Their new home suited their needs well during the last year. It had been an eventful one.

Her team had been a bit apprehensive when she told them about her relationship, but they had all come around rather quickly. Kiba and Shino both liked seeing her happy, and being around the older man wasn't as awkward as they feared it would be, and Kurenai was already friends with Kakashi.

Their formal wedding ceremony was beautiful, and not overly extravagant. A surprising number of high-profile guests had traveled from other nations to pay their respects. Hinata assumed it was due to the Hokage's influence, more than her family's. They knew Kakashi was next. She was sure their curiosity got the best of them. How had he managed to secure an ever-exclusive familial tie to the refined Hyūga clan. Who was the woman who had managed to collar the famous copy-nin.

It was a bit shocking to most of the guests when the bride and groom were obviously enamored with each other. Most assumed a strategic match, not actual love.

The Hokage was beside herself, and drunkenly bragged to anyone who would listen that it was all her doing. Kakashi knew it, but couldn't bring himself to feel irritated at her involvement any longer… not with Hinata by his side.

Kakashi was sitting in the kitchen of their house. The soft morning light was streaming through the windows as he sipped on his bitter coffee. It had been a little over a year since he had married Hinata, and the past year had been the best of his entire life.

He never realized exactly how lacking his life had felt before this. Though he supposed that the self-harm was probably a large indicator - along with his blasé attitude toward it.

No, he actually felt happiness. Real happiness, regularly. Perhaps he was feeding off of the emotions of the woman he married. She always had such an infectious attitude. Or perhaps feeling love was actually as transformative as all of those fools always claimed.

He was sleeping better too. He hadn't realized exactly how exhausted he had been. It was comforting and reassuring having Hinata sleeping next to him, and he had fewer nightmares. The scars that covered his body had grown pale with age. He no longer felt the pull to reopen them.

He stood up and stretched his tired muscles. Training had been somewhat tiring lately. He blamed his sparring partners, his young former students, of course. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he was getting older.

He was in a good mood, aching muscles aside, because the memories of the evening before were fresh in his mind. Hinata had returned from her mission and had tracked him down to the training grounds with eyes gleaming. She had drawn him close, not caring who saw, and had whispered wonderful words in his ear.

'I'm pregnant.'


Their first child was a boy. He was born in winter, and had dark eyes, and wild, dark hair. Kakashi didn't think there was ever a child as beautiful in the world before then. He was named Hatake Yoru.

Their second child arrived three years later, about two years after Kakashi had become the 6th Hokage, and with her, came change.

Born in the spring, their daughter was the opposite of Yoru in every way. She had soft white hair, and her pale eyes were just like her mother's. She looked like an Ōtsutsuki, and the Hyūga found this to be auspicious. She was named Hyūga Hinari.

They left the house they had built their lives in when Hinari arrived, and moved back to the Hyūga district. It was bittersweet, but the house remained in the Hatake name.

Their third child came a year and a half after Hinari, and Hinata was wrought with anxiety for the entirety of her pregnancy. When he was born, she had cried with relief at his dark eyes. Her tears had fallen into his dark gray hair. He was named Hatake Hiroshi.

Less than a year after Hiroshi was born, Hinata succeeded Hiashi as head of the Hyūga. She refused to place the caged bird seal on her younger sister, and worked hard to make another way for her people, in honor of Neji's memory.

A few months later, Kakashi decided that he was ready to pass the Hokage baton to Naruto. The Uzumaki was thirty years old, and there was nothing more Kakashi could teach him. Kakashi was almost forty-five, and he was honestly tired of the paperwork. He was tired of being tired, and not having time with his family. So, he proudly, and not without relief, handed over the Kage duties and took a very long vacation.

His 'vacation' consisted of playing with his kids. Yoru was nearly six years old, and very sharp. He was certainly a little spoiled, but very good natured, and Kakashi decided it was time to start him on a proper training regimen. He would be starting in the academy soon.

