Perception

I felt like this story needed an epilogue to show what happens afterward and how everyone moves on and what their futures have in store. This epilogue is about Sakura, and is not specifically focused on ItaSaku, so if that’s something that might bother you, you may be happier not reading this and considering the last chapter as the true ending of Perception. I know a lot of you are looking forward to this however, and this is how I wanted everything to end. If you’ve been closely paying attention throughout the story, and I hope you have, there shouldn’t be any real surprises here. So then…Happy reading!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Perception by Cynchick
Chapter 19 - Epilogue: Full Circle

Six Months Later…


The music of the string quartet faded to silence as the song came to an end, and Sakura thanked her dance partner with a smile before stepping away. She watched Konohamaru as he walked over to Moegi, his feisty red-haired teammate and date/almost-girlfriend, and was promptly smacked upside the head. Sakura chuckled to herself; that’s what he got for not-so-discreetly trying to grab her ass as they danced.


She located a seat at one end of the large formal banquet hall and made her way toward it. She’d been standing most of the day and her feet were killing her. She wasn’t used to wearing high heels, and she honestly didn’t know how her shishou and Shizune managed it every day. She supposed part of her would always be just a bit of a tomboy. Ino had made a fit over her this morning as they got ready and her blonde friend did her hair into an elegant updo, informing her that she was actually quite pretty when she made an effort. Sakura had made sure to offer her own string of good-natured, backhanded compliments in return.


Thinking of her friend, her eyes scanned the room until she located the busty busybody who was wearing the exact same lavender silk dress she was. Ino was standing over by the buffet, looking perfectly comfortable in her heels and adoringly feeding little morsels from the plate in her hand to Chouji. Shikamaru was looking thoroughly revolted with his teammate’s mushy antics from where he leaned against the wall a few feet from them. Temari looked even less approving of the oblivious couple’s public display, but Sakura also noticed the way she kept checking out Shikamaru in his formal dress uniform and guessed the blonde Sand kunoichi was resisting the urge to act on her own affectionate impulses. It looked as though the lazy genius was in for a long night.


Enjoying her people-watching, she scanned the room for more familiar faces amid the crowd. She saw Shizune, sitting at a table with Genma and blushing furiously as the man whispered something that was no doubt quite naughty in her ear. Much to everyone’s surprise, and many of the village women’s displeasure, the charming senbon master had given up his lecherous ways and seemed to be perfectly content in settling with one woman. Sakura was very happy for her dark haired friend. Next she spotted Tsunade, looking bored to death and more than a little drunk while trying to pay attention to a mostly one-sided conversation with Hyuuga Hiashi, and stealing exasperated glances in Jiraiya’s direction, who was predictably flirting with everything in a skirt.


Standing next to the clan head was Neji, looking self-important as always. Tenten had her arm linked with the stoic Hyuuga’s, clad in the same lavender dress and looking rather stunning with her normally pinned up hair down around her shoulders. Tenten had told them this morning that after today she hoped to finally drill the idea of a proposal through her longtime and only recently public boyfriend’s brilliant but thick skull.


Out of the corner of her eye she spotted her former team leader heading toward the exit and waved goodbye when he glanced in her direction. He waved back with a smile and continued out of the hall. He wasn’t very comfortable in large groups after living isolated and behind a white mask for so many years, and she knew he had stayed this long only out of courtesy. It was strange to see him around more often, and even stranger to call him by his real name, Tenzou. After all she had known him only as Yamato for the last three years. But he had recently left ANBU and would be taking up a genin team once the next class graduated, so his codename was no longer necessary. She felt a bit sorry for the three genin who would get him as a sensei; he could be quite a hardass and a little scary when he wanted to be. But he was a good man on the inside and she knew he would make a great sensei, and she looked forward to seeing him at more of their group’s weekly Ichiraku dinners.


At the other end of the room amid a crowd of richly dressed nobles she saw Gaara and his brother Kankurou. The Kazekage looked nearly as bored as the Hokage, though decidedly more sober, as he listened to the many random nobles talk his ear off about things he obviously didn’t consider to be of any importance. Sakura knew that all politics and diplomatic formalities aside, the former Jinchuuriki was only here for one reason.


