It's so good to be home! So good, so good!

Humming the popular tune under her breath, Sakura skipped up the stairs, a surge of sudden exuberance chasing away the bone-deep weariness from the long journey.

Could never have left, who said that I should?

She paused and turned to catch the view. It had rained earlier, a gentle, warm spring rain that had left the newly sprouted leaves of bushes and trees covered with little droplets of water that sparkled in the setting sun like gemstones. Greedily, she inhaled the clean, fragrant air. Earth, greenery, flowers... and sizzling, fatty meat that someone grilled for dinner with their window open. Her nose twitched and her stomach growled, loud enough to scare away a mountain lion. Ha, she better made this quick! On her way from the outer gate to the heart of the village, she had spotted a dozen or more new restaurants, several of which she had made a note to visit in the coming weeks with her friends. After the debrief, she'd head straight for Ramen Ichiraku though where she would order an extra large side order of pork belly. She couldn't wait!

It's so good to be home! So good, so good!

Bringing joy to my heart, you would, you would!

The guards at the outer gate had not personally known her but they knew of her and had let her pass without any further questions after she had given her name. Funny how that worked, being famous for surviving a war by pure luck? You gotta own it, Tsunade had once told her, you get famous for what you're famous for, no need to question it. Sound advice, sure, but after spending so many months away from Konoha as a nobody, it was weird that some green Chūnin pup on guard duty blushed when they recognized you and began to stammer an awkward welcome.

Now that she was thinking about it, pretty much the same had happened with the Anbu guards downstairs just now: They, too, were young and weirdly thunderstruck when she had demanded entry, immediately stepping aside to let her pass. Overall, she concluded with a slight frown, security was very lax - she had to assume because the current Hokage wanted it like that? Times were different, yes, several years of blissful peace and nothing to indicate this might change soon, but... it set off an unwelcome spark of anxiety in the pit of her stomach. Should they not be, well... a little more cautious at least?! After all, the world was a large place and it was full of people who coveted what wasn't theirs to take.

Pushing away the negativity that wanted to whittle away her joy, she forced herself to remember the second verse of the little song she was humming, only to get stuck on It's so good to be home! So good, so good! Never mind. It sufficed. It was good to be home! And everything was going well for Konoha, her mother had written about it regularly. Why be worried over nothing?

Another flight of stairs quickly mounted, down the familiar corridor that smelled of wax with a tinge of sweaty shinobi, and she opened the door to the Hokage's office with flourish after rapping her knuckles against it once - he would have felt her approach anyway, was he excited to see her?

"Kakashi Sensei, I'm ba...EEK!"

A high-pitched squeal trembling on her lips, Sakura stopped dead in her tracks.

"Sakura!" Kakashi Sensei lifted his head and beamed at her from the seat behind his desk. "What a pleasant surprise! I had no idea you were coming back already!"

He beamed and she stared dumbstruck because... she could see his mouth curling up at the edges, could see a little mole on his chin, could see his narrow, chiseled jaw-line - yes, even after rubbing her eyes, Sakura could see his whole face ! because her former sensei had removed his face mask to sip from a cup that he held in his hand, leaning back in his chair like he had not a care in the world.

So he had not felt her approach! Was this how lax things were? The Hokage was sitting in his office in the evening all by himself and forgot to scan his environment for approaching chakra signatures?!

"I...," she stammered and to her mortification, felt her face starting to burn. He was practically naked!

Only that he did not seem to care at all about being exposed to her. He set down his cup, briefly licked his lips - Sakura took note: no buck teeth, no grotesque fish lips, no, it was a normal mouth, an attractive mouth - interlocked his bare fingers and looked at her expectantly.

"I...," she tried again and got stuck again. He lifted his eyebrows a little.

She was making a big fat fool of herself, wasn't she.

It was just a man's face, and she had seen hundreds if not thousands of men's faces in her life, it was no big deal.

Ah, but that was so not true! It was a big deal, her heart was racing, because no, it was not any man and not any face! It had been the biggest mystery in the Land of Fire for as long as she could remember! She had to go tell Naruto and Sasuke right away and... slow down, girl. You're no longer twelve.

"Rokudaime Hokage," Sakura managed to say yet could not stop staring, she had to force her mouth to form words, it wanted to hang open so badly, "I have just returned from the Southeastern Continent and wanted to report back for duty."

"Take a seat first, Sakura," Kakashi gestured towards the chair in front of his desk. "You must be tired. Did you come all the way from the port today?"

