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Chapter Text

Nothing about this mission was going as planned. Naruto assumed it’d be easy since it was only a D-ranked mission, but he realized now that he should’ve spent more time training instead of messing around. But no, he thought that buying cool clothes was more important than improving his ninjutsu.

And now, here he was, surrounded by enemies that were a much higher rank than he was. He was still just a Genin, afterall, and these guys were likely all Jonin. And very menacing.

He’d somehow fought his way through several enemies and was finally to the worst of them. Their leader, who had murdered his entire team already. So Naruto was, understandably, out for blood. However, he was already almost out of chakra…

All he could do was try, though he knew he would probably die here.

Which was alright with him.

He’d just start back at the last checkpoint and train his character a bit more before accepting this mission again. 

Naruto had been sick with the flu for three days already. It was almost Christmas and he was really hoping he’d feel better by then. Fortunately, he was still allowed to play video games in bed all day, so he really couldn’t complain too much.

His mom had come in and out several times each day to check on him, but all she really did was stand in front of the TV and annoy him. It was no wonder he hadn’t trained his character properly.

And once again, here she was, hand on his forehead, asking him how he felt. 

“Mom, I’m pretty sure I’m getting over it. I feel fine!” he told her impatiently as he tried to shrug her off of him.

“Alright well, your grandfather is here to see you.”

Naruto rolled his eyes at her. “Can’t you just tell him that I’m sick?” he said as he forced a cough.

“You’re sick? That’s why he’s here.”

“But he’ll ask me about my love life. I hate that!”

“Well… maybe he won’t this time,” she said as she poked his nose gently.

“Hey!” Jiraiya said as he burst into the bedroom, almost on cue. “Naruto, buddy! How you feeling, kiddo? Got a girlfriend yet?” he asked as he pinched Naruto’s cheek.

Naruto looked over at Kushina as if to say, I told you so.

“Alright, well, I’ll leave you two to it,” Kushina said as she headed towards the door. “You guys better behave,” she sang and then shut the door behind her.

“I got you a gift, kiddo. Here, open it!” He shoved a wrapped present into Naruto’s hands excitedly and sat down in a chair next to Naruto’s bed to watch him open it.

Without any hesitation, he immediately started ripping at the paper. “What is it? What is it?” Once all the wrapping was off, his face went from excited to disappointed as he looked at his grandpa. “A book? Really?”

“That's right. When I was your age, television was called books. And this is a very special book. It was the book my father used to read to me when I was sick, and I used to read it to your father. And today I'm gonna read it to you, buddy.”

“Does it have any fighting?”

“Are you kidding me? It’s got everything! Fighting, fencing, giants, monsters, pirates, revenge. True love. It’s the perfect book! The most perfect book if I do say so myself,” he said affectionately.

“Oh… brother. I mean… I guess it sounds ok. I’ll try to stay awake.” Naruto turned his TV off and sat back to listen as Jiraiya opened the book.

“Oh well, thank you sooo much,” Jiraiya said sarcastically. “Your vote of confidence is overwhelming. Truly.” He cleared his throat as he put his glasses on and turned to the first page. “Far Longer Than Forever by M. Kishimoto, chapter one.”

Chapter Text

Shanan was raised on a small farm in the country of Florin. She was fifteen and her favorite pastime was riding her horse with her cousin Rin and her least favorite was feigning interest in whatever any boy in the village had to drone on about when they stopped her to chat. 

So she rarely feigned interest. 

Everyone in the world developed a special skill at some point in their lives, and so far it seemed as though all Shanan had developed was beauty. 

She had long, wavy, dark brown hair and big blue eyes and she had never once experienced so much as a blemish anywhere on her perfect skin.

It was a useless skill, she thought. Nobody ever had any interest in what she had to say or the things she liked to do.

That is, until her parents, Shuji and Kumiko, hired someone to help around the farm. 

Shanan and Rin were able to accomplish quite a bit on their own, but Shuji was getting older and he couldn’t do as much of the heavy lifting as he once did. Even with his skill being immense strength. 

Kakashi, however, was young- sixteen- and getting stronger by the day. He was a hard worker who did more than he ever needed to and was always finished with his tasks early, so often read the same book over and over again.

He didn’t speak much. His eyes were a bit heavy, and Shanan and Rin often speculated as to why he always looked so broody. 

Shanan speculated. Rin reminded her that she was rude. 

Rin was the kindest person anyone knew. It seemed as though that were most likely her skill, which Shanan had also deemed pretty useless. She was also sixteen and had lived with the Takagis for ten years now, since her parents died of a mysterious illness.

But she was Shanan’s closest friend and Shanan often pushed her to come out of her shell as they were always together.

Anytime the two would go into the village market, Kakashi would accompany them. It really bothered Shanan at first, as they hadn’t invited him along. 

He didn’t speak to them at all. He just stayed close and went wherever they went. 

The first time he’d followed them, had truly set Shanan’s teeth on edge. She despised when boys threw themselves at her.

“Farm boy,” she said as she spun around to look at him haughtily. “Why are you following us?” she asked sharply.

Kakashi stopped and looked up at her shyly. “Oh… because you guys shouldn’t be out here alone,” he said softly.

“He speaks,” she teased.

“Shanan, be nice to him, he’s just trying to help,” Rin told her a bit meekly.

“Did my father order you to accompany us?” she continued.

He shook his head and Shanan frowned at him.

“Perfect. Another lovesick puppy,” she said as she rolled her eyes. “Alright, well keep your distance then. I won’t have you embarrassing me.”

Kakashi looked at her a bit more coolly than she had expected. “As you wish,” he said quietly as he nodded.

Once the pair started walking again, he dropped back about ten feet and kept his distance, all the while, still following them.

“You know, you really should be nice to him. He does so much to help around the farm and Uncle Shuji really likes him. Besides,” Rin said as she looked back at him and then back at Shanan, “His skill might also be beauty. Have you noticed how all the girls are staring at him? And I think he’s only gotten more handsome since coming here.”

Shanan laughed at Rin as she looked back again. He happened to look up and meet her eyes at the same time causing her cheeks to flush as she looked away, a bit annoyed.

“I saw that,” Rin said with a smirk.

"Hush!" Shanan warned playfully before glancing back quickly. Perhaps Rin had been right. He was sort of handsome under that mop of white hair. He was taller than most other boys their age and he even had a small beauty mark by his mouth. Even Shanan didn't have one of those. 

The more he followed them, however, the less bothered Shanan felt by him. He still didn't speak much, but when he did, she noticed that he was quite witty and clever. And he never once gave any other indication of being the usual hopeless fool that she was used to dodging. 

In fact, with Kakashi there, she seemed to have to dodge less idiots and was able to shop and meander with Rin in peace.

As the months went by, she even permitted him to walk a bit closer to them, to which he simply replied, “As you wish.”

She wasn’t sure why, but she found the words to be rather grating. At least for a while. 

Every other weekend the King and his son would visit and the village market would be more crowded than usual, which only meant that Kakashi would follow them ever more closely. So closely in fact, he may as well have been walking with them.

Shanan no longer objected to it. She actually relished the opportunity to torment and tease him.

“Anywhere you’d like to go, Kakashi?” she asked as she completed a transaction for a few yards of fabric she’d had her eye on for weeks. It wasn’t the usual brown, tan or grey they all often wore, and Kakashi thought that whatever she planned to turn it into would look perfect on her.

“There’s nothing I need,” he told her.

“No? Not a new book? Surely you’ve read that same one a thousand times. Wouldn’t you agree, Rin?”

Rin was too busy standing on her toes, trying to see inside the carriage. 

Rumors had spread long ago of the young Prince Obito’s scars that covered half of his body. And the stories about how he got them were always more outrageous than the next. Nobody knew for sure, of course, as he stayed pretty hidden during their visits, but Rin had caught the slightest glimpse of half of his face a few visits ago and smiled happily and waved at him. 