There were quite a few nobility and highly influential people present, but they were balanced by an equal number of regular people and ninja, and everyone was dressed in their finest. Even the male shinobi present were all clad in their formal black dress uniforms if they had nothing else, and the kunoichi were enjoying a chance to dress up. The change in some people was so drastic they were barely recognizable, Kiba and Shino for example. Trust a wedding to do a better job of disguising shinobi than a mask.


Speaking of masks, she hadn’t seen Kakashi in a couple hours now. She guessed he was probably hiding somewhere reading his book. That’s what he usually did if he had no viable excuse to leave a social gathering like this, finding a way to avoid uncomfortable social interaction until he was ready for it.


Kakashi had been the most understanding of her teammates about what she had gone through during her time among the Akatsuki and the changes that experience had caused in her, as she knew he would be. He was older and more world-wise than her other teammates, and he had his own darker experiences to draw perspective from. And he had never judged her. She had eventually told him everything that had happened during her surreal captivity. She told him about everything she had omitted from the rest of the team, and he’d understood. Really understood, not just accept and move past it like Sasuke had, or shrug it off like Sai, or simply trust her judgment and concede that she must have a point like Naruto had.


It had been six months since she’d returned home, and discovered that she no longer viewed the world and the people in it the same way. In many ways she was more understanding, more accepting. But in some ways she was less so, more critical of others when she heard them speak the same hypocrisies she once had. In a way she supposed she was a bit darker, now that she had accepted the truth about herself and her place in the world. This was the price of wisdom Kakashi had talked about, and now that she knew, she could see the same wisdom in the eyes of many of the older ninja, of the Hokage, and of those who had been there in eye-opening, life-changing experiences of their own. She was proud of that wisdom, and would not trade it for anything.


But in a way it saddened her, because it separated her from her peers. Of all her classmates, only Sasuke could understand how she felt and the changes within her, for the changes within him were deeper and darker than her own. Her short time with the Akatsuki had changed her life. She liked to believe it was for the better, despite everything.


She was moving on with her life, and most of the time she was happy. Her self-made family was reunited, their bonds went deeper, and as a team they would become stronger than ever before. But she still thought about those who had impacted her so greatly, and the memories of the time they shared were bittersweet. She still had the cloak Deidara had given her, tucked away in her closet where she would see it from time to time and remember when it had been like a part of her. Itachi’s necklace she kept hidden away to be forever cherished, a physical reminder of the secret moments they had shared. That time would always be a part of her, and so would the men she still thought of as friends. It still pained her at times, because she missed them, both those gone forever and those who remained.


Kisame and Deidara were still out there, somewhere. The Akatsuki were still out there, and as the months of her team’s forced ‘vacation’ passed she began to wonder just when the Akatsuki would make their move for the Kyuubi. Would she see them again? Would she have to fight against them to protect Naruto? She knew it was foolish to wish it were the other three Akatsuki when the inevitable move was made, that she would get out of confronting the two who would no doubt also be reluctant to meet her in battle, but she wished it nonetheless.


She still had hopes for a way out. There were only five Akatsuki remaining, and their ranks wouldn’t be filled any time soon as it was not easy to find ninja of the caliber that organization required. And shinobi like Uchiha Itachi could never be replaced. If Konoha or some other Hidden Village managed to eliminate only one or two more of the members, there was a chance the entire organization would crumble. If they couldn’t, she hoped against hope that they could hold out until the mysterious ‘deadline’ for the Kyuubi extraction passed and they had no more use for the demon inside her best friend. Wishful thinking, but stranger things had happened in her lifetime.


Reminding herself not to think such ominous thoughts when she should be celebrating, she looked around the enormous ballroom for one of her elusive teammates. She didn’t have to search long because there was a sudden burst of cheerful voices to her right, and she caught a flash of white out of the corner of her eye. With a smile she stood and turned in the direction of the doorway to greet the newlyweds.


