Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Summary: Everything is perfect in Sakura's life. She has a guy and shares a house with him. But what happens when she meets Itachi, the "bad-guy"? Who will she choose in the end?

Pairings: KakaSaku + ItaSaku

Rating: M

Genre: Romance/Drama

Sakura/Sasuke/Naruto/Ino: 22

Kakashi: 36

Itachi: 27

thoughts, flashbacks, dreams

"talking"

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Sakura was standing in her office in front of the window. She was looking at nothing in particular: she was more like trying to relax because the day at the hospital had been very long and hard. The day wasn't even over yet!

One girls' heart had stopped and it had taken 8 long minutes for Sakura to get the heart beating again; one of her patients who had an Alzheimers had attacked her and it had taken 6 nurses to hold the old man down and she had gotten a nasty looking bruise to her right cheek.

For three weeks now, she had wished that Kakashi would come back from his mission: he always had the skill to make her feel great even when she had "killed" her patients. But most of all... she missed, so much indeed that it hurt.

She sensed Tsunade's presence near her office so she turned around and waited for her ex-sensei to come in. Well, it didn't take a long time, more like five seconds.

"Tsunade-sama, what are you doing here?" Sakura grinned.

"Ah. I was expecting a warmer welcome since I've got some good news!" the older woman laughed and sat to the chair which was placed in front of Sakura's desk.

"What news?" she asked. She was curious because she knew that Tsunade would tell her immediately when Kakashi's team would be back. Sakura had been waiting for Tsunade to tell her.

She knew that Sakura and Kakashi had a relationship. Almost everyone knew and almost everyone accepted the relationship. Of course there were people who were against it but usually Sakura kicked their asses... verbally, of course.

"I knew you'd be dying to know!" the blond haired woman laughed.

"Yes! Please tell me!" the pink haired woman almost yelled.

"Kakashi's team is here in 4 hours. We received the message from another team." Tsunade said.

First thought in Sakura's mind was 'HELL YEAH' and second thought was 'OH HELL NO'. She was more than happy that he would be back but not so soon, she would not have the time to prepare everything. She needed to clean, shop, cook and change her clothes and 4 hours would not be nearly enough!

"You may have the rest of the day off." Tsunade said like she had read Sakura's mind.

"Oh my god! Thank you so much. Gotta go!" she yelled from the hallway, already out the door.

"You've gotten faster... and the credit goes to the… beeper." Tsunade sighed as her beeper went off.

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Kakashi watched the gates of Konoha from a tall tree.

"Alright, everyone! Let's move quickly back to Konoha, we need to get back there in 30 minutes!" he yelled to the other team members. They started leaping from branch to branch once again.

He looked to his left and saw Genma looking at him.

"What?" Kakashi asked.

"You've been with her like for one year or something?" his friend asked.

"Tomorrow it'll be exactly one year." he sighed.

"So, are you going to propose to her or something?" Genma asked, which made Kakashi almost fall from the branch he had just landed. "You haven't thought about that." his friend laughed.

"No. I haven't. You think I should… propose?"

"Don't ask me. I'm only good at getting them. Not keeping them." Genma laughed.

The thought of proposing to Sakura haunted Kakashi's mind all the way back to Konoha. It was like he was suddenly unsure of himself: he knew what he wanted but he wasn't sure what he should do. When he reached to Konoha with his team he decided. 'I'll give is some time and see what happens..." he though.

"Yo. We got to write a report tomorrow at the Jounin HQ so be there at 9:30 am." he said to his team and they just nodded and took off.

"And when are you gonna be there?" Genma asked.

"It depends how long I want to stay in bed." he answered truthfully and started walking towards the townhouse he lived in.

"Or how long someone wants to keep you in bed!" he heard Genma yelling.

Exactly. It could be a long long long long… long time, he thought smiling.

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He masked his presence before he turned the key in the lock and stepped in the house. He took of his shoes and crept into the kitchen. She was there, her back turned to him. He watched her for a moment, then moving over to her and wrapping his arms around her.

A small scream escaped from her lips: he had surprised her successfully. He unmasked his presence and started kissing her neck.

"Ah. Slow down. I've made sukiyaki." she sighed. He stopped kissing her neck after hearing the word sukiyaki.

"Sukiyaki?" he asked realizing how hungry he actually was. The last time he had eaten something had been 7 hours ago.

"Yeah. Turn around." she said and he turned around or more like turned the both of them around.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

"It depends." she laughed.

"What?"

"Hungry for what?" she laughed.

"We have time." he said and kissed her neck.

"Yeah, but you need to eat now or I'll get pissed off 'cause the food is getting colder."

He sat down to a kitchen chair and she sat down to the other side of the table to another chair.

"How was your day?" he asked like he had never been on a mission and the evening was just a normal evening in their lives.

"Well. I delivered a baby to this world. A healthy boy. And—"

"—What's this?" he asked interrupting her and touching her right cheek.

"Ah, it's… Well, a patient attacked me: he thought I was an enemy ninja." she sighed.

"Did it hurt?" he asked and rubbed a bit the bruise.

"Why are you asking?" she giggled.

"Because I want to know." he said and took his hand away from her bruise.

"Well, it did hurt. But it doesn't hurt anymore", she smiled and drank a bit of her water, "so, how did your mission go?"

"It went well."

"You're not allowed to say anything…" she sighed.

"Sakura. It wasn't that interesting."

"I know, I know! I just wish that… We could share everything."

"Sakura—"

"—don't say it." she said quietly interrupting him. She was on the verge of tears and it wasn't only because of their conversation, it was because the day had been long and hard and now he was back and having that conversation. She knew exactly what he was about to say and she also knew that she would be hurt even though she shouldn't be.

"I'm sorry." he sighed.

"Don't be! I'm the one who should be sorry for… being… me…" she cried.

