"Hi."

Sakura smiled sleepily, an almost overwhelming sort of happiness rushing through her when she opened her eyes. To be waking up in Kakashi's bed with his glowing eyes on her like he had never seen anything more enchanting… she wanted this every morning until the end of days.

"Have you slept well?" Kakashi whispered and extended his arm towards her. She did the same until their fingers touched. His were warm, a little calloused… and tingling against hers with his chakra.

The warm bundle between them didn't budge. A massive thunderstorm had driven Sarada from the adjacent room to this one in the middle of the night, the eyes without the glasses huge, her teeth chattering, her body visibly shaking.

"I hate to recall it's Monday," Kakashi whispered with a slight grimace. "I need to get up."

"Already?" Sakura felt disappointment - and something else, which she had no trouble identifying as desire. It wasn't helpful that she saw it mirrored in his eyes. So close… yet so far.

"Wait…" Carefully and slowly, Kakashi moved over Sarada's sleeping body, managing not to touch her.

"Hi," he said again once the acrobatic maneuver was successfully concluded and he had gingerly settled on her side of the bed. He grabbed Sakura's head and pressed his lips to hers. The initial peck turned into something much more heated almost instantly, telling her his mind wasn't exactly set on getting up yet.

"Do all children frequent their parents' beds?" he asked, sounding a tiny little bit annoyed when they broke the kiss. They were lying so close she could feel the heat from his arousal against her core.

"I did," she replied, squirming a little to rub herself against him. Then she laughed. Parents? They weren't Sarada's parents. But it didn't matter, at least not right now, and that was so marvelous she didn't want to spoil the moment.

"You didn't run to your father's bed?" she asked, cringing inside when she felt his body stiffen just a little.

"I'm sorry," she whispered horrified, "that was tactless."

"It's okay," Kakashi said brusquely, "he died a very long time ago, I can handle it. And I happen to like thunderstorms! Maybe that's why my chakra affinity is lightning. But you know who used to howl the house down during storms? My Ninken. What drama! They hid under my bed. Sometimes I had to join them to quiet them down."

Sakura laughed and kissed him again, which had the same effect as before: her desire flared. Kakashi slipped his hands under her pajama top and gently squeezed her breasts, moving thumb and index fingers to her nipples.

"Hmmmmm," she squealed, instantly on fire, "we can't do anything! She's sleeping right behind you!"

"I know," he murmured, nuzzling her neck, moving his lips to her ear. "Let's hope there won't be thunderstorms every night."

That statement made Sakura's heart beat faster. Every night. Here, with him, every night. Sarada with them, every day. Which…

"Kakashi," she whispered, feeling sorry to let trouble into this bed on this wholesome morning, "I need to see Sasuke today. It's urgent."

"Yes," he said, but continued to move his lips to erogenous zones on her neck and shoulders, making rows of goosebumps spring up on her arms, "of course. I will arrange for it."

"Please stop," she moaned, feeling her juices gather in anticipation of what normally followed such treatment.

"Dammit," he panted, "I'm going to be in a bad mood all day. You smell… intoxicating."

"We could meet… over lunch?" she said. Of course his fine nose would pick up the scent of her pheromones. Her body was probably calling to him extra loudly these days.

"Oh," he stopped. "You mean we could… hmmmmmm." He continued attacking her skin with even more enthusiasm, his fingers travelling down her belly. She caught them in her hand before they could move even lower, leaving her throbbing needily and quite frustrated.

"I need you to come to the hospital today. We need to discuss the serum treatment. I don't know how much we have left after the disaster at the lab, but Micha and I will figure something out."

"Hmmmmm," he cooed.

"Are you even listening?" Sakura grabbed one of his ears to pull his mouth away from herself. "Kakashi, stop it, I'm trying to have a conversation. The serum needs to be taken over several weeks to become fully effective."

"I hear you," he said gravely, lifting his head and looking into her eyes.

"You are apprehensive?" But why wouldn't he be. Sakura was certain that turning into a red super soldier with no ability to stop it wasn't the most enjoyable of experiences.

"I trust you," he said. Then, hopeful: "And… maybe we could do it naked? I remember how we made love before in your office at the hospital and hmmmmm, I liked it!"

"Behave," she laughed. "Micha will be there."

"Oh," he sounded disappointed.

"I want to remove it all, Kakashi," she told him tenderly. "I want to remove all the Uchiha blood from your system so that you are safe and can leave this wretched disaster behind you for good."

There was a slight twitch of his brow towards an almost frown. "I would need new eyes."

"Yes."