Naruto was bursting at the seams with joyful energy and positively radiating happiness, the biggest smile she’d ever seen on his sunny features, looking incredibly handsome in the formal wedding attire no one would have ever pictured him in. His arm was around Hinata, who was smiling nearly as big as her new husband and she looked absolutely gorgeous in a snowy white wedding gown with shades of purple orchids decorating the hem.


Everyone had thought rowdy, hyperactive Naruto would be impossible to live with during his confinement to the village, but he surprised them all. He was so happy to have Sasuke back and hang out with his best friend and surrogate brother all the time again that he had barely complained about not being allowed to go on missions. The Uchiha hadn’t been allowed to use weapons or ninjutsu until three months ago, but taijutsu was allowed, so they had spent the entire first three months of Sasuke’s probation gleefully pummeling the crap out of each other at every opportunity. Sakura couldn’t even remember how many black eyes, broken noses, broken arms, and concussions she’d healed during that time, all the while rolling her eyes at men and their stupid ways of bonding. On top of that, Naruto was so ecstatic that there was nothing to keep him away from his girl for long periods of time anymore that he’d proposed to Hinata within the first month.


When they had first gotten together, everyone thought Hyuuga Hiashi would either have a stroke, kill Naruto, or both. But he had reluctantly accepted, based largely on the fact that Hinata had informed him of her intention rather than ask him for permission, one of the boldest things anyone had ever heard of her doing. She had gained confidence over the years and Naruto strengthened it, and she had finally gotten the man of her dreams and something like propriety and social status wasn’t about to get in her way. Strangely enough it was Neji who chose to keep his ‘unfit’ relationship a secret until Hinata had announced her engagement.


The Hyuuga clan head had reluctantly accepted the engagement knowing that he couldn’t stop it anyway and that it was better to save face by pretending he liked the idea. That, and the knowledge that Naruto was the impending Rokudaime, and a connection like that was not to be passed up.


It wasn’t widely known yet, but once the year was up and Sasuke was returned to active status, the Godaime intended to announce her successor, and Naruto would begin his ‘grooming’ for the job of a Hokage. She was so happy for him; all of his dreams were coming true. But she was sad as well, because he wouldn’t be her teammate anymore, and would probably only do a few missions with them before he became permanently tied to the village. It was like the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one. Though she had no doubt in her mind that the Rokudaime would still be down at the Ichiraku stand as often as possible. Some things would never change.


The wedding ceremony had been beautiful, though far more elaborate and extravagant than the couple had wanted, but with the bride being of such high social standing there was no way out of it. It had been held at the Hyuuga estate in the beautiful and expansive garden, perfectly timed for the spring flowers to be blooming. Now they were in the large formal hall used for events such as these on the estate, with the terrace doors open, overlooking the same garden under the moonlight.


“There you are!” Naruto exclaimed as he made his way over to her, his arm still around his wife. “What a crazy day!”


“Naruto,” she greeted with a bright smile. “Hinata, you look so beautiful,” she said to the glowing girl for the third time that day.


“Yeah she does. She’s the most beautiful thing in the whole world,” Naruto agreed, gazing adoringly at his new wife.

Hinata blushed and smiled happily as Naruto drew her in for the umpteenth kiss that evening. They were cute enough to make one gag, but Sakura couldn’t be happier for them.


“Thank you, Sakura, so do you,” Hinata replied once her mouth was free to talk again.


“Hey…why were you being a wallflower just now, Sakura-chan? This is a party!” he said.


Sakura hadn’t thought he noticed her sitting down when he entered the room with the large crowd of well-wishers. “Oh, I was just resting for a minute. I was dancing with your protégé until he tried to cop a feel,” she chuckled.


“That’s Konohamaru for ya! He’ll learn someday, when Moegi beats the crap out of him,” he laughed. He tugged a little on the stiff collar of his shirt, unused to the formal attire. “I wish we could just get out of here already and get out of these stuffy clothes, but Hinata says we have to listen to speeches and talk to everyone at least once since they went to the trouble of coming,” he groaned.


Sakura laughed lightly. “Well, Hinata is right. And you should get used to it; soon enough you’re gonna have to deal with things like this all the time.”