He had gotten up from his chair and he was hugging her.

"I'm so sorry! I'm just stressed and then I missed you so much and now I'm hurt 'cause some stupid ninja rules." she cried to his shoulder.

"It's ok." he whispered.

"I love you." she sobbed.

"I love you too." he said and hugged her a little tighter.

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Was it just a dream? Sakura's thought when she woke up and realized that she was in her bed. She blinked and watched the ceiling. No, it had to be true. Oh my god… And I had a mental breakdown. Oh no…

She turned to her left and someone had slept on it but it was empty at the moment.

"Kakashi?" she asked with her groggily sounding voice. But no one answered.

She sighed. "Sakura. It's Saturday, you don't have to get up. Don't get up." she said to herself and closed her eyes once again.

"Talking to yourself again?" she heard Kakashi's voice from the room. Her eyes snapped open and a smile spread across her face.

"Kakashi!" she screamed in pure happiness.

"Yes, it's me." he said and walked to the bed. Then she saw a tray on his hands, he was carrying her breakfast to bed.

"Oh my god! What is this?" she asked as he sat on the bed and put the tray next to her.

"What day is it?" he asked.

"Ah… The first day of fall." she smiled sweetly and gave him a kiss to his cheek.

FLASHBACK

Sakura sat by the campfire and looked at Kakashi who was reading his Icha Icha Paradise. She wasn't sure how to react to his behaviour. She had kissed him the night before and he had kissed her back but now he just was like nothing had happened.

She sighed and walked to him and sat next to him. It was like he was avoiding her.

"You know. Today is the first day of fall." she sighed.

"Hm? What does that mean?" he asked and he did not even look at her.

"It means that it's the first day of fall." she said again.

"No one can define when fall comes."

"I just defined it", she said sternly but he didn't answer back so she continued, "but for the occasion, I wanna do something."

She turned to look at him and now he was staring at her. She moved to him and placed herself so that she was straddling on his laps.

Before she could continue he spoke: "Sakura, I think that we should just forget what happened yesterday. You're too young."

His words hurt her but she didn't show it to him.

"So what? Who the fuck cares that you're 14 years older than me!" she asked.

"People. Sakura. People care." he sighed and put his book away.

"Do you care? Would you regret it if you ended up being happy with me?" she asked.

He didn't answer. He showed no emotions in his eye.

"Fine. I'll be gone." she said and got off of him and walked to the forest.

She just needed some huge tree to lean on. She cried all the way to the forest, silently of course. No one would hear her crying for him.

When she found the perfect tree she just leaned on to it and cried harder. Maybe it was because she had developed some feelings towards Kakashi in the past few years or maybe just because she got rejected again. Whatever the reason was it still hurt.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder, which startled her and made her heart almost jump to her throat. The hand forced her to turn around and there she was, watching Kakashi with eyes full of tears. He had taken his mask off and he did something which surprised her. He placed his lips over hers gently.

When he broke the kiss he said: "Yes."

"What?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"I'd regret it." he sighed and hugged her.

THE END OF THE FLASHBACK

"The first day of September." she said.

"I have to go now. But I'll take you out later today." he said.

"Where are you going? I want you here with me! In the freakin' bed!"

"Sakura. We can be in the bed later. Right now, I have to go and write one report. Or do you insist me being late?"

"Gosh. You know I hate it when you're late. Fine, go." she said melodramatically and took the tray to her lap.

"I know. But I'll be back. In an hour or two." he laughed and left the bedroom.

"Ok. See ya later! I love you!" she yelled from the top of her lungs so that he would hear her.

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Sakura walked towards the hospital when Naruto ran to her. He was breathing hard and sweaty.

"Uh. Naruto? Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Yes. Or. No. Sasuke. He. Found. Out. Where. Itachi. Is. And. Went. After. Him." he explained in between pants.

"Oh my god. Does Tsunade know?" she asked in a panic.

"Yes. I just. Told. Her." he said.

Oh no, she thought. Everything was going so fine. Sasuke had come back from Orochimaru's lair years ago and he seemed to be fine or better. He had gotten softer. He even tolerated Sai even though it had taken some time for him.

"What did she say?"

"That we won't lose anything if he kills Itachi and there's who could stop him." Naruto explained normally, he had regained his breath.

"So she accepts it? No way! What if Sasuke gets killed?"

"She won't send any teams to get him back. Tsunade wants Itachi dead."

"But… Unbelievable… Just unbelievable…" she sighed.

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There were candles in the room, rose petals and a few jasmine incenses. He was leaning to the wall and still sitting on the bed when she was sitting between his legs her back against his chest. His arms were around her lower stomach making her feel safe and loved.

"You're quiet today." he said.

"Mmm." she mmm'ed.

"Is it because of Sasuke?" he asked.

"Yeah. It is. And now I'm ruining another night when we're supposed to have fun and—"

"—Sakura, we have time." he said.

"What if we don't? What if I'm dead tomorrow morning? What if you get a mission of some kind and get yourself killed? What if someone comes between us? What if you realize tomorrow that you're gay? What if you notice that you don't love me anymore and—"

"Stop that. That's not possible. I'm in love with you. No man or woman could do the same things that you do. And I won't get myself killed because I got a medic-nin who takes care of me and no one can possibly come between us and you won't be dead tomorrow." he explained, not once stopping for a breath.

"Ok... You convinced me." she sighed and decided to close her eyes for a second.

He smiled to himself as he realized that she had fallen asleep in his arms.

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A/N: GAAA! Ok. The chapters for this story will be updated a bit slower than my other stories but that's because well, (hard to explain but) I'm trying to do better job in writing in this fic like in the writing area AND in the plot area… So I have to work harder, which takes a longer time.

PLEASE REVIEW!

-danax