The monologue which Ino gave her a few minutes ago left Sakura in such rage, that she felt the urge to break something, anything. The only criteria were that it should make a loud noise while being destroyed and it shouldn't be really expensive to replace. Seeing that none of her furniture fit any of the conditions, she left her room in a furious pace in search of an object that could suffer her wrath.

How dares she? How could she possibly expect her to feel lucky or grateful? In her opinion, it was quite easy to sit in a high throne and preach about things, even though the person had no idea about how it felt like to be on the receiving end. Sure, she didn't lose even a distant friend in the war, but she still knew how it felt like losing someone you genuinely cared about. It might not have been in the near past, but the pain still lingered and always made her eyes sting whenever she remembered that day. And the thought of losing her freedom was such a painful blow for her, that it easily rivalled the loss of someone precious to her. That's why she got angered so much by Ino's words, because she of all people should know not to accuse her of not knowing what pain is. Sakura hoped that she won't meet her friend –should she even call her that anymore?- in the near future.

Feeling suddenly out of breath, she stopped in order to rest a bit. Looking around the corridor, she realized that she was currently at the western wing of the palace, where normally the guest rooms were situated, which meant… . Letting out an annoyed sigh, Sakura turned on her heels, desperately trying to leave this part of the building as soon as possible, without having the pleasure of meeting a certain individual. She turned to the left, walking through one of the doors that led to the palace gardens, thinking that she'll have a higher chance in avoiding him there.

The night breeze tickled her bare arms, even though it was the middle of spring, the nights were still quite chilly. Sakura looked around the path she was walking around, admiring the flowers that were still visible in the dim moonlight. The beauty of the royal gardens was widely known throughout the continent, becoming one of the many tourist attractions which her small country could offer. Because of her duties, she had yet to walk around the gardens in this season, but she was sure that the gardeners outdid themselves this time as well. Spring was her favorite season, but not because the tree she got her name from bloomed this time of the year. She liked spring because of the weather, which was not too chilly or hot, but perfectly in between. Not to mention, that all of her beloved flowers blossomed in this period.

Not shortly after she got adopted by Tsunade did she start liking this place. These flowers and trees witnessed the tears she thought would never end. Sakura liked to be here, because no one asked her why she was crying or tried to express their sympathy for her…this silence alone comforted her tremendously. The gardens were her favorite place even after she slowly started recovering. She often spent her time reading outside, the beautiful scenery making even the most boring texts more enjoyable for her.

A small hydrangea shrub caught her attention, squatting down; she ran a finger along the blue petals. She wondered if the palace in Konoha had such kind of a garden as well. That's when it truly hit her: she won't see these flowers ever again; she won't be reading under the trees. The daily routines she had in these past couple of years won't be the same with the ones she'll have in Konoha, even the slightest. Everything will be new and so…so different, nothing will be similar, and this fact alone scared her tremendously.

Sakura started crying before she could stop herself from doing so. The tears just came unstoppably, her sobs becoming more and more audible. She sat down on the graveled pavement, burying her face in her knees, which were brought up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. At a certain point, her weeps were so frequent, that breathing was starting to get difficult.

She was so angry at herself for crying like this, just because of some stupid flowers out in the open. But no matter how loudly she screamed at herself inside her head to stop, she just couldn't. She hated being like this, acting like a crybaby, especially when anyone could see her. Sakura saw movement from her peripheral vision, making her look in that direction.

"Yo." Kakashi stood only a few steps away from her. Eyes widening, she stood up immediately, showing her back to him. A string of barely audible curses left her lips as she furiously wiped away her tears, hoping that the light was too dim for him to see her red and puffy eyes.

"Good evening, Hatake-san." She said with fake cheeriness after facing him. Sakura looked sideways, too embarrassed to look directly at him. She wanted to run away, because she just didn't have the power to deal with him the way she should, but running would make things worse.

Kakashi wanted to ask her so badly about why she was crying so hard, but then again, he knew a fair amount of reasons why. He knew even before seeing her like this how she felt, but in their previous encounters she was so fierce and confident, that the woman standing before him right now looked like a completely different person. Oh, how much he wished for her to be firing insults at him in this moment than seeing her so depressed. Seeing her vulnerable and in such despair made him feel even guiltier than he had before. He felt like a monster, who took away the happiness of someone else, just because he could.

"What…" Her voice was hoarse. "What are you doing here?"

"Just walking around."

She nodded. "I see. I think I should-"

"I've heard that there's a really beautiful magnolia tree somewhere, but I have yet to find it, could you show it to me?" He blurted out. He would've hit his head in something really hard right then. A few moments ago Genma's words rang in his head about how should he give her the ring, but seeing the not so welcoming aura around her, he contemplated on weather this was the right time to do so.