He seemed surprised at the gesture, but waved back at her, and they’d shared a quick wave every visit since then. 

She figured he could use some kindness, though. Most of the time when people discussed him, they were quite vicious about it. She figured it was probably the reason he stayed hidden away.

So she smiled at him and she waved enthusiastically. 

“Hmm?” she said, sounding completely lost.

“Kakashi’s book. It’s torn and tattered, much like his clothes. Wouldn’t you say he needs a new one?”

“Oh. No. I’m sure it’s fine,” she said dismissing Shanan’s teasing.

“Well,” she turned to look at him and his very worn clothing, “at least let me make you a new tunic. I can have it done in no time. At the very least, you can wear it when we go out,” she said, a bit annoyed.

“As you wish,” he said gently.

Shanan raised an eyebrow at him curiously. She was really becoming intrigued by his usage of the words. They seemed so straightforward, a quiet guy with a crush, not saying no to her… But they didn’t feel straightforward. They felt like they were bigger than that…

In fact, after some time, Shanan really started to look forward to hearing those words. Any chance to hear him say them, made her feel inexplicably pleased. Though, Rin had pointed out that the way she constantly ordered him around would surely, eventually, make him less inclined to say them. 

“You like him. I can tell,” Rin said quietly as they washed up before breakfast one morning.

Shanan was scrubbing her hands after collecting eggs and quickly looked up at Rin with a helpless frown on her face. 

“It’s alright. I won’t tell anyone. I just thought I should tell you, in case you didn’t know,” Rin said with a smile.

The words hit Shanan hard, but they didn’t upset her like she thought they would. She knew she no longer found him to be as annoying as she had when he’d come to work for them, but the news of her own romantic feelings had been a surprise to her. However, now that she’d been informed, she knew it to be true. 

She did like him.

Almost as if his ears had been ringing, Kakashi walked into the kitchen through the back door with a small sack of potatoes and set them down before putting his hands in his pockets and turning back to leave.

“Farm boy!” Shanan said a little too quickly.

Kakashi turned his head back towards Shanan.

She almost couldn’t breathe, seeing him there with the morning sun rising behind him.

Rin casually nudged her as she pretended to clean her nails with the brush in the sink.

Shanan jumped slightly, before realizing that perhaps she’d been staring. She looked around quickly to find something for Kakashi to do for her and saw a pitcher well within her reach. But this was the game they played now, and he seemed perfectly content to go along with it.

“Fetch me that pitcher?” she asked shyly.

Kakashi turned to look at Shanan and then at the pitcher and tilted his head just enough to let his hair fall in his face as he gave her the slightest, knowing smirk and walked slowly towards her.

Shanan noticed the head tilt. 

She noticed the hair fall.

She knew it had been on purpose.

And his smirk hadn’t escaped her attention either.

He was pretty good at this game.

He kept his eyes locked with hers the entire time and stopped just in front of her.

Even Rin had barely taken a breath as she tried to make herself as invisible as possible so as not to break their tension.

He reached slowly above her head and removed the pitcher from the hook. 

Eyes still fixed.

And still with that slight smirk on the corner of his mouth, he slowly extended the pitcher to Shanan.

“As you wish,” he said at barely even a whisper.

Shanan couldn’t stop herself from smiling like a little girl at him.

“Wait. What’s going on here?” Naruto interrupted.

Jiraiya looked at him over the book. 

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

“Well, why are they looking at eachother like that? I thought she hated him?”

“Haven’t you been listening? That’s young love, Naruto. You should be taking notes.”

Naruto grimaced and groaned at the word love.

“Now where was I?...” Jiraiya asked as he searched the page. 

“Romantic staring or whatever…” Naruto said, sounding completely bored.

“Ah!”

“Thank you,” she whispered as she hung the pitcher back onto the hook.

Kakashi lingered for a moment and then nodded his head once and left them to make breakfast with Kumiko while he and Shuji chopped wood for the day.

Rin had been having to pull Shanan away from the window quite a bit lately.

“I might have to tell that boy to put a shirt on,” Kumiko teased.

Rin giggled. 

Shanan glared.

After a year of working for the Takagis, Kakashi still loved Shanan as much as he had the day he’d first met her. 

And, much to her surprise, she realized that not only did she like Kakashi, but she truly loved him back. Never in her life did she think that someone could make her weak in the knees, but he did. She felt completely foolish around him and even shy sometimes. She couldn’t stop herself. 

All she wanted to do was spend time with him. But it was still hard for her to be completely vulnerable to anyone, even though she found herself wanting to be.

Rin tried to help as much as she could, but Shanan could truly be difficult, for seemingly no reason.

The cousins had plans to visit the village market after chores, but Rin had had the bright idea to take a small tumble right outside of the house, and insisted that Shanan go ahead without her so that she could bring her back the tea that she’d been wanting. 

“Rin, I can’t go without you, I don’t think I’ve ever gone without you. I can wait,” Shanan told her.

“Oh… don’t be silly. It might be sprained. I really wanted to try that tea. You’ll be fine.” She made sure not to mention that Kakashi would be there with her, because then Shanan would surely see right through the ruse. “You know they run out of that tea quickly and only have it a few times a year,” she pressed. “Please go without me.”

Shanan sighed and relented. She tended to be softest for Rin because she was always such a dear. 

“Alright then. I’ll find Mother and let her know to look in on you while I’m gone. Don’t try to walk on it,” Shanan ordered.

“Definitely not,” Rin assured her. “I’ll stay off of it until it’s better. Now get going!”

Shanan stood up straight and looked down at her as she sighed. “I won’t be long then.”

“No, no, take your time…” Rin said nervously as Shanan gave her one last look to make sure before finally leaving.

She stepped outside and bumped right into Kakashi, almost falling backwards as she turned in the direction to find her mother. However, he caught her smoothly and set her right. 

“Thank you, my apologies. I was just on my way to find Mother to have her come and stay with Rin until my return.”

Kakashi gave her a half smile and tilted his head to the side.

“There’s no need. I went straight away after helping Rin inside. She’s finishing up with the stable and then she’ll be in. She shouldn’t be too long. Shall we?” He gestured with his head at the road leading to the village market and Shanan’s eyes widened a bit as she realized it’d just be the two of them.

She nodded gently at him and tucked her hair behind her ear as she started walking.

Kakashi kept pace with her as they walked together. And for once he seemed to keep his head up as opposed to staring down at the ground like he normally did.

Shanan had recently come to the realization that he actually had a really calming effect on her. In situations where she would normally lose her temper, his mere presence seemed to pacify her as he stood there with his hands casually in his pockets. And it wasn’t because she felt as though he judged her. No, in fact, he never came across as either disappointed or disapproving of her attitude the way some did. He was much like Rin in that way.

They didn’t generally talk very much to one another when he accompanied Shanan and Rin to the market, but that was mostly because the girls spoke quietly to each other and mostly about Kakashi. 

“You look taller today,” Shanan teased as she smirked over at him.

Kakashi glanced over at her and smiled softly. 

“I guess I just felt like being taller today,” he said as a matter of fact.

“Oh. Well, I like tall Kakashi,” she said confidently.

Her fearlessness had almost caught him off guard enough to look down at the ground as he blushed, but he decided to display it proudly today. 

“Thank you for helping Rin today,” she said suddenly softer than he’d ever heard her speak.

“Oh… well, you know. It’s Rin. I think she’d carry either one of us for miles if we ever hurt ourselves and couldn’t walk.”

Shanan smiled softly at that and he was glad to be the one to elicit such a genuine reaction from her, though he felt like he’d been responsible for at least a few smiles from her over the last six months or so.

“Although,” Shanan said thoughtfully, “I highly suspect that she was faking her injury.”

Kakashi chuckled as he looked over at her. “I wondered if you’d caught on.”

Shanan shot a suspecting look at him.

