The Bank II

"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it." - Jean de La Fontaine

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters contained therein, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto who is kind enough to let fans write fiction. I make no profit from this nor do I intend to.

A/N: Unbeta'd. A few loose ends, now tied.

Random fact: Toto's Africa (and a handful of cover versions) was stuck in my head as I wrote the majority of this story.

Enjoy.

Epilogue

Kakashi found himself making a quick detour on his way back to Sakura's apartment. He had every intention of following Tsunade's instructions even though he didn't really want to – he wanted to stay at the hospital, with Sakura... his wife. Yet, deep down he knew Tsunade was right – he would only be underfoot, in the way and possibly an added layer of unnecessary stress for the medics currently trying to care for Sakura. Kakashi was well aware of how intimidating he could be – especially when upset – so it would be for the best for him to run some errands and return when he was done. He knew that they knew that there would be hell to pay if something happened while he was out. That would just have to be enough.

As luck would have it, just as he arrived to inquire about the availability of a crime scene cleanup crew, one returned from a job that had turned out to be easier than expected. As they had been expected to be away for the full day, they were immediately available to follow Kakashi back to Sakura's apartment and deal with the mess. It was a small job but more than worth it in Kakashi's eyes – especially since he was pretty sure the emergency response team had placed Sakura on her couch at some point and he was not equipped to try and get blood out of fabric. And since Sakura had been out of commission for several months, he also took the opportunity to schedule another team to come back later and do a deep clean of her entire apartment. He figured the best time to do it would be when she wasn't home.

While the cleaning crew was doing their thing – considering that the mess was confined to Sakura's kitchen and living room, the apartment management would be responsible for any stray blood in the stairwells and halls, it didn't take long – Kakashi spent his time putting a bag together for Sakura, making sure to include a few new-to-her novels and then a smaller one for himself. He had no desire to leave the hospital for any longer than absolutely necessary. That is to say, he intended on leaving only when shown the door by Tsunade herself.

Sakura's apartment once again clean, parts of it cleaner than it had been in quite some time, bags packed, and changed out of his formal ANBU uniform, Kakashi let himself out the balcony slider. When he turned from locking the door he caught sight of a familiar brightly colored swath of fabric. Odd, it hadn't been there earlier. Without a second thought, bags in hand, he set off toward the colorful distraction.

Only a few moments of travel later Kakashi found himself at the entrance of the tent. Suddenly unsure, he found himself unable to immediately step inside. Instead, he loitered outside, wondering what he would find inside and just what he would have to say for himself. It'd been quite some time since he'd last seen Madam Verushka and he unexpectedly found himself at a loss.

After a few minutes of silent contemplation, mind finally made up, Kakashi made his way inside the tent.

Upon entering he lingered in the entrance – allowing his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. Almost immediately after his eyes adjusted, they were drawn to the corner where Balko generally resided. Kakashi was surprised to find that the large man was not in his usual place. Instead, a younger, though equally bulky, gentleman occupied that space.

"You wish to see Madam Verushka?" he asked upon observing Kakashi's inspection, keeping his surprise to himself – this man was not of their usual clientele.

Kakashi shook his head slightly, the tent was right but it was all wrong.

"Where's Balko?" he asked, making sure to keep his tone neutral.

The younger man gave Kakashi an appraising look – few knew their names – before turning his head and shouting behind the curtain.

"Gramps! Someone here for you," he called, losing the old world speech pattern Kakashi had grown accustomed to hearing while at Madam Verushka's tent.

A moment later a tired old man Kakashi only barely recognized as Balko entered the room. Balko's eyes immediately lit up upon seeing his visitor.

"Ah! You! I remember you!" He turned to the younger bulky man still standing watch over the entrance to Madam Verushka's reading room. "Sacha, this one," he gestured to Kakashi, "this one you let in any time!"

"Yes, Gramps, as you say," Sacha responded, somewhat nonplussed. "I will remember him," silently he resolved to ask his wife about the unusual customer later.

Feeling embarrassed, Kakashi raised a hand to the back of his neck, understanding suddenly dawning.

"Ah… My apologies. I see condolences are in order," Kakashi offered with true regret.

Immediately sobering, Balko's grin slid from his face.

