What the New Year Brings

Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, faved, alerted, and continued reading this story because what fun is there in doing something if nobody else is enjoying it with you? (Lemon people - get your heads out of the gutter! I'm talking about writing stories. Writing.)

Chapter 29-The First Time Kakashi Admits That Sakura Is His One in Six Billion

"Hiraku-hime, wait up!"

"For goodness sake, don't you ever give up?" Hiraku asks irately, shooting me a dirty look over her shoulder without missing a single quick step.

"I've got a best friend who's determined to become hokage, another friend who's determined to kill off all of the remaining Uchihas, and a boyfriend who doesn't know how to give up his mask or his porn. I tend to take after my friends, so long story short, no I don't." I say deadpan.

Hiraku comes to an abrupt halt, swiftly turns around, and looks me straight in the eyes.

"Listen, Sakura-san, I understand what you're trying to do and why you're doing it, but really, I'm okay with this. Shinri is okay with this, so please just stay out of it!"

"Shinri. So that's his name then, is it?"

Hiraku's eyes widen at her little slip.

"I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"

"Kakashi. Hatake Kakashi. I'm one of the Konoha ninjas assigned to protect this convoy on the way to Wind."

"Ah, glad to meet you." Shinri says with a friendly smile, releasing one of his hands from the horse's reins to give Kakashi a firm handshake. "I definitely feel better knowing that you and your team are watching our backs." He says sincerely. "So what can I do for you, Kakashi-san?"

"Actually, I need to talk to you about something important and somewhat...personal."

The smile on Shinri's face quickly fades, replaced by a look of tense apprehension. Without Kakashi actually saying it, Shinri already has an idea of what it is that Kakashi wants to speak to him about. After all, there were only two other people in the gardens with him and Hiraku that fateful evening back at the castle. One had unusual pink hair and the other had equally unusual silver hair that could only belong to the elite shinobi now standing in front of him.

Kakashi half expects Shinri to politely tell him to leave him alone, but instead-

"Let me just put Aseri away," Shinri says, referring to the horse that he's been leading on a rope.

Kakashi nods, almost laughing at the irony of the horse's name, but he thinks better of it and focuses on what he's going to say to Shinri instead. (A/N: "Aseri" means "impatience" in Japanese.)

"I really don't have time for this!" Hiraku scowls at me, quickly turning around and making her way back to the house Yamato had built for her.

"What's the hurry?" I ask, chasing after her again. "I'm sure your maids have already unpacked for you and rolled out your bedroll."

"If you haven't noticed, Sakura-san, a major merger is about to happen between two elite countries. There are details and documents that have to be gone over and over again to make sure that the transaction goes smoothly, but then again, you probably wouldn't know of such things now would you?"

"With all do respect, Hiraku-hime, I'm aware of our respective positions, but that doesn't give you the right to demean my intelligence." I say coldly.

Hiraku immediately stops in her tracks and turns around to face me once more, the expression on her face that of complete shock.

"I have never been spoken back to by anyone, much less by a subordinate!"

"And I have never been spoken to or allowed anyone to speak to me the way you just did regardless of whether or not they are my superior. I don't intend to start now either." I tell Hiraku, my resolve set. If only Kakashi could see me now - he'd owe me another kimono!

"I could have you pulled from this mission so quick-" Hiraku threatens.

"And I could go straight to Madam Shijimi and tell her what her daughter's been up to with a certain stable boy." I shoot back at her.

"How did you-" Hiraku asks in surprise.

"Like a shark." I say tapping the tip of my nose and smiling at her.

"What?" Hiraku asks confused.

"Never mind." I say a little crestfallen. "But I will go to Madam Shijimi if you leave me no other choice."

Hiraku glares at me again.

"You wouldn't! That's blackmail!"

"And you're entering into a marriage under false pretenses!"

"It's called politics, Sakura-san! Lots of things happen under false pretenses!"

