Sakura slowly opened her eyelids stuck by the tones of eye boggers. She had absolutely no memory of yesterday... to wit, all she remembered was that as soon as they defeated Kakashi together with Naruto, they went out to dinner. She regretted a bit that she hadn't agreed to this date with Naruto, he had changed a bit after returning from his training with Jiraiya, although he still had something of a child in him. Though she had to admit that at sixteen he was really handsome. Then she ran into Ino, who was muttering something about an amazing party and then... emptiness.

As if on cue, Sakura felt a terrible throbbing pain in her head. She moaned softly and rolled over, deciding that a precious few minutes in bed wasn't a sin.

It was then that she noticed the storm of light grey hair in front of her.

She made a vague sound, looking at the figure lying under the covers... in her bed! Slowly she got up, wanting to make sure if the man laying by her side was really... Kakashi-sensei? She leaned on her hands next to his head to peer over his shoulder at his... face!

Bared face!

Sakura began to stare at his sleeping face with concern. It's true that he had his back to her, but from the very profile she could tell that there was a real handsome under the famous mask. With a trembling hand, she brushed a strand of light hair from his forehead and leaned closer to see if he was still asleep. When she suddenly realized something. Especially when she rubbed her breasts against his body.

She was completely naked!

Horrified by the lack of memory from yesterday's party, she looked under the covers to make sure they weren't going too crazy. And right after she noticed the naked buttocks of her teacher, her face turned red and Sakura lay stiffly next to him, tightly covering her whole body with the blanket.

It was then that Kakashi turned around, muttering something about amazing sex. He threw his hand over her breasts, and Sakura felt his hot body hugging her. Terrified, she froze, wondering if what seemed to be rock-hard and pressing against her hip was his vitals.

"Kakashi-sensei," she whispered and moved slightly, and it was a mistake, then Kakashi hid his face in the hollow of her neck and his hot breath made goose bumps on her exposed parts of her body. "Kakashi-sensei!" she repeated a little louder, but still softly enough not to be heard by her parents.

Suddenly something struck her, she looked around at what would be her room, but... it wasn't even her home! She didn't know where she was. Was it Kakashi's apartment or maybe they ended up in some hotel...

"Hm?" the mentioned one muttered.

Sakura's heart did a somersault. Was he just waking up?

"Kakashi-sensei..." she squeaked almost silently.

"Sakura?" he wondered, snuggling closer to her body. "Another five minutes... and then we'll start training... just... let me enjoy my companion..." That said, he tightened his hand on one of her breasts.

Sakura froze. "Ka-Kakashi-sensei, but..."

"Sakura, if you are in such a hurry to train, can you go out? I need to get dressed," he gasped, and she ignored the smell of alcohol that escaped from his mouth.

"I can't, because... you... hold me..." she gasped, feeling her cheeks turning red with embarrassment.

There was nothing to be surprised of in her behaviour, after all he was her teacher, and she was his student, moreover she was only sixteen. In the eyes of law she was nonadult, but she was certainly a woman already, or at least that's what her body claimed. Although Sakura might have assumed that if it was Ino who had ended up in bed with her teacher, she would probably be as embarrassed as was Sakura... though Ino's example wasn't good enough, because she herself hasn't seen any boundaries. However, her teacher had them clearly marked — Kurenai-sensei was that boundary.

And to make matters worse, Sakura didn't remember anything.

Kakashi kept his eyes closed all this time, but when he heard her words, he looked at her almost immediately.

"Sakura?!" he shouted, sitting down on the bed.

Such a sudden movement was unlikely to be advisable in the case of a hangover, which is why he immediately grabbed his head.

"Chikushō!" Kakashi swore.

If Sakura hadn't been so embarrassed by her nakedness, maybe she would have sat down and helped him, because even with a hangover, the medic nin could find a cure.

"Kakashi-sensei, if you lay down, I could help you somehow," Sakura said, staring at his bare back, trying to ignore the fact that she liked that view.

As he lowered his hands, she was delighted to watch the play of the muscles under his skin, and when he turned his gaze on her, she clenched her hands on the quilt with which she was tightly covered. The fact that her teacher had already touched her in an uncensored way was enough for her.

"I don't think it will be necessary," he muttered and lay back by her side, this time not looking in her direction at all, he asked, "You don't remember anything either?"

Sakura pursed her lips into a narrow line.

"Nothing at all."

"Great," he concluded, staring at the ceiling.

The day before

Sakura regretted that she didn't agree to this date with Naruto, in the end she could pay for herself and nothing bad would happen to her. After all, she was in a slightly better financial situation than her friend, especially since she still had both parents, and he was living on his own. As she walked towards her home, she thought about how it all turned out. Naruto finally returned from his journey with Jiraiya, after all, everything was as it used to be...

