There was nothing for it. The most secured vault in Konoha, aside from the Hokage Tower (or perhaps even meeting its seals) was in the Senju Compound. "I'm sorry to bother you with this," Mito said uncomfortably. "I don't have room in my apartment for all the things stored there, Tsunade," she admitted, frowning and thoughtful. "I… Some of this stuff I don't trust to keep in my seals - those on my body - yet I'm asking you to help me. I'm sorry," Mito rambled, pinching the bridge of her nose. She'd been doing a lot of that lately. "I don't know what I was thinking."

Tsunade shrugged. "I don't live in the main house. And there's a reason why it and the compound are so secured," she sighed, leading her goddaughter further inside the Senju Compound. "My grandmother may have trusted Konoha and my sensei to hold all of her seals - and her library - but I can't say that I do." She huffed at the door of the main house, an architectural marvel her grandfather had built or "grown;" her grandmother's seals had kept it looking tended to and good as new since before she died. "Come in."

Mito followed. "Do… you have Genin teams that care for the house and grounds?"

Tsunade chuckled. "Absolutely not. That's all seal work in action."

Mito nodded, knowing such seals would be incredibly useful, particularly for someone as old as Uzumaki Mito who at one time was responsible for the compound's upkeep. "Whoa." Tsunade had led her into the back of the beautiful home and it looked as if it was a home within a home! "I saw pictures from Uzushio of things like this."

"Yes," Tsunade agreed with a sad smile. "My grandfather loved Mito-obaa immensely. He wanted her to have a piece of her homeland here, so he hired builders from the island to build her a 'castle' before they married."

"No castles in Uzushio from what I know, anyway," Mito replied quietly. Although how much was that?

"That's what my grandmother said. And then… When she grew to love the Leaf and saw the house my great-uncle lived in, she mentioned that she would've liked something similar, had my grandfather not built her something so wonderful. That Konoha felt like her new home."

Mito smiled. "So he built this home around the one they were already living in?"

"Ridiculous, isn't it?" Tsunade asked, although she was smiling fondly.

"Not at all." Mito worked her lips, watching her godmother as she moved through the manor, lost in her memories.

"Ah." Tsunade had gotten a little lost there. It had been a long time since she entered this house; the one she used to play in and run through as a girl. "Let's show you to that storage room. ...Grandmother would've been pleased that you came to me, Mito. -And your mother lived here as a girl, after all."

Mito nodded, wondering if she could see her mother's old room. She knew that Uzumaki Kushina moved out once she'd made Genin after Mito-sama had died. "Thank you, shishou." She watched as one sealing array after another lit up until they were finally in a deep basement. There were already hundreds of scrolls present. Tsunade had offered to donate many things to the museum. "You know… Kaa-chan always said that the people of Uzushio wouldn't appreciate archeologists or other outsiders going through and digging up their things, prying into their private lives, but that's basically what I did. Maybe…"

"Maybe nothing," Tsunade countered firmly, shutting down that line of thought. She gave Mito a cocky look. Her goddaughter was miserable, grieving, and doubting herself as a clan head and that wouldn't do. "Speaking of things related to your museum," she began with a wry chuckle. "Yuko-san asked me out. We're going to some fancy spot that overlooks the mountain tonight."

Mito's jaw dropped. "You're going out with Yuko-san? The 'Hasegawa Yuko' Daimyo-sama sent to help with the museum?" Was there another Yuko in Konoha?

"Meh," Tsunade shrugged, although it was certainly him. "I see it as free food and probably good booze. And he seems interesting. You were worried about his motives, especially after everything that happened when you moved the structure," she said bitterly, having run those DNA tests for Mito. "I thought it could only help."

Hesitantly, Mito wrapped an arm around her waist, leaning her head on her mentor's shoulder. "Thank you. …Ha. I hope you two have fun," she said in a degree of bewilderment, almost wanting to see that date go down. She stood up straight, hands on hips, and stared into the storage room. "I don't know what I'm doing."

"It's a heavy responsibility," Tsunade commented with a firm pat to her back that sent Mito forward a step. "Anyway, I'm the only one keyed into the seals here and the only other people that can get into the compound are you, Shizune, and my toad of a teammate. Let's get you free access here and you'll be good to go." Mito nodded and they began. She cut her hand. "Are you going to put seals like these around the museum?"

