"There's something different about you…"

"How do you mean?"

"I don't know. You just seem… happy?"

"Well gee, thanks."

"Pleasant to be around?"

"Alright."

"Not a total buzzkill who just sucks the joy out of every living thing closest to her."

"Kami, Ino seriously!" Sakura exclaimed, shooting her friend an incredulous look, "I get it. I was unhappy and now I am. Happy?" she asked matter-of-factly to which Ino just stuck out her tongue teasingly.

"I'm not complaining. You were quite intolerable to be around."

"Is it your goal to use every negative adjective about me today?" the fiery pink haired girl asked, taking a sip of her tea as she ripped her gaze away from her friend. She had been looking forward to spending an hour or two with Ino while Kakashi was away but she was now regretting it.

Just perfect. The one day I'm actually in a good mood I get teased for being in a good mood. Go figure, Sakura thought to herself with a shake of her head.

"So, what?" Ino began, giving her friend a knowing look, "did you finally get banged by an Alpha? I don't understand why you stopped in the first place. It's not exactly good for your body."

"How would you know? You're just a Beta," Sakura bit out and immediately regretted it. She sighed and gave Ino an apologetic look, not knowing where a comment like that came from.

"Careful, Sakura, your Omega is showing," Ino said a bit bitterly and Sakura nodded, sighing and bringing a hand to her forehead to rest her head on.

"I did…" Sakura admitted softly, looking down at the picnic table. She heard Ino let out a little squeal and immediately groaned at the sound, knowing she had to come up with a story of sorts. She couldn't tell Ino she was fucking her former sensei. She couldn't admit that she was falling in love with him. Sakura could barely admit it to herself let alone say it out loud.

"Well…?" she heard Ino say and Sakura dared chance a glance at her. She had that typical wide expectant grin on her face when juicy gossip was about to be spilt, and being the gossip queen, Sakura wasn't about to just let out her deepest darkest secret.

"It's just uh… well I went into heat about a week ago and was tired of going through them alone so I um…" she stumbled, frantically searching her mind to pick out a lie but not take too much time for it to be obvious that she was in fact lying.

"Well you know that one club um…Club Omega!" Sakura said a bit too loudly and Ino scrunched her brow at her.

"Yeah…"

"Oh, well yeah that's what happened."

"What happened?"

"Hmmm?"

"…You didn't say what happened," Ino said, giving her friend an extremely confused look and Sakura felt as if she were caught under a microscope.

"Well I picked up an Alpha there, of course."

"Oh, of course!" Ino said, disbelief in her voice and Sakura scowled.

"What? Is that so hard to believe?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms and furrowing her brow. It's not like Sakura was a stranger to sex. She wasn't the type to just walk up and proposition someone but she certainly was experienced enough for it to be believable at least. It was almost impossible for Omegas to see out their heats alone and it was quite dangerous, as Ino had pointed out. The only real way for an Omega to see out a heat comfortably was from penetration by a male cock, preferably an Alpha's because of their knotting capabilities. It didn't seem fair in the least, since males could technically go through ruts alone and be fine.

But that's just how the cookie crumbled, she supposed.

"No, it's not," she heard Ino say, breaking her out of her thoughts, "I'm proud of you. It seems to have done you a lot of good."

Sakura nodded slowly, bringing the tea cup to her lips and taking a long and satisfying sip. She felt herself start to smile and could feel Ino's eyes on her. Indeed, she was happy. But if she had told herself a week ago that she would be fucking an Alpha, her former sensei no less, she would laugh in your face. Probably resist the urge to spit too at the insult.

Sakura suddenly saw a flash of white out of the corner of her eye. She casually glanced to her side, seeing Kakashi leaning against a tree a few yards away from them. Ino hadn't noticed and Sakura could tell by his stare that he wanted her to go to him. She could feel his Alpha command, whether he was doing it on purpose or not, carry itself over to her. Her eyes almost rolled to the back of her head as she was hit with his all too familiar scent. She had been deprived of it for only a few hours and here she was about to lose herself to it.

Sakura coughed softly and pushed the cup of tea away from her, "I should probably get going. I have some house work I want to get done," Sakura said and Ino groaned loudly, giving her friend a slightly annoyed look.

"You're kidding, right? We only hung out for like, 45 minutes!" the blonde said, raising her hands up in disbelief. Sakura threw her another apologetic look, picking herself up from the picnic bench and trying to keep her focus on Ino rather than the man beckoning for her.

"I promise the next day I have off will be devoted entirely to you," Sakura said, giving her friend an expectant look. Ino just sighed defeatedly and nodded her head, "I'm holding you to that," she said and Sakura nodded, giving her friend a smile before turning away.

She immediately forgot about her abandoned friend, swiftly making her way over to the field where Kakashi was waiting for her. She had a wide grin on her face upon seeing him perched against the tree. She approached him, giving him a coy smile which he returned gladly under his mask. He brought his hands to her face and she gladly allowed him to bring their faces closer together.

