The silver haired king of the Land of Fire sat hunched over his desk, the reading lamp on the mahogany surface enveloping his surroundings in an island of light in a sea of darkness. One tired grey eye looked at the clock mounted on the wall, noting that Saturday has ended one hour ago. Kakashi felt really tired, but he still had to finish proofreading a huge stack of documents.

Had someone told him five years ago that he'll be the king of his home country; he would've laughed in their face. Kakashi was never interested in being a leader of any kind. Sure, he somehow ended up being the leader of the Royal Army, but he didn't have much responsibility as one would think. He had to devise all kinds of military strategies, but the king had his final say in these matters. Leading an army wasn't that big of a deal anyway, he long learned that he couldn't save everyone no matter how hard he tried to do so. However this didn't stop him from lamenting after returning home from a military campaign that was bloodier than usual. His responsibility ended here. It wasn't his duty to worry about maintaining the always delicate balance between the population and the amount of crops. Or to worry about keeping an amicable diplomatic relationship with a neighbouring country. And he wasn't burdened by an entire nation to marry a woman with an acceptable family line and produce numerous offspring. Hell, he never even had plans of marriage before becoming king.

So when he got asked to be king, he immediately said no. He didn't want such kind of responsibilities thrown at him. And he most certainly did not need them in his life. But then he remembered Obito, the first person on this planet who he could call a friend. Obito's dream was to become king one day in order to prove to everybody his worth and also to help others. Kakashi felt that if he declined this offer, he would affront in a way his dead friend's memory. In the end his conscience made the decision and he became king.

By the time he finished reading, it was already two in the morning, his dark eyes felt heavy with fatigue and Kakashi was glad that he finally done his work before passing out from exhaustion. He yawned, his jaw threatening to dislocate while stretching in his chair.

The dark corridors were empty sans his lonely figure. Normally, all corridors and even some vacant rooms would've been lit during the whole night, but Kakashi thought that using so much energy for something so unnecessary was a crime. The only reason why they did so in the first place was in order to show how representative the palace was to the citizens and visitors of Konoha. Since the building was situated on a hill, it could be seen even from the furthest corner of the capital. And by illuminating the whole façade during the dark hours of the day, it dominated the city even at night. Unfortunately, Kakashi wasn't the kind of person who took much importance for such superficial things, so the only halls that bathed in light were the ones used by the sentry and the night shift of the servants.

His eyes wandered to the illuminated windows of the archives that could be seen from his position on the corridor. He didn't have to be a genius to know that Sakura was the person inside the room. Kakashi had a quite interesting talk with Kurenai the other day, the woman complaining about how Sakura practically moved inside the archives, staying late and returning in the early hours of the morning. Or at least that's what the older woman saw, but she was fairly sure that the pink haired woman slept there, if she even permitted herself such kind of luxury.

At first Kakashi didn't concern himself with her well being. He thought that this whole thing would last a day or two, and she'll eventually knock herself out due to fatigue, maybe even quit the project. Not to mention that she would be fairly annoyed by the fact that he stuck his nose in her business. But this whole conversation with Kurenai was a week ago, and it didn't seem like Sakura's vigour subsided.

He started walking towards the wing where the archives were situated. By the time he was standing in front of the double winged door, he completely regretted his decision. But since he already took a detour in order to be here, he might as well enter. The door creaked as it was pushed open, the sound being louder than usual due to the silence of the night.

Pink strands of hair were splayed against white paper, as Sakura rested her head against the surface of the table she was sitting at. He stood only a few steps away from her, his shadow casting over her. As if sensing that she was being watched Sakura stirred, sitting up. Her tired eyes looked to the side, her gaze meeting with Kakashi's.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice was still heavy with fatigue.

"I was just passing by and thought that I'll see what you are up to."

"Oh…" Sakura flicked her left wrist, looking at her watch. "Have you been working until now?"

"Yeah. I had some urgent paperwork to finish." His reply honestly surprised her still half asleep mind. Kakashi didn't seem like the kind of person who would work until the wee hours of the morning. She rubbed her eyes with her left hand's thumb and index finger, trying to rid herself of sleepiness.

"When was the last time you slept in your own bed?" Kakashi tilted his head to the side. The question was probably far too direct, but this was the main reason why he visited her.

The motive behind his question was pretty obvious for her. Someone (probably Kurenai) told him that she worked a little bit much, which by the way was an overstatement. Sakura liked to finish her work in one go, which usually seemed to be too much for other people. But hell, she liked this method and she won't change it because someone disapproved. Besides, she began her work like two days ago, so their worry was totally unwarranted.

