Notes: This is my very first piece of fan fiction, and I am excited to share it with you! Please be aware that this fic is not canon, and ignores pretty much everything having to do with the entire Fourth Shinobi War. It started out as a little plot bunny that wouldn't go away, and snowballed from there. Many thanks to PaperGangsta for being my support and encouragement! This story would not have turned out the way it did if not for her. :)

The Tenacity of Her Heart

Chapter 1

Sakura glanced at her watch for the third time as she stood at one end of the coffee shop, waiting for her drink. She really didn't want to be late to work today, but she was quickly becoming addicted to the caffeine. Briefly she wondered if that was healthy, and then she wondered if she should have ordered an iced coffee considering how hot it was already getting to be.

Who orders hot coffee on a day like today? She scolded herself.

Seriously, it was only June and already the temperatures were getting close to 90 degrees every day. That combined with the recent academy graduates being sent out on their first Genin missions was resulting in an influx of patients at the hospital, and Sakura needed her new-found caffeine fix in order to cope.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar mop of silver hair heading her way. Presumably, Kakashi had just placed his order as well.

"Kakashi-sensei!" she greeted enthusiastically. "This is the third day in a row I've seen you here so early. Since when do you drink coffee?"

At that moment the barista hurriedly set Sakura's drink on the counter, but before she could pick it up Kakashi grabbed it from her reach.

"Sakura-chan," he replied with a crinkle of his one visible eye, "I've ordered coffee here every day for the last fifteen years. So maybe I should ask you. When did you start drinking—did you call this coffee?"

Sakura could see his over-acted grimace despite the mask covering his face as he sniffed her flavored coffee. She supposed that after eight years of working together, if she couldn't read every one of Kakashi's facial expressions she wasn't fit to be a ninja.

And if he was going to be facetious she wouldn't answer his question at all.

"I like my coffee when it doesn't taste like dirt, thank you!" She admonished as she took her drink back from him. "Anyway what are you drinking that's so much better?"

"Whatever you say, Miss Double-Cafe-Mocha-Non-Fat-with-a-Shot-of-Vanilla. And I take my coffee black. The way you're supposed to drink it."

Just then his coffee cup landed on the counter, and with that Kakashi breezed away from Sakura, pulling out his orange-jacketed book as he went.

"See you tomorrow!" he called with a raise of his cup over his shoulder.

And just like that, Sakura discovered that perhaps the only thing for which Kakashi was never late was his morning coffee.

She continued to run into Kakashi every morning for the next two weeks, and they struck up a familiar routine of early morning banter.

"But if all you drink is plain old black coffee, why do you buy it from the shop every day? Don't you have a coffee maker at home?"

"I did."

"You did? As in past-tense?"

"Well it broke, you see," Kakashi alleged defensively.

"Uh-huh. When did it break?"

"...twelve years ago."

Sakura just rolled her eyes in response.

Soon their daily banter evolved into more meaningful conversations, and Sakura actually looked forward to getting up a little earlier just to spend a few extra minutes with Kakashi. When Kakashi began walking with her from the coffee shop to the hospital, it dawned on her that they had actually become friends.

It made sense, really. Sakura had been promoted to Jonin a year ago, and so as far as anyone else was concerned they were peers now. Their fighting styles complimented each other and they frequently took missions together, but they had never had a friendship outside of their profession before now. But why not? Clearly they got along and they enjoyed each other's company.

It wasn't long before daily coffee sometimes turned into lunches at a noodle shop halfway between Kakashi's apartment and hers, and Sakura suspected that their relationship was still evolving. They were beginning to spend a considerable amount of time with each other, and discovering more and more things that they had in common.

She was quickly realizing that although he didn't share her need for a daily routine, he still shared some of the same compulsive personality traits that she exhibited. And outside of his public penchant for smutty romance novels, Kakashi actually possessed a diverse collection of books that rivaled her own. This had been a rich source of conversation for them, and gave Sakura quite the insight into the man's opinions on a wide variety of topics.

