"Oh Hana darling, please put on some make-up. This meeting is very important. We're meeting with the Uchiha head family." Hana groaned, but obliged and put on lip stick and blush.
She eyed her sister next to her, who was more than thrilled to be in her kimono. Hana was far more comfortable in her ANBU uniform. It had been years since she'd engaged with the head of the Uchiha clan. She knew Mikoto was plenty pleasant, Fugaku on the other hand was a passive aggressive beast. Minimally she'd have Itachi and Shisui.
The table they kneeled around was sufficiently awkward. Luckily, despite tradition the children had arranged themselves next to the person they felt most comfortable with. Hana had insisted on being between Itachi and Shisui. Harumi had pretty much attached herself to Sasuke. Their arrangement was not without glares from Hiroto. Hitomi didn't even have to say anything for Hana to note her warning gazes. Today was not the day for her insolence.
Shisui appeared somewhat somber, the fact he was an orphan being ever apparent. The Uchiha's head family had taken him, especially as he and Itachi had grown closer. However, he knew his parents would have wished to be here in lieu of Mikoto and Fugaku even if the marriage was arranged.
"Have you begun any arrangements since the proposal," Mikoto chimed, breaking the silence.
Hana smiled softly. "We wanted to wait until everyone could get together. I believe unity in these decisions is of great importance." If the men next to her were not shinobi, their expressions would have been far more shocked. Itachi did smirk, remembering Hana had spent six months undercover as a servant and succeeded.
Hana glanced at both of them from the corner of her eyes. While she often was a brat, she had been trained to be a perfect clan head and wife. When she wanted to be she could to painfully sweet. Her parents beamed at her in pride and relief, all the etiquette classes from her childhood had finally paid off.
Fugaku nodded, satisfied with her response. "Agreed, for someone infamous for being so insolent your manners seem to be exemplary."
Hana lips pressed into the sweetest smile she could muster. "You, of all people, should understand the village often has false assumptions." The glare Hana received from her father could kill.
"Excuse my daughter, she is a work-"
"A lack of diplomacy is trait you should understand well Hiroto," Fugaku commented, arms crossed.
"You were never the diplomat yourself, in case you need to be reminded, Fugaku," Hiroto retorted. Hana smiled, she really was just like her father.
Hitomi coughed and made eye contact with Mikoto. The women were clearly use to their husband's tempers. "Back to the task at hand, gentlemen," Hitomi reminded gently.
Shisui sighed looked up. "We all know Hana and I are not doing this out of love. We were given a mission to get married and better the reputation of the Uchiha clan and the strength of the Sutero clan. These are facts. We will do so because it is our duty to the village and clan. Let's not pretend we are here to celebrate a marriage of love."
Hana grinned at her future husband, feeling a strange sense of warmth and pride. As much as didn't want to admit it, Shisui was her kind of person. He was friendly and dutiful, but he was honest. Itachi was equally content with his statement.
A little voice from the far end of the table spoke up. "You don't love you husband, nee-san?" Hana glanced down. She had almost forgotten Harumi was here. Her heart broke at the look of her sister's face.
Hana leaned into Shisui, held his hand, smiling down at her sister. "He's a lovely man, Harumi. He makes me happy." It wasn't a lie, he did bring her joy. She didn't love him, but she certainly didn't mind his presence.
"Sasuke, why don't you and Harumi go play outside? We need to have some discussions," Itachi suggested.
Sasuke frowned briefly, but then understood the sentiments behind the comment, exiting with the young Sutero.
Hana folded her hands in front of her and took a long breath. "Alright. Our plan is to have our engagement party be extremely public and extravagant. All donations will go toward the nursery, how charitable. In the spring, the Sutero clan hosts the passion festival. We will get married during the last night of the festival and our reception will be public." Both clan heads looked at her up and down, shocked by the way she took control. "Don't be shocked by me assessing the situation and devising a solution. One of you raised me and the other should recognize the future head of a clan when he sees one."
Shisui patted her knee under the table, encouragingly. Glancing down, she saw Itachi sign to her, 'Good work.' She had told her mother she wouldn't be a brat today, but if Shisui and her didn't speak up, nothing would get accomplished.
Itachi spoke before Fugaku did. "I agree with the solution you two have devised. And I will be honored to work with you on diplomatic relations when we are both leading our respective clans." Hana grinned at Itachi, appreciating the support.
"I believe this will work well. The Uchiha clan would like to co-host the passion festival with you. Taking it a step further will show how strong our unity is," Fugaku responded.
