February 10.

The florist door gave a gentle chime as Kakashi walked through, alerting the owners to the presence of a customer. The young clan leader was manning the counter today. She looked up from the book she was reading and gave him a curious smile.

"Kakashi-sensei!" As she strode around the counter she grabbed a bucket of flowers shaped like a cluster of delicate purple stars. "I recommend the purple hyacinth if these are for Sakura. She knows flower language almost as well as I do."

Kakashi, who did not, cocked his head to the side. "What do purple hyacinths mean? Also, these aren't for Sakura."

Ino's pale brows creased momentarily, before she glanced behind the counter at a calendar mounted to the wall. "It's that time of year already? I'm sorry, it completely slipped my mind. I'll have your usual order ready in just a moment. Unless you'd like something a little special, now that you'll actually be giving them to him?"

"The usual is fine, thank you. I wouldn't know what I'd want to say to him even if I did know flower language." Ino nodded and became a blur of activity, fetching and arranging sprigs of flowers that, despite his request, he was pretty sure he'd never been given before. He tried to keep out of the way as she worked, thinking about the fact that yes, this year he would actually be able to hand the bouquet directly to the birthday boy. The thought made his stomach twist.

"You should have brought Sakura with you," Ino said, her tone carefully business-casual. "Like you did in November, for Rin-san's birthday. My mother said Sakura made a beautiful arrangement of zinnias and tea roses on Obito-san's behalf." She snipped the ribbon she had tied around an elegant bouquet of purple and yellow flowers and handed it to Kakashi. "Here you are: Irises and yellow roses. Give Obito-san a happy birthday from me, too."

Kakashi's confusion must have shown on his face, because Ino chuckled lightly. "I may be his interrogator, but we're fairly friendly. Ibiki says kindness can sometimes be more effective than fear. Not to mention the fact that Sakura would come after us if we ever hurt him." She chuckled again, as if the thought of pink-haired retribution was a fond one.

"Sakura said that?"

"She didn't mention it? Yeah, she's been checking in regularly to make sure nobody's going too hard on Obito-san or Sasuke-kun. Sometimes she visits Obito herself, but I still have to accompany her just in case." Ino paused, as if waiting for Kakashi to fill the silence. When he didn't, she spoke again. "As for Sasuke-kun, I think she's still working up the courage. I can't say I blame her; how do you take back your heart when the other person doesn't even know you gave it to them?"

Kakashi paid and left before that question stopped being rhetorical. He had been perfectly nice to Sakura whenever he happened to run into her (with the notable exception of his gruelling sword classes), but he had stopped inviting her over to his apartment for dinner, and she in turn had stopped talking to him about anything deeper than the weather. Even their sparring matches had become a group event; Kakashi had started inviting their friends to join in whenever Sakura requested the practice. And she had been requesting it less and less of late.

It's for the best, he thought to himself for the thousandth time. He was protecting her, because that was his role in Sakura's life. He protected her life as her teacher and her soul as her general. Soon, too soon, he would have to protect her heart as the Hokage.

Purple hyacinth: regret, apology

Zinnias: I miss you

Tea rose: I'll remember you always

Iris: Your friendship means so much to me, faith, hope

Yellow roses: friendship

February 28

Finally, spring had almost arrived. Sakura saw the mud and slush of melted snow, and her heart sang because she knew it would soon give way to green shoots and wildflowers. She was currently on her way to Hokage tower with an armload of reports from the hospital. Her return to active duty had also meant a return to the hospital's roster; but she had asked for fewer shifts than in her old life, preferring to spread her time across many things instead of only specialising in medical jutsu. All of her jounin prep teachers (except for Kakashi) had praised her progress in their classes. Her genjutsu teacher even noted her natural aptitude and resistance and gave her advanced exercises to try. Her old friends were friendlier than ever, and she had even made a few new friends closer to her mental age among the civilian crowds (who couldn't detect a henge disguise).

Everything was going great.

Who the hell are you trying to fool, huh? You can lie to everyone else, but there's no point lying to yourself.