And then there were his jokes. God, was he funny! He had a dry, sarcastic sense of humor and she seemed to be one of the few who shared it. She had never laughed so much before, even after spending much of her free time with Naruto, the insatiable prankster.

Rarely a day went by anymore that they were both in the village and didn't make plans to meet. They spoke openly and effortlessly, quickly dropping the honorifics and establishing a first-name-only familiarity.

Sakura was definitely developing a serious crush. She was surprised when the realization came to her only because of her lack of apprehension, given their recent closeness. Although her dating experience was only limited to a couple of quick but heated relationships, she was also pretty sure this crush on Kakashi wasn't one-sided.

In fact, Kakashi had definitely begun flirting with her.

At first she thought it was a joke. Really, why would Kakashi, the man who'd previously been her sensei, suddenly take an interest in her? She was significantly younger and although her looks were certainly unique, she didn't think she was anything too special. Weren't there other, more classically beautiful women that caught his eye?

But his attention to Sakura persisted. Without fail, he walked her to work every day after meeting at the coffee shop and they made more regular lunch dates. Not that they were really dates, per say (he hadn't even ever offered to buy her coffee, let alone lunch), but they were enjoying more and more meals together as the summer wore on. They talked about everything from village gossip to missions to deep intellectual topics, and Kakashi never even took out his book when he was with Sakura. He made her blush with mildly suggestive comments whenever possible and even offered her his arm like he was escorting her through the streets.

Then suddenly one hot August day at lunch, he took her hand that rested on the table between them and held it.

The gesture was innocent but significant. She had maybe, kind of put her hand there on purpose to see if Kakashi would take it, but never actually expected him to do it. It had been childish, yes, but it was clearly an effective litmus test.

She blushed as his thumb rubbed absently over her knuckles.

That unshakeable idiot didn't even miss a beat!

No, he just kept right on talking about jutsu theory like nothing had changed! She had been rather enjoying such an intellectually stimulating conversation and then he had to go and ruin her concentration and her train of thought.

"...And there's been a fair amount of research on the link between chakra elements and the inherent personality types of individual people."

Kakashi paused and was clearly looking for a response, but she had missed half of what he'd said and lost the thread of conversation. She blushed harder and shook her head, suddenly self-conscious.

"Sorry Kakashi...I was just thinking about something else and...missed all that," she finished lamely.

He only smiled at her under the mask and squeezed her hand knowingly.

After that Kakashi made a habit of hand-holding across the table, and Sakura couldn't help the giddiness that came over her every time she felt the rough pads of his fingers and the soft leather of his gloves on her own small hand. She supposed that she would really have to work on getting used to that so she could keep talking to him, though.

It was the first week of October when Naruto had forced them all out to a popular shinobi bar for his birthday. Although Kakashi had been out for drinks with them several times in the past, Sakura was more aware than ever of their bumping knees and elbows as he perched on the stool next to her at the crowded table. After two hours of various drinking games and the general excitement and chaos of bar shenanigans, they were all reasonably tipsy.

"I'll buy the next round!" Sakura exclaimed to the general table with an enthusiastic raise of her hand. She registered orders from Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, and Kiba, but heard nothing from the Copy Nin sitting next to her. So reasoning to herself (in a fit of alcohol-induced boldness) that it was high time to give some shtick back to Kakashi, she did something completely insane.

With what she hoped was a cat-like grace, Sakura put her hand on Kakashi's leg to get his attention. When he didn't immediately look at her, she grazed her palm over his knee in a mildly suggestive fashion (she was going for seductive, not lewd, after all), and bent close to his ear to whisper so that only he could hear.

"What would you like, Kakashi?"

It was an innocent question but her tone and proximity seemed incredibly intimate to Sakura. His name felt luxurious on her loose tongue and her attitude towards Kakashi had never been so confident and so adult.

Maybe I should drink with him more often, she thought cunningly. Surely she had him on the rails this time, as he would never expect such a bold move from Sakura.

