Flowers.

Flowers.

And then MORE flowers!

Sakura irritably placed the next bouquet that the grinning messenger had given her on her desk. It was the thirty-sixth bouquet that week!

And it was only Tuesday!

Her office was abound with them. They had been arriving over the last two days constantly, and they all bore the same note, that had a typed message so she couldn't predict who it was from the handwriting,

Please meet me at the park one block from your apartment on Tuesday night, 6:30.

You mesmerize me.

Although this mystery admirer had at first amused her, sparked her curiosity, and excited her, now she was aggravated at him. There was no need to overdo it. Her office barely had any space left; it was annoying.

Not only that, but the whole hospital knew about it, and by now news would have reached to all of Konoha.

If she had time, she would try to ask the never-heard-of flower shop the flowers were from who had been buying them, so she could go give him a talking-to. The messengers didn't know anything.

The admirer obviously wanted to be anonymous. How did he think he could achieve that if, now, probably half of Konoha would be at the park to see who it was? She didn't like the attention herself. She couldn't go anywhere without people smirking at her, stopping to ask her if she knew who it was, how many flowers she now had, etc. She couldn't do her rounds peacefully either. Before they saw her, half her patients were informed of the mysterious happening, and then her patient was grinning at her and prying into her life as well.

Naruto had stopped by and made a big deal too, causing many to giggle behind their hands and her to go flaming red and then exclaim angrily,

"NARUTOOO!!"

before bonking him on the head, thus causing him to be knocked out. He had demanded to be able to go with her, to protect her from "dirty perverts that want to harm you, Sakura-Chan! I mean, look at all those flowers! The only reason someone would go to all that trouble is for your body!"

Looking up and realizing she was late for an appointment, she hurried to exit her office and opened the door to a startled messenger boy who had just been about to knock. Smiling amiably, he held out the flowers, a combination of pink, red, and white roses.

"Miss Haruno? These are for you."

XOXOXO

Sakura sighed, wiping her forehead, before reaching in her doctor's coat pocket to grab her keys and lock her office for the day. It was 6:10; she had been busy that day and was running late.

I guess I'll just have to go like this.

She looked down at her appearance and shrugged, not really caring. She just wanted to get this over with.

As she walked through the hospital to the exit, many heads looked up and smirked, some making comments, others vocally expressing their dissatisfaction at not being able to go that night and see whom it was.

She made her way through the night. Here, much less people noticed her, but those who did made it known. She met a group of people outside Ichiraku's that loudly exclaimed her name when they saw her.

"Hey, Sakura, we're coming with you!"

She looked over and sighed. There were Kiba, Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, Rock Lee, Neji, Tenten, Ino, Shino, and Hinata, as if waiting for her. She almost wanted to break out running to avoid them, but they quickly came over to her.

"It'll be nice seeing this mystery admirer of yours, eh?" Kiba laughed, grinning mischievously. Naruto jumped into the air and loudly proclaimed he would protect her and her honor. Sasuke said he wanted to see the person who could be obsessed with her so much. Sai just gave her his trademark fake smile, not offering his reasons for being there. Ino gushed that she wanted to see if the guy was hot or ugly, offering that she bet he would be ugly. Tenten apologized for being there, but since Neji had come, she had to come. Hinata had blushed profusely and said she was so sorry for coming, but Ino had asked her to, and then she discreetly glanced at Naruto, and Sakura understood. Shino just stood there, not saying or doing anything, as did Neji. And Rock Lee?

"Oh, Sakura-Chan! The flower of my life! The bearer of my heart!! I hope you will not accept this admirer's proposal, and I have come to see if you will or not! If you do not, I know I can still have hope to be with you! And if you do, I will not give up hope! I know that with perseverance and pure heart I will win your affections! YOSH!"

Sakura shook her head at Rock Lee proclamation, and glared at Kiba, because of the snide comment he had just made. She then told the group,

"How do you expect him to come if you all are with me?"

They immediately dismissed this, and Sakura sighed, but continued on to the park.

It was dark, perfect weather, and beautiful in the park. The moon cast an eerie shadow on the large expanse of landscape, and it would have been more beautiful if it wasn't filled with people. Apart from her group, others had also come to see who it was also. They all hung out at the park, waiting for some guy to come up to her, but none did.

Sakura looked around. She wondered where Kakashi was. Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy were there. She had expected him to be there, because they were very close friends now. They sparred together at least once a week, and she shared everything with him. Kurenai shrugged when Sakura asked.