He rolled his eyes. “Ugh, don’t remind me. When I said I wanted to be Hokage I never imagined it would mean doing so much boring stuff. No wonder Tsunade-baa-chan is always looking for excuses to slack off and retire.”


“You’ll still be the best Hokage ever, Naruto. I just know it,” she grinned at her best friend.


“Thanks! Oh, hey there’s Gaara!” he exclaimed, peering over her shoulder. “I guess we should move along, we still have a lot more schmoozing to do,” he sighed. Then his cheesy grin was back in place. “Make sure you have lots of fun tonight! Eat the crazy fancy food, dance, get drunk,” he laughed. Then he stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug. “You deserve to be happy too.”


She hugged him back warmly. “I know. Thank you.”


He squeezed her once and pulled back to kiss her on the cheek. “Love you, Sakura-chan.”


“Love you too, Naruto,” she smiled. She exchanged hugs and kisses and best wishes with Hinata as well before the happy couple moved away toward the Kazekage and his entourage.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


She decided to look for her other teammates and was surprised when she spotted Sasuke. She had thought he would be hiding like their team leader or lurking in a corner so he didn’t have to talk to anyone. But he wasn’t; he was standing off to one side of the room, engaged in a private conversation with the last of her fellow bridesmaids and maid of honor; Hanabi. Sakura didn’t hide the sly grin that spread across her face at seeing the two of them. It appeared to be a normal conversation, but she knew Sasuke and his subtleties and it was obvious to her that he was flirting with the youngest of the Hyuuga sisters, and she was flirting right back.


Hanabi was quite a sight, her floor length lavender gown setting off her eyes and long raven hair. The sometimes odd little girl had grown up into as beautiful a young woman as her sister, though their beauty shone in entirely different ways. Hinata had a grace and elegance to her, a classic beauty. At sixteen, Hanabi was a full-fledged spitfire and a rebellious free-spirit with a feisty personality. Sasuke had never met her before he left, but being the best man and maid of honor, they had spent a lot of time around each other over the past several months of wedding plans. Who would have thought Uchiha Sasuke would be interested in a girl so soon, and one like Hyuuga Hanabi?


Sakura knew he had no idea how to go about finding someone to settle down with and restore his clan, and it was highly amusing to her that something like this had stumbled upon him. Even if it was still only in the flirtation stages, she and Naruto really hoped it worked out between the two. Naruto because then he and Sasuke really would be brothers, and Sakura because she thought Hanabi was exactly the type of girl Sasuke needed; someone with enough spirit to not be trampled by his dominating personality and who wouldn’t put up with the arrogant crap he pulled. She had a pleasantly funny feeling that it was only a matter of time before the great Uchiha was wrapped around Hanabi’s little finger.


Sakura watched them as Hanabi was called away from across the room by her father, and she didn’t miss the way the girl’s fingers brushed over Sasuke’s arm as she excused herself, or the way his eyes followed her as she walked away. Sakura’s grin widened and she made her way over to where he was standing.


He noticed her approach and turned to face her, his brow quirking upon seeing her expression. “What are you smiling so big about?”


“What? It’s a wedding, isn’t it? People are supposed to be happy,” she said innocently.


He merely shrugged.


“Stick in the mud,” she teased.


“Hn.”


“You looked like you were enjoying yourself well enough just now,” she said mischievously.


He gave her an ‘I’ll never admit it’ glare and she laughed playfully at him.


She was glad he was moving on and beginning to heal some of those old wounds. He would never be happy-go-lucky or outgoing, the scars of his past went too deep to ever disappear completely, and he would always be arrogant and too proud for his own damn good, but there was no longer a sense of coldness and forced distance from him anymore. He had eventually apologized to each of them separately, in private, admitting to the wrongs he had done each of them and for the way he had treated them. He understood the worth of his friends now, and accepted that he needed their support in his life.


“Have you seen Sai around?” she asked, changing the subject.


“I saw him about a half hour ago trying to avoid a group of girls.”


She laughed. “He’s picked up your old fan club.”


“Hn. Well, all he has to do is open his mouth and talk to them and I’m sure they’ll go away,” he smirked.


