Summary: In which the rokudaime learns a thing or two about his pink-haired medic.

*Set 2 years after the Fourth War

The view of Konoha from his office was breath-taking, and even more so from the hokage's residence. And yet the new rokudaime insisted to go home every night to his own apartment with the ANBU guards stationed outside his building a small trade-off for the irreplaceable comfort of sleeping in the same creaky bed against the same cracked walls.

Thankfully, the work itself was familiar enough; being in a position of command wasn't anything new for Kakashi and he realized that having the authority to enact his own vision for Konoha was a responsibility that proved both exhilarating and humbling.

But there were sobering parts to his duties too, and when he found himself stuck in an endless string of signing formal requests, approving budgets, proofreading mission contracts, finalizing the new uniform mandate, and on top of that— showing up for the too often banal meetings with some self-important elder, Kakashi had to remind himself that this was in fact, just another form of service.

It was the simpler perks to the job however, that the new rokudaime relished the most. One was the generous expense budget for 'Food and Entertainment' that had been a bloated adjustment made by his recent predecessor to accommodate some of her vices. Unfamiliar with most of the thrills of luxury, though always curious, Kakashi satiated one of his culinary curiosities with a full-course fugu from an expensive restaurant, as he'd always wondered what the hype was about.

And though his personal space had now given way to constant mission briefings, and the constant knock on his door, Kakashi learned to relish the small quiet time he had at the start of the morning, a time he usually spent reading.

Today however, all amusement from the worn paperback had been exhausted, and so he propped his feet on the table, leaning back on his chair a little as he idly reached for something to tinker with under his desk. His hand landed on his bottom desk drawer—he'd never opened this one before, and was mildly underwhelmed to find nothing but a few candy wrappers and a green oval mirror— likely one of Tsunade's discarded effects that had been simply left there to be disposed. Kakashi examined the worn thing as he angled towards the window for some natural light, running fingers through his hair to reinstate some volume that had been flattened by wearing the hokage hat for too long.

Kakashi smirked as he appraised himself by tilting his face a quarter angle. "As your rokudaime, it is my duty to protect this village. Surely, paying for my bill is the least you could do, don't you think?" The assertiveness of his own words made him snicker; this would never work with his colleagues.

"You see, I've tried everything but the cook refused to let the hokage pay for the bill." His expression purposely turned sheepish for this one. "And it would be dishonest, for someone of my stature to sneak money in some way.." This could work very well and he grinned impressed as he continued. "I'm afraid I have no choice but to let— " Kakashi felt the color drain from his face as he saw Sakura stare at him from his reflection, and he swiveled back around to slam the mirror on the table in time to face his visitor who had been standing there for god knows how long.

"Don't you knock?" he muttered with a small amount of pride, her amused giggle only adding to his embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama. Old habits." Sakura bit her lower lip to keep from grinning widely. "The godaime wasn't a morning person, and hated loud knocking at this hour.

"Lucky for you, I am a morning person."

"I can see that.." Her mischievous smirk found its way back and it was clear she wasn't going to let him live this down.

"Was there something you needed?" Kakashi affixed the hokage hat on his head to restore some lost dignity.

"Oh, I was just dropping these off." It was a stack of documents about seven inches tall and it landed on his desk with a now too familiar thud, that Kakashi couldn't resist a nose twitch at the prospect of more paperwork. "They're the updated profiles of some of my patients."

With curiosity, Kakashi began to thumb through the first of the pile.

"You don't have to read them right now," Sakura added. "It's only for your reference, when their names ever come up again for missions. Be sure to check first if— ."

"I know how these things work, Sakura." He smiled a little behind his mask.

"Sorry," she mumbled sheepishly. "Well, if there's anything else you'd need, hokage-sama.." she then trailed off with a courteous nod, hinting her exit.

Kakashi twiddled his thumbs as he looked at her expectant face. She was being entirely too curt, pushing more of these stuffy formalities along with his already weighty title, and yet he wished he had it in him to use authority just make her stay longer. "No, that would be all," he replied.

