26.
Everyone came out to Anko and Kakashi's wedding. Neither of them had any surviving family, but Hinata and the entirety of the Hyuuga clan showed up in honor of the clan heiress's great teacher. Ino and her parents attended, as did all other members of the Yamanaka clan, Sakura and her mother, and Kurenai. On Kakashi's side, Kakashi's closest and also most eccentric and overly-romantic friend Maito Gai attended, as did his new Genin team, consisting of Neji and two other older students named Lee and Tenten. The Hokage, his son Asuma and his grandson Konohamaru, and his two elderly advisors Koharu and Homura were there as well.
Kakashi and Anko had decided to hyphenate their surname, into Hatake-Mitarashi. It was also a ren'ai, meaning the couple had met and decided to marry on their own. (As opposed to an omiai, an arranged marriage.)
Hinata, Ino, and Sakura had helped Anko figure out what to wear. Kurenai had put in her word as well. Anko was wearing a kurobiki furisode, a fancy black and white patterned kimono, with a tsunokakushi hat which they thought had looked cute on her. Kakashi was wearing a black crested haori jacket and a loose, skirt-like hakama with a vertical stripe.
The actual ceremony was conducted in the main building of a shrine. The guests knelt in rows in formal kimono - usually this was just for families, but as there was no family Kakashi and Anko had insisted they all could be there - and watched as a priest performed a ritual purification for the couple. Hinata, Sakura, and Ino were smiling, watching as the priest did this in signification of a spiritual cleansing for the couple in preparation for a new step in life. They were happy for their Sensei. The marriage was then announced to the kami (or Shinto gods) of the shrine, and the blessing of the gods was asked. The bride and the groom took three sips each from three different cups of sake wine, in a ritual called sansankudo.
Kakashi, as the groom, was supposed to read the words of commitment alone, but Anko wouldn't take that lying down so they took turns reading. At the end of the ceremony, symbolic offerings were given to the kami.
The reception at a nearby hotel was far more wild.
The room was decorated in gold origami cranes. Gifts were given to each of the guests as they entered, little favors and tokens, and there was a three-course meal served and for a while there was just mingling in the general reception room.
"HYUUGA HIASHI-SAN! I AM GLAD WE COULD PUT ASIDE OUR DIFFERENCES AND BE TOGETHER FOR THIS JOYOUS OCCASION!" Maito Gai, a giant of a man with a bowl cut and thick eyebrows, exclaimed to Hinata's father, leaping into the air beside Hiashi's seat. Even in formal kimono, he was still wearing green.
"... Indeed, Maito-san," said Hiashi in a tone of surrender, as if giving in to the inevitable and already nursing a very bad headache because of it.
"YOSH! YOU TRULY DO BURN WITH THE POWER OF YOUTH!"
"No," said Hiashi. "I do not."
That was when Lee, who looked an eerie parody of his Sensei, chimed in. "GAI-SENSEI! THAT IS SOMETHING ONLY SOMEONE WHO IS TRYING TO HIDE THE POWER OF YOUTH WOULD SAY!"
"INDEED! LEE! WE MUST SHOW HIM THE WAY!"
"Hideko," Hiashi muttered to his branch retainer guard standing behind him. "Remove these two from my presence."
Hideko looked frightened, but he swallowed and said, "Yes, sir," gamely and moved forward.
Neji had his face in his hands. Tenten, a cute girl with her brown hair in a complex bun arrangement, patted him comfortingly on the shoulder, looking amused.
"So is what happened to Lee eventually going to happen to you two?" said Ino, deadpan. Hinata could not speak because she was trying to muffle gales of laughter.
"Ino!" her mother scolded gently, though her father also looked like he was trying not to laugh.
But Tenten nodded, her eyes wide. "That's our greatest fear," she said with feel. "So... " she added curiously. "You're Anko's students? But you're Academy students?"
"It's complicated," said Ino.
On the other side of the room, Asuma was trying to flirt with Kurenai, and Sakura and her mother were watching in uncertain amusement as Konohamaru repeatedly tried to attack his grandfather. "Fight me old man! The title of Fifth Hokage belongs to me, Konohamaru!"
Konohamaru tripped on his formal wear and fell flat on his face.
The Hokage sighed. "Even at weddings?"
"Er - is he okay?" Sakura asked, pointing at Konohamaru.
"Oh, yes, he's sturdier than he looks," the Hokage assured her cheerfully. "He'll be eating the whole three course meal in no time."
Koharu sniffed. "Quite an unconventional wedding anyway."
