The twins and everyone else their age had started at the Ninja Academy. And now that they were in school, Shanan had asked Kakashi to let her do more missions since she was bored at home with no one around. Sasuke really did still spend a lot of time there, but he usually left right after dinner. And he had been doing more missions ever since he'd moved out.

The twins were both considered fairly gifted, but they had been trained since they were three by both of their parents and Naruto, but mostly by Sasuke. And Sasuke had been secretly hoping that they'd both have Sharingan, but it was still too early for them to unlock it if they did.

Kakashi felt terrible that he was always stuck working late, he had never asked to be made Hokage, but he couldn't turn it down. He knew he missed out on a lot and was always trying to make up for it when he was home because he loved Shanan and the twins so much. He really didn't want to send Shanan off on missions and lose out on more time with her, but he knew that she was lonely now with the kids gone so much. And in a few short years they'd be on squads and be even more busy. He couldn't expect her to just sit at home by herself all the time. He wouldn't do that to her.

So he took her request to heart and decided that she would be the perfect fourth ninja for a really important mission. He knew she worked well with everyone else that he'd put on the team because it consisted of Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru. He got home a little early and she was still on the couch asleep like she always was when he came home. She never did like being alone in their bed without him. Not since that night in the Kaitei.

He knelt down on the floor in front of her and stroked her nose gently until she slowly opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"Hello, my love," he said quietly. "Were you sleeping alright?"

Shanan nodded and he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss and then moved to the couch.

"I wanted to talk to you about a mission," he told her as he gently lifted her legs to sit down.

"Oh, already?" She sat up excitedly.

"Well... I had already been working on a team for a big mission. Naruto and Sasuke will be going... and so will Shikamaru. He was helping me with the roster and he's alright with you joining, but I wanted to check in with you first and make sure you'd want to."

Shanan didn't miss him the way that she used to. They hadn't kissed since Naruto's wedding. They weren't even friends these days, it had been too hard to be friends without still loving each other. And Shanan had let go of that part of herself shortly after they broke it off, since he'd been the main reason for that part of her existing so long. But Sasuke had really helped her just by being there and holding her hand through all of it. Her love and lust for Shikamaru had been replaced by her love and friendship with Sasuke.

Shanan looked down and frowned at the thought. "Are you worried about me or are you worried about me and Shikamaru?" she asked timidly. It had been so long since they'd discussed any of that.

Kakashi tilted his head to the side and gently touched her face. "You," he said softly. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable if it still hurts you," he whispered shakily.

Shanan's chin quivered as she looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Really?"

He looked at her so affectionately and nodded his head gently. He knew that his Shanan had never loved anyone but him and that even the other Shanan had never wanted to hurt him since they had been close too.

Shanan was completely overwhelmed at his genuine concern. She sat up on her knees and squeezed him tight around his neck and couldn't help but cry silently into him now. She never deserved the amount of grace he'd always given her when it came to Shikamaru and him genuinely trusting her and worrying about whether or not she could emotionally handle being around an ex, made her feel even more grateful for him.

She sniffled and kissed him softly on his neck. "I'll be ok," she said as she sat back down and wiped her tears. "What's the mission?"

Two days later, Sasuke and Naruto showed up bright and early and helped Shanan and Kakashi to see the twins off before the Konoha Orphan Three left for their mission. They'd be meeting Shikamaru near the village exit.

Shanan was tired as she'd stayed up late with Kakashi saying goodbye for a few hours. But she was also really excited to get back out there and be a kunoichi again. She was thirty years old now and it had been awhile. Even Kakashi, The Hokage, had been in several more fights than she had in the last eight years and he was still as strong as ever at forty-one years old.

A long kiss goodbye to Kakashi and long hugs for the kids from Shanan, Sasuke and Naruto, and they were off.

The mission had been to follow some spies that had apparently already made a few trips in and out of Konoha. Kakashi had allowed them to feel confident and had made sure that the information they'd received was useless. They could prove to be a major problem, though, if left unchecked. But their guards were down now and they were on their way home with more useless information. Their job was to find out who they were working for.