Everyone had seemed to think Sasuke and Sai would hate each other, both essentially being replacements for the other one, but thankfully that had turned out not to be the case. They respected each other’s skills, as well as each other’s anti-social tendencies. Sasuke’s arrogance didn’t faze the artist, and surprisingly Sai’s blunt way of speaking didn’t rub the Uchiha the wrong way, in fact he seemed to appreciate his straightforward attitude. They were actually quite alike in basic personality traits, not just in looks. When it came to expressing feelings and affection they were both takers rather than givers, so they would always be too reserved to become close friends like they were with the other members of the team, but Sakura was glad they got along so well because once his probation was up, Sasuke would be taking Naruto’s place on the team as the blond prepared to become Hokage.


“Don’t be so sure, it never worked on them with you,” she jibed.


He crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t act like you weren’t one of them at one point,” he smirked arrogantly.


She rolled her eyes. “Ugh, don’t remind me. I think I needed my head checked worse than you did back then,” He glared at her, but then he returned her teasing smile. “What about Kakashi? Have you seen him?” she asked.


He gave a small snort. “Yeah right. I wouldn’t be surprised if he left a long time ago.”


“Normally, yes. But since this is Naruto’s wedding, I’m sure he’s still around.”


“Why don’t you go look for him?”


She missed the hint of slyness in his tone and waved her hand nonchalantly. “Eh, he’s probably off reading that pervy book somewhere. Besides, you know how good he is at hiding; it would take me forever to find him in this place.”


Sasuke merely shrugged and shook his head slightly.


She quirked her brow at his mysterious expression. “Are you trying to get rid of me so you can go flirt with Hanabi again?” she teased.


“Hn.”


After a moment her features took on a nostalgic smile. “It’s funny how things turn out, isn’t it?” He looked at her curiously. “I mean when I was younger I always dreamed of marrying you myself, and now I find myself hoping the next wedding I go to will be yours.”


He gave her a surprised frown. “It’s a bit early to be thinking something like that.”


She smiled. “I know. Just saying. I want you to be happy, Sasuke, I’m glad you’re finally doing better,” she added softly.


He looked at her for a long moment. “What about you? Are you doing better?” he asked quietly. She had always wanted to help him move past the darkness inside, but she never thought she would do it by sharing some of the same sorrow and pain he held. Though most of their troubles were not the same, she was grateful she had someone with whom to share this, who understood how it felt to be different from everyone else and how difficult it could be to still fit in.


She gave him a small smile and nodded. “I am. There are times when it’s harder than others, but I’m moving on and I want to be happy.” Then she laughed softly. “Who would have thought it would be Naruto who found true happiness before any of us.”


Sasuke smirked. “All those years right under his nose, even a dobe like him had to figure it out eventually.”


She laughed. “Yeah. He really was a fool when it came to that aspect.”


“He’s not the only one,” Sasuke muttered dryly.


She looked at him in surprise. “What does that mean?”


He just looked at her pointedly.


She was confused. “What?”


He scoffed. “Oh come on, Sakura. I swear sometimes I think you’re the dumbest smart person I know,” he said in exasperation. She simply stared at him blankly, and he rolled his eyes. “You can figure it out if you try. Didn’t we learn to always look underneath the underneath?”


“Whatever,” she said, still mystified about his meaning.


“There’s Sai,” he said, changing the subject and nodding toward the artist across the room. He was being followed around by a gaggle of fangirls, and most of them appeared to be daughters of influential Hyuuga guests from outside the village. Needless to say he was looking rather uncomfortable. He was sort of used to having groupies, and was used to shrugging them off, but these girls were spoiled and rich and accustomed to getting what they wanted and obviously didn’t accept being turned down.


“I suppose I should go rescue him,” Sakura said with a laugh. She turned and placed a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, and he no longer pulled away like he once would have. “I’ll see you later. Go find your girl,” she said teasingly, and she chuckled at hearing his noncommittal grunt as she walked away.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


As she approached Sai and his would-be harem, he looked in her direction and she saw the relief pass over his dark eyes. Unintentionally rude like only Sai could be -or perhaps not so unintentionally this time- he stepped out of the ring of socialites without a single word and walked away toward his teammate.


