Kakashi stood there in silence. He was literally too stunned to speak right now. She was pregnant. Pregnant. He knew they wanted to have a child and that sooner than later, but right now? He wasn't sure he should be happy about it or concerned. Of course, these were great news. Sakura was pregnant with a child she always wanted to have and the Uchiha bloodline was not extinct, at least not completely, but still it felt weird. How was he supposed to act? She most certainly did not want to raise her child alone or be widowed when it is born. It will bring a lot of complications in her life. This child is the sole heir or heiress of the Uchiha Wealth, and the council will do anything in their power to form that child how they think it's best. Of course, Sakura will be its legal representative, but it will bring a lot of complications and work to her. He will make sure, that the council stays out of its childhood and if this kid inherited the sharingan he would teach them anything he knows about it. He still didn't know how he should feel about this new information, but as long as Sakura is happy, he will be, too.

"I- I don't really know what to say. Are you happy about it?" He asked shyly.

"No, yes, I don't know. Sasuke knew. I have told him that I am pregnant on the day he died. That's why he protected me. He knew I cannot use my Byakugō Seal while being pregnant. It would kill the fetus. It all happened so quick, in one minute we were laughing and thinking about baby names and whose hair it's going to have and whose eyes and in the next he takes a hit for me. A hit that I could have dodged or survived."

"He didn't want to risk it. He didn't want to risk your wellbeing and life. The life of his child."

"My wellbeing… but I am not well now, am I?"

"You will be. I know you don't see it right now, but you will survive this, and you will be stronger in the end. You will have a piece of him with you for the rest of your life, and this child will have everything that it may need. Naruto, Sai, Ino, Hinata and most certainly me, we will all help you and love this child."

"I am not quite sure if Sai is really able to love my child." She looked at him, and then she caressed her belly.

"Yes, okay maybe not Sai, but who knows, maybe he surprises all of us. He loves Ino and he will love his child. We will bring him around somehow, if you want to. This baby will have everything."

"It will not have a father." The tears were starting to form in her eyes again.

"Sakura… no, not a biological one, but Naruto and I will make sure that you and your child will have everything that is needed."

"I have never imagined you to be the fatherly type." She said mockingly. Then she stood up and went back to the kitchen table. They both knew she was swallowing her tears as good as she can. But still Kakashi followed her with a light smile on his face. She was teasing him and that was a good sign. He was sure she will make it.

"Mah, mah, Sakura, I have raised you guys, and you turned out quite well."

"That's not how I recall it. I was raised by my parents, and then it was me who raised Naruto and Sai and even you a bit. I am the mom of our team."

"When you are the mom of the team, then I am most certainly the dad."

"I am pretty sure that spot is taken by Yamato."

"You may be right, but I like my version better. Even though you two could have made a better job, I mean Sai still doesn't understand the full range of human emotions and Naruto still eats ramen 24/7 and –" He teased her as well.

"And you are still an asshole. I know." She started to smile through her tears, and he counted that as his first victory. Then he closed the gap between them again and hugged her tightly. She embraced the hug willingly.

"I will be okay, will I?" She asked, her face still buried in his chest and tears still running over her cheeks.

"You most certainly will be."

"When does it stop to hurt?" and there it was, the question he dreaded the most. He could say the thing he always said in those moments. The pain will fade. That's what he was telling himself all those years, but it wasn't the truth. Everybody who has lost a loved one knows it was a lie. A lie that helps you through the worst, but still a lie.

"I will never stop hurting, Sakura. I don't want to lie to you, but your heart will get used to the pain and grow stronger and then someday you will find yourself crying over the memories of Sasuke all over again, but you will not cry out of sorrow, but of happiness because those will be the memories you will cherish to the end of your life." Sakura took a deep breath. She was thankful that he chose to be honest with her instead of lying into her face. Was it what she wanted to hear? No, but that didn't matter, not for her. It was the truth, and the truth is always better than comforting lies. She trusted him. She trusted him more than she did Naruto or Sai, even Sasuke. It is true. He was her best friend, the one person that always had her best interests in mind. Sure, Sasuke came along and truly loved her and made her happy, but the bond that Kakashi and her shared was deep and will always be deep. He comforted her on the rooftop of the hospital all those years ago. It was a lie, a lie that he regretted. They talked about it a couple of years ago, and she told him that she would rather have the ugly truth than a beautiful lie, and after that he never lied to her again. Sure, he sparred her from some of his thoughts concerning the last Uchiha, but she never asked him about Sasuke, so it didn't count as lying. He was the one saving her from falling into the lava in one of those wicked dimension that Kaguya has sent them, and he caught her more than once. She truly trusted him and if he said she will make it, that it was probably right, even if she couldn't convince herself.

