By the time they had finished writing the guest list, with more people than expected, and planning everything they had to buy and reserve, it was already morning. Seina was longing to be alone with Kakashi, so as soon as they had nothing left to plan, she said goodbye to her brothers and they went upstairs. As soon as she closed the door to her room, the nearest one, a hand grabbed her hair and right after that, lips pressed against hers.
Suddenly, she had the door pressing into her back and Kakashi's masculine body pressed against hers from head to toe. She wrapped both arms around his neck, opening her mouth so she could feel his tongue against hers. Her hair stood on end and her breathing quickened when she felt Kakashi's hand rest possessively on her hip.
She would have liked to continue, but she felt her tiredness, so she pulled away, resting her forehead against his with her eyes closed.
"You should rest a little. In a few hours I'll give you another invigorating potion."
Kakashi nodded. He let her lead him to her bed, observing the small changes in her room. As soon as he lay down on the soft, magical mattress, she put him in conjured pyjamas and began to caress his hair affectionately, and he fell asleep. He truly fell asleep. She couldn't suppress a smile at how much he trusted her to protect him. Otherwise, he would never have fallen into a deep sleep. She gave him a kiss on the lips, savouring the happiness she felt being able to do that without hesitation, and closed her eyes beside him, though she didn't sleep.
She avoided grinning like an idiot at the thought of her friends' faces when they found out. In fact, she had an evil plan. The last time she had been with them was at the Konoha hot springs, so she would take advantage of her belated birthday celebration to give them the news in the same place. Naked. She could already picture Ino and Tenten's faces. She spent some time meditating to herself about what she needed to do in the following hours.
She noticed Kakashi waking up a little later, at midday. She didn't miss a single detail as she watched him stretch, her eyes filled with desire as she watched Kakashi's muscles contract and relax. Obviously, he caught her staring. It wasn't like she was hiding. She leaned in to kiss his delighted, though mischievous, smile.
"Do you remember what I told you before you left Konoha?" Kakashi whispered, just a few centimetres from her lips.
"You told me many things."
"I promised I would make you mine, that I would make you scream my name and lose all sense of time while I made you mine over and over again. In our bed," he reminded her. "I want to get the Hatake compound in order as soon as possible and as soon as we have our own bedroom, with our own bed… if you want… I plan to make you mine just as I promised."
How aroused she was with just a few of Kakashi's words, his heavy-lidded eyes and his husky voice, was almost laughable. She couldn't contain herself, so she ignored her erect nipples and goosebumps to kiss his lips like she never had before. Kakashi didn't pull back. He kissed her with the same intensity, devouring her mouth frantically. Had she not agreed to his words about waiting a few days until they had their bed away from Sasuke and Naruto, she would have ripped his clothes off and taken him right there. She heard their shared, light breathing, and felt Kakashi's rapid heartbeat against her chest. She pulled away, panting, but Kakashi didn't waste time.
He kissed her neck with a clear thought in mind. To mark her. She moaned as she felt his lips and tongue caress her skin. She didn't know if she wanted him to continue or if she preferred to feel his lips on hers again.
"Food's ready!" Sasuke called from downstairs, putting them off.
Kakashi growled almost violently against her neck, annoyed, but stopped. Not without first giving her a much softer kiss on the lips.
"This afternoon we're going to see the house," she said. Kakashi began to laugh against her neck when he heard the irritation in her voice.
And so they did. With the potions and her magic, Kakashi was recovering much faster than usual. Even so, it would still take him a few more days to return to normal, and about a week to train with the same intensity as usual. In the meantime, he would have to do some rehabilitation.
The Hatake compound was next to the Senju compound, also abandoned. It was smaller than the Uchiha lands, more similar to the Nara's. Most of the houses, having been built decades earlier, were traditional Japanese houses with one or at most two stories. The main house, the leader's, had two stories, but it was quite wide horizontally. The front and back gardens were a mess, like in all the other houses. Luckily, the paths were stone rather than dirt.
"I'm going to need quite a few clones to go faster," she admitted.
"I'd help you, but I think you'd just tell me to get lost."
"True. You just sit there. At least rest today."
