"Hey, Sakura." a familiar voice called out to her as she finds her way back home from the hospital.
"Sasuke." she greeted without stopping, in her mind, Kakashi's insecurity from weeks ago ring clear.
But this didn't deter the young man as he fell into step with her. "Where are you going now?"
She smiled as she remembered what her man planned when she gets home. "I'm going home. Kakashi promised that he prepared a dinner for us."
Sasuke's brow furrowed at her words, though his face remained mostly neutral, as always. "Dinner, huh?" His voice was casual, but there was a faint edge to it, something Sakura couldn't quite place. It was subtle, almost imperceptible, but she knew him well enough to catch it.
"Yes, he's been getting into the habit of cooking for us," Sakura replied, her smile widening as she thought about the little surprises Kakashi had been planning for her lately. "He was a little rusty at first but I wouldn't trade his home-cooked meals to any restaurant around here."
He saw how her eyes glittered and how her smile widened at the thought of their old sensei cooking. He snorted. "Does Hatake pay you to say that?"
"Why would you even say that?" she asked him, shocked at the hostile tone that he used.
"Why do you even live with him?" he shot back. "Why would you even have a relationship with him? He is fourteen years older than you; he was your sensei and he is a dirty old man." he turned to her and grabbed her tightly. "You will stop this non-sense, Sakura. You will come with me, and you will be with me."
Sakura stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening at his words. The grip on her arm wasn't painfully tight, but it was firm enough to leave her no room to simply walk away. She blinked, caught off guard by the sheer audacity of his demand. For a moment, it was as if the air between them had frozen, leaving only the simmering tension that had always lingered unspoken beneath the surface.
"What... did you just say?" Her voice was quiet, but there was no mistaking the edge of disbelief, and a rising sense of anger that accompanied it.
"I said," Sasuke continued, his voice low but insistent, "you should leave Kakashi. You don't belong with him, Sakura. You belong with me." His eyes bore into hers with a strange mix of entitlement and determination, as if the mere fact that he had spoken the words should make them reality.
Sakura felt her heart race—not from any latent feelings for Sasuke, but from the sheer audacity of his assumption. Did he think that just because he had come back, everything would fall into place for him? That she would drop everything and run to his side, like some unfulfilled fantasy he had conjured in his mind?
She yanked her arm free from his grasp, stepping back to create some distance between them. "Sasuke, I don't know what you think this is, but I'm not that girl anymore." Her voice was calm but laced with steel. "You don't get to just show up and make demands like that. You can't dictate my life."
The dark-haired man's eyes narrowed, clearly not expecting her to push back like this. He took a step closer, his jaw clenching. "You were always waiting for me, Sakura. Always chasing after me. And now, I'm here. I'm giving you what you wanted." His words were matter-of-fact, as if the conclusion was simple and already decided.
"And I want Kakashi." she said firmly. "Not you. I don't want you anymore."
Sasuke's expression darkened at Sakura's words, disbelief flickering in his eyes. He stood there, frozen for a moment as if he couldn't comprehend what she had just said. "You don't mean that," he said quietly, his voice laced with disbelief. "You've always wanted me."
Sakura took a deep breath, her anger simmering just beneath the surface. "You're right," she said, her voice steady, though her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "I did want you, Sasuke. For a long time, I thought you were the one I needed, the one I was waiting for. But that was before. Before I grew up. Before I realized that love isn't just about longing or chasing someone who doesn't want to be caught."
Her words seemed to stun him, his jaw tightening. "So you'd rather be with him?" Sasuke spat, his voice filled with disdain. "Hatake doesn't deserve you, Sakura. He's just a broken man clinging to the past."
Sakura's eyes narrowed, her patience thinning. "And you think you're any different?" she shot back, her voice sharp. "You're the one who left, Sasuke. You're the one who chose revenge and isolation over everything else. Kakashi… he's the one who stayed. He's the one who understands me, who sees me for who I am now—not who I was when I was a lovesick girl chasing after someone who never looked back."
Sasuke flinched at her words, the reality of her rejection hitting him harder than he'd anticipated. For so long, he had believed that Sakura's love for him was a constant, something that would always be there, waiting for him whenever he decided to return. But now, standing in front of her, he realized that he had miscalculated—that she had changed, and he hadn't been paying attention.
Then something caught his eye and smirked. He forcefully pulled her closer to him and cupped her cheek then kissed her deeply. His other hand tightening its hold on her so that she won't be able to escape him.
"Sakura?" Kakashi's voice rang clearly in the night.
