The night's events were already in full swing when Kakashi and Sakura arrived a little over an hour later. The sound of grills sizzling various foods could be heard underneath the loud roar of the jovial crowds of people who had come to enjoy the Founder's Day parade and carnival. Everywhere she looked, Sakura saw throngs of men and women, their children darting in between legs as they played. Her smile couldn't have been bigger as Kakashi led her by the hand towards the end of the street, where he found a small nook against a building for them to settle into as loud chimes rang out, signalling the beginning of the parade.

"I didn't say it earlier," Kakashi started, his voice quiet against the festival's sounds. "But I really am proud of you, Sakura."

His arm wrapped around her, his lips pressing a small kiss to her temple as the first float made its way down the street to the roaring approval of the festival goers. The large, wooden wheels creaked loudly, a series of pulleys on the edge of which were being pulled by men, inching the impossibly large structure down the dirt street. There were panels of artwork depicting some mythic tale that Sakura couldn't discern from their vantage point; dragons and flowers coloring the canvas in bright, vibrant colors set off by the darkness of the night and the bright lights coming from the shops and night stalls.

"Do you think..." She started, trying to find her words before she met his gaze. "Do you think when the time comes that I'll be strong enough?"

Kakashi arched his eyebrow, turning to face her. Suddenly, the sounds and sights of the parade and the festivities vanished, and all Sakura could see was the older shinobi as he moved to stand directly in front of her.

"Yes, Sakura," his voice was firm, eyes sharp. "You're not weak now. I've never seen you so determined as you are in your training with Lady Tsunade. She'll get you where you need to be."

His belief in her caused the young woman's heart to swell. She bit down on her bottom lip before she reached for Kakashi's hand again. His gloved fingers trailed over hers for a few moments before he allowed her to thread them together as he settled back into his spot next to her. A group of women wearing beautiful floral kimonos and intricate face paint glided behind the swordsmen, twirling paper fans in the air skillfully as their collective voice sang a pretty song. Kakashi caught Sakura off guard as he leaned in, tugging the mask down just long enough to press a sweet kiss against her lips.

"Someone might see," she whispered against his lips, a hand reaching up to brush the grey strands falling over his hitae-ate away.

Kakashi pecked her lips gently before he pulled away, replacing his mask. There was no mistaking the smile in his lone grey eye though, and a pink blush crept over Sakura's face when she felt his fingers on her hip now.

The parade seemed to go on forever, but the couple found that they didn't mind; both of them content to stand there hand in hand as they watched a drum corps march by, accompanying the latest graduating class from the Academy. Iruka was walking behind them with the pride of a mother hen; hands on hips as he grinned from ear to ear, watching his students as they marched in mismatched steps.

"Remember your year in the parade?" Kakashi asked her quietly, watching as Iruka's class disappeared to the other end of the street, the drums rhythmic pounding giving way to another series of chimes that announced the last float of the night.

Sakura giggled, her eye catching his. "How could I forget? I'll never forget the look on that poor woman's face when Naruto tackled her husband."

Kakashi laughed, recalling for himself the moment a twelve-year-old Naruto had thought he'd seen a man pick-pocketing a woman when in reality, the man had simply been resting his hand on his wife's hip.

"Well, he did go around calling himself the number one hyperactive, knucklehead ninja," Kakashi chortled as the next and final float turned the corner of their street. A symphony of bamboo flutes sounded out, and they both looked up to see a large float gilded in intricate gold detailing appeared, being carried by a group of men. Sitting in the center of the float on a tatami mat was Lady Tsunade, a cup of sake in her hand as she waved out to the citizens of Konoha. She didn't see them, her eyes already glazed due to hours of imbibing, and Sakura let out a sigh of relief she didn't know Kakashi had heard until she met his questioning gaze.

"She figured it out," Sakura mumbled, turning her gaze away. When Kakashi didn't speak, she continued. "About us, Kakashi," she whispered, eyes flicking up to his. "She figured it out about us."

Kakashi's eyes turned serious, realizing things that Sakura hadn't even thought of. While it wasn't against the law for them to be intimate, the lady Hokage could make things exceedingly difficult for them if she really wanted to. She could keep them on separate teams, especially now that neither Naruto nor Sakura were under his tutelage anymore. She could extend Sakura's training hours, keeping her so late and expecting her so early that they wouldn't have time with one another to allow this thing between them to flourish the way he hoped it would.

She could send him on another risky long-term mission, he realized grimly.

He swallowed all of this back, giving the young kunoichi his best reassuring smile as his fingers tightened around her own. "So she knows," he shrugged before adding softly, "It doesn't change how I feel, Sakura."