"Yes… yes, thank you." He shook his head sadly before continuing. "We had 60 good years together – childhood sweethearts you know... " He inhaled and then exhaled slowly. "Was quick – just as she wanted, as she knew. Here one day, gone the next..."

Kakashi nodded with a sympathetic twist of his lips, unsure what else he could say or do. He'd come to see Madam Verushka, Balko's Madam Verushka… he had no real need or desire to see the new Madam Verushka.

Balko stood, obviously lost in his own memories for a time before finally snapping himself out of it.

"Ah, but you are returned!" He exclaimed with a sudden burst of energy. "My Valeria she say you return – One. Last. Time." He sighed, his sudden energy seeming to run out. "She thought to be here."

"Ah – I am sorry." Kakashi couldn't help but feel another stab of regret at not finding his way sooner. He would have liked to have seen Madam Verushka one more time – not for a reading but to thank her… and probably receive the scold of a lifetime. That Balko had let slip that the seer had been expecting him was enough for Kakashi to realize she had never given up on him. In all those years of his single-mindedly inquiring about his demise, she had always known that he would live.

Balko shook his head.

"No, no! Not sorry, was her time but… not yours. Besides, I will see my zaika again soon enough…" He waved a hand negligently, waving away Kakashi's apology. "She give Maria a message for you."

"Maria?"

Balko swelled up with pride.

"Youngest granddaughter – our daughter Anya did not have the gift. Maria though, Maria is good – almost as good as her grandmother. Ah, but with time, she will be." He smiled fondly before turning to yell at the curtain. "Maria!"

Somewhat self-consciously Kakashi found himself entering the jewelry store. It wasn't one of the fancy ones in the fashionable part of the village, instead, it was a small mom and pop shop that dealt mostly with reproductions, consignments, and estate sales. While on a mission some years prior he'd discovered it and filed the information away on the off chance that he'd ever need something. It had come in quite handy when he'd needed a highly detailed replica of a special gemstone. Not something they could produce, of course, but it had been a good starting point. Now that he needed something personal it just seemed like the right place to go.

After a few moments of mostly uncertain wandering between the cases, a sales clerk approached him.

"Good afternoon, sir. May I help you find something?"

Kakashi suppressed a sigh of relief and glancing at the salesperson's name tag, managed to answer with a fairly neutral tone.

"Looking for a ring, Riku."

Riku kept his reaction to himself and nodded. Lots of men came through looking for rings. Not many of them were obvious shinobi though. Few shinobi bothered with rings.

"Do you know what sort of a ring you're looking for?"

At a loss Kakashi shrugged – he hadn't thought much further than where he could get a ring.

"Something special?" Kakashi tried doubtfully, more than aware that it was a somewhat stupid response.

Riku chuckled lightly, that's what every man wanted when he bought a ring. Instead of putting voice to that opinion he moved over to one of the smaller cases, tucked away in a corner.

"Perhaps you might like an antique or vintage ring? A piece with some real age to it would be far more unique and special, than something modern and more than likely mass-produced."

Surprised at Riku's insight, Kakashi nodded and joined him at the case.

Almost immediately one of the rings spoke to him.

"What about that one?" he asked, pointing to a delicate ring with an unusual design.

The ring consisted of two strands of gold, white and rose, loosely intertwined to form the band in such a way that instead of creating a solid straight smooth band, the sides were left wavy, with open spaces where the white and rose gold flowed away from each other before returning to twine together again. The center of the band held a simple rose gold five-petaled flower with a white gold center and delicate white gold leaves extending back toward the band on either side.

Riku leaned over the counter to get a better look.

"Oh, that one," he responded, pulling it from the case and handing it to Kakashi for closer examination. "That one came in last week. We just put it in the case this morning."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, it was a pretty little ring – surely they'd want to have it out on sale as soon as possible so it could be sold.

"Why the delay?" he asked, unable to quell his curiosity.

Riku pursed his lips in faint distaste before responding.

"We believe someone inexpertly tried to take the ring apart in order to have it melted down for the gold before eventually bringing it in."

"Really? Why?" Kakashi asked, mildly surprised.

