"I'm such an idiot."

Sakura had tagged along with Ino and Tenten as they went to visit Obito. Tenten was treating him as a consultant for her new mission to restart the Konoha Military Police Force (this time hopefully without mass bloodshed). Ino was still his primary interrogator (even if she hadn't been particularly active in that duty of late), and Sakura was still technically his handler (despite failing miserably at that task). As such, they had all become sort-of friends with the elder Uchiha, especially now that he and Sasuke had been cleared to reside at their ancestral compound full-time. Sasuke's residence was nearby, but he rarely sought the company of anyone other than Naruto and Hinata.

Today the girls had brought a watermelon, the first of the season, and were eating it out on Obito's verandah.

"You're not an idiot," Obito tutted. He had been listening to Sakura's story (which she had been bullied into re-telling by Ino) with rapt attention, even as he worked his way through the watermelon with an enthusiasm that bordered on violence. Tenten and Ino, who had already heard the story) were taking turns squirting each other with the hose. "Kakashi's the idiot, for that piss-poor excuse. What happened after that?"

"Nothing." Sakura lay face down on the wooden boards, so that her voice came out muffled. "I made good on my promise and left. I haven't seen him since, and I don't plan to until after his inauguration. Maybe not even then."

"You'll have to talk to him at some point," Obito spat a seed onto the nearby grass. "He'll be the one assigning you missions."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She shifted in place until she could look Obito in the eye. Once upon a time, she may have been worried about touching the man or making eye contact, but even if she thought Obito would try something again, her recent genjutsu training wasn't just for show. "Tsunade and Shizune had a meeting with me. About my future."

"What's that?" Something in Sakura's tone must have grabbed Ino's attention, because she dropped the hose and turned back to the verandah. Tenten took that moment to dump a bucket of water over her head. "Holy shit that's cold!"

Sakura toyed absently with the red scarf around her neck. "You know how Tsunade plans to go back to her nomadic lifestyle after Kakashi takes over? Well, she asked if I wanted to come with them. Apparently, she's started getting some intel from the other Kages about 'deep-dreamers,' people like me." She glanced at Obito reflexively, and he gave her a sheepish smile. "And if I came along, I could reach out to them. Maybe help them."

"So did you say yes?" Ino pressed.

"I said I'd think about it."

"I think it's a great idea," Tenten said. "If I had the opportunity to travel with Lady Tsunade, I'd take it in a heartbeat." She glanced across at her girlfriend, who was once again holding the hose. "…After discussing it with the other important people in my life, of course!"

"Nice try, babe." Ino pounced, wrestling Tenten to the ground and spraying her full in the face. Sakura watched them wistfully.

Obito flicked a watermelon seed at her head, and she turned back to him. "What? Also, that better not have been in your mouth."

"Kakashi might have been out of line about your age," he said, "but I kind of understand the fear."

"Fear?" Kakashi was afraid of her?

"Don't get me wrong, he's being an ass for the way he's going about it. But even if his feelings aren't totally rational, they're still valid. What you said about being a weapon is true. And I don't know about you, but if I were about to become the person who decided the fate of the weapon that I loved, I'd probably want to put it in a box where I could keep it safe forever."

"Hmm." Sakura wasn't convinced. Kakashi was a veteran of two wars, a consummate shinobi. He understood the risks they all faced in their line of work, and even though he upheld duty to one's comrades over duty to the mission, he had never let fear of loss stop him before.

Obito's smile turned sad. "Grief is…it can make people a little crazy. The more love you have for the person, the worse it is. Kakashi thinks he's protecting himself by not taking things further, but unfortunately that's just not how it works. I ought to know."

"Obito…"

The man seemed to shake himself out of whatever reverie he had sunk into. "Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that we can only make our own choices. Kakashi made his, and now you've just gotta make yours, Medic."

Sakura sighed. "Am I still allowed to feel crappy about his choice?"

"Oh, absolutely." Obito took another slice of watermelon. "Honestly, I'd be surprised if you didn't. Of all the different loves in this world, a love unfulfilled has to be one of the worst."

The inauguration of a new Hokage was always something of a spectacle. Nobody worked who didn't have to, and many treated it like a festival day. This time, with an era of peace and prosperity newly underway, the excitement in the air was palpable.

The only person not infected by this mood was the man of the hour himself. Kakashi watched glumly as the village elders droned on about duty or whatever, waiting for an end that would never arrive.

Recite the oath, don the cap, shake Tsunade's hand, get presented to the crowd, step down from the stage, shake like, a thousand more hands, and then…be Hokage until Naruto comes of age, or I die in service to the village.

Easy.

He was already wearing the robe, the one he'd have to wear every day from now on. It itched, and slowed him down, and would be pretty much impossible to keep clean. Its only redeeming quality was the fact that it allowed him to hide his fidgeting hands in its folds. He turned his Happiness charm over and over, worrying the delicate embroidery until he was sure it would unravel and let all the magic out.