"I guess so."

Tsunade hummed as Mito also cut her hand to place against the key, channeling her chakra, after she did. "Word's already gotten out. I heard the staff at the hospital discussing what you found. People are offering their condolences." Mito nodded but didn't say anything as she began putting down the newly found Uzushio scrolls. Ingeniously, Mito had placed whatever was inside of them in a temporary holding seal with a genjutsu tag since they were too large to do anything else with. The first one popped open with a 'BOOM' and she chuckled. "Good Lord; that is huge!"

"Yeah," Mito agreed. "And there are over a dozen of them. –Are you sure you don't mind?" Please say you don't. Mito had no idea of what else she could do with them, at least for now. Her seals just wouldn't hold them for any length of time.

Tsunade shrugged. "Nope! It's all yours. Come and go as you please but… Let's leave the house as is, okay?"

"Of course," Mito promised.

"Feel free to enlarge the storage room, though!"

Tsunade waved over her shoulder as she left. Mito wasn't sure if she wanted to be alone with all of this stuff but it looked like that was how it was going to go. She glanced at an antique clock that was still ticking on the table and realized that if she didn't hurry up, she'd be late to get the cubs to their rescheduled appointment with Hari-san, the tattoo artist.

.

Kakashi internally sighed. Minato was stewing and seemed nearly afraid to talk to him. He guessed that it was probably because he was trying not to kill him; the village needed him, after all. The Hokage would sometimes begin to have a "talk" with him, and then stammer something and stop, disappearing again.

Didn't his old sensei know that was Kakashi's gig, not his? He cleared his throat, having earlier asked Momo-san for a little privacy. "I was hoping we could finish that talk you mentioned?"

Minato tapped his pen, staring at the papers on his kitchen table as he got his thoughts together. Plastering a smile on his face, he grinned at his apprentice, who seemed annoyed by that.

Good. Minato was annoyed, too. "My door is always open for you, Kakashi." He'd been saying that for over two decades, hadn't he? He just hadn't planned for Kakashi to enter in order to steal his daughter. -Oh, Minato knew he was being overly dramatic but he was pissed. He had trusted Kakashi - and he trusted Mito, too. So WHY didn't they tell him?

Was it a casual thing between them? Kakashi was getting bones broken if that was the case, even if it was Mito's idea. He shuddered, the thought of Mito wanting what the kids called a "friends with benefits" non-relationship to be too awful to consider more (although he kept going back to it, every night.) Every night since he saw the two of them wrapped around each other.

The way they held each other certainly didn't look casual at all. That hurt more.
Didn't they trust him?

Kakashi kept his hands in his pockets (naturally where there were hidden weapons) and relaxed his posture. He scratched at his calf with his other sandal and sighed. "Mito and I are private people." His sensei didn't look like he believed that which was somewhat insulting. Alrighty then… Kakashi figured that he might as well hit him with a fact that had certainly gotten Asuma off his back. " Not right now, but I'm planning to ask Mito to marry me."

Minato collapsed onto the table and made some kind of sound more like a creaky door slowly closing than anything a human should be capable of making. Kakashi sighed again. The world's strongest ninja could be, in private, an absolute drama queen.

His forehead on the table, Minato's mouth spoke on its own. Surprisingly, it wasn't telling Kakashi to run. "And what do you think she'll say?"

Kakashi cringed. "Maa, that's the thing, isn't it? She's um… younger than me and… I don't know," he admitted, freezing up. Maybe he should leave… Minato, however, had sat back up and shook his head, looking at him with pity.

Yeah, he really should leave.

Kakashi's damn Hokage was faster through, in front of him and grabbing his hands as he was attempting a sunshin (the Tower and attached Residence had seals that required extra hand seals as well as more protections than Kakashi wanted to count.) Minato let go of his hands and Kakashi slumped, waiting to be punched. Instead, his sensei also sagged, shaking his head again.

Genius or not, Minato reminded Kakashi of an important fact. "You're an idiot."

Kakashi internally snorted. "Maa, that's been established." Minato turned and went back to his seat at the table and gestured for him to join him. Kakashi did but sat far enough away that he'd have a chance. –A chance at something, anyway.

"How long has this been going on?"

