Kakashi sat in the Hokage's office staring at the computer screen. It blinked at him but he couldn't seem to focus on the work at hand. He found his leg bouncing under the desk as his mind crawled back to Akari. He just couldn't believe it. He resisted the urge to visit her just to check if she were real. It felt like some dystopian bad dream. A knock at the door snapped him out of his day long daydream.

"Enter," he called sleepily. It was safe to say he didn't sleep after Akari fell unconscious. He had Sakura check her and she confirmed she'd collapsed due to exhaustion. She had commented on how much Chakra was in her system and asked to do some tests to understand but he'd denied it for now. He felt he would have to ask Akari if this was ok before the invasion of her health. He had no idea's what secrets she held and didn't want to antagonise someone who could be a threat to Konoha.

Shikamaru walked through the office door snapping him back out his wandering mind.

"Hokage-Sama," he greeted and dipped his head half-arsed as he flicked through papers. Kakashi didn't expect anything more from his right hand man.

"Shikamaru," he greeted and held his hand out for the papers he would receive.

"How is she?"

"Hasn't woken yet," his leg began to bounce again, not conscious of the anxiousness in his body.

"Where is she being held?"

"She's at the hospital." Kakashi tried to pretend he was doing something on the computer until he gave up and stood on his feet. He found himself gazing out the window at the sunny day glaring back at him. " I think we should let her return to civilian life, here in Konoha." He had been thinking it through. They needed to make her an ally if anything. She had the strength to overturn the entire village if she wanted. She'd give Naruto and Sasuke a hard time too with her power. He decided locking her up in an underground cell wouldn't offer them much if she was telling the truth about the threat.

"That makes sense, ANBU can observe her and potential gain motives or anything suspicious." He looked to his advisor with wider eyes. For some reason he'd have expected him to disagree as he has a suspicious nature. Shikamaru seemed to sense this. "I don't trust her, but this way we can test our trust without compromising the village. She has the power to break out of a cell whenever she wanted to anyway. We may as well use it to our advantage and monitor her. Besides, she is a leaf nin, or has been. That has to count for something." Kakashi was surprised at how hopeful he sounded but decided not to press it.

"Arrange a place for her to stay, and all the logistics." He commanded lightly as his gaze watched clouds drifted past. "I'm going to the hospital to check up on her condition." He decided and opened the window to the office. He looked back before he headed out to see Shikamaru simply exiting his office through the front door. His gaze fell the the cloak and hat of the Hokage neatly folded over the desk chair. He debated wearing it but it was always such a hassle.

"How is she?" Kakashi stared through the glass down at Akari's sleeping form. Seeing her lying so still caused Kakashi's heart to beat a little faster. He couldn't help the slight panic at her unconsciousness. He still couldn't believe his eyes.

"She's is fine, we think. Honestly she's like nothing I've seen. It is hard to gauge." Sakura flipped through Akari's chart as the pair looked through a glass window into the hospital room with a sleeping Akari. He could see Sakura was deep in thought and left the conversation there. Kakashi stood his arms folded, his gaze on Akari intently.

"I understand."

"Shall we go in? I need to bring her around. She can't be unconscious for this long. It'll damage her." Sakura didn't look up as she scanned her charts over and over.

"Sure," Kakashi shoved his hands in his pockets. The grey body protector with Lord 6th written in red ink on the back was comfortably resting on his body. He preferred it to the old jonin vests. It was one of the many changes he's made.

"I just need to run some tests before I bring her around." Sakura mentions as she walks through the doorway into Akari's room in the hospital.

"Of course,"

"You seem distracted, Sensei."

"As do you," he smiled at her his usual creased eye smile as they rounded Akari's bed. She blushed furiously and Kakashi didn't even need to guess why she'd been so distracted. He rarely did. She may have been in her mid-20s now but he knew her too well. It was nearly always because of Sasuke. "How is he doing?" He didn't ask her if she'd seen him recently because he knew she hadn't. After she returned from their journey with their child he left again after a year. He knew it must've hurt her but she always put on a brave face.

"Fine," she blushed harder at her sensei guessing where her mind had wondered but something in her tone alerted Kakashi. Sakura's hands hovered over Akari's unconscious body glowing green with chakra. He hadn't been able to take his eyes off her still unconscious form since they'd got into the room. He was thankful Sakura was so distracted.

"How is your child?"

