Chapter 1:

"Lucky Naras, no one lectures you for being lazy", Kakashi sighed reaching back to his pouch for his favorite book as he left hokage's residence. He strolled down the new streets keeping one eye on the page of Icha Icha, where he knew by heart every single line, and the other one on new buildings, stores and restaurants that once had changed his village. Sometimes it seemed like not only streets were changed, but people as well, and on some days he would catch himself heading to places where the old atmosphere of the village could still be felt in the air.

Kakashi walked, blessing old days with still genin team seven. Catching a cat, cleaning a river or walking out dogs were so easy to deal with. And the more he thought about it, the more he hated that upcoming A rank mission that was waiting for him next day.

Konoha was beautiful in the autumn. Inhabitants had always found orange envelope suiting the village a lot, bringing some kind of peace and warmth to it, and Kakashi wasn't an exception. On a such day he'd find a suitable tree to lean on, or a nice, flat roof, and read.

"Damn, Ichiraku... avoid it". He walked the other direction seeing familiar red characters on the restaurant, as chances of Naruto, Sai or Sakura (his beloved, still sometimes annoying students), or all of them together being there were more than eighty percent. They weren't out for missions, and training hours were long over, so it was as simple as one plus one. It was just fine not wanting to be around anyone sometimes.

Kakashi involuntarily picked up his pace as he entered a very familiar playground, which was about seven minutes walk from his place. Seven more minutes and he'd finally be home putting into action his half baked plan of reading, making promised dinner for his pack and ignoring everything else.

"What's wrong with this girl? She's been crying here for the last twenty minutes".

"Hm, she'll scare kids, damn".

He heard in between rustling of leaves under his steps. Only due to his profession Kakashi had learned to listen every whispered word, no matter how important they were. On this case not important even a bit, but before he knew it his eyes roved surroundings to see who that crybaby was. A swing, a jungle gym with two boys trying to climb higher on. Then the other side... and there she was. The girl sitting under a tree, her forehead placed on her folded arms on her knees, looking like a pink wad because of her long hair that were falling down her sides reaching the ground. "What the... maybe I should just..." Kakashi hesitated, but didn't even finish thinking about running away, when the girl lifted her jade eyes to look at him. "Too late". Kakashi sighed and moved towards Sakura, as there were no more options left for him.

Sakura didn't want to go home, neither did she want anyone (by that she meant the bastard who had just broken up with her) to find her (if he was to look for her). All that she needed were some answers that seemed no one could have given her. Every next heartbreak was harder to get over and every next heartbreak was leaving her with more questions. Even though she'd had only three of them, but still. After all, that was her heart that was aching either from loneliness or from break ups. She cried not knowing, or maybe not wanting to admit the real reason of her tears. They just wouldn't stop. 'Why is it always this way?' she asked herself for the hundredth time getting the same answer from her inner self for the hundredth time 'Who the hell knows'.

She felt it again, loneliness. Somehow it always knew how to find her and, as hard as she tried, she never managed to run away from it. It would come to remind her that she was getting older and, despite the fact that she had friends and family, she was lonely.

Sakura presumed, that she needed someone, her soulmate, the one she belonged with, the best one, her best one, the one that nowhere was found damn it. She would punch him in the face for not showing up for a damn long time.

A strong need to be hugged and comforted (more hugged than just comforted) overcame her. That hit just enough to make her think about heading off to a bar, finding a hot stranger and getting her portion of hugs. After all, many girls would do that sort of things, wouldn't they? 'Yeah, go for it, and one day you'll wake up in the middle of night from a cry of an offspring of yours and God knows whose... you'll be fat and worthless, even more than now...' Sakura wanted to punch her inner self for lecturing morality at the moment, only her guts told her to look around to find the person who'd chosen to stare at her instead of minding their own business. And so she did to find a lazy and puzzled gaze that belonged to her former teacher. 'Please, come talk to me', the voice plead inside her head. Maybe Kakashi could've been the one to give her some answers she needed. 'And a little bit of that comfort thing maybe? Don't forget to ask him to give you your portion of hug'. Sakura found the last thought inappropriate. She wasn't even sure if she liked that idea or hated it, but controlling thoughts wasn't her strong suit anyway.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Sakura tried to answer him, but the little effort that she made to speak only pushed some tears down her eyes, and she felt pathetic and angry again.

As no answer came, Kakashi repeated his question ones more, making his voice softer than it was before. His hand went up Sakura's forearm as he spoke, feeling her skin soft and cold against his warm fingers.