Kakashi scratched his head, considering that. He and Mito had been seeing each other for a while but not long enough for an impending (in the next month to 10 years or so) marriage proposal. "I wasn't sure for a long time," he began, looking at the ceiling. "I had to evaluate the concept thoroughly, but I've been interested in her since I first met her." He considered it more. "Maa. Or the first time she handed me my ass."

Minato narrowed his eyes on him, knowing Kakashi well enough that THAT wasn't what he meant. He needed to needle him, though. "She was 10 then. Are you saying you are or were a pedophile?"

"NO," Kakashi swore frantically. "I just thought she was interesting and horrible!" Fortunately, Minato bit his lips, appearing as if he either wanted to laugh or scold him. He was being teased, wasn't he? That was probably a good sign. "...When she came back, I couldn't avoid her," he admitted, gesturing to Minato because it was his fault. "I got to know her better when we took on teams and… I wasn't sure why I paid more attention to her for the longest time." Kakashi's voice had gotten softer and more strangled the more he spoke and he could feel his ears burning. Thank Kami he wore a mask.

Minato got up and grabbed a good bottle of scotch and two rocks glasses, moving to sit down next to his apprentice so he couldn't get away. It took him a while to find the right words and all he could think of was wanting Mito's happiness. And Kakashi's for that matter; he loved him. Kushina, in fact, had wanted to adopt Kakashi for the longest time. "I want to be a good father, you know." He poured two fingers worth of scotch for each of them. "I'm always screwing it up," he laughed bitterly. "I always had it in my head that raising a daughter would be different than raising a son." He took a sip, staring ahead of him and wondering where that idea came from. "Maybe I learned it at the orphanage," he mused. "I remember Ashi-san often speaking about how it was our responsibility to watch out for the girls; to protect them."

Kakashi knew that Ashi-san was the old orphanage matron. Minato had loved her dearly and had often gone to visit her, taking a young Kakashi with him to tend to her garden or help around the house she retired in - or the orphanage. "Sounds like something the older generation would say."

"OH, yeah," Minato agreed with a wistful smile. "Plus the stories there: gods! I learned to read with civilian stories about rescuing helpless princesses; and honestly, the stories written by ninja authors weren't that much better. In the field - and aside from Jiraiya-sensei who NEVER talked that way - I met and teamed with older fathers who went on and on about their daughters growing up, of the girls having their hearts broken or being taken advantage of." He sipped the rest of his scotch, poured himself more, and was glad that he didn't have any important appointments for the rest of the day or early tomorrow. He glanced at Kakashi, guessing that he probably planned it that way. "You're a good man, Kakashi." He smirked as Kakashi glanced at him so warily. "Aside from not saying anything, of course. …You love Mito?"

Kakashi shoved his discomfort into his gut about speaking of this - or what he'd imagined Mito's reaction to speaking with her father might be. Just how pissed was she going to be? She said she loved him; surely he'd be forgiven, right? Minato was already onto them and he might have mentioned that he felt guilty for deceiving him before all of that. "Yes, sir."

Minato swallowed hard, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "How much?"

With everything I know, Kakashi wanted to say. I think, anyway - but it's not like he'd ever quantified it. He wasn't good with this stuff but he was certainly crazy for Mito and there was no way in hell he was going through this love crap with anyone else. It had been too damn stressful although it was worth it now. "A lot?"

Minato didn't want to smile for some reason but he did. He nodded to himself as he thought the idea over. It's not like he hadn't seen Kakashi staring at Mito, probably pining for her, or Mito teasing him. He had been telling himself it was nothing but clearly, that wasn't the case. "My daughter… She's a LOT."

Surprised, Kakashi gazed over at him before his shoulders shook once with silent (and relieved for now) laughter. "Yes, she is. Mito's… really something."

Oh gods, his face was on fire again. Kakashi shot back the proffered booze through his genjutsu mask, knowing he should've savored it. Minato had pulled out the good stuff; he couldn't imagine how much this bottle cost.

"So," Minato said a little loudly, a terrible smirk growing on his face. "Why should I let you date or marry my daughter?"

He facepalmed when Kakashi blanched and helplessly shrugged.

.

Shit, I forgot today is Valentine's Day, Mito thought, staring much too intently at Kiba's chest being tattooed for a second. She closed her eyes and shook her head, wondering what she should get Kakashi and if anything would be available. Valentine's Day was a big deal. The stores might be out of… whatever she should be getting him. And restaurants and stuff were sure to be packed.

