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He loved her...
The first time he laid eyes on her, they were still children...
She was beautiful, powerful, graceful, and perfect in his eyes. At first, he thought of it as a crush, though later, it bloomed into something more, something prominent.
People thought he liked her because of her background, heritage, and skills, like many of his peers did.
He silently doted over the girl, too shy to approach, too complexed due to his own insecurity.
Because of this blossoming love, he lost a dear friend, his best friend.
And that's when the rivalry began between the two best friends-turned-rivals.
At some point, he lost his way; maybe he was more focused on outmatching his rival, or maybe he was trying to distract himself.
He became bolder, trying to gain the attention of the one he proclaimed he loved.
And he loved unconditionally.
Though he made many mistakes in his childhood, when he was supposed to be more focused on training, the crush became something more, maybe slightly bordering on obsession.
But he loved her no less.
He knew that from the moment they became teammates, they were destined to be with one another in his perfect, rose-colored world.
Though she never paid much mind to his efforts, in his vision, being seen as a fellow colleague, sometimes a nuisance to her goals, he never stopped loving her.
He knew she had her imperfections, her own goals that revolved nowhere near any perfect romance novels he read in his private time, but he still loved her, and after chunin exams, he realized that even if he wouldn't be a part of what she deeply desired, of her endgame, he would still love and wait for her.
And then, she left...
That night was the most painful experience of his life; it felt even worse than being repeatedly dragged around by the sound ninja during the chunin exams.
Even as he finally had the courage to proclaim his love to her at that very moment, even if he felt selfish doing so at the end, begging and crying for her to stay, he would even go as far as to follow her to the ends of the world to help her achieve her purpose, but she left...
And he never felt more useless in his life.
Still, despite all, despite wanting to hate her, to be mad at her,
He couldn't help but love her.
So in the silence of nights, he quietly cried in his room, mentally begging for the gods to bring her back to him, to their team.
Though it never worked, and he still couldn't stop loving her.
And just like that, everything fell apart...
His team unofficially disbanded.
Naruto went to train with his new teacher,
And as for Kakashi... He just disappeared, taking on missions, making excuses, etc...
Luckily for him, one of the greatest healers in the world took an interest in him after proving himself worthy of her attention.
And he trained day in, day out.
He never stopped. In a way, the training regimen and being on missions helped his aching heart in hopes of keeping the promise to his dear friend: Bring Sayuri back to the village.
The time passed so quickly, and when the team and Sayuri met for the first time in a long while, the ache in his heart came back tenfold.
Despite what she had become, he couldn't help but still be in love; it was like the first time they met.
But it seemed that nothing was in his and Naruto's favor, and they say that sometimes you'll have to make hard choices.
So, this time, he chose his people over his beloved.
They had quite a few encounters, but nothing hurt more than realizing that he might have to end his beloved and cut her life short.
Of course, he failed, which filled him both with shame, guilt, and, weirdly enough, relief.
He still loved her.
She asked him to take a life for her,
He wanted to, but he was a medic first and foremost, and he realized that his loyalties lay with his village, so he saved a life instead and stood against his beloved.
When he found out about Naruto's plan on chasing after Sayuri, he proclaimed feelings for him, knowing that maybe there was a chance that Naruto wouldn't go after her and possibly get himself killed in the process. He knew it was betraying his trust in him, possibly being seen as someone who played with the feelings Naruto had for him in a twisted way, but it was the only solution he came up with on the spot.
It was his last attempt, because as much as he hated to admit it, he was losing hope of ever fulfilling their promise.
Though he still loved her.
The war came quicker than he expected; it was like the blink of an eye, now finally allied with Sayuri Uchiha to defeat the ultimate threat, the reanimated Uchiha, maddened by power, and Obito.
Then came another threat, Kaguya.
They won the battle, though he was conflicted when the final battle between Naruto and Sayuri came:
He still loved her, didn't he...?
He got what he wanted: being acknowledged and respected by his beloved, but..
His feelings were at war: What if she decided to turn against the village again? Then there would be no redemption for her.
But subconsciously, he still loved her...
Then came the imprisonment of the last Uchiha.
From time to time, he visited her, making sure to keep her in good health, and a part of him just wanted to see her.
It pained him to see her in that state, despite her having no objections. Sometimes, he just wanted to break the prison bars and escape with her in his arms,
But he loved her, and he loved his village just as much.
He let her be...
After her release, Sayuri said that she would go on a redemption journey after finally gaining back the trust of her peers, which would benefit both her and the village to atone for her sins as well as keep an eye out for anything that would threaten the village, such as more Otsutsukis.
He asked to go with and got denied, but Sayuri made a silent promise with him, poking him on his forehead, on his yin seal.
"I'll return, this time." She gave him a rare, soft smile, promising that she would return.
Despite all, he returned her a genuine smile. "I'll hold you up to your promise, then, Uchiha." Sakruo replied softly.
And so, he waited, because he knew that he loved her unconditionally, and even if he grew old and wary, he would still wait for her.
Because she was the only woman that he would ever love, even if the world burned down to ashes.