'But then again, there won't be a moment when she won't be fuming in my presence.' he noted sourly.

"Really?" Sakura cocked her head to the side. She found his story hardly believable, it's not like the palace gardens are so vast, that you can't find a tree that has purple flowers on it. "If this is an excuse for you to take advantage of me in a secluded place, I'll have to inform you, that I can pretty much kick your ass." In fact, she wished for him to make a move, so that she would have a reason to hurt him.

"Don't worry, you are not my type." Kakashi regretted his words even before he spoke them out loud. Here goes his plan on getting in her good graces…

"Guess what, I'm not the kind of a person who likes to date grandpas either." She smiled happily; only the small quivers of the corners of her mouth gave her actual anger away.

'Well, that hurt.' Kakashi concluded. Sure, he was slowly nearing his mid-thirties, but even being called middle aged felt like a great stretch to him, not to mention being considered a pensioner. Was it because of his hair? But at least she was starting to look livelier than a couple of minutes ago, which made him slightly more relaxed.

"I look old because of my hair."

"Of course." Sakura said dismissively, slowly walking towards the east side of the garden.

"Where are you going?"

"Do you want me to show you the tree or not?" She turned around, looking impatient.

"Yes." Kakashi rushed by her side. Well, it seems like his plan might be a success after all…

They walked in complete silence on the graveled path, the small rocks making noise under their feet.

"Thank you for the ball. It means really much to me." Sakura said in a barely audible whisper, her gaze fixed on the ground. Her companion looked at her completely surprised; he didn't expect this from her at all.

"You don't have to…this is the least I could do. Your mother told me how important it is for you."

"Yeah. It will be nice to say a final goodbye to everyone." Her throat became tight and an all too familiar sting started to appear in her eyes. She tried to think about things that could make her angry or to at least change the dangerous path her thoughts started to walk on.

"You know, since our countries made an alliance, the diplomatic relationship between them should be kept. We'll have to send ambassadors once in a while, and I think the head of the envoy should be someone who knows their way around here. Knows the customs, what's acceptable and inexcusable." Kakashi stopped, looking at her intently. "I think you are the perfect candidate for that." He creased his visible eye.

"Do you think so? Could you really do that?" Her emerald eyes shone with hope.

"Of course." The next moment, he felt two arms enveloping him in a tight hug.

"Thank you." Sakura whispered. They stood like this for a few seconds, which was enough time for her to realize what she had just done. She let go instantly, distancing herself from him. "Um…the tree is this way." Sakura fastened her pace, wanting to reach the tree as soon as possible; she stopped only when they were finally standing in front of it.

Kakashi looked up at the tree, which had purple flowers, having a peculiar glow around them. Had it been any other time, he would've admired it's beauty properly.

"Here we are. I hope you know your way back." Sakura started walking back to the palace.

"Wait. Could you just wait a bit?" Raising a brow, she faced him, folding her arms under her chest.

"I hope you don't want to try anything funny." She narrowed her eyes.

"No! Not at all." Kakashi waved his hands in front of him, desperately trying to find the right words. He dug inside his pocket, searching for the box, while walking closer to her. When he was close enough, he opened the box, revealing the ring. It took all of his self-control not to let his hands shake.

"I know that this won't make a big difference in our situation, but I think that it's my duty to give you an engagement ring." The pinkette stared at the jewelry, which slightly twinkled in the moonlight above them. She never was a fan of such kind of accessories, but this one…this one looked so simple, but so gorgeous the same time.

"Can I…slip it on your finger?" Kakashi asked, receiving a nod from her. He pulled the ring out from the box and held her left hand. Her hand was so small and soft, compared to his large, calloused ones. He slipped the ring on her finger; silently giving thanks to the gods above that Sakura's finger wasn't chubbier than his mother's.

"It's really pretty." Sakura whispered. "Thank you."

Kakashi contemplated on telling her that it belonged to his mother, but he felt like this wasn't the right moment to do so. He didn't want to send false messages towards her, because that might not end so well. Sometime maybe he'll tell her, but not now.

That night, Sakura slept more soundly. The thought alone that she'll be seeing the people that were the dearest for her even after being married to Kakashi made her relaxed. Because there will be things which won't change even after leaving her home.

Thank you really much to those who took the time in reading this chapter, hope you liked it! This one is probably the longest so far :3 I really try to make subtle changes in their relationship, the key word being subtle, since they just can't fall in love with each other in the span of a few chapters. I really hope that the slow progress does not annoy anyone :3

The next chapter will be about the ball and will have more interactions between our favorite characters. Have a nice day everyone!