A modern spin one-shot. Please feel free to comment, I take requests, and of course:

I do NOT own Naruto.

Enjoy 3

Kankuro fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, tapping his feet and playing with the small box in his hand. He was nervous to say the least.

He was still in uniform, dress blues after receiving his first award for combat. It felt like years since he'd been home. Since he'd seen her.

He flipped open the box to reassure himself that he'd made the right choice. It wasn't a typical engagement ring. It was three white gold bands embedded with small diamonds that crossed over and under one another. It was simple, but stunning in his mind. Much like the girl it was for.

The jeweler had told him it wasn't a traditional engagement ring, but that if he felt it was right for her he should go for it.

He snapped the box shut with the hopes of closing out all of the doubts he had as well.

"That's a mighty fine ring, soldier." Said a low raspy voice.

Kankuro nearly jumped out of his skin. He gave the older man sitting by the window seat a nervous smile.

"Thanks."

The man chuckled. "Flight's not gonna go any faster with your feet tapping."

Kankuro did his best to smile back and still his feet. "Yeah. It's just been a while since I've seen her."

The man nodded in understanding. "I remember what it was like. Coming back the first time is the hardest. You worry that she won't be there, or that she changed her mind. The next time you'll know without a doubt that she'll be waiting. It makes it easier."

Kankuro gave a nervous grin, thankful that the man seemed to understand.

"I take it you were in the service?"

"You kiddin' me? I stayed so long they had to kick me out! Something about getting old..." the man waved his hand in dismissal. "They kept paying me though so I guess leaving wasn't so bad." He laughed loudly and it somehow put Kankuro at ease.

"So how long you been across the pond soldier?"

"Twelve months, sir. Straight from boot camp to Afghanistan."

The man's eyes got a little wide with surprise. "That's a lot to chew on your first run."

Kankuro nodded, "My dad was a Sergeant Major, so I got thrown into the fire pretty quick."

The man nodded in return. "So it really has been a long time."

Kankuro's smile faltered, "Yeah. Over a year and a half."

"She know that your planning to ask?"

Kankuro laughed. "No sir. Not even the slightest idea."

The man smiled from ear to ear, "Good, that's the way to do it. It's always more fun when it's a surprise."

A muffled announcement came over the intercom. Two hours till they landed. Kankuro nearly groaned in frustration.

The man gave a low whistle. "This is gonna seem like the longest two hours of your life, soldier. You better spend it wise and tell me about this lady friend of yours. Tell me when you knew she was the one."

Kankuro smiled half heartily. "Well..." He paused a moment, thinking back to high school when he'd met Yuki. He'd seen her around but never spoken to her before. "It was the first summer of high school when we officially met. I had just started working as a bus-boy and dishwasher and Yuki was waiting tables. I'll never forget the way she looked, at school whenever I had seen her she was always hiding. Baggy shirt, big glasses, hair in her face... At work she kept her hair up but she could never seem to keep it all in the bun and it was falling loose around her face. I think it was the first time I had seen a girl aside from my sister without three pounds of make-up on, ya know? And something about the way she looked at me that night. She looked right at me without saying anything and I was like a deer in headlights." Kankuro laughed some at the memory, starting to get into telling his story.

Yuki was so beautiful. To this day Kankuro didn't understand how her lack of make-up could be so much more captivating than any other girl he'd seen. She just didn't need it. She had wide almond colored eyes, he'd never seen anyone with eyes that color, and wavy brown hair that never stayed in place. He had actually just walked in on her changing in the break room. Her button down work shirt was un-tucked and half buttoned, her glasses were on the table, and she was struggling to get her hair into a bun. He had started to apologize, even though she had a tank on underneath it still felt like he had intruded or something. She didn't say anything though, didn't look bothered or offended. She just looked at him. "Hello," she had said it quietly but her voice was clear and solid.

Maybe that was what did it for him. She was really. She wasn't putting on a show, she wasn't trying to impress anyone or bothered by who she was. She was quietly comfortable in herself.

"I swear we didn't actually talk to each other for a month, we were always the last to leave though and one day I just started walking with her when she started heading home. She said she didn't live far and it wasn't a big deal, but we walked almost a mile before we finally got to her house."

"So you started walking her home every night?"

"So I worked my ass off and made sure I had the money to buy a car the moment I got my license," Kankuro answered.

The older man laughed, "smart move."

Kankuro nodded a thank you, "walking was better though..." he said idly. "We got to spend more time talking that way. It evened out ok though. That year we had a few classes together and we ended up spending most of our time together, either working or studying..."

"When did you start dating?" The man asked curiously.

Kankuro thought on that for a moment. "We didn't really. We were just always together. We met up, went on dates and everything, but I don't think we ever talked about it being official or being boyfriend girlfriend... It was just sort of..."

"Natural?"

Kankuro nodded in agreement and the old man smiled.

"Our first date I guess would have been when I asked her to the dance..." Kankuro frowned slightly as he remembered.

"I'm guessing it didn't go well?"