Well, almost, because they still haven't managed to bring Sasuke back to Konoha. Sakura was very concerned about this, but she was much more pleased that at least one of her friends had returned.

All these two years she had been training under Tsunade, knowing she wouldn't be an obstacle from now on. She wanted to show Naruto that she could do more than just passively observe. Thanks to training under the Hokage, she managed to defend her chūnin title. As demanding as it was, she knew she could handle it. The more so because it was all supervised by her first teacher. Kakashi always hung around somewhere to see his apprentice's progress. She knew this because sometimes she would destroy one of the trees on which he was perched. And then he fell to the ground at her feet with his book, pretending to be completely taken aback.

"Kakashi-sensei!" she shouted at him then.

"Sakura, you completely surprised me." The sarcasm was almost pouring out of him.

"Like every last time, it's getting boring..."

Then Kakashi gave her his seemingly bored look.

"Really?"

She knew what he meant. He missed his students, just like she missed Naruto and Sasuke. It was the only reason why he was around somewhere near her.

Unfortunately, their discussions had to be short-lived, as too long neglect during training with Tsunade could have ended in death for her.

So, Sakura knew perfectly well that Kakashi was in control of her training, even if it was Tsunade who was pulling the strings. He checked her progress and then pretended he was appearing somewhere nearby quite by accident.

"Sakura!"

There was a scream, but the teenager was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't hear anything.

"Hey, Forehead!" Ino roared.

Sakura, distracted from her thoughts, turned to see her friend walking towards her with blissful eyes. "You probably don't know anything again, do you?!" she exclaimed when she reached the pink-haired girl.

When asked, she frowned. "I don't know about what?" Sakura asked.

"I knew it! About this party!"

Sakura blinked in surprise. "What are you talking about, Ino?" The mentioned one beamed even more. "Well, about the party because of Naruto's return!"

Sakura's mouth fell open in surprise.

"You won't believe it, but all the boys are there! We have to go there, come on!" Ino pulled her friend's hand and she didn't protest. At least until she realized one important thing.

"But, Ino, I'm inappropriately dressed!" Sakura protested.

"Come on, they're all fucked up there already! Especially Naruto, he even addresses Shikamaru as Sakura-chan," Ino laughed, then she added viciously; "I have to see it."

Sakura frowned.

"How is that? After all, he's not..."

"None of the boys is a adult, but Iruka-sensei and Gai-sensei are there, even Jiraiya-sama who is topping Naruto himself," Ino chattered, and Sakura tried to put it all together in a logical way. "Only Sasuke is missing at this party, but somehow we will manage without him. There's Kiba, Chōji, Shino, Neji, Lee... All the guys!"

Sakura didn't really understand why they would have to stick to a party that was apparently just for boys. After all, the girls didn't have to celebrate with them, but on the other hand... Sakura missed her friend and the vision of spending a little more time in his company sounded tempting.

"Yamato-taichō has practically been eliminated at the very beginning... and Kotetsu and Izumo are still drinking with them!" Ino was outraged, then looked around and stopped in the middle of the road. "I made an appointment with Tenten that we would get all the girls here and we would all pound into their party."

Sakura put her hand to her forehead and sighed softly. She somehow felt that it wasn't a good idea, but Ino always thought about picking up a boy after Sasuke left. The woman is changeable, but Ino has already surpassed herself.

The day after the party

She noticed that someone was sleeping outside their premises before they even opened. Angry at the fact that there were no classes at the academy, at those wasted minutes when she could train in the backyard, and at some homeless kid, she started angrily towards him.

She bent over him and punched him on the head. "Get out of here!" she roared.

The blonde-haired boy jumped to his feet and groaned in pain as the hangover finally hit. "I need a drink of water," he muttered.

The teen snorted. "If you don't pay, you won't get anything!" she hissed.

"Asami!" Ayame shouted. "What are you doing?"

The mentioned one took her eyes off the boy sitting on the ground right in front of Ichiraku and looked at her older sister.

"I'm chasing that homeless kid," the fourteen-year-old retorted.

Ayame shook her head.

"It's Naruto," Ayame muttered, dissatisfied with the behaviour of her younger sister. "Our regular customer."

Asami was whining something under her breath, but wasn't about to argue with her sister. "Shouldn't you be at the academy right now, Asami?" Ayame asked.

The fourteen-year-old frowned. "Iruka-sensei didn't show up in class."

This time it was Ayame who frowned, looked at Naruto purring something, then looked around the deserted street, which was normal at this time. Was Iruka hanging out with Naruto?

"Naruto, are you hungry?" Ayame asked politely.

The boy shook his head.

"Water, please," he merely muttered.

Ayame smiled.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, I don't remember anything..." he muttered, rubbing the spot where Asami had hit him.

