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The papers in the file fluttered slightly as Temari held it out over the desk. “That should be the last of the paperwork —for now at least.”
Kakashi thumbed through them slowly. Official Shinobi Profile. Record of Citizenship for the Land of Wind. Birth Certificate. “If anything’s missing I’ll make sure to let that one know,” he droned, with a casual gesture to her escort. Application of Citizenship for the Land of Fire. Engagement Announcement.
“Yeah, whatever,” Shikamaru groaned, “It’s all there anyways.”
Temari giggled. “Well, with that we’ll take our leave.”
Kakashi dismissed them with a nod.
A slight bow later and both Shikamaru and Temari turned to leave Kakashi’s office. These days they walked closer than they had when the two had first started acting as envoy and escort; their hands brushed slightly as they walked.
Kakashi sighed.
He was happy for them —honestly, he was. He was just tired. The first marriage boom during his tenure and damn near everyone had to marry shinobi in other villages. Some were going and some were leaving, but all of them needed paperwork with his seal of approval.
Shizune gave a forced laugh. “At least we know Temari well enough that we don’t have to worry.”
“Does that mean I don’t have to read this one?” Naruto groaned.
“You do have to read it to make sure the information is complete and accurate,” Kakashi told him as he handed over the papers, “but you don’t have to do any risk assessment.” As he finished there was a sudden tapping sound nearby.
A familiar messenger bird perched outside, pecking impatiently at the glass. Shizune moved to open the window.
Naruto returned his attention to Temari’s file. “Cool,” he deadpanned.
The window opened and the bird flew obediently to Kakashi, letting him remove the cardboard cylinder tied to its leg.
He paused.
Today there was the slightest difference in the weight and balance of the tube.
Interesting.
He inspected everything closer, but the bird was fine. There was no evidence of tampering on the tube. “Hey, sensor type,” he called out.
Naruto looked up from his file.
Kakashi tossed him the tube. “Is there anything strange with the chakra on this?”
Naruto caught it with a grin, and studied it closely.
‘Look at that focus. Any excuse to use a jutsu,’ Kakashi thought, ‘and any excuse not to read through paperwork.’
Naruto looked crestfallen. “Just a small seal,” he groaned, tossing it back.
Kakashi released the seal and looked inside. Along with the status report, there was one more thing. Curled slightly inside the message tube was a photograph.
A group of people massed outdoors among the bright fall colors. Sakura beamed at the camera wearing a white and red kimono, arms looped tightly around a pleased looking Sasuke. Orochimaru stood on Sasuke’s other side, a hand on his shoulder —and a little higher, the fleck of an Anbu mask dotted a tree in the background. Jugo, Suigetsu Hozuki, and Karin Uzumaki flocked around them jubilantly.
He flipped the picture over and read the carefully written inscription inked across the back: Sasuke and Sakura Uchiha ♥ ️ P.S.Tell Naruto “Sorry.” I just didn’t want to deal with my parents.
Kakashi gave a single snickering laugh before handing the photo —inscription side up— to Naruto.
“What’s this?” he asked, flipping the photo in his hand. After a moment, it clicked and he howled in realization, “Oh, come on!” He turned the picture over and over in his hand as he prattled in complaint over missing his best friends’ wedding.
Shizune gave a stressed sigh. “Sakura,” she groaned.
“Well,” Kakashi chuckled, settling into his desk chair “at least that’s going well.”
“They’ve been dating for six weeks! You could be a little concerned!” Shizune chided.
Kakashi waved her off. “I could, but I’ve already moved into the acceptance stage. Speaking of,” He nodded towards where Naruto was mumbling prostrate into the floor. “Naruto should be arriving in about 3…2…”
Naruto shoved himself animatedly off the floor, an audacious grin plastered across his face. “So, when are you planning on settling down, Kakashi-sensei?” He goaded. He stalked over to Kakashi’s desk, leaning impishly over the wood. “I’ve been married for almost a year now–”
“Seven months,” Shizune and Kakashi corrected in unison.
“–Sakura and Sasuke are married now. Shikamaru’s getting married. Sai. Choji. Bushy-brow,” he jeered, “Seems like everybody else is getting hitched –and we’re way younger than you are! You’re falling behind, old man.”
Kakashi rolled his eyes. “If you don’t have anything better to do, why don’t you go spread the good news to everyone else while I finish with these.”
Naruto beamed and went speeding off. Even through the solid walls, the remaining group could still hear the emphatic yell of, “HEY! SHIKAMARU!”
“You don’t have to run,” Shizune complained under her breath.
Kakashi chuckled. “But that’s how young people are. Everything has to be done in a hurry.”