Sakura smiled up at him, the light of it meeting her green eyes when she leaned up to press a small kiss against his masked lips. He looped one arm around her waist and pulled her close. He lifted a hand, resting it against her cheek.

They stood there embracing for a few moments before his stomach growled, eliciting a giggle from Sakura, who broke their hold and took his hand in hers. "Let's go get some food," she told him.

Kakashi allowed the younger woman to lead him towards the secondary street down the way from them. She weaved in and out of the crowds, her hand never losing his as they made their way. The street was lined on both sides with tightly packed carts manned by busy vendors, their hands moving quickly as they skewered, sliced, and grilled. It was hectic here, with brightly colored banners waving in the air and the scents of savory beef and salty seafood wafting through the pair's noses and into their hungry stomachs.

"What are you hungry for?" Sakura asked him, tilting her head back to catch Kakashi discreetly watching the sway of her hips. He blinked, thankful for the cover of his mask that covered his blush.

"Anything not fried," he answered her. He'd endured tempura for this woman once in recent weeks and the thought of another greasy meal made him a little queasy. She nodded, dragging him along towards the end of the street to a stall selling grilled ikayaki.

"Two, please," Sakura told the vendor. Kakashi didn't speak, but watched as the man moved about his area. Nothing seemed amiss to the young kunoichi, who gratefully accepted the two sticks into her hands while Kakashi pulled his wallet out and paid for the food. He was still watching the man as the two of them sat on a bench a little further down, away from the crowd. Something didn't seem quite right in the vendor's movements. He moved more slowly than the other vendors; less sure of himself, and as Kakashi watched the man speak with his customers, the grey-haired man made a subtle observation that he didn't seem skilled in the gift of gab as most sellers were.

"Kakashi, aren't you going to eat yours?" Sakura's voice pulled his attention away from the vendor. He gave her a small smile, lowering his mask to take a bite before he turned back to the stall. He frowned, noticing that the man he'd been watching was now nowhere in sight, replaced by an older man.

"It's good," he told her, deciding to let go of his suspicions. A quick survey of the area told him there were at least three officers from the Police Force present in the area. Any trouble the man might be thinking of starting, he told himself, would surely be snuffed out by them.

The two enjoyed their grilled squid, Sakura more so than Kakashi as she savored every piece. He took more satisfaction from watching her than his own skewer, which was eaten in slower bites that he stretched out. Her free hand found his as they sat, and he held it gently. It was when they had both finished eating when a familiar voice rang out above the thinning crowd of people.

"Musume!"

Sakura's head lifted to see her parents approaching, their faces lighthearted and happy as they walked hand in hand just as they had when she'd been a small child. Before he had a chance to release her hand, Kakashi noticed as Mebuki's eyes noticed their entwined fingers, the hint of a sad smile on her lips. It went unnoticed by Sakura, who stood and wrapped her arms around her father in a hug.

"Chichi-san! Haha-san! This is a nice surprise, isn't it?" The young woman spoke, a grin tugging at her lips as she launched into telling her father all about what she'd been learning from Lady Tsunade the last few days. Mebuki sat next to Kakashi, watching her husband and daughter head over to a dango stall.

"She looks very happy tonight," the older woman remarked softly.

She was right, Kakashi realized. Sakura's eyes were shining bright green in their excitement as she walked her father through the workings of the move she'd started learning that morning. Her hands were waving, animated by her descriptions, and she seemed to radiate only joy. It was a beautiful sight that he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"She does," he agreed with Mebuki, the two of them settling into a silence that felt much more comfortable than the last one they'd shared in her tea shop.

"Thank you for giving her back that smile," the older woman whispered after a few moments, reaching over to pat his hand with hers. "After that Uchiha boy left, I..." her voice faltered. "Well, I didn't know if I'd ever see it again."

Kakashi didn't speak, just grew a smile of his own as he pondered Mebuki's words. She hadn't been the only one that had feared never seeing Sakura's smile after that horrible day. He could still see her in that first moment she'd told him, the lump on her head still there as she tearfully apologized that she hadn't been able to stop Sasuke's defection.

"Why don't Kakashi and I walk you home?" Sakura's voice broke through the silence, her eyes glancing over at them. Mebuki smiled, taking the hand her daughter was now extending to her and standing. She pretended to ignore the way her daughter left out the sensei honorific she had always used before in reference to Kakashi, her dark green eyes meeting Kakashi's once more.

"I think that's a great idea," she agreed. "Maybe Kakashi-sama would be entertained by some old family stories, hmm?"

The four of them began the walk back across town. The crowd thinned along the way as families and couples split from the main road onto the streets of their homes. The conversation never lulled as Hizashi proudly regaled them with the tale of how Sakura had kicked down a solid oak door at the young age of four.