“They won’t leave me alone,” he said with such a frank and plaintive expression on his handsome face she wanted to burst into laughter.


“I saw that,” she chuckled. “I thought I’d help get them off your back.” She very deliberately linked her arm in his and leaned against him a little as they began to walk away. The girls began to whisper furiously and she could feel the envious heat of their glares on her back. She simply laughed and remembered a time when she was not so different.


“Thanks. I wanted to leave but then I was concerned they would try to follow me home.”


She smiled at that. “You’re a ninja, Sai. I’m sure you can outsmart and outrun a few spoiled heiresses.”


He shrugged. “You would think so. But women are crazy. I’m always being surprised at the things they do.”


They walked over and sat down at one of the empty tables. They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the crowd and the swirling couples on the dance floor. After a while Sai noticed the small frown on his friend’s face.


“Is something wrong, Sakura?”


She looked at him with a quizzical expression. “Sort of…” she was quiet a moment and then cocked her head curiously at him. “Are you in love with me, Sai?”


He blinked, and his brow furrowed as he appeared to be genuinely thinking about it. “I don’t think so,” he said simply, after a moment. “I’m not entirely sure what love means, but I don’t have sexual fantasies about you, so probably not.”


She couldn’t help it then, and burst into giggles at his candid response. The only reason she asked him so bluntly was because she knew she would get an honest and simple reaction like that.


“Why? Do you want me to be?” he asked, genuinely curious.


“No, nothing like that…it’s just something Sasuke said…”


“He said I was in love with you?”


She laughed again and waved her hand. “Oh, no…he just implied that someone was, and that I was oblivious to it.” Sai simply continued to watch her. “You wouldn’t know, would you? No…I suppose that’s a dumb question,” she sighed.


Sai stared at her for a long moment, a look in his eyes she couldn’t recognize. Appraising, maybe?


“You’re strange,” he said quietly.


She gave him a look. “That’s rich, coming from you.”


He shrugged. “What I mean is; you’re smart, and you are good at seeing things about other people. But when it comes to certain things, mostly things about yourself, you are actually pretty dense.”


She let out a short laugh and shook her head. “Sasuke pretty much just told me the same thing. I don’t get it.”


Sai looked at her perceptively, but she didn’t see it because she was looking the other way. “I have something for you,” he said after a moment.


She looked at him again, not really surprised at his abrupt changing of the subject. It was Sai after all.


“I’ve been meaning to give you this, but I’m gone with ANBU so much I haven’t had an opportunity,” he said, reaching into his jacket pocket and withdrawing a neatly folded piece of paper she recognized as a page from his sketchbook. “I brought it with me tonight since I knew I would see you here,” he finished, handing the folded item to her.


“A drawing? What of -?” her voice faded out as she recognized what she was looking at. It was of her, on that day last autumn, on the last mission they had gone on before her abduction. Kakashi was also in the picture; because that was the time she had accidentally fallen asleep against him while he was massaging a few kinks out of her shoulders. Her brow furrowed slightly as she stared at the image Sai had captured without their knowledge. Only…only it was different than she remembered, because in this drawing Kakashi was asleep as well. She hadn’t known he had dozed off at one point, and… “Is this…you didn’t change anything about this did you?” she asked the artist in soft amazement.


“Why would I do that? I only drew what I saw. Though you may not want to show that to anyone, since Kakashi still had his mask off at the time,” he answered simply, as if her question were equally simple.


Only this wasn’t simple at all. In the picture she was asleep with her back against his chest and her head had fallen to rest on his shoulder, her legs stretched out before her and bent slightly at the knees. But Kakashi’s hands were still wrapped loosely around her shoulders, and his head lay at an angle against hers, and her hand rested on his leg where it was stretched beside hers. This was…She felt her insides flutter warmly as she stared at the rendition of her sleeping face so close to Kakashi’s, utterly fascinated. In the picture she was smiling. What did this mean…? In this picture they looked…intimate. It was like they were…


Didn’t we learn to always look underneath the underneath?


