Chapter 11: Subtle Changes

He had not intended on taking the kiss far, but the feel of her willingly kissing him back and the subtle heaving of her breasts against him gave him very different ideas. The kiss became deeper and more eager as he tested how far he could go without crossing into dangerous territory. Knowing this was undeniably her first kiss, he didn't want to frighten her with his growing desires.

She thought she would be scared when he finally behaved with her like a man does with a woman but found that she wasn't despite it happening sooner than anticipated. His breath was hot, and his lips were warm, both firm and gentle if that were possible. Instinctively, she let her eyes fall closed and her lips respond to his. The feeling was foreign yet somehow beckoning and with each passing second, it seemed to grow in its intensity. Her wrist was still tight within his grip, and she could feel his other hand on the side of her face, securing her to him.

Half expecting her to pull away in repulsion, Kakashi began to glide his tongue against her lips. Her mouth seemed to hesitantly open for him and he found himself pressing even closer against her, though there was no longer any distance to close. Still leaning further into her, he inadvertently knocked her into the exterior wall of the bedroom.

'Damn,' he thought. Had they gone on any longer, he was confident he would have led her right into the bedroom, consciously or not. 'So much for good intentions.'

He pulled away from her and rushed out an apology. "Sorry," was all he managed to say though, and he wasn't even sure if he was apologizing for bumping her head or for taking things as far as he had. While there may have been a solid professional trust between them, the same could not be said for the kind of trust held between lovers. That was still very fragile, only just budding.

Hinata looked up at the man who claimed her first kiss, her face rosy, though not quite red, and lips swollen. "A-ah…it's…I'm fine," she said, not able to think all that clearly.

They stood there a few moments longer before, neither certain of what to say. Things had taken a very unexpected turn. However, it didn't take long before Kakashi realized it was definitely late and someone was bound to notice that the eldest daughter of the main branch family had yet to come home. While her father may have been the one to request that he marry his daughter, it was unlikely that he would approve of him doing anything that would tarnish her reputation prior to upholding that oath—even if half the village already speculated that he had.

"I should take you home," he noted, breaking the silence.

"R-right," came her flustered response.

With his mask returned to its rightful place, the two began their walk toward the Hyuuga Estate on the far end of the village. They walked at a leisurely pace; their fingers interlocked. Something about it felt incredibly natural. This had been nothing like any other first date he had ever been on or heard about and now that it was nearing its end, he realized that they never did stop for food. It was a little late for that now, already nearing midnight and practically the next day, but he felt a tinge of guilt.

"You're not hungry, are you?" he asked her, glancing down in her direction. She really was quite shorter than him, at least half a foot, but he estimated a bit more. He thought he saw a small blush creep its way onto her face, but couldn't figure out why that would be the case.

"I…I ate before I left," she confessed, a bit embarrassed. "I figured I could still…eat something light at the restaurant."

Kakashi found himself chuckling in amusement. "I see. You would have tried the crab then."

"A s-small plate," she said with a smile. "I-it didn't seem right to complain on a first date. B-but truthfully…I am happy…happy it went the way it did."

In response, he began to pass his thumb back and forth along hers as he had done earlier. He couldn't tell for sure, but it seemed like the distance between them had grown smaller over the course of the walk. His arm was closer to his side than he recalled it being. It was strange how that could happen so effortlessly.

"Kakashi," she said lightly after a moment, "are-are you hungry though?"

He smiled beneath the mask. "No, not really." It was mostly true and Hinata accepted his answer with a sigh of relief.

They stayed in amiable silence for a while after, until they were just a short distance away from the estate. "Do you want me to walk you inside?" he offered. The last thing he wanted was for her to face reprimand on his account. "It's late and your father might not appreciate the timing."

Hinata shook her head. "Hanabi and some others came back ahead of him. And Ko…h-he might prefer it if I were alone." There was hardly a stutter to her explanation, and though Kakashi had no concerns about Ko, he relented and decided he'd watch her enter from there.

"Thank you for walking me home…and…and for showing me our home," she said faintly toward the end, but loud enough for him to hear.

'Our home.' The thought was incredulous. With his mind still focused on the idea of home, he nearly missed the way Hinata pulled herself to her tiptoes using his arm, then placed a kiss upon his masked cheek. It was nothing compared to the way he had kissed her before, with passion and desire she probably couldn't fathom, but she had initiated it and he recognized that as a big step.

"Good night, Kakashi."

"Sweet dreams, Hinata."

After bidding her farewell, he watched as she made her way through the gate, Ko having been the one to open it. If he didn't know any better, he was almost positive that Ko was staring him down and mouthing something beneath his breath. If only he still had the sharingan.

