CCNote: So the all at once have it! The epilogue has been completed but I need to comb over it for final edits. It'll be a properly lengthed chapter so look forward to it. Anyway thanks so much for coming on this journey with me! Don't forget to leave a REVIEW!

Obsession

He'd taken every C and D rank mission that he could get his hands on. Kakashi found the effort amusing but he couldn't care less. It was money in his pocket and muscles that were too sore to seek her out. Despite the separation, she still consumed his thoughts. Wheter he was awake or asleep he'd see her face. Hear her laugh. Feel her soft body against his. The realization of his feelings was maddening to the point that it felt like an obsession.

More than once his feet had led him down the familiar path of her home. His hand raised to knock on her door but he didn't. He saw her around town, running errands but clearly distracted. She was expecting something, looking for someone. Part of him wanted to think that she was looking for him but he knew otherwise than to hope for such a thing.

Hyuuga Hinata was the only girl in the entire damn village that had never seen him as anything more than a friend. As she should of course since she was marrying Naruto. She was loyal. Faithful. Qualities that he admired and at the same time cursed.

"Sasuke." Sakura whispered, tugging on his sleeve and drawing him out of his thoughts and towards her. "Are you alright?"

He returned her question with a curt nod but they both knew that the answer was 'no'. He was frustrated and irritable and there was nothing she could do about it. She tried though. No one could ever fault her for not trying to do her best. The fact that she tried however only made things more difficult because he knew that he wasn't. He was only going through the motions which in many ways was worse.

He should try at least for her sake but he just couldn't. Whatever emotional capacity he had for sacrifice had vanished a long time ago. It wasn't her fault. She stood before him in a pink kimono that she'd saved up for months for. Her hair carefully twisted up and away from her face. She was excited about the Winter festival just like everyone else in the village. One of her wishes, since they were teens, had been to go to events just like this.

Hand in hand.

If they were still twelve she'd be giddier than she was now, less confident and talking faster than her mouth should move. However, the Haruno Sakura that stood by his side today was a far cry from the girl he met all those years ago.

Gone were the gangly elbows and starry-eyed dreams of a fangirl.

Misguided or not she genuinely loved him but it wasn't fair. He couldn't give her what she wanted. If he was anyone else he might be able to. If he was Naruto he would shout her praises from the rooftops until she punched his teeth in. She was intelligent and beautiful and strong yet all he could muscle up from his heart was a fondness for her. An affection born from respect and comradery. If she needed something he would be there to do it. If she was in danger he would be there to save her barring Naruto getting to her first.

What he felt wasn't love. It never would be. It wasn't a convenient time for this kind of conversation but there never would be. Frowning, he reached out and grabbed her hand in his own. It was the first time he'd reached out to her in months.

His hand usually held another's.

Concern flickered in her eyes.

"Sakura." He started and she gave his hand a squeeze. "We need to talk."