“No, I wasn’t in on it. But she’s been trying to get us to spend time alone together for awhile now, so it wasn’t hard to figure out.”

“No, I suppose not, but… it only took me a while because Rin is so dear to me. I couldn’t bear the thought of her being hurt.”

“What happened to her parents?” Kakashi asked curiously.

“They’ve been gone a long time. Her father was my fathers younger brother. He and his wife died of an illness. We aren’t sure which. They were both too far gone to tell by the time someone found Rin,” she said sadly.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Well, she came to live with us straight away and I was happy to have someone. She’s the only girl that’s never tried to pull my hair or pinch me as I walked past them.”

Kakashi looked at her incredulously. “That has to be an exaggeration.”

“Not at all. In fact, I’d gotten fairly used to it by the time I was seven or eight. I’ve never had any friends other than Rin. Even our other cousins despise my very existence. Our cousin Ino’s skill is probably the most useless skill I’ve ever heard of, and yet she constantly tries to use it on me.”

So many things made sense to him now. “Oh? What’s her skill?”

“She can make one's hair fall out. She gets stage fright or something, though. I’ve never lost so much as a single strand in her presence and neither has Rin, and she’s tried.”

Kakashi looked surprised again. “Who would do such a thing to Rin?”

“A jealous, pathetic, disgusting pig, that’s who. And she’s not even ugly,” Shanan said indifferently. “Well, what about your parents?”

His eyes suddenly turned heavy again and Shanan realized that it’d been awhile since they looked so weighed down. Months since he’d lost his intense and brooding demeanor. She suddenly understood why he’d come to work for them at such a young age.

“I shouldn’t have asked, I’m sorry. Forgive me.”

Kakashi shook his head dismissing any impropriety on her part.

“It's alright, I just haven’t been asked about it at all. Not even by your father. He was kind to hire a kid off the street, but I know now why he did.”

Shanan nodded at him, but kept listening.

“My mother died when I was young. I never knew her. But I heard she was an amazing, kind, fierce woman. My father spoke of her often. He always tried to raise me in the way that she would have wanted him to. He was always consulting her memory when it came to any choice he made as if she were there to be affected by it. He was a great man that I still look up to and he died right before I came to work on your family's farm.”

“I’m so sorry, Kakashi. Was it from natural causes?” she asked tentatively with tears in her eyes.

Kakashi shook his head gently.

“Suicide...”

Chapter Text

Prince Obito had always enjoyed leaving the castle and going into the village, even though he never left the carriage. He knew how people saw him, he’d heard the rumors and the whispers and the insults. But it was nice to get out and see how the common people lived and interacted with one another. And ever since that girl smiled and waved at him, he looked forward to it even more. Ever since that first wave, he searched for her. He could sense the kindness behind her smile and could tell that it was genuine. He also couldn’t help but think that she was quite beautiful. 

He often saw her with another girl and a boy that looked to be his own age.  He was a bit jealous of the aggressively handsome white-haired boy at first, but he knew what pining looked like by now and he knew that the boy longed for the other girl.

It had been about six months since that first wave and he and the girl hadn’t gone one visit without waving to each other since.

In fact, he often wondered if she hoped to see him as much as he always hoped to see her.

He and his father, King Madara, were on their usual trip into the village market and after about an hour he still hadn’t seen the girl. He couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she’d caught a glimpse of his scars and decided that she didn’t want to continue pretending to be nice to him. He felt quite heartbroken about it for a few minutes, before changing his mind and deciding that she wasn’t like that. Something had to be wrong. And he couldn’t spend the next two weeks worrying about her or tricking his own mind again. 

The King was often busy greeting villagers, listening to their problems and helping them in any way that he could. He was a good king. He’d always enjoyed being hands-on and cared deeply for his people. 

Obito couldn’t bother him about the girl while he was busy, though. His father had asked about the waving after the second or third time, and Obito couldn’t keep himself from blushing and going on and on about her to him. His father suggested he get out and talk to her. But Obito was just too embarrassed to let her see him. She might be too disgusted or afraid of him and he wouldn’t be able to pretend that maybe she liked him anymore.

Obito had one friend and that was his cousin Itachi. Itachi was a year younger than him, but he was very protective of Obito and always had been. Almost to a fault. 

He would’ve come along with Obito to the village, but he spent his weekends retraining himself to fight and to use a sword. He didn’t need them much, though, he’d already developed his skill. He could create illusions, provided his opponent looked him in the eyes, and torture them in ways they could never have otherwise imagined and the pain they experienced was physical.

Obito knew that everyone knew about his scars, but they hadn’t ever seen them, they’d only heard rumors. The rumors were always wild, but much more tame than the actual truth had been.

The truth was, when Obito was just four years old, a strange man had kidnapped him. But for some reason, the man had so much contempt for Obito. He wouldn’t stop calling him an abomination and saying that he was tainted and dirty. 

Such hateful words from a grown man to a small child. 

He made his way easily through the castle, killing guards silently as he made his way to Obito’s room. 

Once he had the boy, he took him to a boat and started off toward Guilder.

Obito could always recall how cold and foggy it had been. And he had a very vivid picture in his mind of the giant wall that seemed to appear out of nowhere once they were close enough for it to no longer be obscured by the fog.

He couldn’t remember how they’d gotten to the top, though. All these years later, and he often found himself racking his memory for that missing piece, but it remained elusive to him.

And then, once they’d reached the top, the man picked Obito up. And without another word, hateful or otherwise, he threw him over the edge of the cliff.

Obito hadn’t even had time to consider struggling. And the cliff didn't drop straight down right away. There was quite a bit of rocky hill before the sheer dropoff. 

So Obito hit. And he hit hard. 

He could still remember very clearly when he felt the most pain he’d ever felt, before half of his body went completely numb.

He could still taste the blood in his mouth. He could still remember trying hard to see from his right eye and realizing that it was no longer there. Crushed, along with the rest of that side of his body. 

He remembered thinking about his mom and how he should’ve stayed awake to hear one more song from her. 

He remembered thinking about his dad and how he should’ve let him join in on the nightly routine with them. Just once.

He remembered thinking about how sad they would be and wondered if they would have another baby and be happy again.

And all of that was before the dropoff. 

Funny how quickly one's life flashes through their mind.

And then he realized that he was no longer rolling.

He was falling. 

He’d made it about half way down before time nearly stilled. 

He could see his father standing at the end of a boat and it seemed to be flying across the water.

And once it reached the shore his father and several other men were standing underneath Obito, waiting to catch him as he slowly fell to the ground now.

But that was his fathers skill. 

Slowing time.

He could slow one person, or a group, or the entire world if he wanted to.

Once Obito was in his fathers arms, he remained slowed in order to stop from bleeding out.

To him it felt as though they’d reached the castle and Lady Tsunade in no time at all.

And he remained slowed all through the miracle she’d performed on him. That was her skill. 

She fixed him up internally, but there was nothing that she could do for his outward appearance. He would have to live with the scars, which she assured him would build character. 

Whatever that was supposed to mean.

Obito often recalled that night. He wasn’t sure why it always popped into his head when he was feeling stressed or anxious. It almost calmed him down. As if he were telling himself that nothing could be as bad as that night and that he had survived that, so surely he could survive anything.

Including talking to that girl. He just wasn’t looking forward to waiting another two weeks for another chance.

Fortunately, he saw the white haired boy and the girl with the long hair walking towards the market. The girl wasn’t with them and they were walking closer to one another than they normally did. He noticed that the boy usually walked a distance behind them, but today he seemed to take the place of the girl without effort.

Surely his father wouldn’t miss the carriage if he borrowed it and asked the coachman to take him somewhere else for a bit.

The coachman was more than happy to support Obito in his efforts and took them straight over to the pair of teens, almost blocking them from proceeding any further into the market.

