Title: Fix a Heart

Summary: She affected all others around her, especially him. Quietly touching his lone heart, she saved him from himself. Drabble-esque.

Author: CryingInsideOut

Rating: T/PG-13

Genre: Romance

Pairing: kakasaku

Word Count: 608

Note: This chapter is slight AU.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor the prompts. Thank you Kobi Yamada for writing the wonderful book She... and inspiring me to write these blurbs about kakasaku.

Prompt #4: She saw every ending as a new beginning. Celebrate her resiliency.

When Sakura was twelve-years-old, she adored her long hair. She loved the feeling of it swishing against her waist as she ran laps around the training grounds. The kunoichi took great care and pride in her shiny mane, making sure to brush it 100 times each day, morning and night.

"Ano, Sakura-chan, you're shedding all over me," a twelve-year-old Naruto mumbled as he plucked a long, fine strand of pink hair off his orange jumpsuit. Sakura sighed as she watched Sasuke scrunch his eyebrows all while using his chopsticks to discard the pink hair in his rice bowl. Kakashi-sensei shook his head as well.

"You have such nice hair, Sakura, but doesn't it get in the way when you fight?" Kakashi asked. "Maybe it's time you chopped it all off," he joked. When Sakura stuck out her tongue, he merely laughed and patted her head.

During the chuunin exams, Sakura had chopped off her hair in an attempt to save herself as well as her unconscious teammates. As hair fluttered everywhere, she didn't look back. She decided that it was an act of her growing up, physically and mentally.

When Sasuke left the village, Sakura cried her eyes out. Months passed, and eventually, the little blossom grew up to become a blooming flower. She trained hard in hopes of catching up with Naruto and Sasuke. She vowed that she and Naruto would be the ones to bring back their missing teammate. Within those months, Sakura grew out her hair once again.

"What the hell?" Kakashi mumbled as he plucked a long strand of pink hair out of his ramen noodles. He glanced at Sakura accusingly, who giggled nervously as she reminisced back to her genin days. "Is it time to chop off your hair once more?" he asked, half-teasing and half-serious. He enjoyed watching the now seventeen-year-old kunoichi huff at him.

"In your dreams, Kaka-sensei! There's no way I'm cutting it off once more." She swept her bangs out of her eyes delicately, a small smile adorning her face.

"Why not?" Kakashi asked out of curiosity.

"Because Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair," she whispered more to herself than to her companion.

For the rest of the meal, Kakashi kept quiet, her words repeating over and over again in his mind. He decided that he was finished with his untouched meal, suddenly losing his appetite. "The Sakura with short hair made me realize how much she'd grown up – physically and mentally." He pushed back his stool and left a stunned Sakura behind at Ichiraku's as he walked away without another word.

The next day, Kakashi waited impatiently with Naruto at the training grounds. He was already thirty minutes late into their training, but Sakura was even later than he was.

"What's taking Sakura-chan so long?" Naruto complained loudly, puffing up his cheeks in a childish manner. Before Kakashi could answer, a sweet voice interrupted.

"Sorry I'm late! I had to do something at the last minute."

"Sakura-chan?!" Naruto screeched. Upon hearing Naruto's yelp, his eyes left his orange book and laid upon a familiar faced kunoichi. He watched as she gave him a smile she reserved only for him. "Your hair!" Naruto pointed out. He was so used to her long hair that the shoulder-length hair was foreign to him once again.

"What do you think? Reminds you of when I cut ties with the past and proved how strong I was, ne?" As Sakura spoke, her eyes never left Kakashi's. It was almost like she was waiting for his approval.

With that, Kakashi smiled softly at the short-haired beauty. He always liked her with short hair better.

Hello beautiful people! (:

Happy Sunday! Hope you guys had a wonderful week, loves, and hope tomorrow will do you well.

Uploading this two days late because I twisted my ankle and I think the rest is explanatory. I should be fine though if I rest my foot. By the way, I'm excited to move in to college by Friday! I will be uploading this week though even through all the excitement.

BUT

Thanks so much for reading, and if you're enjoying the story so far (and reading this nonsense), no secret word this week, but I hope you had a fantastic week and if you didn't, hope this upcoming week treats you well!

x