2 : Through a man's heart

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Her Uncle's funeral was pushed forward to the following week after some circumstances arose with her clan. They wanted to do a formal burial, and for once she agreed with their wishes.

She spent her first two nights in the hospital being treated for shock and burns. She didn't realise the extent of her shock until she looked in the mirror. Her hair become a washed out rose colour, dominated by white but if the light hit it right it would catch the soft cherry blossom pigment. It some ways it reminded her of his hair.

Kakashi spent those two nights with her in the hospital- talking.

'What are you going to do about your clan?' He asked silently

She couldn't help but realise how his voice had changed into a husky deep velvet, it seemed to envelop her each time he spoke like a silent embrace.

'I'm not sure yet.' She said defeated

He nodded silently at her and kept his head down, there was something on his mind but he couldn't speak it, it was clearly conflicting him. Her memory pooled back to those many years ago, searching through her head of 'Kakashi's emotion encyclopaedia'.

'You have a mission don't you?'

He seemed a bit pained, he didn't have to answer her question, she knew, she always knew.

He gave her a defeated look, 'Two weeks in Sound'

She looked at him then, opening her eyes, 'Do you ever settle down at all?'

'I didn't have to; I had nothing here in the village.'

She caught his train of thought and his stare into her eyes confirmed it. She turned her head away blushing madly, ever the sweet talker Kakashi. He seemed embarrassed too as he scratched at his head sheepishly.

With her head still turned away, 'Is Ichiraku's still around the corner?'

'Where it's always been'

'You're treating me' She wobbled her way out of the bed and pulled on a long sleeved loose black dress and pulled on her sandals. He turned away with a smile.

She went to reach for the door, and Kakashi stopped her, 'They're not going to let you stroll out here at this ungodly hour' her arms crossed in front of her chest, he simply pointed his thumb towards the window in the room.

'I can't, the seals on my feet faded' She said

'Weren't you the one that said chivalry isn't dead?' He said lightly

Before she could question his response he wrapped his arm around her waist tightly, he noted it was quite thin under the bulky clothing she wore. He pulled her up and jumped through the window. He made his decent towards an alleyway that branched off the main road as to not bring any more attention to them. He set her down and she smoothed out her dress from the wrinkles. As they made their way to the main road she mumbled something under her breath that he couldn't understand.

'Sorry what was that?'

She puffed up her cheeks, such a juvenile quality of hers that never seem to fade, 'Nothing for you to hear'

He realised she was still quite frazzled by their proximity as she was trying to keep as much distance between them.

'The next village is in the opposite direction' He chuckled

She only gave him a stern glare and turn away.

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They had only planned to grab a meal and then head off their separate ways, but Teuchi (the ramen stand owner) set a large bottle of sake (Japanese alcohol) between the duo, 'It's on the house, it's finally good to have my two best customers in this stand.'

They didn't bother turning down Teuchi's kind gift, Kakashi went on pouring Sakura a cup.

He failed to ask her about her alcohol tolerance, but at that point all of Konoha knew she had none. She was loud and wispy. Kakashi was slowly feeling his sense of judgement slipping, but Sakura was kind enough to slap him on the back of his head and rouse him. Ouch had she always had this brute force?

They were reminiscing about their genin days. No harm no foul.

'I actually was afraid of you Kakashi'

'Really now' He was trying to hold back a hiccup. Sakura was glowing, a side effect of drinking nearly two thirds of the bottle. Teuchi seemed unfazed as he served other customers who opted out of dining in. They made their orders to go after seeing the ruckus going on in the stand.

'Yeah, Jii-san said to be careful around males with silver hair or white hair, especially one's that hang around children.'

Kakashi couldn't help but spit out his drink through his mask, and laugh heartily, 'Don't tell me he said they were perverts or something?' he chortled choking on the alcohol in his throat

'No he didn't tell me that, but he said that they'd look up my skirt and ask me what colour my undies were, that's why I started wearing pants everywhere.' She said truthfully, she was swaying at that point.

Kakashi wasn't doing any better; he kept sipping the alcohol through his mask. He picked up Sakura staring at him.

'What'

'I swear that's the most unsanitary thing I've ever seen next to the five second rule'

'I've been wearing a mask since before I was a genin and my health hasn't deteriorated in anyway' He said nonchalantly

Sakura looked at him quizzically, reaching for the bottle to pour herself another drink, Kakashi slapped her hand down and gave her a stern look, 'fine'

It was silent save for the noise in the kitchen. She looked at Kakashi in a calculating manner, 'What' he replied innocently

'Why do you wear that mask?' she said quietly

'After all these years you've finally decided to ask?' he said exasperated

She looked like she was about to vomit, the alcohol finally taking its toll on her, 'One day Hayate I'm going to catch you without that mask, then I can die'

'I won't let that happen then' he said quietly as he watched her doze off at the counter. He got up and paid for the meal thanking Teuchi, who only smiled back, 'anytime'. He swung Sakura's arm around his shoulder, and made his way out of the stand. He couldn't possibly take her back to the hospital in this state, and they'd probably make her stay there longer. He started running through plausible places to stay; he obviously crossed out her clan. Kurenai was most likely out with Asuma, again. He wouldn't dare to dump her at the Uchiha estate in this state. A name stuck out like a sore thumb, Anko. That troublesome woman was finally good for something besides hurting his manly pride.

