Herrow everyone! :)

So, I've been just a little more than obsessed with the aspect of true love lately.

...

I'm a girl, what do you want from me?

Anyway, this is the outcome of that, and whilst it is EXTREMELY fluffy, and cute, and probably nauseating... it gets my point across.

I hope you guys enjoy. Really, I do. :) So please leave comments and such if you'd like to.

The song being used is called, 'Love Is' by Meg & Dia. I've been a fan of the band for years. They're fantastic.

I don't own Naruto.

Love you all!

May

Love is an empty cup. It takes time to fill it up-

I don't understand what I did wrong. Sasuke came back to the village and you'd think I'd be all over him, but it's like he didn't even exist; to say that people were surprised would be the understatement of the year. I couldn't pick Naruto up off of the ground for almost a month because he was laughing so hard at Sasuke, who thought I'd be there'd for him to 'expand' his clan... haha no.

So, after months of trying to court me Sasuke Uchiha finally realized that I wouldn't like him as more than a friend, and he gave up; (which is pretty damn amazing for an Uchiha). And I know what you're thinking, 'Sakura, the man of your dreams 'finally' showed interest in you; what the hell are you doing?' well, in all honesty, I fell in love.

Ok, now, I know I said I was in love with Sasuke, and I thought I was, but when you get older, things are thrown into the light, the good, the bad, and the worst. Then, I soon afterwards realized how ridiculous my love was, and that my emotions for Sasuke were more of the guilt I felt for not being able to protect him from himself, so soon after he left I got over him, but I still wanted Naruto to get him back; I wanted my best friend.

In the absence of Sasuke, who left for Orochimaru, and Naruto who left with Jiraiya, I trained with the new Hokage, Tsunade. I was labeled as useless in the academy, and I really was. I couldn't fight, I was an emotional mess, and all I ever cared about was Sasuke. I look back now, and I want to slap the shit out of myself. So, Tsunade trained me in medical jutsu, and taught me how to defend myself, and for the first time in my life I felt like I was in control. And in the time that Tsunade trained me I became closer to my old sensei.

That silly, aloof, pervert started showing up more often, and I found myself looking forward to seeing him. At first I didn't realize what was going on; he'd show up, we'd train, then go to lunch and he'd 'always' pay. Kakashi would never pay when the boys and I were genin but I didn't think anything of it because I thought he was scared of me like the rest of the villagers were, (I had Tsunade's temper too...). But as time wore on, and we became closer, Kakashi started to change; the man I once knew as an enigma, was slowly becoming a person.

He made me laugh with his atrocious jokes, and he opened up about his past, something he'd never done with anyone but Asuma. So, of course when we'd be out in public it became a joke that where they found me, they found Kakashi, and the weird part was, I didn't seem to mind. I started to find myself happier than I had ever been, but still, I didn't think anything of it. For months Tsunade would give me this secretive smile and it really started to get on my nerves, and my temper was not the best one, so one day I decided to confront her.

Flashback to the Hokage's office:

"Shishou, why the hell do you keep smiling at me like that? This has been going on for months and it's really starting to piss me off!" I growled at her, and that aggravating smile widened, and then she started to laugh. I almost punched the desk she sat at in half, out of rage.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY YOU OLD BAT?" I screamed. She shook her head and leaned back in her chair.

"When you figure out the joke Sakura, you'll laugh too." she told me with that smile and the discussion was over.

I didn't have an idea of what she was talking about until one night; I was hanging out with Sasuke after he got back from a four month-long mission.

Flashback to the Uchiha compound:

"I just don't understand, Sasuke; everyone gets this retarded smile when they see me, like they know something I don't!" I scowled, and out of the corner of my eye I saw him smirk.

"Oh, what?" my irritability showed and then he chuckled.

"Sometimes you're so stupid Sakura; you've always been able to see the truth in things, but now you're as blind as a bat." he told me in a sage-like voice. I rolled my eyes.

"What are you talking about, Sauce-Gay?" I teased him and his right eye twitched.

"I'm talking about you and Kakashi." he said bluntly, and I blinked a couple of times.

"What about Kakashi and I?" I was lost.

"You love him, and he loves you."

... Excuse me?

"That's a pretty wild accusation." I blurted out, horribly confused.