Whoever had transplanted the Sharingan into both his eyes would know what had happened to his old eyes. Maybe they were still stored somewhere. And if not… there were ways. She wasn't worried that they would be able to find two beautiful, good eyes for Kakashi.

"I see," he said and something in the way he held her changed, as if a sudden distance came between them even though their bodies still touched.

He didn't like the idea.

Of course he didn't… she should have been more considerate. Hadn't Kakashi agreed to the experiments in the first place because he had wanted back his Sharingan?

"The blood is dangerous," she tried to explain. "You need pills to ensure it doesn't poison you, and all of this was steered by Kabuto. And the curse mark or what it is works through the blood. If you want to be free of…"

"I understand this," he said, letting his head fall onto the pillow, "but I need the Sharingan. Both of them. For… for some time longer. Just… a few weeks."

Sakura frowned. "What is it you are planning?"

"Nothing," the lie was all too obvious, his eyes shifting away from hers.

"Oh no," she said sternly, "you will not keep important decisions from me. If I'm to be part of your life, I'm part of everything."

He took a sharp breath. Would he start doubting her decision to move in with him again?

"I'm nothing without the Sharingan," he said instead, sounding almost disgusted with himself. "They only picked me as a pawn because they saw how weak I was after the war."

Quite horrified to hear him belittle himself so, Sakura stared at him. "Are you serious? Remember when you lost your eye to Madara and Naruto made you a new one? Who saved me from certain death in lava afterwards? You were there and fought for humanity's right to live freely until the very end."

"Ah, Sakura….," he sounded sad when he pulled her closer. "Thank you," he whispered against her hair.

"I'm not saying this because I'm in love with you!" she started to rant. "I'm saying this because it's objectively true! And I…"

"Shhhh," Kakashi said and put her lips to hers. "I can't do what I need to do without the Sharingan. I'm sorry. I understand your concerns and I will tell you all about my plans. Just not… now. Now I hold you for five more minutes. Then I will get up to make you girls breakfast."

She was afraid for him, she realized. If he needed the Sharingan, his opponents were very good. If his opponents were very good, he could be killed.

"Kakashi…"

"Hm?"

"If you come to the hospital, I also want to talk to you about … do you remember? Hypnotherapy?"

"Yes," he nodded. "You talked to me about it after I got hit by Sasuke's Tsukuyomi. Is this about what you called PTSD?"

"Yeah," she said, tenderly ruffling his hair, "I want to make you feel better."

And maybe, just maybe she would be able to find out what exactly had happened to him, why his memories had been such a mess and whether someone had tampered with his memories.

"I feel better every time I see you," he grinned and bent over to kiss her some more. Ah, his lips did things to her...

But Sarada stirred and yawned loudly behind Kakashi's back, making them move apart several inches very quickly.

"Where am I?" Sarada mumbled sleepily.

"My bed," Kakashi said sternly after turning around, "let it be the last time, hm?"

"Is this not my bed?" the child yawned.

"Not exactly," he replied. "There are beds for grown-ups and there are beds for children. And the children should stay in their beds because grown-ups like to use their beds alone."

"I was a little scared though, Uncle Kakashi," Sarada pouted. "And I'm used to sleeping very close to someone."

"Hm, would a dog do?" Kakashi mused.

"Yes, Uncle Kakashi!" Sarada nodded eagerly. "I think that would be fine. And if not, I'll just come here again to…"

"I'll talk to Pakkun," Kakashi interrupted her, "and ask whether there's a puppy he would recommend. Puppies get very lonely, you wouldn't be able to leave your bed at night."

"You're very good to me, Uncle," Sarada said happily and buried herself into the blanket again.

"Hello, sweetie," Sakura said, lifting her head over Kakashi's shoulder, feeling strangely and laughably guilty when Sarada frowned at her as if she'd forgotten Sakura was around too. "Time to get up. Kakashi will make breakfast for us he said."

"Can I come here again after school?" Sarada asked, her eyes shifting from Kakashi's to Sakura's face with puzzlement, then consternation. "I think Sasuke-san still isn't at home and it's very cramped at Kaeru's."

"Of course," Sakura said quickly to reassure her. "I will go talk to your papa today to find out how we are going to take care of you together in the future."

"And you tell us anytime you want to see your mother," Kakashi interjected.

"I don't need to see her," Sarada said bravely, but her voice shook. The poor child… she must be feeling horribly rejected.

"Your mama isn't well," Sakura explained. "In the future, she will be able to take care of you again, okay?"

"Yes," Sarada said, sounding little convinced. "But I want to stay here. I like it. The kids at school will be so impressed! The Hokage will cook me breakfast!"

