Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto.


It is dark. The sun has long set and in its place stands the moon. Lanterns glow in the city streets below and from the shingled rooftop where he sits, he can hear the nightlife bloom.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

At his name, Kakashi looks up, feeling a breeze skate along the back of his neck as she stares at him. With a small nod, he greets her.

"Sakura-chan."

At the sound of her name, she gives a small frown. He notices, but decides not to comment, noticing her eyes are not focused on him, and turns back to his original position to stare out over the world.

"Kinda makes you feel like God, doesn't it?"

At his statement, she starts, jumping slightly before landing in a clatter on the roof shingles. He stamps down the urge to shake his head and laugh, settling for a quiet smirk to himself.

"W-what?" she stammers. Another breeze passes them and looking over his shoulder, he watches pink tendrils dance across her face. She has not grown out her hair and it is only a bit longer than it was when she was fifteen. In the moonlight, her eyes are haunting and in them, he sees her fear. He shakes his head, not caring if she sees or not before turning to watch the bustling cityscape below.

"They look like ants from up here," he muses aloud and he hears her footsteps cross the rooftop before feeling her presence beside him. She is warm, he realizes and wonders what she was doing earlier since she's dressed in nothing but a sleeveless shirt and a pair of shorts.

"Do you always think about these things?" she asks kicking her legs as they hang off the roof edge. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees movement and she turns her head, watching him stare out over their village when he turns to her, staring at her with that eye of his, before throwing his head back and laughing.

"You make it seem like it's a bad thing."

The laugh is hollow and is tinged with darkness. The confession scares her and she realizes by his shocked expression that it scares him too. It seems like it has only now dawned on him the malice in his words and after that, he refuses to meet her gaze. She gazes at him sadly.

"How long have you been thinking these things?"

"I don't know," he admits truthfully as he stares down, wincing at the brightness of the streetlamps below as he tries to keep his mind on other things. The sudden confession has frightened him and he is no longer sure whether he is truly human anymore. He fears that his humanity is nothing but a memory now and that he is too far gone to save. The idea terrifies him and he begins to hide inside himself when he suddenly feels the air shift around him. Turning his head, he sees Sakura reaching out to him before hesitantly wrapping her arms around him.

The embrace is awkward, whether due to the obvious difference between their statures or something else, he does not know. What he does know is that her heartbeat is slightly faster than it should be and she is on the verge of tears. In her embrace, she seems so much smaller than he remembers her being and thinks that if he's not careful, she might shatter before his eyes.

The wind blows and he feels her shiver against him, but she doesn't let go, nor does she come closer. Her fingers cradle his head and her arms are still as frail as before. His ear is pressed against her chest and closing his eyes, he listens to the soothing sound of her heartbeat as she holds him, slowly molding his emotions to a point where he no longer feels pain and he realizes that Konoha's greatest weapon now has to bow to a force much greater than he would allow himself to believe.