Tsunade almost looked like she were tearing up as Kakashi wrapped up the story of what had happened inside of the Kaitei.

"I see," she said quietly.

Kakashi had a steady stream of tears rolling down his cheeks while Shanan had her face buried into his side as she sobbed.

"I'm... sorry..." Tsunade wasn't really sure what to say in this situation, "I'm sorry you lost something so important," she decided on. "I can't imagine the hurt you both are going through. And while this is not in any way an ordinary situation, it happened and it's your lives now. Nobody will say anything negative to you if I can help it," she assured them.

"We appreciate that," he said as he turned to pull Shanan into his arms so that he could hold her as she cried. "We're gonna need some time and would like some privacy for a while, though, if that's possible."

"Of course. Take all the time you need, Kakashi. Whenever you're ready we'll set a meeting up with your fellow Jonin. Until then, let me know if there's anything you need," she said.

She felt somewhat responsible having pushed them so hard to come up with something new. But nobody could've expected this, Shanan's Sharingan was very unique.

"Thank you for meeting with us," he told her as he stood up and held Shanan's hand to help her up.

"Thank you for sharing your story with me," she told him.

They didn't speak much as they made their way to Kakashi's apartment. Shanan hadn't slept away from home in so long. They'd done several overnight missions sleeping in trees or even on the ground. They'd stayed at inns on several occasions and after missions. But it had been so long since she had been away from home due to her pregnancy and then having the babies. Even Kakashi wasn't sent out much unless they truly needed specifically him. Shanan was nervous about being somewhere new.

Even Kakashi had to think hard to remember exactly which building he lived in and then which apartment number was his. His memories felt like they were fighting between having happened recently and having happened twenty-five years ago. Sometimes things were clear and sometimes they seemed so distant.

Once they made it in, he was almost surprised. The bed was smaller than he thought it would be. The whole place was. Why had he left their home for this? Then he remembered, because it hadn't been Shanan's home. Not here. Only in the Kaitei. She had her own apartment in between Naruto and Sasuke. His pupils. And Naruto had never been his little buddy. No. Not here. Kakashi had let Naruto down here.

Shanan made her way to the bed and sat with her back against the wall.

"Kinda brings back memories," she said as she smiled softly at him.

He sat next to her. "You know, it really does actually," he said as he smiled and put his arm around her.

"The way that you told Lady Fifth about our lives was really beautiful."

"I... was just telling her... about our lives," he said earnestly.

"I keep having flashes of you from before. And as much as I loved you and admired you, I remember that I was always sad that I didn't truly know you. You were so closed off and not into sharing. But then you just didn't want to be alone with your feelings anymore and finally let me in to see. I was so grateful for that, you know?"

"I was grateful that you had the power to see me. I don't think I'd have trusted anyone else to truly know my past and my struggles."

Shanan smiled at him. "That makes the other part of me feel really special…" She laughed a little. "Kinda feels like I'm sharing someone else's secrets with you."

"I know exactly what you mean..." he told her. "Other Kakashi never would've told you that he was falling in love with you. Ever. That his silly accidental crush had developed over the last four months."

"Accidental crush?"

Kakashi took a deep breath. "I didn't know that when I saw you that night, that you were you. I saw someone that I thought was really pretty walk in by herself and I kept glancing up. And then your friends and teammates came in behind you and I realized who you were. And before I could make that thought go away, you walked over, saw me and hugged me so tight. And then you squeezed in so close to me and hugged me tighter. You even smelled nice," he said as he laughed softly and looked down. "And I spent all night trying to separate you from that person that I had thought was beautiful. But then you kissed me and that was it. I couldn't stop thinking about you. When you asked me to do anything, I just couldn't say no anymore. I wanted to spend time with you. I tried so hard not to want that. Everyday I had planned to tell you that we should work on your Sharingan and I couldn't bring myself to say it."

Shanan was beaming at him.

"I'm sad that kiss wasn't in my memories. I only caught a glimpse of it from yours, but it seemed nice. Do you feel like we've never kissed or like we've kissed a thousand times?" she asked curiously.

"Honestly, both. I remember everything from the Kaitei clearly. But I also remember how I felt this morning and how I was concerned about your headache and wanted you to rest. I remember both. Some things are simultaneous and some are distant. I think the bad things feel more distant."

"And loving me was a good thing?" she asked as she smiled at him.

He looked at her as he swallowed hard. "Loving you has never been a bad thing," he whispered as he took her hand. He suddenly felt too nervous to kiss her, even though he really wanted to. His two sets of memories were really at war with one another.

Shanan could sense exactly what Kakashi was feeling somehow. Just by looking into his eyes.

"Are you falling in love with me all over again?" she whispered.

He looked at her slowly, longingly. He didn't know why it was happening, but he was. Even though he still remembered loving her his whole life, it also felt new again. "I'm very in love with you, Shanan," he said as he nodded gently and almost regretted even admitting it, because other him didn't share feelings.

Shanan put her hand on his face and caressed his cheek as she smiled at him. "We're still us, but you're giving me all these new butterflies. I'm in love with you, too," she said as she pulled him down to kiss her.

Shanan couldn't remember the last time they'd kissed like this. Their kisses were always full of love, but this felt like a first kiss too. It made her heart beat fast. It made her feel tingly. It made her feel warm and secure. It just felt so new and exciting.

And that was exactly how Kakashi had felt. He knew in his heart that they'd shared a million kisses over the last ten or so years. But this felt as amazing as the first one. That feeling of "this is finally happening". He'd finally told her. He couldn't even do that in the Kaitei. And it made it feel as though neither of them would change their minds about keeping their lives as they were inside.

This kiss felt like a promise that they really were still them. Mr. and Mrs. Hatake.