Chapter 19
Beta'd by Black Sparrow
When the three shinobi arrived at the front portal of the Fire shrine, Shiori wasn't in sight yet and so their conversation turned to the newest weapon shop in Konoha. Genma was just complaining about the more than deficient quality of the senbon needles which nearly got him killed in the last mission when he stopped in the middle of his sentence to stare at something behind Kakashi.
"Kami all mighty," he murmured nearly reverently while his eyes were fixed on the figure behind his comrades.
The two other Jounin followed his gaze and Kakashi's heart stopped for a second while Gai too murmured in admiration.
"Hatake, you are such a lucky bastard," Genma said under his breath while he didn't lift his gaze off the slowly, closer coming figure. Shiori looked stunning.
The silver haired genius answered with a distracted, "Huh?" while he took the form of his bride in.
Shiori wasn't wearing the traditional white wedding kimono which the civilians normally preferred and fussed over for months on end before the wedding, nor wore she the flamboyant red and gold kimono that was favored by the Konoha kunoichis. Instead, she wore a pearl colored kimono that changed into a delicate purple color at her hips that was emulated in her nearly calf length sleeves. The silk fabric was held together with an obi of the same purple color that was already used in the kimono. Just like her wedding kimono her Uchikake was far from traditional, instead of the normal non-transparent silk, the fabric had a light and see through quality and flowed like water around her figure, all over the fabric were delicate flowers distributed that wound themselves around her figure in various shades between pearl, pink and light purple.
Even at her wedding ceremony Shiori had refused to wear a lot of make up, the beauty shop owner had been shocked and slightly horrified at her request but had complied in the end. So instead of the white powder mask, red painted lips and coal lined eyes that were tradition, Shiori wore no powder, her complexion was thankfully blemish free, lips had been painted a dark pink and her sparkling blue eyes were lined coal and subtle silver eye shadow, this made them even more intense than they normally were.
Shiori eyed the three dumbstruck men watching her and inwardly cheered, she had apparently succeeded in her mission to make them speechless. The black haired woman was glad that she had chosen the unorthodox dress kimono this new young designer had tried to sell to the wedding store; Shiori had taken one look and had fallen in love with it. The kimono nearly made up for the fact that Kakashi had left her a week, A WEEK to find a wedding kimono. During the first days of her search, Shiori had earnestly considered murdering her fiancé. Shiori was still contemplating what kind of revenge she should administer for putting her through that.
Her thoughts then turned back to the men in front of her and she took a closer look at their clothes, Kakashi was wearing the traditional wedding wardrobe for men, while both Gai and Genma were in similar outfits, all three of them made a rather striking sight with their powerful physics.
"So…ready?" Shiori asked slightly nervous while she bit her lip, she was thankful for the fact that her make up artist had chosen waterproof make up and so she couldn't smudge it.
Funnily enough it was Gai who recovered first. "Inoue-san you look absolutely stunning," he told her in a surprisingly moderate voice.
As an answer her smile became bigger and she laughed shortly before saying, "Thank you Maito-san, you three look rather handsome yourself."
Genma elbowed Kakashi who still looked at Shiori as if he was in a trance. "Wuh?" her said intellectually while his eyes travelled for the ninth time up and down her body.
"I'm sorry Inoue-san but it seems as if Kakashi has become brain dead, why don't I entertain you while he recovers?" Genma said dryly and lifted his hand as if to touch her.
His arm hadn't even invaded her personal space yet when the senbon wielder was pushed out of the way and landed undignified in the low bushes a few meters away from them.
"Whoops," Kakashi said unapologetic before he gently took Shiori's hand into his and squeezed it.
Shiori's eyes became softer while she returned the gentle grip. What a lot of people didn't know about Kakashi was that he had problems with conveying his feelings and thoughts additionally to the fact that he didn't like to show them. So most of his acquaintances just thought that he simply didn't care enough to talk or chose deliberately not to talk, to keep as much distant as possible. So Shiori had to learn pretty fast how to read the signs and subtle messages he was sending out through body language to avoid misunderstandings. Her ability to read between the lines and interpret intimate touches for what they were, signs of his love and affection made it a lot easier for the tight lipped shinobi to convey himself. So in reaction to the gently squeeze Shiori blushed while she looked onto the ground, her cheeks turning an enticing pink color that nearly matched her slightly darker lips, it was nice to know that she could dazzle Kakashi like this.
Gai and the recovered Genma could only stare at the couple in awe, Kakashi had been right, the two just fit together.
The group then started moving in the direction of the temple, it was time for the wedding ceremony.