"Yup," Kakashi said and sat up, patting down his hair, "the Hokage will make you an omelette and will even pack your lunch box. Make sure to rub it into everyone's face until they're green with jealousy."

Sarada laughed. It sounded so gleeful and content, Sakura just had to give the little one a strong hug.

She wasn't stupid. She knew that there was much, much trouble ahead and that it all seemed to hone in on Kakashi, but she was determined to be by his side to help him through it and that alone… it made her feel needed, it made her feel good.

They would master this together, would they not?

Outside, thunder rumbled, but it was far away in the distance.

###

Being down in the Anbu high-security facility with its unpleasant artificial light and the slightly metallic scent in the air made Sakura remember the day she had seen Kakashi again after those many years of searching for him. It felt like such a long time ago when it had only been about ten months. That day, she had brought him food and not much later, she had taken him to her home.

Everything that had happened between them since that day had been inevitable, she knew this now. He was a person who made her feel good about herself, who brought out the best in her. She had known him for so long without fully realizing what he meant to her. Now that she did, she couldn't for the life of her understand what had taken her so long.

She was here to see her husband, Sasuke Uchiha, who felt like a stranger to her, someone whom she would never get to know. Why had she needed to fall in love with Kakashi to realize this? How could she have deceived herself for so many years? It was almost like a mental affliction, she thought, to fool oneself so thoroughly, to keep hoping for closeness and warmth where there was only coldness.

The bitterness Sakura had felt towards Sasuke because of his infidelity and his vast indifference was all but gone - though she felt traces of it resurface in the form of irritation when she saw Karin sitting next to his bed, her eyes on his face, her hair a scraggy red mess.

Sakura nodded her thanks to the Anbu guard who had unlocked the door for her and stepped inside the room. Two pairs of glassy eyes swiveled in her direction as the door fell shut with a soft "clunk" behind her.

"Hi," Sakura said a little nervously and lifted her right hand for a greeting. Awkward. Damn awkward.

"Sakura," Sasuke addressed her in a voice so hoarse she could barely hear him.

Sympathy constricted her throat. He looked pale and completely exhausted, with dark circles underneath his eyes. Karin grabbed for a glass of water on the nightstand and brought it to his chapped lips. He drank slowly, as if swallowing the liquid pained him.

And then, Sakura saw the recent bite marks on Karin's pale skin. Revulsion drove bile into her throat and she had to swallow compulsively a few times.

"Sakura," Sasuke tried to speak again, his eyes following hers to Karin's arms. "Let me explain…"

He coughed pitifully.

"It's not necessary," Sakura said stiffly. "We know that her skin contains a strong toxin to which you have developed an addiction over the years. But that's not why I'm here. I wanted to…"

"It should be why you're here," Sasuke croaked and pushed himself into a sitting position. "I want to explain why I…"

"Sasuke," Sakura interrupted him. "I feel hugely uncomfortable discussing this with Karin in the room. I get it. You lost her mind over her, quite literally. Maybe it's not your fault, maybe it is. All things considering, it doesn't really matter to me."

"It's for healing," Karin sniveled sullenly. "I only wanted him to heal. I never wanted to hurt him."

"I know they've been doing tests on you, Karin," Sakura said, trying to keep any emotion out of her voice. "First Orochimaru, then Kabuto. We don't fully understand what they've done or what they were after… but I do hope this is the last of it."

Karin blinked at her and suddenly, Sakura saw the resemblance, the stark resemblance between Karin and her daughter. It almost made her cry.

"I'm very sorry," she said to Karin. "You don't deserve any of this. You're free to go wherever you want to go."

"I want to stay here," Karin said with a big pout. "With Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke looked at her with his shadowed eyes, not a speck of an emotion visible. At the very least, he wasn't telling himself he hated the mother of his child anymore.

"I've come to talk to you about the serum," Sakura addressed him. "You didn't get it. But we still need to stop the illness."

"I hate needles," Sasuke murmured and looked away.

"Kakashi is getting more treatment too," Sakura said. "I think you should get it together."

There was alarm in Sasuke's eyes now, a sudden flare of something that was close to fear.

"No," he croaked.

"You are both strong enough to control yourselves, whatever happens."

"I almost killed him," Sasuke said. "Because the idiot stood down. I never want to be in that situation again."

"You won't be. Kabuto injected you with Karin's skin toxin. My serum won't transform you. I want to help, both of you. And while we're at it, I can look for something to break your..." her eyes flicked to Karin, "addiction. If you want."

"Yes," Sasuke wheezed, "please."

Karin made an unhappy face, but Sakura decided to simply ignore her - even though she would have preferred to speak with Sasuke alone.

"I would be much obliged if you and I could file for divorce," she said. "Soon."