“Oh…” she sighed, as Sasuke’s words and their previously unknown double meaning echoed in her head, and all of the other hints and pieces tumbled and slowly clicked into place. How had she missed this? How could she not have realized something so incredibly significant? Suddenly so many things that had happened over the course of time revealed themselves in a new way. It was as if a light had been turned on, and now she could see. And she knew. She knew.


She looked up at Sai as if in a trance, or as if just waking from one, and there was a soft smile on her lips. He was looking back at her with a small, amused smirk, and she realized what he had just purposely done. If Sai knew…Naruto surely knew as she recalled some of his once-confusing statements with newfound clarity…if Sasuke had been back for only half a year and he knew…she really was oblivious. “Thank you, Sai…” she said softly.


“You’re welcome,” he said simply.


Sakura slowly stood up and refolded the paper carefully, a dazed smile still on her features.


“Where are you going?” he asked.


She looked at him as she turned to leave. “Now who’s the dense one?”


Sai simply smiled knowingly as she walked away.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It didn’t take as long as she had expected, for she found him on the terrace at the far end of the garden, sitting on the ledge and reading Icha Icha under the light of the dimly glowing paper lanterns. Her heels clicked softly along the polished wood and he looked up at her approach, smiling warmly before standing and putting his book away.


“This is a lovely surprise,” he said, his smooth voice flowing toward her across the warm night air. “What brings you out here, Sakura?”


She smiled softly and stopped next to him. “I was looking for you.”


“Oh? What for?”


She lifted her chin playfully. “Do I need a reason?”


He smiled, his eyes crinkling warmly. “Of course not, I’m always happy to see my favorite kunoichi.”


“Even when I’m dragging you to the hospital to patch you up and heal your broken bones?” she teased.


He laughed lightly. “Especially then.”


She smiled and leaned against the railing to look out over the garden. The tranquil water of the pond reflected the moon and stars, the pristine image breaking only occasionally when the koi nipped the surface from below. It was beautiful. In fact, it couldn’t be more perfect.


“I’m surprised you’re still here,” she said quietly.


He gave a small shrug. “Normally I wouldn’t be. But it is Naruto’s wedding, and I wouldn’t just skip out on such a phenomenally inexplicable occurrence,” he joked, and she laughed softly. “Besides, I like it out here. Beautiful, peaceful…”


“The perfect place to read porn,” she jibed.


“It’s not porn, it’s a romance novel,” he corrected in mock offense. They stared amusedly at one another for a moment, and then he chuckled softly. “Okay, it’s porn.” She giggled, her musical laughter ringing out over the stillness.


They stood in silence for a few minutes, simply enjoying the beautiful night and each other’s company. She was always so comfortable around him. There was no need to fill the gaps of silence; with them they could just be. After a while she could feel him watching her, and she turned to look up into his mismatched eyes. He looked gorgeous in his black dress uniform, even though he still wore his mask under the wide collar of his shirt. And she wasn’t thinking that because of her recent epiphany, in truth she had thought it more than once earlier in the day and during the ceremony. He wasn’t wearing his hitai-ate tonight; none of the shinobi in dress uniform were. His unruly silver hair fell over his left eye, and she knew he kept it mostly closed out of habit. But not now. Now both charcoal grey and swirling crimson were fixed on her face, on her eyes. And the way he was looking at her…she could see it now. Oh how incredibly, foolishly blind she had been.


Her head tilted a tiny bit and she smiled as she gazed up at him. “What?” she asked softly when the silence seemed to stretch forever and he only continued to watch her.


He gave her a soft, almost hesitant smile. “You look beautiful tonight, Sakura,” he said quietly, and tentatively reached out to brush a stray strand of her upswept hair from her face. Then he blinked as if just realizing what he was doing and dropped his hand slowly, resetting his casual posture.


She gave him a radiant smile, beaming at the effect his words had on her. “Thank you, Kakashi. So do you.”


His brows rose briefly and he smirked beneath the mask. “Well thanks, Sakura, I’m flattered. Though, I think that may be the first time anyone’s ever called me beautiful…” he said casually, his tone teasing.


She grinned and shook her head slightly. “You know what I meant. And if they haven’t said it it’s because you always wear a mask.”