"From what we can see, the original design of the ring included yellow gold alongside and under the rose and white gold – making the band smooth, straight, and quite wide, rather than the thin curved waves you see now. It would have been much more substantial, less delicate. The state that the ring was in when it came in was pretty sad, all the edges had to be carefully smoothed out and strengthened before it would be in any shape to be sold."

"But, why would someone bother to remove just the yellow gold?" Kakashi asked, it made no sense to him. Gold was gold and all of it had value regardless of what color it was.

"The owner guessed that they didn't realize that the whole ring was gold – only went after the obvious and tossed what they thought was worthless – maybe they thought it was silver and funny colored copper? Or some other metals?" Riku frowned. "Stupid really since other metals still have their own values." He waved a hand, waving the mystery away as something they wouldn't ever be able to solve. "Regardless, the ring itself would have been worth even more had it been brought in complete rather than in need of repair." Riku shrugged. "Nonetheless, we were able to make it salable without the yellow gold – just needed a little bit of work."

Kakashi brought the ring closer to his eyes to examine it more carefully. Further inspection showed that the edges of the ring did indeed show slight signs of having been altered. Nevertheless, the ring suited his purposes perfectly.

"I like it but am not certain she will – is it exchangeable?" Kakashi asked as he continued to study the ring.

Riku blinked, that was an unusually thoughtful question – not many of the men who came through the shop thought to ask.

"Uh, I'm not sure, we have it down as a final sale – due to it having been modified, you see. Um, do you need it sized?"

Kakashi dug in his pocket and pulled out the only ring Sakura had in her jewelry box – standard-issue kunoichi wedding band to be used when necessary on missions – and handed it over to the sales clerk. After seeing the new Madam Verushka he'd made a quick trip back to Sakura's apartment so he could pick it up.

Riku took the offered ring and quickly compared it to the ring his customer was interested in, keeping a raised eyebrow to himself. Generally, a regular ring was pilfered to size a promise, engagement, or wedding ring, not the other way around.

"Hmm, looks pretty close." He handed Sakura's ring back to Kakashi. "Probably doesn't need to be sized."

Kakashi nodded, he'd hoped he would be able to take it with him.

"Exchangeable then?" he prompted.

"Eh?" Riku responded, still stuck on why his customer was using a wedding band to size another sort of ring.

"The ring, can it be exchanged if she doesn't like it?" Kakashi asked again patiently.

"Uh, well… I'll have to ask the owner to see if he can make an exception…"

"Ask the owner what?" Mr. Sato, a jovial man of short stature and fluffy white hair asked as he entered the store via a curtained doorway leading from what Kakashi knew to be a backroom.

Riku turned with some surprise.

"Oh, Boss! I didn't know you were coming in today. This gentleman is uncertain if his lady friend will like the ring he has selected. He wanted to know if it's exchangeable – you know if she doesn't like it. Doesn't look like it needs to be sized."

The cheerful owner stepped closer and his already large smile managed to widen even further into a grin.

"Ah! Mr. ANBU!" he cried upon seeing Kakashi. "Are you here to tell me how happy you are with your commissioned pieces?" he asked, momentarily forgetting that Riku had already told him the customer was there for a ring. "Some of my best detail work there I think!" He sighed. "It's been quite some time since someone's had clan jewelry made."

Embarrassed, Kakashi found a hand going to the back of his neck and a faint tint of color rising to his cheeks – he'd forgotten all about it. Mr. Sato had been very accommodating the last time he'd been in to inquire as to where he could have a certain stone copied. So accommodating, in fact, that Kakashi had allowed himself to be talked into commissioning a few simple pieces in white and rose gold for Sakura. Kakashi had paid in advance and arranged for them to be sent directly to his safety deposit box. He intended for Sakura to find them there once he was gone. As he wasn't certain how that mission would go, even with the support team it was a tough one, he'd arranged for the pieces to be finished while he was out of the village – just in case it turned out to be his last one.

"Ah, I hadn't considered…" he trailed off as he realized he had accidentally already gotten Sakura a perfect anniversary gift, several actually, and any one of them would also go well with the ring he'd just chosen. Kakashi cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm afraid I've had… a lot going on since I returned to the village and haven't actually had a chance to check on them." With everything that had happened, it was unsurprising that he'd forgotten about them entirely.