They had to be careful, still. He didn't lower his mask but she could tell he was struggling to hold back. His hands were shaking slightly and his breathing was getting ragged. She gave him a peck on the cheek and pulled away, grasping his hand and giving it a squeeze.

"Let's go home," she said with a smile and she could had sworn she felt him stiffen slightly. She gave him a confused look but he smiled, whispering that he would meet her there and gave her a peck on the forehead. She felt something in the air shift just then, watching intently as he turned from her, hands stuffed in his pockets. There was an aura about him that was a noticeably different from a few hours ago, and she was intent to get to the bottom of it.

Sakura watched Kakashi as he stepped into her apartment, taking in the area with an intense expression on his face. He had never been inside her apartment before and she realized just then he was probably scenting for other Alphas, or maybe even a certain Beta. Sakura desperately hoped his scent had been purged since then.

She watched his back carefully as he traipsed around, picking up a photo of her and Ino that was perched on an end table. She could still sense that there was something he wanted to discuss. She was a bit surprised that he hadn't jumped her the moment they were alone, meaning he must've had something important to discuss. It only made her a little nervous, but she couldn't think of anything that could be bothering him in that moment.

"Kakashi…" she pressed and he remained turned away from her. She slowly walked up to him, making her way to his front so she could see his face. His expression was unreadable and she slowly brought her hands up to his mask, hooking her fingers at the top and slowly bringing it down, revealing the handsome face she was growing to love.

The look he was giving her gave her pause and she licked her lips, a movement that caught his attention and the look in his eyes suddenly came to life as hunger took over him. His breath quickened slightly as he moved his hands to her waist and lowered his forehead to hers. The feel of his breath on her lips was making her dizzy and she knew then that if she didn't take control of the situation they would never make any progress.

"Kakashi, what's on your mind? Please tell me," she pressed softly and he sighed, pulling away from her reluctantly. She took his hand in hers and led him over to her modest dining table, urging him to sit in one of the chairs. She made her way to her kitchen to warm up some water in her kettle and make some tea for the both of them, looking at him every so often but the look on his face was the same; deep in thought.

"Tsunade is stepping down as Hokage…" he said finally. Sakura paused but didn't say anything and nodded, knowing Tsunade's time was coming. She had done a tremendous job overseeing the village, having gotten them through a war and seeing out its restoration. She really would go down in history as one of the greats, but it was someone else's turn now.

"The Elders have elected me to be the next Hokage," Kakashi said, breaking Sakura out of her thoughts and she shot her head up. She wasn't sure why but a wide grin took place at the news. She hadn't expected that, and not because she didn't agree but because she couldn't think of someone better. She was absolutely elated for him.

"Kakashi…" she began, "I don't even know what to say. Congratulations!" she exclaimed, quickly forgetting the tea and making her way over to him and exiting her kitchen. She went to face him and immediately halted, surprised by the expression on his face. A dark look had set in and she furrowed her brow.

"I don't understand… are you not happy about this?" she asked, pulling out a chair and sitting herself down across from him. She put a hand on his thigh and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "Kakashi this is an immense honor. And no one is more devoted to this village than you," she said, giving him a reassuring smile. She saw him glance at her and scoffed slightly, picking himself up from the chair he was sitting in and making his way to the sliding glass door that led outside to her balcony. He stared outside, a blank expression on his face.

"The villages are calling for more unification now that it's peace time," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets, "they want the countries to show that we're equal and put an end to these wars."

Sakura nodded her head, listening intently and remaining in her seat as she kept her gaze on him.

"One of those ways is by marriage…" he said, trailing off at the end and lowering his head, "The Elders have arranged for a marriage between me and the Mizukage," Kakashi said, turning to Sakura, maintaining his blank stare.

Sakura's breath hitched as she heard the words come out of his mouth. Marriage. Mizukage. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't know how to process it. Could they do that? It seemed absolutely absurd and all she could do was just stare at him and shake her head over and over.

"T-They can't do that," she said softly and he shook his head.

"It's already been decided," he said and she closed her eyes, trying to think of anything that could be done. Surely, they couldn't just force him into a marriage. It was barbaric and completely unreflective of the times.

"There's nothing that can be done?" she decided to ask and he lifted his head slowly, giving her a knowing look. She locked eyes with him and tilted her head, not knowing what he was thinking in that moment. She could feel herself start to sweat, for reasons unbeknownst to her and his gaze darkened.

"Sakura…" he began, slowly making his way over to her. His intense stare made her squirm in her chair slightly and she felt her breath intensifying.

"Be my mate."

Her emerald eyes shot wide open at his request. She stared, mouth hung open, words failing her as she tried to wrap her head around what he had asked her. He wanted her to be his mate? That was his solution to this? She looked down and picked a spot on her hardwood floor to focus on, feeling like she might faint at the proposition she had just been presented with.

"Sakura it's the only way I can get out of marrying the Mizukage. If I'm already mated then the law needs to honor that," he said, desperation in his voice and all she could do was stare at the ground. She knew he loved her and she would be a fool if she denied having fallen for him. They had only been together for a week and already her feelings for him were strong enough to entertain the idea of being claimed.