She summoned fifty clones to carry out all kinds of chores: cutting the grass, felling broken or misplaced trees, piling up materials so she could dispose of them, going inside the houses to check if they were structurally safe and to collect belongings if any, carving protection runes, and so on. While her clones did as ordered, she took care of the main house. She reinforced the entire structure, transformed the old wood into new, cleaned it from top to bottom, removed the tatami, modified with Kakashi's help all the wardrobes and furniture to give them a more modern look.
When she finished, nearly three hours later, the house looked completely new and, best of all, different. There was nothing that would remind Kakashi of his old home, except for the layout. She even managed to finish carving the protective runes and furnished it with transformed furniture.
"I'll have to come back several days to put in the gas, electricity, water and waste runes, but I can easily turn all the houses in the compound into magical houses."
"Great. Come on. I've been hearing your stomach growl for a while," said Kakashi, taking her by the shoulders and leaning in to kiss her lips. "I need to stop by the seamstress to order the kimonos as soon as possible. When are you going to give your friends the invitations?"
"I'll talk to them tomorrow to see if they want to go to the hot spring."
"Perfect. I'll take the chance to talk to Tsunade-sama about the date when I see her tomorrow."
She used the hiraishin to return home. No one was there, so they began to make dinner with Kakashi's help, who took his daily invigorating potion. The wounds had disappeared, so there was no point in telling him to sit down. Cooking wasn't heavy or stressful work.
"Tsunade-sama will give us seven days of vacation," Kakashi said. "Do you want us to stay here or would you rather go somewhere?"
"Do you want to go to Uzu?" she asked, knowing that Kakashi was curious and interested in the Land of Whirlpools, which he hadn't seen yet.
"Sounds perfect to me," he smiled. "I'll finally get to see what you've created."
"Why do you think I'd let you out of bed?" she teased, standing on tiptoe to kiss his smiling lips.
"I'd settle for seeing the village for a couple of hours," he bargained, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Then I'm all yours."
They nearly burned dinner. That night, she fell asleep again in Kakashi's arms. The most gratifying thing was knowing they would no longer sleep apart, if they could help it.
The next day, Naruto managed to speak to all his friends to celebrate his birthday belatedly. The idea was to first go to the hot spring and then eat something at the yakiniku, where they could all fit. He even invited Sakura.
When the moment of truth came, she was almost nervous.
"Aaah," sighed Tenten. "I can't believe we're going to the hot spring again. Do you remember the last time?"
Ino burst out laughing while Hinata blushed slightly. They explained to Sakura what had happened the last times they visited an onsen. She heard the boys, a few meters behind her, joking and laughing. Seina couldn't contain her smile because, finally, she was going to tell her friends that she was getting married. She was practically vibrating with energy when she began to undress in the changing room and put her things in her locker. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sakura blushing, looking somewhat insecure. She wondered if they hadn't all gone to the onsen together without her during those three years.
"Wow. That seal is new, isn't it?" Ino asked, pointing at the seal between her collarbones.
"And the one on her forehead."
"No. The seal on her forehead has been there for years," Hinata said, shaking her head. "Neji-ni-san and I could sense it."
"Hina's right. Both are energy-storing seals, although the one on my forehead has medical purposes," she explained briefly. The others nodded.
It was a Tuesday morning, so there was practically no one there. Just a couple of elderly women on the far side of the onsen. She washed before entering the water, listening to Ino say she'd like to get a tattoo on her arm. She glanced at the still-invisible ring with a smile. As soon as she got into the water, she would deactivate the spell that kept it hidden. Her legs almost trembled as she slipped into the water, knowing what she was about to do. She hesitated for a second, unsure whether to clear her throat and announce it or simply wait for them to notice the ring. Since they were all chatting, she let it happen naturally.
"By the way, Hina, did you keep up with your medical training?" she asked with genuine curiosity.
"Yes. Ino also offered to help me every Monday when we coincided."
"Eh, it was nothing. Friends are here to help each other."
"And you? I imagine you managed to master your chains," Karin asked, tying her hair up in a high bun.
"That's right. All 13. It wasn't easy, let me tell you."
"And what else did you all do during those three years?" Tenten asked with interest.
Seina smiled mischievously as she remembered their first seduction training.
"Why don't I tell you about the first time Jiraiya tried to teach us how to seduce someone to get information out of them," she started laughing like a maniac.
It took her 10 minutes, between laughter, to explain what had happened to Naruto with the first girl. Except for Hinata, who was always very sensitive and empathetic, and Sakura, who still felt a little out of place beside her, the others burst into laughter like her, crying as they imagined her brother's face.