"Um…" Sakura looked thoughtfully at the ceiling, trying to recall. "Monday." Ha, that was only two days ago, so she proved him wrong!

"Oh." The pink haired woman was already bracing herself for his apology. Should she accept it immediately, or mock him a bit? After all, he always liked to rile her up nowadays, so it would be quite fair of her to-

"It's already Sunday, and correct me if I'm wrong, but that was almost a week ago, six days to be precise." The way he crinkled that one visible eye annoyed her to no extent.

"So what?" She shrugged, trying to remove the wrinkles from the papers she slept on.

"This isn't healthy, Sakura." The soft undertone to his voice surprised her, but she had to stand her ground.

"I believe that as a medic, and a fairly good one if I may add, I have the capability of deciding what's healthy for my body and what's not."

"And your opinion is completely objective." She nodded a yes as a respond, and then resumed her work. "How about we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?"

"You take Sunday and Monday off, if you do that I won't bother you about your work for the time being."

"For the time being?" She furrowed her brow.

"As long as you won't overexert yourself."

"I'm not over-"

"Either that or I will ban you from the archives and the library."

"You wouldn't…" The challenging look in his visible eye made her trail off. That bastard!

Ten minutes later she was in her bed, but was too furious at her dear husband to actually fall asleep. Sure, it was somehow flattering to have someone look out for you, but it did matter who was that person. And her resentment, though not that strong as in the beginning, towards him just wouldn't let her fully appreciate this small gest from him.

…

She woke up to Keiko calling her name. She yawned and stretched before asking the young girl for the reason why she interrupted her blissful sleep.

"I'm really sorry for waking you up, but His Majesty would like to talk to you."

"Then let him in."

Kakashi entered a few minutes later, still dressed in his pajamas and it looked like he woke up not too long ago.

"I'd like to show you something." He stated simply, earning a strange look from her.

"Um…what is it exactly that you want to show me?"

"I just realized that you barely saw anything outside this palace."

"And?" She was starting to guess the direction this conversation was going.

"I want to change that. Can you get ready in 30 minutes?"

"And what if I don't want to get ready?" Sakura folded her arms under her chest.

"Then you'll miss a never returning opportunity. And you'll regret it." He crinkled his eye, his hands in his pockets.

"What kind of opportunity?"

"You'll see." The smug smirk on his face annoyed her to no end. "Be sure to wear something comfortable."

"I'm not going!" She shouted as he left the room.

Why the hell should she go? She had to rest today; at least that's what he told her to do. And now, at 10 in the morning he wakes her up and practically forces her to go on some trip with him. Does this man ever think? At least that's the impression he's giving her. No, Haruno…err…Hatake Sakura will stay in bed for the rest of the day, even if her butt will hurt because of it. She won't set a foot outside the threshold of her room. No.

…

He felt a strange sensation in the back of his neck. It wasn't like an itch, but it didn't hurt either. As Kakashi looked behind, he saw that his companion was glaring really intensely at him. Ah, so that's what he felt.

"I don't want to sound like a whiny kid, but which part of this is me having a rest?" She asked.

"Sometimes psychological rest is more helpful than physical rest." He responded sagely, receiving a snort from her.

Sakura took in her surroundings, keeping in mind to watch her steps; the uneven path was filled with tree roots. She never saw trees this tall in her life, but then again, Whirlpool was never famous for its lush forests. The island's vegetation consisted mostly of dwarf trees, and only the palace and a few civilian gardens had trees tall enough that could be climbed. These forests though were a different story… Sakura felt so tiny compared to their towering heights, and she started feeling dizzier the more she looked up at them.

Even though she was too stubborn to admit, she really enjoyed their hiking. The terrain wasn't that hard, even if they were walking uphill. The air was clean; the rays of the sun that reached them were warm and the sound of the birds chirping made her smile.

"Do you often come here?" She asked, holding both straps of her backpack.

"Not as frequently as I would like to." He slowed his pace, so that they could walk side by side. "In my early military years I patrolled this area frequently. That's how I came to like this place."

They came to a stop once they reached a tree that had a staircase wrapped around its trunk. She couldn't see the top of them, because the leaves hid them from her.

"What's this?" The pink haired woman asked after some silence. She had a hunch that they are going to climb those stairs, and it unnerved her.

"There's a zip line at the top, it's used by the military units that patrol the perimeter of Konoha and the boarders of the country." He explained while he climbed a few steps. Kakashi stopped after he noticed that she wasn't following him.

"And you want to go up?" It took all of her might not to talk with a shaking voice.

"Yes. Trust me, you won't regret it." He crinkled his eye at her.