Okay, so sometimes she still woke up in tears, smothering a scream into her pillow after dreaming about things that never happened. Some dreams felt more like "memories" that had gotten buried or overwritten by the genjutsu, bubbling to the surface of her subconscious and catching her off-guard: Wearing a white kimono while her mother pinned a flower in her hair. Kissing Sasuke goodbye. Sasuke kissing her pregnant belly. Pregnancy cravings. Giving birth to Sarada in a dark laboratory while Karin held her hand. Kissing Kakashi. Making love to Sasuke. Watching a black-haired baby asleep in a crib and wondering where it came from. Buying her daughter's first pair of glasses. Watching Naruto become Hokage. Watching Naruto protect the village. Watching Naruto die. Watching Hinata break down. Watching Naruto become Hokage but never leave his office. Watching Hinata adapt. Kissing Kakashi. Kissing Kakashi. Watching Kakashi train Sarada. Watching Kakashi train a silver-haired girl and wondering where she came from. Watching a black-haired woman grow up as a civilian, safe in a world that had no enemies and no longer needed child soldiers. Wondering where that woman came from. Watching Sarada leave for her first mission, remembering the fear and wonder from her own genin days and knowing this was the only life that made sense. Watching her enemies walk around the village, unfettered and unageing. Nobody was safe. Everybody was safe. Nobody would ever die, but if she didn't fear death then the dream would reset.

Naruto came out of the entrance just as Sakura was entering, and she was so caught up in chasing and squashing her half-remembered dreams that she walked right into his broad chest. She clutched the reports in a death-grip as a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and held her steady.

"Ouch, sorry Naruto."

"No problem." The boy's smile was as bright as ever. "You okay?"

Sakura shifted the reports to one arm so that she could flex the other in a strongman pose. "Takes more than that to hurt me. But I guess I need to pay more attention for other people's sake."

Naruto immediately started flexing his own arms, shifting through stances like an overenthusiastic body-builder. "Hey, don't underestimate me either! Kurama and I are basically indestructible, ya know!"

"Oh yeah?" Sakura went for a flick to the forehead, and he dropped his posturing to dodge her hand. He went for a return flick but she swatted him with the files.

It was so easy to fall into this playful pattern. Everyone changed a little as time in her dream wore on, but this goofy kid in front of her would always be the realest Uzumaki Naruto. He was one of the few things that made her grateful to be back at this point in time.

A clerk opened the door and the pair dropped their play-fighting to let them pass. "Hey, listen," Naruto said, expression sobering. "I was actually about to come tell you something: Orochimaru is dead."

"What?" The warmth of almost-spring was blasted away by a foreboding chill.

"Yep, heard it straight from the Hokage's mouth just now. He's dead, and the hunter-nin have confirmed it's gonna stick this time."

"I can't believe it." It was good news. It even made sense; 'tactical asset' though Orochimaru might have been, that only worked if he was willing to cooperate with the village like his subordinates had. If not, Konoha had hunter-nin for a reason.

"It's crazy, right? After so many years of fighting that snake bastard we can just…relax, I guess." Naruto grimaced. "Because, ya know, shinobi are so good at that."

She gave a mirthless laugh. "You can say that again."

"Well, now that I've passed on the message I actually need to head to the Hyuuga compound." Naruto glanced up at the sun overhead. "I gave myself enough time to track you down and still be on time, but Hinata's a bit nervous so I think I'll try to get there early. If that's okay with you? Sorry to drop big news and run."

"What's Hinata nervous about?" This conversation was giving her whiplash. Was Naruto about to tell her he was engaged in that same breath that he said their oldest enemy was dead? Was her dream actually going to be right about something for once?

"Today's the day we finally talk to her clan about abolishing the caste system and combining the two branch houses. After talking to Sasuke-kun about everything the village did to control the Uchiha, and everything that happened with…Neji," his eyes clouded over for a moment, "we know it has to be done sooner rather than later. And definitely before Hanabi-chan comes of age."

Before she was really aware she was doing it, she had wrapped Naruto in a hug (made only slightly uncomfortable by the files). The boy stiffened for a second before bear-hugging her back.

"You're amazing, Naruto. You all are." Ino was taking charge of her clan and her love life, Naruto and Hinata were taking on the most powerful clan in the village, and Sakura could barely get out of bed in the morning.

Her face was pressed into his chest, and she felt rather than heard his rumble of laughter.

"You're amazing too, you know?"

She scoffed, a childishly petulant sound that was muffled in his shirt.

"It's true! You had to deal with a really powerful genjutsu all by yourself, and when you got out you immediately came and helped your friends defeat the most dangerous man in the world. Then you had to deal with another genjutsu, and break yourself out again. And despite all of that, you're still here. You're still tough, and kind, and brave. You're still Haruno Sakura."