"He's probably on a mission, otherwise I know he would be here."

Sakura nodded silently. Kurenai went on,

"Though, if he was here, this mystery admirer would never make it to you. Kakashi would probably break every bone in his body." Kurenai laughed. Sakura went red.

It was approaching 7:00, and no one had showed yet. Sakura said that he had probably gotten cold feet at seeing how many people were there. Everyone else dismissed this again. At around 7:00, she stood, everyone's eyes following her. She glared at them.

"I'm going to the bathroom, and if any one of you follow me, I'll put you in the hospital for a week!" she threatened. Naruto visibly gulped. Even Kiba looked slightly uncomfortable at her menacing tone. With that, she turned on her heel and walked away.

She did have to use the bathroom. And she was certain that if she was on her own, this mystery person would approach her. She rounded a corner and the public building came into sight, the clearing where she and her friends had been disappearing from sight. Before she knew it, she was suddenly whisked into the trees. With a yelp, she realized someone had grabbed her hand and yanked her in there.

At first it was dark. Then, she heard someone whispering something. She turned around to see the gloved hand of a person that was not holding her hand making the 'lion' hand sign and the telltale sound of a jutsu coming into effect. The next sounds she heard were the shouts of her friends, alarmed at her disappearance. She saw feet running past, and was certain they would come into the underbrush, but none came.

"Concealment Jutsu," she murmured, before turning around sharply. "So you're my secret admirer? You're ninja. I know all ninja. Who are you?" The darkness was concealing his face from view. The man still had her hand. He pulled her to him. Surprised, she fell onto his chest, realizing he was very tall. He had a telltale vest on, revealing he was either chunnin or jounin. She felt his body move as his face bent low over her.

"You mesmerize me."

Sakura froze. The husky whisper sent shivers down her spine. Once she regained her composure, she pulled back and looked up. She saw the outline of his silver hair, and she could make out his mask.

"Ka…Kakashi?"

"Hmmm," he returned in an amused voice.

Her heart was racing. She had speculated him when he had not showed up, and though she told herself to dismiss it, she had not entirely given up the idea. He had, over the past few months, grown closer to her than anyone else, she noticed.

There was silence as Sakura thought. Kakashi was about to talk to explain, when Sakura unexpectedly shifted, and as his Sharingan could see her as if she was standing in the sunlight, he saw her stance was that of placing her hands on her hips challengingly.

"You sent me those flowers?"

"Hmm."

"Forty bouquets?!"

"If you'll notice, that's how many months we have been sparring together and our acquaintance started. Exactly 40 months."

There was silence as Sakura contemplated this. Then she looked up and grinned cockily at him, causing him to almost shudder.

"You spent that much money on me? I'm guessing that's almost even half of the money you owe me after all the meals you've skipped out on."

Kakashi couldn't take it. He had been in proximity of her for almost ten minutes, and she hadn't left yet. His insides were jumping. He had planned, dreamed, and waited for this moment for so long. He had to…he needed to…

Without another thought, he grabbed her and angled her face up, dipping his own down to meet hers in a passionate kiss. It wasn't a gentle caress, it was mad desire, a fight for dominance, lips pushing against the other's in an almost bruising way. Sakura had responded, ready, the moment their lips touched, which surprised and exhilarated him beyond measure.

His tongue came out, pushing against the seam of her lips. She grinned into the kiss, opening her mouth wide, causing him to give an actual shudder. Her own tongue dove into his mouth, wrapping around his tongue, searching every crevice and causing him to almost melt. He could hardly respond, and felt the desire for more. More of her touch, more of her body. His hands cupped her face, one ran through her hair, and then traveled downward, towards her curvy hips, still as their lips devoured the others'. One of his hands at just been sneaked around her to fulfill another of his dreams and feel her ass for the first time, before she suddenly disengaged her mouth from his and stepped back, leaving him dizzy, confused, and disoriented. He swayed for a moment.

"S-Sakura?"

Sakura angled her head up to speak into his ear. She nipped at it and licked the lobe, causing him to shudder and gasp, before retreating a little.

"How bout training tomorrow? I'll meet you at nine," she whispered seductively, still breathing a little heavily from their kiss, before suddenly disappearing, leaving him surrounded by a flurry of flower petals and the echoes of her breaths in his ears.

XOXOXO

The next morning was when it started.