"Kakashi. Thank you. I know this isn't easy for you. You have lost your favourite student, too, and still you are here and comfort me."

"As I said, I will always be there for you. What makes you believe, that Sasuke was my favourite? I would never favour him over you." He loosed the hug and then cupped her face with his hands, wiping away all her tears with his thumb.

"But you did. Back then, when we were genin, you told him all your jutsus and Naruto and I were just a burden. Well, I was a burden, Naruto was just – Naruto."

"Yes, I was quite dumb back then."

"Yea, you most definitely were. Heavens, you still are." She closed her eyes and pushed her face slightly in his hands.

"Probably", he whispered, "what do you want to hear? That you are my favourite? You are and you know that."

"Yes, I know, but it is nice to hear it from time to time."

"I think; I can manage that." She opened her eyes again and looked straight in his. A small smile crossed over her face. He felt warm. He knew those eyes, and he knew the person behind it. She was a bit more herself in this moment and that was an achievement he never thought of making. Naruto seemed to be right, which happened annoyingly a lot lately, he was what she needed right now, and he needed her. This was good for both of them. She felt it, too. There was a shift in her, from I will never in my life recover from this to maybe, maybe one day I will be able to go out again.

They parted and sat down in comfortable silence. He reheated his soup again and ate it, then he took out his favourite orange book as she closed her eyes. She must be tired, and he wanted to make sure she isn't alone, when she wakes up from the nap. His gut told him, that she probably has nightmares. He had them, too. He still has them. And as usual, his gut feeling was right. She was sleeping for about an hour when she started to move hastily. Not long after that she started to talk, not talking really, more a whimper. It was time to wake her up. She shouldn't relive this moment again. So he stood up, walked over to her, sat down next to her chair and started to shake her softly. I didn't take much time for her to be awake again. The horror was still in her eyes. She wasn't ready to meet his gaze, so she looked at the ceiling.

"I could stay. If you want me to.", he said after a short while, "you did the same for me, remember?"

"Yea, but I don't think this is necessary. I have to get used to sleeping alone.", she answered sadly. He nodded.

"But thanks, if I ever need it, I will ask. I promise." He gave her his eye creased smile and then stood up again. I was time for him to go home. She realized that, too, and also stood up. They moved to her door, and he hugged her once more.

"You would tell me, if you need help or someone to look after everything once in a while, right?", he asked.

"I thought that's what you will be doing."

"Right. I will be here again tomorrow around lunchtime. There is a new Steak House and I wanted to test it. You're allowed to eat steak in your condition, right?"

"As long as it is well done, there is no problem."

"Great. I will see you tomorrow, then. And if anything is the matter, you know where I live, just come to me. I will tell the Anbu, that they should let you through anytime, day or night. You don't have to be alone, if you don't want to."

"Thanks." They parted again, and he moved out of her house.

"Kakashi?" He turned around. Her voice was trembling again.

"I want to tell them myself about, you know. I am not quite ready for it yet, so could you please keep it a secret?"

"Your secrets are safe with me. They always will be. Good night Sakura-chan." He turned again, put his hands in his pockets and walked home. She closed the door behind her and went to bed. She is grateful that she had him in her life. He would help her through it.

The next morning came, and it was nothing unusual for him. He woke up, did his training, then showered. He had his breakfast and then made his way to the cenotaph. Furthermore, he stopped spending too much time there since the war has ended. He was able to say goodbye to Obito as a friend, and he forgave himself for Rin. It freed him. Who would have known, that a world war would ultimately heal his broken soul? The war and Sakura to be exact. He greeted some of the locals on the way to his office, and he was looking forward to his lunch break. He opened the door to his office and to his surprise, Shizune was not there yet. That was weird, and it only could mean one of two things. Somebody important has a serious health condition, and she is the only one who can do it, or they are at war. The second one was unlikely because he would have known if his village was at war. So he wondered who it is, that's need Shizune's care. Nevertheless, he started to work. He wanted to be finished with the mission rolls and the distribution of the new missions that just got in. Everything needs to be approved by the Hokage, and he hated it. Most of the stuff was not even necessary for him to know, but it was his job and he had devoted his life to his village. He still yearned for some news or excitement. Something that would stir up his boring morning. And just as he wished, someone knocked on his door and didn't even wait for him to do allow entrance. Maybe they were actually at war. It was Naruto who made his way into the Hokage office rather harshly.

"What's the matter, Naruto?"