Hinari would begin her training within those few months as well. The Hyūga started earlier with their children. Already, she had very promising coordination for her age, and Hiashi and the other elders were smitten. Kakashi was worried that she would end up even more spoiled than his first-born son. He certainly wanted to spoil her too.

Out of all of his children, Hiroshi looked the most like the Hatake clan of old. His hair was darker and a little less wild, but an outsider would know instantly what his last name was. Unlike Yoru, who had dark features like the Uchiha, and Hinari, with the pale features of the Ōtsutsuki, Hiroshi looked the most like his dad.

Kakashi decided then, that he was content. He spoke with Hinata as she curled against his chest in bed. He told her that they didn't need any more children, and that he didn't want to put her through the anxiety of another. He didn't expect her to cry over it. She wanted another child. He couldn't refuse her.

Their fourth child was another boy. He arrived less than a year after they had that conversation. He had light gray hair, and dark gray eyes. He was named Hatake Shio.

Their fifth was a girl. She had dark hair, almost as dark as Yoru's, and her eyes were a soft gray. She was named Hatake Katsuki.

When their sixth child was born, a beautiful boy, she wept. His Byakugan peered back at her, and he too cried. His soft gray hair was wild like his father's. But he would never receive the caged bird seal. He too, looked much like an Ōtsutsuki, and the Hyūga did not dare place a mark on a child that looked so much like their revered ancestors. He was named Hyūga Tomoe.

When Tomoe was born, Hinata had finally asked Kakashi for help. He was knowledgeable about Fūinjutsu and she wished to develop a better seal for her family. One that would safeguard the Byakugan from aggressors, but no longer be used as a means of control or punishment. One that even the main family would receive. Of course, he gave everything he could. They developed a seal by the time Tomoe was five years old. Hinata was the first to receive this new seal. The mark no longer graced the forehead as before. Instead, it wrapped around the back of the head, effectively hidden from view. The rest of the main Branch received theirs as well.

Hinata ushered in a new age of the Hyūga. She lifted the branch family from subservience with open arms, because it was something only she could do. Her children, watching all the while, and learning.

Yoru joined the ranks of ANBU at fifteen years old, and he excelled at everything he put his mind to. He babied all of his siblings, except Hinari, who had also grown quite formidable for a twelve-year-old.

Hinata passed the role of head to Hanabi when Tomoe entered the academy at six years old. There was muttering in the clan about this decision… about how it would affect the succession, but Hinata had done what she set out to do. She had made lasting change. Neji would be so proud of her. She only wished he was still there with her. The muttering abruptly ceased when Hanabi let it be known that she preferred the company of women, and would definitely not be having children of her own.

Kakashi thought he was good at reading people, but even he choked on his coffee when Hinata regaled him with Hanabi's antics, laughing. He was surprised, and he cursed that he wasn't there personally to see the elders' mouths go slack with shock. To see the words die in their throats. He also didn't know what to say, the only thing that came out of his mouth was, 'Your sister is an amazing woman, truly.'

Hinata had smiled at him, and then pulled out a small scroll and told him to open it.

It was an official document approving her name change. She had signed her name Hatake Hinata.

He took her hand in his and brought it up to his lips.

Hatake.

They moved back into the Hatake house the next year with their children, and Hinata donned the Hatake clan crest for the first time in their eighteen years of marriage. Kakashi was so proud of what she had accomplished. Even now, she took his breath away.

Hatake.

After all these years.


Author's note:

Hi! It's Mumu here!

Thanks for reading (if you made it this far). I recently found this old story I wrote and then forgot about, so I figured I would clean it up, finish it, and post it up here. I don't normally write this loosely, but I found it enjoyable to experiment. I was working on an epilogue, but the more I wrote the more I felt that it didn't fit right, so I decided to end it here.

I hope you enjoyed the story. I'm happy for any feedback. (Apologies if the format is weird...)

I personally love KakaHina and I wish there was more around.

If you leave me comments, thank you!