Kakashi turned to her with a raised eyebrow and what she presumed to be a smirk on his face. Sakura forced herself not to move her hand.

"Sex on the Beach."

Or maybe not.

"Pervert!"

Her face flushed and for good measure she punctuated her accusation with a quick swat to the back of his head. Perhaps it was a bit harder than she had intended, as his forehead protector was knocked further askew than normal.

"Ow! And that's a drink!"

"I know that, but you don't actually want one, you're just trying to get a rise out of me!

"Well it worked, didn't it?" He was laughing at her now, shaking ever so slightly in his seat. "Besides, you started it."

"Argh! Buy your own damn drink!"

With that she stormed off in the direction of the central bar to place the order for the table, minus one fruity cocktail, but couldn't hide the grin on her face. All right, so drinking with Kakashi now had the potential to be infinitely more entertaining.

As the weather turned colder, Sakura and Kakashi found they had fewer opportunities to spend time together. They weren't any busier, and if anything they had fewer missions this time of the year. The real problem was that many food stands, including their favorite outdoor café, were now closed for the winter. While Kakashi still walked her to work (and she found a new excuse to huddle against him for warmth), it was rather difficult to hold a decent conversation when both of their faces were buried in wooly scarves.

This was simply unacceptable, and Sakura took it upon herself to remedy the situation by inviting Kakashi to dinner at her apartment.

"I didn't know you could cook," he mused. For once his tone was not mocking or sarcastic; he seemed genuinely curious at this new prospect.

"Well I'm no gourmet chef, but I can hold my own in the kitchen," she replied with confidence.

"Well then I would be honored, Sakura."

She grinned at his playful tone, and the crinkle of his eye alerted her to his own matching smile.

Admittedly, she was a little apprehensive about the idea of having Kakashi over to her home. Alone. In private. Would it be awkward? Would he finally make a move on her? Would she accept it if he did?

Well that was one thing she knew at least. She was dying for him to make a move and to elevate their relationship further.

It's not that Sakura was old fashioned in the sense that she believed the man always had to take the lead in a relationship. It was more like she was scared that she was completely misreading the situation. She already had one teammate with whom she had experienced unrequited love, and she didn't know if she could risk going public with her feelings for a second one without being absolutely sure he returned them. That niggling sense of doubt that Kakashi would choose her over any other woman in Konoha kept her silent, despite all of the signs he was giving her otherwise.

The aforementioned teammate, Sasuke, had returned to Konoha of his own volition a little over a year ago. It was quite the dramatic spectacle, as he had to convince first the gate guards and then the Hokage that he had returned with peaceful intentions. Tsunade and the Council held a trial in the weeks afterwards, but in the end his sentencing was lenient. Kakashi had confided in Sakura that he suspected that was mostly the Council's doing; he alleged they would do anything they could not to lose the only remaining person in Konoha that would be able to pass on the Sharingan. Tsunade was overseeing Sasuke's rehabilitation and assimilation back into the village. So far his progress was good and he had finally been granted permission to train again with his old team just two months ago, although he wouldn't be allowed to take missions for some time yet.

When Sasuke had returned, Sakura found herself anxious to speak with him again and regain what little familiarity they had before he left the village. But Sasuke was reclusive and rarely left his home; he barely even acknowledged his teammates at training. Since Sasuke seemed apathetic towards everyone (and especially Sakura), she had quickly decided it best to mirror that attitude towards him. And as of the last several months, Kakashi was taking up more and more of her private thoughts anyway.

Thankfully Sakura was pleasantly surprised (and a little relieved) that the evening Kakashi first came to her apartment for dinner was just like any other meal they shared. They made jokes and laughed together, and mused over the current affairs of their beloved village. It was so easy and natural that by the end of the evening Sakura was left feeling lighter than she had in months, despite the dismal weather.

Like drinks at the bar, and lunches at the cafe before that, and morning coffee before that, Sakura and Kakashi added evening meals to their repertoire of reasons to spend time together.