Sakura had moved out of her apartment. He wasn't sure where she was staying now, or if he had been the reason she'd left. He hadn't seen her at all since the night they almost…drank coffee. Part of him was relieved, because there was nothing in the universe he could bring himself to say to her after that. But that was a childish thought, unbecoming of the new Hokage. He had to face problems head-on, not let them fester until his imagination convinced him that Sakura not only hated him, but wanted him dead, and was actively plotting to make it happen.

The time came to say the words, don the cap, and shake the endless parade of hands. At the front of the line were his friends, Gai, Kurenai, Genma and all the other jounin he'd gone through the academy and every hell imaginable alongside. Then there were chunin, genin, even Iruka and his school-aged gaggle of future killers. They all looked at him with something close to awe. He looked at them with something akin to dread.

The crowds parted to admit the familiar faces that had been missing until now. Naruto, ever the clone of his departed father (someone Kakashi missed more than ever today), Sai, with a surprisingly sincere smile on his pale face, and then slightly behind them…her.

She wasn't smiling, but she didn't look angry or depressed or any of the other stupid paranoid ways he'd imagined her being in his absence. In fact, her expression was one of consolation.

"Congratulations," she murmured, taking his hand in hers. "May your reign be short and uneventful."

He had done her a disservice by thinking she might hate him or be heartbroken by his rejection. She was, as always, Haruno Sakura.

"Thank you," he said, and meant it.

"The hat suits you," she joked, tapping its wide brim. He could smell her perfume.

"Hides my grey hairs."

She laughed; a soft, restrained sound that was quickly silenced into seriousness. "So," she said, "I have something to tell you."

"You're still wearing it," he gestured to her scarf. The scarlet fabric was like a slashed throat against her pale skin.

"Every day," she confirmed, touching her neck seemingly unconsciously. "But listen, I wanted to update you in person before you read it in my file. Tsunade has-"

She was cut off by another of his well-wishers, a relative of the feudal lord who no doubt considered his time far more important than that of some random girl. Before Kakashi could blink Sakura was out of sight, and the crowd was pressing in too close for him to ever follow.

When he was finally, finally excused from hand shaking and baby kissing so that he might actually get started running the village, the first thing he did was look up Sakura's file. There was a recent photo, probably taken the day after the night she made jounin. Her eyes were red-rimmed.

Beneath that, details of her new rank and skills assessment. He skimmed until he reached her status: instead of 'active', it read 'ongoing field mission - remove from rotation' with a date set for the next day. It had been signed by Tsunade, which wasn't unusual since she had been the Hokage up until a few hours ago. But he could only think of one reason she'd assign an ongoing field mission that wouldn't even start until after she had already abdicated.

She was taking Sakura with her.

Kakashi had promised to have dinner with Obito and Sasuke that night, seeing as they weren't allowed to attend the ceremony. He sat opposite Obito, with the youngest in their party forming the head. Both Uchiha looked at the hat and robes with about as much respect as he currently felt.

"You look…" Obito trailed off.

"Stupid," Sasuke supplied helpfully.

"Thanks, I was going for 'stupid' when I got dressed this morning," he said. His heart wasn't really up for a visit with the impossible Uchihas. All he wanted to do was track down Sakura and convince her to stay.

"You seem way too glum for literally your first day on the job," Obito remarked, propping his chin against one hand. "Did someone die already?"

"No," Kakashi sighed. This wasn't a conversation he could even begin with the two people who had hurt Sakura the most, people she would surely never want privy to something so personal.

"Are you pining for Sakura?" Obito asked, and it was sheer willpower that stopped Kakashi from reacting openly. "She doesn't leave until tomorrow, you know. Just ask her to stay. You could even order her now, if you wanted."

"Don't you dare," Sasuke cut in before Kakashi could respond. "It's her turn to travel the world."

"How do you both know about this?" he sputtered, unable to show restraint any longer.

Both men looked at him like he really was stupid. "She told us."

"She did?" The leaving part, or the kissing Kakashi part? He didn't dare ask.

"Yeah. She visits us pretty often, you know."

"Obito more than me," Sasuke said, and he had the nerve to almost sound miffed about it.

"And she told us about Tsunade's offer to go with her, and then she told us she'd accepted it, and then she came and said goodbye, and then she said you were an emotionally-stunted man-child who was being weird around her, so she was putting off telling you until the last possible minute." Obito grinned. "I may have paraphrased that last bit."

"But seriously, don't make her stay." Sasuke's icy glare was almost nostalgic. "It's bad enough that you seduced your own student…"

"I did not-"

"But if you make her stay then she'll hate you forever." He paused. "She'll forgive you, and she'll keep being nice to you. But part of her will always hate you for what you did."

"…"

"Plus, you should be far too busy reforming the village to worry about one girl who will probably be better off travelling with her real teacher than waiting around for you. Naruto agrees."

"Naruto knows about this?" How was Kakashi still alive at this point?