Hana nodded, not letting her father answer. "I agree. I'm sure we'll be able to have our clan agree to this, yes? Father?" Hiroto nodded, allowing his daughter to take the lead. "In that case," Hana stood up. "I will be excusing myself. As far as I am aware we have completed everything we can together to speak about, in record time, actually. I have little sister to show some new jutsu to."
As Hana left the room, Mikoto and Fugaku turned their attention to the leaders of the Sutero. "You two have quite the woman on your hands," Mikoto noted, laughing.
Hiroto laughed. "Tell me about it."
"Sasuke! Harumi!" Hana cheered as she walked outside toward them. She ruffled both of their heads. It earned her a swat from both children. "Sasuke, I hope you are teaching her some excellent skills."
Sasuke smirked, crossing his arms. "Only the best."
Hana turned her attention to her sister. "Are you catching on?" Harumi responded by curving a kunai by knocking it with another into a target nearly ninety degrees to the right.
Sasuke nodded proudly, but Hana lost his attention as Shisui and Itachi joined the group. "You have a knack for teaching," Itachi noted to his brother. Sasuke beamed in response. Despite being nearly ready to graduate from the academy, he lived for praise from his brother.
Shisui grinned and crossed his arms. "Are you excited for Hana to be your cousin, too?"
Harumi interrupted by bombarding Shisui with a hug. "I'm excited!" Shisui nearly lost his balance and hugged her back, smiling gently at the young girl. As crappy as the whole situation was, Hana was happy it was with Shisui. The man was kind, but goofy. He was a good man and if Hana was going to be forced to marry anyone, she wanted it to be a good man.
Sasuke sighed and smirked with his famous feigned apathy. "She already is basically attached to nii-san, anyway."
Hana squatted down to eye level, not that she had to squat very far anymore, Sasuke was tall now. She cupped a finger to his ear. "That's because Itachi is basically the younger brother I never knew I wanted. But I suppose," she glanced at Itachi, who was all too aware of the situation, "he's a pretty good one."
Sasuke glanced down at the youngest Sutero who was now attempting to climb Shisui and touch his curly hair. The youngest Uchiha smirked and nodded. "Ah, I understand." Hana smiled, ruffling his hair and ruining a perfectly good moment.
From the edge of the courtyard, Hitomi and Mikoto watched them. "I'm happy this is working out, Mikoto. I can't stand to think of anything happening to the Uchiha."
Mikoto nodded gently. "We're a stubborn bunch, but I think most of us finally understand being one with the village as a clan." Mikoto observed the bunch calmly. "Is Hana actually happy?"
Hitomi practically snorted, chuckling. "Not even a little. But she loves this village and is dutiful when it comes down to it. She did, maybe does, have a lover however. So, I know she isn't terribly happy about giving that up."
Mikoto looked down, understanding arrangement marriages well. They were common among clan heads. Hers had been one as well, she had grown to love Fugaku, but that journey was long. "Shisui is a better man than most and very personable. I feel as though she can grow to love him."
Hitomi shrugged. She had been lucky and had already happened to love Hiroto and upon deciding who to marry, their marriage was rejoiced and accepted quickly. "I suppose. She does already love Itachi, she cares for him almost as much as Harumi. She also has a soft spot for Sasuke. Your boys must be charmers to win her over."
Mikoto truly couldn't help but laugh. "Itachi maybe. Sasuke is a lovely boy and has many wonderful qualities. Charming is not one." Harumi caught Mikoto's eye as she finally made it to the top of Shisui's head and was finally a comfortable place on his shoulders. "Your daughter, Harumi, may have something to do with it though. He adores her."
An ANBU appeared in front of the group and three of the five stopped and stood casually. The youngest two stood in awe, having never seen a fully cloaked and working ANBU. Itachi and Hana did well to never wear their mask at home and neither preferred the cloak option. "Itachi and Hana, the Hokage requests you."
Hana rolled her eyes. "Thanks. Time off, time shmoff. That man never means it when he says take a few days. Jerk."
Itachi sighed. "If you put as much effort into training as you put into complaining, you'd be Hokage."
Ignoring him, Hana sighed and turned to face her sister. "Stop terrorizing Sasuke and Shisui. Also, listen to mom when she says it's time to go home, you have academy in the morning." Shisui smiled at his future wife. Something about her tone of voice was different with Harumi. She sounded so mature, wise and…motherly. It was attractive. He enjoyed her typical facade too, but the change in tone was a pleasant one. Itachi caught his cousin's perceptive eye and nodded. Shisui should have known Itachi wouldn't respect someone as shallow as Hana appeared to be.
Her seriousness only last a fleeting moment before her arms were crossed and her hip was popped. "I'm walking," she announced.
"We know," Itachi teased, earning him and an attempted hip bump.