Maybe this was the new normal. Maybe Kakashi had stopped wearing a mask now that he was Hokage, yeah, why should he wear one with a face like his? But there it was, the black cloth was dangling around his throat. So maybe, he still wore it but no longer cared who saw his face? That made her wonder, had he ever cared? There had been a time when Team 7 had tried at least once a day to unmask him! Did he even know how much effort had gone into that? And now, he behaved like it was nothing?! What if it had just been an elaborate joke? It would be so like him, wouldn't it?

Feeling all kinds of miffed, Sakura sat down, stubbornly looking at her mud-caked boots to regain her composure.

Take a deep breath. Another one. And another.

How silly and childish she was. This was her Hokage. Whoever sat in this chair became the Mother or the Father of the village, it was like magic... "poof", they became a person whose face was hewn into the Hokage Rock so they could watch the village even in their sleep, and the village could feel safe and secure because their leader was always there for them.

Only that no village leader should have a face like he had and flash it at unsuspecting women with no warning. It made her want to giggle like a teenager - which was absurd, it embarrassed her that she was so aware of him even now that she wasn't looking and it made her irrationally angry with him because it just wasn't fair. She shouldn't feel this flustered. Not with him of all people.

"Let me offer you something to drink," Kakashi said, his voice gliding over her like a pleasant breeze, "luckily, Shizune made me some tea before she went home."

"Th... thank you," Sakura stammered, remembering her manners.

Her mother had sung the Rokudaime's praises in every letter, Sakura had at first found it endearing, then increasingly enervating. Over the months, she had convinced herself that everything was exaggerated, her mother had always had a fangirl's crush on Hatake Kakashi after all. But maybe it wasn't exaggerated after all. It was clear from walking through the village that Konoha was bustling with life, that it was growing, that people were happy and busy, and everything looked clean and new. Foreigners came here to look for jobs, of which Konoha had many to offer. Kakashi had even found generous donors for the new hospital wing and...

The mask was back.

Sakura blinked at the image before her. Kakashi was filling a glass with some hot liquid from a thermos flask, all the offending parts hidden away again. What a shame. How fortunate.

"It's hot, be careful," he pushed the glass in her direction.

Sakura caught herself staring again. Mask or not, now it made no difference. She knew what he hid away and she would never forget. He lifted his dark eyes and tilted his head a little, studying her features.

"Is this the new uniform?" Sakura blurted out, just to say something, because she was blushing again violently.

"Mhm," Kakashi looked down at himself, then frowned, as if he was seeing something he didn't quite like.

"It suits you."

Oh gooooooood, where had that come from? It was impossible to hide her flaming cheeks, but Sakura grabbed the glass from the table and began to blow on the steaming tea vigorously.

"I never know where to put my scrolls," Kakashi sighed. "But it's okay, I guess."

Should she say something? Something along the lines of I know what you're trying to do! That would make her seem utterly foolish though, right? What if he had not deliberately unmasked? Would she not embarrass him? And if he had deliberately unmasked to prank her, would she not give him the satisfaction of feeling accomplished if she acknowledged the awkwardness?

"Tell me all about your mission, Sakura!" He settled back into his chair.

"Um," she took a tentative sip, promptly burning her tongue, "I was successful."

"That goes without saying, Haruno," Kakashi's eyes crinkled, "I would like to hear a little more than that though."

###

What a sight for sore eyes.

Sakura Haruno's hair glowed like precious gemstones in the light of the setting sun - and her cheeks, he noticed for the third time since she had burst in to interrupt his boring evening routine, were heating up like coals in the oven once more.

She was wearing a white travel cloak that was splattered with mud at the seam - no wonder, it had rained almost every day last week, the paths were sodden - and a heavy jacket over coarse trousers, of course she was way too warm. He had not aired the bloody office in hours and even though it was barely spring, it already got quite stuffy in the afternoons. Which idiot had thought it a good idea to build the Hokage's office facing South?

She blew on her tea with vigor, splattering little droplets everywhere. The hot tea surely couldn't be helping with the temperature. He had nothing else to offer her though, Shizune had left a while ago and he remembered her telling him that they were out of everything. Hadn't he made a shopping list and a note to send some kids shopping for supplies? His eyes traveled over his desk. If only he remembered where he'd put the damn note...

He lifted his head to look at Sakura again. She seemed different, in ways he couldn't quite place. The hair? The face? The clothes? She was probably just older, how long had she been gone? Nine months? Ten? It was hard to keep track of such things, with work days melting into each other until all of them were exactly the same, at most interrupted by short nights of restless sleep. Kakashi side-eyed a particularly high pile of documents to his right with dismay. This was at least three more hours of work. And if he did not get it done tonight, he would have to stay five more hours tomorrow evening.

"I will write you a detailed report," Sakura suggested, her eyes downcast.