"Kakashi what's wrong with me?" She skipped "sensei" or "sempai" part in her question and that was a rare case, so Kakashi learned he was not going to get off lightly. He mentally put paid to his old plan of a perfect evening and made a new one - to be a good friend as he was.

He sighed, as if guessing what had happened. For him it was a usual thing, couples broke up and went back together all the time, but some people just had to put a whole lot of drama in it. That sigh that left his masked lips affected Sakura more than it should have. Why was he sighing? What was that supposed to mean? Why was that so hard to understand men? She moved from cry-your-heart-out phase to angry-as-hell phase all at once, and Kakashi happened to be the one to handle that.

"Seriously, what's wrong with me? Am I..." pause "Am i ugly?" Kakashi made a did-i-hear-it-right face, only Sakura couldn't have seen it because of the navy fabric covering lower part of his face.

"Am I stinky? Am I fat?" her voice was getting higher and higher with each asked question and her eyes bigger and wider.

"Am I..." she never got to finish the last sentence, as Kakashi gave her arm a little shake.

"Sakura, Sakura!" they both fell in silence for about ten seconds. Kakashi looked at women whispering in each other's ears then back at Sakura. He ran his thumb lightly over her skin to make sure he had her attention, and spoke again

"Let's get you out of here first. Where'd you like to go?"

'He's changing the subject'. "I want to drink".

"No, no, tears and alcohol are not good combination. Let's take you home."

"No, I don't want to go home, you can leave me here". Sakura placed her forehead on her forearm, strands of her soft hair caressing Kakashi's fingers that were still lightly wrapped around her arm. Kakashi knew that she didn't want to stay alone there in the park, even though she told him to leave, besides what kind of a man and friend he'd be, if he left her like that. Being honest though, running away to his book had crossed his mind more than once.

"Then, let's go to my place, it's close and no one can find you there". Sakura wasn't looking at him, but she could say his face was only an inch away from hers, and, somehow, she was certain he was giving her one of his meaningful smiles.

Not long afterwards Sakura was in Kakashi's bathroom. She ran the tap and stood there in front of his mirror staring at her own reflection. Red eyes and nose, messy hair, plus a breath far from being fresh. 'You look terrible girl.' with a small "ah" she started to wash her face. A few splashes of cold water felt pleasant against her skin. She pulled her hair back in a loose braid and continued attacking her face with gradually freezing water until her fingertips went numb. She looked at her reflection again and finding it not so bad reached for the towel. 'Kakashi sensei's towel...'

Next came her breath, that still needed a special treatment. Sakura took a handful of water in her mouth and rinsed it, and then again, and then third time with no results, so not bothering to think long she simply reached for Kakashi's toothpaste. For a second her gaze fell on his toothbrush, but she shook away the crazy thoughts. And where was she getting them?

'Mint and honey...'

Meanwhile Kakashi prepared two mugs of tea knowing for sure that Sakura wouldn't mind it. He just knew she didn't like her tea hot. They knew those little things about each other and that was fact. Not only him and Sakura, but Naruto and Sai as well. He couldn't tell the same about Sasuke though, because he was away all the time, but the four of them were close. When did that happen? He kept asking himself that question since the day, when he saw Sakura having hard time taking out all tiny leaves of tea from his mug.

It was quiet. Too quiet. Some sounds would be heard from here and there, but still. After some time and dozen sips Kakashi decided it was time to go back to their left-behind conversation, just wasn't sure how to start it without pulling the trigger of her tears in the process. He watched Sakura resting her chin in her palm glaring nowhere and cleared his throat.

"How do you feel now?" with a little "hm" Sakura fell out of her thoughts.

"Not sure." He hoped to make eye contact, but her gaze fell somewhere far.

"Something tells me that some good-looking guy needs to get his ass kicked." He took another sip of his tea watching Sakura drop her forehead on the dry wooden surface of the table.

"Kicking asses doesn't change things, I've tried."

'Of course, you have'. Kakashi's eyes softened as he adjusted his palm under his chin.

"I'm 24, still without any proper guy by my side, or even an option to choose one to be with. They drop me before I get chance to decide whether I like them or no. I've tried, really, so hard, but..." she raised her hand to wipe tears from her cheeks. "What's wrong with me? What am I doing wrong? Tell me as a man, not a friend." Silence again. Kakashi remained silent, 'let's see: short temper, lack in self-confidence and femininity, rude, need to take everything and everyone under control, rather friend type than a lover type... quite much'. They were friends, and they were close, but could he say all that things to her? After all she was a young woman who got her heart broken about two hours ago.

