Hello lovely readers! Sorry for the delay. Don't be mad, for I have come with offerings and updates. See you at the bottom.

After barely defeating Sai in a sparring match, Sakura was lounging lazily on the ground soaking up the sun. She had barely gotten any sun in the past few months and was enjoying the warmth that was spreading through her bones, watching Naruto and Sai go at it with no intention other than to show the up as Yamato droned on about the quality of different kinds of wood. The usually stoic Mokuton user had gotten friendlier with the rest of team Kakashi after the war, and was especially verbose at the moment, as he was busy describing to Sakura his new collection of whittling knives. Apparently he'd not even noticed when the person he'd first started talking to about it had silently left with a certain orange book open under his nose.

Chuckling, Sakura turned her face upwards and closed her eyes. Feeling somebody's eyes on her, she looked at the tree on which the copy-nin was lounging on with his beloved Icha Icha and her smile faded when she realised he was looking intently at her. She got the disturbing feeling that he could look into her thoughts. Realising that he'd seen her looking, she turned away and tried to watch the match going on in front of her.

Sakura was often in awe of Naruto's ability to move on from all the horrible things life had thrown at him. Yes, she was in awe.

Awed and envious.

Why couldn't she do the same? Every time she so much as looked at the damn masked shinobi, she felt like she was going to fall face first onto the ground and further her humiliation. Every. Single. Time.

Yamato was still talking. Naruto and Sai were still sparring. The day was still bright and sunny. Yet she suddenly felt very suffocated and claustrophobic even out in the open field.

Sakura got up and with a mumbled excuse, fled the place.

She didn't notice Yamato frowning at her or the way Kakashi's narrowed eyes followed her as her pink head went out of sight.

Ever since first joining the academy, Sakura had felt that she no longer belonged in the civilian world. And sitting in the backyard of her family house with her mother and grandparents, with said grandmother looking disapprovingly at her clothes which yelled "I'M A KUNOICHI" and the rhombus-shaped seal on her forehead while having tea, Sakura couldn't have felt more out of place if she'd tried. And as soon as the words "Our neighbours' daughter is getting married at the fine age of 18. Don't you agree dear, that girls should be married off before twenty?" left her grandmother's mouth, Sakura regretted coming to visit her mother while her grandparents were visiting.

While her mother had more or less accepted that her daughter would never "convert" back to being a civilian and hence, normalcy after her husband's demise, 'more or less' being the operative term here as she was too busy running the family business along with her brothers-in-law to care anymore, too busy being the rich, high society lady from the wealthy Haruno clan. Whereas her father's very ancient mother still hadn't given up the fight. Every time she met Sakura, she would nag and nag and nag till eventually, Sakura would retaliate and her grandmother would look at her daughter-in-law with an expression that very clearly said "look at what a barbarian the girl has become, you were a fool to let her join that academy. I told you so.". The older woman was very irritated with the fact that the pinkette hadn't even started looking for a husband yet and wasn't very silent about her displeasure at everything her granddaughter did.

She recalled the unfortunate incident when her grandmother had met her team. The fact that her team included the great Naruto Uzumaki and Kakashi Hatake did nothing to soften her towards her chosen career. Hell, the woman didn't even care about her own granddaughter's achievements, let alone her whole team's. And while Sai had remained mostly silent during the whole unpleasant meeting, he had said some things that the older woman may not have considered very appropriate.

Needless to say, her grandmother had made her displeasure known to everyone present. The only one who had managed to keep the situation in hand was Sakura's uncle. He, along with Sakura's father, were the only ones who'd truly accepted her as she was.

I shouldn't have come here, Sakura thought to herself for the tenth time since she arrived, but now that I'm here, I'm not going to give this old crone the satisfaction of getting a rise out of me. Resisting the urge to hurl the little table across the lawn, Sakura put on a sickeningly sweet smile and got the pleasure of seeing her grandmother frown and stop in the middle of describing the engagement party.

"More tea, grandmother?"

It was quite late at night when Sakura managed to finally get out of her mother's house. Each minute there only reminded her more of her father. Before his death, Kizashi Haruno was the only one in the Haruno family that Sakura could be herself with. The pink haired man had supported her decision to become a ninja despite the very vocal protests from his family, had understood when Sakura moved out of her parents' house a year after being promoted to chunin rank and had been there to protect her from his mother's constant censure. She knew he would've been very proud of her for becoming a jounin.

His death had hit Sakura very hard and she rarely visited her mother these days.

Leaving the house, she decided to take a little walk around the village, hoping to lighten her dark mood at least a little.

So it wasn't that surprising that she ended up at a bar a few minutes later.

Considering the fact that she was on first-name basis with the bar tender of her favourite bar, who insisted that he was perhaps one of the only people in Konoha who didn't want his friends to visit him. It probably had something to do with all the alcohol.

So instead of the "Shinobi lounge", she ended up in a civilian bar, who'd obviously had first hand experience and less than pleasant memories with drunk ninja as a collective, kept giving her what he obviously considered to be surreptitious looks. The same kind of look one might give a ticking time bomb.

