When he got to his office this morning, he was in a very good mood. In fact, he's genuinely happy. After the… events of last night and this morning, he couldn't keep the grin off his face. On top of that, he hadn't had a single nightmare last night and he wished that it could be an on-going streak. Even the mountain of paper work that Shizune brought in couldn't put a damper in his mood.

After three hours, however, his hands had started to hurt. Sure, most of his work was done in his computer but there's still papers to sign, proposals to approve and many other things that involved him using a pen. He leaned heavily on his chair and tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling as he unconsciously began to massage his fingers. If Shizune sees me like this, I'm dead.

He can only grin at the thought of his cute assistant and he reluctantly turned his attention back to his work. He reached for his pen again but missed, causing it to roll and fall off the table and landing near his feet. He bent down to pick it up when he noticed the keyhole of the fourth drawer, and remembered the thing that piqued his interest more than two weeks ago.

He glanced at the amount of paperwork left on his desk, contemplating which one he should do first and deciding that it would be good to procrastinate once in a while, before he knelt in front of his desk. He opened the top drawer and took the keys out, cursing himself for not remembering which one was the right key. He was in luck, however, when the second key fit in the lock.

He yanked the whole drawer out and he laid it on the floor, carefully sifting through the papers. What he found, however, made him blink. On the corner of the drawer was a small, red velvet box, almost the size of a matchbox. No, it was slightly bigger and looked fancier than he thought.

Kakashi took it and stared uncomprehendingly at the small, velvet box that he grasped between his fingers, undecided on whether or not he should open it. He doesn't know much about jewelry, but he does have a fairly good idea as to what is inside that box.

Why would he have this thing? Why is it hidden here, in his office? He turned the box over in his hand, looking for a store stamp on the box or whatever clue that he can see to contact the store owner, but there was none. Maybe there's a store name inside?

He reluctantly opened the box and stared, mesmerized, at the ring inside the box. It had a tiny diamond in the middle, flanked by two, even smaller diamonds. A simple ring, but was obviously an engagement ring. He took the ring between fingers, examining it closely. There's no other design to it and has no engraved designs on the inside, either. He removed the small cushion supporting the jewel and discovered that, at the bottom of the box was the store name that he recognized. It was a jewelry store that's not far from the night market.

His eyebrows furrowed as the left side of his head began to throb painfully. It has been awhile since he last had a headache but this one is different; it's as if something was hammering inside his head, pushing his mind out of his body. He dropped the box and grasped his head, closing his eyes tightly in vain. Unbidden, flashes began to play behind his eyes.

Staring at the dark eyes of the woman, who's gazing back at him lovingly.

Talking to a man about making a ring.

Sleeping with the woman that he loves, safe in his arms.

Making the necessary preparations for the important event in his life.

Actually getting the item.

A man with purple hair and teal eyes, charging at him with murderous intent.

The flash of his purple lightning and then a sharp, indescribable pain on the left side of his head.

"Kakashi? Kakashi! Are you alright?! What happened?!" a woman's voice asked in an alarmed voice.

He can only groan in response, pressing his hand against his scar firmly. Somebody pulled his hand away from his head, only to be replaced with warm, small hands. He kept his eyes closed but he can feel the soothing chakra flow from the hands against his head. Once the pain had somehow abated and his mind had somewhat cleared, he began to take note of his surroundings. He was sitting on the floor, his legs sprawled out in front of him, with his hands clenched into tight fists. He opened his eyes slowly to see Shizune kneeling beside him, concern and worry evident in her face, with her hands still on his head, her iryo chakra still flowing.

"Hey," she said softly, "What happened?"

He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out of his mouth. He's still reeling from what he just discovered and what he saw in his mind. Were those his memories? Was he… was he really about to…

"Kakashi?" she whispered again. He focused his eyes on her and saw that she was looking at him expectantly, "Is everything alright?"

"Shizune…" he mumbled, "I – I had a headache."

"Yeah, I can see that," she answered, "What happened? Why are you on the floor?"

Kakashi glanced around the floor. He can't afford to let Shizune see the ring nor the box. He found the box under the table, completely out of her sight and he can feel the ring inside his palm, which he thankfully clutched in his hand. His eyes landed on the drawer, the scattered papers on the floor.

