So here it is. Took long enough I know. But it is much longer than the other ones. Actually the longest out of them till now. So enjoy;)

When she awoke it was even before the first sun rays touched the sky. Her inner clock was used to getting up this early. Back then, when she was younger she had hated it to wake up that early. Now she rather enjoyed the crisp morning air and the silence it brought with it.

Slowly she sat up and stared down at her bare body. A small smile flitted over her lips at the sight of her red scar. She closed her eyes and let the morning breeze ruffle her long hair, then she stood and closed the window.

"Ma, I really should have seen that coming. There are no clothes left that suit me anymore" she murmured to herself as her eyes were fixed on her red clothes from before.

She had loved the color red. It was strong and demanded attention, just what she had wanted to aspire to. But now she couldn't stand to wear something of the same color as all the blood that had flown through her hands. It made her sick.

Now she preferred darker colors, if she were honest she preferred black. You couldn't see blood on a black background. After all, if something was already dirty it could not get any dirtier, right?

The only dark clothes she had were her ANBU clothes, which she really could not wear walking through the village. And then there were her trousers and shirt from the war. It wasn't black but it was as dark as she could get it right now.

With a deep sigh she put on her clothes, that were a little to tight to be comfortable, then she grabbed her hitaiate and left her apartment in a cloud of cherry blossoms.

He had just arrived at his desk when he felt another presence suddenly appear in his room. Still tired he dragged his eyes slowly up those dark legs and up a dark shirt until he saw a glimpse of cherry blossom colored hair. His eyes snapped up to her green ones and a bright smile split his face.

"Sakura-chan! I didn't know you were back! You look great….more mature an' you know." He expected her to get angry at him for praising her looks with something along the line of 'I have always looked mature, shannaro!' But to his astonishment she settled for a soft smile and a warm knowing look.

He dropped his hand that had scratched his hair nervously.

"Ne, I guess you are surprised to see me being Hokage now, ne?" he watched her with an impish smile and saw how her jade eyes began to sparkle with something like mischief.

"I already knew that you were Hokage now, Naruto." Even her voice sounded softer. He could see all the changes in her and it saddened him that he hadn't been there with her to see her grow and become this confident woman, who was currently standing in front of him.

"Who told you?" he pouted.

"No one told me."

"Eeh? Then how did you know, dattebayo!?"

A melodic chuckle erupted from her and he watched her with big eyes. This was not the Sakura he knew. No this was a Sakura who had seen more than he could understand and had done more than he could even imagine. This was a Sakura who had found her strength and freedom without relying on him.

"I can count, you know."

"Huh?"

She rolled her eyes and put a hand on one hip.

"Ma, Naruto! I saw that there was another face carved in the hill."

"But it was dark when you came back so how could you have known it was me, ne!?"

"Because...I always knew that you would become Hokage, Naruto."

He didn't know what to say. So he just stared at her happy face and relaxed slowly as he discovered traces of his old Sakura.

She was finishing her report of her mission of those four years when he felt another presence slowly making its way towards the Hokage tower. A small smile settled on his face and he leaned back in his chair.

"So...you are ANBU now, I am Hokage and Sasuke is still only a jounin. I guess he will be really pissed that he is lower in rank than us, ne?"

To his surprise her eyes hardened and her lips were pressed tightly together.

"Hokage-sama" she began and he straightened immediately, "do not allow Sasuke to enter ANBU. I am sure that he will ask you to join the ranks, but he has seen enough darkness in his life. Make him an instructor and give him a genin team. Or make him your guard. But don't let him fall back into darkness." Her eyes were pinning him to his seat, hard and unrelenting. "You owe me at least that much" she finished in a whisper.

She watched as Naruto swallowed and closed his eyes in consideration. He had really matured. She was so proud of him sitting in that seat and being a fine man now. And she knew that he would relent to her request. After all they had been through as team seven he would understand her. She was sure of it.

"I take it you two already met then." He didn't ask he just said it as if he was stating his eye color. She nodded once.

"He missed you, you know? I know he is not the best with expressing his feelings or thoughts even, but he really truly missed you."

She knew that. She had missed him too. But that did not give him the right to belittle her reasons for going on that mission or being an ANBU.