Mr. Sato nodded understandingly. His customer was ANBU so it was only to be expected for him to be busy with missions and the like. Besides, the customer had paid cash in advance – nothing for him to worry about regardless of the reaction to the completed pieces.

Kakashi silently resolved to check his safety deposit box before returning to the hospital. With Mr. Sato's guidance, he'd designed stud earrings, a small pendant with a very delicate chain, and a hair clip. Per Mr. Sato's sage advice, they were the least likely pieces of jewelry to interfere with her work as a medic – he had strongly advised against rings and bracelets. Well, that is, he advised against rings unless it was a special sort of ring. Those, he was quite certain, were worth the risk.

All three pieces were done in white and rose gold and subtly featured sakura flowers and the Hatake clan symbol in some way. At the time, Kakashi belatedly realized that Sakura may want something tangible to show his approval of having her as a part of his clan – especially since he'd supposed it would be after he had died in action. That he'd thought enough of her to have the pieces made specifically for her – sakura flowers weren't too commonly found in jewelry, and certainly not found at all in his family history – before he died would quell a lot of negative rumors if they should start once everything came out into the open.

Kakashi shook his head slightly. He'd come about a ring. He could look into the other pieces later, on his way back to the hospital. Right now he needed to sort out a ring.

"Ah. About the ring?" Kakashi asked, trying to pull the conversation back on track.

Riku lifted the ring in question for his boss to see – flourishing it unnecessarily as he did so, clearly bringing attention to which ring it was.

"Oh, yes, Riku said you needed a ring? I take it, it's for your girlfriend?" Mr. Sato asked, raising an eyebrow, his smile shifting from a grin to something of a suggestive smirk. His customer had been evasive when pressed for what the woman he'd commissioned the pieces for had been to him. Now was his chance to finally find out.

"Ah, wife, actually," Kakashi corrected him slightly sheepishly.

Mr. Sato's eyebrows both shot up in surprise.

"Wife?" he asked, this new piece of information made his prior interactions with this customer even stranger – the man dismissed the necessity of having a ring made at the time. Mr. Sato couldn't help but wonder, what had changed?

"Yeah… An old acquaintance reminded me that rings were generally wanted for a married couple." Kakashi shrugged sheepishly. "Shinobi don't usually wear rings – too easy for them to catch on things they shouldn't."

"Oh, well, that's understandable then…" Mr. Sato conceded, still a little confused as his ANBU customer was there to buy a ring.

"But… After some thought, I realized she was right, rings are needed… at least, in this case, I think they are."

"Ah, as you say. So… Ah, rings, plural, then?" Mr. Sato asked shrewdly.

"Eh, yeah… I don't really know anything about it – don't have any preferences – so I thought I'd let my wife pick mine out." Kakashi shrugged, there wasn't much else for him to say.

"Oh, I see." Mr. Sato thought for a moment before making a suggestion. "Why don't you just bring her down? Make it a surprise destination. Then when she gets here, surprise! She can pick both yours and hers out at the same time."

"Ah, well, that would make the most sense but I'm afraid it will be some time before she's able to – she's… in the hospital at the moment. If all goes well, it will be a month at the very least before she'll be cleared to leave, if not… more like two or possibly three."

"Oh! I'm so sorry to hear that!" Mr. Sato paused for a moment, looking for the right response before hastily adding, "I hope she gets well soon!"

"I hope so too." Kakashi sighed. "In the meantime, I thought I'd get her a ring to take her mind off things a little. Would be a placeholder if she ends up not caring for it." He smiled sheepishly. "People always say it's the thought that counts… Let's hope they're right if she ends up not caring for it."

"Oh, well then, in that case, the ring can be exchanged if turns out not to be to her taste." Mr. Sato nodded decisively. Though Kakashi wasn't wearing the uniform, he knew his customer was ANBU and therefore served the village. Rules could be bent for one of the village's men or women in black and gray. Besides, the little ring he wanted just so happened to perfectly match the pieces he'd already had made. It would have been a shame for him not to at least try to present it to his wife.

Kakashi smiled with relief – none of the other presumably returnable rings seemed to suit her purposes nearly so well.

"Thanks. I'll take it then."

Mr. Sato turned to address his employee.

"Make a note in the book that this ring is to be returnable if necessary."

"Yes, sir."

