Chapter 5: Announcements

The newly engaged pair had agreed on a simple backstory, one concocted by Hiashi and Hanabi, who to Kakashi's surprise, seemed to be hopeless romantics. Having both faced significant loss in the war, the two found comfort in each other. And when proposals came in for Hinata's hand, Kakashi knew he couldn't just let her go, and proposed to her himself. Feeling unworthy of his attentions and doubtful of acceptance, Hinata hadn't wanted to formally announce it. That was until the daimyo's son had requested her hand and there was no choice but to announce their love.

'Straight out of a novel. Who would believe that?' The story was nauseatingly sweet. At least that's what he thought prior to telling his longtime friend and rival, Might Guy.

He and Hinata agreed that they should start slowly spreading the story among their friends, and to those with whom they were especially close. For those who could keep a secret and take it to their grave, they could hear the truest version. Kurenai would be one of those people. Kakashi knew he'd need someone like her to reign in Kiba and Shino. As for Guy, Kakashi started with the most fictionalized version. He trusted Guy with his life, but he wasn't a quiet man. If Guy knew, then Lee knew. And if Lee knew, the village knew.

He thought that Guy would find holes in the story. The two spent a lot of time together, especially now that Guy was wheelchair bound. It would be obvious to him that he and Hinata had never spent time together. But Guy was the romantic type, too, and believed the story immediately.

"Kakashi!" he shouted. "Why did you never tell me? Did you think I would judge you for falling for the young Hinata?! Were you worried because she is my late student's sister and cousin?"

Tears streamed from his face and Kakashi couldn't tell if they were out of joy or anger at his supposed preconceived notions of Guy.

Guy grabbed Kakashi's hands into his own. "My rival has found love! At long last have you found comfort!" he shouted, then froze, the word comfort having planted a different scenario in his head.

"Um…Kakashi…you, er…you haven't done anything to tarnish her reputation, have you?" Guy asked, looking up from his chair. This interrogation was getting to be far worse than the time he was imprisoned in Itachi's genjutsu for what felt like days.

Kakashi raised his right hand. "I swear I have never even so much as kissed her."

"Saving yourselves for marriage and the approval of her father! How honorable! Kakashi, I never would have guessed you'd be such a gentleman!"

Kakashi gazed outside Guy's living room window and sighed. It was as though his best friend had never even met him. Kakashi sincerely hoped that Hinata was already telling her friends and that they were as gullible as his, but his intuition told him they wouldn't be so lucky. He sighed again as Guy continued to bawl.

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Hinata couldn't really say why, but the first person she told was Shikamaru. Perhaps it was because she thought he would have the most practical outlook on the arrangement, and truly, she couldn't bear anymore sympathy and pity on her behalf. Or maybe she just needed someone who would listen and not talk.

The two were surprisingly close, though very few knew. Their genin teams had often trained together, both because of the similar functions of their teams and the budding relationship between their instructors. It was hardly a secret, though the students never overtly called them out on it. When Asuma had died, Shikamaru and Hinata had both taken to checking in on Kurenai, especially during her pregnancy. The two were practically a second set of parents to the young Mirai. They alternated spending nights with Kurenai, doing the cooking, even the shopping. And along the way, their friendship grew, too.

She knew of his feelings for Kazekage's sister, though he'd never admit it. And he knew of her faded feelings for Naruto and his ignorance of an outright confession. Most of these conversations took place over a game of shogi, which she had never won. So, when they started playing after putting Mirai to bed, she knew it was her chance to tell him, to tell someone.

As she made her last move, she contemplated how to tell him. She wasn't sure how to lead in and it wasn't like Shikamaru to care for fluff and filler, so she simply took a deep breath that drew his idle attention and said it.

"I'm getting married." The comment was low and soft and without any pause or stutter. She never seemed to stutter with him.

Though it was now Shikamaru's turn to move, he made no such action. She raised her eyes from the board to meet his face but couldn't read the expression. It seemed blank, like he either hadn't heard or simply couldn't process it. She continued to speak.

"It'll be in early summer, to give time for all the formalities."

Shikamaru had known that there were proposals coming in. He heard from Temari that shinobi from the Sand Village had made such requests and that she had to deliver them to Hinata's father as part of diplomatic duties. But to his knowledge, they had all been rejected, most before even reaching Hinata's ears. The byakugan was too important to Konoha to simply have it spread to other villages, even if this was a time of peace. But there was always the chance that some proposal would come along that would benefit the village.

'It could be just about anyone. A foreign shinobi of a powerful clan, a daimyo even. They could seal her eyes and remove her womb if they thought they'd misuse the byagukan…but she doesn't seem so broken hearted,' he scrutinized rapidly.

"An alliance, is it?" he asked aloud, still not having made a move.

"No. The opposite really. They couldn't let the byakugan fall into the wrong hands and the alternatives…" she drifted off preferring not to discuss the mutilations. "They'd catch on eventually, and it would be an insult to the daimyo."

'So, it was the daimyo. Well, probably his son, I doubt that man could handle a second wife. The first is already so troublesome with that damn runaway cat.'

"Then, to whom?" he asked, wondering how they'd be able to turn down a daimyo. There were only so many people on level with a lord.

"Lord Hokage."

It was a two word answer he really should have seen coming. As he already suspected, to turn the daimyo's offer would mean taking the offer of a man of equal or higher standing. And really, there weren't that many. Yet somehow, it was inconceivable.

"Kakashi? He agreed?" He didn't know why it bothered him, but it did.

"Only if I agreed first. It was my father's idea, after all. Would you have seen another way?"

He heard the question as a silent plea. Save me. But he saw no other solution either, not unless she were already married, but as far as he knew, the only man she ever loved didn't return her feelings so even a staged and backdated marriage wasn't plausible. Regardless, she seemed destined for an arrangement.

"No, I can't think of one. Not one that would work."

Hinata sighed, but somehow sounded relieved. "So, there really was no other way." It was like a weight off her shoulders to know that this wasn't a foolish endeavor, but the only viable option. "Our lives are just not our own," she said.

Shikamaru understood. It was duty that compelled this. Duty to her clan, and for the both of them, duty to their village. He stared at her and her downcast expression. "You may regret this."

Hinata sighed faintly this time. "My fiancé said the same thing, though not in those words."

Fiancé. Marriage. Kakashi. It was a lot to take in. He didn't know what to say to her or what to do, but he knew she'd need his support. They both would.

' Troublesome.'

In an unusual fashion, Shikamaru slid over to the opposite side of the board where Hinata sat and wrapped her into a tight embrace. He'd only ever hugged her once before, when Asuma died. Just like before, she smelled like lavender and jasmine, only now there was a hint of curry—the dinner she cooked just hours before. He'd cried the whole time he hugged her before, and she said nothing of it. This time it was his turn to return the favor.

"Ne, Shikamaru," she called. "It's your turn to move."

"Stupid," he said, "The game's over, I forfeit."

A small smile lit up her face. "So, I've finally won." And like that, the tears stopped falling.

They said nothing more but stayed in that position a while long.

'Really…when did we get so close,' he wondered.

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The next morning when Kurenai returned from her night away, the two of them sat her down and explained everything. Hinata shared their agreed upon backstory and Shikamaru just scoffed.

"Who on Earth would believe that?"

"Well," offered Kurenai, "it does sound romantic."

-End Chapter 5-

A/N: For this chapter, I really wanted to expand upon their relationships with other characters that will be important to the story. The next few chapters will focus more on the relationship between Kakashi and Hinata. Stay tuned!