"So are you here to try and stop Hiraku's upcoming marriage, too?" Shinri asks as he steps out of the stables sans Aseri.

"I guess that means Hiraku-hime has spoken to you about Sakura then?"

"The pink-haired woman? Yeah. Actually, it was more like Hiraku had an angry fit about her." Shinri says with a wistful grin.

"Sakura's got quite a temper herself." Kakashi says, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Ah, so you too, huh? So tell me, how'd we ever get involved with two strong-headed women like them anyway?" Shinri asks with a shake of his head.

"I think that's part of their appeal - knowing that they could kick our asses anytime if they wanted to." Kakashi says in all seriousness.

I'd have burst out laughing if I wasn't so riled up.

"So is that how you plan on ruling your country in the future, Hiraku-hime? Through lies?"

"The world isn't black and white, Sakura-san. It's full of grays and sometimes you have to step into those gray areas to get something done."

"You're right, Hiraku-hime. The world isn't black and white and neither is your upcoming marriage for that matter. There are other ways of forming diplomatic bonds with Wind Country or are you just using this marriage as an excuse?"

"An excuse for what?" Hiraku asks in a high-pitched, disbelieving voice.

"Oh, I don't know, telling your father that you've fallen for someone he'll probably think is beneath you?"

I see a hint of panic seep into Hiraku's impenetrable glare and I know that I got it exactly right.

"I knew it." I say softly.

"You don't know anything." Hiraku says sulkily.

"I know what it's like to be in love with the 'wrong' person. I know the stress and worry and conflict that goes on inside your head when you're not sure if the person you look up to will approve of the person you're in love with. You may not like me very much, Hiraku-hime, but I'm the best thing going for you right now because I've been through what you're going through and I can talk you through it. You don't have to go through it alone."

It may have been just my imagination, but I could've sworn I just saw Hiraku's expression and demeanor soften up a bit.

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. There's just something about a woman who knows how to carry herself with confidence, intelligence, and dignity. Hiraku and Sakura may be a handful, but to be honest, I'd rather be with someone with a good head on her shoulders than with an airheaded bimbo, wouldn't you?" Kakashi asks Shinri.

"I couldn't agree with you more." Shinri laughs.

Kakashi smiles beneath his mask - 'Maybe this isn't going to be so hard after all...'

"Who died and made you the love expert?" Hiraku spits back.

Okay, maybe not.

I feel my fists clench, my teeth grind, and my eyebrows furrow in anger.

'Calm down, Sakura. Remember what Kakashi said. She's just going through a rough patch is all. Take a deep breath. See things the way she sees them. Try to understand why she's upset.'

"I'm sorry that it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, Hiraku-hime - trying to do right by everybody but yourself. And I'm sorry that it seems like I'm only making things harder for you, but I promise you that that's not my intention at all. And I'm not claiming to be a love expert. I'm not claiming to be any such thing. I'm just saying that our situations aren't that different and because of that, I'm going to try to help you anyway that I can. That's it. That's all I'm trying to do."

This time there's no mistaking it, Hiraku's demeanor has definitely changed. Instead of glaring at me with all the anger and harshness she can muster, she now only looks at me wearily, as if she can no longer hold up her fierce facade.

"Fine, Sakura-san. You want to talk, let's talk, but not here."

"You don't know how relieved I am to hear that!" Kakashi says with a big sigh of relief.

"You are?"

"Well, yes, because I was afraid that I was going to have a difficult time talking to you the way Sakura is with Hiraku-hime."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. Hiraku and I are complete opposites. I'm actually pretty easy-going." Shinri smiles reassuringly.

"Hmm, that's interesting..." Kakashi muses, looking down at Shinri appraisingly with one half-hooded eye while scratching the bottom of his chin in deep thought.

"Geez, don't sound so skeptical, Kakashi-san!" Shinri laughs, raising an eyebrow up at the older man.