They’d clearly been caught off guard, but it didn’t take long for either of them to catch on that the prince had looked forward to seeing Rin as much as she looked forward to seeing him.

Obito drew back the small curtain inside the carriage, but only slightly so as not to show his scars. By now he was good at it, he knew exactly how much of his face to show.

He cleared his throat quietly and leaned forward into the window so that he could see them both clearly. “Excuse me,” he said timidly. “Um… The girl that’s usually with you. Is she alright?”

Kakashi smiled as he looked down at Shanan who seemed positively delighted that he was asking.

“She is. Just home faking an injury at the moment. Who’s asking?” Shanan asked facetiously as Kakashi nudged her playfully with his elbow.

He hadn’t been expecting her to ask him that and for some reason it made him feel a bit embarrassed. “It’s… I’m… Prince Obito,” he said as he recoiled back into the carriage a bit.

Shanan smiled softly at him again. She was only meaning to bring him out of his shell a bit, but there was probably a reason Rin liked him, so she decided not to tease him too much. “Pleased to meet you, Your Highness,” she said with a deep curtsy. 

Kakashi bowed along with her and then held his hand out to make sure she stayed steady as she straightened.

“What are you two called?” Obito asked them quietly.

“I’m Kakashi Hatake,'' he said with another slight bow, “and this is Shanan Takagi,” he said as she curtsied to him again.

“And… the girl. What’s she called?”

Shanan smiled up at him again, his shyness was adorable and she was sad Rin wasn’t here to see it. “That would be my cousin, Rin Nohara, she’s almost seventeen. How old are you?”

He sat slightly forward again and looked at the girl. She and Rin were clearly related. Their hair was similar in color and they were both probably the most beautiful girls he’d ever seen. “I’m seventeen... Do you think Rin will be back the next time I visit?” He leaned back again as he couldn’t help but smile to himself as he said her name. He was glad to finally know.

“She will. She was just being kind enough to give Kakashi and I some time alone,” she said as Kakashi blushed. He’d gotten used to her being shy around him the more she started liking him, but now that she was helping Rin, she didn’t seem to care if she gave herself away. “I can wave at her for you, if you like.”

“We can tell her you said, ‘hello,’” Kakashi assured him.

“Maybe next time you can tell her yourself instead of waving. I think she’d really like to talk to you for once,” Shanan informed him.

He sat quietly for a moment as he considered it. He thought that she enjoyed their little ritual, but would she actually like to speak to him? 

He looked down at them and gave them a quick nod. “I’d really like that too,” he said. He definitely worried that she would completely and utterly reject him, but he also knew that he couldn’t just pretend that her feelings were mutual forever. And her companions didn’t shy away or say anything rude under their breaths when they talked to him, so maybe she would actually enjoy it.

Another two weeks passed and Obito couldn’t help but feel extremely nervous as they made their way to the market. The King had plans to do what he normally did, which was to mingle and help whoever he could.

By now he’d heard about Obito’s little adventure with the two teens and knew of his plans to finally talk to the girl he liked. 

But Obito was nervous. He assumed she was the kindest and the sweetest of her group, but he still couldn’t shake the fear in the back of his mind that she would find him grotesque and monstrous.

As soon as they pulled into the market, he spotted the group waiting eagerly off to one area that seemed as though it didn’t have very many other villagers in it. His dad was kind enough to hurry out of the carriage and let Obito be on his way.

Though, he waited a few extra minutes to give the signal. He didn’t know what he would ever say to her. 

To Rin. 

He’d said that name a lot over the last two weeks. Before, she was just called her , but now she was called Rin. And he couldn’t stop calling her Rin.

Finally, after a few minutes of sitting there and psyching himself up, he gave the order and the carriage was stopped in front of them in almost no time.

He had to go through another round of encouragement and the coachman even joined in on quietly helping his inner monologue until he sat forward. He slowly grabbed a corner of the curtain and took a deep breath before pulling it back.

And there she was. 

Rin.

She was standing in the front and she was already beaming up at him. Was that for him?

“Prince Obito,” she said as she curtsied. “I’m so glad to finally meet you and speak with you.”

Obito couldn’t help but look down at her longingly as he wished he had the courage to get out and speak with her fully face to face. Or even invite her into the carriage. He had so many thoughts running through his mind as he finally heard her voice for the first time. It was so soft and sweet and better than he’d ever imagined. 

And she said his name…

“Hello, Rin,” he said shyly. He couldn’t stop smiling, but he felt too foolish to let her see that he was.

“Thank you for asking about me last time. I really was alright,” she said as she looked over at Shanan and Kakashi as they held hands.

Ever since that day, they’d been much more open about their feelings for one another and were well on their way to making it official. But for now, Rin was glad to see them in the hand holding stage of their relationship and was happy to have helped them get there.

“I’m… glad you were just pretending. I’m happy to see you. And finally talk to you.” He’d also noticed the handholding between the other two and immediately wished that he could try holding Rin’s hand.

“Kakashi, will you walk with me to look at the new material at the fabric shop? I can already see a pattern I like and I must have a closer look,” Shanan said as she pulled Kakashi off towards the markets.

Rin gulped a little as they left her alone. But Obito seemed a bit relieved as he pulled the curtain back a bit more. 

“I like your cousin and her friend. They’re kinda funny.”

Rin giggled up at him. “Shanan can be a bit abrasive until you get to know her, but yeah, she is pretty funny. Kakashi’s the first guy to see that, and he also has a really good sense of humor. I’m really happy for them.”

“Then I am too,” he said as he looked down at her. 

“Prince Obito?”

“You don’t have to address me like that. Just Obito, please.”

“Oh,” she said as she smiled. “Obito, then. Do you think that… that maybe I could come and sit with you for a while?” she asked tentatively.

Obito pulled away from the window slightly as soon as she said it.

“That’s ok,” she continued. “You don’t have to–”

“Yes, you can come in here.” He wasn’t sure why he’d said it. He still worried that she’d run away in the instant she saw him. It was dark inside the carriage, but she’d still be able to see him just fine. But before he could change his mind, he was already at the door. It was almost as if his body were doing things his mind didn’t want him to. As if his heart were the one that was suddenly in control.

Rin was a bit surprised he’d said yes to her so quickly. She hadn’t really had time to ready herself, but she suddenly filled with anticipation as he moved from the curtain to open the door for her. 

It was pretty dark inside and he was still standing out of her view as she moved closer to step inside. 

Once she was in front of the door, he reached his left hand out to help her up. And when she touched him without hesitation, he couldn’t help but wonder if she would’ve done the same had he held out his other hand. 

He would soon know.

He guided her into the carriage and she didn’t look at him right away. She seemed to be surprised at how spacious it was as Obito sat back in his seat and she sat across from him.

He couldn’t take his eyes off of her as she traced the carvings around the window with her finger and smiled at the intricate wood workings.

“My father used to do this,” she said as she smiled over at him. “He may have even built this carriage, you know?”

She didn’t seem to react in any particular way once she finally looked at him. Her voice didn’t change, her smile didn’t fade and her eyes didn’t widen. She looked at him the same as his parents did.

“Is that right? We’ve had this carriage for a long time. I’ve always really liked the carvings. Especially this one,” he said as he leaned forward and traced his favorite section by his window. 

Rin sat forward to examine the one he was showing her and smiled even bigger as tears filled her eyes. She brushed his hand as she pointed to a small symbol right next to where he had his finger. “See this part? That was my father’s signature symbol.” She put her hands on her cheeks as she gushed over it. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen it.”

“Does it mean anything?” he asked curiously.

She nodded gently and smiled again as she looked at him. 

“Kindness."

This became their new routine. 

Everytime Obito would come to visit with The King, Shanan and Kakashi would go into the market alone together and Rin would spend time with Obito in his carriage.

They talked about anything and everything. They made each other laugh. 