Time seemed to be speeding up after their first date. Between the finalization of wedding plans and reservations to the multitude of meetings, there was hardly any time to see Hinata. When he did see her, it was always the same. They'd walk along a section of the village, it almost didn't matter which, hand-in-hand, occasionally grabbing something to eat from a stall. Kakashi tried to avoid ramen, not sure if his former student had yet to come around or where he stood in his fiancée's eyes. It was something he couldn't ask directly and had made many assumptions about. The chances of someone like Hinata kissing him—and kissing him passionately—while still in love with someone else, were exceptionally low, but he was a possessive man and not eager at the prospect of a rekindled spark.

Sometimes they sat along the riverbank or in a grassy field eating a bento that Hinata had prepared. He idly wondered who had taught her to cook, or if she had learned herself. It was no secret that her mother had long since passed, and he doubted she was old enough for her to have taught her. He finally asked her about it the third time she had packed them food.

She shared the stories of how she learned some basics from the academy, and from caretakers in the clan. There was a matronly woman, a maternal aunt of Neji's, who had taught her the most. While her mother never got around to teaching her much in the way of culinary arts, she did have fond memories of making onigiri and baking—cinnamon rolls mostly. They were her mother's favorite and had grown to be hers as well.

Though he never liked sweets, when she offered to stop by and make them some time, he found himself accepting the offer.

'Maybe she can hold back on the frosting or cut down on the sugar' he mused, but he'd them either way.

When he told her how his own mother used to make a wealth of savory dishes—sanma shioyaki and nasu dengaku—she offered to make those, too.

A few weeks before the wedding, Naruto had finally stopped avoiding Hinata. He had tried to avoid Kakashi, but it was challenging given that he was the Hokage and the one assigning him missions. He saw her in the market, a basket of eggplant and other vegetables he could hardly identify in her hands. She had smiled at him politely and offered a kind greeting.

'I guess Hanabi never told her what I said,' he thought wistfully. That was one less apology he had to make.

He had overheard from many people around the town that Kakashi and Hinata were often seen strolling through the village and holding hands along the way. From fellow shinobi leaving the Mission Assignment Desk or administrative offices, he had been told that Kakashi had been eat bento boxes as of late and that one meal even had a dish that resembled him.

'That definitely sounds like Hinata's cooking,' he mused. She had made him meals like that, once upon a time.

He didn't know where the jealousy had come from, or his opposition to their marriage, but wondered if possibly, deep down somewhere, he held a small crush on Hinata and if she had ever felt the same.

As reflecting on it with Sakura, she had called him an idiot and told him that he was a little late. Apparently, she was his first supporter and may have seen him differently than the other girls in class, though Sakura wouldn't say exactly. He wondered why he had never noticed and where all the time had gone.

So, when he saw her in the market, with that basket of stupid vegetables, he was sure to congratulate her and thank her for being his friend.

The smile that she gave him was like one he'd never seen before.

'What an idiot,' he thought to himself.

"You're smiling more y'know," Kiba had told her suddenly, and not in his typical teasing fashion. It was said rather softly, at least for him.

Team 8 was having their monthly get-together at Kurenai's apartment and had just sat down together at the table, the food freshly prepared by Hinata and Kurenai, though Kiba and Shino had done the shopping.

Hinata looked up, just a bit confused.

"It's true," Shino agreed. "You seem happier."

Kurenai watched over her former students. They were right, and from what she had observed, Hinata wasn't the only one that seemed to be happy. There was a lighter air around Kakashi, a subtle shift from how he had been, just like when he had left the Anbu and had finally passed a team. To those who didn't know him, the change would be undetectable, but they had known each other for years. Even Guy, who almost never picked up on anything, especially related to atmosphere and faces, had noticed and shared his observations.

Kurenai glanced over to a picture of Asuma on the wall. She was happy for them.

Just a few weeks before the wedding, Hinata had gone to Kakashi with her advanced apologies. Many of her belongings were going to be packed away, to follow her to her new home. She had promised not to allow her things to take over the home but had requested some time to arrange some essentials. They could discuss what to do with everything else she had said.

He didn't imagine she had all that much stuff and speculated that many may have been gifts from her clan, both wedding and housewarming. It would be her home now, too, and he wanted her to feel welcome.

Recalling the way she had welcomed him the one and only time she had been there brought a smile to his masked lips. "Do as you please," he told her, "And maybe you can make those dishes you offered."

She smiled in return, and they made a date for the following week.

On the day of their date, as they entered their house, they were alarmed to find the lone surviving Uchiha sitting on the couch. Needless to say, he was just as surprised to find them, hand-in-hand and standing awfully close, coming into the house around dark. He was the last to learn that they were getting married, and this was the first Hinata would learn that Sasuke occasionally stayed with Kakashi.

It was dinner for three that night with an unexpected request for tomatoes to be included in the miso soup.

Though it wasn't what Kakashi had in mind, seeing Hinata skillfully move through the kitchen and having a student at his table brought another smile to his face. It had been a while since his house was this full.

'But really…Sasuke should send word.'

-End Chapter 11-

A/N: A special thank you to Chibixlevi123, hashira1989, st4t1c sh0ck, Meetmebytheexit, and QyeenWinterArya for the early and kind reviews. The support truly means a lot!