Kakashi's voice cut through the tension like a sharp blade, freezing both Sakura and Sasuke in place. Sakura's heart lurched as she pushed Sasuke away from her, her breath coming in short gasps, both from shock and fury. She wiped her lips quickly, trying to rid herself of the taste of Sasuke's unwanted kiss. Her heart pounded in her chest as she turned toward Kakashi, her eyes widening as she took in the storm brewing in his expression.
Kakashi -her love - stood a few feet away, his entire body taut with barely restrained anger. His gaze, usually calm and composed, was now a firestorm of emotions—betrayal, hurt, and most of all, fury. His hands clenched into fists at his sides as if he was barely holding himself back from stepping in and tearing Sasuke apart.
For a long, tense moment, no one moved. The silence was suffocating, punctuated only by the ragged breaths escaping from Sakura's chest. She opened her mouth to explain, but the words seemed to catch in her throat.
"Kakashi." she managed to croaked out and started walking towards the man but as she drew closer he stepped back, maintaining his distance from her.
Kakashi's retreat was like a dagger to her heart. She could see the pain in his eyes, the hurt radiating off of him in waves, but worse was the distance he was putting between them—a distance that wasn't just physical. It felt like he was pulling away from her entirely, as if the trust they had built was crumbling right in front of her.
"Kakashi, please, it's not what it looks like," she pleaded, taking another step toward him. Her voice was desperate, her chest tightening as she watched him shake his head, his lips pressed into a tight line.
He didn't speak immediately. His jaw clenched, his gaze flickering from her to Sasuke, who stood smugly off to the side, clearly relishing the chaos he had just caused. Kakashi's eyes darkened as they landed on the Uchiha, the anger that had been simmering now rising to the surface.
"Kakashi—" Sakura began again, but this time Kakashi's voice cut her off.
"You don't have to explain," he said, his voice dangerously low, betraying the storm of emotions he was trying so hard to suppress. "I saw enough."
Sakura's heart sank. "No, you don't understand—he kissed me, I didn't—"
"I know what I saw, Sakura," Kakashi interrupted again, this time more sharply. His gaze finally snapped back to hers, and the intensity of his stare made her chest ache. She had never seen him like this—so raw, so vulnerable, and so… hurt.
She reached out, desperate to touch him, to explain, to fix whatever this was. "Please, you have to listen to me. I didn't want that. I didn't ask for it. Sasuke… he just—"
"We are done."
She froze at Kakashi's hard words, her hand suspended in mid-air as if her entire world had come crashing down. The pain in his voice, the finality of those three words, was like a physical blow, knocking the breath out of her. Her heart pounded in her chest, the weight of his gaze too much to bear, and she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.
"No," she whispered, shaking her head, her voice trembling. "Kakashi, please... we can't be done. Not like this." She took another step toward him, but he stepped back again, his expression hardening.
Kakashi's face was a mask of controlled anger, but the betrayal in his eyes was unmistakable. He had been through so much, lost so many people, and to him, seeing Sasuke's kiss felt like the ultimate blow—like losing her, too. The insecurity he had shared with her all those weeks ago was now crashing down on him in full force, amplified by what he had just witnessed.
"You promised me," he said, his voice low and tight with emotion. "You promised me that Sasuke wasn't a threat, that he was in your past." His gaze flickered toward Sasuke, who still stood there, watching the scene unfold with a smirk tugging at his lips. "But I see now… maybe I was never really your present."
Sakura's heart ached at the bitterness in his words. "Kakashi, no," she pleaded, her voice cracking. "You are my present. You're my future. What happened just now—it wasn't what you think. I didn't want him to kiss me. I didn't ask for it. I was trying to get away."
Kakashi's lips twitched, and for a moment, Sakura thought he might soften, that he might believe her. But then, his expression hardened again, his eyes filled with doubt. "You didn't stop him either," he said quietly, the hurt in his voice unmistakable.
Tears finally spilled from her eyes as she shook her head vehemently. "I didn't have time—he grabbed me, Kakashi! I swear, I didn't want that. I didn't want him."
"I don't want your explanation. Pack your things, when I return home, I don't want to see you there."
Sakura stood there, her entire body trembling as Kakashi's words echoed in her ears. The finality of his statement was like a punch to her gut, and the weight of everything crashed down on her in an instant. Tears blurred her vision, but she blinked them away, refusing to let them fall any further. Not now—not in front of Sasuke, not while Kakashi was walking away from her.
"Kakashi, please—" she called after him, her voice raw, desperate, but he didn't stop. He didn't even turn back.