"This is that Naruto?" the fourteen-year-old snorted. "Nothing special about him..."

And maybe it was her mistake, or maybe it was that Naruto had drunk too much sake the day before, but right after her words, the boy vomited right at her feet.

Zero hour — the girls join the party

Hinata looked unconvinced, just like Sakura, but both of them really wanted to see Naruto. Even if he was drunk and talking stuff.

However, all the girls who entered the bar right behind Ino, i.e. Tenten, Temari, Hinata and Sakura, didn't expect to see what they found there.

Temari snorted when she noticed Naruto hugging Shikamaru and calling him "Sakura-chan" every now and then. Chōji was already lying on the floor and snoring loudly, but all the rest had a great time. Jiraiya disappeared somewhere, probably with some beautiful stranger, Gai struggled with Yamato, who apparently had healed magically, Iruka kept urging them not to drink that much, although he was still sipping himself. Lee was out of the bar fighting with one of the customers in his drunken ninja style. Shino didn't drink, he only dealt with his worms, and Kiba was so drunk that instead of drinking sake himself, he poured it into Akamaru's muzzle, and Izumo and Kotetsu socked on each other, mainly about the mysterious Kotetsu bandage.

"Gentlemen, your ladies have arrived!" Ino exclaimed happily, who was the only one dressed for this party, while Sakura was wearing her training outfit all the time, Hinata was in her pyjamas, Temari was in her usual outfit, and Tenten looked the same as she always did, because she never took notice of her looks, but she liked to drink and that was the only reason she wanted to get to this party.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed happily and was about to move towards her, when he hooked on the table's leg at which he was sitting and fell down.

Sakura sighed resignedly and was about to go to him to help him get up, when suddenly Shikamaru started from his seat and staggered to help his friend to stand up, though somehow he didn't care too much about Chōji sleeping on the floor; well, apparently friendships had their limits. Shikamaru probably wouldn't be able to lift his best friend from the floor, as he was too heavy for him. Though he would probably never openly tell him that.

Sakura smiled as Naruto once again took Shikamaru for her and giggled softly. She didn't even notice when her companions scattered and she was left alone. She stared at the two drunken boys, though she might as well help them herself.

"Is it nice to make fun of your comrades in this state?" That voice belonged to Kakashi.

Sakura glanced at him over her shoulder, he was standing right behind her. One hand was tucked in a pocket of his jōnin pants, and in the other he was holding a book.

"Kakashi-sensei," she said as if it was something obvious, but she had no idea how often he used to visit such places. "Shouldn't you reprimand your student that he's too young to consume alcohol?"

Kakashi sighed. "I'm not his teacher anymore. I have already told you that from now on we're on the same level. Besides, I didn't tell him to drink, and anyway, it's best to learn from his own mistakes, once he catch a hangover, he won't drink alcohol anymore." He shrugged.

"And I'm supposed to believe you came here quite by accident?" Sakura asked, smiling slyly.

She didn't know how often Kakashi visited bars, but he was certainly doing something else besides his teaching duties, being ninja and reading books. Only getting drunk in a bar didn't fit into her image of him; although until recently she thought Kakashi was asexual, as he had never expressed interest in either the opposite sex or other men. And although he was reading these books, Sakura suspected that he might be hiding his orientation, especially considering the fact that he was a teacher of young genins, who were mostly boys.

Until Sakura quite accidentally burst into the bar where Kakashi was at the time. Until then, she had thought that on his days off from work he would hide in the privacy of his apartment and read books, but not that night when Ino once again pulled Sakura out for gossip and a non-alcoholic drink, as she was too depressed most of the time by Naruto's absence. It was then that Sakura noticed Kakashi talking to some woman. And she noticed the flush on her cheeks and also noticed how she was giggling every now and then.

The conclusion was simple — Kakashi was hitting on her.

And then he caught her spying, and even waving his hand in greeting didn't help. He smiled at her as he used to and left the bar then, leaving his companion alone at the counter.

But why did he come to this bar that evening? Sakura didn't know.

"I visit places like this every now and then," he said simply.

"And you had no idea about this party?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi took a step forward to catch up with her. "I must admit, I was curious."

"So since you're here, sensei, why don't we have a drink?" She looked at him suspiciously, she was curious if he would let his student drink alcohol.

He just shrugged his shoulders.

"As I mentioned, I'm not responsible for you as a teacher anymore. And we don't have any missions planned yet, so... do as you please."