"That's so reassuring."

"If you won't come with me, then you'll have to go back on your own. I hope that you remember which way we came from." Kakashi stated nonchalantly, resuming his ascend.

Sakura looked back at the trail they came from; trying to remember each and every turn they took during their trip. It couldn't be that hard, right? But then what if she gets lost? And then she'll wander around for God knows how long, and will have to collect berries and eat ants and other insects in order to survive. By the time, if ever, they find her she'll lose all human qualities and-

"That's ridiculous." She chastised herself, but followed him nonetheless, her main reason being that a walk back alone would be really boring.

Sakura was never fond of heights and could feel uneasiness rising in her stomach the higher they got, so when they finally reached the top, she couldn't be happy enough.

"Here." Kakashi handed her a harness but she just stared at his outstretched hand. Everything clicked into place that moment, and she felt really stupid that it didn't occur to her sooner. He wanted to try out the zip line.

"No. I would absolutely not travel on that thing." Sakura tried to be as confident as she could, but the slight waver of her voice didn't seem to deliver her message the way she wanted to.

"Don't worry, it's entirely safe."

"I beg to differ. How can that puny little wire be called safe?" Her head replayed a dozen scenarios in which she died because the so called 'safe' wire snapped and she fell to her death. "Is this how you want to murder me?"

"Of course." Kakashi replied in a bored tone, putting on his harness and connecting it to the wire. "You are aware that if you won't come with me, you'll have to go back alone?" She puffed out her cheeks in frustration, her hatred towards him growing even more.

Sakura put on the harness, fastening it, so that it hugged her hips and thighs. Kakashi attached her harness to his, so that she was in front of him, practically sitting on his lap. His close proximity felt really strange, this was the first time they were so close to each other. In a certain way it felt nice, but she refused to elaborate her feelings and thoughts about this whole situation, after all, she was about to die!

He launched them and instead of falling to their deaths as she expected, they moved with great velocity. The feel of her feet dangling in the air, with nothing to support it from beneath terrified her. They rushed past branches, causing several leaves to fall off of them. The cool air that hit her face tickled her nose but it felt really good at the same time.

After a few seconds her sense of terror disappeared and it got replaced by one of exhilaration. The rush of air against her exposed skin, and the feeling of nothingness under her feet made her feel free. She never felt like this before in her life.

…

He wanted to show her something special, hoping that by doing this she'll come to love her new home. And most certainly he wanted to show her one of his favorite places. Hearing her not so delighted remarks during their trip worried him, and in a certain way even annoyed him.

Sure, it was really absurd of him to force her to rest and then takes her hiking the other day, but he felt like they both needed this trip. He knew that she spent most of her time inside the palace, only leaving it once in a while, and even then she went to the gardens. It must have felt suffocating for her to be confined behind walls. And with his desk being filled with paperwork, he left the palace rarely in these days as well.

It took him some time to persuade Genma on letting them leave the building without guards, but hearing her laughter as they stormed past trees made it all worth it. He didn't want to seem like a love-struck teenager with this remark, but it did make him happy hearing her laughter. He finally caused her happiness, not just misery and animosity.

"Look to your left." He told her, as the density of the trees changed, making the palace and some other buildings of Konoha visible to them from the distance.

"It's so pretty!"

Their journey came to an end when they reached the top of a hill. He unfastened their harnesses and helped Sakura regain her balance.

"I hate to say it, but this was…I can't even find a word to describe." Sakura chuckled. "Nice."

"I'm glad you liked it." He smiled underneath his mask.

"So, maybe this whole journey wasn't that bad at all." Sakura mused,glad that she had the courage to try out the zip line.

It was already lunch time when they arrived back to the palace, both of them feeling hungry to say the least.

"We should go again some time. I feel completely energized." She smiled as they walked towards the dining room.

"Sure." Kakashi nodded, enjoying her happiness. The pink haired woman walked with a spring in her step, something he never saw her do before.

Yes, they were definitely heading towards a normal relationship.

Words cannot express how sorry I feel for taking so much time (precisely half a year :/ ) to upload the new chapter. Since I'm currently finishing university I'm quite busy with writing my thesis and maintaining a somewhat normal social life (I know, I know that these are just excuses :3 ).

Anyway, I'm really thankful to those who reviewed before and during my hiatus, always reminding me that I still have something to finish!

So our favourite couple's relationship is starting to normalize, and they are starting to get closer. Sorry for the slow pace, they'll most definitely have a kiss in a few chapters time.

Ugh, this note is starting to get longer than the actual chapter :/

Thanks to everyone who read this chapter!