Sasuke brows knitted together in a furious scowl but he said nothing.

"As soon as you are well again, Sasuke, you will take care of Sarada - unless you are on a mission. All the better if Karin is there to help you. The girl misses her mother even if she is too proud to admit it."

Karin let her head sink. Tears started to drop down to the floor. "I'm a horrible, horrible mother," she cried pitifully.

"Do better in the future," Sakura said curtly, "and I'm sure Sarada will forgive you. All the times you two cannot take care of her, Sarada will stay with me."

"And Kakashi," Sasuke ground out.

"And Kakashi," Sakura confirmed. "I'm going to live with him, I don't give a damn what everyone thinks, you included, Sasuke. I'm sorry all of this happened between us, but let's be adults about it, okay? You are an important person to me, Sasuke. I want to be able to talk to you in the future. And maybe, one day, we can even be friends?"

When she saw Karin's face light up with hope, Sakura couldn't help but smile at her. That's your chance now, she almost told her, go for it and make him yours. Maybe you are the right one for him? I clearly wasn't.

"Good luck," Sakura said and turned around to leave.

###

Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork… leave it be for only half a day and it strangely multiplied as if to punish him for not giving it enough attention. Kakashi rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to concentrate harder. He wanted to see Sakura at noon but he needed to be done before that with the logistical planning for the village repairs now that it looked like the weather was easing up.

Besides, he had to plan his trip to the Capital. He meant to ensure that it wasn't going to be a waste of time even if he knew he was going to hate everything about it.

All things considered, one party had been too conspicuously absent in the last few days. Hence, Kakashi wasn't in the least surprised when a breathless Shizune announced that Mrs. Nohara was outside the office at around 10am. That was all the advance warning he got. The door burst open and Mrs. Nohara sailed in, a very displeased expression on her face.

"Mrs. Nohara," Kakashi said and stood up - a polite gesture that wasn't a Hokage's duty, but he thought was her due anyway because of age and status.

"Hokage," she barked unceremoniously and sat down on the chair in front of her desk, back straight, face sour. Despite her wealth, she liked to dress in very simple clothes, a statement that she knew that showing off was for those who were insecure about their status and power. Kakashi was surprised to see Rin coming in behind her, looking rather uncomfortable and worried, only briefly glancing at him as if to ask his forgiveness for the intrusion.

"Please, take a seat," Kakashi said, but Rin seemed to prefer standing behind her mother, looking timidly down to the floor.

"What can I do for you?" Kakashi asked and sat down again himself. His lower back hurt, he had been sitting for hours and his body just wasn't used to this kind of mistreatment. Shifting a little on his seat, he rolled his shoulders, waiting for the bomb to drop or whatever they had come here to do.

"We have things to discuss," Mrs. Nohara said in a tone that was probably intended to make him feel guilty for not contacting her first.

"I agree," he just said and folded his hands in front of him.

Mrs. Nohara looked straight at him, but what Kakashi saw in her face surprised him and he sat up a little straighter. There was something like uncertainty there, which was new.

"I don't approve of your behavior with the Uchiha spouse and neither does the village council. It's completely unbefitting a Hokage. You were as good as promised to my daughter."

Okay, that was exactly the kind of stuff she would normally say. He might have misread the emotions in her face.

"Mother!" Rin protested feebly.

"Shush," Mrs. Nohara cut her off.

"Rin and I are friends," Kakashi said with an irritated frown, "and enjoy each other's company as friends do. We're not living fifty years ago when a man and a woman could not be alone together without getting married."

"I thought men nowadays still understand that a woman needs protection."

Protection? Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the two women in front of him.

"You brought her to the village, for which I am still very grateful," Mrs. Nohara said. "And then you have done everything you can to thwart my attempts to keep Rin safe."

"You mean… the job at the hospital?"

"The job at the hospital," Mrs. Nohara nodded, "and… outings. You took her outside the city walls and that…" her voice trailed off.

Indeed, that hadn't been prudent and could have ended in a disaster. And yet, Kakashi failed to understand how a capable, strong woman of almost forty had to be kept safe inside a village. Even if it was a woman who had returned from the dead. A woman who wasn't and at the same time was the girl he had killed so many years ago.

Time to be blunt, maybe.

"Maybe," Kakashi sighed, "just maybe you want to tell me what you are frightened of out there? Maybe you want me as an ally and not someone you try to keep guessing. I understand your family has certain… interests and I have been trying to guess what they are. But I must admit I'm puzzled."

"You would be," Mrs. Nohara said coldly.

Silence.

"I've been summoned to the Capital," Kakashi said, but he was sure she already knew that. "Would you like to illuminate me what that is about?"