"Naruto-" the door was thrown open and hit the wall.

Her head snapped to Sasuke who stood there, frozen in the door. His face was a mask but she could easily see his fury in every fiber of his body.

"Ah. Finished your report?" He asked and walked past her and up to the desk. Then he slammed his hands down on it.

"I want to join ANBU, Naruto."

It was more a demand than a request.

She could feel her own anger at his actions well up inside of her. But she knew it was not her place to speak up. Naruto was Hokage now, so he had to handle this situation.

"Well, I will take my leave then, Hokage-sama. Maybe we can talk a little more later over ramen, ne?"

She didn't wait for his answer and vanished in cloud of pink cherry blossoms.

She had her hands stuffed in her pockets and was trying to walk through the now bustling streets of Konoha. Last night she hadn't been able to properly talk to the others. She didn't even realized when she was standing in front of the cenotaph.

Her eyes drifted over all those names carved in it and she felt sorrow well up in her. So, the pain was still there but it didn't swallow her whole anymore. She could handle it.

"Hey, Neji. It's been a while. I came back recently, so it's not like I am too late, ne?" Tears gathered in her eyes and she couldn't see properly anymore. She remembered a time when they had been setting a time for training and when she had been ten minutes late, Neji had lectured her. Afterwards she had noticed his small smile.

"I have finally found myself. I took your advice by heart and left the village for a little while. Though...it would have been more fun if you could have been there too. I really enjoyed our little talks and sparring sessions." A sob was breaking through and she clapped her hand in front of her mouth. He had told her of his plans to change the Hyuuga clan and how proud he was of Hinata. She knew he had been content with giving his life for her, but still. She felt like she should have been able to save him.

"I am so sorry that I was not there. I know now that it was not my fault and that nothing will change if I keep feeling sorry. But I am, Neji. I had promised to support you on your way and I cannot help but feel like I have let you down!" She sank to her knees and laid her hand on the cold stone where his name was written. "I am not desperate anymore or pulled down by my grieve. But… I still hurt from the lost possibilities!"

She was late and she knew he would lecture her for it. Damn it! She pushed herself to run even faster though her muscles burned and her lungs felt like bursting.

She burst through the trees and skidded to a halt in front of him. Doubled over and gasping for air she hesitantly lifted her head and met his silver eyes. His arms were crossed; that was never a good sign.

"You're late" he said in his calm voice.

"I know...and...I am sorry...but-"

"Sakura, the time we had agreed on was so that you would arrive punctual."

She swallowed and straightened up.

"I know and I am truly sorry. But there had been a new scroll on an illness I didn't know so..." she trailed of and send him a sheepish smile. He just closed his eyes and sighed.

"Let's start already."

So they had started their sparring. He was to help her with getting faster in evading attacks and she was to help him with getting better in countering strong physical attacks.

They trained until the sky was turning orange and the summer air had cooled down a little. Then they both collapsed and leaned against a tree.

"You were extra hard as a punishment for being late, right?" she asked breathless and let her head roll in his direction just to meet his eyes. They seemed to glow and burn themselves into her own ones. A small smile spread over his lips and she felt her face getting hot.

"I was being harder because I believed you could take it." His voice washed over her whole being and calmed her beating heart. That was why she treasured him. He took her serious and fought her straight on.

"You know...I won't let you down and leave you."

"Eh?" He reached out and slowly brushed her sweaty hair out of her eyes.

"I will wait for you" he whispered.

She stood there, lost in her memories and the useless pondering of 'what if's'. Though she knew that her heart belonged to Sasuke she had wished so many times for it to belong to Neji. He had deserved her love and yet she had rejected him time and time again.

"I know you didn't like him. And sometimes I don't like him either. But I can't help but to love him. And I am so sorry for loving him. Maybe...next time" she whispered.

She knew she could have fallen in love with Neji very easily. The thing was: she hadn't want to. She had believed that if Sasuke came back she would get her happy end. But then the war had began and somehow her naive self had been confronted with the cruelty of the world and along the way she had lost her confidante. She had lost a possibility of happiness.

"This is rather selfish, don't you think?"