Being in no mood to deal with anymore judgmental civilians that day, she quickly downed one drink after another till she was, in her opinion, sufficiently plastered to stop thinking too much.

Something she usually considered an exercise in futility usually. As she wasn't a very happy drunk.

Paying a very relieved man behind the counter, she hopped off the high barstool and stepped out of the crowded and slightly grimy building.

The streets of Konoha were empty as Sakura slowly made her way to the academy. A few years of practise had granted her the ability to walk without swaying and talk with the slightest of slurs while drunk. Unless of course, the booze in question was tequila. Lots and lots of tequila.

Reaching the swing she'd often seen Naruto on during their academy days, she slowly lowered herself onto it, swinging back and forth without putting any heart into the activity.

"Aren't you a little big for that swing, ugly?"

Sakura turned to see Sai watching her thoughtfully. "Oh, it's only you Sai, what're you doing here? Haven't been following me around have you?" she said turning back to continue mindlessly staring at the large tree across the little ground.

"No, I haven't been following you, I imagine Ino-chan would not be very happy if I followed a girl around while not on a mission. I had to run some errands when you came here looking rather ill." he replied, approaching her. "It was obvious that you were upset this afternoon so I thought I should talk to you. I read in a book that a friend should comfort a friend when they are not feeling happy. I have seen you doing the same with your friends on multiple occasions and thought it fitting that I should attempt to make you feel better."

She gave him a small smile and stood up. "That's really sweet of you Sai and I'm sure Ino-pig wouldn't be mad at you if you were in fact following me, she knows we're friends and that you're just worried about me. And I'm fine. I've just had a lot on my mind lately. What with the clinic taking off so well and Lady Tsunade slowly easing me into more responsibility to eventually take over as head of the hospital, I haven't been able to relax in the longest time. Now walk me home. I'll make you some tea."

Nodding, the ex-root member followed her. After a moment he said, "Ninja should be better at lying, hag. Is this due to your feelings for kakashi-senpai? I have noticed that you are very tense in each other's presence and that your eyes linger on him when he turns his back. Also, you told me about it after two bottles of sake last month."

Sighing and wondering for the nth time why she felt comfortable about confiding in Sai, Sakura replied, "You haven't told anybody about that, have you? And no, it's not about him. At least not completely. I went to visit my mother today." On seeing the confused look on Sai's face she continued, "After training this afternoon, I..felt very uncomfortable there and, well, my mother's house is in the civilian district and I knew none of you would go there so I decided to pay her a visit. My grandparents were there as well and we don't really get along all that well, as you probably remember from when you met them. And I don't know, I miss my father and I miss..aargh! I just need time to pull myself together and get over everything. That's all. I'll be fine."

"I am doing my best to not point out that you are drunk, so I would like to ask you something. I hope it does not offend you, but I'm attempting to understand. What is it like, being in love with someone you feel can never love you back?" Sai asked her.

Looking up at the sky, she replied - "Have you ever heard that quote, 'Falling in love with him wasn't falling at all, it was like walking into a house and suddenly knowing you're home'? It's from that book you read when you were trying to find ideas to court Pig"

He nodded and she continued with a wistful smile, "Well, when you love someone who doesn't love you back, it's like..being homesick for that house, knowing full well that it doesn't exist."

"I'm not sure I understand completely, but that sounds painful."

"It is. I just..I feel so stupid. Falling for him was a mistake. A big one. For a while, he was the best friend I've ever had, no offense to Ino, but he just got me. It took so much effort to get close to him after the war, I simply didn't want him to be alone anymore. And I realised that as infuriating as he is, I would never trade him for the world.

And then I just had to go and fall for him. Even more importantly, I shouldn't have told him. Maybe if he were someone else, we could've moved past it soon. But it's..Kakashi, you know. His avoiding me probably hurts more than the rejection. Unrequited love I can deal with, I've had years of experience in that area. Hell, I'll probably even get over him in time. I just miss him you know."

"Perhaps you should try to talk him? I take it you have not tried a direct approach till now. Maybe you should pretend the incident did not take place and talk to him normally."

"You know what, I think I'll do just that Sai. The elephant in the room be damned. I'll pummel that beast into the ground myself if I have to. Huh, who'd have thought belly-boy gives good advice."

Sai just looked at her in what she assumed was an amused expression. One could never be sure. It was Sai, afterall.

She pulled him into a much-too-tight hug and said, "Oh, and suffice it to say, you breathe a word of all this to anyone, anyone at all, even Ino. Especially Ino, and I'll happen to "accidentally" misplace your medical records and send you for your overall physicals early this year."

He awkwardly patted her on the back, pulled away, gave her a smile and bade her goodnight, before continuing down the street, sketchpad in hand.

He didn't understand why, but he decided to not point out to her that their conversation had not been entirely private.

Sakura stared after Sai's figure disappearing from sight with a smile. Who knew the ex-ROOT operative could be such a good listener and actually give valid advice. Not that she'd ever ask him for it. Maybe it was the fact that he always looked to her for encouragement and general hand-holding through normal social interactions.

The booze probably helped too.