"I – I was looking for some papers and, when I found them, my headache started acting up. Like something is pounding inside my head. And I saw flashes of what might be my memories," he explained smoothly. Though he didn't like lying to her, he doesn't want to know how she will react if he told her of what he found out.

"I see," she replied absentmindedly as she continued her treatment, "Can it be your repressed memories trying to surface and was triggered by the papers you found?"

"Maybe," he surmised out-loud, "I did see… memories in my mind."

"Hokage-sama? Shizune-san? Why is the door open?" Shikamaru said from the doorway.

"Come in, Shikamaru," she replied.

"Are you decent?" the young advisor joked as he entered and walked closer to them.

"Not funny, Shikamaru!" Shizune scolded, but Kakashi can see the telltale sign of a blush on her cheeks. Shikamaru looked at them curiously once he was close enough, his eyes darting between the sprawled out Hokage, the assistant treating him and the cluttered papers on the floor.

"Uh, what happened?" he asked.

"Hokage-sama had a headache that might be triggered by his repressed memories. Though we don't know much about amnesia, we do know that head trauma victims can suffer from recurring headaches," the medic explained as she removed her hands from his head.

"I see."

"Are you alright now, Kakashi-sama?" she inquired.

Kakashi nodded, "Yeah. Thank you, Shizune. Sorry about that," he apologized. He remained on the as he started to collect the papers.

"Let me do that, Hokage-sama," she offered as she started to gather some of them, as well.

"No need, Shizune," he declined, "I can do this. I need these papers, too. Don't worry about it."

His voice sounded unnaturally cold and snappy, his words coming out harsher than he intended even to his ears and he had to smack himself internally. She had nothing to do with this, you idiot! Don't get mad at her!

Shizune paused her motions and she put the papers that she managed to gather on his desk. Kakashi didn't miss the look of hurt in her eyes, though she quickly masked it with a smile.

"Alright, Hokage-sama. We'll leave you to it," she said cheerfully and left the room with Shikamaru.

Once the door clicked shut, he opened his hand and looked briefly at the ring. He quickly took the box from under the table and put it inside, letting it close with a loud click. He ran his hands through his hair in annoyance. Did he just fuck up? It's nobody's fault but he snapped at her like that. He stared at the box for a little while longer and then stuffed it back on the drawer, hiding it with the papers. He can take care of that later.

Slamming the drawer closed and locking the latch, he hauled himself up from the floor and sat on his chair. He can take care of everything later.

Kakashi stood before her office door, raised his hand, hesitated and then dropped them. He looked up at the ceiling, putting his hands inside his pockets and tapped his foot. Come on, you idiot! Just knock!

He intended to finish work early today, even enlisting the help of Shikamaru with the paper works, so he can take his assistant out for dinner and properly apologize for his behavior that morning. But right now, he doesn't really know what to tell her. How will he ask her out? Sure, it's already their fourth date but Kakashi's still unsure on how to talk to her properly, especially after what he did earlier.

He took a deep breath, shook his hands and then exhaled, feeling his resolve build and strengthen. He raised his fist and knocked on her door.

"Come in, Kakashi," her voice called out.

He cautiously opened the door and stepped inside. She was standing behind her desk, arranging the papers on her desk into stacks.

"Hey," he said almost meekly as he closed the door.

She looked up and managed to give him a smile, "Hey."

"Are you done there?" he asked awkwardly as he stood in front of her desk and he couldn't help but feel like the roles were reversed.

"Almost. Why?"

She's being curt. He scratched his cheek, "Uh, well, I want to ask you out for dinner once you're done."

"Oh," was the only thing she replied and put the papers down, staring at something on her desk.

"Shizune," He began to speak at her long pause, "I'm sorry, for the way I acted earlier. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

That caused her to look up, understanding evident in her eyes. She walked towards him and stood in front of him, taking his hands in hers and staring up at him.

"I should be the one to apologize," she said lowly, "I should have understood your situation, it's way worse than anything. But here I was, being a sulky girlfriend and waiting for her boyfriend to comfort her. And I'm sorry about that."

He smiled. What an adorable woman.

"There's nothing to apologize for, Shizune. Your boyfriend is now here to comfort you," he replied.