Occasionally Kakashi would feel guilty and buy the groceries, but he always helped with the dishes. And when Sakura didn't feel like cooking, they braved the cold and found a restaurant at which to eat. They always ended up holding their table longer than was usually acceptable given the line of people waiting to dine, but they selfishly struggled to give up their conversation and part ways.

Sakura loathed the days when one or both of them was out of the village, and the days when they were so busy that they could only share coffee and a brief walk to the hospital were almost as bad. The days during which they had time to have dinner together were her favorite by far. Their shared meals were always relaxed, and the pair had become so familiar with the other's habits and mannerisms that they felt like they had always shared such closeness. When they were together the hours breezed by as if they were only minutes, and the minutes ticked by as if they were mere seconds.

By the holidays, Sakura was in utterly over her head. She agonized over what to buy him for Christmas. She felt she needed to get him something, because their—what was the right thing to call it—relationship? Friendship? She didn't really know how to label it, but whatever they were, they were definitely close enough to exchange gifts.

In the end she opted for simple, and purchased some high-end shuriken with some of Kakashi's preferred brand of weapons polish. If nothing else he would appreciate the practicality of the gift, although Sakura regretted that it wasn't very personal.

When she opened her gift from Kakashi, she felt woefully inadequate.

He had tracked down a personal copy of an expensive medical reference book that Sakura was forever returning to and re-checking out from the library. She lugged that book everywhere and although she had tried to buy her own copy, it was out of print and nowhere to be found. Leave it to Kakashi to be the one person with enough connections in the world to find something so obscure.

"Kakashi," she breathed as she leafed through the crisp pages, "This is amazing! I don't know what to say!"

"Thank you?" He chided with a grin.

"Well of course thank you, thank you so much! Where did you find it?"

"I made friends with an antique bookseller in Suna on a mission a few years ago. He helped me find it. And I just happened to have a mission to Suna two weeks ago so the timing was perfect to pick it up…"

Sakura thought she could see just a tinge of pink on Kakashi's cheeks above his mask as he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully.

"It's wonderful. Thank you, really!"

"If you're happy, Sakura, then I'm happy."

She couldn't help but hug him tightly after that, and relished the feel of his arms around her as he hugged her back.

Unfortunately Kakashi was sent on a string of missions soon after the holidays, and even worse was that Sakura was stuck in the village. Tsunade needed her at the hospital to help combat a particularly nasty flu outbreak. The stress and distance took their toll on Sakura greatly, as she barely saw Kakashi for six weeks or so. They did manage to spend time together on the days that he was in the village, but those days were few and far between and the frustration of being cooped up inside was getting to be unbearable. Worse still was that her frustration over the things she couldn't control, like mission schedules, was transferring over to frustration at Kakashi.

What the hell was going on between them? It had been a good six or seven months since they had struck up this…this…whatever it was…and although they seemed to be heading in the direction of a romantic relationship, she felt like they were in limbo.

They flirted all the time, and they saw each other every day. Isn't that what couples did? But never once had he offered to pay for anything when they were out together, so it didn't seem like they had really been on a date or anything. (Sakura didn't count the occasions when he bought groceries for their dinner, since her contribution was cooking the meal.) They hugged and held hands, but if Kakashi wanted to date her, wouldn't he have kissed her by now?

Admittedly, she was also being stubborn and decided that she refused to be the one to bring it up. The last thing she wanted was to break the spell and mess up their carefully crafted dynamic. Whenever her thoughts turned to this subject she resigned herself to just keep going with the flow. Something would change eventually; he would make a move or he would start distancing himself. She should just enjoy the time they spent together now.

When Kakashi was finally back in the village for more than a couple of days at a time, Sakura's mood didn't improve. She did her best to be mentally and emotionally present whenever she was with Kakashi, and she still immensely enjoyed the time they spent together. But she kept hoping that he would say or do something else that would change their status again, or maybe set up some clearer boundaries. But none of those things happened, and their relationship continued to stagnate. In some ways his return from the field was more exasperating simply because it was so anti climactic.