"Sarada is doing great!" She looked up to him then and he returned her eye contact, her usual passion back and blazing in her eyes. "I swear she grows every day, although it is tiring with the hospital and the children's mental health project too. Not that i'm complaining. Thanks for signing off on that by the way, i think it'll really help the children of the war and future generations."

"Of course, but I signed it off because it was a good project, you did a great job." Kakashi nodded. "If it gets too much, you know I can do something about it." She nodded but he knew she wouldn't ever ask for reduced hours. He came and stood next to her as she finished up with Akari's tests. "You need to rest too, can't have Konoha's topic medic collapsing from exhaustion. Wouldn't make me look good would it Sakura-channnn," he whined and patted her on the head in his usual manner. She smiled sweetly up to him and she suddenly looked 12 and genin again.

"H-Hello?" Akari's voice cut through Kakashi and his eyes ripped from Sakura to Akari. Sakura turned out of Kakashi's hand and smiled down casually at the now conscious Akari. Kakashi remained frozen for a little too long with his hand in the air as Akari's heavy eyes remained on him. She looked half asleep but everything from last night came crashing down to him again. Seeing her awake just seemed to make everything more real.

"We are glad to see you awake, I am the medic Uchiha. I am here to check your vitals and make sure you're recovering." Akari's eyes didn't leave his as he moved to stand next to Sakura. His hands found their way back into their pockets.

"An Uchiha with pink hair?"

"Married into it," Sakura laughs whilst beginning to write something on her notepad.

"I didn't think Uchiha's tended to marry outside the clan," an uncomfortable silence settled and Sakura looked to Kakashi with questioning eyes. He looked to her and nodded telling her he'll handle it and looked back down to Akari.

"A lot has happened, Akari. If you wish to know the past I can help."

"There's no need, I can see I've upset you. I apologise Uchiha-Sama." She sat up from the bed and bowed her head apologetically. It was formal but gentle the way she spoke.

"Your vitals are fine other than the extreme amount of Chakra in your body. Are you in any pain or discomfort?"

"There's nothing to be concerned with." Akari dismissed her but there was something behind her words.

"Are you aware you collapsed due to exhaustion?"

"I only need rest, I am aware." Akari dismissed any notion again. "I wish to leave, I am fit enough."

"I know you don't like hospitals Akari, but I need you to answer Sakura." Sakura's eyes darted to Kakashi but he ignored it. The realised he revealed familiarity between them.

"Where's Chikako-Sama?" Akari's face hadn't shown any expression since she awoke until now. Her eyes started to look more alive at the thought of her past doctor. Kakashi didn't want to answer.

"You knew Chikako-Sama?" Sakura asked gently, but Kakashi recognised the softness of her tone. The sadness. Akari's eyes narrowed slightly but only for a second probably at the use of the past tense.

"She is dead?" Akari's blunt words made Sakura flinch a little as did Kakashi. He knew Sakura worked under Chikako for a while when she first started at the hospital.

"She is. The war claimed many lives but I knew she saved many, too." Sakura looked back to her notes if only for distraction as Kakashi observed the two of them.

"Sakura-chan," Kakashi smiled to her with his eye crease smile, "I need to talk with Akari. She'll be leaving after, with your permission?"

"I don't see any reason why I would want to hold her here, if only for observation." She responded professionally. Her eyes seemed unfocused. "If you feel any pain or discomfort you'll need to come back." She spoke to Akari as she began to leave and Kakashi followed.

"Thanks Sakura, take some time off soon. Spend it with Sarada." He almost commanded her. She smiled at him but it didn't quite reach her eyes before leaving entirely.

Kakashi felt his shoulders slump a little and exhaled almost harshly.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't upset her, she's a close friend." He turned around to find her watching him blankly.

"How so?" She asked bluntly. He felt his eyebrows twitch to the centre.

"She was one of my students." He watched her mouth twitch at the information and her eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Glorified baby sitter." She repeated the words as if she were just remembering something far off. He found himself actually letting out a laugh.

"Something like that."

"Seems you made for a good teacher," she tilted her head slightly with a blank faced returning.

"Not at all, especially with Sakura. She ended up training under Lady Tsunade."

"The Sannin?" She asked and he nodded. "Impressive." She whispered as if she were speaking to herself.

"How are you doing?"

"I am fine thank you. How are you?" She answered dryly. He couldn't seem to get use to how blank her face was. He felt a little nervous just standing in the same room as her and he began fidgeting with his fingers in his pockets.