Is that why everyone kept looking at me funny? They think I'm in love with Kakashi?

And then I thought about it, and the more I thought, the bigger the blush on my cheeks became. The feelings that I got when I was with Kakashi were ones I had never experienced before. I mean, he knew me so well, my faults, my strengths, my fears, my dreams... everything.

And I knew everything about him; how he brushed Pakkun's fur every night before bed because it reminded him of how he'd brush his mother's hair when he was younger, how he doesn't read Icha Icha for just the smut content, but because, apparently, Jiraiya writes some pretty good love stories, and how loyal he is to his friends that he goes to the Hero's Memorial every day to honor them.

But that was just best friend stuff... then there's the nights he would come over for dinner, and afterwards we'd sit on my couch with my head in his lap and he'd read me poetry from my favorite collection, or our lunches we would have at the training grounds on our days off, or the walks we'd take when I had a break from the hospital...

It all made sense, the feelings of home only he could give me, (something I had been lacking since my parents died). How happy I got when he looked at me, like he could see me, not Sakura, the Hokage's apprentice, but Sakura, the girl who was scared of letting someone die under her hands. He made me feel happy, and I thought the warmth that surged through my body was friendship, but I never got that tingly with Naruto or Sasuke. It was love.

I looked at Sasuke with a look akin to irrational fear and his gaze turned tender.

"It's alright Sakura; it's okay to love someone." he told me gently and engulfed me in a brotherly hug.

End Of Flashback

That was the best advice Sasuke ever gave me.

After that talk with Sasuke I had all intentions of marching up to Kakashi and telling him exactly how I felt about him, but of course, as fate might have it, he was sent away on a mission.

That was two weeks ago.

He may be chronically tardy when in the village, but that pervert never wasted time on a mission. I tried not to worry, but I couldn't help it, not when his track record for a mission was never more than eleven days.

I was lost in my own thoughts, and that wasn't okay when one worked in a hospital, in a ninja community, where said ninjas were always being brought into said hospital half dead… or worse.

So there I was, going through paperwork that Tsunade-sama siphoned off onto me because she was too drunk to do it.

"Sakura! We need you in the OR, now!" Shizune's voice came over the intercom and I immediately paled; she never, ever, used the intercom unless Mizuke, the desk attendant, was busy or if it was dire emergency. And Shizune sure as hell didn't call me 'Sakura' in front of the interns. It was always, 'Haruno-san'. This had to be bad.

I flew out of my office like it was on fire, and booked it to the OR wing. Everyone got out of my way, but not before I noticed their looks of pity; why they gave me those looks, I don't know.

The double doors didn't stand a chance as I crashed through them and scrubbed up before making my way to the table where everyone, including Shizune, and Tsunade were huddled around.

"Whats going-?" I started to ask before I saw the occupant of said table.

He was bleeding profusely from somewhere- or everywhere, I couldn't tell.

There was just so much blood.

His shirt was torn off, and it revealed a battered chest under the river of blood that I hoped wasn't all his. I could barely see his silver hair under the coagulated red substance, but that damn mask was still intact.

"Kakashi." I breathed and everyone looked at me. The moment of hesitation passed when I saw his irregular heart beat and the breathing apparatus they had to attach to him so he didn't drown in his own blood.

"Status?" I asked briskly and everyone, including Shizune and the Hokage, seemed to snap back to the patient in question.

"His lungs are filling with fluid, four ribs are broken, his left elbow is shattered, both his femurs are cracked, Shizune's tending to them right now, his left leg is totally mangled, and his heart has failed four times; we don't plan on a fifth time." Tsunade told me quickly, without stopping the glowing hands that perused Kakashi's battered body.

I nodded tightly and went to work on the fluid that was filling his lungs. Interns got to work healing the scrapes, and bruises; little things our chakra shouldn't have to be wasted on.

The fluid was moving quickly and I had to use almost all of my chakra to heal the wounds bleeding into them to he could breathe without the apparatus shoved down his throat. I moved my hand up towards his collar that I noticed was broken, and fixed that whilst on my way to his head. I checked to see if he had an cranial injuries, but miraculously he was fine there. I then moved to his eyes. His normal eye was fine, but his Sharingan was under a lot of strain. I knew this was from using it too much over the years, but I still repaired the dendrites behind the eye that were causing him discomfort.