Shit, shit, shit.
Another gifted kunai wasn't going to do it, was it?

Konoha did White Day and Valentine's Day and stupidly, it was up to the gals (and ONLY the gals) to get their significant others something and go all out on February 14th. On White Day - in Konoha, anyway - both men and women did this, which meant women had a doubly raw deal.

Mito wondered if Kakashi would mind if she broke up with him for the day so she wouldn't have to deal with it.

OH SHIT, Mito then thought, her eyes going wide in realization. That artist guy had asked Tsunade out on a date on VALENTINE'S DAY. Holy shit! Mito would bet money that Tsunade hadn't realized the date when she said yes. She snickered out loud just thinking about it.

"Sens-SEI," Kiba called, getting her attention again. "I ASKED where you're getting your tattoo?!" He'd asked twice while she was busy observing Hari-san's work, and then began giggling like a weirdo. "You didn't tell us!"

Mito scratched her scalp. "Well you see, I've got all these seals and stuff all over my skin. So I'd talked to Hari-san about getting the '8' wrapped around my knuckles on my right hand."

Kiba nodded at her approvingly. "Cool. You punch with it. And everyone you hit will see our mark as they go down. –You know, before they die."

Mito snorted. She hadn't thought of it that way before and it was cute that Kiba did. "That's right."

Hari glanced away from where he was wrapping the top of the stylized figure 8 around Inuzuka Kiba's right nipple. He noticed the Aburame kid, Shino, was wincing, his teeth gritted and bared, as he stared down at his new tattoo, which he'd gotten wrapped around his big toenail and the nearest joint He'd told the kid it would hurt! He hummed and gave Mito a quick glance, too. "You decided not to get it on your hip?"

Mito shrugged. "If that's okay?" She grinned at Hinata who was waiting and looking green. Too late now, girly! You're next!

"No problem, either way," Hari assured her.

.

"Hey um. Guys," Mito began, shifting uneasily minutes later. "I gotta pick something up," –she had no idea what that would be– "so would it be okay if… I'll be right back?"

"You're good, sensei," Kiba answered. Shino gave her a silent nod while Sai all but ignored her, but Hinata looked like she was terrified.

"I'll be right back," she whispered to her little kunoichi. All three of her kids looked so big in their Chunin vests now, as did Sai, who was here lending support by way of mainly hilarious insults and shopping for a tattoo, too. "Your team's here, Hina, and I'll come straight back."

Hinata squeaked and shuffled uncomfortably.

Kiba came to Mito's rescue - sort of. "Let her go, Hinata! I bet Mito-sensei forgot to get something for her mystery man for Valentine's Day. You know how Sensei is!"

Mito almost stomped her foot and gave herself away as she vehemently denied it, lying her head off before stomping out of the tattoo studio. She headed out deeper into the district, the kids' horrible laughter at her expense still ringing in her ears. Her first stop was a nearby chocolate shop.

"Yo," Mito waved once she was able to shuffle past the terrible commotion there, a smile plastered on her pretty, slightly scarred and whiskered face. "Do you happen to have anything sour or weird-flavored that normal people don't care for? Maybe something for an old person - or anything eggplant-related?" After being unceremoniously kicked out, hearing "I don't care if she IS Hokage-sama's insane daughter, she should know better than to try to place a weird order ON VALENTINE'S DAY" Mito left, pouting.

That was so mean. Mito pondered if she could shove some eggplants on sticks and put them in a vase for Kakashi. She'd seen pictures of something like that - although not with eggplants of course. One shop over was the sex shop. Mito stared into the big window, thinking that was a little too on-point. "Hmm."

That stuck-up guy was behind the register again, glaring at her and shaking his head "No."

"Well, hell!" Her irritated walk eventually led her to a stationery store where she found some envelopes and paper. The only reason she bought it - because she didn't think Kakashi (or most anyone else) was one to write letters - is because they had the Icha-Icha logo and that cute little picture from the Paradise cover on the top. Hopefully, he'd like that. She also got him a deck of cards because… Well, she didn't know why! They were there so she bought 'em. She also purchased a hand-made, pretty card that was blank inside.

As she continued to look around this side of town for inspiration, Mito decided (for now) to write "I hate Valentine's Day" on the inside of it.