Sakura nodded respectfully before giving him a last wink out the door. "I'll be sure to knock next time.

He would argue to anyone less sympathizing, that there was nothing wrong with longing for the soreness of muscles and the feeling of sweat on his face. He only wanted to feel like his old self again.

But..he would admit to being rash; inviting Naruto for a spar these days was asking that their ass be handed to them gift-wrapped with a little bow and the fist-sized wound in his left abdomen created by Naruto's highly improved counter-attack was only a befitting consequence of foolishly goading the strongest shinobi in the village not to hold back. And though the young man was equally thick to oblige the request with enthusiasm, in the end, Kakashi admitted, he was solely to blame.

The medic and the three ANBU officers arrived at the scene instantly, whisking their injured rokudaime away to the hospital, before Naruto had a chance to help.

"Please, I've sustained worse," he groaned as the medic quickly closed up his wound with healing ninjutsu. "This escort is unnecessary.."

"We're just following protocols, hokage-sama," said one of the masked bodyguards.

And yet it felt like today, the hokage found it hard to justify such lofty protocols and the moment he felt the last of the tingling feeling created by the newly reconstructed tissue, he stood up abruptly to slip his shirt back on, vest in place.

"You're all dismissed," he said before briskly walking out the room without another word.

The corridor of the hospital was relatively quiet, and apart from the brief nods of acknowledgment he'd get, Kakashi was mostly ignored by the staff for much more pressing hospital matters they all appeared to be striding urgently to. It was refreshing not to have ANBU men always hanging about, and while he grimaced now, at recollecting how brash he'd been to his guards and thankless to the medic who just helped him, Kakashi surmised that surely, everyone was allowed their off days. Maybe he'll find that medic later and thank him properly.

A small water cooler marked the end of the corridor and Kakashi had just about hung right when he caught a glimpse of Sakura through one of the windows. She was smiling, hair tucked behind her ear as she leaned in to listen intently to a person across her. There were about four others— patients, he'd assume, all huddled in that small circle. The room itself stood out from every other room in the hospital; the windows were brighter, blinds pulled up to let as much natural light in, the walls decorated with painted masks and pinned illustrations and he must've stood there immersed at the vibrant environment for a good few minutes when the youngest boy from the group waved at Kakashi with bright eyes, exclaiming "Hokage-sama!" mutedly from where Kakashi stood from the outside. Everyone turned around immediately, and a cheery smile was on Sakura's face as she gestured him inside.

"I'm just passing by," he said from the other side of the glass. Kakashi then realized it was pointless to try to mouth words with a mask on, so he waved a hand instead. But Sakura wasn't about to be discouraged by his shyness and had already skipped to the door to fetch him herself.

"Hey you," she greeted with a tone as light as the cool rush of air-conditioning that escaped into the corridor. "You should come in, hokage-sama, I think they'd love it." Her eyes twinkled at her own suggestion as Kakashi decided then that perhaps she was right.

"This is Aki, Han, Emiko and Dr. Yoshiro— he's our resident psychologist," she spoke, gesturing eagerly towards the group when Kakashi entered.

"It's great meeting you all," he responded graciously. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything.."

"No way!" assured Aki, the boy who had exclaimed earlier. "You should join us, can the hokage join us Sakura-sensei?"

"Well he is the hokage, so it's entirely up to him. Unless of course this isn't a good time?"

Her eyes had trailed down to bandage still peaking at the hem of his shirt. "Indeed, perhaps some other time?" he said to them smiling apologetically.

"We'd love that, right guys?" Sakura clasped her hands delightedly before turning towards the doctor. "Do you mind facilitating for now? I'll catch up with the group."

"Of course." The doctor gave the two of them an acknowledging nod before heading off to join the rest.

Sakura then ushered him back to the privacy of the empty corridor, her head now tilting towards the fresh bandage. "What happened there?"

