Author's Note:

Hello KakaHana's avid fans like me! :D

This is my first time publishing a fanfic. I just decided to do so because it really saddens me that our beloved couple doesn't have enough fanfics out there. Kindly take note though that English isn't my first language so expect grammatical errors.

It's best to re-watch 'Naruto's Episode 191 – Kakashi Love Song' first to get a better feel of this fic. However, this story picks up weeks after the fourth great ninja war as it was stated in the premise. That means 5-7 years have passed since our couple's last get together. Kakashi became a hokage at 31 years old so that puts Hanare around 27 years old, since I believe she's a few years younger than him based on how they looked as children on Ep. 191. Also, in this fic, Kakashi got to keep Obito's eye, and I've came up with additional abilities for Hanare because why not? Her ability has lots of potentials :D

Rated M for adult themes that might appear in the upcoming chapters such as sex and violence.

Now, without further ado, let's get on with the love story that our dear Kakashi and Hanare deserve.

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Chapter 1 – The clouds will comfort you

Hanare laid dying amongst the rubbles of destroyed structures in Konohagakure. When the fourth great ninja war broke out, she went to the village to protect its people from the white zetsu army. If the world was about to end, she wanted to die in a place she considered home, and fight alongside the people who had welcomed her like a family. Although she didn't find Kakashi and his students there, knowing that she'd die protecting their home brought a smile to her face. At last, she had finally found the reason for her existence and her worth as a shinobi.

She had ruptured ankle tendons, a gaping wound on her right side and other deep wounds inflicted by the enemies. Despite her injuries, she didn't feel any pain as she bled out, she just knew she was dying. With her unique ability to tamper her own mind, she could easily manipulate her pain receptors, making her a perfect spy, unyielding to any form of torture.

Sounds of powerful blasts and clashing weapons finally ceased. Seemed like the war was finally over and so was her life.

She kept her eyes open with all her remaining strength, trying to hold on to the view of the white clouds floating above her as long as she could. The sky was so clear that it didn't feel like there had been a war. Just like the day she met the silvered hair ninja of Konoha.

"Kakashi…" she mumbled in her dying breath, remembering Kakashi's face, their first meeting when they were just children, and the kiss they shared when they met again. Despite being just an accident, it was the memory she kept in the safest part of her mind. A part that even she herself could never erase.

"I'm home…" She finally let her eyes closed as the life out of her slowly slipped away.

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It had been almost two weeks since the war ended. The restoration of villages continued. Kakashi was staring at the clear blue sky from the Hokage's office, sitting in front of piles of documents on his desk. He snapped out of his daze when he heard a knock on the door. "Hokage-sama. It's Sakura."

Four days was the exact number of days since he had become a Hokage. He still hadn't gotten used to being called Hokage-sama, Lord Sixth or Kakashi-sama. Heck, he never even dreamt of becoming one in the first place because of how much he hated politics. As a young anbu, he had been a victim of how those in positions abused their power. Aside from that, he simply didn't like getting worked up about anything, a complete opposite of his younger self who was always up for a challenge. But now, he had the greatest responsibility of all people in their village.

Yes, he might not be the type to take on burdensome roles voluntarily, but he sure could act accordingly when duty called. And despite being far from the arrogant kid he used to be, he knew that his prowess and reputation made him the best candidate.

But the real reason why he had been running away from the position was because he was afraid to face the same sadness as when he lost Obito and was convinced he wasn't ready to carry the burden of that sadness. But after the Tobishachimaru incident, he realized what it means to be Hokage.

Becoming Hokage means there were more people he needed to protect. And from the bottom of his heart, he was proud of Konohagakure, of his comrades who always supported each other like it was the most natural thing in the world, the same way they woke up when morning came. If those guys needed him, he'd gather up all of their sadness and take it into himself. Right, like it was the most natural thing. And he'd struggle together with them and that sadness.

"Come in." Kakashi muttered and the door swung open, revealing a pink-haired kunoichi, his former student and one of his greatest prides. Sakura was now considered the most powerful medical-nin, beating even her mentor, Lady Tsunade. "Welcome back, Sakura." With his mask on, his crinkled eyes were the only clue that he was smiling.