"Enough Sakura; he's stable, and the interns will handle the smaller injuries from here. I need you ready if his heart fails again or anything else happens." Tsunade laid a bloody hand on my shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. I glanced at the clock on the wall and it told me I'd been in here a good three and a half hours.

"Does he have enough blood? He lost so much. Between what was coming out directly from the surface wounds and the internals… especially the lungs." I asked her and she nodded.

"Daisuke is giving him blood now." she motioned to the male at the corner of the room who was checking the IV in Kakashi's arm; blood was clearly being transferred into his body, but I was too preoccupied to notice before.

"Ok, good." I sighed, and rolled my neck; it cracked a few times, but the tension was alleviated. For now.

"Go wash the blood from your hands and rest. Maybe get something to eat; you need to replenish your chakra." she told me in her motherly tone and disposed of the bloodied gloves she wore before pulling me into a reassuring hug.

"I get the joke now Shishou…" I mumbled into her shoulder, and mentioned what she told me those weeks ago; she squeezed me tighter.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan; he'll be fine. The stupid ass always bounces back. He's like a freaking cat." she told me with a confident smile, and walked out of the room.

Everyone seemed to vacate the room after that, leaving me with Kakashi, and a heart monitor that was going strong with a steady heart beat- thank god.

I pulled an over-cushioned hospital chair next to the bed, and sighed. I took his pale hand in my own, and tried to warm it up; it was as cold as ice.

"I didn't get to see you before you went on your mission." I spoke quietly, but I knew he would be able to hear, with that hyper sensitive hearing and all, but he was still unconscious.

"I would have found you if I had known how long you were going to be gone. I'm sorry for that." I laced our fingers together and licked my chapped lips.

"Why did you have to go and get hurt?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.

"Why couldn't you be ok and come back and let me profess my undying love for you while you were healthy? Instead of having to bring you back from the dead?" the tears started to flow freely down my cheeks, and my chest heaved in a near-there panic attack.

"I talked with Sasuke, and he pointed out my feelings before I even figured them out. Everyone seemed to be aware of what was going on, but me." I whispered to myself more than him, but I hoped he heard me, I wasn't sure if I could admit this aloud again.

"I've loved you for so long now, and I had no idea. It's so ironic though; I claimed to have loved an egotistical asshole when I was younger, but that was a joke, and now I felt real, genuine love, and I had no idea." I told him, and rubbed the top of his hand with my thumb.

"I'm sorry you had to wait this long for me to figure out my feelings." I apologized to him and smiled.

"You're such a softie that you would never push yourself on me. I can't believe how long you waited for me to have this damn epiphany. You're more patient than I ever gave you credit for you lazy pervert." I told him lovingly, and yawned before leaning half of my body on a small portion of unoccupied bed, right next to his torso. I grasped his hand tighter and felt the fuzziness of sleep clouding my mind.

"But that's why I love you." I drawled out through a yawn, and was out cold.

I felt warm sunlight filtering through the hospital blinds and on my face. I took a deep breath in and rubbed my eyes with my left hand.

"Good morning." a baritone voice sounded from in front of me.

"Good morning." I greeted back before I could think of where, or who, the voice came from. My eyes suddenly shot open to reveal a conscious Kakashi, who was smiling at me, an eye crinkle was visible.

"You're okay!" I practically leapt on the bed, and gingerly put my arms around him, in a gentlde embrace. We both fit on the bed. Thank god. Cause there was no way I was leaving his side.

"I am." he put an arm around my shoulder and I snuggled closer to his chest and let my chakra flow through his system, checking for further damage.

"I was so worried. You were gone for two weeks, and then I get called down the the OR and you're on an operating table with gaping wounds, way too many broken bones, and an enormous amount of blood. Everywhere except in your body." I shook slightly, and his other hand came to intertwine our fingers together.

"I'm fine now though, thanks you to and Shizune-san, and Tsunade-sama." he gave me another eye crinkle, but my distress didn't waver. If anything, I became even more annoyed. I was trying to tell this stubborn man that I loved him with my whole being- my whole heart, and he was just waving off the fact that he died four times, and almost didn't pull through a near fatal mission.

Pfft. Men.

"Ugh!" I huffed, exasperated by his nonchalance, and he let out a low, albeit very sexy, chuckle, and I felt my cheeks heat up.