"It was the moment I knew she was going to be a kunoichi someday," Kizashi boasted, grinning at the sheepish smile on his daughter's face. "And what a fine kunoichi she's becoming. Right before my very eyes," his voice became higher, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. Sakura's sheepish smile turned into a grimace at her father's theatrics while Kakashi just chuckled, enjoying the dynamics of the Haruno family.

"Haha-san," Sakura whined, earning a sneak bear hug from her father.

"We're just so proud of you, musume," Hizashi sniffled, wiping away the tears with one of his hands. "You're so strong now; so fierce. I'm sure Kakashi-sama is just as proud."

Kakashi nodded, his eye crinkling as he smiled beneath his mask. "I am," he agreed. "Every day you continue to impress me with your determination and your will of fire."

Sakura's cheeks were blazing red by this point, but the grin on her face told Kakashi that she had needed this encouragement. Mebuki was the next to launch into a story; this one about how a young Sakura had once selflessly thrown herself underneath an old woman to break her fall, taking a broken wrist and a black eye in the process. Kakashi found this to be his favorite story; one that highlighted her kindness and her trait of putting others above herself. It was the trait in her that he had always admired most.

"You both really should come up for a cup of tea," Mebuki said as the four of them came to a stop in front of the shop. "It's the perfect night for this new blend I ordered from the Land of Flowers."

"Of course, chichi-san," Sakura agreed, looking up at the clear night sky. Mebuki and Hizashi made their way up the stairs first. Kakashi took his first step onto the staircase but Sakura's hand tugged on his wrist. "Let them go inside first," she whispered to him, her eyes dancing in the light of the paper lanterns swaying from the beam above their heads.

As soon as she heard the door click shut, she grabbed the sleeves covering Kakashi's shoulders and pushed him against the wall. He felt her fingertips curl underneath the top hem of his mask and then felt the material sliding down as she exposed his lower face.

"I've been wanting to do this since you told me I impress you," she whispered before covering his lips with her own, tongue running across the seal of his lips. He granted her access and moved his hands to her hips while she held the sides of his face in her own. It was a deep, tender kiss; the kind that made Sakura's stomach swirl and her heart skip beats.

"They're going to wonder where we are," Kakashi murmured against her mouth, pressing two small kisses to the corner of her lips before he pulled away and returned the mask to its spot. Sakura rested her head against his chest in a small hug before she led him up the stairs, her fingers not releasing his until the door was open and she was across the threshold.

Her father was in the dining room pouring two small glasses of sake; one for himself and one which he handed to Kakashi. Sakura joined her mother in the kitchen, where Mebuki had just set the kettle on to boil and was rummaging in a cabinet for the tea.

"Did you enjoy the parade, Sakura?" The older woman asked, making a satisfied ah sound under her breath as she finally found the box she'd been after. "I quite enjoyed the Academy students."

"It was nice to see them," Sakura agreed fondly with a smile "It reminded me of my year in the parade. Everyone looked so happy. I think we needed this after..." Her smile faltered. "After everything at the exams..."

"No talk of that now, dear," her mother shook her head with a smile. "Tell me again, what's the name of that jutsu Lady Tsunade began teaching you?"

Sakura was happy for the distraction and began explaining to her mother the intricate details of the Sakura Blossom Impact. She had just finished when the water began to boil, and she carried the tray of teacups to the table with the box while her mother followed behind with the kettle.

Sakura knelt down on the tatami mat across the table from Kakashi, who was talking with her father about a battle they'd once been in together years before, when Kakashi had been a young teenager. The young woman found herself entranced by the way in which the silver-haired man spoke; his words deliberate and smooth, with none of the excitement most shinobi displayed when talking about days gone by. He would occasionally take a sip of his sake while Hizashi would be contributing his portion of the tale, sliding down the mask each time with none of the hesitation Sakura would have expected. He seemed at ease there; talking with her father, sitting in her parents' home.

"He's quite handsome, Sakura," Mebuki whispered to her daughter with a knowing smile. The young woman's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to speak, but Mebuki stopped her, continuing. "It's okay, dear. You're smiling again."

Sakura blinked, her words lost now as she looked back up at Kakashi. His eye caught hers, unaware of what Mebuki had just said, and he gave Sakura a masked smile. She couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from tilting up, proving her mother's words correct. Mebuki didn't speak again, just took a sip of her tea as she smiled over the brim of the cup, her eyes moving from her daughter to the older shinobi. She knew what those stolen glances and secret smiles meant. As Sakura felt Kakashi's foot playfully tap hers underneath the table and she felt that jolt of lightning again, she did too.

Sakura was madly, breathlessly, hopelessly in love with Hatake Kakashi.