"Oh, no, it's not that! It's just that Sakura and I are the same way - complete opposites."

"Well, you know what they say, 'Opposites attract'." Shinri says with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Actually, I think there's more to it than that."

"Really? Like what?" Shinri asks in great interest.

"Well..."

"Where are you taking me?" Hiraku asks looking around her perplexed.

"Some place where we can talk safe and alone." I answer.

My heart sinks a little, though, when I see that Yamato and Naruto are having a pleasant conversation on the front steps of the house that's been designated Team Kakashi's. I'm already planning to tell them to leave for a bit when Yamato, upon seeing our approach, quickly stands up and greets Hiraku and me with a polite and respectful "Good evening, ladies."

After a full minute of Naruto not taking the hint that he should probably do the same and continuing to grin foolishly up at us instead, Yamato gives him "the scary face" and nods his head not so subtly towards us, making Naruto jump up in the air and give us a sheepish "Uh, hey there Sakura-chan, Hiraku-hime."

Hiraku answers with a polite, albeit formal, bow of acknowledgment while I try not to glare at Naruto for being a moron.

"Evening." I say through clenched teeth. "Listen, if it's not much of a bother I was wondering if-"

"Oh, Sakura-chan, you won't believe what Yamato just did for you and Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto interrupts me.

I'm set to reprimand him for being so rude, but he looks so excited, like he's about to burst that I can't help but ask, "What are you talking about? What is he talking about?" I look at Yamato confused.

"Well, it was supposed to be a surprise, but with him around..." Yamato jerks his head at the jerk practically jumping up and down next to him, "You can't really keep a secret, so let me just show you."

Both of our curiosities peaked, Hiraku and I follow Yamato towards the back of the house with Naruto enthusiastically leading the way.

It takes me a few seconds to comprehend what I'm looking at, but once I'm sure it's really there and not just a genjutsu...

"Oh my God." I say, covering my mouth in disbelief.

Because silhouetted against the moonlight, a warm glow of lamplight pulsating through its open windows, is a small but sturdy one-story wooden house.

A house. Yamato built Kakashi and me our very own house.

"Oh, Yamato-teichou..."

"You're welcome." Yamato cuts in before I can say anything else.

"But you really didn't have to! You've spent so much chakra already building all those other houses and Kaka-sensei and I could've easily just shared-"

"No, you guys couldn't have." Naruto shakes his head adamantly.

"Naruto...what did you tell Yamato-teichou?" I ask, my tone and temper already rising.

"I didn't tell him anything! I swear!" Naruto says, his hands raised up in front of him in innocence, taking a step backwards for every step I take towards him.

"He's telling the truth, Sakura." Yamato says gently. "I just figured that you and Kakashi-senpai could use a little place of your own now."

Halting my threatening advance towards Naruto (who I hear give an audible sigh of relief) I turn towards Yamato instead and give him a truly grateful hug.

"Thank you, Yamato-teichou. I've never had my own house before! I don't think that Kaka-sensei has either with both of us always living in apartments."

"Like I said, you're welcome, but where is Kakashi-senpai anyway? I had really been hoping to show this to both of you at the same time."

I'm about to tell him about Shinri when I catch Hiraku looking at me expectantly as well.

"He's...taking care of some business." I answer evasively.

A subtle look of understanding in Yamato's eyes lets me know he understands I'm trying not to say too much in front of Hiraku, but-

"Business? What business?" Naruto asks skeptically. "He didn't say anything about any busi-"

"Number one, okay! Maybe even number two considering how long he's taking!"

Yamato, Hiraku, and Naruto all look at me in shock at my little outburst and I immediately feel my face start to burn in embarrassment. Where the hell did that come from?

"Geez, sorry I asked." Naruto mumbles.

I shoot Naruto a pissed off glare and have a mind to smack him for making me utter such nonsense when Yamato grabs the oblivious idiot by the elbow and leads him away back towards the main house.