She had been shocked to see his face. It was nothing compared to the shock he had felt though, because he had failed to notice her approach. It probably just showed how crazy tired he was but it really worried him. He couldn't make mistakes like this. He just couldn't.

"Take your time," he nodded, thinking that at least, hers would be a report to look forward to. "But tell me, are the people there like us?"

That question gave her some pause. Had she been lonely over there all by herself, homesick, he wanted to ask? Her mother had told him she was doing great, but he had thought that it was only natural to feel lost on another continent, at least in the beginning. That wasn't to say he wouldn't have loved to travel too, but alas...

"They're not that different, but far less proficient at using chakra," she said after a moment of reflection. "They have stunning technology instead."

Urgh, technology. Shizune and Shikamaru were both in his hair constantly about using the computer to help with paperwork, but he kept resisting. He hated the damn thing.

"I'll put it in the report," she smiled wisely, probably picking up on his slightly panicked reaction. "There are a few items I think we need here to provide top care to our patients."

"Write a proposal," Kakashi smiled back. "There's a special form for that. The hospital board will discuss it and pass their recommendation on to me for the final decision. If you think it's necessary, I will make it happen, whatever they say."

Was he boasting? He was, wasn't he. He had never gone against the wishes of the board, and why would he, he had no clue about running a hospital. Yeah, shit, boasting. He had thought he was immune to the ridiculousness impressionable men showed in front of beautiful women, lecturing Might Guy about the affliction every chance he got. Time he came down from his high horse, perhaps?

Was he even allowed to think that she was beautiful? Three years in this damn position and the role still didn't come natural to him, every day there was this or that he wasn't sure about. But he had two functioning eyes and she was beautiful. It was hard not to feel a little unsettled when looking at her, what was he to do? I'll call her beautiful in my head and that's that, he decided.

"Sasuke should be back in a few weeks," he informed her, a reminder to himself who he was, who she was and what they had been to each other not that long ago. It felt long though. These days, he felt ancient.

"Ah... yeah," she said, her face turning red again.

Oh. She wasn't feeling the temperature, she was blushing because of Sasuke? It looked cute. He smiled at her, then stopped himself when he realized that she looked uncomfortable. Because of what he had ordered Sasuke to do?

"I'm sorry he can't tell you what his mission is," he added because he didn't want her to harbor a grudge against Sasuke and because he did feel sorry about keeping part of her generation tied to the old world of war and violence despite what he had vowed to himself. Ino Yamanaka always looked at him like she plotted his murder, which he actually considered quite unfair, he had told Sai to take it easy with the missions several times. He had even seriously considered decommissioning the Anbu, but the proposal had been met with such shock and dismay in the village council, he had not mentioned the idea again.

"That's okay," Sakura sipped her tea and blinked. "It makes no difference."

"Despite what the population might think, it takes a bit of an effort to keep the peace," Kakashi sighed. A lot of effort, actually. Sasuke's help was indispensable but he couldn't even tell the village because of how secret it was.

"Apropos, are you sure it's wise to have such lax security?" Sakura frowned at him.

"Lax?"

"Yes, lax. Anyone could walk in these days! I wasn't even challenged at the gate!"

"Well," he explained, "we don't close the gates during the day, only at night. Neither is our location a secret anymore. Besides, the guards must have recognized you: There aren't many kunoichi with pink hair."

"Anyone could dye their hair pink and pretend they're me," she grumbled.

Kakashi sighed. How long would it take to become a society that could truly trust each other instead of building walls and other barriers around the villages? The Shinobi Union was a great start, but it was such slow progress. Just the other week, they had agreed to station a representative from each member village in every other hidden village to make it easier to discuss issues. Shikamaru was still trying to identify nine good candidates for these diplomatic missions though. It wouldn't be easy. They were woefully short of good people.

"Hardly anyone," Kakashi dismissed her words, imagining how easy it would be to spot such an imposter. "Tsunade will be ecstatic to have you back already. She keeps talking about the extended holiday she means to take once you take over."

Sakura blinked and swallowed, suddenly looking a little pale around the nose. Smooth, Kakashi, he chided himself. Way to drop a bomb on someone who has just returned from an exhausting journey!

"I won't let her leave immediately," he tried to assuage her. Er, did he have anything he could use to bargain with Tsunade to buy Sakura some time? The former Hokage already had her suitcases packed, he knew that for a fact.

"I'm not ready," Sakura lifted her green eyes to his face, her hands balling into tight fists on her thighs.

"Sakura," he dropped his voice low. "Don't tell me I have to lecture you like I used to do?"

She blinked more rapidly.