"And, you'll come back?" Mr. Sato asked Kakashi

"As soon as she's well enough, we'll both be back," Kakashi assured the shop owner.

"Good, good… I'll look forward to it." The boss took a stack of papers from the sales counter and returned to the backroom.

Kakashi gratefully paid for the ring, his mind already on Sakura and what her reaction would be – a positive one, he hoped.

Sakura found herself slowly being pulled from the world of sleep. Her mind was fuzzy but it still almost immediately focused on the unbelievable events before her most recent surgery. Until she spoke with Tsunade, she wouldn't know what had been done – what had needed to be done. Consequently, she had no way of knowing if she would be able to have children once she was healed. At least, not until she had that conversation. But… in the light of what Kakashi had said just before she'd gone into surgery… and the fact that Tsunade herself had said she would put them at the top of the surrogate list… it was suddenly not nearly as important that she have the children herself. The how was no longer important. One way or another, she'd get the children she wanted, and even better, both she and Kakashi would be around to see them grow up. She couldn't ask for anything more.

After a few moments of silent contemplation, she realized that she would achieve nothing aside from possibly falling back asleep if she kept on as she was going. With a slight sigh, she cracked her eyes open, knowing she would have to at some point.

Disappointment flooded her as she observed that she was alone in the room. She distinctly remembered Tsunade ordering Kakashi away but… knowing Kakashi… she hadn't really expected him to obey. Well, at least not for long. They had a lot to discuss and he wasn't the best at following orders that did not suit him. One of the last things she remembered before going under for the surgery had been his expression, jaw clenched and eyebrows knit with obvious concern – it had been clear to her that he hadn't wanted to leave.

With another sigh, Sakura lifted her left arm up and over her eyes, shielding them more from the disappointment at not finding Kakashi at her bedside than from the painfully bright light. Unwilling to move any further just yet she allowed her arm to stay that way as she tried to think of what would happen next. She and Kakashi had a lot to talk about and on top of that, she had no idea what her prognosis or her expected recovery was. At least from the quick glimpse she'd had of the room, she knew she was now in a proper hospital room rather than the converted file storage room. That alone was an improvement.

While she was contemplating the future she heard a slight noise. Curious, she removed her arm from her eyes, noticing something out of place as she did so.

"Kakashi…" she trailed off as she got a whiff of something delicious and she suspected against medic's orders.

"Yes?" Kakashi responded, his hands full, as he turned to carefully close the door behind him before slowly making his way to Sakura's bedside.

"What have you got there?" she asked. She couldn't see what he had but since her mouth was already watering, she suspected he had something good behind a large sheaf of what appeared to be furniture advertisements.

"Couch catalogs," he replied as he did a complicated maneuver to get a chair situated comfortably next to her bed with his hands full, inexplicably choosing not to set anything down on the little table positioned next to her bed.

She raised an eyebrow in surprise, momentarily forgetting the delicious scent coming from Kakashi's vicinity.

"Couch catalogs?" she asked with some confusion.

Kakashi sighed theatrically.

"I regret to inform you that your couch didn't make it," he intoned seriously, though with a twinkle in his eyes.

"What?!"

"You couch – the cleaning crew declared it totaled."

"Cleaning crew? Totaled?" Sakura asked with some confusion, this was not a conversation she had been expecting to have with him.

"I had some people come to your apartment to clean up. They had a go at your couch, you'd have to ask the emergency response team just what they did since whatever it was, was enough to render your couch unusable and not worth the cost of trying to do a deep clean."

"I see…" Eyes wide, Sakura nodded slowly. She'd have to ask what they'd done – not for a moment did she consider that Kakashi might be fibbing to get rid of the uncomfortable piece of furniture. He may not like how uncomfortable it was to sleep on but he would never try to scheme to get rid of it.

"I brought you these" he gestured awkwardly with the advertisements in his hands, "so you could scope out a new one – we can wait until you're well enough to try it yourself before buying though – no rush. Just thought you might like something to do aside from reading the novels I brought." He gestured again with the furniture fliers to a stack of novels on her bedside table.

Sakura found herself frowning slightly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly full of uncertain concern.

"I, I think I'm going to miss that couch," she responded with a little surprise.

Startled, Kakashi chuckled.

She shot him a faintly irritated look.

