As the two realized that whatever they do, the people will have an opinion, they stopped hiding their love as if it is a crime. Kakashi and Sakura decided to face the village together, unapologetically embracing their love for each other. The whispers and judgments may still linger, but the couple found strength in each other's arms.

And they were happy. Genuinely happy in each other arms.

But some demons that they can't just chase away. Despite their happiness and the strength, they found in each other, there were lingering shadows that both Kakashi and Sakura had to face. The scars of their past, the traumas they had individually endured, continued to cast a subtle but persistent shadow over their relationship.

Sakura, in moments of vulnerability, would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, haunted by nightmares of past mission and the pain she had experienced. Kakashi, too, carried the weight of his own demons—the losses he had endured, the sacrifices he had made.

In those quiet moments, when the village slept, they would share their fears and vulnerabilities.

"Can you tell me about that mission." Sakura asked one night. Her back to the silver-haired Jounin that was sitting on the edge of the bed while she was sitting in the windowsill.

"What mission, Sakura-tsuma?"

"The one that you told me about. The reason why you won't take those kinds of missions anymore."

Understanding flashed in Kakashi's eyes. He stood up and hug his wife from the back. Resting his head in her shoulder.

"It was a long ago, but I can't erase it from my mind. I just turned eighteen when I was assigned to that mission. Like yours it was a solo mission." he started. "I'm the most obvious choice as no one knows how I look. I can just take off the mask and infiltrate a community without them knowing that I am a Konoha ninja. I have to gather intel from a daimyo that hired rouge and missing-nins. They pose a threat to the village."

Sakura listened attentively, feeling the weight of Kakashi's words. She could sense the gravity of the mission he was recalling, the echoes of pain and regret that lingered in his voice.

"I had to seduce the eldest daughter of that daimyo, as she's being trained to replace him." Kakashi's mind is in the past, now. "I had to flirt and seduce her. It was the first time that I did that."

Sakura tightened her grip on Kakashi's arms, silently urging him to continue. She could feel the turmoil in his words, the conflict between duty and personal values.

"It went as planned initially. I gained her trust, got close to her, and eventually obtained the information I needed. But not before I had to take her to bed." Kakashi tightly closed his eyes, the images now floating clear in his mind. "But she's not a person who likes it normal. She gets off when pain is involved. I was at the receiving end of it. After that, I just couldn't take anymore missions similar to that. I felt... violated. I can finish missions with just my battle strategies, I don't have to involve my private parts just to succeed in mission."

Sakura listened in silence, her heart heavy with empathy for Kakashi. She could feel his shame rolling off of him in waves. She closed her eyes to prevent the tears pooling in her lids from escaping.

"Sakura, how about you? What happened to that mission?"

Sakura took a deep breath, steadying herself before recounting the details of her own painful mission.

"Like yours its infiltration and interrogation." Sakura said, staring at the stars. "But I was informed beforehand that I might need to perform for it to succeed. I hoped that I don't have to do that. But I prepared for the worse. I had to." Sakura closed her eyes once again. "I arrived at the village, but unlike the others this village does not accept newcomers unless they are prostitutes."

Kakashi tightened his grip on Sakura, a mix of anger and sadness swirling in his chest. He felt an overwhelming urge to protect her from the pain she had endured.

"I wanted to return home. But I was there already. This community harbor criminals and mercenaries, I was thinking, what if I go back and then they strike against my village. I can't go home with that danger hanging over my head. If that happened, I know that I can't forgive myself. I am not weak, I am the apprentice of the Fifth Hokage, student of the famous Copy Ninja, I can do the mission. I have to continue the mission." She continued. "At first, I was just in a small makeshift bar in that village. No body touched me there, and I am glad. At least, no one dared to do anything aside from the stares and catcalls. Until the leader of the community visited it, turns out the leader is the first to touch any new woman. They are just reserving the first touch to their leader. It in the middle of the second month in the mission when he arrived." A trail of tears escaped from her closed eyes. "He doesn't like to pay for the girls there. He just takes them, degrade them then break them. He loves seeing the girls being a heap of broken will at his feet."

Kakashi's heart clenched at Sakura's words. He held her tighter, providing a silent anchor of support as she revisited the painful memories of her mission. The weight of their shared traumas hung in the air, creating an unspoken understanding between them.

Sakura took a deep breath before continuing, her voice steady but laced with the echoes of past pain. "He... he chose me that night. I had to endure it to maintain my cover. I had to endure the pain, and the humiliation so that I could gather the information I needed to protect the village. He just forces his way in. And the pain is more than I can bear. It hurts so much." Tears stained her cheeks. "They must have known who I was. Since after that I was locked in a cell, and I had no access to my chakra. And it happened over and over and over again. He just won't stop until he saw that I am broken."

Kakashi's jaw clenched at the injustice of it all. The pain in Sakura's voice cut through him like a knife. He continued to hold her, offering the silent reassurance that he was there for her.

"I endured it for the sake of the mission," Sakura whispered, her words heavy with a mix of sorrow and resilience. "But every night, I wished for it to end. I wished for death, but it never came. When I escaped, I didn't know how much time had passed. I just know that I want to go home. But they followed me, and until now, I don't know how I got away. Or how I survived that."

Kakashi's heart ached as he listened to Sakura's harrowing experience. The depth of her pain, the trauma she had endured, became painfully evident. He couldn't fathom the strength it must have taken for her to endure such horrors for the sake of the mission.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura," he whispered, his voice filled with empathy and regret. He wished he could erase the pain she had gone through, erase the scars that lingered in the depths of her being.

Sakura's sniffs echoed through the room, and Kakashi did not let her go until she calmed down. "I'm sorry, Kakashi. You married me without knowing the full truth. If you want to get away from me, I'll go to the Hokage's off-"

The words that Sakura wants to say was interrupted when Kakashi suddenly but gently turned her head to the side and captured her lips.

He kissed her with a tenderness that held both understanding and a deep sense of connection. The kiss spoke of shared pain, shared strength, and an unspoken commitment to healing together. Sakura, caught off guard, felt the warmth of Kakashi's lips and the sincerity in the way he held her.

When he pulled away, Kakashi gazed into Sakura's eyes, his own visible eye conveying a mixture of emotions. "Sakura, you don't have to apologize. I married you because I love you, and I want to be there for you, no matter what. And I'll never let you go. Not without a fight." He declared, looking intensely into her eyes. "And if you even manage to convince Tsunade-sama to void our marriage, I'll just marry you again and again and again, if I need to."

Sakura's eyes widened, and she was momentarily speechless. The sincerity in Kakashi's words resonated in her heart, melting away some of the lingering shadows. She could feel the depth of his commitment, the unwavering support he offered.

"Kakashi," she whispered, her voice choked with emotion. "Thank you."

He gently wiped away the tears from her cheeks, his touch a soothing balm. "We're in this together, Sakura. We'll face our demons, heal together, and build a future that's free from the shadows of our past."

Sakura nodded, feeling a renewed sense of strength and resilience. The pain they carried, the scars they bore, became threads that bound them together in a tapestry of shared understanding.

As they sat in the quiet room, wrapped in each other's arms, they found solace in the love that transcended the darkness. The journey of healing would be long, but they faced it together, unburdened by judgment, and fortified by the unwavering bond they shared.