But even if he had wanted to, he couldn't lecture her. He had long ago lost the right to be called her Sensei. He could take no credit for forging this woman into one of Konoha's finest. All he had ever been good at as a teacher was to stop children from becoming lousy soldiers by squashing their dreams as early as possible. None of his former pupils had become great because of him. They were great despite him.

"You are ready," he said, feeling a pang of nostalgia and a weird kind of regret for opportunities lost and paths not taken. "Push your doubts away, you know how capable you are. Besides, you won't have to shoulder this alone. There are a lot of skilled doctors and nurses who will help you."

She didn't look convinced but took a deep breath and forced her lips into a smile. "Thanks, Sensei. I will try."

Don't call me that, he wanted to scold her, but Kakashi had learned early in life not to blurt out what was on his mind because it was hardly ever helpful.

"I'll walk you home," he said instead and got up.

"That's not..."

"Necessary? No, but I need some fresh air before I tackle this," he pointed his chin at the pile of paper.

"You should go home and relax," she frowned, getting to her feet too, putting the half-empty glass next to his cup. "Why are you still here? I was quite surprised when they told me I could go straight up. It's late."

"I live here now."

It was meant to be a joke, but it was apparent from the shocked expression on her face that she didn't understand it.

"Not here here," he hurried to explain. "Upstairs. I'm the Hokage, you know."

"I know that," she looked mortified. "I didn't mean to be disrespectful, I'm sorry, Sensei. The village couldn't have hoped for a better person to lead them. We're so very lu..."

"Cut it out, Haruno," Kakashi interrupted her sharply. There was nothing he hated more than being praised for sitting behind a desk all day. If only Naruto would finally get his act together, dammit!

"Let's go," he added a little gruffly, "it's getting dark."

###

Kakashi stretched once they were outside, sucking in the cooling air greedily as he rolled his shoulders. Sakura watched him, thinking that the new uniform fit him very well indeed, blushing furiously when she became aware of ogling his tight butt. People on the Southeastern Continent did not have tight butts. Their bodies tended to chubbiness. They also put a lot of sugar into their food and had no time for exercise.

"Where to?" He asked her.

She blinked up at him. Funny how she still felt small in his presence even though the height difference between them had shrunk over the years.

"Where will you live?" He asked when she didn't answer. "Sasuke's place?"

"My parents," she corrected him quickly, "they're expecting me."

"Good."

He began walking, putting his hands into his pockets, a gesture that was so familiar, it temporarily threw her back to a time where getting one broody guy's attention had been her sole goal.

"Ha," she exclaimed, suddenly glad she was ten years older and at least twenty years wiser.

"The broken tree?" He looked surprised she had noticed and she felt no need to tell him she had no idea what he was talking about. "Yes, I keep telling Shikamaru to have it removed but apparently, some rare birds are nesting there."

The streets were much emptier than before now that dusk was falling, but there were still enough people out and about to make their progress slow. Everybody stopped, greeted their Hokage with reverence, then looked at her and expressed sentiments of pleasure that she had returned.

"See?" Kakashi whispered into her ear, "had anyone dyed their hair pink and pretended to be you, they'd be exposed by now at the latest."

"How is it even possible they all know me?" Sakura exclaimed in surprise.

"What," he was grinning, his eyes disappeared entirely when he did that, "has nobody told you about Sakura's Adventures in the Cherry Blossom Lands?"

"Excuse me, what?" She exclaimed.

"Oh boy," he said with a laugh and began walking faster. "Oh boy."

"What is Sakura's Adventures in the Cherry Blossom Lands?" She ran after him.

"Ask your friends," Kakashi evaded her question.

"I'm asking you!"

"Ah, look, we're here!" He exclaimed.

They were indeed, her parents' house was before them. She had temporarily forgotten how hungry she was, but now, her mouth watered greedily. Whatever it was her mother was cooking, it was going to be so, so good!

"Thank you, Kakashi Sensei," she beamed at him, eager to see the joy on her parents' faces, "for walking me home!"

It had only taken a short walk to make her feel comfortable again in his company. She was so relieved!

He winked at her. "It was my pleasure to escort you, Sakura. It's great to have you back."

He turned to leave.

"Ah," he turned back around and pointed at his masked face. "Can I ask you to please keep my secret?"

"Secret," she blurted out. "What secret? That you're extremely good-looking?"

"Uhm," his ears turned as red as tomatoes. No, I meant... well, my face. It's... it's complicated, but I'd be grateful."

She blinked and he was gone. She'd better hide in a hole for the rest of her life, right? She would never be able to look at him again without cringing to the end of the world and back because of what she had just said.