He’d even finally told her about what had really happened to him as a small child and she wept for all of the pain he’d endured from it. Even just thinking about how scared he had to have been at such a young age, or any age, being taken like that, not knowing what would happen and then going through what did happen. 

She’d cried so hard for him that he ended up having to comfort her with a hug in order to get her to calm down. Which of course, he didn’t mind doing as it led to a lot of blushing from both parties.

It didn’t take long for Obito to decide that he had to ask her to be his. He felt like if he didn’t do it then he was going to burst. She made him feel warmer and lighter than anyone had ever made him feel. She was the most genuine person he’d ever met and the most beautiful. Even more so than Shanan, he thought. 

He loved her. Very much. And he thought that she might love him too. In fact, he was so sure of it that he couldn’t stop smiling. 

Now that he’d decided, on their next trip, all the way to the village, he couldn’t hide his complete and utter exhilaration. He’d even practically kicked his father from the carriage so that he could hurry up and see her. And when they pulled up to them, he could barely contain his excitement as he helped her in and bid Shanan and Kakashi farewell.

Rin could sense that he was in high spirits as soon as she saw him and couldn’t wait to find out why.

“You seem really happy today, Obito,” she said with a smile.

“I am really happy. And, Rin, I think…” his confidence was starting to falter a bit as he spoke, so he decided he better get it out quickly. “I hope that what I’m about to say will also make you happy. I think it will.”

She looked at him curiously with the same smile on her face. She certainly had hopes for what he might say, but she didn’t want to assume anything.

“Rin. Now that I’m eighteen, I’m allowed to choose a bride. And–”

“Me?” she asked as she beamed at him. “You want to choose me to be your bride?”

He smiled softly as he blushed while rubbing the back of his head nervously. “Well, yeah. I just really love you and… only if you want to.”

Rin nodded enthusiastically at him with tears in her eyes. “I do want to!” She threw her arms around him and kissed him suddenly as she fell completely into him. 

He’d been taken by surprise at both the hug and the kiss, but he wasted no time in wrapping his arms around her and returning her affections as he matched her eagerness and passion. He thought she’d say yes, but he hadn’t expected her to be so visibly excited about it.

After a few minutes they pulled away from each other and Obito brushed the hair from her face and caressed her cheek softly with his thumb. 

“We have to wait until you’re eighteen too, but we can still be secretly promised until then. Is that alright?” he whispered hopefully.

Rin nodded again as she leaned her forehead against his. “I’ll wait as long as you need me to, because… I love you too, Obito,” she said as she pressed her lips softly against his once again.

She was sure she loved him before she’d ever even met him, so she was truly floating on air right now as they kissed and promised to love each other forever.

Chapter Text

Shanan and Kakashi had been spending a lot of time together since Rin’s fake injury. It turned out, all they needed was that last little nudge before they could no longer play their little game. 

In fact, it was on that very day that they'd first held hands as they wandered through the market together. They received a lot of looks, mostly from boys that had hoped to win Shanan over and then of course the girls that had taken a liking to Kakashi. But neither of the pair had taken notice. All they could do was stare at each other the entire time. And the only thing Shanan ended up buying that day was the tea Rin had asked for.

They’d spent the entire day there and only left reluctantly, because the sun was starting to set. And then on the way home they held hands the entire walk. 

Kakashi stopped before they rounded the corner to the farm, which in turn caused Shanan to stop.

“Is everything alright?” she asked him.

He smiled softly as he pulled her closer to him and put his other hand around her waist. “Sorry,” he said as he let go of her hand and caressed her cheek. “You just look really beautiful in the sunset and,” he paused as his gaze intensified, “I don’t think I’m quite ready for the day to be over.”

Shanan pressed her cheek against his hand as she closed her eyes and then smiled back up at him. “It has been really nice,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and moved in closer.

“And you’re not just beautiful,” he said softly.

“No?”

He shook his head gently. “You may be one of the most intelligent people I know. And you seem so stubborn on the surface, but you’re actually happiest when you’re helping the people you love. I’ve seen how much you light up when something you do brings joy to someone.” His face seemed to be moving slowly towards hers as he spoke and looked from her eyes to her lips.

“Go on,” she whispered.

“You’re silly in every sense of the word. You’re the only person that really makes me laugh. And you like to pretend that you don’t care about love,” he was holding her so close and was barely an inch from her face now, “but you do. It’s your favorite thing. You love love and you love when people fall in love. And–” he smirked at her as she started tearing up, “you’ve been waiting for this your entire life,” he said as he pressed his lips against hers and kissed her softly.

She couldn’t keep the tears from falling as they kissed. He was right. She wasn’t nearly as tough as she tried to make people believe and he could see that about her. He could see that she was sensitive and emotional and affectionate. And he made her feel like she could show it.

He kept his lips soft as he continued to tear down the last of her walls. His hands holding her firmly in place while he, too, felt the weight of the world leaving his shoulders and crumbling into the sea.

It was too bad that neither of them could slow time, too bad the sun was setting so quickly and too bad they had to get home before Shuji came looking for them. Otherwise, they might’ve stayed that way forever. But every kiss ends, and this was just the first of many, many more to come.

They finally, slowly, relinquished their embrace as they leaned back to look into each other’s eyes again. 

Shanan smiled as she brushed her fingers through the back of his hair. “Promise me you'll always kiss me like that?”

“As you wish,” he said as he leaned back in and kissed her exactly how she’d asked.

Shanan and Kakashi had been official for a few months by the time Rin and Obito had promised themselves to one another. And they often snuck away to be alone and kiss each other and talk about their future together.

The pair usually stayed and spent a few minutes chatting with Prince Obito before leaving him and Rin to talk alone, but now that he and Rin were together, she thought it time for them to finally meet face to face. He’d still been too shy to reveal his appearance to them, but once Rin asked if he would, he agreed to it immediately.

And of course, once they’d seen him, they’d had the same reaction as Rin had, which was no reaction at all. They sat in the carriage together and they talked and they laughed and they got to know each other.

From then on and for the next few months that was what they did and they all became very good friends. Obito even made it a point to visit every weekend, even without his father, since it was hard having to wait any amount of time to see Rin. 

And it wasn’t long before he was making secret plans with them to sneak out so that he could watch a meteor shower with the three of them. He knew that he could easily convince the guards not to say anything about his leaving and that the coachman would be happy to take him to their farm. 

His father didn’t usually permit his dog, Ryoshi, to ride along in the carriage when they visited the market, but he decided to sneak him out and let him run around while he spent time with Rin and the others.

Sneaking out was incredibly easy and the coachman almost seemed to be waiting for him when he and Ryoshi showed up and he gave the order to go to the Takagi farm.

Once they were about a mile away from the farm they were met with the three other teens as they were sure the sound of the carriage would wake Shanan’s parents. And as soon as Obito opened the door to the carriage, Ryoshi jumped out and went straight to Shanan to nudge her to pet him.

“Oh, he doesn’t usually warm up to people so quickly,” Obito said, a bit surprised.

Shanan sighed heavily. “No, dogs love me for some reason. They always have,” she said as she knelt down to pet the black dog.

“Makes perfect sense to me,” Kakashi said softly as he joined her in petting him.

While Shanan and Kakashi pet Ryoshi, Rin couldn’t take her eyes off of Obito. She’d never seen him outside of the carriage. She’d never seen him standing so tall and straight. And she was happy to know that he trusted all of them enough to be himself around them.

She gently grabbed his hand and smiled as she pulled him towards the field where they’d already laid out two blankets a good distance apart for stargazing and Shanan and Kakashi followed them while Ryoshi ran off to explore.

Fortunately, it was a really clear and dark night and they were sure they could see every star that fell. 

At least, when any of them were actually looking at the sky and not taking advantage of the romantic setting.

It was almost dawn by the time they finally got up to move around and Rin suggested that they take a short walk before they went home and Obito went back to the carriage. And after a night of kissing, it was still nice to just hold hands and talk.