Ugh, men.

Upon his return to Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke had became an observer.

This was mostly out of necessity, of course. He had always been a man of action, not content to sit back and let others take the lead while he sat idly by. Unfortunately, he now had to lay in the bed that he had made when he abandoned the village to become an avenger. If he wanted to be accepted back into the ranks of Konoha shinobi, he had to lie low and be a good little lap dog.

It was not that his intentions were dishonorable. He had achieved his goal and killed Itachi, avenging the deaths of his clan. But he had barely wiped the blood from his sword when his mind had begged the question, What now?

After a week or so of wandering in the general direction of Konoha, he had decided to come back. He no longer had a particular direction or goal, so he figured he should try to create some semblance of a meaningful life as other people did: he would be a loyal Konoha ninja again.

He also had vague notions of wanting to restore his clan, and knew that the best way to do that would be to settle back in Konoha.

When he had first arrived, he thought that clan blood would be important in this endeavor. He had initially pegged Hyuuga Hinata as a potential candidate for a future wife. Combining the bloodlines that possessed both the Sharingan and the Byakugan was a very intriguing idea to Sasuke. But he soon gave up on that line of thought when he realized that the idiot Naruto was already courting her, and that he was unlikely to convince Hinata's father to allow her to marry a previous village traitor.

And so it was with great interest that he began observing Haruno Sakura.

The Sakura that he remembered had been weak, annoying, and utterly useless in battle. The Sakura that he saw before him now was completely the opposite of his memory.

The first time he saw her split apart the earth with her bare fist, he was so caught off guard that he almost fell victim to her attack. Almost. But he was still faster than her. And it was in that moment that he had begun to re-consider her as a possible partner in the restoration of his clan.

Sakura may not have been from one of the elite Konoha clans, but her skills as a kunoichi were not to be dismissed so easily. Such skills would be necessary for proper breeding of the future Uchiha generations.

Yes, the more he thought about it, the more Sakura seemed like the perfect person. Choosing Sakura would allow for an easier union, anyway; there would be no political agenda to contend with and he would not have to seek approval from clan elders.

There was, however, her ever-present bossiness. If he was going to take a wife, she would need to be obedient, like his mother had been towards his father. Sasuke supposed he would have to train Sakura to serve his needs. It would be possible, he knew. His mother had been a Jonin, too, but understood his father's importance within the clan and by extension, her duty as his wife to support him and defer to his will. His father had once told Sasuke that much like being a shinobi meant putting a mission above anything else, being part of a clan meant putting the clan above everything else, too. His mother understood that, he said, and someday Sasuke would need to impress upon his wife the same ideals.

It would also be important to go about things in the right order: marriage and then children. If he was going to build a proper clan, he needed legitimate heirs. Otherwise he wouldn't bother with a wife and he would just go around fucking every woman that would share his bed.

Tempting, but not the smartest course of action.

He needed a child born to a wife, not a mistress. Old Konoha clan laws dictated that wedded heirs were the only legitimate heirs. And in order for the Uchiha clan to regain its former glory, that was the path Sasuke needed to take.

He next resigned himself to a task that he despised: examining his own feelings. Towards Sakura. He fought back the initial negative feelings towards her—left over from his childhood—and thought about her on the battlefield. She was powerful, and certainly attractive. Her curves were pronounced, and he even found himself thinking for the first time that he liked that obnoxious pink hair.

Did he love her? Probably not. But he admired her strength as a kunoichi, and found her striking physical features to be desirable. So maybe he didn't truly love her now, but he would feel enough affection towards her with time. Did she still love him? He wasn't sure, but she had seemed eager to get close to him upon his return. Perhaps she would not take much convincing.

Tsunade had in fact suggested that he try to make amends with his teammates in order to foster better teamwork on missions. He decided he would start with Sakura.

