat there, playing and familiarising herself with the little pack, watching as they wandered off to playfully nudge some giggly younger kids, Kakashi dutifully filling their water and food bowls when they returned. They were playful even when they were eating, wiggling and nudging each other. Sakura laughed when Bisuke managed to trip again, whining in confusion when he got back up. Kakashi, ever the doting daddy, promptly picked him up in a little, reassuring hug.

'Oh, he's a daddy alright…' a voice inside her cackled and Sakura felt her cheeks warm up, embarrassed at how her body was reacting. Sure, the man was attractive, but she was not going to act like a hormonal teenager whenever he was around. Inwardly shaking her head, Sakura focused back on the dogs, who were now gathered around their… human, waiting for their turns for some satisfying belly rubs.

The two of them chatted casually when the dogs decided to go back to playing, him telling her more about each member of the pack and her telling him about med school and finals. When it started to get dark, Kakashi sighed and told her that they needed to get going, whistling for the pack to gather around him, Sakura agreeing that she needed to do the same. Sakura told herself that she was imagining the hint of regret in his voice as he said so.

"See you tomorrow?" he asked as he took hold of all eight leashes, the dogs patiently waiting for him to nudge them into motion.

For a moment, she swore her heart almost stuttered.

He wanted to see her again.

Flustered at the idea, Sakura snapped her brain back into motion, afraid that she'd be gaping like an idiot at him for too long and scare him away.

She finally gave him a dazzling grin.

"Definitely."

Fifteen

"Are you sure you're not cold in that?"

"For the hundredth time Kakashi, no, I'm not cold."

Sakura turned back to her notes, relishing the warmth that Bull provided as he lay down over her feet. Which she was very grateful for. If not for the fact that the huge dog also blocked the view to her shapely legs. It ruined the whole purpose behind the summer dress she was wearing. But it was getting slightly chilly, and Sakura welcomed any warmth the dog's fur provided.

"What's tomorrow's final again?" Kakashi asked from beside her on the bench, leaning over slightly to peek at her notebook.

"Pathology," she told him, absently twirling the pencil in her hand.

"And what's that about?" The way he almost stuck his nose in her notebook reminded her so much of his pets, and she barely held back a laugh.

"Well," she began, "it's essentially all about disease. The cause of a disease, its origin, its nature, all of that. So, a pathologist examines samples of whatever part of the body they think the issue is in and reaches a diagnosis."

"Huh," he trailed off, scrunching his eyebrows in thought. "You don't seem to like this very much?"

"No, I do," she quickly corrected, "I really do. It's just, there's a lot of information to take in and sometimes it feels a little overwhelming. Especially the section about cardiopathology… there's so much going on there and I'm scared that I'll mix it all up."

"You'll be fine," Kakashi responded immediately, and she blinked in surprise at how confident he sounded.

"You've been studying really hard ever since I first saw you here."

'Oh you have no idea how inaccurate that statement is…'

"And I can already see how intelligent you are from our brief talks," he continued, oblivious to her thoughts. "You probably already have a pretty strong grasp on all of this info. You just need to calm down, you'll recall all that you know easily then."

'I don't think that's entirely true,' Sakura wanted to tell him. But she wasn't in the mood for a back-and-forth on this, so she didn't voice her dispute.

"You're right," she agreed instead, "I do need to calm down quite a bit."

"You need to calm your body down too, it's distracting you. What prompted you to wear a summer dress at this time of the year?"

Sakura scowled at him.

"Again, I'm not cold."

"There are goosebumps all over your skin."

"I'm enjoying the breeze," she hotly defended, and he raised his hands with a laugh.

"Alright, alright. I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

Sakura hummed in dismissal, ready to jump back into the content for her exam.

"And it's not like I'm complaining," she heard him add as an afterthought, "you look really good in yellow."

Sakura felt her cheeks heat up. Shyly tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, not daring to look at the man sitting beside her.

"Thank you," she mumbled, eyes still glued to the pages in her lap. Kakashi didn't respond, and they went back to sitting in silence, her trying to absorb as much information as she could, him lounging on the bench, watching his dogs run and play and roll on the ground.

Except Bull, who was still thankfully tucked against her legs.

She was still not going to admit that it was, in fact, beginning to get too chilly for her liking.

Half an hour later, she was all but shivering -just slightly shivering, she told herself- and tried to distract herself by mentally comparing the different types of anemia.

"Sakura?"

The amusement was all too obvious is his voice.

"...yes?"

"You still not cold?"

"..."

"Sakura?" he tried again, and she hated the laughter that she was sure to find in his eyes, should she actually dare to look into them.

"...maybe just a little," she admitted.

She heard a chuckle from beside her, accompanied by a little shuffle, and the blush that spread over her entire body was almost enough to warm her against the afternoon chill.

"Here, you can take my jacket." Sakura felt the material being placed around her shoulders, and she wiggled a bit so she could slip her arms into the sleeves. Instantly, she found herself drowning in the warmth the oversized clothing wrapped her in. And the musky scent that surrounded her, making her almost purr in delight.

"There we go," Kakashi said with a satisfied smile. "Now that you're sufficiently warm and not cranky because of the cold, I can rest assured that your performance today and tomorrow will be at its peak. You're gonna do great on your exams."

Sakura couldn't help but mirror his reassuring smile, suddenly filled with a whole new bout of confidence and motivation to study.