"I'm trying to tell you something you stupid, stubborn, man!" I did all I could not to flick a chakra infused finger at his forehead.

"Oh? And what's that?" his charcoal eye twinkled knowingly, and it distractedly momentarily, but I shook my head and continued on; I was determined.

"It probably would have sped the process of us up if you told me that you were interested in pursuing a… relationship with me." I said lowly, and I swear I could see the smirk on his face through his mask.

"Ah, that may be true Sakura-chan, but your declaration of love that you made last night was worth the wait." he told me, and my cheeks felt maddeningly hot.

"You were awake for that?" I shrieked and buried my enflamed face in his side.

Wah... the shame...

"Yes. I was, and you were so adorable while doing so. I didn't have the heart to interrupt you." he whispered soothingly into my exposed ear and ran his hand up and down my arm, creating goosebumps.

"I didn't want to tell you of my feelings because I didn't want you to feel compelled to return them." his voice was deep, and gentle, and held so much meaning I glanced up at him shyly.

"You didn't know what real love felt like, you even said it yourself. So how was I, or you for that matter, to know what you were really feeling? If I brought up what I felt, you would have guilted yourself into feeling the same way, whether or not you really did love me." his voice screamed, pleaded, with me to understand what he was saying, and I did. But I didn't think he was right at all; I would not have guilted myself into feeling the same way. I love him. I know that now.

"Thank you for waiting for me Kakashi." I told him in a quiet voice, and he brought me closer to his chest and I looked up at him with a small smile.

"Thank you for loving me Sakura-chan." he told me, and I felt warm. Loved.

I ran my hands through his hair that I cleaned the blood out of a couple of hours ago, and down his masked face. He was real, and he loved me, and I loved him.

His fingers inched their way to his mask and he began to pull it down.

"You don't have to." I told him quickly, and I saw the faint outline of a smile within the blue material.

"But I want to." was all he said before the mask pooled around his neck. I gasped, but I couldn't help it.

Naruto, Sasuke, and I spent years trying to figure out what was under that mask, and now all I could think about was how lucky I was.

He was a beautiful man. The only thing that marred his skin was the wound from his Sharingan eye. Every other expanse of pale skin was flawless, and smooth. Past his eyes was a straight nose, that was angular on his face, and accented his strong, long, jaw perfectly. It wasn't too pointed, but added a softness to his features that would make any warm blooded woman's heart skip a beat.

I finally made my way down to his soft-looking, pale pink lips. They pulled back into a loving smile that revealed a very prominent dimple on his left cheek, and one word came to mind.

Perfection.

I smiled back at him and laughed, a full-bellied laugh.

"What's so funny?" I watched his lips form the words but I still had a hard time seeing them come from his now visible mouth.

"You're gorgeous." I giggled and his eye brow lifted in bewilderment.

"Sasuke and Naruto will never know." I whispered evilly and he chuckled.

"I would like to show them eventually…"

"No." I quickly cut him off and his eye brow perked up again.

"I'm being selfish… and keeping this part of you to myself." I whispered and sat up so I could get closer to his face; his back now rested against the backboard of the hospital bed.

"I'm not complaining." his smile was so boyish, and carefree that my head buzzed and spun.

"You know Sakura, I didn't just show you my face so you could ogle it…" his face held nonchalance as he spoke but his voice had a bit of a mischievous edge to it, and I smiled spitefully.

"You didn't? Well, what else do you expect me to do? I've never seen your face before and I'm kind of overwhelmed…" I put as much innocence as I could into my voice, and I felt his breath catch.

"I'll try to go slow then." he replied cheekily, and leaned into let our lips meet.

He was gentle, and loving, and everything I had ever wanted.

Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes, but they were only my happiness overflowing. I kissed him back, and when he pulled away our foreheads met.

"I love you, Sakura-chan." he whispered and rubbed our noses together.

"I love you too, Kakashi-kun." I answered softly, and stroked his cheek with my thumb.

Love is a strange thing. Sometimes it crashes into you, and its painstakingly obvious, but other times, it's so light that you don't notice it's there; sometimes until it's too late.

Love is eternal when it's real, and fleeting when it's not,

- but it's still love.

-Even when you can't see it, you can fill it lifting you.