"Oh this?" Kakashi chuckled lightly as he adjusted the edge of the bandage. "Just a nasty scratch." Not exactly willing to expound more on the product of his emotional need for male bravado, Kakashi turned his head back to the window. "You've created a quite a set-up here, Sakura," he commended.

The group had now huddled together with their individual painted projects, and Sakura smiled softly as she observed from outside. "Yep, it's getting there. We do smaller workshops for now, but we can do with more space. Perhaps our own little place away from the hospital..."

"That should be easy, I imagine.." he mused.

"You'd be surprised how hard it is to get a lease approved for something like that." She made a quick pout, her head now leaning sideways to rest on the glass. "Dr. Yoshiro has been awesome introducing art therapy in the shinobi community but it's still a relatively new concept."

"Perhaps I can help?" He was the hokage after all, surely there was something he could do.

But Sakura only sighed exasperatedly as she pushed herself off the window. "How? All that the system cares about is money. Getting every 'able-bodied' shinobi on high paid missions. It's always easier to get proper care for those with visible injuries, but mental health is not regarded with the same urgency." There was a tiny flash of antipathy in her eyes as she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Nonetheless, I'll see what I can do," Kakashi offered stubbornly.

Sakura seemed to have finally pondered his offer for a few seconds, finally relenting with a soft smile. "That would mean a lot hokage-sama, thank you."

Kakashi thought he had misheard, but there was that unmistakable playfulness in their voices as he shut his office door on his way out, hidden from the adjacent hallway that the two women had been chatting in.

"Aaand... what happened after the dinner?"

He could practically hear the smile in Shizune's face as she goaded for an answer; Sakura giggled and for a short while there was silence, before an emphatic "Oh my god!" from Shizune, which Kakashi could only deduce as a reaction to whatever non verbal expression Sakura had conveyed.

"On a first date?!"

"Oh don't be such a prude," Sakura jabbed back. "It's not like we haven't been hanging out for months now."

"How did it go?" Shizune punctuated her question with a squee that made Sakura laugh. Dreading to hear anymore of the exchange, he briskly walked past the pair, uttering a rushed "Excuse me", as he marched his way through the corridor and out the street.

That his stomach felt twisted into knots as he left the hokage tower was something he readily blamed on hunger with the prospect of food suddenly made more favorable when he saw a familiar face inside a snack stand.

"I was just about to get some dango, I shall order for the both of us!" Gai had already gestured towards the cook, holding up two fingers as Kakashi bent low to move under the dangling awnings before planting himself on the stool.

Just then, a new customer came in. "I'm here to pick up a take-out please," said the man— a civilian teen, Kakashi rectified as he turned his head around. To his surprise, the young man in turn, smiled at him brightly. "Ah, hokage-sama! It's good to see you again."

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met," he said, with a puzzled expression as he searched with a bit more scrutiny. The man looked about nineteen at most, dark wavy hair, slender frame..

"It's Dr. Yoshiro. We were introduced the other week." The man swiped his dark hair carelessly to the side, extending his other hand.

Kakashi quickly stood up to shake his hand. "My sincerest apologies, doctor. I didn't quite recognize you."

"Ah, no worries. Amazing what grooming and a proper tie could do, right?" The doctor shrugged at his own words, not taking offense

"This is my friend, Maito Gai. Dr. Yoshiro is the man helping Sakura at the hospital."

"Just call me Ken," he said with a dimpled grin as he shook Gai's hand.

Their little introduction was then interrupted by the cook who finally appeared with the take-out bag. "One chicken onigiri and one shrimp onigiri, with a side order of umeboshi?" The cook was reading off the list in his hand as Ken nodded in affirmation.

"With extra garlic on the shrimp and no mayo?" he doubled check one more time before the cook confirmed, handing him the brown paper bag.

It was just like how Sakura preferred hers, Kakashi knew all too well from mistakenly grabbing the wrong onigiri she would prepare after training, only to choke through his mask from all that extra garlic. His eyes suddenly narrowed at the man before him, though still unbeknownst to his scrutiny, Ken proceeded to nonchalantly utter a quick thank you to the chef before finally heading out, waving at them a last time with a big smile.