She would do great on her exams.

Thirty

She did not do great on her exams.

"Forehead, come on," Ino moaned from her place on Sakura's couch, "stop being so overdramatic. It's just one B!"

"Which is absolutely unacceptable!" Sakura cried in return, still disbelievingly staring at the report on her phone.

"You got an A on literally everything else." Ino gave her a pointed stare. She rolled her eyes at her friend.

"Which is even more unacceptable. There is not a single A+ in that report! Not one! That's never happened to me before."

"And I know it's upsetting," Ino tried to reason, "but that's not the end of the world. And since the world isn't ending yet, your romantic prospects shouldn't either."

"There are no romantic prospects, Ino."

"Bullshit!" Her friend snorted, now sitting upright on her couch. "You've spent almost every day with him for the past month. And every time you mention him, you have this stupid grin on your face that I haven't seen ever since you had a crush on that bastard with the duck-butt hair all through high school."

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Sure, so I have a crush. So what? Doesn't mean there's a possibility of something ever happening between us."

Ino's response was a hard glare.

"What?" Sakura squeaked. "It's true, nothing happened. And nothing will."

"Sakura," Ino was obviously barely clinging to her patience. "You said he came to you every day you were at the park?"

"Yes. Well, except that time when his dog got hurt."

"Okay. And you said that he usually plays with the dogs on the other side of the hill, not exactly close to where you are, right?"

"Yeah, but—"

"So he's going out of his way to come see you every day, and you think he's doing that for no good reason whatsoever?"

"Well…"

"Then go back to that park and get some of that Vitamin D."

"Ino," Sakura began warningly.

"The D is for 'dick'," Ino clarified.

"There will be no dicks involved," Sakura snapped, "and I will not go back to the park."

She took a breath, collecting herself so she wouldn't yell more at her friend. Not that she didn't deserve it, but still.

"All of this… there's no way to be sure that he's showing interest. It's more probable that he's just being friendly-"

"Forehead," Ino interrupted her, "you may be the top of your class, but you don't know a damn thing about men. Trust me when I say that he's interested in you, and you would be an idiot not to pursue him."

"Then I'd rather be an idiot than a heartbroken idiot."

Her friend blinked at her, obviously not expecting her answer.

"I know nothing about him Ino," she explained, "absolutely nothing, except that his name is Kakashi and he has eight dogs and that he's older because he obviously seems so. We haven't talked about anything except my anxiety about my exams and what I study."

"Well, he's obviously a decent guy too."

"How on earth would you know that?"

"He has eight dogs, Sakura. No guy with eight dogs has ever turned out to be an asshole."

Sakura had to resist the urge to throw her shoe at her best friend.

"Seriously though, Forehead. You said he was nice and that he kept coming to find you every day."

"That's exactly what it is, he's just nice. Friendly," she argued. "The dogs liked me and I liked them, and he was just generous enough to let me play with them for a little while every day after I studied."

"Yeah, but he didn't have to keep you company while you were studying." Ino sounded exasperated.

"It's still not enough to say that he likes me! Ino, my attraction towards him is probably only physical at this point, and his attraction to me is pretty much non-existent."

"Then make it happen, damn it!" Ino threw her arms up in frustration. "Sakura, this is good for you. He's good for you, probably."

"He's obviously not," Sakura argued. "He's distracting enough that I got the worst grades since I started med school. When he's not here, I'm thinking about him, and when he's sitting right beside me, I'm still thinking about him. I couldn't focus and didn't perform as well as I should have."

"Sakura, don't be stubborn…"

"I'm sorry, Ino." For the first time since they started this conversation, Sakura actually felt a little sad. "I know a relationship might be good for me, but I can't handle any distractions right now. I can't afford to lose my scholarship after I've worked so hard."

With a dejected smile, she got up and made her way to the kitchen, set on drowning herself in a large, comforting mug of hot chocolate.

"Guess I have to find a new studying spot now."

Forty

For the sixth time in the last fifteen minutes, Kakashi found himself staring at his watch, watching the seconds arm as it ticked around the dial. With a sigh, he straightened and leaned his back against the large tree behind him, the book he was reading for the day discarded beside him after he failed time and time again to absorb any of the words etched on its pages.

The sun was beginning to set, and soon it would be too dark to even try to read anymore, and he needed to get the dogs home soon so he could get to the dinner his friends had planned on time.

If he were honest with himself, he wasn't really feeling like dealing with people tonight. But it had been a while since they'd all gotten together and he'd already told him he was coming. Besides, they'd show up at his place and drag him all the way to the restaurant if he tried to make any excuses, so he might as well show up with his dignity still intact.

Letting out a loud, familiar whistle, Kakashi waited until all eight of his boys were gathered around him, obediently carrying their leashes in their mouths. He stuffed the book back in his pouch, standing up to stretch a bit before grabbing the leashes in his hands, making sure they were all secure.

Before he could start his trek back home, he felt something rubbing against his leg. Looking down, he found Guruko nuzzling his shin, letting out a whine as he looked up at him with sad eyes.

With a sigh, Kakashi crouched down to rub the little pup behind his ears.

"I know boy, I know," he said as Guruko let out another whine.

"I miss her too."

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please don't forget to leave me a review, tell me what you liked and what I could do better ^_^