Kankuro shook his head slightly, "That was the first time I'd suspected something was up at home."

Kankuro thought back to the way she looked that night. Yuki had worn a little makeup and braided her hair out of her face. Her dress was simple floral pattern, spaghetti-strap, with an empire waist and it just floated away from her. The fabric was light, which was good because it was so hot that spring. The dance was outside and even after the sun went down it was nearly sweltering hot... only she kept on a sweater. Never once took it off, and though he hadn't thought enough of it at the time when her sister had roughly put her arm around Yuki she had flinched in pain.

The older man frowned. "Bad home life, eh?"

Kankuro nodded. "Her dad was a mean drunk." He spoke bitterly, remembering the following times that he had caused him to grown suspicious. She had managed to keep it from him for nearly two years. They had started to get physical, their first kiss being at the winter dance, and that summer he had been trying to take things a little further. She was again needlessly wearing a sweater in the crazy hot weather of Texas, and Kankuro asked about it. "I got those tan freckles again," she had responded jokingly. "Hate those things."

He let it go but later that evening he had gotten her hot enough that she didn't really notice when her sweater started slipping off her shoulders. Kankuro had been helping it along when she suddenly gasped in a not so good way. "Fuck..." It had taken her only a moment to long to pull her sweater back into place before Kankuro saw what she was hiding. A bruising purple handprint.

Kankuro had never been so angry in his whole life and she refused to say anything. He asked over and over and eventually she just got out of the car and started walking. Kankuro let her too and he hated himself for it.

"That was the first time I ever asked my dad for help." He said reflecting on the events that followed. He apologized to Yuki and invited her over, and then proceeded to leave her alone with his dad for a little over two hours. When they finally emerged from his study Kankuro jumped up from the floor where he was sitting and waited in silence. His dad simply told him they would be taking a trip to the hospital and that the sheriff would be meeting them there. That was the longest day of Kankuro's life. He wasn't allowed to be in the room while she was being examined and photographed, he wasn't allowed in while the sheriff questioned her, and once her mother arrived it seemed as though it started all over. Her mom was openly bruised, her face yellow on one side and her lip cut. She looked frazzled to death and came up to Kankuro first. Saying she had received a call from someone saying her daughter was here and that she recognized him from a picture in her room. She seemed desperate as she asked what had happened and if she was ok.

Kankuro didn't know how to answer, and he knew he was staring. Her mom gave a forced laugh, "It looks pretty nasty, huh? I didn't take the time to put makeup on... had a nasty fall down some steps, hit the banister on the way down."

Her smile was perfectly practiced and luckily his dad walked up before he needed to reply. While he talked to her mom Kankuro was finally allowed to see her and that was the first time he had seen her cry. Once the doctor had left the room she asked Kankuro to close the blinds and lock the door and when he turned back around she was shakily attempted to put her clothes back on. The hospital gown on the floor he waited while she put on a bra and couldn't help staring at the large bruised area on her right side. She struggled into a pair of shorts and a three-water sleeve button up before finally turning to him. He stayed quiet for a moment and she reached her hands out to him like small child needing to be held.

She cried for what seemed like hours. Sobbed and sobbed, apologizing over and over.

"My dad took care of everything. Convinced her and her mom to press charges Got him arrested, hired a lawyer to get them a divorce and a restraining order, helped them move into an apartment, got the guy fired, and just sort of pushed him out of town." Kankuro laughed slightly. "He actually told me that after all this trouble I better marry her."

The man gave a heavy smile in understanding. "The bad things in life often have a way of giving into something good. She's a brave woman."

Kankuro nodded. "She's strong enough to handle anything. She's taking online courses right now to become a physiologist."

"Smart, strong, and beautiful, eh?"

Kankuro grinned from ear to ear. "She's everything a woman should be, sir."

The man laughed and then asked another question. "What about your firsts? Man to man," the gentlemen winked and Kankuro just kept grinning.

"Our first kiss was actually underneath mistletoe. I swear to god I love that shit more than any other Christmas decoration. She was wearing this red dress... I mean when she stepped out the front door I nearly lost my jaw. First time I'd every seen her wearing something... well, sexy."

She had on a cap sleeve, form fitting, short, red dress, with a subtle floral design imprinted on the fabric, and a zipper all the way down the back. She had her hair up and simple sliver drip style earrings, silver heels, and just enough make-up to make her about ten times as normally stunning. She looked up at him and coyly pointed out that his sister had taken her shopping. Kankuro bought his sister a twenty dollar movie pass the next day.

"We were taking a break from the dance floor, kind of roaming the halls, and I was trying my damnedest not to stare. She was quiet for the most part and then stopped kind of suddenly. I asked her what was up and she kind of grinned at me..."

"Mistletoe," she has said it so simply, not afraid to look right at him. Kankuro couldn't help smiling back at her.

"Confident," the older man said in response.

Kankuro nodded. "Only once has she gotten embarrassed."

"Only once?"

Kankuro could still see the scene perfectly, like it had only happened yesterday.