She whirled around only to be met with Sais fake smile. He immediately dropped the act and regarded her with his dark eyes. She let her gaze drop to the ground.

"Ah, I know. And it's probably not fair of me to cry for him when he was content with dying. After all I am just crying for my lost chances, ne?" She lifted her head and smiled wobbly at him. He just stared at her and then put down the flowers he had held in his hands.

"I have read somewhere, that when we mourn someone we don't really mourn for them. We mourn for ourselves because we can't accept that that person is now out of our reach. So the concept of mourning itself seems rather selfish to me."

She stared at him and his open expression. He was right, she realized. Mourning in itself was selfish.

"Gomen, Neji. I guess you must be tired of me already. You already moved on and here I am letting you wait for me to realize what is right in front of me."

The wind picked up and whirled through her hair and just for a second she imagined that fingers were brushing her cheek. She cracked a smile and wiped her tear strains away.

"You knew I could handle this and I will not prove you wrong, I promise. So you don't have to wait for me any longer."

She had stood a little longer in front of the cenotaph. She didn't knew why she was staying there, but she felt like something or someone should appear. The sun rose higher and as her stomach grumbled loudly she hesitantly relented and made her way back through the trees into the village. She knew where she was going to eat and had the feeling that a certain blonde would be waiting there for her already. And truth be told, Naruto was already sitting in one of the chairs with a grumpy looking Sasuke next to him.

She really didn't feel like talking to Sasuke after what he had said the night before, but she couldn't tell him to leave either. Sighing to herself she slipped into the chair next to Narutos other side.

"There you are Sakura-chan! So, tell me, got any interesting things on your time away?" he asked and wiggled suggestively with his eyebrows.

"Naruto!" she barked and raised her balled fist threateningly, "who do you think I am!?"

"Ma, ma Sakura-chan, I just made fun!"

Then his attention was snagged away from Ichiraku and the promise of a hot bowl of ramen.

"You are not wearing your usual clothes."

She froze. She really hadn't expected him to talk to her first. Slowly she leaned back and turned towards him.

"No" she began slowly, "I don't feel like wearing them. They don't suit me anymore."

"Eeh? But red was your favorite color, what happened, Sakura-chan? Too grown up for colors now?" Naruto teased. She gave him a small smile and was about to answer as he had to speak up again.

"I suppose it is not the right tone. After all, blood seems to be a little darker."

Silence.

She clenched her teeth and tried to stop herself from punching him in the face. Instead she just send him a hateful glance. But he didn't even look her way.

"Gomen, Naruto but I suddenly lost my appetite. Maybe next time we could meet without him."

She stood and was ready to leave but stopped and talked over her shoulder.

"When I sacrificed myself for you I didn't think that it would lead to you torturing me even more."

With that she vanished while Naruto stared shocked at the few cherry blossoms that slowly rained down.

She was so angry. And the only way to get rid of all that anger was to get it out of her system. So she headed for the training grounds and was glad to see Kakashi already training there. He turned around and wiped the sweat away with his arm.

Without uttering a word she raised her fist and went at him. She watched as his eye widened for a moment before he opened the other one and blocked her punch. He grunted and narrowed his eyes.

Then he pulled on her fist and made her stumble forward. She growled and twisted around, aiming her raised leg at him next. He vanished in a cloud of smoke.

They went at each other for quite a while until Kakashi had enough and pinned her to the ground.

Sakura glared up into his mismatched eyes and tried to get out of his hold. But the cold steel of a kunai made her stop.

Panting heavily through his mask he asked "so, what got you so angry that you decided I would make a nice punching bag?"

She pressed her lips more firmly together and slid her angry gaze to the side. She heard him sigh and the kunai disappeared.

"Sakura, I can't help you when you're not talking to me" he murmured sternly. His breath brushed her cheek and her eyes widened. Her anger momentarily forgotten she turned her head and brushed her nose with his covered one. They stared at each other. Only now realizing how close they really were. Heat surged through them and neither wanted to break the moment.