The change Sakura was looking for came in early March, although it was from a completely different source than she had expected.

"S-Sasuke?" She stuttered as she opened her front door one evening.

What was he doing here? She had barely spoken two words to him in months and now he was on her doorstep.

"May I come in, Sakura? I have something to talk to you about."

Oh god, that voice. She hated that his voice had this much power over her after all this time, especially when he said her name, but she silently nodded her consent and stepped aside to allow him over the threshold.

"Um...would you like some tea?" She asked when she remembered how to speak.

"Yes, please. Thank you."

Sasuke made his way to the living room and Sakura was thankful that she could have a few minutes to compose herself alone in the kitchen.

This is bizarre, she thought. He'd never even come to her apartment all those years ago when they were Genin. What could have possibly motivated him to choose now to pay her a visit?

"So..." Sakura started as she set down the tea tray a few minutes later, "How have you been, Sasuke?"

Her shock had not worn off and she wasn't sure what else to say. Admittedly his presence intimidated her a little. She was trying to be aloof, and tucked one leg under the other as she sat down on the other end of the couch on which Sasuke was seated.

"I'm well now that I am back in the village," Sasuke replied smoothly. "Tsunade has been generous to take an interest in me. It is partially at her suggestion that I'm here."

Oh?

Sakura stayed quiet as she sipped her tea, and Sasuke obliged by filling the silence.

"Tsunade suggested that I begin to make amends with you, Naruto, and Kakashi. I want to apologize, Sakura."

She was sure that her jaw dropped at those words. Sasuke had committed many sins against the Leaf Village and against her personally. It was everyone's assumption that his arrogance would prevent him from ever admitting fault in his actions, and that they would continue to pretend like Sasuke had simply been gone for a long time, rather than having previously been a wanted man. Apparently their assumptions were wrong.

Sakura just stared at the teacup in her hands, not knowing how to respond. She wanted to do something—hit him, scream at him, kick him out the door—but she remained frozen in her seat. Could she forgive him for nearly killing her—more than once? She didn't know, but she wanted to. She had to hear him out. She hated to admit it but he still held some part of her heart, and she dared to hope that this could be the first step for them towards something greater.

"Look at me, Sakura."

She obeyed and her eyes shot to his. She couldn't have denied his order if she had wanted to.

"I'm sorry for hurting you, Sakura. I'm sorry for being cruel to you when I left, and I'm sorry I nearly killed you. The truth is...I don't think I would have been able to live with myself if I had killed you. Sakura, after everything we've been through...I think I love you."

It was the most he had ever said to her at one time. She felt hot tears welling up in her eyes, and her hands shook so violently that she had to set down her teacup.

Sasuke loved her? Sasuke loved her, Haruno Sakura? She didn't know when that happened, but she wasn't going to question it. She'd been dying to hear those words for nearly a decade.

"Really?" She whispered.

Sasuke nodded, and his face remained serious.

"Will you say it again?"

"I love you, Sakura."

The words came easily to his lips, like he said them often. The only other people that had ever said that to her were her mother and father; the words seemed strange in Sasuke's voice. But she adored those words when he said them. To her. Finally she couldn't hold back any more and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Sasuke! Yes, I forgive you! I-I love you too!"

Her words came out in a rush and she felt his arms wrap around her, too. It was surreal. Even after all this time...it was like nothing had changed; her feelings for Sasuke were still there. This was her dream come true.

It was at that moment that Kakashi flashed through her mind. At first his face brought uncertainty, then anger, and finally relief as it disappeared. It no longer mattered what Kakashi thought of her, or what their frustrating relationship had meant. She had Sasuke now.

"So, I'm your girlfriend now?"

His only answer was to crush his mouth to hers, and she was pushed against the back of her couch by the force with which Sasuke kissed her. Although surprised, she kissed him back eagerly and thought to herself that it was the most passionate kiss she had ever received.

"Yeah, you're mine," Sasuke said with a smirk as he pulled away.

TBC