They had slept together before, but not been able to ever stay together all night ever. One weekend with her mom out of town he stayed over. Every time so far they had been in a fairly dark room and she would get at least half dressed pretty quickly after wards, so aside from her backside at the hospital he had never really seen her naked. At least not for long enough or in good enough light to appreciate it.

Kankuro had decided this needed to change. So he flicked on the lights on the way in the room, instead of making sure they were off. She didn't say anything at first but when he finally got her undressed he stopped for a moment and stepped back with her panties still in his hands. As soon as she registered that he was looking her up and down she closed her legs and attempted to cover her chest. He'd never seen her blush the way she did that night.

"The first time we left the lights on." He admitted to the old man quietly.

The gentleman gave him a cheeky grin and nodded in agreement. "It's much more fun when you can see it all." He laughed and Kankuro grinned back in return. "So, how did she respond to you joining the service?"

Kankuro paused for a moment to remember when he had told her he was going to boot camp. His sister was in the reserves and he had always been in ROTC. The military was always his plan and she had known that.

"She handled it pretty well, she knew that was what I wanted to do. It's sort of a family thing. I never really got super serious about it until our senior year though."

"What made you buckle down?"

"She told me she wanted to live somewhere it snowed... Being in the military, I thought I would definitely get stationed somewhere where there was snow." As soon as he said it out loud he was embarrassed. "Sounds sort of silly now." He laughed a little and the man just smiled.

"Not at all, you got your next orders yet?"

Kankuro gave a proud grin, "Alaska."

The old man laughed loudly and a barely audible announcement was made about landing in the next few minutes. Kankuro had hardly realized so much time had gone by and was suddenly twice as thankful for the old soldier next to him.

"Sounds like you've got a once in a life time girl, soldier."

"Yes, sir." Kankuro responded without hesitation.

"You forgot to answer the question though, soldier."

Kankuro furrowed his brow as he tried to remember what was asked.

"When was the moment that you knew?"

Kankuro was quiet as he thought of an answer, several moments coming to mind but none of them a clear 'this is it' moment.

"I don't know that there was ever really a moment that made me know... I think..." he paused again. "I think I just always knew. It never really started and I know it won't ever end. She always has and always will be the one." Kankuro opened the small black box again. He felt less nervous now.

The plane landed a little roughly only moments later and it wasn't long before everyone was rushing to get their bags. Kankuro waited with much more patience than he had at the beginning of the flight and as the old man and him reached the baggage claim the retired soldier gave him a hard pat on the back.

"Good luck, soldier, and thank you for your service."

Kankuro reached out his hand in response. "Same goes for you, sir."

They shook hands and Kankuro saluted him as the man walked away. He had no doubt that despite the man's casual nature he had done a great service to his country.

Kankuro straightened his uniform and opened the box one last time before heading down the escalator. He spotted Yuki immediately, and watched her nervously adjust her dress. Her hair was up and braided back, though quite a few strands were already falling out of place, and she wore the pearl earrings he had bought her for Christmas and a simple short white dress. She was stunning as usual.

She finally looked up and the moment her eyes locked on his he squeezed passed the man in front of him and nearly tripped trying to hurry down the escalator. He dropped his bag in just enough time for her to jump into his arms. He kicked the bag to the side out everyone's way and simply picked up his soon to be fiance and moved them both beside the escalator. To the far right the retired soldier stood with a rather busty blonde, giving Kankuro a subtle thumbs up and wink.

Kankuro grinned and held Yuki tighter.

"I missed you..." she said quietly.

"I missed you too." He said setting her on her feet again. She pulled back after a few moments and smiled up at him before smoothing his uniform down some. "You come home and dress and here I am messing you all up." He laughed a little and leaned down to kiss her.

"I'd be more upset if you didn't mess it up." He pointed out.

She smiled but wiped a few tears from her cheeks. "Sorry. I told myself I wasn't gonna cry."

He smiled and took a step back. "It alright. You'll cry some more in a second." He said with a cheeky grin.

She gave him a questioning look as he got down on one knee and her eyes got wide.

He opened the box before he spoke again. "My next base is gonna be in Alaska, and I thought you might like to come with me... Only the military as these weird rules about taking women with you when you move."

Yuki laughed a little, holding a hand over her heart. "They have rules about everything don't they?"

Kankuro smiled, "Yeah, well, luckily I found a way around it."

"Oh?"

"Yup, all you have to do is marry me, you up for it?"

Yuki started to reply but couldn't so she covered her mouth and just nodded instead. Kankuro took the ring from the box as he stood back up and carefully placed it on her finger.

It wasn't a moment that made him fall in love with Yuki, it was all of the moments he had involving her. From the first time he saw her, to when he actually talked to her for more than five minutes, to the first time they kissed, to seeing her bruised, to getting to finally wake up next to her, to when he picked this ring, and all the way to now... she was it. She was all her ever needed or wanted. She was everything to him and every moment he had from this time forward would be spent loving her.