She did not understand why his weight on her felt so good. He wasn't exactly light what with all his muscles. And his eyes; gosh his eyes. She had never noticed how beautiful his true eyecolor was. It was a dark gray like the fog over a lake at dusk. And just like the fog you could get lost in them. But what was even more entrancing was the expression in his eyes. They seemed to glow and slowly burn themselves into her green ones. She felt like she should understand what they told her. Suddenly his eyes seemed to darken and she felt him letting even more weight lay on her. The moment shattered like glass and she turned bright red.

"Kakashi! Just get off already!" She snapped and threw her head to her side. Slowly he rolled over and sat up. He cleared his throat awkwardly as she sat up next to him and pulled his hiatiate over his sharingan.

"So, what got you so furious?"

She stared at him for a while not sure if she should talk about Sasuke with him.

His gray eye slid to hers and something in it just coaxed the words free.

"It's Sasuke" she blurted out and avoided his gaze all together. She missed how his eye darkened and a nearly murderous look entered it before he got his expressions under control and put on his neutral mask.

Sakura slid her gaze back to him and lifted one corner of her lips in a poor attempt at a smile.

"He was at my apartment last night when I came back." Kakashi froze and tried hard not to clench his hands and failed spectacularly.

"At first it was a rather nice surprise but then it went all wrong when he saw that I was an ANBU. And..." she sighed and looked down at her hand in her lap.

Slowly Kakashi leaned over and reached for one of her hands. Her eyes snapped to his and he gave her his calming eye crinkle.

"He accused me of not having enough of spilling blood and killing people. As if the war wasn't enough for me" she whispered and turned her hand in his. Her fingers tightened around his and he understood. Sasukes words had brought back all those images and feelings from the war. She had been healing for four years on her own. But she wasn't healed at all. And she never would be. You could not recover fully from a war. Her green eyes met his and he was shocked to see the tears glistening in them.

"How could he say something like that?" Her voice breaking.

He felt his own heart clench painfully and without thinking he pulled at her hand and positioned her in his lap, then he wrapped his arms securely around her.

And in the safety of his arms she broke down. She was hurt by his words, sure. But it broke her that he really thought that she, she, had liked the killing. Did he really think her so shallow that she would leave for four freaking years just to kill more people?

Kakashi didn't say anything. He just held her tight and softly put his chin on top of her head.

He let her cry. He knew she needed it. He didn't talk because he knew that was not what she needed right now. So he let her cry and vent her frustration out while he thought about the best way to teach that damned Uchiha brat a lesson. While Sakura had been away they had come to a sort of understanding that each of them wanted the best for her and that they loved her. But it seemed Sasuke wanted what he thought was best for her.

Yes, that kid went through a trauma too and yes, it was really tragic and horrible. But that did not mean that others didn't experience any trauma either.

He looked down and realized with a jolt that Sakura had fallen asleep in his arms. Warmth filled him and his eyes softened. This was the woman he had sworn to fight for. And kami was she worth it!

Gingerly he put his arms around her shoulders and under her knees and as slow as possible he stood up. She stirred a little just to press her face against his chest. He transported them into her apartment. He knew very well where it was, after all he had been the one to look after it in her four years leave.

Cautiously he walked into her bedroom. The doors of her closet were still open and in front of it lay all her red clothes from before. It seemed like his Sakura had finally lost her interest in that flashy color. He lifted his gaze and noticed that only left her with her ANBU clothes, the ones she was currently wearing and the ones meant for funerals. He sighed quietly and put her down under her covers. Then he just stood there and watched her sleeping face. She was beautiful even with the tear strains on her face. Anger flooded him and in her room which shone orange with the setting sun his eye seemed to glow like a demons' one.

It was time to find a certain Uchiha.

Sooo, I know you had to wait quite some time. But I somehow got lost on the way of life *shrugs*.

A huge thank you to CantFigureOutAUsername94 and to fmtwa! Your reviews really made me happy.

Especially yours fmtwa! xD I LOVE your reviews they make me so happy! And that is why this chapter is dedicated to you! And you got me thinking...be prepared for a Kakashi pov chapter. And thank you so much for telling me your thoughts on my preview for my other story! It will take a little longer until I will pot it here but maybe you can give it a try. But first I want to finish this one here. And the test was ok. This week I have another one. Welp, that's life.

Looking forward to hear from you again!

So see you soon and be safe!