“I’m glad you could come out here with us. I probably wouldn’t have tagged along if you didn’t show up. Shanan and Kakashi are almost always kissing,” she said with a soft laugh. 

Obito couldn’t help but feel bad about not being able to see Rin as much as her cousin got to see her boyfriend, but there wasn’t much he could do about it yet.

“I’m glad I could too. I’m sorry I can’t visit more,” he said apologetically.

Rin stopped and wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled up at him. “You don’t have to be sorry about that. I cherish every minute we get to spend together even more this way.”

“You do?” he asked softly as he brushed her hair behind her ear.

“Mhm.” she said as she nodded gently.

He pulled her closer to him and smiled softly at her. “So then, you won’t be upset if I can’t visit this weekend?”

“Oh,” she said, a bit surprised. “Why can’t you, though?”

Obito let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s just,” he looked away nervously as he continued, “it’s a long story. But trust me, I can’t come. Hopefully it’ll only be the one weekend, but it might be two.”

Rin couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed, but she smiled up at him anyway. “It’s ok, I’ll miss you, though.”

“You promise?” he whispered.

Rin nodded again and then pulled him down for a kiss to show him that she wasn’t upset.

“I love you very much, Rin Nohara,” he said between kisses, and as he said it he could feel her smiling as they continued to get lost in each other's lips for, quite possibly, the hundredth time that night. 

Once they finally pulled their lips away, Rin continued to beam at him as she stared longingly into his eyes. She couldn’t help but smile, he made her feel so beautiful and perfect and all she wanted was for them to grow up and start their lives together. “I love you very much too, Obito Uchiha.”

They held each other close and completely took the other into their senses, already missing the other and already wishing they could see and kiss and hold each other again. 

“I should get back to the carriage and head home before my parents wake up and wonder where I am.”

Rin gasped as she put her hand over her mouth. “Oh no, they wouldn’t think it was that man again, would they?” she asked, suddenly feeling very guilty for enabling Obito to sneak out.

He smirked as he shook his head at her. “No, actually. That man is gone from this world. And I don't think they’d jump to any similar conclusions either, they know I’ve been wanting to spend more time with you.”

“Good,” she said, completely relieved. “Well then, good luck in making it home before they wake up.” She stood on her toes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you soon.”

He smiled down at her as he held her hand with his other hand in his pocket. “I’ll see you soon, Rin.” He looked over at Shanan and Kakashi who were still in mid-kiss and laughed. “Tell those two lovebirds bye for me, if you can.”

“I will,” she said as she smiled at him.

He gave her hand a quick kiss and then finally let go and turned to walk back to the carriage.

She kept her eyes on him the entire time and gave him another wave when he looked back before getting into the carriage.

He was glad to have had such a lovely night with her before he had to spend the next few miserable weeks entertaining the King of Guilder, Kakuzu and his son, Hidan.

King Kakuzu was alright, but Prince Hidan had never been anything but cruel to him and anyone he came across. If Obito had anything Hidan wanted, he would take it. And Obito had been instructed by his father to just give him what he wanted in order to keep the peace and he would replace it afterwards. Which was how King Madara usually handled anything with the Guildarian’s since signing the peace treaty after the third great war between the two countries. 

But Hidan would take the clothes from Obito’s back if Obito claimed to love them, even though he was four years older and had always been bigger than Obito. It didn’t matter to him. He’d take them and anything else and he would say that it was all in the name of Jashin. Some God he apparently worshiped.

Whoever Jashin was, seemed to require Hidan to be a sadist. 

Hidan had found this Jashin when his father neglected to love him or give him any positive attention. The king blamed him for the loss of his beloved wife and just couldn’t ever bring himself to be warm to Hidan. So he didn’t grow up with any empathy or kindness and so went looking for someone that he could make proud. Though, he still seemed to at least try to earn his father’s respect in his own way.

Hidan probably would’ve been much worse had it not been for Itachi, but after a few fights, even Itachi had been instructed to play nice with Hidan the same as Obito had. King Madara had really put them in a tough position for fear of ruffling feathers.

By the time Obito made it back to the castle, the sun had already risen and he knew he’d be lucky to get a few hours of sleep before the Guildarian’s arrived, but he also knew he had to at least try so that he could be mentally prepared.

Chapter Text

When Obito finally woke up, it was mid afternoon and he was surprised that nobody had bothered him at all. Part of him was hopeful that maybe the Guildarians decided not to show up, but once he made his way into the dining room, they were all sat at the table seemingly waiting for him to arrive.

“Well look who decided to disgrace us with his ghastly presence. Anything new and exciting happening in your sad life, Tobi?” Hidan said with a mischievous smirk.

Obito clenched his jaw as he reminded himself that his scars were a sign that he’d lived through a terrifying experience and that Rin still loved him despite them. Yes, she would definitely be the one to help him get through these next few weeks. “Don’t call me that anymore. You know what my name is.”

“No need to be so sensitive about it, I’m just tryna help you out and Tobi sounds cooler.” 

Obito rolled his eyes at him as he sat down. “Isn’t it kind of immature to still mix the letters up in my name just to try and annoy me?”

Hidan shot him a look, clearly annoyed that he wasn’t immediately cowering in fear. He never really had, but Hidan always seemed to expect it. Which is probably why his brutality only progressed over the years.

“Fine, if you wish to call me Tobi, then by all means. You’re the one that sounds like he can’t read,” he said as he tried to hide his smile, only to be met with more metaphoric daggers from Hidan.

“You’re both the same as you ever were,” laughed Kakuzu. He always seemed completely oblivious to Hidan’s malicious intent. “You guys should get out tomorrow! I’m sure Hidan would love to see the village, it’s been awhile. Right, Hidan?”

He shrugged, disinterested, as he continued to eat.

“Absolutely not.” Obito said before he noticed Hidan’s complete lack of enthusiasm about it. But now that he’d said anything either way, Hidan’s intrigue was piqued as he tilted his head to the side and grinned over at Obito.

“You got something in that village, Tobi? Come, tell me everything.”

Obito refused to take the bait and held his tongue as he tried to keep his expression neutral. Going to the village with Hidan was the last thing he wanted to do. He wouldn’t subject Rin to him.

Hidan continued to study Obito with narrow eyes, plotting, almost knowing. “You know, actually,” he said as he turned to his father. “I think I would like to go into that dumpy little village.” He wiped his mouth off with his napkin and stood up as he looked back over at Obito, who was still trying to remain unreadable. “Besides,” he fixed his eyes menacingly to Obito now, ready to catch his reaction. “I’ve been needing to find me a bride.”

Obito nearly stopped breathing and Hidan caught it immediately.

“There it is,” Hidan said smugly as he tossed his napkin onto his plate and shoved his hands into his pockets. “First thing in the morning, Tobi, you better be ready.” And with that he left the dining room to torment anyone else who happened to cross his path.

Obito sat quietly as he stared down at his plate. He’d been too hasty in answering Kakuzu, too emotional. He should’ve just waited to see what Hidan would say first. He should’ve known that a visit to the village would seem boring to him and now he was kicking himself as he played it all back. 

The more he thought about going to the village with Hidan, the bigger the pit in his stomach felt. He only wanted to go to see why Obito didn’t want him to. He only wanted to go to make it so that Obito wouldn’t even want to go anymore. And he wouldn’t let him do that to him. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get out of going, but hopefully he could play it straight and not give anything more away to Hidan. 

He prayed Hidan wouldn’t want any of the women he saw in the marketplace. Especially if Obito didn’t give him what he wanted and react to him. But Guilder had been owed a Florin Bride since his father married his Guildarian mother…

They met during the third war on the battlefield and it had even been love at first sight. Madara laid everything down just for her. For Kurenai. And Kakuzu had accepted, because he, too, had loved her. And it was written into law that either country could choose a bride from the other country if they wished. 

So he very well could look at anyone he wanted and demand her hand. 