"You know that's not what I meant," he sighed and came over to her bed. She watched as he did. He stood to the side feeling awkward loitering near the door as if he needed to flee. "We have decided that you will be allowed free rein within the village. You'll be under surveillance. I trust you understand."

"It isn't necessary, but I understand." She sounded a little irritated but her face didn't change. He found his hand rubbing the back of his neck as he peered into her silver stare.

"Can I trust you Akari? Really?" Something changed in her. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. Maybe her eyes changed.

"Always." She replied, the formality in her voice melted away in the word. His hand on his neck stopped moving when he heard it. He couldn't help the odd thing his heart seemed to do. It was if an old engine restarted after years of disuse. He tried to regain a little composure and nodded whilst dropping his hand. "You're Sharingan is gone." She voiced as she looked into his eyes and he nodded again.

"Seems so,"

"I have forgotten what your face looks like," how she said it made him falter again. It was raw and quiet, barely escaping her lips. "You look old. I wonder how age ruined your face." She added as if she'd forgotten herself.

"I aged like a fine Sake, thank you for noticing." He smiled despite himself. He could feel the amusement in his eyes and she seemed to mirror it. For a second he forgot himself too, it was almost as if he was 23 again. A strange tension pulled in his chest. It bubbled with excitement and something else.

"It is strange, seeing you so young. I'd forgotten what you looked like." He admitted it, no shyness in his tone. She cocked her head to the side at his words.

"Am I so easily forgettable?" She almost joked but Kakashi felt a stab in his heart. A coldness ran through his veins spreading through his body. He broke the eye contact and looked towards the door subconsciously wanting to leave.

"Your accommodation is being arranged today. You're free to come to the Hokage's tower until then or have the ANBU accompany you around the village. A lot has changed since the Pein attack. It was rebuilt, you'll be unfamiliar." His tone was professional and almost cold. She sat a little straighter with the shift in tension as he looked back to her.

"Is there a park?"

"Of course,"

"I'll be there, then. If I am needed."

"Then you're free to go." He nodded and left the room without saying anything more. He had already alerted the ANBU team to watch her. They were dotted around the building under surveying her. He didn't think he could stand it in the room for another minute. The weight in his chest seemed to solidify into cement. He felt her eyes on him as he left.

"Can I sit beside you?" Kakashi has wasted the day in his office unable to complete much work. He was irritated and distracted. He was annoyed at himself for letting it all get to him after so long. She clearly wasn't affected like he was which made him feel worse. Shikamaru arranged her accommodation and Kakashi ignored the look his advisor gave him when he said he'd deliver it personally.

She nodded once as she looked at him blankly. He sat with an awkward distance between them on a wooden bench in Senju park.

"You have questions?" She asked but she knew he did.

"I do, but first, here are the keys to your accommodation." He offered an envelop containing keys and information inside. "Everything you need should be in there, if there's something else you require, you know where to find me."

"The Hokage's tower." She nodded vacantly. "I knew you would be able to," it wasn't really a compliment. It was more of a distant after thought as she gazed into the park. The sun was lowering in the sky but not quite sunset and the evening breeze was setting in.

"You saw all this, my future, that night didn't you?" He was hoping he wasn't just a distant enough memory that she had forgotten which night he meant. A crushing anticipation held his chest hostage and nerves swelled within him. There was a slight thrill knowing she might recall such a vivid night.

"I didn't see the village. It was gone. I saw parts of your life. I saw you made a family, I now see they are your students. I just saw you die amongst the rubble. I felt your death. I saw war waged. I saw glimpses of you fighting. I saw you standing on the podium before the village dressed in the Hokage robes with your head carved in the cliff. I didn't see myself there- anywhere. That's when I knew, I think. I hoped to have more time. But, I knew it was soon."

"What upset you so greatly? Was it the sight is too overwhelming?" He suddenly felt he needed to know.

"I'm not sure, to see someone's future used to deeply disturb me. I never wanted to know before it happened. Seeing and feeling your life slip from you was difficult for me. But, knowing your future seemed to disturb me the greatest."

"Used to?" She looked to him then, he couldn't take her eyes from her even if he wanted to. A small kind smile seemed to grace her face.

"I find joy in it now, to see how fully everyone lives in Konoha. I don't try to block it out. The visions come and go like a gentle breeze. I enjoy the normalcy of the peoples lives. I envy it sometimes, looking back at my life- I just wished I had lived more fully." Kami he couldn't handle the sadness that hung in her words.

"You watch peoples futures?" She nodded.