"It's Sakura. She is in the hospital. No one wants to tell me anything.", he said. His voice full of worry and his face full of fear. Kakashi didn't even reply. He got up and left. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop until he reached the hospital. Sure, he isn't her emergency contact neither were they blood related, but they are family. He marched through the front door, all heads are turning to him. He couldn't care less.

"Where is she?", he asked straight forward.

"Who, Hokage-sama?", answered the woman on the front desk.

"Sakura, where is she?"

"I am sorry Hokage-sama, but I am not allowed to say anything. You're neither her relative nor her spouse or emergency contact."

"I don't care what I am or not. I am the Hokage, and she is my… my family. I want to know how she is. Immediately."

"I am sorry, but I am legally not allowed to tell you, and you cannot pressure me into obeying this is a policy to protect our patients and I will not allow you to compromise this." He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had the highest rank within the village, and still he was not allowed to see her. That was ridiculous.

"Mei, it is okay. I will take it from here.", said a female voice behind him. It was Shizune, he recognized her voice within the first syllable.

"Thank you, Shizune-san.", said the woman behind the desk, and the continued to work.

As soon as Sakura woke up, she sensed that something wasn't right. She had pain in her abdomen and like a period cramp. Immediately she let chakra flow through her body as far as she could sense it, the baby was alright. But the pain didn't fade. She decided to make herself some breakfast and see what the day brings. Who knows, maybe she would be able to go in the garden. Sasuke had made sure that the garden was the most beautiful and magic place that she had ever seen. The garden was where their life together began. She ate some spoonful of rice porridge and waited for the nausea to hit, but instead there was this pain again, and it was stronger than before. Fear, that was the only emotion she had felt. If she lost this child too, she would want to live any more. She would be the failure that she thought she is. She couldn't lose the last part of him. Not now, not when she needed this so much. She ran to the bathroom and looked down in her pants, and the fear just got more. There was blood in her underwear. This is not good, not good at all. She needs to go to the hospital. She took her bag and ran off to Shizunes house. It was closer than the hospital, and it was early enough for Shizune to be home. She rang the doorbell quite a view times until Shizune opened the door for her.

"Sakura, what's the matter?"

"I think I am losing my baby." She said, tears in her eyes and her voice about to break. Shizune started to function right then and there. There was no time to lose. She let Sakura in and sculptured the green medical chakra in her hands. Immediately, she went over Sakuras abdomen. The pain was immense, Shizune could feel that, too. The baby was healthy, but still she was starting to have a miscarriage. All the possible outcomes went through Shizunes mind while she was looking for the piece of information she needed to save this child, the very last Uchiha.

Kakashi was in distress. He could not even breathe properly. He had wished for some action, but this is not what he had in mind. Not only that, but he knew if Sakura loses this child, she will lose her will to live completely and no one would be able to bring her back. And he wasn't ready for this. Losing Sakura like he had lost his dad? It would end him, too.

"Come." Shizune said calmly. He obeyed and followed her into a private room. She shut the door and looked at him. She was angry, but more over annoyed.

"What on earth is wrong with you Kakashi?" this was the first time since he was announced that she didn't use his proper title. He told her like everyone else that she should just call him by his name, but right now it scared him, and he wished to never hear her say just his name again. "I cannot, and I will not allow you to harass my staff. This poor woman was just making her job. You cannot storm in and demand information upon a patient you are not related to. I don't care if you see her as your family or not. You were about to abuse your power and position, that is not tolerable. Understood?"

"Yes."

"I didn't hear you."

"Yes I understand. I will never harass your staff again or will use my title to get information."

"Good. I hope I don't have to repeat myself ever."

"You won't, but how is she?" Shizune looked at him, she was still angry, but nonetheless she could see the distress clearly in his face.

"She is alright."

"Thank god. And-?"

"They are both alright. You knew about the baby?" The relief on his face was unmissable. And that was the first time a thought plopped into Shizune's head which she never even imagined appearing in her head. Was it his baby? Sure, Sakura was married, but this wouldn't be the first child born like this, and they were close. Ever since, the war has ended. It made quite a rumour back then that they were secretly dating, which was dismissed the second the Uchiha made up his mind and asked her out. Internally, shaking her head, she pushed that thought away. There is no way Sakura would have cheated on Sasuke especially not with Kakashi. But still, they had stranger things happened here in Konoha, hadn't they.

"Yes, she told me last night. Am I allowed to see her?"

"Yes, yes. She actually asked me to fetch you. That's why I left her in the first place. Do you promise me to behave?"

"Yes, I will behave."

"Fine, then follow me please, Hokage-sama."