Fortunately, Rin was only seventeen.

The next day Obito was up bright and early and had gone over everything in his head. He wouldn’t react if they saw Rin. In fact he’d try to stay on the opposite side of the market from where he usually met with her. If he did everything right, then it wouldn’t take long for Hidan to get bored. 

He wanted to skip breakfast, but he knew that Hidan would chide him for being a coward and probably be even more difficult while they were out since he’d lost out on precious time during their meal. He could endure it if it meant less time in the village. He even thought to try and seem excited to go, just to try and make Hidan change his mind.

“You seem awfully cheery today, Tobi. You wouldn’t be tryna use reverse psychology on me now, would ya?” Hidan asked as he took a bite of his food.

Obito glared at him for a split second and then caught himself. 

“Betcha wish Itachi were here about now, huh? Where is your little bodyguard anyway?” he teased. He knew that Obito wasn’t as bothered by him when Itachi was around.

“He’s away and that’s all you need to know.” Obito said, a bit defensively of his cousin.

“Shame. I bet he would’ve liked to tag along to the village with us. See me choose my new bride and all.”

Obito had to remind himself to react as little as possible, since Hidan thrived on making him miserable. So he ate his breakfast quietly and let the constant insults roll off of him, no matter how grating they were. 

And after a while he couldn’t even hear him anymore as he went over his plan in his head. He’d instruct the coachman to go towards a specific shop on the opposite end of where he usually met with Rin. He’d keep an eye on her as best he could and instruct the coachman to move if she started towards them.

“Hey, idiot! You think you can just ignore me? I said are you ready to go? I’m itching to find my soulmate here,” Hidan said, taunting.

Obito set his fork down and took a deep breath before pushing his chair back and standing up. 

“What, Tobi? Are you not excited to spend the day with me? I’ve been looking forward to this since yesterday and I’m glad you’re going with me. I think you’ll help me pick the best girl out there,” he said as he patted him hard on the back with a grin. He turned on his heel and continued, “I want someone pretty. And quiet, I can't have anyone that talks too much. And really just someone that waits on me hand and foot. And knees too, if you know what I mean.” He looked back at Obito to gauge his reaction, but Obito kept a straight face.

“Naturally,” Obito said plainly.

Hidan grimaced at him and turned to walk away again. “You’re no fun, Tobi. Lighten up!”

Obito glared at the back of his head as they made their way to the carriage. 

All the way there, Hidan continued to try and provoke Obito, but the latter continued to tune him out as best he could and go over the plan until they were just about there.

“Park where we usually park, please, next to the spice shop,” he said convincingly. They usually met Rin near the odds and ends shop she liked so much.

“Of course,” said the coachman. Everyone was well aware that Hidan was horrible.

As they were making their way through the market, Obito leaned casually on the window in order to watch for Rin as inconspicuously as he possibly could. 

All the while, Hidan openly gawked out of his own window at anyone and everyone that passed. “She’s alright. She’s better. She should be locked up for showing her face. Oh that one’s nice! Oh, ew! What is growing on her face? Is that her nose?” He wasn’t yelling out of his window, but he wasn’t being quiet with his insults either. He turned back to look at Obito. “I never realized that Florin had an ogre infestation. Hell, I didn’t even think they existed until now...” He laughed pretty loudly at that one.

Obito had thought to speak on behalf of the perfectly fine women of Florin, but he didn’t care about any of them except for Rin at the moment. And just as he’d thought it, he’d spotted her and she was a good distance away, browsing through the odds and ends shop, of course. He was surprised to see her alone, though. 

“Wow! I think I found her, Tobi,” Hidan said as he grabbed for Obito’s arm without looking away from whoever he was staring at.

Obito lazily went to go and see what Hidan was on about and his stomach did a flip. Shanan was dragging Kakashi to look at medicinal ingredients. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so perfect.” And Obito could tell by the look in Hidan’s eyes that it had been true. He was completely taken with Shanan, who he didn’t even consider in his worry for Rin. But then he remembered that she was even younger than Rin and so wasn’t an option either.

They sat and stared for several minutes while Obito tried to figure out how to handle the situation. He didn’t want Shanan or Kakashi to be subjected to Hidan either. Especially once Hidan learned her age and that she was off the table. Though, knowing Hidan, he’d opt to wait for her to turn eighteen anyway. 

Hidan continued to stare at her and compliment her, and even added in a lot of colorful and vulgar language about what all he wanted to do to her. No, Obito couldn’t let him near her either.

Obito continued to go over a new plan in his head as he stared blankly at nothing.

“Oh, she’s got a little friend,” he said, suddenly grabbing Obito’s attention again as he appeared to try to see her better. “Oh nevermind, she’s not nearly as cute. Although she’s still not an ogre like the rest.” He looked back at Obito with a smirk as he continued. “They must be rela–” he said as he noticed the look on Obito’s face, “–ted.” His smirk grew into a satisfied grin as he turned to look back out of the window and then back at Obito. “So you know them, huh? And the ugly one is the one you like? I’m not surprised. Gotta take what you can get, I suppose,” he said.

Obito frowned as all of his plans fell to pieces and he waited to see what Hidan would do next. 

“So, Tobi, you gonna tell me their names, or should I get out and ask them personally?”

Obito glanced back out the window at the two girls and Kakashi and then down at the ground. They were too young to be chosen as brides anyway, so he might as well tell him. His throat suddenly felt very dry as he opened his mouth to speak and closed it again.

“You really gonna make me go out there?”

“Shanan and,” he swallowed thickly and tried to slow time like his father so that he wouldn’t have to tell him Rin’s name.

“And the girl you like? What’s her name? Come on, Tobi,” he looked back at him again and noticed the tears in Obito’s eyes and continued to smile with that same knowing and mischievous look on his face. “You have an actual girlfriend, don’tcha, Tobi? I never thought I’d see the day, I can tell you that much. Now tell me her name,” he said seriously.

“R-Rin.”

“Good. How old are they? Any idea what their skills are?”

Obito swallowed again as hot, angry tears fell. He hated that he was telling him anything about them. Especially when Hidan seemed so calm. “Sixteen and seventeen. And their skills are beauty and kindness.”

“Beauty and kindness? What kind of useless skills are those?”

Obito didn’t think anything about either of them was useless, not even Kakashi, whose skill was still as unknown as Obito’s was. 

“Well anyway. I’m ready to go back to the castle. I should talk to our dads about my new bride,” he said calmly as he closed the curtain and sat back in his seat.

Obito suddenly felt frantic as he glanced back out at them again and then back to Hidan. “But I already told you, they’re only sixteen and seventeen. You can’t pick either one of them!”

And for once, Hidan didn’t say anything, as he kept his head down and turned his eyes up to look at Obito ominously.

Obito sat back in his seat and stared at Hidan with his mouth agape, completely distressed as tears continued to stream down his face. He’d never been this close to Hidan and not heard him speaking and being generally vicious. Having him sit so silently across from him was alarming, to say the least, and he remained that way the entire ride back.

Chapter Text

Once they reached the castle, Hidan exited the carriage first, still with the same icy determination, as he made his way to talk to the pair of kings.

Obito followed him anxiously, ready to object and plead with whoever he needed to. There was no way that he could let Hidan have either of the girls. One of whom, he loved more than he’d ever loved anyone or anything. The other was his good friend and beloved cousin of the girl he adored. Neither of them could be taken, though Obito still wasn’t sure who Hidan was planning on naming as his bride.

As they reached the door to the study where the kings often liked to sit and visit, Hidan stopped short and turned to Obito. “I know you think you can stop this. But you really can’t. I’d tell you not to come in and bother trying, but I think I'll be far more entertained if you do.” He held the door open and smirked at him. “After you, Tobi.”

Obito walked in and interrupted his dad as he was in the middle of an elaborate story. “Father, please don’t let him take her. He wants to marry Rin, or Shanan, but they’re too young. Please,” he begged.