"Uh, well, I guess now's a good time to say goodnight Sakura-chan, Hiraku-hime." Yamato says over his shoulder.

"Goodnight." We say in unison. We continue to watch them until they start to round the corner of the main house.

"Alright already!" Naruto says, shaking Yamato off of him.

"Naruto, hasn't anyone ever taught you when to shut up?" Yamato asks.

"No, why?"

"Consider that our next lesson then when we get back to Konoha."

"What is it with everyone trying to teach me lessons!" Naruto asks hysterically before we hear the door shut behind him, muffling whatever else he's saying.

"You have weird friends." Hiraku says quietly.

"Yup." Is all I can say.

"...I think it's a balance thing." Kakashi says thoughtfully. "If you have two short-tempered people together, it's bound to be a mess."

"Like Hiraku and Sakura." Shinri interjects.

"Exactly. But if one is willing to bend to the other..."

"Then it's a perfect pairing."

"Well, nothing's perfect, but yes, it comes pretty close to it." Kakashi gives Shinri a happy eye crease.

"So that's what you're getting at - that I shouldn't let Hiraku go because we're an 'almost perfect' couple."

"I think you shouldn't let her go if you truly love her."

"I do, but that's exactly why I'm letting her go."

Kakashi looks at Shinri wearily - 'Maybe this isn't going to be so easy after all.'

"It was supposed to be so easy." Hiraku tells me as we take a place on either side of the oil lamp burning in the middle of the otherwise empty room. "Before, everything was so clear. Everybody had their place and their duties and I had mine, but now I don't even know what I'm doing anymore."

And for the first time since I met her, I now see Hiraku for who she really is, what Kakashi had said she was all along. Not a high and mighty brat. Not even a pain in my ass. For the first time, I see before me someone who's just trying to make sense of it all like everyone else, someone I can relate to.

"Nothing is ever easy, Hiraku-hime. Nothing worth living for anyway. And nobody ever really knows what they're doing. Some people are just better at hiding that fact than others." I smile comfortingly at her.

And again, another first - Hiraku gives me a small smile back.

"It wasn't her idea."

"I'm sorry?" Kakashi asks confused.

"Going forward with the marriage. It wasn't Hiraku's idea, it was mine. I mean, look at me Kakashi-san, dressed in servant's robes and smelling of stock animals. Hiraku doesn't deserve someone like me. She deserves someone better. Her fiance can offer her everything, I can offer her nothing."

"And since when did loving someone account for nothing?" Kakashi asks in shock.

"You put too much stock in love, Kakashi-san. In real life, love isn't the answer to all of life's problems. If anything, it's the cause of them."

Behind his mask, Kakashi's jaw drops - 'I thought he said he was easy-going...'

"Okay. So let's say I do what you tell me to...hypothetically. I go to my parents, tell them that I'm in love with someone else, call the marriage off, and then what? Live happily ever after? The real world doesn't work like that, Sakura-san."

"Well, no, of course it doesn't. To tell you the truth, your parents are probably going to be really disappointed and angry with you, as is the man you were supposed to marry, everyone is going to wonder what the hell you were thinking giving up a rich fiance for a poor stable boy, and life is most likely going to be a living hell for you and Shinri for awhile."

"Right...and how exactly is this supposed to convince me to call off the marriage again?" Hiraku asks me with a raised eyebrow.

"Fine, Shinri-san. You're right. Love isn't the answer to all of life's problems, and you know what? You're even right about it being the cause for most of them. Broken hearts, jealousy, even war - all because of love. Unrequited love. Misplaced love. Forbidden love. It seems like everyone talks about it, longs for it, and for what? Something that is overrated and overexaggerated anyway? So why go through all the trouble?"

"Because in the end, it's worth it. When you're old and gray and on your deathbed, Hiraku-hime, what do you think you'll regret more? Having followed your heart, or having not?"