"It is unavoidable now my Otsutsuki side is unsealed. I have found peace with the ordeal." She looked back to him and her brows twitched together for a second as she read his face. "What is it?"

"You don't think that you knowing, could influence the future? Or maybe that it is a gross invasion of peoples privacy?" A small panic rose within him and he found he couldn't look at her. He stared ahead as the breeze rustled the trees.

"Nothing can change fate." She confirmed, "not even Otsutsuki. What is meant to happen will always come to light, all in Devine time."

He stared ahead as his mind raced between her words. He couldn't bring himself to ask. He wondered if he even wanted to know.

"You are anxious. You wish to know if I have seen your future again?" He looked back at her wide-eyed again, he was shaken by her ability to read him. He began to wonder if she had read his thoughts. A slow smile stretched across her face and she began to look more like Akari.

"I do not need to use my abilities to read your mind Kakashi," she hadn't said his name to him since she had disappeared. His ears seemed to ring as his blood felt like it reversed his his body at the sound of it. "You look like you haven't slept in weeks. Your emotions are easier to read than ever." Amusement laced her words and he forced himself to breathe in deeply and exhale slowly. He sat back on the bench and looked out into the park again.

"Hokage's have a lot of paperwork, did you know that?" He tried to deflect the conversation and lighten it but he could feel her eyes on him in suspicion.

"You have computers now, no?"

"I'm an 'old man', behind the times. Technology seems to have surpassed such ancient man." He reminded her of the conversation in the interrogation room as a joke but the top of his ears began to burn red. He smiled at her again. "Not everyone can retain their youth." He joked again but as he opened his eyes her face had once again lost its emotion and fallen blank. His smile slowly dropped as the tension grew between them.

"It was not by choice," it sounded like a warning as she stared into the park.

"Why are you really here?"

"I still consider Konoha my home whether you believe it or not. Since I left I haven't belonged anywhere." The way her eyes flickered to him made something ancient spark in his chest. Distant memories of her letter bounced in his head but he willed himself to realise she didn't mean him. "I have no way to prove it to you, but my loyalties still lie here with you." He knows that she meant Konoha when she said you. "I will die to protect it, even from my own kind. I denied the Otsutsuki in me for so long, kept it hidden and locked away inside of me. Often times I'd even forget I was half of this monster. I was terrified of people knowing. But, in reality this is what I am, I have accepted it and made myself my own." She wasn't looking at him by the end. She was looking far off into the distance. Kakashi thought over her words as she seemed to slip into thought.

"Why did you never tell me?"

"I don't know, perhaps I was afraid. I didn't want to risk it."

"It wouldn't have been a risk. I don't care what you are, you could be half bear for all I care." He found himself smiling at her again with his eyes closed in his classic smile. "As long as it is Akari." Silence followed his statement as he realised what he had said. Present tense no less. His smile dropped as he opened his eyes to witness the damage, dreading her reaction. As he prised his eyes open she was looking far off into the distance her face unchanged, when suddenly she let out a single bark of laughter. His chest tightened at the familiar yet long lost memory of her laugh. He felt his eyes widen in reaction and his chest seemed to burst from its place. She began to look more like his Akari in that moment.

"You have changed, Kakashi." She looked to him then. Amusement shone in her eyes and laced her words.

"As have you, I do not recognise you as you are. I'm not 23 anymore." The tone changed the atmosphere around them. He watched as the amusement slipped from her into something more serious.

"It has been a long time," she murmured looking deeply at him.

"It has," They held each other's gazes for a small time in silence. "Why didn't you come back?"

"I wanted to at the start," he hated how his heart craved that, "the first 5 years was difficult for me. The dimension of healing was nothing but a lightless void. It didn't seem worth living after so long until my mother sent me to her clan in our home dimension. I couldn't return here yet due to my powers being out of control. My mother cannot follow. After giving her lifeforce to my father before she left- she needs more healing than I do being full Otsutsuki. She has returned to this plain to help me various times which would undo her healing entirely." Something flickered through her eyes, regret? Guilt?

"I waited for you, I knew you were dead, but I always felt like I waited for you to come back. Even when I didn't want to." His words escaped his lips. The rawness made him cringe away from himself.