Gai's eyebrows creased together just like his, though Kakashi would surmise for an entirely different reason. "He looks too handsome to be a doctor doesn't he, Kakashi?"

"Yep," he replied flatly.

The stack of documents Sakura had dropped off a few weeks ago had gathered dust, unmoved from the same spot on his desk. Kakashi ran a finger down the colorful little labels sticking out on the edges, flipping through the alphabeticized names until stopping at a particular one that merely read "Other". It was a thicker document than the rest and Kakashi opened it to reveal the compilation of reports and notes Sakura had gathered from her workshop. Dr. Yoshiro's profile was among them and he bit his inner cheek as he debated his own intention for digging up this particular file.

Name: Dr. Ken Yoshiro

Age: 21

Specialty: PhD in Psychology

Ninja Rank: n/a

Element: n/a

Mission Experience:

S - 0

A - 0

B - 0

C - 0

D - 0

Ninjutsu : n/a

Genjutsu: n/a

Taijust—

Kakashi couldn't help a small chuckle at the gigantic "N/A" marked heavily on top of the fifteen other questions below it, as he pictured Sakura's impatience and perhaps annoyance for repurposing a standard shinobi form to accommodate the civilian doctor. But the spot at the very bottom gave her the proper avenue:

Accomplishments:

Graduated top of his class at the Fire University

Wrote a widely distributed medical journal about the marked success of non-clinical therapy.

Author of the book "Amegakure: What Went Wrong"

Started a music school for the deaf in the mainland city.

Other Skills:

Sign language, Acoustic guitar, —

"Okay, I get it.." Kakashi sighed as he shut the file. The man was perfect. Hell, he was practically her counterpart in the civilian medical world, and a huge part of him— a part not given to the more primal feelings of jealousy, resigned in the thought that perhaps a normal man like Ken was that coveted piece of a quiet life the shinobi world had robbed her of, a part she now wanted to reclaim for herself.

Undoubtedly, she should. For she had always deserved a much better happiness than the ones she had sought out with Sasuke, and a much better better kind than Kakashi could ever hope to give.

It was once again New Year's eve and for the first time since holding office, Kakashi found himself content to be buried in paper work as he enjoyed the distant sound of crackling, followed by a bellowing shout of a woman who had caught some children playing around with firecrackers reserved for the evening.

But the pink haired girl standing there by his doorway wasn't to be convinced easily.

"With all due respect, hokage-sama, you can't just spend the evening doing work! People expect you to be out there celebrating with them. Where's your sense of camaraderie?!"

"Meh. I doubt they'd care," he mumbled, attention still at the documents on his desk as he tried to ignore her eyes boring into his brain. "Sakura, please..I'm really behind on this. Don't you have better plans tonight than stand there?"

"Don't move."

"I'm not going any— " Kakashi had barely lifted his head before she darted away. It had been about five minutes that he stared waiting at the empty doorway. Curious, and now impatient, he stood up to look out the window and found her standing at the foot of the marbled steps that led to the Hokage tower. It appeared Ken had been waiting for her by the building entrance; eager to settle a suspicion, Kakashi closely observed their interaction. It was hard to hear much of what they were saying from high up, but they shared something more unmistakable for his curious eye— a quick kiss. Sakura leaned into the other man with such ease and familiarity Kakashi had to suddenly look away not wanting to intrude anymore on their privacy. When he peered back again, Ken was smiling, and nodding almost assuredly so as he waved at her retreating form. "Don't worry about it, I'll just see you tonight," he called out loudly as Sakura ran back in.

The sun had began to set at the horizon, and Kakashi remained there leaning by the window, admiring the waning colors in the sky for a few minutes before he was suddenly reminded that Sakura could show up any minute. And so Kakashi quickly strode back to his desk like he hadn't moved an inch.

"Okay, I'm back!" she announced as she leaped in view at the still open door of his office. "So where do we start?"

"We?" His eyebrows raised, bewildered— curious, as he watched Sakura grab a spare pen before walking towards his table. "You did not just ditch your boyfriend to do paperwork with me did you?"