When Anko opened her front door, he expected her to give her trademark snarky attitude, but apparently at this hour the woman had limits. She simply opened the door to her apartment allowing Kakashi to carry Sakura into the living area where Anko placed a spare futon. Kakashi laid Sakura on the futon, and Anko shooed him. Before she closed the door she looked at him with eyes narrowed, 'You better make it to the funeral next week,' She eyed him dangerously 'She needs you more than ever now.'

He knew he wouldn't make it.

Kakashi just simply nodded and left.

Anko rolled her eyes at the man's antics and closed the door with a click. She moved to Sakura, slipping off her sandals. Due to the darkness she couldn't see the faded tattoo on the soles of her feet. She laid a blanket over the girl and headed off to her own bed, 'Sleep tight princess'

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He didn't make it to the funeral, Sakura expected as much. She spent the rest of the week catching up with close friends. A lot had happened during the course of four years.

During an outing she found out that Shikaku was going to have a son the following winter; all the guys gave him a hard time about it, 'So you're the first one of us to break from the pack.' Genma slapped him on the back

'I had my money on Asuma and Kurenai as being the first.' Raido chuckled

Asuma and Kurenai blushed heavily, their eyes widened as they saw Raido place a few bills in Genma's hand, 'You bet on this?' Asuma gaped.

Raido scratched his head sheepishly, 'Sorry man but who wouldn't? You two were love birds even before the academy'

Genma looked at Raido, 'Well my friend it's always the people you least expect' he winked

Shikaku could only face palm himself and walk away from the crowd, 'I swear it's like they never aged a day since the academy.'

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Mikoto was also having a son the following winter, she was glowing.

'Sasuke' she revealed the name to Sakura, she could only smile for the woman. Itachi had matured and grown into an intelligent seven year old, but he still clung to her as much as he did many years before.

She sat with him for a while and they talked about training and about her travels in the past four years. She had visited him and Mikoto each year when she came to Konoha but for once her stay was not short lived. They cracked jokes together. During the course of their conversation she promised to help him train for his upcoming chuunin exam, he was gifted at such a young age.

'Itachi-kun' his mother called for him

'Yes Kaa-san'

'The time' she simply stated

The boy's eyes widened, 'I'm sorry Sakura-chan but I've got an errand to run I'll see you later'

'Take care Itachi-kun' she called

He smiled widely at her and waved goodbye.

'He never smiles like that to anyone' Mikoto whispered to Sakura

'He's a good kid' Sakura smiled to Mikoto

'That he is, sometimes too good it scares me.' Mikoto chuckled

The two women looked into each other's eyes

'I need your guidance' Sakura spoke

'Is this about your clan' Mikoto spoke placing a cup of tea in front of Sakura.

Sakura nodded and took a sip from the cup, 'I want to leave the clan, cut all my ties, and remove the seal. It was Oji-san's dying wish' she said solemnly

'That's a tall order young lady' The woman sighed pleasantly, 'It's times like these that I think you should talk to Fugaku-kun he know the laws and the rights of each clan. He'd be an indefinite helpful resource on your part.'

In all the years that Sakura had become close to Mikoto and Itachi, not once had she seen Fugaku. He was usually on a mission or sorting out things with the committee. He was always a busy man, and very hardworking at that.

Mikoto smiled at her, 'You're going to finally meet him. He should be getting back from his meeting soon.'

As soon as she finished speaking, the said man made his entrance. Sakura froze slightly, Fugaku held this aura that omitted power and authority, but she assured herself if Mikoto has been able to be his wife he couldn't be that bad.

She looked at the man and bowed down in respect, 'It's nice to meet you Uchiha-san'

'So I finally get to meet your little friend Mikoto' His voice was surprisingly warm and inviting, it was then Sakura allowed herself to look up into the face of the man.

She knew the man was still young, just shy of turning thirty, but she could tell the years hadn't been so kind to him. There were crow's feet around his eyes and prominent wrinkles around his mouth that made his face look like he was constantly frowning.

The man walked to the table and sat next to his wife who poured him a cup of tea, 'Sakura-chan needs some help with her clan' Mikoto spoke to him softly.

