Chapter 17

Beta'd by Black Sparrow

The days and weeks after Kakashi officially moved in flew by and suddenly it was the morning of Shiori's eighteenth birthday.

"Happy Birthday, Shiori-chan," Kakashi whispered in her ear while he moved a tray to his side of the bed.

Tired Shiori rubbed her eyes before her eyes landed on the food in her boyfriend's hands. "Breakfast in bed? You shouldn't have," she said but the happy smile negated her sentence.

Kakashi smirked before he kissed her and handed her the first dish. After finishing with eating the silver haired twenty five year old brought the dirty dishes down into the kitchen and cleaned up while Shiori put some clothes on and did her morning absolutions before joining him in the living room.

"So what do you want to do today?" Kakashi asked curiously after he put the last dishes away, he had some plans already but this was Shiori's day and he wanted her to do what she wanted.

"Hhm let's just enjoy the day, maybe have a picnic? Nothing too fancy, I just want to relax and spend the day with you," Shiori said while she smiled happily, the birthday girl then burrowed herself into Kakashi's pectorals and breathed in his familiar and quite addicting scent.

Said ANBU operative had arranged to be off duty today and the black haired woman would take advantage of this time to monopolize Kakashi's attention as much as possible. In the last three months or so Kakashi's mission ratio had subtly but steadily increased and she was feeling quite anxious while she could only helpless watch as it was taking its toll on Kakashi's body and soul. Nowadays he was often tired and mentally exhausted in the evenings and Shiori barely dared to suggest anything but curling up together on the couch and reading. If the missions didn't decrease sometime soon, Shiori was afraid that the silver haired Jounin would burn himself out and that terrified her more than anything else because that could lead to either a grievous injury or even death.

Kakashi was her lover, the person dearest to her in this new life, not just the charming character Eliza had had a slight crush on in her life. His problems and reactions were real and painfully human and Shiori was well aware that humans could break if pressured too much.

Kakashi's deep chuckles brought Shiori out of her worried musings and she turned her concentration back to the man before her. The shinobi tugged lightly on one of her side bangs and kissed her forehead before he took her hand into his and led the civilian into the back yard where one of his gifts waited.

The black haired woman on his side gasped and looked disbelieving at her back yard. There was suddenly a small stream flowing between some of the trees and a small wooden bridge led to the other side of the stream where a traditional tea house stood.

"B-but how?" Shiori was completely flabbergasted as she inspected the change in the landscape that had happened overnight.

"I used some of my ninjutsu skills to make this small artificial stream bed and connected it with the small river that flows at the back of your property; don't worry I made sure that there isn't a chance of an accidental flooding of the house. To the rest…let's just say that a friend of mine owed me a favor," Kakashi said while he watched Shiori's expression.

"Thank you, Kakashi. I don't know what to say, I mentioned this once to you and that in passing. I already had given up on this dream because the clan house was already so perfect, and now I also have my own tea house at a stream. Thank you." Shiori was close to tears and was scolding herself for being so overly emotional.

The tea house on a stream or river had been one of the fantasies Shiori had when she still lived in Kawa. During one of the few times she left the tiny village as a child the black haired girl had seen it in the garden of a minor noble clan that lived not far away from her home. A fire had destroyed a part of the outer wall and some of the buildings and people from all over the region had been drafted to repair it. Her own mother was cooking for the workers while her father was helping out doing menial tasks, Shiori couldn't have been older than six at the time and had admired the small wooden house in the back of the beautiful garden that looked so peaceful. She had later asked her grandmother to explain the function of the house to her and a lot of hours had been spent daydreaming about it from then on.

Shiori came back to reality and smiled up at her lover, the careful planning and consideration he had put into her birthday present told her more than anything else how much Kakashi cared for her.

"Hey, hey no reason to cry, sweetheart," the silver haired Jounin said in a warm voice while he gently wiped the lone tear away that rolled down Shiori's cheek.

The shinobi was glad that this part of Shiori's birthday had gone off without a hitch, now he only had to scrape together his courage for that evening. The rest of the day the two spent in the woods behind her house, on Shiori's back porch and the courtyard where they enjoyed the perfect weather of the day.

Shortly before dinner time Kakashi shunshined his girlfriend to the tree in which they had had their fourth date. Up on their branch was a candlelight dinner waiting, complete with already burning candles.

"Kakashi, how did you manage that?" Shiori asked confused.