She dropped his hands and smacked his chest, "Stop making fun of me!"

"I'm not! Besides, I'm serious about not needing an apology. There's nothing to forgive, Shizune," he said sincerely. She gazed at him and then smiled. Giving him a chaste kiss over his mask, she took his hand in hers and pulled him out the door.

"I suppose the offer of dinner still stand?" she asked as they left the Tower.

He intertwined their fingers, relishing the warmth of her hand in his and smiling in relief, "Of course it is."

Dinner ended up being Ichiraku Ramen and Shizune decided to indulge them of Teuchi's ramen tonight, despite her usual aversion to the meal. When they got there, there was already a fine amount of people inside. Ever since they decided to expand the small ramen store to a full-scale restaurant, they got even more customers than normal.

When they entered, a sizable amount of people stared at them and their joined hands and a few even stared for a second longer than necessary. But Kakashi couldn't care less; he's here for ramen and a night out with Shizune.

"Oi, Kakashi! Shizune!" a voice called out. Kakashi looked over and saw Tsunade waving at them on one of the corner table with Sakura, big bowls of ramen in front of them. They walked over to their table.

"Shizune-san, Kakashi-sensei! How are you?" the pink haired kunoichi asked once they were close enough. Her welcoming smile turned into a knowing smirk when she saw their hands, "So, what Naruto said was true."

Shizune smiled awkwardly, her cheeks turning pink, "Yeah, well… Naruto's right."

"Tsunade-sama, I see you're enjoying your retirement," Kakashi commented as he observed the bottles of sake on the table.

The blonde laughed, "Of course I'll enjoy it! You know what's missing in this village, Kakashi? Casino. That would be a good addition here, don't you think?" Tsunade suggested slyly.

"And the sole customer of that establishment will be you, Tsunade-sama," Shizune commented, exasperated.

The older woman merely shrugged and took a drink, "Whatever. At least it will be a flourishing one, don't you think so, Kakashi?"

"I'll think about it, Tsunade-sama," was his neutral response.

"Hokage-sama, your ramen is ready," Ayame said behind them.

Kakashi gave them a nod, "I'll see you around, Tsunade-sama. Sakura."

"See you, sensei! See you at the hospital, Shizune-san!" Sakura replied as the couple went to a free table and Ayame set the bowls in front of them. Kakashi made sure that he had his back turned away from Sakura and Tsunade's table.

Shizune looked at him curiously, "You mean to tell me Sakura hadn't seen your face yet?"

He lowered his mask and grinned at her, "Not yet, so shhh."

She giggled, "They've been your students for more than a decade. Why don't you show that handsome face of yours to them?"

He smirked as he cracked the chopsticks apart, "You think I'm handsome?"

She blushed as she realized the words that flew out of her mouth, "I – well, uhm – I… of course I do! I mean, that face of yours? I can't even begin to describe it. You're so immaculate and ageless and you're absolutely handsome and… and – I'm shutting up now before I make a bigger embarrassment out of myself," she blabbered and then shut up abruptly, looking down at the floor, her cheeks flaming.

Kakashi, meanwhile, was just smiling amusedly and fondly at her. His goal was to make her flustered but he actually ended up getting complimented by her. He took her hand in his and squeezed it lightly, making her look up.

"Shizune, thank you," he said softly but with voice full of reverence. He was rewarded with a bright smile.

I love you.

Lips pressing against one another passionately, arms wrapping around each other's body, clothes being divested with hasty hands, bare skin pressing against another intimately.

Kakashi would never trade this feeling, this woman in his arms, for anything else.

He opened his eyes with a gasp, his breath coming out in short, hurried puffs. Small hands were at his head, massaging his scalp in a soothing motion. His head was cradled on Shizune's warm chest, her arms around his shoulders. He brought his hand up to his face and wiped his cheeks, his fingers coming away wet. He was having a nightmare. Wiping away the remnants of tears on his face, he raised his head.

"Shizune," he whispered in a broken voice, "Will you judge me if I cry?"

Her dark eyes were gazing at him tenderly, lovingly, understanding shining in her eyes that made tears spring behind his eyes again, "Never in a million years."

And he sobbed on her chest, cradled safely in her arms.