CHAPTER NINETEEN

The calm before Part-2

Sakura got back home late that night. Life as the head of the general hospital was….. eventful, to say the least.

How did Shizune-sama cope? She thought to herself as she unlocked the front door of her new home and stepped inside. She smiled to herself as she looked around the interior of the room she was in. To her surprise, Sasuke had asked her to move in with him after Kakashi rewarded him with the elegantly built house the previous week. She felt overjoyed knowing he considered their relationship advanced enough to make such a decision although the Uchiha tried to play it off as him needing someone to simply 'watch the house'. It was enough for the medic's parents though, who had already started pestering her for a wedding date and occasionally, a grandchild. Sakura shook her head with a smile and walked into the comfortably furnished living room. She had spent her free time decorating her new home with various ornaments and pieces of furniture, heavens knew she'd be living in an empty box if she left Sasuke to the furnishing unsupervised.

Placing her bag on the centre table, Sakura noticed a picture in the corner of her eye and made her way to it. Picking it up from the coffee table it rested on, she smiled longingly at the image in her hand.

It was a picture taken the day she was promoted to Jonin, and all the girls in her class decided to celebrate her. Sakura stood in the middle as always, both arms wrapped around the waists of Ino and Hinata who both smiled cheerfully at the camera. Behind her was the clueless figure of Tenten, busy looking at something to her right and unaware a picture was being taken. Sakura laughed to herself as she shifted her gaze to the two women standing in the background of the picture. Her joy gave way to sorrow as she recognized them

Tsunade was smiling at the young women in the foreground of the picture and to her right, locked in conversation with her…..was her assistant, Shizune.

Sakura tried to fight back the tears welling up in her eyes as she returned to picture to it's position. It had been over a month since Shizune's death at the hands of her lab attendant. Although the rumours of Mikasa's planned execution gave her some satisfaction, nothing could ever replace the hole in her heart Shizune once filled.

She wiped her eyes with a hand and made her way to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water. To her surprise, she met Sasuke there, staring outside the window at nothing in particular.

"Sasuke-kun?"

The Uchiha spun around at the sound of his name.

"Sakura, welcome back"

"I didn't know you'd be coming back so soon"

After the death of Momoshiki, Sasuke left on a journey to track down any signs of the presence of other Otsusukis. Sakura wasn't expecting his journey, which she assumed would last much longer, to be completed in well under a week.

"I had…. Something important to do, Sakura. That's why I returned." Sasuke replied.

"Well you could have atleast used the front door, why teleport into your own home?" Sakura laughed and walked up to him to give him a hug. As she pulled away, she noticed a nervous look on his face.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke turned his back to her and closer to the window. Without facing her, he spoke.

"During my journey to find anything related to Momoshiki's people, I was also presented the opportunity for some further self-reflection." He turned around to face her and continued.

"Sakura, you've always believed in me. Even when I was being taken by darkness, you and Naruto, you never stopped fighting to save me." Sasuke stepped closer to Sakura, who remained speechless.

"We don't know what the future holds, I don't know if I will make it alive in the face of this impending danger we are preparing for….."

Sakura's heart skipped several heartbeats as she watched Sasuke get down on his knees in front of her, her hands covering her mouth in shock.

"But if my fate is to die while protecting this world….."

He reached into his bag and produced a small black box.

"I don't want to die a single man."

Sakura let out an audible gasp at the sight of the content of the box, a silver ring with a rose coloured diamond embedded into it. Although she had imagined it before, nothing prepared her for this moment. She could do little to stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks as Sasuke continued his proposal.

"I want to spend whatever time I may have left, with you as my wife Sakura Haruno"

To Sasuke's surprise, Sakura burst into laughter as he finished his proposal. Confused and slightly embarrassed, he scrambled for something to say until she finally stopped laughing.

"What is it? Did I do something?" he asked.

Sakura wiped a tear and took his hand in hers. "Sasuke-kun, you're supposed to get down on one knee"

"Oh…" Sasuke reluctantly raised a leg to assume the correct posture and looked back up at Sakura who was smiling at him, her tears of joy resuming their downpour.

"Yes! Yes I will marry you Uchiha Sasuke" she proclaimed while presenting her hand to him. Sasuke slowly slipped the ring on her finger and stood up to regard her.

"I love you"

She replied him with a kiss, pulling him close to her as she overflowed with emotion. She was engaged to Sasuke Uchiha, her childhood crush. The same person she had spent all her life chasing to save when the world had given up on him. The young man she had grown to truly love regardless of his physical appearance.

He was now her fiancee.

Moments later, Sakura pulled back to look at him with a smile.

"My parents will lose their minds once they hear about this" she joked, drawing a rare smile from Sasuke.

"I suggest we let everyone know we're engaged as soon as possible" Sasuke said.

"I agree, we're going to need help with the wedding preparations" Sakura laughed nervously as she ran a hand through her hair. "Crap, we're going to need a lot of help. We haven't even picked out a date, or a dress or even a location"

Sasuke pulled her into an embrace and kissed the top of her head. "No need to rush things, we can get married at our own pace if you desire so"

Sakura looked into his eyes and spoke. "Uchiha Sakura huh….It has a nice ring to it, sounds dignifying"

"You think my name sounds dignifying?"