"You should have seen Sasuke's face!" she exclaimed, holding her ribs from laughing.
She wiped a tear, catching her breath, when she saw Ino's eyes—the nosiest of them all—fall on her engagement ring. Ino's jaw dropped as she suddenly went silent.
"I-is that… an engagement ring?" Ino whispered, grabbing her hand to examine it closely.
Everyone stopped laughing. They stared at her white gold ring with diamonds and white sapphires.
"That's right. I'm getting married. On November 1st, if everything goes as planned," she smiled. "You're all invited."
Silence followed for a few seconds until Karin couldn't hold it back anymore. Honestly, she didn't know who she would have bet on to lose their composure first.
"Seriously!?"
"But… with who!?"
"Do Naruto and Sasuke know?"
"OH MY GOD! THE FIRST WEDDING OF OUR GENERATION!"
"Congratulations, Seina."
They bombarded her with questions, crowding around her, but it was impossible to answer everyone talking at once.
"That time I told you I like older men, I wasn't lying."
Ino and Tenten's faces were priceless, while Hinata looked a little flushed, realizing she was marrying someone more experienced. Karin smiled mischievously without saying a word, clearly catching on to what she meant.
"You mean you weren't completely pulling our leg?"
"Just tell us who it is!"
"It's Kakashi-sensei, isn't it?" Sakura asked, in a calmer voice than expected.
"WHAT!?"
"Yes. How did you know?" she asked curiously, while her other friends were still processing it with stunned expressions.
"For several reasons. Ino told me he gave you kanzashi. Kanzashi is usually only gifted from parents to daughters. If a man gives it to a woman, it means he's proposing marriage since he wants to spend the rest of his life with her," Sakura explained analytically. "Considering that the last time I saw him, he glared at me for trying to hit you, and that he doesn't act paternal toward you, it's obvious he could be a possible candidate. I also heard Shikamaru say that Kakashi-sensei asked other jonin about their students because he was in contact with you somehow—the only one who kept in touch with you while you were away, as far as I know. Besides, I've seen you together in the village a few times, and on some of those occasions, I saw him put his arm around your shoulders. That implies closeness, and it's oddly contrary to the image Kakashi-sensei usually tries to show in public."
"You mean his erotic book," Ino nodded.
"Exactly. Seina must be the only person in public Kakashi-sensei has ever allowed that close. Also, of all the older men Seina has interacted with, there's practically no one else she's been consistently close to, unlike Kakashi-sensei."
"But… how did it happen?" Tenten asked, both surprised and interested. "You must be…"
"About 13 years apart," she nodded. She had to smile tenderly at the thought of Kakashi. "I don't know. It just happened. From the start, I felt a connection with him I'd never felt with anyone else. He was my teacher, yes, but he was also so much more. He's always listened to me and supported me unconditionally. He showed me everything he never dared to show anyone else, exposing himself to me despite the damage I could do to him. By loving me, he made me both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness, accepting me into his life despite everything that entails, and I love him for it too. And, on top of that, he waited for me for almost five years. If that isn't love, I don't know what is."
The girls seemed on the verge of tears as they listened to the devotion Kakashi had shown her for half a decade. She heard more than one sniffle, touched, before they gave her a somewhat awkward hug in the middle of the water. Right after, they started congratulating her on her upcoming wedding. When the dramatic moment passed, the conversation turned more cheerful. After all, everyone seemed interested in planning a wedding.
"And where are you going to celebrate it?"
"Where will you live?"
"What catering are you going to hire?"
"How will you decorate the ceremony venue?"
And more questions. She summarized what they had planned. It would be on November 1st, in the morning, they would hire the Akimichi to serve the food at the wedding, they'd hold it at the Hatake compound where they'd move in after, or even before, the ceremony, they'd go on their honeymoon to Uzushiogakure so Kakashi could see the reborn land of his ancestors, etc., etc.
"You still don't know how you're going to decorate it!?" Ino shouted.
"Actually, it's a matter of my powers. Kakashi and I decided on the decoration colours: pearl grey for the Hatake clan as the dominant colour and cream for the Namikaze clan as a contrast. The Uzumaki clan's colours are too violent to use for a wedding," she said, thinking of the clan's red and black symbol.
"You're right."
"And the flowers?"