Itachi and Hana were thrilled to see Kakashi was home as they entered the office. Kakashi looked like he had been through hell, though. "Dear god, what happened to you?" Hana blurted out, knowing she couldn't have an answer.
Kakashi sighed and shooed away her concern. "Too many ninja and too much sharingan." Hana shook her head at him. Now that she was back, there was a sense of dread within her. She had to tell him. Her mouth was dry and she was obviously fidgeting as she turned her attention to the Third.
"I have already informed Kakashi, but you two will now become a two man team." If she hadn't been so anxious for other reasons, there would have been an outburst and a half from Hana.
"Why?" Itachi announced, shocking nearly everyone in the room. Challenging the Hokage was certainly Hana's gig, not Itachi's.
The Hokage seemed equally surprised, but pleased nonetheless by the challenge. "Kakashi will become one of our jonin instructors."
Hana, despite her nervousness, laughed outloud. "What's the real reason? I'm sure there are no shortage of jonin more apt to teach genin." She glanced at Kakashi sheepishly. "Uh…no offense. Actually, offense. You're teaching skills are subpar."
It took Sarutobi a moment to devise a less personal answer. He was concerned about Kakashi going back into a state of grief after the news of Hana's latest mission. He knew the man cared for Itachi, but Hana was clearly the person closest to him. Their contact would likely be cut dramatically. "It was time," was what he cleverly devised.
"Hn," Hana snarled, more than grunted. Itachi glanced at her with a smirk, she had certainly picked up one of his mannerisms. They were dismissed and Hana gravitated toward Kakashi. "Mind if you I join you for the walk home?"
Kakashi glanced at his teammate. She wasn't one to ask. She was one to announced. His vision narrowed as she nodded. Itachi had parted from them as well and the strange circumstances of the past hour concerned him. He had been, at least in his mind, demoted. Hana was suddenly asking and not telling and Itachi didn't feel the need to join them. Interesting.
"While you were gone, I was given a mission of sorts-"
"Hana, you're not allowed to tell me about your missions," Kakashi reminded, exasperated.
"Goddamit Kakashi, let me talk! I wouldn't be telling you if I wasn't given permission." Kakashi saw the look on her face and felt the urge to reach out to her, but the public setting prevented it. She was distraught. The bags under her eyes had grown and there were unshed tears in her eyes. Something was gravely wrong. He nodded, deciding interrupting was a poor choice.
"I am to be married." His eye widened. She what? "Uchiha Shisui and I are to be married. The Uchiha situation is poor as I am sure you know. They are hoping him becoming part of our clan will show unity between a loved clan and a despised one. I am to treat it mostly as a mission, but… marriage is a deeply personal matter. Of course, I would not be able to choose a suitor of my own-"
Kakashi had stopped walking a few paces before she noticed. He quickly resumed again, but it was too late, Hana had noticed it. He was hurt. Not having the same reserves as the previous ANBU captain she touched his arm lightly. "I was instructed to do what I need to do behind the scenes. I don't know what it is we were doing, but it would be have to be secret. It's not fair to you."
Kakashi made a quick hand signal, suggesting she follow him and quickly. He flickered to his apartment, her on his heels. He sat down on his couch, needing a moment. Contrary to popular belief, Kakashi was a deeply emotional being. He may neglect to do so often, but loved deeply. He still wasn't sure how romantic his feelings for Hana were, but he had known there was glimmer of them in there.
Hana found herself sitting next to him, leaning on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she muttered, unsure of what to even say at this point.
Kakashi shook his head. "You did nothing." Hana grinned, wanting to lighten the mood, she tugged at the edges of his mask. His glanced at her and she saw his face move into a smile.
"I've always hated this thing," she mused, tugging it all the way down. Knowing she was one of the few people to see him without his both literal and figurative mask, pleased her. He was her best friend and she hated seeing the pain within him. She nuzzled her face into his, with nothing between them.
He sighed, a realization hitting him. "This is fine." Hana pulled back, confused. Kakashi made eye contact with her. "Do you love me?"
"Wha- I- I- of course I love you. You're my best friend."
Kakashi smiled, the answer he wanted. They weren't lovers, they never had been. They had both been filling a void, yes, but they weren't lovers. They were best friends in need of affection. Even at twenty-five they weren't intimate in the ways one would expect. The most the two had ever done was kiss. He placed a hand on her cheek and sighed. "I love you too, Hana."
A/N: Phew. That was the longest chapter I've ever written, but I just couldn't find a good ending point until I did. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It was a bit more introspective than the others I felt like. Reviews are greatly greatly appreciated :) Thank you!