Sakura walked over to the desk and laid a stack of papers. "Here are the plans for the rehabilitation clinics." Kakashi had assigned Sakura to spearhead the plan for establishing rehabilitation clinics across the Land of fire that would aid people recover from war related traumas, especially children. And they hoped that other nations would follow their example.

It was time for the shinobi world to change, and to start caring for the next generations' well-being in order to prevent history from repeating itself. His generation and the ones before him suffered immensely from the previous wars. He lost his father, his teammates, his mentor and many more deaths than he could count that eventually spiraled him into depression, and he was thankful that the Third didn't lose his hope on him.

Maybe if the Akatsuki's war orphans, Obito, Sasuke, Orochimaru were given this kind of help, none of the Konoha crush, Pain's assault and fourth great ninja war could have happened at all. Maybe his generation could have had the chance to heal and feel whole again. In fact, their long-neglected traumas were the main reason why none of them settled down except Kurenai. She was the only one who had the courage to raise a family. Although they admired her, their decision to not follow her footsteps was proven correct when Asuma died.

But the war was now over, and seemed like there would be none in the near future. Healing might have been too late for them, but not for the generations to come. And this hope was evident in their students who were now in relationships, and were looking forward to starting a family of their own. For once, he agreed with Guy's mantra, 'Onward, with the power of youth'.

Kakashi sighed. "Thank you, Sakura." Just when he thought he was already done with all the paperwork, another batch came in. But this was the report he had been looking forward to, and he knew this could change many lives. "Make sure to get some rest." He said as his mis-matched eyes measured the layers of paper, estimating how long it would take him to read it all because if he didn't, Shikamaru would definitely scold him.

"Nah… I'll be heading to the hospital. I haven't checked our patients since I got back." Sakura walked towards the door. Mid-way, she halted and turned around. "There'll be more reports coming your way. Ganbarimasu, Hokage-sama."

Kakashi let out a long sigh when the kunoichi disappeared out the door, slouching down in his seat. I wish Sharingan can also come in handy when it comes to all sorts of things, not just copying jutsus.

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"I've decided to meet my parents so I set out to find my village but I got lost. Now I can't remember the way back to where I'm staying." Young Hanare explained between sobs.

"That's alright. I have a keen sense of smell, I can track your trail." Young Kakashi leaned closer to Hanare to familiarize himself with her scent. He then ducked in front of her so she could hop on his back. "I'll carry you. It would be much faster."

Young Hanare brushed the tears from her cheeks and did as he said. "Where do you live?"

"Konoha." He stood straight and started his way to where her scent led him. Good thing it wasn't windy, so her scent was only coming in one direction.

"What is it like to live in Konoha?" Hanare rested her head on Kakashi's shoulder. She was tired walking all day after all.

"Well, it's a bit noisy and crowded in Konoha. Children are always running around, people are all over the place, but there are lots of food stalls and bookstores. A ramen shop recently opened, although I haven't tried it yet because I'm still waiting for my sensei. He said he will treat me once he gets back from a mission."

"That sounds like an amazing place to live. From where I came from, all I do is train."

"So, you're a shinobi as well?" Kakashi asked and he took Hanare's nod as a yes. "Train until you become strong. Those who don't have abilities tend to complain more, and are the first ones to die in battles."

"But it makes me sad most of the time." Hanare sulked against Kakashi's back.

"Whenever you're feeling sad, just look up at the clouds." Kakashi said as he removed his one arm from her leg to point to the sky.

"Why?" Hanare raised her head to follow Kakashi's line of sight, joining him in admiring the clouds above them.

"As they change shape, you can turn them into whatever you want." Kakashi looked over his shoulder. "It's like a game you see." He paused, glancing up at the sky again. "My teammates used to imagine all sorts of things out of the clouds' shapes whenever we were out on a mission. I found it childish but looking back now, it was actually kind of fun."

Hanare's eyes glistened as she started to understand what Kakashi meant. "Looking at the clouds is kind of comforting."