"Yes, indeed," said Homura stiffly. "Letting the guests see the ceremony. Reading off the words of commitment together."
"What were they supposed to do, not have anyone at their wedding ceremony?" Sakura asked coldly, cross. "I thought it was beautiful the way everyone came together like that. And it's good that they said their words of commitment together. It means more coming from both of them. The old method is outdated."
"Sakura -" her mother was hissing in frightened humiliation, pulling at her sleeve, but Koharu had looked her sharply in the eye.
"You're the Haruno girl, yes? Well, you certainly are loyal to your Sensei." Koharu looked at her for a moment, Sakura glaring defiantly back. "Hmph. Perhaps you are a match for Mitarashi Anko, a Hyuuga, and a Yamanaka after all." Koharu looked away.
And Sakura's mother ended up looking very confused.
"Sakura is also my pupil, and she works at the hospital. She is an excellent student," said Kurenai warmly. Asuma was looking between everything curiously.
Kakashi and Anko had simply been watching everything, sitting and holding hands underneath the table, smiling and at peace. But now Anko cleared her throat and tapped her glass. Everyone looked around…
And Maito Gai got up to make a speech.
"He got Maito-san to make his speech?" Koharu whispered, appalled, as Asuma broke down laughing.
"And they say Hatake Kakashi doesn't have a sense of humor!" he forced out, breathless with laughter.
And Gai's speech began:
"YOSH! From the moment I met Hatake Kakashi, he has always been my very cool rival! He defeated me at the Chuunin Exams, but then I defeated him in a game of rock paper scissors, and we now stand with me at 62 wins and 63 losses! He claims there is no contest, in a game of psychological warfare no doubt, but I will persevere!
"As a cool rival, Kakashi acts like he does not care, but I know he cares very much! He is a strong ninja I respect and I know he and Anko-san will take good care of each other! Right, Kakashi?"
"I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. What was that?" said Kakashi, deadpan.
"AH! That is the perfect response, my cool rival! You win this round!"
And with that, Gai sat down and everyone clapped uncertainly. Anko just looked amused, and it was a good thing, because a less easier going woman might have been very upset.
Kakashi once more congratulated himself on his good choice. If she could handle the weirdness of Gai, he thought, she could handle anything.
Then came Kurenai's speech for Anko:
"When I heard Mitarashi Anko was going to settle down and get hitched, my first words were: You're kidding me."
There was some laughter.
"But I've spent a lot of time around Kakashi and Anko by now, and I don't really think of it like that anymore. They're weirdly perfect for each other, right down to the sex jokes and the casual brutality. Neither of them is really the settling down and having kids type, but I think that's why it works, because they're both also incredibly loyal to each other. They're both strong ninja and they understand the costs of that, so they're able to support each other when stuff gets bad, and frankly I think that's extremely important."
There were some here here's.
"So here's a toast: to Kakashi and Anko." She raised her glass.
"To Kakashi and Anko!" everyone toasted.
And then Team Kunoichi crowded up at the front of the reception room.
"Hi, everybody! We're Anko's annoying little students!" said Ino, waving.
"We're here to set the record straight: we got them together," said Sakura.
"We literally went up to Kakashi and said he should go on a date with our Sensei. He realized aloud to himself that thirteen year olds were telling him he needed a more fulfilling love life. I said that he should take that as a sign," said Hinata.
By now, everyone was laughing. Kakashi had ducked his head with good natured sheepishness, and Anko was grinning.
"So he did! And here we are!" said Ino. "And we're here to say, having seen Anko and Kakashi off on their very first date…"
"First, that we have excellent judgment," said Sakura. More laughter.
"And second, that we couldn't think of two people more perfect for each other," said Hinata, smiling.
"Congratulations, Anko-sensei!" all three echoed as one.
At the end of it all, Anko got up to say a few words. "I would like to get serious here for a minute," she said, "and say that I think for a long time, Kakashi and I both felt like we were pretty alone in the world. But now we have each other, and if today is proven anything, it's that we also have all of you. So I would like to thank you for that. I would also like to thank you for -"
"Just kiss already!" Ino shouted, hands around her mouth, so Kakashi grabbed Anko and did a dip and kissed her and everyone clapped and cheered.
Kakashi and Anko went off for a week-long honeymoon to the hot springs up in the touristy area of Fire Country. When Anko came back, her team teased her mercilessly and she made them run extra laps.
But inside, Anko was happy. She realized she had overcome her past. She did have a family and friends, after all.