Sakura felt a bit disappointed, but didn't let it show. She shrugged her shoulders and sat down next to Naruto, who immediately poured her some sake from tokkuri, and then hung on her shoulder. She smiled at her loud friend, who had already lisped quite strongly, then followed her gaze back to Kakashi and lifted the cup. Her former teacher merely nodded at her, staring at her suspiciously, as if he were almost certain she wouldn't drink it, and that if she did drink it, she would spit it all out.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Naruto pour the drink for himself without hesitation, so she decided that she would also have it. She looked back at Kakashi and put the cup to her mouth, first gently dipping her lips in the drink to taste it. She could feel her teacher's eyes on her, so on the spur of the moment she decided to drink the entire contents of the cup at once. She tilted it and swallowed the liquid. It seemed sweet at first, then she felt a slightly sharper note. She winced for a moment and squeezed her eyes shut, but when she opened them, Kakashi was already sitting at the table with them.

Sakura didn't even notice when her cup was full again, and Naruto kept telling her about his training with Jiraiya. Sakura was trying to focus on what he was saying to her, but her head was dizzy and her ears were ringing.

Somewhere in the bar, she noticed Ino hitting on some jōnin or chūnin, Sakura couldn't tell. The rest of the girls scattered somewhere, except for Temari and Tenten at the table with them. Tenten was just competing with Neji for the title of the strongest head, Lee managed to come back and fell right next to Chōji because his drunken ninja style had its limit. Shino didn't get into much of the conversation, but it seemed like he was listening to what Naruto was talking about, and Kiba was already so drunk that he was hugging Akamaru .

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, who suddenly seemed to notice his teacher, who joined their circle. "You have to drink with me! For our win! For those bells we've earned!"

Kakashi smiled at his student and put his cup into which Naruto poured sake. Everyone at their table was already drunk, except for Shino, busy with his worms, and Tenten, who got Neji drunk more and more, and who didn't have such a strong head for alcohol, so only Sakura was watching Kakashi closely. She wondered how he was going to drink his alcohol.

Will he take off his mask?

"Sakura-chan, do you know how hard I trained with the Pervy Sage?" Naruto once again turned to Shikamaru, who in turn completely didn't know what was going on around him.

Drunken Naruto pushed him so that by accident Shikamaru's hand landed on Temari's thigh, who elbowed him in the face.

"Sorry!" he muttered, grabbing his nose.

However, Temari didn't accept his apologies. She turned to Kakashi, who was sitting between her and Tenten, and watched him sip the drink through the mask.

"And yet you didn't lie about the fact that he never pulls it off," Temari said grimly, turning to Sakura.

"Unfortunately, we've never been able to discover what Kakashi-sensei is hiding under it," she said regretfully and hiccupped. "Big rabbit teeth perhaps?"

Kakashi gave her an amused look at this comment.

Next to her, Kiba fell unconscious on the table and Akamaru put his muzzle on her thigh.

"It's okay, Akamaru. Kiba will recover," she muttered, though her words seemed to blend into one and sound indistinct.

Kakashi laughed, and she noticed a nasty stain of sake on his mask.

"You'll have to wash it!" she said.

"I can always hire you for this," he retorted.

"No, I'd love to watch you do it yourself, sensei!"

"I'll have to take my mask off and give it to you so that you can wash it," Kakashi replied calmly in such a way that she would understand his every word perfectly.

Sakura's mouth went dry immediately. Was he just offering to show her his face?

That's when Tsunade entered the bar.

Naruto grinned, screaming; "Have a drink with me, Granny!"

Surprisingly, Tsunade pushed her way through the party people lying on the floor and pushed herself into the spot between Sakura and Naruto. She took the cup into which Naruto poured the drink and drank it down.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune shouted in despair, who could barely keep up with her master. "We have to go back and fill out the reports!"

"I don't give a shit! I'll fill them out tomorrow, and today... let me go today" she muttered and rushed Naruto to pour her another batch. "Sakura, what are you waiting for?! Why aren't you drinking?!"

Sakura sobered up immediately. "Hai!" she exclaimed and poured the entire content of the cup down her throat.

Kakashi smiled, clearly amused by her reaction, and after a while he sipped his drink himself.

"What are we celebrating?!" Tsunade said.

"Naruto's return," Kiba muttered with his mouth at the counter.

"Great! Then as long as I drink, you all drink with me, understood?!"

Sakura looked terrified at Kakashi. She had never had alcohol in her mouth before, and she was already dizzy after three glasses.

"Tsunade-shishou..." she began.

"Relax, Sakura. I have a weak head for alcohol," the Hokage cut in on her. "Remember to get me outside in time so I don't muck anything up..."

Sakura nodded.

And so everyone in the bar, whether they wanted to or not, had to keep up with the Hokage. This quickly proved impossible, especially for someone who never had alcohol in their mouth or rarely drank, like Kakashi.

Sakura looked at Kakashi, but he was already finishing another cup. She wondered how long it would take before she'll be completely drunk.