"Right." Kakashi nodded. "Sadness and pain are part of life but as long as you have hope, the clouds will always comfort you." He told her but felt like he was telling it to himself.

Hanare felt a warm feeling bubbling in her chest at Kakashi's words. They walked in silence while looking up at the clouds. Not long after, Kakashi stopped his tracks when they found an old man wearing a straw hat standing in front of them. "Elder!" Hanare gasped and wiggled her way down Kakashi's back.

"C'mon." The old man said and Hanare quickly followed.

Hanare retracted her step and turned to Kakashi one last time. He watched him raise his fingers to form a hand sign. The eye that wasn't covered by his headgear formed into the shape of a crescent moon pointing downwards, his version of smile. "Visit me in Konoha once you're strong enough." Kakashi said and then, he disappeared.

But he remained in Hanare's memories.

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Hanare found herself in an unfamiliar place when she opened her eyes. She scanned the area and realized she was in a hospital – the smell of antiseptic, the blue curtains around her and a dextrose inserted in the back of her hand. She lifted her torso and that was when pain hit her, knocking her back down to the hospital bed. Her right eye moved in quick patterns, weaving a visual sign, the one that she always used to look into her own mind to deactivate her pain receptors. She let out a long sigh, when the pain finally disappeared.

"You're finally awake" A nurse approached her. She didn't notice her earlier when she woke up because she was standing in the upper right corner of her bed, changing her dextrose bag.

"H-how long have I been out?" Hanare asked, sitting up but the nurse quickly grabbed her shoulders and gently pinned her down.

"You shouldn't be getting up. Your wounds aren't completely healed yet." The nurse finally released her when she stopped moving. "You're in Konoha hospital." Hanare finally remembered fighting the zetsu clones with all her strength. She was surprised to be alive. She hovered her eyes down to her body and found parts of her limbs wrapped in bandages. Her left hand fumbled onto a tube connected to her belly, looking up to the nurse in confusion.

"Careful, it's a feeding tube." The nurse gave her a weak smile.

"What else is inserted in my body?" Hanare asked when she felt something odd in her lower regions.

"You have anal and urinary catheters." The nurse answered. "You had been unconscious for almost two weeks."

Hanare couldn't believe she was knocked out for that long. "Is the war over?" The woman nodded in response, patting her shoulder lightly as if to tell her to worry no more.

"What's your name?" The nurse raised and held a paper board on her arm. "Seems like you're not around here. We were waiting for someone to look for you but nobody came, so we were not able to obtain your identification."

"I-it's Hanare."

"Ha-na-re." The nurse spelt out loud as she scribbled her name on paper. "And your surname?"

"I-I don't know." A fact. She never knew her surname because Elder never told her. In fact, she doubted that Hanare was her actual name or if she had one at all. A spy should not have an identity beyond an alias, the Elders believe this was the key to their success in altering their persona.

"What about your village then?"

"I don't know." A lie. She did know the name of her village even though she had never been there. Small hidden villages' locations were kept secret even from their own spies. Being a less powerful village, they heavily relied on the information their spies had gathered to help them conduct businesses, and create diplomatic relations with other stronger villages. That was the reason why she was raised without a family and a place to call home. And her name or alias rather screamed that to her, forever reminding her that she had nothing, that she had no one for Hanare means 'separation from' or 'detachment'.

Up until this day, it was an idea she couldn't grasp – for a shinobi to lay down his/her own life for some unknown place. And with that, she was able to easily cut ties with her village and an unnamed old man who she called Elder.

She was actually surprised her village's assassins hadn't located her yet, again. After her betrayal, she never stayed in one place, she was always on the move to avoid execution. They did catch up to her twice but she always managed to escape. She was considered one of the elite spies in her village for a reason. But she knew it was only a matter of time before they could find her again.

"It's okay. You don't have to force yourself to remember everything. We did check your brain though, there was no physical trauma so this might be a result of post-traumatic stress disorder. Our head medical-nin will be arriving shortly. I'll make sure to have your case prioritized so you can get back to your village. Your family must be worrying to death."