“Speaking of,” Shizune groaned, already sounding exhausted, “I’ll go inform the Harunos of their daughter’s marriage. Wish me luck.”
Shizune stormed out the door and for a moment the room was quiet —the only sound, the click of the keyboard.
Kakashi looked up through the ajar door at the motionless figure stationed outside the door. “What are you laughing at?” he asked. There hadn’t been any real sound, but when you knew someone well enough —and when you made a life out of reading the slightest twitch in a person’s body language— you could just tell.
“Nothing Lord Hokage. Just a memory,” Yugao shared.
“Humor me.”
“If you insist. It was right after I joined the Anbu. I was on guard duty just like I am now,” she said with a slight turn of her chin. “There was this captain —eighteen years old, just a little older than me. He came barrelling past —injured, bleeding everywhere— and barged right into Lord Third’s office.
“He started going off about how Danzo Shimura had attempted to kill him, except he wasn’t really upset about the assassination attempt . He was worried about what would happen to his would-be assassin after Danzo found out they failed. He pleaded —begged on his knees— for Lord Third to help save this Root member.
“Lord Third agreed and sent me off to handle the situation while the captain was ordered to see to his injuries. Instead, this no-nonsense hardass with a reputation for being a stickler even among Anbu, disobeyed a direct order from Lord Hokage and accompanied me to Root.
“I left a missive with some Root members and went on my way. Meanwhile, the universally impassive captain decided he was going to single-handedly storm Root —still freshly injured from their earlier attempt on his life— because he couldn’t possibly wait for the situation to resolve.”
Kakashi could feel the faint flush under his mask. “As I said, young people have to do everything in a hurry.”
“Yes,” Yugao agreed, “Especially when it comes to love.”
Kakashi’s eyes drifted over to where Naruto had laid the photo on the desk. His gaze rested on the Anbu in the background. Through the stillness of the image, through the distance, through the solidness of the Anbu mask, Kakashi could sense the joy radiating off them. Subtle and deeply fond.
Love.
Love had always been Kakashi’s deepest, darkest secret. His father had loved his friends and that love turned around and ate him alive. Kakashi loved his father; after his suicide, the mix of shame and pride and heartache almost ate him alive. And so he buried it, but that didn’t destroy the love. It didn’t make it any less painful or any less precious.
Then there was Obito and Rin. Love made it worth losing an eye for Obito. Love made it worth going into that cave for Rin. And then it started collapsing and Kakashi wasn’t going to make it, but dying would have been worth it because they would both be alive and he loved them both.
But Obito saved him and ended up getting crushed in his place.
Because Obito loved him, too .
They both lived because Obito loved them. Kakashi received not only a new eye, but a sharingan, and worldwide fame because Obito loved him.
And then Madara had Rin turned into a jinchuriki because Obito loved her. Rin died because Obito loved her.
Rin died in Kakashi’s arms because she loved him.
They awakened their shared pair of mangekyo because of their shared love for her.
And Obito nearly ended the world because he loved her. He’d made himself proficient at psychological operations to devastating degrees. Obito had a gift for tearing out people’s hearts.
No one had ever bested Minato Namikaze in a straight fight, and so Obito targeted where he’d known their sensei was weak: his wife and son. Minato was forced to choose his family or his village over and over and he chose love every time. And it killed him. It killed the strongest man Kakashi ever knew.
He thought about the way it felt when Orochimaru’s snake monster had swallowed Tenzo in the lab. How the world narrowed into a bleak, crumbling nothing that got smaller and smaller until Kakashi pulled Tenzo back into the world of the living. He thought about how it felt when he woke up propped against the wall, knowing Tenzo had saved him. How it felt reading that note and knowing he would lose them to Danzo. Kakashi would have died for them without a single thought.
But peace between the five great nations didn’t dissolve all of the tension in the world and Kakashi had certainly made enough enemies over the years. Physical attacks could be blocked or parried. Illusions could be dispelled. But there were no countermeasures for psychological warfare.
How could he ever put on a wedding ring? How could he ever tell the world that he loved someone so devastatingly much? How could he ever advertise that weakness to his enemies? How could he paint that target on someone’s back?
He was a dangerous person to love.
Tenzo understood. They understood intimately and without any words. He loved them so much for that.
He loved them. He loved their strength. He loved their kindness. They were steadfast and humble. Reliable. Beautiful. Somehow always exactly where they needed to be.
And right now, they were keeping an eye on one of the most dangerous people in the world. They were making sure a set of wayward kids could craft real futures for themselves. They were watching over a pair of impulsive newlyweds Kakashi loved with all his heart.
“Maybe we’ll get married one day,” he muttered, “One day when I don’t have to handle all the paperwork.”
There was no hurry to decide. They had their whole lives ahead of them.