"Have a little pity, Sasuke," Obito said with an enigmatic smile. "Kakashi is like us; his hands are too dirty to touch something as clean as our Sakura."

"Don't give me that crap, old man," Sasuke turned his contempt on Obito. "Just because people like Sakura and Naruto, and even Hinata-san, are able to keep smiling, doesn't mean they haven't experienced bad things too." His dark eyes were clouded with some unreadable emotion. "That's what I couldn't understand before."

"You really have grown up," Kakashi said, before he could stop himself. The ever-prickly Sasuke of old would never have stood up for Sakura or acknowledged his own mistakes. This new, mature Sasuke gave him hope that one day the Uchihas could leave the compound and attempt normal lives in the village.

"All of Team Seven has. Except for you, Stupid Kakashi."

So much for maturity…

The A-n gates were still dark, the light of dawn struggling to crest the dense trees that gave Konoha its name. The patrolmen watched as a small crowd of people congregated to send off their former Hokage, her right-hand woman, her right-hand pig, and her spiritual successor.

"Don't let Tsunade gamble away all of your earnings!" Ino warned Sakura for the thousandth time. As the daughter of a business owner, she was always careful with her money.

"And tell the guys from the other countries to visit Konoha sometime!" Naruto was as buoyant as ever, despite the bittersweet nature of goodbyes. "It's not like we're at war anymore, they don't need a diplomatic excuse to come by."

"They're probably busy rebuilding their villages, just like we are," Hinata reminded him. They were still, as far as Sakura knew, not an item, but it was nice to see how confidently Hinata spoke these days.

"I guess that's true," Naruto admitted. "But damn, I miss everyone. It's been almost a year since it all ended."

The others nodded, even Sakura, for whom the war's timeline was still complicated. "Still hard to believe it ended at all." No Orochimaru causing problems, no moon people trying to take over the world. No marriages or children; at least not yet. For now, it was simply Peacetime. And it was beautiful.

Tsunade signalled that it was time to leave, and Sakura shouldered her pack.

"When you come back, let's go on another trip, with Sasuke," Naruto suggested. "He should be better by then."

"Someday, for sure," Sakura agreed. It might be some time before she was back in Konoha, but she suspected it would be longer still before the Uchiha assets were allowed to set foot outside the village.

"Bye, Sakura!" Her friends waved and wished her safe travels. There was Naruto (his smile too big, trying too hard not to ruin Sakura's happiness with his own sadness), Sai (not bothering to hide his complicated emotions at their farewell; a huge achievement for him), Team Eight (Hinata smiling gently, Kiba slapping Sakura on the back and telling her to 'give the world hell!', Shino waving a hand crawling with bugs, Kurenai bouncing little Akira on one hip), Team Ten (Shikamaru subtly slipping yet another letter for Temari into Sakura's pack, Chouji pushing a bag of chips and a list of 'must-try' foreign foods into Sakura's arms, Ino pretending she wasn't silently begging/threatening the gods for her friend's safe return), and Team Gai (Lee crying in Gai's arms, Gai gently applauding his youthful display of passion, Tenten waving sheepishly beside them), and even a few jounin and civilian friends she had made.

The rays of morning sun were just now reaching the gates and casting long shadows over the scene. They would be leaving right on time.

Sakura hesitated.

"Hokage-sama!"

Voices rose from the back of the (much larger) pack that had come to farewell her travel companions. People parted until the new Hokage, in all his be-robed glory, approached the travellers.

"Too late to return the hat now, Kakashi," Tsunade warned. "I'm out of here, and I don't intend to be back for quite a while."

"I couldn't let the former Hokage leave without giving my own personal farewell," Kakashi said. "But I know you wanted to slip away without much fanfare, so I thought I'd wait until the last possible minute." He shook the blonde's hand, eyes crinkled. "Thanks for your service. I hope to make you proud."

"Stop the village from burning to the ground on your watch, and you'll probably go down in history as one of the better ones."

The richness of his laugh made Sakura feel weak after so long without hearing it. He turned to Shizune and Tonton and shook their hand/trotter. "Safe travels to you both."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Shizune said, but Kakashi shook his head.

"Just 'Kakashi' is fine."

"Good luck with that," Tsunade scoffed. "It took me months before anyone even looked me in the eye."

Sakura knew what was coming next. Kakashi turned to her, and she forced her hand to stop shaking before she placed it in his. Everything that had been easy at his inauguration (touching him, talking to him, pretending they were okay), suddenly seemed as impossible as pulling The Wolf from the sky.

"Safe travels, Sakura-chan. May your trip be long and eventful." His eyes crinkled slightly. "But not too long, and not too eventful."

He had called her Sakura-chan, which hurt, but he had not ordered her to stay, and he had asked, in his own way, that she return before too long.

"Thank you." She couldn't bring herself to say his name, or any of his titles. "Goodbye."

Kakashi stepped back, to join the crowd of well-wishers who would look over her beloved home while she was gone. And Sakura turned to face the rising sun, taking her first steps down the path toward it.