Kakashi Hatake had never been big in relationships of any kind. He knew that between the admiration he inspired and the endless queues of heartbroken lovers-wannabe, he wasn't lacking options, but he just... found it hard.

With the missions, and his own emotional troubles, he never believed he could have been able to even maintain something similar to a good and honest friendship, Least of all a romantic relationship. Which is why both him and everyone who knew was completely shocked when you two started going out.

With Naruto and Sasuke away from the village and Sakura training under tsunade, Kakashi found hinself feeling surprisingly lonely. And maybe it was a mix of the loneliness, with some curiosity slipped in, and maybe just the fact that he thought you looked cute- Kakasii found himself accepting when you asked him to go out.

What he didn't expect, was for this casual, only half serious relationship to blow up the way it did. Suddenly you were tucking his head under your chin when he had nightmares, visiting the graves with him to meet his old friends, forcing him to the hospital when he refused to go, much preferring to stay in your arms, and he was telling you of his past, taking off his mask without thinking, and finally having a real excuse for arriving late at meetings, that of not wanting to leave your arms.

In the span of two years, he was completely gone. So much so that he had even bought a ring and hid it in hsi drawer. Of course, that was before Naruto came back. Before Pain destroyed the village, before the war.

And after the war, when you were the first thing he looked for, he remembered the world falling on his shoulders when he found you barely alive on a medical table.

Hit by flying debris, much too close to Madara at the wrong moment, a kind soul was able to carry you away and into a tent, but there was little anyone could do.

After about a week of suffering so great you were barely able to remain sane, you had slipped into a coma. The doctors had said something about an internal bleed in your brain that they were able to fix just in time for you to stay alive, but he could barely hear them, Eyes fixated on you.

Most of the time after that was a blur. Sure, he remembered accepting the position of Hokage and forcing himself up long enough not to cause unwanted worry and to properly take onto his duties, but most of everything else...

Another thing he rememberd was finding your letters. Apparently, during that week of consciousness, in those moments he was asleep, you had gotten a nurse to help you write some letters, seemingly scared enough for your life to want to prepare for the worst.

You had written some for every occasion. For when he missed you, for when he just felt lonely, for when he didn't know what to eat, for when he didn't want to work, and even for a couple of his birthdays.

Today, 15th os september marked the Third birthday since he last spoke to you. He sat in his office, moonlight shining on the papers he was shaped by , but most importantly on the letter. The last one you had prepared. Kakashi had his head resting on his palm, quietly caressing the paper as he watched the shaky signature at the bottom of the paper- the only part of it you hadn't dictated to the kind nurse.

It was his favorite moment of the day, when he had a moment for hinself, he would always pick up one of your letters to read, and today's marked the last unread one he had avaliable. The last of your thoughts he had saved for himself.

The palace was quiet. Who else would be there at 1 am, anyways? You would have been, he thinks. You would have sat beside him, begging for him to finish faster, so you two could go celebrate.

The sacred silence and his lonely thoughts were interrupted by the loud bang of the opening door, and he could feel himself freeze the moment he turned his gaze up

Because there you were, wearing your hospital gown, panting lightly and still obviously weak, but awake and breathing.