The Jounin just chuckled before he whispered, "Kage Bunshin," into her ear, which predictably made Shiori flush and fan herself with her hand

When Kakashi felt particular kinky it could happen that Shiori found herself at the mercy of two or more Kakashis. He had used that particular technique just the night before and the memories were still vividly in Shiori's mind. Beside her Kakashi deeply inhaled her arousal before he put an arm around her waist and led her to her seat, he could address this blatant invitation of her body later.

The next two hours were filled with stimulating conversation and smoldering gazes while they enjoyed their meal and flirted a bit around. Shiori was more than enjoying herself; the couple hadn't been out for nearly a month now because of those increased ANBU missions and sitting there with Kakashi made her feel warm, safe and cherished. Shortly after finishing with the dessert Kakashi turned a bit somber and looked serious at Shiori, she could practically see how he was trying to find the right words and inwardly she was beginning to panic, what was wrong?

"Shiori, I know this may seem fast for you, after all we haven't been together for even a year yet but I am a shinobi and I don't know if today or tomorrow is my last. So Shiori-chan, will you marry me?" at the last part Kakashi took out a dark blue satin box with a simple but beautiful diamond ring and placed it gently in front of the dark haired woman.

Shiori's eyes were wide and she was absolutely speechless, she open her mouth a few times to answer but nothing came out, so in the end she just nodded first tentatively then a lot more vigorously while some silent tears accompanying her acceptance.

"Shiori," Kakashi said gently while he walked around the table to his crying fiancée, "thank you, for agreeing to be my wife." He slipped the ring on her finger, it was a perfect fit.

"I love you, Kakashi." Shiori sobbed while she held onto him like a lifeline still feeling slightly overwhelmed.

The black haired civilian had never expected Kakashi to want to marry her, let alone this quickly! Wow they weren't even a year together and he already put a ring on her finger, talk about working fast!

During the weeks and months she had lived with him Shiori had learned there was a lot more to the man than the mangas had shown but that some things had been uncannily accurate about the last Hatake. His fear of permanent relationships and innate paranoia was one of them and this had made the shinobi test her time and time again until the blue eyed civilian had come to grips with the fact that Kakashi would probably never be fully able to let his guard down around her, not to mention do something like making their relationship official, Shiori believed her lover too paranoid to ever do something like this.

That he now contrary to her expectations asked her to marry him left Shiori reeling, she was confused but very much elated at the same time, they were going to MARRY!

The black haired civilian was startled out of her thoughts when her fiancé lifted her up into his arms before sitting down on her chair and then disposing her into his lap. The man she leaned against played somewhat distracted with her long hair before he started to speak again.

"Shiori-chan I am sorry that I can't give you the wedding that you deserve, but it would be too dangerous if somebody found out about you," Kakashi said with honest regret in his voice.

"It doesn't matter to me if we marry right here and now or never at all, I just want to be with you," Shiori reassured him with a still teary smile.

What she said was the truth; the black haired civilian would have never stayed with Kakashi if she was as hung up on the topic of marriage as much as the rest of the civilian women in this world seemed to be. Shiori's eyes widened slightly, maybe that was the reason why Kakashi had asked her, he was adhering to the civilian customs in Konoha. Now Shiori was concerned, what if she was forcing him into something he felt uncomfortable with just because of traditions? The civilian fretted for a second before she snorted inwardly and called herself an idiot. This was Hatake Kakashi, he did NOTHING without a reason and he wouldn't let himself be pressured into a marriage just because it was norm.

"Then will you agree to marry me in a week at the Fire Shrine?" Kakashi continued slightly nonchalant.

Shiori's eyes went big. "The Fire shrine, as in the place where you have to reserve the date for at least five months prior?" her eyes went soft, "Kakashi…how long have you been planning this?"

"Since the day you told me that you loved me," the silver haired Jounin answered truthfully, his hands were still gliding through her black tresses.

While he waited for her answer the Hatake contemplated wryly his relationship with the woman on his lap and how it had come to this marriage proposal.

He had always known that he was a paranoid, possessive and calculating bastard, and yes he was also aware that throughout the time he had been together with Shiori she had noticed the wide range of psychological issues he had. That she had not run from him after the first few months had been the reason why he had decided that he would hold onto her with all his might and skill as a manipulator if he had to.

When Shiori then confessed to him that she was in love with him and accepted him just like he was, Kakashi had unconsciously started to make plans for a proposal even though the more cynical part of his mind had tried to convince him that in the end Shiori would leave him, just as everybody else had done in his life.