"Sakura, look... you are kind, caring, beautiful, honest, if a guy doesn't see all the good things in you and appreciate that, you should be the one who drops him".

Sakura looked at him. 'You sound just like my mom'. She never replied to Kakashi, not that there was much left to say anyway. She hoped to listen something from a man who knew her good enough to give a piece of advice, but the answer he'd given her proved her wrong. Maybe it was stupid at all to talk about it with him? That crossed her mind, but eventually won the other part of her, which voted for a male audience. And now there she was, without a clue.

As for Kakashi, he knew he wasn't being much help, he wanted to help her somehow, only didn't know how. He was a man, apparently, and wasn't an expert in that kind of conversations. He wasn't sure what exactly to say or do. For a second he thought that maybe it would be right to mention some of her not charming features, but the right moment now was gone, and second, he didn't want to get punched.

Sakura moved to stand in front of the window staring at her own reflection in it. It was almost midnight when Kakashi suggested to walk her home. She needed a good sleep, and he wouldn't mind one as well. Remembering the mission that was waiting for him in the morning Kakashi cursed again, he was still hating it.

"I can go alone, you need to... rest." Sakura finished her sentence after yawning. She wouldn't mind his company further, but his half open eyes and slow movements were giving away his tiredness.

Kakashi fought back the urge to yawn himself. He was too tired to think, he didn't want to go farther his bedroom and he couldn't let Sakura go alone, so he put together obvious facts and came up with a perfect solution.

"What about you stay here?" Sakura expected further persuasion to walk home together, for Kakashi's place wasn't for staying over, everyone knew that. Maybe she was the first person in that apartment's history to stay over. She stared at him not knowing how to thank for being around, how much she appreciated it.

"I... I..." She looked down feeling tears forming in her eyes again.

"You're taking the couch." Kakashi didn't wait for her to say anything, he already knew what was on her mind. No words needed to be spoken.

That morning Sakura woke up to an empty room. She stared at the ceiling for some time, before realizing that it was not her bedroom. Soft blanket slid down her shoulders, as she sat folding her right leg under herself and stretching her arms above her head yawning. 'No clock, so like sensei'. Her eyes quickly ran over the few pieces of furniture in Kakashi's modest living room before stopping over the apple that was pinning down a sheet of paper on the small table not far from the couch. She reached for the white sheet of paper and read to herself.

'I'm off for my mission, feel free to have breakfast, take a shower if you want to, also you could clean up, know that I wouldn't mind', and a small henohenomoheji. Creating Kakashi's smiling face in her mind, Sakura folded the blanket, putting it on the edge of the couch, then tucked the note into her pocket and made a beeline towards the door taking along the apple. Stopping in front of the door she looked back for a moment. That was childish but she walked back to unfold the blanket she'd folded a minute ago and to leave a note for Kakashi. "Thanks for being such a good host, you're the best".

"If you don't have any questions, move in three hours".

"Yes". Sakura replied automatically and left hokage's office. She was glad to have an easy mission, which would keep her mind busy with other things than her personal life, or its absence. Packing her belongings didn't take long, so she was on her way in two hours.

Ghost. That's how she'd been calling herself for the last six days. She found that matching her perfectly. Her words, actions, or sometimes even her presence were unseen, just like a ghost's. 'So, a ghost is going to escort a rich lady, and beautiful, and happy, and rich…' Sakura played that same thought in her mind over and over again until she realized that it was time to knock on the door. It took only seconds before a very handsome, middle aged man opened the white door to invite Sakura in.

"Haruno Sakura I suppose, my name is Hayao. My lady is waiting for you." 'My lady?' Sakura nodded passing through the door, and the moment she stepped in, it felt like she went through some portal to another world. The light inside made her blind, the lush scent of crimson roses caressed her nose and a weird kind of nervousness dominated over her. She'd seen many rich people before, but this was different. Everything was too much, too much pressure... the servants were wearing red and white instead of black and white, the furniture was all white, not even a piece of black or brown. She went forward trying to hide her confusion and nervousness, and there was she, the lady that was waiting for her, standing in front of a bunch of red roses arranging them into a vase with no hurry.

Little did she know then, that that mission was going to change whole lot of things in her life.