"There are a lot of memories on that couch," she justified defensively.

"Ah… I see what you mean…" he trailed off, remembering more than one steamy evening spent on the late sofa. "I'm sure we can make new ones. And, in the meantime, maybe this will make you feel a bit better?" He maneuvered the furniture catalogs onto the little table next to her novels, revealing the treat he'd been carefully concealing.

Sakura immediately brightened, he was right, new memories could be made. And, knowing him, he'd be more than eager to start once she was well enough.

"What have you got there?" she asked as the delicious things he had been hiding finally came into view.

"Tea and butter cookies," he responded, carefully juggling a small to-go cup and a small bag of cookies as he set the fliers down.

"From the shop across the street?" she asked hopefully.

"Yup."

Sakura sighed and replaced her arm across her eyes, the tea smelled heavenly. And, she knew there was no way she would be having some any time soon – definitely not on her approved foods list for sure.

"That's cruel – no way that will make me feel better, you know." She tried and failed to keep a faintly bitter tone from her voice.

Kakashi grinned, sensing what she was thinking.

"It's for you, I've already had mine."

Sakura removed her arm from her eyes again to glance at him hopefully.

He chuckled at her response.

"I had to bribe the entire staff on this floor – they said it would be okay just this once. That tea shop isn't likely to forget me any time soon though, that's for sure. I finished my tea while I waited for them to fill the rest of the order."

"Oh… Thank you," Sakura almost sighed as she started to shift herself into a more comfortable sitting position.

Carefully he extended a hand with a small to-go-cup of tea to her once she'd managed to cautiously situate herself into a better position. Sakura smiled and took the tea in both hands. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the thing that had felt out of place when she first awoke. Before addressing the new question at the front of her mind she took a sip and slowly savored the flavor of the tea. She knew it would be a long time before she had another. Wordlessly she held a hand out and was pleased that he didn't need to ask for what she wanted when he placed a small butter cookie in her hand. She sighed after taking a bite – it'd been months since she'd last had tea and butter cookies. Funny, she hadn't realized how much she'd taken it for granted since it had been something she'd been having at least once or twice a week before the hospital accident.

After a few moments of pure bliss, she sighed again and opened her eyes to focus on Kakashi who had been patiently waiting for her to return her attention to him.

"Kakashi…"

"Yes?" he asked with some amusement – seeing Sakura delight in something so simple as a cup of tea and a cookie had been far more enjoyable than he'd ever have thought it could be.

"What's this?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What's what?"

"Kakashi."

"Eh, heh, right. That."

"Well?"

"Someone very wise told me that I should make sure that you have some sort of solid proof of my commitment – poof I intend to do my best to be there for you…" he trailed off, unsure of how to further express himself properly… anxiety suddenly settling in as he felt her studying him intently. "If you don't like it, it's exchangeable…" Kakashi hastily added, color rising to his cheeks, as he remembered that he had no idea if Sakura would like the ring itself, never mind the message he was trying to convey with it. "It's not the usual sort of ring, and the shop assistant said that they thought that it had been reworked a little so I can understand if you might want something… something different… something not previously broken..."

Sakura shifted her attention from him to admire the non-traditional ring he had stealthily slipped onto her finger while she was sleeping. She could see where the design suggested that something might be missing and where the sides had been smoothed over to make the new ring design complete as it was – a perfect physical representation of her relationship with Kakashi and of the man himself. She smiled softly, feeling somewhat overwhelmed – he couldn't have found a more perfect ring if he had tried.

"I love it. Thank you."

Sakura carefully shifted the tea to her right hand and reached her left hand out to him. He automatically moved his chair closer to him and took her hand in his.

Kakashi felt a smile spread across his face as the anxiety over the ring slowly evaporated.

"Good, I'm glad." He sighed in relief before adding, "When you're feeling better we'll go back and you can pick one out for me."

"Me? For… you?" she asked incredulously, surprised that he would even consider getting one for himself.

"I thought it would only be right – I picked yours out so you can pick mine out…" he trailed off uncertainly, his newfound confidence suddenly vanishing. "Unless you'd rather not?"

Sakura chuckled, feeling a light blush stain her cheeks.

"No, no, I'd like that… I'm just… surprised."

"Why?"