So, it came that the day crept up on him when he suddenly had a ring and a free time slot at the Fire shrine, which was more luck then skill to be honest. The shinobi had just been fortunate that somebody had canceled two months ago when he had visited to just check if it was possible thereupon Kakashi had then acted on instinct and just booked the open date before he could change his mind. The ring was even easier, he had just finished his mission in the capital of Fire country when he had found a ring in the window of a jeweler that just screamed Shiori.

It was funny really, marriage had NEVER been one of the goals in his life, since he had turned seventeen the council had kept putting so much pressure on him concerning that topic that it had never become something to which he could look forward to. Kakashi had of course soundly refused, a family was the last thing the young ANBU operative had needed at that time and he probably would have kept happily refusing until the day he died if he hadn't had met Shiori.

If he was brutally honest marriage was still not something he saw as a happy occurrence or a way to convey his feelings, it was just a convenient instrument to officially bind the petite black haired civilian to him for the rest of his life, because while divorce was legal in Fire Country it was used rarely and then only in the most extreme cases, and Kakashi had no intention to ever give Shiori a justified cause to leave him. As long as he could do something about it the blue eyed civilian would belong to him until Shinigami-sama took him away from her.

And yes, he really was the possessive bastard that he sounded like.

Ripped out of his musings Kakashi saw Shiori laugh and shake her head in disbelief before she agreed with a warm smile to his rather out of the blue proposal, "Yes Kakashi I will marry you in a week."

The confirmation brought a dark satisfaction with it, it was probably not fair to Shiori to be bound to somebody like him until the day he died but Kakashi was too selfish to let her go now that he had tasted some of the forbidden fruit. Without further ado Kakashi shunshined them back home where he showed Shiori his appreciation about the fact that she had agreed to marry him. Exhausted and soaked with sweat Shiori tried to catch her breath while Kakashi's breath was only a little bit faster. The elite Jounin was wearing a pretty smug grin on his face while he watched the woman beside him. Affectionately Kakashi nuzzled the neck of his fiancée while he slowly traced invisible patterns on her skin. The civilian woman beside him sighed in content but was unable to move even one muscle.

"Shiori-chan?" Kakashi asked tentatively.

"Hhm?" the civilian answered tiredly, her eyes were already closed and she was basking in her afterglow.

"I'm getting out of ANBU next month," the shinobi said airily while he kept touching his lover.

Said lover's eyes flew open and her mouth opened slightly, her eyes searched Kakashi's and when she saw the seriousness and warmth in them couldn't help but sob in relief.

"…Shiori-chan don't cry!" Kakashi said wide eyed, he wasn't used to her being so emotional.

"Idiot. I'm not crying," Shiori tried to deny while she laughed and hiccupped at the same time as her tears continued to run down her face.

Her hands snaked out beside her body and she desperately searched for something to anchor herself on. Kakashi's own arms came around her and tugged her on top of his body, where she shook and nearly silently cried; only the occasional sob escaped her mouth.

Kakashi was getting out of ANBU…that explained the increased missions and his tiredness, the black haired woman physically felt how the worry and anxiousness fell away from her body and snuggled closer to her fiancé.

"Me being in ANBU hurt you," Kakashi spoke his realization out loud while he helplessly tried to calm down his wife-to-be.

"…No, that isn't it...I saw what the missions did to you when they went bad. As I said before it is your decision when you think you are ready to quit ANBU but yes I AM relieved that you won't be exposed to so much psychological trauma and danger anymore. You had me worried for the last few months, your workload seemed to only increase and you were always so tired," Shiori tried to explain.

"Shiori..." Kakashi said regretfully.

He would still be sent out on dangerous missions and he was unsure how to tell her that. Well at least the stress of the last few months was now easy to explain it was a result of him quitting the service, his superiors wanted as much missions completed as possible before he finally left the system.

"I know, I know, just because you are out of ANBU won't stop the dangerous missions but while that may be true you won't be sent on so much black ops missions as you are now, or at least I hope so," Shiori explained before she bit her lip and looked into Kakashi's eyes. "Kakashi, I ALWAYS know when you had an assassination mission or lost a teammate, your eyes go dead for some time before you start to recover. Why do you think I never leave your vicinity during the first few days after you return from such a mission?"

Kakashi looked up at the woman lying on him unreadable, he opened his mouth a few times but no words came out, instead he pulled her closer and nibbled on her ear and saying, "You are MINE".

Shiori could only shiver at the possessive tone of her soon-to-be-husband before simply confirming his ownership with a smile and a pleased, "Yours."