"After I lived with my mothers clan. Life was difficult. More difficult than anything I had experienced. The war was difficult. It took me that long to master my new abilities. I couldn't risk returning with my powers so out of control. It could've ended the very thing I seek to save. I learnt a lot, too. Learnt of all that could threaten this dimension. After Kaguya was defeated, it put this dimension on the map for all rouge Otsutsuki. My body too, that aged much more slowly than it would've here. I spent about 10 years there yet I seem to have only aged a couple. I am around the same age as your students physically. Mentally do not forget, I am as old as you."

Kakashi didn't want to acknowledge that she ignored what he had said. His heart didn't want to hurt anymore over her, the fortified organ refused to feel it. She was looking into the distance, her eyebrows slightly knitted together again.

"I was shunned, I was never meant to be created. My mother is an outcast now. Disowned by the clan for reproducing with a Human as all Otsutsuki are. They only seek to keep pure lines. Even when she is healed, she cannot return. She doesn't belong anywhere."

"And these are your views?" He felt she had just opened up about something more personal than anything since she had returned. He decided to prise her open.

"I do not divulge this information as mere chatter. I need you to understand the ideals and thoughts of the Otsutsuki. You will need it in the coming generations."

"Generations?" He asked horrified and she nodded.

"Unfortunately, it will not be the last of it. Only the beginning."

"You cannot rely on me." She announced. "It was easy to seal my power as a child because it was so little. Since the years have gone on my power too, has increased. I am almost equal to a full Otsutsuki much to the shock of my Otsutsuki clan. It was the only reason I was able to stay there and train with them. Fight with them. You wouldn't believe what they are capable of. In this plain the human side of me cannot contain the power. Even as we speak the pain is almost unbearable. It will not be long until my complete demise unless I return. It is why I will need to rest often. The toll is too much."

Kakashi's ears began to ring as she casually dropped into the conversation that she was going to die. He didn't know if his heart had stopped or was beating so fast it was unable to register.

"What?" Is all he could find himself to say. She turned to him then. Something began to heat within him.

"I have accepted my fate and in exchange hopefully I can help to secure the future of Konoha."

"Can you not return to the healing plain often?"

"The toll on my body is too much to travel through dimensions daily, besides it is more difficult to travel to that particular plain. My mother created it that way for safety."

"You cannot seal away you power, as you were before? We can ensure the safety of Konoha without your Otsutsuki power."

"I do not know of a seal unique enough for this particular situation. I might not be able to control them once they are sealed. It is too great a risk. I will not risk my home." She looked at him again deeply.

"Not even to save your life?" He asked dumbfounded.

"I have accepted it. I have given it to the people of this village always. I will give it again. I didn't expect your resistance. You need to come to terms with it." Her bluntness only stoked the fire within Kakashi.

"I am the Hokage, each individual in this village is my responsibility. If I let you die needlessly I have failed."

"It is not needlessly, and as I recall I am not a citizen but a prisoner."

"You are a Shinobi of Konoha, which means you are my responsibility." He repeated.

"You're angry." She stated without question. He realised that he was angry. Angry at her, with her.

"I thought you had died Akari." His tone was harsh and he watched her eyes flare if only a little. "Do you understand me? I made my choice that day and I was ok with the consequence of my actions but you took that away from me. You've been alive all this time and even now you disregard what happened between us when it almost destr-" He stopped himself and she looked at him expectantly. A long pause stagnated between them whilst Kakashi's blood seemed to simmer beneath his hot skin. He didn't want to admit how deeply her death affected him and for the first time he felt ashamed of how deeply he loved her when she was entirely indifferent to him. Even now his heart seems to react to her. He hated himself for it. "I am finding it difficult to accept you're going to die again so soon when you've only just came back from what I thought was death."

"If you had the ability, my ability, and it was I who had a hole through my chest on the verge of dying, would you have respected my choice to die? Or would you have followed my path?" He felt himself flinch at her words. The softer tone of them was the most surprising thing.

"I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you Akari, I've never wanted anything more in my entire life." He looked at her deeply his anger only feeling him. "You've sacrificed enough for Konoha, I don't want you to sacrifice anymore for it. As your Hokage." He held her gaze but she didn't falter.

"As Hokage you would understand that you would give your life to the village, without question. You would be ready to die for it at any moment. Why can't you accept that I'd do the same?" Her words hit him hard. He felt himself gulp. She was right. He would do exactly what she is doing for the safety of the village. He sighed at the impasse they had reached. So much information needed to be processed.

"Sir, you're needed at the Hokage's Tower." an ANBU operative dropped to the bench they sat at. He sighed and rose to his feet, leaving Akari on the bench without another word or even glance.