Summary: In which there are festivals, fireworks and first kisses - in no particular order.

*Set during the first year of post-war Konoha

"It's New Year's eve forehead, don't be such a loser!" Ino grumbled before glaring at Sakura's unperturbed expression. All Sakura wanted to do was to curl up under a blanket with a good book that night, and no amount of peer pressure was going to drag her unwilling ass out of the apartment.

"Plus, that place is going to be full of couples," Ino said pouting, pondering her new shift in strategy. "Come on, you're not abandoning your miserably single best-friend, are you?"

Ah yes..the best-friend angle. That always did get her, Sakura conceded with a sigh.

So, here they were, standing in the middle of a busy street in their yukatas; the festive decorations and glittering night sky surprisingly energized her spirits enough to convince her, that perhaps, this wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"This was a horrible idea," Ino muttered under her breath as Sakura turned to her with a confused frown.

"Nani? What now?" Sakura followed the lofty annoyed glance Ino was casting sideways, spotting immediately the cause for her friend's sudden change of mood. Shikamaru and Temari would have been easily lost amidst the pack of festival goers, but apparently not from Ino's eagle-eye scrutiny.

"Come on, Pig, now you're just being childish." She tugged at Ino's hand to distance her further ahead of the lovebirds, sparing a concerned look at her friend who dragged her feet. Ino looked genuinely distraught but it wasn't like her to mope about boys like this.

"You never even found him attractive!" Sakura said with a smirk. "Admit it—you only like him coz he's dating other girls. " It was Sakura's attempt at comfort and judging from the empowered huff of a reply, it seemed to work.

"Please, I could get any fucking guy I want." Ino whipped her ponytail sideways, already wrapping herself with an air of superiority that made Sakura smile. Her best friend wasn't at all lacking in admirers, but she sure did have a knack for liking guys she couldn't have.

Sakura flinched at that; she was hardly different, wasn't she?

Thankfully, and before Sakura spiraled down that particular train of thought, Ino got over herself and the two giggled along as they stuffed themselves with fried food and amused themselves with parlor games.

Occasionally, something would catch Sakura's eye. That first one had been by a goldfish vendor; a familiar head of silver hair made her spin around on tiptoes in an effort to catch a better glimpse, only to find out it was someone else. She couldn't ignore how her mood lit up each time and the distinct way her heart sank when she would survey the crowd to see unfamiliar faces.

"Look, forehead!" Ino exclaimed, as they arrived at the plaza where the night's ceremony was going to take place. "We made it just in time."

The field they were at was illuminated with torches and globes of light. Sakura picked up a paper lantern, angling it as Ino started to light it at its center. The two ladies slowly turned it over right side up, steadying it from the night wind and as the hot air rose from its flame. In a few seconds, the delicate paper structure started to float up effortlessly from their grasps, joining the thousands that were now decorating the night sky.

Sakura couldn't help but watch wide eyed and mouth agape at the beautiful spectacle; for all the grandly conjured jutsu she had seen as a shinobi, it had always been the simple collaborated efforts that had left her astonished. The sea of lamps moved fluidly with the wind that she felt so small in its enveloping enormity. Weightless.

It was then that something in her surged, making her wonder about the true powers behind this ancient ritual. For there was an unusual energy in the atmosphere — a wily mixture of courage and flighty foolishness that she could now feel coursing through her veins. Taunting her. Telling her that what she was feeling would inevitably fall on her hard, and she could stand still, be crushed by its dead weight or she could move.

"Forehead!" The sound of Ino's voice jolted her back. "I saw Lee and Tenten down the next street. Let's get some drinks with them, at least before the fireworks!"

"I..I think I'll pass," she heard herself mutter.

"What? Why?"

Even against Ino's indignation, it was puzzling that Sakura didn't feel the least bit hesitant, her feet suddenly feel incredibly light, like it could run a thousand miles on end.

"I'm so sorry Ino," she offered calmly despite the growing apprehension on her friend's face. "But I have to go."

"You can't just leave me here, Sakura!"

She heard Ino shout her name one more time, as she started to make her way through the crowd. Before taking off, she turned around to face her confused looking friend.

"Pig— just tell him how you feel!" Her voice echoed across the field leaving Ino to stare back at her in horror.

Not wanting to waste any more second, Sakura bunched the red fabric of her yukata. She was running before she knew it, sweeping past the crowd, crossing the distance of the open field and into the narrow streets of the village.

The moon was high and it cast a pale light in her direction, she took this as a good sign. Her path was clear and Sakura relished the courage she thought she would never muster many months ago. They were just feelings after all, she had told herself. A heightened form of fondness, and most likely unreturned, as these things always were.

Yet there were days she was sure she had seen something in his eyes, in the way he'd touch her that had given her hope. And as all the dots and lines connected that night, Sakura finally found the words..so much words.

Focusing chakra to her feet, she scaled the wall of a small building to travel swiftly on rooftops, briefly enjoying the sight of celebration below; a few people setting up the fireworks down below by the docks assured her timing to be impeccable. As she hopped back down on pavement, she ran through a familiar shortcut into an alleyway that led directly to his apartment.