The man's eyes widened slightly, 'I'm sorry to say it young lady, but your clan does my head in. Taka was the only person that had his head screwed on right' He sighed tiredly, rubbing away at his temples.

Sakura looked down slightly uncomfortable about her uncle being brought up. The funeral may have been over but the trauma still haunted her. Mikoto softly elbowed her husband's arm to make him aware of his actions. The man looked up at the young woman and sighed, 'Child' he beckoned her to speak with that one word and she looked up at him and spoke clearly, 'Oji-' she stopped herself and started again, 'Taka-san's dying wish was for me to claim my right's from the clan. I've decided I want to cut all ties to my clan and I want to claim something back.'

The man straightened up in his chair, 'Your chakra was it?' as if recalling a faint memory

Sakura looked to Mikoto who sheepishly looked down, 'Yes…' she spoke slowly

The man looked to Sakura seeing the interaction with his wife, 'Mikoto has informed me of your standing, so we need not waste any more time discussing the matter.'

Sakura nodded, thankful in a way for Mikoto telling her husband, it would save a lot of explaining.

She looked to Fugaku, 'How'

He looked to her knowingly, 'For a person to leave a clan, the clan head and the person must come to the agreement that the person will be withheld the title of that clan. It gets tricky when the clan head doesn't agree, often times that is the case.'

He looked to Sakura as she absorbed the information; he took a sip of his now cold tea and continued, 'If the clan head doesn't agree to release the member, then the person cannot leave the clan.' He saw Sakura's falter.

He looked her in the eyes reassuringly, 'Unless the member has evidence to counter or void that decline, then there would be a 'trial' of sorts held with other clan heads, the verdict is then dealt by the Hokage.' He closed his eyes and sighed, 'Quite frankly knowing that your grandfather has gone to the extent to seal you chakra, he's not going to easily agree to you leaving the clan.'

The three sat in silence letting the information sink in, 'But I see no reason why you shouldn't appeal. You've been denied your own basic human rights and rights as a ninja of Konoha. Your grandfather put you in danger, and he did not in any way attempt to stop such a thing from happening. If you stay with that clan this vicious cycle will continue. You as a citizen of Konoha you're a being placed in harm's way.'

The reasons were all lined up.

Mikoto looked at Sakura worriedly. The girl stayed silent for the longest time. She then looked up at the two and bowed, 'I can't thank you two enough. Your help has been indefinite; I can't imagine being where I am without Mikoto-san, and your guidance Uchiha-san.'

The man chuckled, 'To me clan or no clan, the way we look, does not mean a thing. These things are just names and characteristics.'

He fisted his hand and tapped his chest, 'It's this and our loyalty to Konoha that makes us family. That's the beauty of it'

Sakura could only smile, 'I hope to see you at the trial.'

'What I wouldn't give to have your old man on a silver platter.' Fugaku chuckled

Mikoto smiled tenderly as she ushered Sakura out the house. As Sakura slipped on her sandals, Mikoto saw that the tattoos on her feet were fading.

Sakura turned around not noticing Mikoto staring, 'Oba-san?'

Mikoto quickly looked up at the girl, 'Yes Sakura-chan'

'Can you teach me how to make the curry sometime?' She said innocently

The woman chuckled, 'Is it for Kakashi-kun?' she said cheekily

Sakura gawked, 'Even if I were making it for him, He's not even here most of the time.'

'Between you and me, Fugaku-kun hasn't been taking long missions anymore; he says he misses my cooking too much. 'The way to a man's heart is through his stomach' don't you know?' Mikoto winked knowingly

Sakura blushed, 'Whatever you say'

Sakura stood up ready to leave through the door when Mikoto stopped her, 'Oh and Sakura-chan'

'Yes Oba-san'

'Kakashi is more of a miso soup kind of person.' Mikoto relied innocently

Sakura blushed immensely, 'G-G-Good bye Oba-san' and she ran out the door.

Mikoto stood there staring at the door laughing, 'Mikoto is there any curry left from last night.' Her husband called from the other room.

She smiled, 'I made you something even better today'

The man grumbled slightly, 'You better have, I didn't cut that meeting short for nothing.'

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'How the hell do I make miso soup?' Sakura said exasperated as she walked into the supermarket.

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I'm just going to be update for the rest of the week just 'cause I can

I reread my first chapter and nearly died at how many silly typos there were – so I'm going to have to edit that pronto

We're going to get there, I'm just setting up everything in motion and it'll solely start focusing on the two I just want to show how their interaction with other's 'enhances' their relationship

I may have gone slightly to fast in this chapter but I don't know what do you guys reckon?

Thank you for the two lovely reviews they made me happy and as a gift I decided to update real quick :-)

Alright then toodols

And please review – even if you're anonymous it still count's :-D

Oxza

Can I get a 'what what'?