But there was something inside her that was screaming 'no'.

Suddenly memories of her past started to plague her. She took her head in her hands as the onslaught of events took over her mind, as if it was telling her to start seeing reason. All she could see were images of herself on the training field, all alone and practicing by herself while Kakashi devoted his attention to the two other males of the group. The time when he had been so close to death he didn't even want her near him to heal him. All the times she would see him around the village and he'd immediately disappear when she noticed him.

She slowly started shaking her head and looked at him, tears flooding her eyes as she started shaking her head more frantically, standing up from her chair, "I can't… I can't…" she whispered quietly to herself as she started backing away and she saw Kakashi stiffen, the look in his eyes turning frantic. He quickly made his way over to her and his desperation made her bite back her tears, trying to will them away.

"Don't… don't say you can't," Kakashi choked out, grasping her shoulders and bringing his forehead to hers, "I want you and only you. Please don't do this," he begged and she tried to pull away but he tightened his grip on her, not willing to let her go so easily.

"Kakashi, I can't," she sobbed, her cheeks becoming warm as her tears washed over them. He shook his head and brought his lips to hers, kissing her fervently and putting all of his desperation in it. He swiped his tongue along her lips and she immediately let him in, unable to pull away in that moment. If this were the last time she let him touch her then she wanted to savor it. He would pull away every so often to lick her tears away. The actions made her sigh and shiver underneath him and he pulled away, looking into her eyes.

"Please don't leave me…" he whispered and her breath hitched, something in her igniting at his plea. Anger took over and she pulled away, shaking her head in disbelief at his plea. The gall he had to even ask her that. After everything he had put her through. Reason quickly took over and she scowled, watching surprise take over his face.

"No!" she yelled and shoved her fists into his chest, pushing him away with all of her strength.

"You're asking me not to leave you? You abandoned me!" she seethed, pointing to her chest, "I needed you and you pushed me away! You were supposed to be my teacher. You were supposed to guide me and be there for me, and instead you treated me like I didn't exist!" she said, choking on her words, not even stopping the tears from falling.

"And you expect me to let you mate me after you decide to just waltz back into my life!" she said, watching him wince at her words. She felt her lips curl in anger, enjoying the feeling of unleashing all of the emotions she had been harboring over the years. She glared at the Alpha before her, letting out a bitter laugh.

"You want to know why I hate Alphas?" a serious look taking over her face, "Because they do nothing but take. They take and take and take until there's nothing left," she said and Kakashi just stared, unflinching.

"I hate them because they took away the last bit of my innocence. Young and naïve Sakura, thinking Alphas were there to protect. To defend. To make you feel safe. I was so wrong…" she said bitterly, biting her quivering lip.

"I was seeing out a heat with two Alphas and they had gone into rut at the same time," she said, her voice soft but stern as she turned her gaze away from him, "It got too out of hand. My body refused to say no and they ripped me apart. They took their turns using me until they were spent and I was broken. They left me… alone," she finished, turning her gaze to Kakashi and giving him a look of indignation.

"I promised myself I would never fuck an Alpha ever again," she said, shaking her head and letting a few more tears spill, "and then you came back into my life. You made me feel safe. You made me trust you," she said, the tone of her voice saddening.

Kakashi remained standing in his spot a few paces in front of her, his face unreadable but she could see a mix of emotions. She saw anger, fear, sorrow, regret. It made her pity him but the more she allowed herself to think clearly the more she realized how foolish she had been.

"I don't know what came over me last week, but it was a mistake," she said, wiping the last bit of tears from her cheeks as she straightened herself, "there's a reason I stay away from Alphas, Kakashi. I can't make you an exception. Not when you took from me too," she said, crossing her arms.

They stood in silence for the longest time and she didn't know whether to just turn around and wait for him to leave or tell him to get out. She blanched as he slowly nodded his head, clenching and unclenching his jaw and letting out a long and shaky breath.

"I'm sorry for all the hurt I caused you, Sakura," he said and she just looked away, feeling the traitorous tears start building up again, "I... I had no business coming into your life like this. I thought I was doing us a favor by staying away," he said, focusing his gaze out the window and shaking his head. He clenched his jaw and looked at her, a pained look on his face.

"I just need you to know that no matter what happens, know that you have always been the one for me. That will never change..." he said, watching her intently and she bit her lip, an overwhelming sadness taking over. She nodded her head, watching as he slowly turned away, making his way back to her front door.

"Kakashi," Sakura called, crossing her arms in front of her and he slowly turned, not quite looking at her but acknowledging that he was listening.

"Congratulations," she said, giving him a tight smile and he nodded his head, pausing and letting his head fall in defeat before turning and exiting her home, closing the door quietly behind him.

She let out a shallow and shaky breath, falling to her knees and cradling her head in her hands, letting the flood gates open and the tears fall heavily. Her shoulders were shaking at the intensity and she felt her heart breaking. She couldn't believe what she had done in the span of 30 minutes. Everything had changed.

The worst part was she didn't know if she had just let her one chance at happiness walk out her front door, gone forever.