"I-I didn't think you'd want a ring," she replied a little sheepishly.

Kakashi glanced away for a moment to collect his thoughts, Madam Verushka's advice from beyond the grave ringing once again through his mind, before returning her gaze.

"That same wise person told me that I also needed a ring. A physical reminder of just how much I have to live for – how much I have to lose." He sighed and paused for a moment before continuing. "In short, a reminder of why I chose to live." He squeezed her hand a little. "I don't know how they could have thought that I could possibly forget."

Sakura felt her eyes tear up at his admission. Before she could try to control the reaction, Kakashi placed the bag of butter cookies he had been unintentionally clutching on the little table next to the hospital bed and awkwardly, but gently did his best to brush the tears away.

"I hope those are happy tears," he commented, only just barely able to contain his concern that his statement might turn out to be false. He'd gone out on a rather tenuous limb following the advice from Madam Verushka and suddenly he was worried that the advice may not have been as good as he had thought.

Surprised at his comment and the anxiety she could sense rolling off of him, she chuckled through the tears.

"Yes, you're okay, they are. Very happy."

Kakashi continued to eye her with some concern, uncertain as to what to say.

Sensing that he was going to get awkward again unless she kept him talking and also guessing that this might be her only chance, Sakura asked the question that had been bothering her for quite some time.

"Kakashi?" she asked tentatively.

"Hmm?" he responded absently, a little lost in the moment – just enjoying the fact that Sakura was alive and as far as he could tell, okay.

"What was in those envelopes?" she asked carefully keeping her intense curiosity under control.

He knit his eyebrows and shook his head slightly in confusion, were the drugs interfering with her memory? He didn't remember any envelopes.

"The envelopes in your Bank file?" Sakura prompted him, curiosity really getting to her.

His eyes widened as understanding dawned. He'd totally forgotten about those.

"Ah… those."

"Yes, those."

"Apologies." His free hand rubbed the back of his neck as he closed his eyes in faint embarrassment.

Sakura tilted her head to the side as her mouth opened slightly in incredulity.

"Kakashi, we've come all this way, and this is where you're drawing the line?" she asked with a hint of exasperation.

His eyes snapped open in surprise.

"What-" he started before understanding came to him. "Oh, no, no! The envelopes – they contain apologies."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise.

"What kind of apologies could you possibly put in your Bank file?" she asked slowly, suddenly uncertain she wanted to know.

He sighed and shook his head – though it had only been a little less than two years ago, it now seemed like a lifetime had passed.

"Well… I, I felt I owed you an apology for being such a coward – not living up to be the man you knew I could be."

"Kakashi!" she exclaimed in shocked horror – that had never been her opinion of him. She'd accepted him as he was, inability to change enough to be there for her and all, years ago. He didn't owe her anything.

He shrugged. His world had been far simpler when he'd first written those letters.

"The second was an apology to any children we may have had – I wanted to make it clear that your choices were good ones. That the fault, if any, lay entirely on me. That I'd been too weak to change my life plans, to go against my family's teachings – to choose the life I wanted to live." He glanced away, unable to see her expression when he added the last thing he'd outlined in the letter to their children. "I also wanted to make it clear to them that I absolutely cared for you – that it was because I cared for you that I'd done what I'd done and that they should know that had things been different for me, I'd have been there for you, for them. But, as things were, I cared too much to let that happen."

He waited a few moments before finally returning his attention to Sakura, almost afraid of the expression he'd see. He didn't know if he could take pity, not from her.

Instead of pity he found an expression soft with concern and edged with sadness.

"Oh, Kakashi…" she paused, unable to continue, tears starting up once again.

Panicked he straightened in his seat – glancing around the room, uncertain what he needed aside from possibly a box of tissues, there were too many tears for him to brush away as he had earlier.

His genuine reaction caused Sakura to laugh a little through her tears.

Startled at the sound, Kakashi returned his attention to her.

"It's okay. Really. I'm fine."

"You're sure?" he asked warily, still concerned.

"Yes. It's fine. I'm fine."

Kakashi heaved a sigh of relief.

"You're doing fine Kakashi."

Startled at her insight, he managed a weak chuckle.

"This is going to take some getting used to."

She squeezed his hand.

"Don't worry. We have plenty of time."