"I'm not a coward. I'm not taking the easy way out, Kakashi-san. If anything, letting Hiraku go is the hardest thing for me to do. But I think I'll regret it even more if her life gets ruined all because of me."

"But, Sakura-san, it's so easy to say 'follow your heart,' but what if my heart is wrong? I have to listen to my head, too, you know? Emotions can get away from you and fog your mind, but your brain will always keep you grounded."

"And you don't think you'll ruin Hiraku-hime's life by no longer being a part of it?"

"And what if your heart knows something that your head doesn't, Hiraku-hime?"

Silence.

Silence.

"You're trying so hard to protect her by not being with her, Shinri-san."

"I don't blame you for being cautious, Hiraku-hime, because, yes, love can make you blind."

"But let me tell you something-"

"I had my heart badly broken for that very same reason."

"I used to be part of another team when I was younger."

"I told a boy once that I loved him more than anything, that I'd do anything for him."

"And they all left me behind."

"I begged him not to leave me."

"Each and every one of them died, being exactly what you're trying to be - a martyr."

"He turned his back on my words, on me, our entire village."

"They saved everyone except themselves."

"He followed his rage, not his heart."

"And they left me alone."

"And he left me alone."

"So I decided to build walls."

"So I decided to make myself stronger."

"I lost them because I let myself love them."

"I lost him because I was weak."

"But I couldn't lose another person if I never let them in."

"But I couldn't lose him again if I was stronger."

"But I let people in anyway."

"But I lost him again anyway."

"I thought I knew better."

"I couldn't understand it."

"But people have a way of working their way into your heart."

"I'd given up hope, but then something unexpected happened."

"And I fell in love."

"I fell in love again."

"With someone that I shouldn't have."

"With someone I never even considered."

"So I tried to fight it, like you."

"Because, like you, I fell for someone outside of the norm."

"Anything that would happen between us would only ruin us both."

"You're not supposed to fall in love with someone outside of your age, your race, your social standing - anything that society deems 'normal'."

"But you can't help who you fall in love with."

"But then all the 'normal' relationships don't necessarily work out."

"I see something in Sakura I haven't seen in anybody else."

"People get divorced, stay in relationships in which they're abused..."

"I get along with her in a way I don't with any other person."

"And even though I'm not in a 'normal' relationship, I can't see Kakashi ever hurting me. I can't see my life without him in it."

"I always want to be there for her, comfort her, never see her get hurt."

"Do you know how rare that is?"

"Six billion people in the world and it's this one pink-haired, green-eyed woman who makes me feel that way."

"To be able to say that about someone and mean it?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming that Sakura is perfect."

"I'm not saying that Kakashi is perfect."

"Her temper alone can scare most men, women, and children - even animals - away."

"He can be so frustratingly lazy, he's late to everything, he reads porn out in public, and when I was younger he completely passed me over to train the boys instead-"

"But in spite of that-"

"But in spite of all his faults-"

"We work."

"Somehow we work."

"Because while others might find Sakura's strong personality and fists intimidating-"

"Because while others might find Kakashi inaccessible with his cool indifference-"

"It's those very traits about her that make me see her as an equal."

"It's his calm and patient maturity that levels out my hot-blooded temper."

"Because don't you see? Even though we may not be other people's ideal..."

"...we happen to be each other's."

"That's why I can't let her go."

"That's why I can't let him go."

"Even with people saying that I'm robbing the cradle."

"Even with people saying that he's old enough to be my father."

"I don't care."

"I just don't care."

"Let them try to tear us apart-"

"Let them badmouth us all they want-"

"Because I'm planning to be with Sakura for as long as she'll have me."

"Because those people are in my life only for a little while, while Kakashi will be in it always."

"Yes, love may not be the answer to everything-"

"Yes, I know that a million things could go wrong and we just might not last forever-"

"But it doesn't make love any less valuable."