"I know! Why don't you let me make your bridal bouquet?" Ino asked with a radiant smile. "Something elegant that won't clash with the decorations."
"Sounds perfect to me. I'll be repairing the compound this week, so I imagine next week I'll start decorating, if you want to come see it."
"Isn't Kakashi-sensei going to help you choose anything?" Tenten asked playfully.
"Of course he is. Everything we've thought of has been decided together. From the colours to the shape of the chairs," she smiled. "In fact, it was him who suggested the place for the wedding."
That same afternoon, when Kakashi returned from talking to Tsunade-sama to set the wedding date, they would make the invitations together so they'd reflect both their tastes. It wouldn't be hard since both had simple, elegant, and uncluttered preferences. They'd also go to the Akimichi restaurant to book the catering and to the seamstress for the kimonos. It would take her a while to deliver the order, so the sooner the better.
They got out of the water once they were completely wrinkled. The one most eager to see the others' reactions was Ino.
"Do the others know? Will Naruto or Sasuke tell them?"
"No."
"And when do you plan to tell them?"
"Now, I guess," she laughed. "I'm not hiding the ring anymore, so sooner or later they'll notice. Probably at the restaurant."
"Oh, I can't wait to see their faces when they see the ring too!"
"Shall we make bets?" Karin said, rubbing her hands with a wicked smile. The others nodded. "Who notices first?"
"I bet 1k on Shikamaru."
"Same here for Neji-ni-san," Hinata surprisingly smiled.
"1k on Shino."
"Another 1k on Shikamaru."
"I'll also vote for Neji," Tenten said.
As soon as they went out and met up with the others, who were laughing about… a Shino caterpillar? and about Naruto, she noticed out of the corner of her eye how Ino and the others were practically vibrating in place, waiting for someone to notice. Seina shook her head. She was surrounded by gamblers. They walked toward the restaurant, but no one looked at her finger, as was normal. She chuckled quietly at her friends' disappointed faces, who were about to lose their bet money if she had to announce her engagement before the meal ended. Before Sasuke could sit beside her, using her as a shield on one side as always, Tenten pulled him aside and made Neji sit next to her.
"Very subtle, Tenten," Karin and Sakura laughed.
"Hey! That's cheating!"
"If Shikamaru almost always sits next to her, that's cheating too!"
"What's going on?" Neji asked, sitting on her left, exasperated.
"Nothing," Tenten and Ino said in unison, drawing everyone's attention.
Sasuke muttered under his breath, sitting on Neji's other side, but accepted staying between him and Naruto without complaint. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her lazily. Clearly, he wanted her to explain what all that was about.
"Better not ask."
They started chatting again, leaving aside what had just happened. Shikamaru and Neji explained their adventures becoming jonin in Kusagakure. She was curious about what kind of terrain they had faced, compared to the swamps she had to deal with.
"By the end of the test, I had an allergic reaction after so many bites."
"Shikamaru's right. Saying I got bitten like 50 times in an hour is an understatement," Neji nodded.
"Luckily with one of your medical ninjutsu I could treat myself."
"Really?"
"Yes. I managed to hold out long enough to finish the survival test, and then they treated me outside. Tsunade-sama was pretty impressed that you had taught us all."
"I'm glad, Shika."
When it came time to grill the meat and eat, she knew they'd notice. They were ninjas, for god's sake. As soon as she picked up a plate and chopsticks, leaving her left hand exposed, someone noticed. Curiously, it wasn't Shikamaru or Neji. It was Lee, who was sitting in front of her.
"Eeeeeeeh!?" he exclaimed upon seeing it, with his usual enthusiasm.
Just hearing him, Ino and Tenten groaned in exasperation, realizing they had all lost the bet.
"What's gotten into you, Lee?" Kiba asked beside him, jumping from the scare.
"Th-that's an engagement ring!" he pointed at her like a little kid. "Am I wrong?"
And that's how everyone turned to see what the hell he was talking about. It took her a very long while to explain what had taken her 10 minutes to tell the girls. Shikamaru seemed somewhere between mildly and somewhat surprised, Neji just raised an eyebrow in mild stupefaction, while Kiba and Lee were unable to believe it. Shino… well, Shino was Shino. The first to recover was, strangely, Chouji.
"Congratulations, Seina. Kakashi-sensei and you make a good couple," he said sincerely.
"Thanks, Chouji."