"Not really, but it's a whole different beast when it's mine" Sakura laughed

Sasuke leaned forward to kiss her again then held her close to him. It had gone better than he expected, he thought. Not like he had any reason to doubt Sakura didn't love him as much, but he had doubts about the timing of his proposal. There was still the looming threat of the 'benefactors' visiting their world that had to be addressed, but he was certain he wanted to make his girlfriend of over a year his wife regardless.

The two of them remained locked in their embrace, going over all the things that led them to that moment. It had been a truly wild ride, but it's conclusion was perfect in their eyes.

In a different world separated from our own reality, an ancient being studied the centre of a massive crater. A tear dropped from her face as she bent down to place a hand on a the ground.

"My child….."

The woman rose to her feet and looked into the distance.

"Who did this to you?"

As she spoke, her pale white eyes took on a dark hue with a white pupil in their centres. After a brief moment, they regained their pale colour. Her gaze unflinching, the woman floated off the ground, her long white hair billowing below her.

"Isshiki", she called.

A male figure with the same pale white skin as the woman calling him appeared next to her and spoke.

"Yes mother?"

"Your brother was killed by the host of a part of the divine tree of planet earth"

Isshiki's hand tightened in a fist. "This is what they use your power for, mother?"

"Do not lose your temper, my son. We will reclaim what's hours, so as to justify my dear Momoshiki's sacrifice" new tears began to pour down her face as the woman spoke.

"I am sending you to earth to recover the Kekkei genkai that Momoshiki found, my son. The secret of the moon."

Isshiki bowed politely and faced forwards as a portal opened in front of him.

"Be safe, my son. I cannot lose another of my family"

He turned around and smiled at his mother before stepping inside the black portal in front of him.

"I will be careful"

Kakashi walked down the path leading to his home late that night. Another long day at work saw him burnt out yet again, he still had no idea why Naruto wanted his job so badly. Kakashi was by no means a bad Hokage, but he'd was lying if he told anyone he enjoyed his work.

He walked up to his front door and knocked. It opened a few minutes later for him to be greeted by the sight of his wife looking a bit confused.

"Did you lose your key again?" Anko asked her tired husband who only managed a shrug.

"That's the third key this year" She stated with a frown.

"It won't happen again honey" Kakashi promised, making his way to the sofa to crash on it. Soon after, Anko returned with a cup of tea.

"Long day?" she asked, presenting him the beverage

"The usual, though I'm on track to finishing my work early in the next two days"

"Early? Is that why you've been working so hard these past few days, to finish early two days from now?"

"Yup, all going to plan so far" Kakashi made room for Anko to sit next to him. "Then I'll be able to get some proper rest….and spend time with my family."

Anko smiled and rubbed her protruding stomach. "Little Kakashi Jr has been pretty restless these past few days"

Kakashi gave an exasperated sigh and replied her. "For the last time honey, we are not naming him Kakashi"

Anko merely rolled her eyes. "Yeah, SURE we aren't" she chuckled to herself before looking down and talking to her stomach. "Can you believe this guy Jr?"

Kakashi smiled under his mask at his wife's words and let her rest his head in her lap. He looked up at her stomach and kissed it, drawing a laugh from Anko.

"I'm going to make sure our son is born into a village he can grow up in peacefully, Anko"

The woman smiled and stroked her husband's hair. "I know, after all I'll be able to get back to work once I push out this kid"

"You will be on leave for two months after you have our child, we've discussed this"

"I know, I know" Anko waved her hand dismissively. She sighed and looked up into the distance. "I can't wait to do all the mum stuff I've been reading about in the magazines you know? Teaching him how to walk, being there for his first words…"

"Changing his diapers, making sure he doesn't try to kill himself in the most stupid ways possible every three seconds…" Kakashi paused to laugh as his wife pinched his arm.

"Yeah, yeah those too" Anko said with a smile. "I know we're gonna be awesome parents, me and you. I can't wait to finally hold Jr. in my arms. I already know he's going to be super cute, probably be a lady's man when he gets older but it can't be helped can it? He's our kid after all…..hey should we get him a mask like yours?"

Expecting a reply from Kakashi, Anko was surprised to see he had fallen asleep in her lap.

Great. Now I can't move until he wakes up

She smiled to herself, studying his face as he rested. She always believed Kakashi was the best Hokage in Konoha's history, even if he wasn't particularly fond of the job. Anko appreciated the effort he put in to make time for her despite his busy schedule, especially now when she was pregnant. The baby was due in 6 months, and she was finally going to be a mother.

Carefully, she got up from the sofa without waking Kakashi up, and fetched a blanket to cover him with, then bent over to kiss him on the cheek as she slept. As she left the living room, Anko took one last look at the man sleeping on the sofa. Yet another night of him not having dinner in his own home, only to wake up starving in the middle of the night and hunting for leftovers in the fridge.

She rolled her eyes and went upstairs to their bedroom, remembering Kakashi's words from a few minutes before.

I'm going to make sure our son is born into a village he can grow up in peacefully

"I know you will" she said to herself as she settled into the bed. Even though Kakashi was an exhausted mess for most of her married life…..

There was no other person she'd have chosen to start a family with.