“Hmm, I guess you have a point there,” he shrugged playfully.


She suddenly felt a great welling of feeling as she watched his profile. This was the most unexpected thing in the world, but somehow it simply felt right. Everything finally felt right. She had been trying to live and be happy and move on with her life since the experience with Akatsuki that had left her profoundly changed, but there was always that indefinable something that eluded her. But now maybe here it was; and it had been right under her nose the entire time. She had never thought of it before, with him, but she found that she wanted this. She wanted this chance to love openly and be loved openly in return. She had taken a chance before, and did not regret it. Now she was offered another, and she would not pass it by. For the first time in her life she felt no need to analyze. There was no hesitation.


“However…” she said, stepping closer to him, and he turned to face her with slight curiosity. “I’ve seen underneath…” she hooked a finger under his mask and slowly pulled it down around his neck, “the underneath,” she said barely above a whisper, gazing into his mismatched eyes.


He stood absolutely still and simply stared at her in amazement and mild confusion, with something expectant and hopeful glinting underneath. She moved a bit closer, until her chest lightly brushed against his. A small shiver ran up her spine, for though she had been this close to him several times before, this felt ,very different. She ran a finger softly along his defined, lightly stubbled jaw. “Kakashi,” she whispered with a knowing smile, “when were you going to tell me?”


He searched her eyes and realized what she was asking, and then he emitted a tiny ironic laugh, still not daring to move as if he was afraid to break the spell of the moment if he so much as breathed. “Never…” he murmured, and she only heard it because she was so close.


She smirked and tilted her face toward his, her fingers curling around the thick fabric of his shirt. “Well, then…you’re an even bigger dobe than Naruto…” she whispered, and slowly brought her lips to his.


He froze for a split second. Then, his lips parted and his arms lifted and wrapped around her and the world fell away. His lips moved against hers slowly, cautiously, and she made a blissful sound in her throat when he cradled her face in his hands and his kiss became sure. This was different than any kiss she’d ever had, different than any feeling she’d ever known. There was passion, so much passion simmering below the surface of this first gentle kiss. But there was so much more than that as well. There was tenderness, there was deep longstanding trust and affection, and there was…love. It was everything.


Their lips parted reluctantly, only when it was necessary to breathe. Their foreheads remained touching as they both tried to still their racing hearts. “Sakura,” he whispered shakily, his thumbs delicately brushing her cheeks, dusting traces of moisture from her lashes.


There were no words in the world to properly respond to what she had just experienced, so she simply slid her arms around his neck and clung to him. He sighed and held her to him tightly, pressing his uncovered face into the soft bend of her neck, breathing the scent of her skin and hair. Several minutes passed as they simply held each other, expressing this wonderful new thing between them through touch alone.


When she finally lifted her head from his shoulder he softly kissed the last traces of happy tears from her cheek and a silly grin spread across his features. She knew her smile at that moment had to be just as goofy as his, but neither of them cared a bit. “Kakashi…” she whispered, as if his name in itself was a discovery. She stepped back slightly and tugged a little on his shirt. “It looks like you and I have a few things to talk about,” she said playfully, her jade eyes sparkling.


His grin softened into a tender smile. “Then let’s get out of here,” he murmured.


She grabbed his hand in hers, interlocking their fingers as she gently pulled him after her and stepped off the terrace onto the garden path, and the two of them faded quietly into the shadows.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


A/N: I really enjoyed writing this epilogue, and I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much.

And please don’t think with this ending that I am discounting the ItaSaku. I wrote an entire story about it, and I’m not attempting to negate that in any way. Itachi and the time they shared will always be a part of Sakura, she has said that already, and the fact that she keeps his necklace is proof of how special that time was to her. But as we all know, life goes on no matter what. She deserves to be happy in the end, not miserable and alone, and I wanted to give that to her with someone who can and does truly love her.


Also I am thinking of writing a continuation/sequel to Perception. It can’t be ItaSaku, but it would be the same Sakura, and fate will throw her together with some people she thought she’d never see again…


Until then…goodbye and thanks for reading! :D