"Thank you." She pulled up the corner of her lips into a smile, although what she really wanted was to snort at her remarks. Family? She had no such thing.

Left alone, Hanare realized no one seemed to recognize her, that she was someone who had infiltrated the village as a spy before. From the looks of it, the authorities had no time to thoroughly check all the patients' background since they were still trying to recover from war, and there were other matters of high importance to tend to. For now, she was safe, but she had to quickly recover so she could leave before they could realize who she was, and most of all, before the Jōmae assassins could find her.

She kept herself still no matter what in the hopes that it would speed up her recovery. And it was no challenge for her, doing nothing was something she was used to. Since she could remember, once her training ended, she was kept locked in her room with nothing but the clouds through a small window to accompany her in her isolation. When she started taking missions, the Elder started bringing various self-taught books that honed her skills as a spy. She learned how to play musical instruments, dance, sing and plenty of other skills that were essential to successfully blend in. And now, the clouds were the only thing that kept her company again. She was thankful her bed was positioned near the window. Suddenly, she heard chattering behind the curtain that separated her from the patient next to her.

"Here, I brought you some ramen. It will warm your stomach." It was a voice of a woman, maybe someone close to her age. And then, the room was suddenly filled with a very appetizing aroma.

Ramen? She inhaled deeply, savoring the delicious smell and it made her mouth watered. She remembered Kakashi mentioning it to her when he found her in the forest a long, long time ago. Too bad she wasn't able to try that out when she first came to Konoha.

"We miss you. The kids are always asking when you're coming home."

"Oh tell them I miss them so much. Tell them oto-san will be home soon."

Based on their conversation, Hanare knew that they were a couple with young children. A family. She smiled and her gaze fell onto the empty stool next to her bed.

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Hanare was staring at the afternoon sky, a gradient of pink and blue, when someone exclaimed her name. "Hanare-san!" She jolted her head to the person standing near the foot of the bed, and found a surprised Sakura cladded in a white coat. She was far from the little girl she met before, but her exotic hair made it easy for anyone to instantly recognize her.

Sakura had blossomed into a beautiful woman and she had heard of how accomplished a shinobi she had become, both on the battlefield and as a medical-nin. While Naruto became a celebrated Hero after saving Konoha from Pain's wrath. Kakashi surely did something right for his students to become, if not the best, one of the powerful shinobis of their generation.

She had hoped she could say the same thing with Sasuke, but she was aware that he had accomplished his goal of killing his elder brother, Itachi, someone she knew full well as both of them were rogue ninjas who had once crossed each other's path.

"Sakura." She greeted her with a warm smile.

"Y-you're alive. Kakashi-sensei told us you threw yourself off the cliff." She said in disbelief as she walked to Hanare's side.

"Oh I did. But you know us shinobis, we could easily stick our feet on whatever surface." Hanare glanced up at Sakura with a smile.

Sakura couldn't believe they fell for what their sensei had told them, but they were naive back then. Although she had her doubts for years, she forced herself to accept it because she found no reason why their sensei would lie to them, unless he chose to let her go. And Hanare's presence in front of her finally confirmed her doubts.

"W-why are you in Konoha?" Sakura asked in a low voice, almost whispering. She knew that if other shinobis found out who this woman was, things would become complicated for her again, and that was something she would not allow to happen. Not this time.

Hanare was silent for a moment. Should she tell her she came rushing to Konoha to see them one last time? To protect them? To fight and die alongside them? But she decided not to because that would only make her look more pathetic. "I can't remember."

"She doesn't remember much. We're hoping you can check her for any psychological trauma." The nurse who was with Hanare just this morning appeared behind Sakura.

Sakura turned to the nurse and to Hanare. Was it really possible for someone with Hanare's ability to forget a memory due to a mental trauma? As far as she knew, the woman in front of her was considered 'A master of the memory'. Something didn't sit right. She was sure Hanare was hiding something but she didn't want to press her on for now. "What about head injury? Have you checked?"

"We already did. But there was no sign of any physical injury."