Shanan and Shikamaru hadn't had much of an opportunity to speak to one another, Naruto had been talking his ear off the entire time and Sasuke seemed to hang back with Shanan. She had the weirdest deja vu everytime she looked up and saw Shikamaru looking bored with his hands in his pockets and Naruto with his hands behind his head. And then Sasuke walking next to her mostly quietly. She thought she'd seen it before and had the weirdest urge to grab Sasuke's hand, but surely she was mistaken.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked quietly as he grabbed her hand.

Shanan looked at him in disbelief. She'd fought the urge, but she didn't mind since he was obviously concerned about her. She looked back at Naruto and Shikamaru and chuckled a bit at his question. "I am actually. I don't look at him and feel... weak anymore. I kinda just miss his friendship now, more than anything. He was my best friend for a while before we ever even messed around or dated, you know? He was there for me quite a bit after Naruto and Kakashi left. And you too, I suppose." She squeezed his hand to let him know that she wasn't upset with him for having to assume in his case. "So were Neji and Lee, but they were my squadmates, so they didn't have to go out of their way to be there like he did." She smiled at the memories and realized how grateful she was to have them now. "He was really busy being a Chunin and working for Lady Tsunade, but he always made time for me."

"I'm glad," he told her. "I'm glad that you had someone that was there for you when you felt so abandoned. Maybe you guys'll be friends again now that it doesn't feel so hard. And I know that the two of you had your love ripped away from you. That's never easy and some people never get over that." He squeezed her hand as he said it, but not for the reason she thought. "But you did and I'm really proud of you."

Shanan blushed a little. Him being proud of her for anything, truly meant a lot to her.

"Everyone stop," Sasuke said abruptly. "The enemy is resting. We don't wanna stumble right on top of them. We'll make camp here for the night until they move again."

"Sounds good to me, I'm ready to eat," Naruto said enthusiastically.

"I'll be right back," he said before taking off to place some alarms and barriers around their camp.

Naruto didn't waste any time and started a small fire while Shikamaru casually made his way over to stand next to Shanan.

"I was hoping we'd get a chance to talk on this trip," he said a bit awkwardly.

"Oh?"

"I'm uh... I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to be your friend," he said guiltily as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I really wanted to. But every time I thought about seeing you, I thought about kissing you... and more. Even after Naruto's wedding. We'd tried to end it and remain friends a few times, and it wasn't working and I just knew you didn't wanna do that to Kakashi anymore. And then being with Temari, I felt so guilty thinking about you when we were together, I started realizing how hard I was making it for you." He turned to face her and looked at her apologetically. "I'm so sorry I made things difficult for you, Shanan."

Shanan was really fighting back tears, but she didn't cry. "You know... I wanted you to. Don't blame yourself. I never did anything that part of me didn't want to do. Although, you kept that part of me alive longer than she probably would have been without you, but that's ok." She laughed a bit. "I remember you and I remember my love for you, but... it's just a nice memory now," she said fondly.

"I remember too," he said with a smile. "Now, can we be friends? It feels like... there's such a big part of me missing." He started tearing up now. "I keep seeing you and your kids and I think, I wonder what they're really up to. Kakashi tells me about you guys when I ask, but I don't ask much, I don't have the right to." The tears in his eyes were right on the brink of falling. "Or my son does something that makes me proud and I think about how I wish I could have coffee with you and tell you all about it. I miss being around you."

Now she was crying and couldn't stop. She didn't think he'd missed her like that. "You do?"

He laughed awkwardly as a few tears fell. "Yeah, we had good times. And you were always fun to just talk to. You always got excited for your friends and were all of our biggest cheerleader. You were always so proud of any of us for anything we ever accomplished and you were never mean in any way. Neji and I have discussed it a few times over the years. He tells me how you are when I see him. This is gonna sound really cheesy, but you always felt like such a light for us. It's why we all hung out with you whenever you asked us to and loved you in our own ways."

She smiled softly. She'd seen and heard from Kakashi that her dream had once been to help people and save them from darkness, so hearing that she was a light for anyone made her happy.

"Um... is it ok if I hug you now?" Shanan asked him shakily through her tears.

"Of course," he said as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in. "I really missed you, Shanan."

"I really missed you, too." She was happy that she could hug him and finally not have any romantic feelings towards him. All of the love she felt right now, was genuine friendship.