Deity

Part One: Of Returning

Chapter Six: Of the Heart

Summary: What they had was forbidden, and they knew it. But they were willing to face the consequences. Now, 15 years later, will the love that Sakura and Kakashi had for each other be enough to win against the secrets of the world?

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters that are in any way, shape or form associated with the series.

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Kitiara asked me once who we fought for. I explained to her our loyalty. I explained to her that, while Konoha was first and foremost on this Earth, it wasn't our true master. It wasn't my true master anymore, and never will be again. She didn't understand for a while. But she was young then. Now, she knows who it is that we fight for. Now, she understands our objectives and has learned that people that we love will die and even though we have the ability to save them, we can't. Our abilities are a blessing, they are a curse, and I am cursed most of all. It is something that no other creature should have to endure. And they won't, as long as I have my duties to uphold.

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.P.R.E.S.E.N.T.

"What are you?"

Sakura looked at the Counsel. Her green eyes were dulled, years of sorrow and pain shown through.

"I am a warrior. I am the immortal guardian of the Earth. I am her protector. Everything that is a threat to her, I am to fight. My life is combined with hers and hers with mine. I did not come back to this village for a visit with its human inhabitants. War is coming to Konoha. He is an enemy to the Earth, and therefore an enemy to me. I have come to kill him before he can make what's left of the light in this world, fall."

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(Age: 21)

Kitiara was lying on her side, her head pillowed on the silver-haired mans lap. She drew in the warm sand.

She couldn't help but glance at the man every few minutes. Ever since he gave her the name that her father loved, and put her to sleep, Kitiara hadn't heard a word out of the man that she knew looked like the father she had never met.

"Is there something troubling you, Little One?"

"Mother isn't awake yet, is she?"

"No, not yet."

"Do you know my father?"

"I should think so. I have been watching over him his entire life."

"What is he like?" she had sat up and was giving him her undivided attention. He gave a soft smile and gently patted her head.

"You are very inquisitive for an eight year old. Do you really want to know what he is like? You might not like the answer."

"Yes. I need to know. Please."

The man looked into her pleading eyes and gave an almost unperceivable sigh. His gaze turned to the star filled sky that gave the pure ocean water and ethereal glow. "He is incredibly brave, but he holds barely any value for his own life. He has lost just about everything that holds any importance to him. He is sad, incredibly sad. He is terrified of being in love. In the years of his life, he has started to turn cold and uncaring to the outside world. He lives in his past, reliving his mistakes and pushing himself further and further into a depression that would have taken the life of anyone else. Yet he will protect those that are precious to him until his dying breath."

A small, sad smile was on her face as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. "Wanna know the sad thing, Grandfather?"

"What is it Little One?" he asked with a smile at the name she had chosen for him.

"How you just described my father."

"Yes?"

"That sounds exactly like my mother."

He picked her up at sat her one his lap and wrapped his arms around the child as she continued to cry.

"That's what I thought you would not like."

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.P.R.E.S.E.N.T.

"Is she happy now? Has she found someone that she loves?"

Kitiara gave Kakashi a weird look as her lips slowly curled into a smile?

"Found someone? Riiight. Like mama-san would let another guy near her!"

"Did I traumatize her that badly?" he asked, trying to play it as a joke, but she could feel hurt in his gaze at the memorial stone.

She looked back at the stone. Her whole being seemed to droop a little. "No. She said that I had a father, a great one, and did not need another. She never looked at another man. Did you know that you are the only man that she has ever kissed? She once told me when I was little that she could never find another mate because it would always be you that she woke up to until the realization that she was in another mans arms would take over her conscience and she would lose her heart and her mind. I did not understand for years until I found the love that she used to sing to me in songs as a child. Now that I know love, I know that she would not be able to ever love someone else, because I could never learn to love someone else if I lost my precious one."

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( Age: 13)

There were times when all she could do was cry and others where she would sit and stare blankly at a wall for hours on end. She would sit there, looking as if she had leaned against the wall and slid down it because she had lost the strength to stand.

There were days that, no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't remember. It was almost as if someone had entered her mind and just shut that door on her memories. It was as if someone had just ripped those pages out and burned them in the shadows of some far off place.

There were days that she would just lie in bed and pretend that the world was just some bad dream that she would eventually wake up from. She would she why she was disowned. She would see that she was so weak that it was pathetic. And yet, when her parents were killed, she was given the chance, as the last heir, to reclaim her position as a member of the Haruno clan. She accepted the responsibilities and the obligations of the last survivor of a clan but would not take the name back. She still didn't consider herself worthy.

There were nights that she would sit on the windowsill and wait for the coming dawn. She wouldn't sleep; she wouldn't eat, for days on end. But that was fine with her. It's not like she would be useful in battle anyways.

But the days that she lost it. The days that no matter how hard she trains, no matter how much she tries to kill them, her emotions overwhelm her like an ocean of despair, he would be there. He would be there to hold her when she had nothing else holding her world together. He was there to be strong for her when she was tired to holding all of her sins on her own.

Kakashi was there when the rest of the world had turned its back. He was there to let her know that she was alive. He was there to give her the warmth that was missing in her cold bed so that she may rest. He was the one that saw her when she felt as if she didn't deserve to live and still gave her a kiss that said she captured his heart.

Kakashi was the one that made her feel human again. And Sakura was happy with that.