"I just want to make sure." Sakura hovered her hands to Hanare's head to check if the nurse was right, but she was surprised when Hanare's chakra didn't give any physical structure information of her body.

"It won't be of any use, Sakura. My medical chakra receptors have been blocked. Any kind of medical ninjutsus don't work on me." Hanare looked up at Sakura.

"T-that's the first time I heard of it. H-how?" Confusion was written across Sakura's face. She looked at Hanare from head to toe, and noted the visible scars on her body that weren't covered by bandages. The scars' appearance wasn't similar to those that were healed by chakras. Although small, hers were more prominent, a sign that they were healed naturally. She felt a stab at her gut when she realized Hanare didn't have those scars back then. Were those scars the result of being hunted down for years? Yet again, she decided not to dwell on it right now.

The injuries in her stomach and feet could have been easily mended by any medical-nin's chakra, forming bones and muscles in just a short period of time. "Let me see if I can do anything." She reached out to the bandages that were covering fresh wounds, not willing to give up just yet.

Hanare held Sakura's wrists. "Don't waste your strength on me, Sakura. It's a secret nin-jutsu of Jōmae village." She tilted her head to the side and smiled. "Don't worry. I tampered with my mind so I don't feel any pain right now."

Sakura bit her lip. She might not know why her medical chakra had been shut off but she knew it wasn't for her benefit. But what caught her attention most was her ability to tamper with her sensors as well. She saw Hanare's files before. Tampering her own memory, and looking into someone else's memory were the only skills noted in her profile. Looked like they didn't really know the entirety of Hanare-san's ability. "I'll make sure to have your wounds taken care of." She plastered a smile.

"H-how's Naruto?" Hanare asked. "I heard about Sasuke. I'm sorry."

Sakura scratched the back of her head, smiling with her cheek tinted pink. "Don't worry about Sasuke-kun. He already came around. However, he's currently atoning for his sins outside the village. As for Naruto, he will definitely be happy once he finds out you're here." But the truth was, Naruto had to wait because his loudmouth would definitely only put Hanare in danger. Good thing he got a lot of studying to do as of the moment in order to finally become a chunin. She needed to talk to his sensei first, the Hokage rather. "I'll send Sasuke-kun a letter as well." Telling Sasuke was fine, he was not talkative anyway.

"I'm glad you're all alright." Hanare smiled. Since she wasn't moving, following the nurse's advice, she'd just convey her emotions through her facial expressions. "What about Kakashi?"

The corner of Sakura's lips pulled up into a smile. "Kakashi-sensei is actually our new Hokage." She said in a much cheerful tone.

Hanare was momentarily astonished at Sakura's news. She didn't know why she felt a sense of pride for Kakashi's accomplishment when they had only met twice. "I see."

She was no stranger to Kakashi's exemplary abilities and competence as a shinobi. Although she didn't get to ask Kakashi's name the first time they met, she eventually found out about who he was and his capabilities through the Jōmae's Bingo book that Elder gave her before her first ever mission. Kakashi was no doubt considered a very dangerous ninja for Konoha's rival villages. He was a threat, especially to someone like her because her ability was vulnerable to any ninja who wielded the power of Sharingan. Him finding out about the intel she had about Konoha just by looking in her eyes confirmed just that. "I'm sure he's doing a good job as a Hokage

Sakura squeezed Hanare's hand and leaned close to her ear. "Don't worry, Hanare-san. You're safe here. Kakashi-sensei is now in the position to ensure that and so do I."

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Sakura wasted no time and made a report about Hanare – her secret ability that she willingly told her, her obstructed medical chakra system, and she had also investigated how and where she was exactly found. She barged into the Hokage's office without knocking, storming her way to Kakashi's desk which interrupted Shikamaru and Kakashi's discussion about the reconstruction of Konoha's major establishments.

"Hokage-sama, I have an important report from the hospital." Sakura didn't wait for any words from the two men, and quickly placed a patient's information on top of the blueprints scattered on Kakashi's desk.

"Hanare-san is here."

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That's it for now. Hope you like the start so far. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section so I know if I'm doing this right. :D