It seemed his off-handed acknowledgement of her boyfriend had caught her by surprise that she darted her eyes sideways. "Oh, he's uhm..he's totally fine with it," she brushed off with a tight smile, before shrugging animatedly. "Besides, I can't just leave our anti-social hokage to rot here in paper work, right?"

"You're truly the kindest," he deadpanned. Though with no small amount of truth, his silent gratitude was left unspoken as Sakura rolled her eyes at him before grabbing the guest chair closer.

"I'll take this pile, you take the other," she instructed. "I've done this with shishou a countless times now. With any luck, we can both get out of here before midnight."

It would turn out an optimistic goal at best, it had already been half past nine before the two made any kind of dent to the tower of folders.

"Man, you weren't kidding when you said you're behind on this.." Sakura huffed out a stray pink hair that fell on her face as she looked through one of the pages. "These needed to be sorted alphabetically, first. Which you wouldn't have to do, if you had an assistant!" She huffed louder in frustration, and Kakashi could only chuckle.

"Sheesh, It's almost ten.." Her eyes had drifted towards the clock across the room with a frown.

"If you need to go...honestly— "

"We should get more than half of this done before twelve." And with that, Sakura quickened her scribblings, effectively ignoring Kakashi's suggestion. And so he left it at that.

Surprisingly, they were able to get through most of the documents just ten minutes shy of midnight, and it was then that his hardworking companion finally threw her hands up in surrender. "I'm beat! This is a good stopping point."

Kakashi admired the tall stacks of finished work on his table as he similarly stretched his arms behind his back. "You've been a huge help, Sakura. I don't think I would have accomplished this much in a whole week."

"Mah', it's nothing." She waved her hand dismissively, before slumping back into her chair.

"Don't you need to catch up with.." he trailed off, belatedly realizing he shouldn't be the one bringing up her boyfriend every damn minute.

Sakura just shrugged. "It's almost the new year, pointless trying to meet up with anyone at this point."

"I guess that means you're stuck with me." Kakashi swiveled his chair around aimlessly, stopping right as it turned towards the window.

"You really don't feel like going out do you?" This time, her voice sounded more sympathetic than accusing, and Kakashi turned his head around to see her resting on the opposite side of his desk, chin propped up with one hand.

"Not really.." He was much predisposed to honesty now.

"I feel ya. I get like that sometimes too.." She quirked her mouth as if pondering her own enthusiasm that night, and for a second Kakashi wondered if he was making her miss out on something much more fun she could be doing with other people. He really needed to stop thinking about that damn boy.

"We'll have the best view at least," he offered with an eye crinkle before standing up to perch by the window. "Care to join me out here?"

"Hell ya!" she exclaimed, leaping from her chair. The villagers had started to gather below them the moment they stepped on the slanted lower roof of the hokage tower. Sakura quickly claimed real estate right next to the window and so Kakashi sat next to her, folding his legs similarly. An ambitious firecracker, likely enhanced with jutsu made it high enough and she stared up in the sky to follow it's glittering trail, eyes resting there.

"Can't believe it's been a year," she said wistfully. "Sure flew by didn't it?" She turned around to give him a wistful smile and his gaze must've said enough for her expression to slowly descend into a similar countenance, making her turn away. She was thinking of that night, he was sure of it.

"Look," she quickly beckoned with a finger pointed upwards. The fireworks had finally erupted, Sakura gasped as the first wave of blue and green infiltrated the black sky above them. Kakashi found the display much more enthralling reflected on her face however, as he admired the cacophony of purple and pink that followed after.

E/N: Wanted to thank you guys for the reviews on the last chapter. It seriously spurred me on! It's a lot easier to acknowledge people on tumblr but I'd like to say special thanks on here to sharinganintheeyes, travellerslover, , harvestangel99 and librastar for the latest reviews! And to everyone else that had kept with the story so far. I feel like we're reaching a culmination finally, I'm glad you guys are still interested!