And he didn't blab, so it was almost comforting to talk him sometimes, if you could ignore his occasional insensitive comments which were growing farther and farther apart with time. She supposed her patient (and sometimes less than patient, sic., violent) explanations and whatever it was that Ino did was helping him slowly build a personality of his own. Though his new found realisation that reading the situation rather than a book regarding it was more helpful and less likely to get his lip busted open was probably helpful too.

His smile didn't seem that fake anymore.

She walked up to her door and paused. Instead of entering her apartment, she sat on the top step and thought about what Sai had said. What was she doing? Pining away for someone who had shown absolutely no interest in her romantically and obviously still thought of her as a silly little girl. As someone annoying.

At that, Sakura clenched her fists. Why do I keep falling for people who I don't have a snowball's chance in hell with?

She didn't even want to enter her own apartment, knowing that he was inside. She'd sensed him as soon as she'd reached the door. While a part of her was kind of surprised that he'd actually listened to her and come back here, the rest of her was dreading seeing him again. She recalled his penetrating gaze from earlier. It was like he could see exactly what was going on in her mind.

Dammit it all to hell. By Kami, if I don't talk to that idiot today, I'll never manage to.

Oh well, here goes. With a new found resolve, she got up and dusted her skirt before finally going inside.

Kakashi wasn't proud of the fact that he'd followed Sakura back from her mother's apartment.

He'd felt an odd tug in his chest seeing her sit so forlornly on the old swing in front of the academy, the one that had been there since before his academy days. He'd been on the verge of going over to her for a talk long overdue, but Sai had beaten him to it.

He was about turn back, but he had to go back to Sakura's anyway, so he decided to walk with them. Without them knowing about it of course..but those were minor details.

And of course, curiosity had nothing to do with it. Nothing at all.

But after listening to Sai and the slightly drunk Sakura talk about him, he couldn't not listen in. So she'd told Sai about it then. He didn't know how to feel about that, though he was grateful that she hadn't told anyone else about it. He had a nagging suspicion that Yamato had guessed something, judging from the calculating look he'd fixed him with after Sakura's hasty retreat from the training grounds earlier, but considering how even the usually obtuse Naruto had felt like something was off, he didn't put much stock in it.

Seeing Sai walk off, he easily entered her apartment through the balcony. Hmm, I should talk to her about protective seals.

He knew he had fucked up pretty badly by falling for her, and even worse by avoiding her, so after he heard her say that she was going to make an effort to make things right again, he decided to not be difficult about it.

After all, he'd missed her too. He just hoped that salvaging their relationship was still possible.

So when she finally walked, sic. stumbled her way into the apartment, she found a slouching silver haired jounin sitting on her couch, reading his old neon coloured book.

"Kakashi, I didn't expect you to actually listen to me and stay. I must say, I'm very impressed."

If not for the slight stumble in her step and his sensitive nose, it would've been very difficult to tell that she was drunk.

"Mah mah, Sakura-chan. Is that any way to talk to your captain? And back to Kakashi now, are we?" he replied.

Her eyes widened slightly before her lips broke out in a grin, he noted with an answering smile he couldn't have held back if he'd tried to.

"Bah, I was mad at you. It seems like you never come back from a mission without being seriously injured. Maybe you are getting to be an old man after all."

"So mean, Sakura-chan." He replied with a pout. "And I'm not old, I'm only 34. I'm in my prime. And anyway, I've heard somewhere that Shinobi age like fine wine."

"Sure, keep telling yourself that, jiji." She quipped and got an indignant huff in reply. "Now now, stop pouting like a child and let me get a look at that wound on your side. It's a pretty nasty one, and I was low on chakra last night so I could only partially heal it. Go on then. Off with the shirt."

"So eager to get me out of my clothes, Sakura-chan?" he teased with a grin.

"You wish, you old pervert. Now quit stalling."

Sighing, he replied with an "Aa." before pulling his shirt off with a little difficulty.

He watched her face intently while she deftly removed the bandages from his wound and healed him with an aura of professionalism which he knew he had nothing to do with, but of which couldn't help but be proud of. After all, it had saved countless lives and not only in the war, but ever since she'd qualified as a medic-nin.

When she was finished, she looked up and caught his eye and instead of looking away, held his gaze with a soft smile and quietly said, "Welcome back, Kakashi."

Answering with a smile of his own, he couldn't help but feel like it wasn't too late for them after all.

A/N

1. Hey readers, how you doin'? Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Was swamped af, what with my finals and all.

2. Yay! My finals are done! I am officially done with high school! So now, I have a few months worth of peace and the illusion of freedom! At the very least, I can continue on my merry way and do the things I did with guilt during my finals month without the guilt.

3. 3. You may have noticed that I spell "favourite" and "colour" with a "U" and "realise" with an "S" instead of a "Z". Why, you ask? Because I'm an Indian and being a former British colony (from less than a hundred years ago, Americans), we follow the British system. And no, I will not be changing the spellings. It is a matter of honour. Yup, honoUr.

4. Please feel free to point out any grammatical errors you find in my updates, I reply to every review and PMs.

5.I'll try to be more regular with the updates from now on, as I have absolutely nothing to do with my life except fill out college applications and read fanfics.

Love you all! See you next time!