"But it doesn't mean that what we have isn't worth fighting for 'til the very end."

"So all I'm saying is-"

"Fight to stay with Shinri."

"Fight for Hiraku-hime."

"Against all odds you fell for each other when you thought you never would-"

"Six billion people in the world and somehow you found love in each other."

"...Don't you think that maybe fate is trying to tell you something?"

"But I am fighting for Hiraku, Kakashi-san...I'm fighting to keep her reputation intact."

"But I'm not you, Sakura-san. I do have to care about what people think and say about me. What kind of leader would I be if I didn't?"

"I'm sorry, but I love Hiraku too much to let her settle for less than the best and I know that I'm just not it."

"I'm sorry, Sakura-san. I really am, but my mind is made up."

"Thank you, Kakashi-san, for doing what you were trying to do, but I'm afraid I'll have to stand my ground on this. I'll see you on the journey tomorrow, okay?"

"It's getting late, Sakura-san. Can you please just walk me home now?"

"Alright."

"Alright."

~*~*~*~

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asks gently as I crawl into the bedroll already warm from his body heat. Wrapping his arms around me and spooning me, he effectively takes away more of the night-air chill running through my body after walking Hiraku back to her house.

"I couldn't get through to Hiraku-hime." I admit to him in defeat.

"I couldn't get through to Shinri-san either." Kakashi murmurs softly in my ear.

"I just don't get it, Kakashi. How could two people who love each other not fight to be with each other? That is simply beyond me."

"The thing is, Sakura, they are fighting for each other, just not in the way that we'd like."

"What use is fighting for love if you can't be together in the end?"

"I know it's hard to understand, but sometimes it's enough just to know that the one you love is somewhere safe and happy and well taken care of. Just look at all the people we've lost up to this point - giving up their lives just to make sure that our futures, at least, will be better."

"Don't you get tired, Kakashi? Tired of spewing out that ninja ideal just to make our losses seem more bearable?"

"Well, for the longest time that ideal was the only thing that kept me going. I had to tell myself something standing in front of the memorial stone day after day. But yes. At some point, I did get tired of it. At some point, it lost its meaning and became nothing but empty words."

"Then why repeat it to me now? Why tell me something that even you don't seem to believe in anymore?"

"Because Hiraku and Shinri believe in it. If you want to truly understand what they're doing and why, it all comes down to that one belief."

"And you? What do you believe in now, Kaka-sensei?"

"I still believe that its honorable and courageous to fight and die for those you love, but if you want those you love to be truly happy, then fight and live and be with them instead." Kakashi says, holding me tighter and closer than ever before.

"Now why didn't we just tell them that in the first place?" I ask Kakashi, looking at him over my shoulder.

"Because it's late, we're all drained, and there's always tomorrow. Besides, don't you have a promise to keep?"

"You remember that?!"

"I'm a guy, Sakura. Of course I remember that."

"But I thought you just said you were drained!"

"Sakura, I'm never too drained for that."

"Of all the people in the world, I get the perviest one of them all."

"One in six billion, Sakura..."

"And you just happen to be my 'one'."

"Do you regret it?"

"One in six billion, Kakashi, and I'm the one who gets to have you. Fangirls and boys around the world are dying of envy, so what do you think?"

"I think we're about to put this house Yamato built for us to good use."

"You know what? I think you just might be right..."

And the room goes dark as Kakashi blows out our lamplight.

To be continued...

~*~*~*~

At this moment, there are six billion,

Four-hundred seventy million,

Eight-hundred eighteen thousand,

Six-hundred seventy-one people in the world...

Six billion people in the world,

Six billion souls,

And sometimes..

All you need is ONE.

~*~*~*~

I've never seen "One Tree Hill," but that's where this quote came from (youtube.com/watch?v=YQgYloaGhWk) - I ran across it while doing a little research for this chapter. And here's what it look likes numerically: 6,470,818,671. Kind of humbling, don't you think?