As Kakashi disappeared into the distance, Sasuke's smirk widened, and he took a step closer to her. "Looks like I was right after all," he said, his voice smooth, as if he hadn't just shattered her world. "He never could handle—"
"Shut up." Sakura's voice came out stronger than she expected, fueled by the anger and pain coursing through her veins. She turned to face Sasuke, her eyes blazing. "Don't you dare act like this is some kind of victory for you. I didn't choose you. I would never choose you."
Sasuke's smirk faltered for a second, his eyes narrowing in response to her words. "Sakura, you don't mean that. You've always been—"
"I said, shut up!" She took a step toward him, her fists clenched at her sides. "You don't know me, Sasuke. Not anymore. The person I was back then—the girl who would have done anything for you—she's gone. I'm not her. And you are ruining my life!"
Sasuke's smirk vanished, his eyes narrowing in response to Sakura's fury. He hadn't anticipated this kind of defiance, this level of rejection. The Sakura he remembered was always patient, always forgiving. But now, standing before him, was someone far stronger, far more resolute.
"You think you can just walk back into my life," she continued, her voice trembling with barely contained rage, "and everything will fall into place for you? That I'll drop everything just because you decided you want me now? You have no idea what I've been through. What we've been through."
Sasuke remained silent, though his expression was hard, defensive. He wasn't used to being spoken to like this. Not by her.
"You had your chance," Sakura spat, taking a step closer, her heart still pounding from Kakashi's words. "I waited for you, Sasuke. I loved you. But you threw it all away. You chose your path, and I chose mine. And now, I'm with someone who loves me—who sees me. And I'm not letting you take that away from me."
Sasuke's fists clenched at his sides, but he didn't speak. There was a flicker of something in his eyes—was it guilt? Shame? It was hard to tell. But he didn't move toward her again.
"If you ever cared about me at all," Sakura continued, her voice softer now but still firm, "you'll leave me alone. You've already done enough damage." Her voice cracked, betraying the depth of the pain she was holding back. The weight of everything hit her all at once—the kiss, Kakashi walking away, the mess Sasuke had stirred up. She felt like she was drowning, but she refused to show it. Not now.
After a long, tense silence, Sasuke finally spoke, his voice quieter, devoid of the smug arrogance he had displayed before. "You don't understand, Sakura. I—"
"No, you don't understand," she interrupted, shaking her head. "I'm done with you. I have a life now, a life that you don't belong in." She glanced in the direction Kakashi had gone, her heart heavy. "I just hope… I just hope I can fix it."
Sasuke didn't respond this time. His gaze lingered on her for a moment longer before he turned on his heel and started walking away, disappearing into the night.
Sakura sat nervously on the couch. Waiting for him to return home. She needs to explain. She will not leave him just because he misunderstood.
She waited in the dimly lit living room, the weight of the night pressing down on her. The silence in the house was suffocating, each second stretching into an eternity. She had packed nothing—there was no way she would leave. She needed Kakashi to hear her, to understand that what he saw wasn't what it seemed. But how could she explain it to him when his heart was already clouded with doubt?
The door creaked open, and her breath hitched. Kakashi stepped inside, his face shadowed in the faint glow of the entry light. His presence filled the room, but the warmth she was used to, the quiet comfort he always brought with him, felt distant now. He didn't speak as he kicked off his shoes, his movements slow, deliberate. His gaze remained fixed on the floor as if meeting her eyes would be too much.
Sakura rose from the couch, her legs shaky, but she forced herself to stand tall. "Kakashi…" she began, her voice wavering. "Please. We need to talk."
He didn't respond immediately. Instead, he shrugged off his coat and tossed it onto a chair, his movements mechanical. Finally, he looked up at her, and the sadness in his eyes nearly broke her. There was no anger there now, just a deep, quiet hurt. It was almost worse.
"What's there to talk about, Sakura?" His voice was low, tired. "I saw what I saw."
Her heart clenched at the resignation in his tone. He was pulling away from her, walling himself off, and she couldn't stand it. She took a step closer, her hands outstretched as if she could reach past the invisible barrier he was putting up between them.
"Kakashi, I swear to you, I didn't want that kiss. I didn't ask for it. Sasuke—he just grabbed me. I tried to push him away, but then you… you showed up, and—" Her voice cracked, the tears she had been holding back all night finally spilling over. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not lying! Please, hear me out!"
Kakashi's gaze flickered as he watched the tears fall down her face, and for a moment, Sakura thought she saw a hint of hesitation in his eyes. But then, just as quickly, it was gone, replaced by the same guarded expression he'd worn since he walked in.