Just before she ran out of time, she DID find a silver chain, buying it and a wolf charm for it. Mito wasn't sure whether or not she'd give it to him. It's not like she'd ever seen Kakashi wearing jewelry. Dog tags were not jewelry. As she ran back into the tattoo studio after making one more stop, she realized that if she had a few minutes at home, there WAS one thing she could give Kakashi that he might like… Maybe. She'd worked on it at sea and had forgotten to give it to him…

"Oh! S-sensei," Hinata cried out in relief when Mito walked in the door, a bell chiming behind her. Hinata was already in the chair, her palm up, clean, and ready to be inked. "I didn't think you were going to make it back in time!"

"Don't be silly, Hinata," Mito smiled, ruffling her hair. "Like I said, I just had to pick up something."

"Wait," Kiba frowned, sniffing the air. "Did you go out to buy cheese?" Cheese-loving Hinata, of course, immediately got excited.

"Dammit, Kiba," Mito winced, her face turning a brilliant red. "Stop smelling my unsealed stuff!"

.

When she unlocked her door, Mito found Kakashi sitting stiffly on her couch, holding roses up to his unmasked face. "Hey, that's not fair!" His Sharingan closed and headband off, Kakashi's eyebrows shot up. "I mean, um… Oh." She and her boyfriend just stared at each other. "SIT RIGHT THERE! And Happy Valentine's Day… goddammit." She jogged back to her room, shutting herself in, and dug through way too many seals, looking for her embroidery project.

And dammit even more, she'd forgotten to buy wrapping paper or anything! Ah, well. She sealed everything in a compound storage scroll and hoped for the best. Swallowing hard, and after finishing up a couple of quick stitches, she moved back to the main room and stared at her guest/possibly future or part-time roommate. "Happy Valentine's Day," she whispered, kissing him on his unmasked cheek. He shoved the vase of roses at her. "Thank you. You weren't supposed to do that, though."

Kakashi shrugged but was tight-lipped. Mito hoped that nothing was wrong. She put the vase on the end table, thanked him again, and was going to hand him the scroll. "Wait." She'd just noticed that inside the vase was a little bottle, just sitting there beneath all the thorns, in the water. "What's this?" Mito pulled it out, wincing a little when a few thorns got her, and put her thumbs and fingers in her mouth, one after another, sucking away the blood before the nicks quickly healed.

Kakashi's eyes went dark and hooded; both of them open - not that Mito saw.

Inside the vase, in the water, weirdly enough, was perfume. Mito blinked at her boyfriend. Boyfriend: It was still such a novel concept. "I thought you didn't like perfume?"

Kakashi's cheeks turned a little pink - the shells of his ears turning red - but he only shrugged, looking away.

Mito sighed. Oh, boy. The two of them were quite a pair, weren't they? She handed him the scroll. "For you."

"...Cheese?" Kakashi soon questioned, dumbfounded over his gift but wanting to laugh at the way Mito blushed so hard. It made him feel better about the perfume he'd gifted her. He'd forgotten about it so at the last second he'd shoved it into the flowers. It wasn't in the box because he'd wanted to ensure it wasn't too strong.

Mito pulled at her sagging hair. The fancy, herbed and sage cheese had looked and smelled good, and at the time she bought it, Mito had been feeling desperate. "Start on the other end of the scroll. –Please."

"Okay." He gazed at her and winked. "You didn't have to get me anything."

"Yes, I did." And it wasn't fair! "You weren't supposed to get ME anything. Today's for girls, ya know?" Kakashi only hummed.

He laughed at her card, making Mito sweat - but he thanked her for the necklace, said he liked the charm and even put it on. He, perhaps, pretended to get excited over the Icha-Icha stationery and said he'd save it, thanked her for the deck of cards - laughing at her because at this point it was obvious Mito was ready to die.

She was so embarrassed! Her gifts were so shitty!

Then he pulled out what she'd made.

"What's… Mito," Kakashi breathed, sounding genuinely moved as he held up a green apron. "Did you make this?"

Mito observed him, to see if he was going to laugh at this gift, too, but wound up only nodding bashfully. Both of Kakashi's eyes were open and he was looking at her as if she was special or something before he carefully looked over her work, his long fingers moving over each little figure she'd stitched. "I started embroidering a while back," Mito softly explained. Inoichi was the one who said she needed a hobby and Mito was good with senbon and stitches so embroidery made sense to her. "Ha. –Sorry. You probably can't even tell what it is."

