A New Chapter

(Kakashi)

A few weeks had passed since Megumi and I had returned from Oto. Between my fiancé's simple yet elegant planning skills and Tsubaki's connections our wedding plans were coming together quickly. I had already pretty much met all my future in-laws, but Megumi-chan had yet to meet my only living relative. I really didn't want to take her to meet my mother, but Megumi insisted that I take her to meet her. It had been a while since I had been to the institution. I never visited more than once a month because I didn't see any sort of change in my mother's mental state. I decided to bring Megumi along during one of my visits. As soon as I stepped up to the desk the receptionist recognized me. She greeted me as I signed in then asked about Megumi.

"This is my fiancé."

"Really, now? Yohaku-san will be glad to hear about this I'm sure!"

Damn, did mother tell everyone in this place about my long-term single status? I decided what's done is done as Megumi and I headed for Mother's room. I knocked before entering and found her sitting on her usual spot on the side of her bed. When she looked up she got an excited expression on her face as she stood up.

"Sakumo! It's about time you got back!"

"Mother, it's me, your son." She flopped back down on her bed looking a little disappointed.

"Oh hello, Kakashi. You look so much like your father it's uncanny! And who is this beautiful young lady you brought here with you?"

"This is Kayou Megumi, my fiancé."

"Did you say fiancé? Oh, Sakumo will be thrilled! I'll make sure to tell him as soon as he returns from his mission. I'm so happy! My son is finally going to give me grandbabies!" Megumi smiled as my mother took hold of her hands. "Oh, yes, she'll definitely give you beautiful babies, Kakashi. I can see in her eyes she's a very sweet girl. Your father will be so proud that you chose such a beautiful, sweet wife."

I couldn't help but notice Megumi didn't seem the least bit freaked out that my mother was referring to my father as if he was still alive. I watched in amazement as my love talked with my mother as if everything was perfectly normal. Watching Megumi with my mother showed me the depths of her compassion. For a moment I felt like I didn't deserve a woman like her.

As Megumi and I prepared to leave my mother took hold of each of our hands to get our full attention.

"Kakashi, Megumi, take a moment to hear an old woman's advice. Always be loving and sweet to each other. Even if you disagree resolve the issue quickly and get back to loving one another. Never part ways angry at each other...like my husband and me did. You see, before he went on his current mission we quarreled. As soon as he comes back I'm going to tell him how sorry I am and that I love him. Someday I'll get a chance to tell him. I just have to be patient. I apologize for slowing you down. I know you have other places to go."

"It's all right, Mother. You're not slowing us down at all." I gave my mother a hug and kiss as she requested that we bring any grandchildren by to see her. I promised I would. As Megumi and I headed for home I couldn't help but ask my love why she didn't seem bothered by being in a mental institution.

"Well, I remember staying in the children's wing for a while. I had attempted suicide by slashing my wrists." I stopped in my tracks to look at her not only because of what she said but also how she said it. She spoke about it in such a casual way. "Kakashi-kun, we've both been through some pretty shitty stuff growing up. Do you think...it was fate that brought us together?"

"I don't know. What I do know is that you're a very strong woman and that I don't want anyone but you by my side." She sighed and leaned against my chest as she looked up at me with those beautiful eyes.

"Let's do everything we can to prevent our child from growing up like we did, ok?"

I promised to try, but living the life of a shinobi was going to make that a difficult promise to keep.

(Megumi)

The day of our wedding had finally come and I was so excited. I was also glad that I have such amazing friends to help plan the wedding on such short notice. It also helped that we kept the guest list small. Neither of us wanted a bunch of people we barely knew attending our nuptials. Anko, who was my Maid of Honor, helped me put on the finishing touches of my make-up when Uncle Jin came to let her know it was time for her to take her place. I was glad my uncle was able to make it from Oto to give me away. As Jin walked me down the isle I could tell all eyes were on me. Anko had told me that I looked fabulous, and I could tell by the way everyone was staring at me. None of them knew so far that the wedding kimono had belonged to my mother, and I couldn't believe that it fit me so perfectly. Kakashi looked so cool as we made our vows to each other. He didn't seem nervous at all. After Shizune pronounced us husband and wife I unfurled my big, ornamental fan to cover our faces as Kakashi place a hand over Shizune's eyes. I then pulled my husband's mask down and we shared a very passionate first kiss as a married couple. I then pushed Kakashi's mask back in place and snapped my fan closed, giving the wedding guests a wink. Kakashi and I had planned that little trick weeks before. Shizune looked as if she wished she had a little warning ahead of time.

(Kakashi)

The reception went very well, although I had to enlist the help of others to make sure Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Suki didn't drink up all the sake. I decided to avoid Jiraiya after he gave me some weird suggestions to make our wedding night more interesting. The Sanin was cool most of the time, but sometimes he took things a little too far. Gaara's ideas were no better, but in his case I think he was just joking. At least I hope he was. When a grinning Naruto approached us with a hand behind his back I knew he was up to something.

"Hey, guys! Before I give you my wedding gift I need to ask you if you have made any honeymoon plans?"

"Well, no. We didn't really have time to plan one on such short notice so we decided to hold off on it until later," I replied, as Naruto got even more excited. He handed me an envelope and asked me to open it. Inside of it were two tickets for an all expense paid cruise to Moon Country. Wow, how many years has it been since I went to that island paradise? Too many if you ask me. When I showed the package to my wife she was thrilled. She had never been to Moon Country so she had every reason to be excited. We both thanked Naruto profusely for his kindness as he told us that the cruise starts in three days so we had better get packing. He didn't have to tell us twice. By the way, our honeymoon provided us with some of the best, sexiest fun we ever had in our lives...but that's a whole different story you'll have to wait to hear.

A/N: I hope this story helped shed some light on why Kakashi and Megumi were meant to be together. I'm glad you enjoyed it, my friends! Ja matta!