"I told you to leave." he said. "Leave now. I don't even want to see you anymore."
Sakura's chest tightened at Kakashi's words. Each syllable felt like a hammer, driving the wedge between them deeper. She could see the pain in his eyes, and it crushed her that she was the cause. But despite the hurt, she couldn't just walk away. She had fought too hard for this—fought too hard for him.
"No," she whispered, her voice soft but firm. "I'm not leaving, Kakashi. I'm not going to walk away when things get hard, and you shouldn't either."
His eyes flashed with anger, but she didn't flinch. Instead, she stepped closer, her hands trembling as she reached out for him. "You mean everything to me. I don't care what it takes to prove that to you, but I'm not giving up on us."
"I am warning you, Sakura." he stepped closer to her, and she can see the ice forming in his gaze. "If you stay, things will be different. I will treat you differently. I will not be made fool twice."
Sakura's heart wrenched at the coldness in Kakashi's words. The distance between them was more than physical now—it was emotional, a chasm she feared she couldn't bridge. But even as his words struck her like blows, she saw something beneath the ice in his eyes. Pain. Fear. The same insecurities that had haunted him before, now magnified by what he had witnessed.
She took a shaky breath and swallowed hard, forcing herself to stand firm despite the way his gaze chilled her to the bone. "I don't care if things are different," she whispered, her voice trembling but determined. "I'll fight for you, for us, no matter how hard you try to push me away. You're worth it. We're worth it."
Kakashi looked at her for a long, tense moment, his jaw tight. It was as if he was fighting some internal battle, torn between the love he had for her and the betrayal he believed he had seen. His hand twitched at his side, almost reaching for her before he clenched it into a fist, holding himself back.
He gave her a once over, his grey eyes hard and devoid of any emotion. "Suit yourself. But don't blame me if you get hurt."
Sakura's breath caught in her throat at Kakashi's words, but she refused to let his coldness deter her. She had never seen him like this before—so guarded, so distant. It felt like he was deliberately building a wall between them, a wall that had slowly started to crack under the weight of their relationship but was now threatening to grow taller, stronger.
"I'm not afraid of getting hurt," she said softly, though her heart ached at the idea. "I'm more afraid of losing you."
Kakashi turned away from her, his gaze fixed on something distant, as if he couldn't bear to face the pain in her eyes. His posture was rigid, shoulders tense, and for a moment, Sakura feared he was shutting down completely.
"Take your things out of my room." he ordered her. "You will never set foot inside it again. You can have the spare room."
Sakura's heart shattered at Kakashi's words, the finality of them weighing heavy in the air. She had fought so hard to prove her love, to show him that they were stronger than this, but every word he spoke now felt like another door slamming shut between them. The idea of being relegated to the spare room, like a stranger in the life they had built together, sent a chill through her.
She clenched her fists, forcing herself to stay composed. "Kakashi, please… you're angry, I get it. But pushing me away won't make this better. It'll only tear us apart." Her voice was soft, pleading, but laced with determination. She wasn't going to let him destroy what they had because of a moment he misunderstood.
"You will take you things out of my room. If you don't, I will set them all on fire." he told her coldly. "If you don't want that, I suggest you start putting your things in the spare bedroom."
Sakura felt like the ground had been pulled out from under her. The coldness in Kakashi's voice was so unlike him, so far from the man she loved, the one who had shown her care and vulnerability. But now, he was a stranger, his heart walled off by anger and pain.
She blinked back more tears, the weight of his words pressing heavily on her chest. "You don't mean that," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "You would never do that."
Kakashi's gaze didn't soften. He stared at her, unflinching. "Try me."
Her heart sank. The man she loved was daring her, testing the limits of her patience, her love. He was pushing her as far as she would go, trying to see if she'd give up on him. But she wouldn't. She couldn't.
"I'm not leaving your side," Sakura said, her voice trembling but filled with resolve. "You can try to push me away, you can try to make me leave, but I'm not going anywhere. Not unless you tell me—right here, right now—that you don't love me anymore."
Kakashi didn't say anything for a long moment. His eyes flickered with something she couldn't quite place—conflict, doubt, maybe even the tiniest sliver of regret. But then, he turned his back on her, his voice low and cold. "Go pack your things."
Sakura's breath caught in her throat. For a moment, she stood frozen, the silence between them deafening. Then, slowly, she turned and made her way toward their bedroom, the room that had once been filled with warmth, laughter, and shared moments of quiet affection. Now, it felt like a stranger's room, a place she no longer belonged.