A few short meters away from the entrance Kakashi removed the genjutsu mask he had used for his walk through the public part of to the shrine property. Both Genma and Gai stilled for a moment at that before continuing on behind the couple. For them this gesture was pretty close to monumental, they had only seen Kakashi on a few occasions without his mask, most of these times it was either involuntary or for the good of the mission that he had felt the need to remove it. This gesture also gave them a pretty good estimate about how serious Kakashi was about this marriage.
The wedding party made its way inside where a Shinto priest was already waiting. Shiori and Kakashi had decided to forgo most rituals and just go through the most basic ones, neither felt the need for an over the top ceremony when they already knew that they loved each other. So it took only forty or so minutes to complete the basic blessing rituals along with exchanging of the traditional vows and sharing sake. Both Kakashi and Shiori signed the wedding certificate before handing it over to Gai and Genma to sign it as their witnesses.
Before the Shinto priest could remove the copy that would stay in the shrine from the vicinity of the groom, Kakashi placed a barely noticeable genjutsu over the certificate that changed their names. The priest would file it and nobody would ever know that Hatake Kakashi had married Inoue Shiori. The genjutsu was so minimal that it would feed from the chakra in the air and so would never dispel without the correct chakra frequency.
The group was still quiet when they left the temple and leisurely walked down the stairs, the four participants of the wedding felt strangely mellow, as if they were in some kind of dream or strange genjutsu. Only the clasped hands of Shiori and Kakashi somehow confirmed that what just happened was reality.
On the last step Gai stopped and looked at the married couple that had already reached the base. "Kakashi-san, Shiori-san. Go-kekkon omedetou gozaimasu."
"Thank you Gai," Kakashi said smiling, having recovered first.
"Yes, thank you Gai-san." Shiori laughed while she leaned her head on Kakashi's shoulder, her husband let go of her hand and wrapped it around her waist before pulling her closer to him.
Genma came to a halt beside his normally spandex clad comrade and laughed warmly before he too turned to the newly married couple. "Yes congratulations to your marriage. I wish you the best…oh and Kakashi don't think I won't forget how you sprung this on us!"
"Mah, mah," Kakashi said while he scratched the back of his neck and did his typical eye smile, it had definitely been worth their faces.
Shiori couldn't stop her laughter and tried to unsuccessfully hide it while she buried her face in Kakashi's shoulder, the shinobi around her grinned at each other while they watched the only female in their round trying to keep some of her composure.
"So, I take it that you two won't come back with us to Konoha, will you?" Genma continued to ask curious.
"Actually I have no idea, Kakashi?" Shiori said slightly bemused she hadn't had thought further than the wedding to her embarrassment.
"Nah, we are staying here. We will see you in a week," Kakashi said while he smiled down at Shiori.
Both Gai and Genma had noticed that Kakashi's smiles and actions were a lot more sincere whenever they were turned to Shiori. Their comrade really did love that woman and apparently felt extremely possessive about her, Genma silently vowed to tease the silver haired Jounin about this as much as possible.
Coming out of his thoughts the senbon wielder grinned at the two and said cheerfully, "Have fun you two. By the way Kakashi don't think that I will forget what you promised me."
After that the ominous sentence the two Jounin said their goodbyes to the couple and jumped into the trees to make their way back to Konoha, both their heads were full with new information and revelations that they would have to chew on for some time.
As soon as their witnesses were out of sight, Kakashi shunshined Shiori directly into the honeymoon suite that he had reserved for the two of them.
"Promise?" Shiori asked confused and slightly distracted in Kakashi's arms.
She curiously took in the room in which they were. It was a very nice suite; they were probably in one of the high class hotels around the temple if she wasn't mistaken. Oh…was that a Jacuzzi she saw through the open bathroom door?
Her shinobi husband sighed. "I promised Genma that he would be allowed to organize my stag party when our marriage becomes public knowledge, I hope until then he will have forgotten this promise."
Shiori looked at Kakashi's deadpan face and burst into laughter. "I hate to tell you this anata but I don't think he will forget that no matter what."
The shinobi stiffened and turned his full attention to his wife. "Say that again," Kakashi growled while he looked intently at Shiori.
Shiori furrowed her eyebrows. "What…oh…" and then grinned. "Anata," she whispered seductive into Kakashi's ear, before she shrieked amused when he threw her carefully on the hotel bed and more or less ripped his clothes off. Inwardly Shiori hoped that he would be somewhat more careful with her own garments, she liked her wedding kimono.
What followed was an exhausting week for Shiori that was only interrupted by short breaks between the unbelievable honeymoon sex.