"You make a lot of people unhappy with your behavior," Mrs. Nohara snapped, but again… was she worried? It wasn't her behind this summons then.

"Because I fell in love with a married woman?" Kakashi shook his head. "They must be extremely bored for such a trifling matter to upset them."

"It's about Micha," Rin blurted out, "they not at all happy that…"

"Quiet!" Mrs. Nohara barked at her.

"Micha?" Kakashi lifted his eyebrows. "Is he too tall for their liking or what?"

"He's a foreigner," Mrs. Nohara pressed out. "And his family has made it clear…"

"Stop," Kakashi said and lifted his hand in a flash of anger. "His family has a say? See, I've been wondering about those 'guns' that I encountered not too long ago. Foreign weapons, hugely destructive. And I've been wondering about a certain liquid I got served in the Land of Water, which was clearly not from around here. Your family is doing business with other parts of the world, am I right? Frankly, I don't care. I'm in charge of a Shinobi village and the deal is clear. We provide Shinobi, which are charged with keeping the peace and fighting wars. If we are not fighting, we provide services to the inhabitants of this country. We are not, however, interested in your business ventures. Unless it becomes a military matter."

"That foreigner needs to return home this instance," Mrs. Nohara demanded haughtily. "And maybe he can take the Haruno wench with him."

"She's an Uchiha," Kakashi corrected her even though that fact still had the power to upset him, "and she does what she wants. Just like him. I am telling you quite frankly that I will not tolerate the import or use of these guns in this country. Tell your contact in the Capital that I will actively remove them, you hear me?"

She harrumphed.

"Besides, I thought you wanted the serum just as much as everybody else? I thought your little blood experiments got out of hand because of that defensive reaction in the Uchiha blood towards being instrumentalized by the likes of you?"

"Mind your tongue," Mrs. Nohara chided him as if he were one of the boys at the orphanage.

"I'm tired," Kakashi sighed. "Really tired of playing games. Thanks to the serum, I remember everything, stop pretending I'm just a child."

A bluff. It most certainly wasn't everything he remembered because he didn't understand why she was here in his office. He didn't understand what they wanted. He didn't understand… them.

Mrs. Nohara's face became utterly still. Okay, good. She didn't like that he remembered.

"You fear the descendants of Asura and Indra. You turned me into a weapon against them. But why don't you just talk instead? Neither Sasuke nor Naruto have anything against you or your family."

Mrs. Nohara snorted. "Sometimes, you humans are so naive."

It was the first time in all their interactions she had admitted to being not like him and the rest of Konoha. He shouldn't be surprised, but he still felt a sudden shortness of breath at the confession. They were getting somewhere.

"Naive," she echoed herself, "and utterly shortsighted. Sometimes, I forget how brief your lives are."

"Yeah," Kakashi murmured, "too short for having to deal with strange aliens."

"We have been here for eons," Mrs. Nohara said, her mouth a thin, displeased line. "This is our home. We will not have it taken away from us."

Kakashi scratched his head in a gesture of genuine puzzlement.

"Who is taking it away from you? The descendants of Asura and Indra? Sasuke and Naruto?"

Mrs. Nohara just looked at him until Kakashi shook his head in exasperation. "Is this about Sarada? Sarada making an appearance got you to move. And you want…"

"... her blood of course," Mrs. Nohara said curtly. "But we'll wait until she's bigger."

"Or maybe I kill you all before you ever get your hands on her," Kakashi said menacingly, feeling his blood boil.

"Kakashi," Rin said urgently, "please."

"I told you it's too late," Mrs. Nohara said and it took Kakashi a moment to understand she was talking to her daughter without turning her head, "I told you that your stupid romantic notions of love and companionship are dangerous and misguided. The window is closing fast and you are still waiting for…"

"Mother," Rin said pleadingly, turning utterly red.

"What window?" Kakashi asked, hoping that what he thought this could be about wasn't true. Rin had hopes… involving him?

"Kabuto fled to the caves," he said in an attempt to press some more information out of this strange meeting that he felt was about to end. "Am I right to suspect that you do not like this?"

"He's a fool," Mrs. Nohara's depreciatory gesture said it all.

"He's not alone there, am I right?" Kakashi ventured on.

"No."

It was Rin who spoke. Kakashi waited, keeping a straight face, but his heart was beating fast.

"No," she repeated. "He is with my sister. It is her my mother is afraid of."

This time, I will make sure you cannot run away before I'm done with you, Rin-not-Rin had chuckled in his dream, his memory. And I won't be done for a while.

Medical nins were skilled with scalpels. So was she. The Rin from his nightmares.