Sakura pulled herself from his embrace before she started crying and stained his shirt. "Thanks Naruto," she whispered, and meant it. "You're right; I am awesome."

She grinned and he laughed again, the musical sound thawing the last piece of ice around her heart. "Damn straight! And if you ever forget again, your friends are all more than willing to remind you." With a final wink, he was gone.

Sakura rubbed her miraculously still-dry eyes and resumed her errand. Naruto was right: she was tough, kind and brave. And it was time for her to use all three of those traits and take back her heart from Uchiha Sasuke.

Sakura sat opposite the boy she had loved. She tried not to stare at him too openly, but seeing him was like seeing the ghost of Sarada. Broken dreams prickled her mind's eye, and she bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from running out the door and never coming back.

Sasuke was the first to speak. "Naruto told me a bit about what happened to you."

"I guess that makes it easier, if I don't have to explain everything at once." She pulled each word from her mouth like bloodied teeth.

"Hn." That little breath of a non-answer was so quintessentially Sasuke. She used to think it was so cool of him, but now she realised that Sasuke must be feeling every bit as awkward and unsure as she was. That made it a little easier.

"I am sorry that I didn't come see you sooner. It's not your fault I had…bad dreams." It was a pathetically weak way of describing her experiences, but the words 'I dreamed I loved you, then I woke up' were still working their way up her throat.

"And in these dreams, we were married, right?" There was no laughter, no derision, no tone at all. Just a carefully blank question.

"Yes."

"Were we happy?"

"No."

He nodded. "That makes sense. I made a decision, a long time ago, about the kind of person my choices would make me. And it wasn't the kind of person who fell in love or got married."

Ouch, her inner voice whispered, but in reality she didn't feel much at all. "I sort of knew that, deep down. I think it's why the dream could never settle. The more it tried to give me happiness, the more obviously fake it became."

"..."

"We had a child." It felt important to tell him this; to make it real for someone other than herself. "Her name was Sarada."

Sasuke looked down at the table. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I can't say I regret all the choices I made, because I knew what the consequences would be and made them anyway. But I am sorry for hurting you, and everyone else. I do regret that I was so cruel and callous for so long."

I forgive you." The words came easily, and she was surprised to find she meant them.

Sasuke smiled at her. Not his cocky smirk from childhood; something softer, but more genuine. "You do seem different."

She laughed. "More mature?"

"Yes." He didn't hesitate. "But also sadder, more serious. You remind me of Itachi."

Itachi… She barely remembered Sasuke's big brother, especially from the days before he was branded a traitor to the village. He had been a complicated man, by all accounts. She would have liked to know him.

"I'm sorry your dream hurt you so badly, Sakura-chan."

She shook her head with a sad smile. "It wasn't the dream. It was waking up."

She waited outside Kakashi's door, nervously shifting from one foot to the other. Technically they were still fighting their strange cold war; but the thought of being alone made her want to swallow glass, and so she'd knocked without thinking.

He appraised her for all of two seconds before stepping aside to let her in. "So," he said, "you finally did it, then?"

"Yep." She hadn't even done that much talking with Sasuke, but her voice sounded wrung-out and wrong.

"I would have gone with you, if you'd needed."

"I know." Because she did. "But I think it was important that I went by myself for the first time. I owed him that."

"How was he?"

"He was…really cute." For what felt like the hundredth time since waking up, tears began to prickle her eyes, and she allowed them to flow without shame. "It felt really nostalgic, you know? He was just so little and cute, like he was when we were young." It didn't matter that they were still young, technically. It didn't matter that 'little' and 'cute' had never really meant innocent, not to people from their world. The Uchiha Sasuke she had loved and idealised for years was finally just a cute little boy.

Warm arms wrapped themselves around her, and she leaned into them. "I'm proud of you, Haruno Sakura," Kakashi murmured, so softly that it felt like a secret.

Something inside her traitor heart clicked wide open at the sound of her own name falling from that man's lips.

I want to do this forever.

Deep down she knew that had to be the reason Kakashi was creating some distance between them, just as she knew it was a doomed feeling that would surely topple the bleeding pieces of Haruno Sakura she had managed to put back together. But for now, she would close her eyes and imagine this was possible. For now, she would let herself hope.