The bottom of it, she meant.

Kakashi could tell, though. The green chef's quality apron had the words "Pack Alpha" embroidered in black in a wild, bold font across the chest. And across the bottom of it - his throat dried up - were the faces of his pack, all eight of them, Bull the biggest face of all. They each had teeny-tiny bodies and tails behind them. "It's amazing. Maa, I can't believe you sewed this!" His pups' likenesses looked just like they did - and they were going to love it, too. He might not even hear any complaining about her cats after this. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Mito bit her lip and glanced over at him again, nervous and feeling butterflies erupt in her stomach at the way he was softly smiling at her. "I… I love you," she whispered, closing her eyes and almost whimpering when Kakashi wrapped her up in his arms and held her for a long time.

Gods, she had been smiling so hard for so long earlier: it was fake, and she only did it hoping her students wouldn't notice the pain she was carrying with her after everything that had gone down in Uzushio.

She melted into Kakashi's arms, so grateful for him; for everything she felt right now. "You… make everything better, ya know." Kakashi pulled back and looked at her, kissing her gently and really seeing her, she felt.

"Love you, baby," he promised, kissing her cheek and into her hair. He felt her shiver as his hot breath ghosted her ear. "Let me show you how much." He pulled her into his lap and kissed her deep and slow. Mito was emotional and he had fucking missed her while she was dealing with the latest tragedy in Uzushio. She crawled across his lap, straddling him, her fingers pulling his hair or shoulders. Kakashi pulled her against his erection hard, moaning.

Fuck…

Minato had sent him and a team out to investigate but there was no way into Uzushio. And there had been an explosion there, after she got back, he was told. Minato… Gods, was she going to forgive him for telling her father about them?

Kakashi kissed her even more urgently, loving the little whines and whimpers his girl would let out, and began pulling off her clothes. "Don't stop kissing me," he demanded against her open lips. Mito nodded, throwing her head back and sighing as he followed, licking into the roof of her mouth. He picked her up, one hand under her plump ass and the other around her small waist.

Her skin was so warm and she tasted so sweet.

Her legs shaking and wrapped around his waist, he unfastened her bra and rolled her pebbled nipple over his palm before gently laying her down in her bed, massaging her breast. He grinned into more kisses; Mito was keeping her promise as much as she could as he stripped. Kakashi grabbed the back of her head, holding her mouth against his, sliding his tongue alongside hers, and growling as she impatiently wriggled out of her pants.

She still may have had one foot in her clothes when he leaned up on one elbow, lubing himself up on her slick with his other hand and pressing into her. Mito gasped and he explored her mouth with his tongue, moving into her agonizingly slowly, pumping in and out of her insanely tight and wet heat inch by inch until he was fully sheathed.

Mito kept kissing him, even through her deep groans and little pleas. Her ankles locked around him - or struggling, her heels digging into his ass to try to make him move faster - he kept up a slow assault when he finally did get moving again. Whenever she'd stop kissing him, he'd firmly yank at her hair, getting little mewls of protest and pleasure but it got him her tongue back just the same. He cupped her ear and a breast, kneading it and opening his eyes slightly to memorize this.

"Not letting you go," he murmured against her lips. They were both slick with sweat. Kakashi moved his hand down to her sweet little clit, dragging his cock through her gorgeous cunt, and gritted his teeth when she almost immediately came. He finally moved away from her mouth, sucking her tits until he couldn't take it anymore.

Didn't matter. He could go longer and harder. He was going to make love to his woman so well that she'd never think of leaving him.

.

"Holy fuck," Mito panted hours later, still trying to get her wits about her. She glanced at the clock and it had been hours! Kakashi looked like he was concussed but he managed a little smile as she blinked at him, trying to refocus. She was dehydrated, having come more times than she could remember. She was sore and exhausted and… would never forget this beautiful, amazing man and… "I love you. And I love Valentine's Day now."

Kakashi chuckled, pulling her close with what felt like the last of his strength. He'd given it his all, dammit, but he was only a man and needed water - not that either of them were in any shape to get it right now. "I need to tell you something..."