It was drastically quieter where he lived and she caught her breath before slowing down to gingerly walk into the old building. As she climbed up the creaky stairs, nearly tip-toeing in that dark hallway, an acute part of Sakura's brain felt unsettled by the environment. Only the sound of white noise and the loud thumping of her heart kept her company. The exhilarating momentum she'd been riding on was completely gone. In front of her was his door. A four-cornered inevitable reality of what she was about to do. And nothing else.

Two knocks and Sakura heard the soft padding of feet from inside. She waited for what felt like the longest minutes of her life, nearly considering turning heel and fleeing.

But the door finally cracked open and with it the sudden flood of light that made retreating impossible. The brightness from his small apartment created a halo around his tall figure, obscuring his face in shadow that she had to squint. He was dressed down to his usual shirt, hitai-ate gone, and standing very much in front of her.

"Sakura? Shouldn't you be at the festival?" His voice was groggy, rightfully surprised by her impromptu visit as he reached up to scratch the back of his head, making his disheveled bed hair even more disheveled.

The bright yukata she was wearing probably only served to make her look even more out of place against the plain walls of his hallway.

"Kakashi," the name tumbled soft, rolling off her tongue easily before she had the chance to debate her next words. If he was bothered by the forgotten honorifics, or the slight breathlessness to her voice, he didn't show it. Instead, Kakashi just looked at her more intently. Curious.

"Mm?" he replied with that deep calm timber she couldn't get enough of.

"I…I just want to say," This was it, she was really doing this. Really, really doing this. He was waiting now with eyebrows raised. But the words Sakura thought she had strung together had staged mutiny, dissolving in her tongue at the last second. Her nerves ultimately got the best of her, leaving the moment suspended and vacant with nothing for her to fill the emptiness with.

But she didn't come all this way to just gape at him like an idiot. It was now or never, she steeled herself, and without wasting another second, her shaky hands found itself bunched in front of his shirt, yanking him closer to plant a firm kiss on his masked lips.

A surprised gasp escaped him as her eyes shut tight. Neither of them moved an inch, rooted in place. Even breathing would break the stillness. It was when Sakura began to maneuver her mouth against his still immobile ones that she abruptly felt two firm hands around her wrists, making her ease her hold on his shirt.

Kakashi looked at her — the mysterious gleam of his eyes was grim, and yet was offset by that his languid expression. "I'm sorry," he muttered softly before letting her go. Their vast height difference felt imposing, but Sakura managed to level him with her own gaze.

"I surely didn't quite expect that." He was blushing, as a small hope awakened inside her.

"I didn't mean to startle you, I just.." Sakura paused, reassuring herself that quite possibly the hard part of this whole visit was over. It was out in the open now, glaring at both of them in bright neon signs. "I love you.. I think." She might as well spell it out.

"Sakura—"

"Do you love me?" It came out like a squeak. Why must she always sound so needy? Her confidence had started to chip away and she needed to run with what courage she had left while she had it.

"You shouldn't ask me that." His tone was firm, summoning enough authority that Sakura almost believed him.

"Is that a no?"

"It's better than a no." Kakashi stuffed one hand in his pocket, before letting out a pained sigh. "I'm too old for y-"

"I don't care," came her impassioned response. Youth wasn't a crime; their age was as irrelevant as the color of their hair, or the symmetry of their freckles. "If we just try, and...and work on it..." she trailed off, realizing the losing battle in front of her. She was pleading like a little girl. What was left of her self-respect flew out the window with each word—it wasn't supposed to be this way. Her path had been clear.

A hand on her shoulder interrupted her inner ramblings, just as he always did, when problems were too big for her to comprehend, whenever she found herself rushing in head first without thinking.

Sakura knew he meant well, but she couldn't help the sudden flare of her wounded pride, and with one swift movement, abruptly pushed his hand away. It was when she turned around to leave that she heard him call out her name.

She kept walking. And after that, she was running.

It took a while for her to notice that she was back in the streets; the loud chatter of people suffocated her that she retreated to an empty lot by the docks. She slumped down against a concrete wall, sitting uncaringly as her yukata scraped on cold pavement.

I'm not gonna fucking cry, she told herself, fighting back the tears that were threatening to brim her eyes. A desperate part of her wanted to believe it was all just a bad dream, a painful one she would wake up from eventually.

Too lost in her own thoughts, she didn't hear the countdown to midnight that roared from a distance nor the sounds of singing and laughter echoing from across the lake. It was the exploding bright sparkles in the water, however, that eventually piqued her attention, inviting her to tilt her head up for it source—a symphony of bright colors, red, purple, gold, blue erupting in front of her.

Midnight had struck, and the loud cheering now rang in her ears that Sakura stubbornly shut her eyes tight to prevent her tears from falling. They trickled down her cheeks anyway, warm and unbidden as she made a silent vow. A personal promise befitting the start of the year—that she would shed the last of her childish foolishness. Because in the end, Sakura realized, all she could truly blame was herself.