Hidan followed him and stood confidently in front of the two men as he cleared his throat. “Alright, Tobi. That’s enough of that.” He looked right at Madara and raised an eyebrow. “I’ve chosen my bride and you can’t really say no.”

“Hidan, what is the meaning of this? You’re being extremely disrespectful,” said Kakuzu.

“Father, I’m just trying to restore the balance in our countries and take back what Florin took from you. That’s all.”

“Son–”

“I’m not asking. We are due and fair is fair. If not now, then I’ll just do it when I’m king anyway.”

Obito wasn’t exactly sure what Hidan meant about restoring any kind of balance, but the fact that he was being so bold infuriated him. Before he realized what he was doing he grabbed Hidan’s arm and spun him around to look at him. “Who do you think–” he started to say, but just as suddenly as he’d spun him around, Hidan reached his hand up and backhanded Obito across the face.

“Don’t think you can charm me the way you do everyone else, Tobi. I figured your skill out long ago.”

Obito refrained from holding onto his stinging, throbbing cheek and looked back at Hidan, seething with hatred. 

“Funny thing is, you still have no idea,” he said as he laughed. “Everyone bends to your will without hesitation and they always have. You think anyone really likes you, Tobi? No. But you always get your way, don’t you?”

Obito’s face softened a bit as Hidan continued.

“Now, you may be asking yourself why I don’t do what you want. Well, the answer is easy, Tobi. I don’t respect you enough to look you in the eye,” he said as a matter of fact. “I know how you Uchihas work.”

Obito could tell by the look on Hidan’s face that he’d been holding that in for a long time. He almost seemed emotional and he wore his impatience all over his face. He’d been waiting for this. He wasn’t going to back down. And if the kings didn’t give him exactly what he wanted now, after all this time, then he’d just take it by force when he became king and all peace between their two countries would go completely out the window. Obito looked at his father once more and for whatever reason he looked extremely guilty as they all waited for Hidan to explain. Then he looked over at Kakuzu who looked ashamed and, perhaps, a bit helpless as Hidan readied himself to make his case.

“Now, don’t interrupt me again, Tobi,” Hidan said as he looked back at their fathers. “Let the men chat.”

Obito decided to do just that and ran out of the room in a hurry.

Hidan glared at him as he left and then closed his eyes to consider his words.

“Now. You can’t tell me no, because I know all about your queen.” 

It was the middle of the third great war between Florin and Guilder and Madara had single handedly managed to take down most of the enemies alone, just by slowing time and carving his way through the battlefield. 

From afar it looked as though he were moving at lightning speeds until he stopped abruptly in front of one warrior. One might have thought that the entire world had come to a complete halt the way he stood frozen in front of her. 

And she, too, stood frozen as she stared back at him.

It had been the most obvious case of love at first sight that anyone had ever seen.

It wasn’t long after that that the fighting had ended and the peace treaty had been signed.

Madara agreed to cease all fighting if he could just leave with the girl so that they could be married. 

And Kakuzu only agreed because he, too, had hoped to one day choose her as his bride. 

Once she’d turned eighteen. 

But since she wanted to return to Florin with Madara, he could no longer fight with Florin. 

Kakuzu wasn’t sure how Hidan had gotten ahold of this information, but he was right. Kakuzu had lost his potential new queen to Madara, but he’d forgiven him long ago since he knew that she loved him very much. And he wasn’t sure why Hidan felt it so important to try and redeem his honor in such a way, but he knew how difficult Hidan could be.

“So because our country let you marry Queen Kurenai before she was eighteen, I, too, should be able to choose a younger bride. It’s only fair and the treaty states that I can choose a Florinian to be my queen,” he pointed out.

“Who?” Madara asked, fearing he already knew the answer.

“I believe her name was Rin and I was told that she was seventeen with a skill of kindness. And, I gotta say, Jashin approves,” he said as he nodded thoughtfully.

Madara frowned at him and shook his head sadly. “Surely there’s somebody else you can choose.”

Hidan looked at him incredulously. “Is all not fair in love and war?” he asked rhetorically. “Rather hypocritical of you to deny me the girl of my choosing just because your own son is also infatuated with her. Now if he were married to her, then I would absolutely respect the sanctity of their marriage, but as it stands, she’s fair game.”

Kakuzu stood up angrily. “Hidan. I will not stand by and allow you to insult King Madara like this. I left the past behind me long ago, there is no need to be so petty and insolent.” 

Hidan laughed at that. “It comes as no surprise that the same man that allowed another man to unapologetically steal his woman would lie down and not allow me to return the favor. Again, you can stop me now, but mind that this decision will only come back to haunt you with interest.” He looked from his father to Madara and continued. “And who here will pay the price? Not just your son, but all of Florin. My father may allow you to break the treaty, but I won’t. Let me take my bride tonight and you have my word to forget all about how much of a hassle you made it for me. I’ve already wasted ten minutes pleading my case when the answer should’ve been a simple, if not enthusiastic, yes.” He looked from Madara back to his father, who still looked just as distressed as the King of Florin. “I’m done trying to convince either of you and have said all I’ll say on the subject, but you know that I’m right. Now what say you?”

Kakuzu shook his head at Hidan. “This is shameful and disgusting of you.”

Hidan’s jaw tightened at his fathers words, but he remained calm. “Well, I sure hope you felt the same of King Madara when he did the same thing. And if you can forgive him, then you’ll forgive me too.”

Madara stopped time as he considered Hidan’s words. The thought of hurting his son broke his heart, but Hidan had been right about what he had done in the past and it would be very hypocritical of him to deny Hidan his choice of bride. Certainly he could cut Hidan down, but who knows what chain reaction would follow. He could tell him no in the hopes that he was bluffing, but knowing him, he wasn’t and would only come at both Obito and Florin with all he had in the future. The easiest solution seemed to be to let him have Rin and hope that Obito would find someone else just as lovely to be his bride. He hated that he was giving in to him, but he didn’t feel as though he had much of a choice.

He resumed time and looked at Hidan resentfully and nodded. “You may take your bride,” he said as his heart shattered for Obito. 

He wasn’t sure where he’d run off to, likely to his room, but he knew that it would be a long time before Obito forgave him. That is, if he ever did.

Obito had already made it to the village on his own horse. He wasn’t sure how much time he had, but he knew he could trust Kakashi to do what he needed him to.

Fortunately, he saw him near the stable as he rode onto the farm. 

“Kakashi!” he yelled frantically as he climbed down.

“Obito,” Kakashi said, completely surprised to see him. “I thought you weren’t gonna be around for a while.”

“Kakashi, I need you to listen to me,” he said gravely. 

Kakashi could sense the urgency in his voice. “What’s going on?” 

“The Prince of Guilder saw Shanan and Rin today and he wants to marry one of them. He lives to torment me, so I’m sure it’s Rin he’s after, but Shanan should be protected too, just in case.”

“The Prince of Guilder?”

“Yes. You have to hide them, Kakashi. You have to keep them safe. Please. Please keep Rin safe for me. I’m asking as your friend, man to man,” he begged.

Kakashi put his hand on Obito’s shoulder and nodded. “I’ll keep her safe for you. I promise.”

Obito gave him a quick, appreciative nod and climbed back onto his horse. “Hurry, there isn’t much time. I’m sure he’s on his way already.” And with that he rode off to possibly intercept Hidan and buy Kakashi as much time as possible.

Kakashi didn’t waste any time and ran to the house to get the girls. He knew they were still cooking dinner, but he already knew where he was going to hide them. Once they were hidden, he would explain everything to Shuji and Kumiko and he knew that if he were willing to do anything to keep them hidden, then they would too and the girls would only be taken away through drastic measures. 

He reached the back door and stopped them mid conversation and grabbed both of their hands to pull them as he explained.

“Kakashi, wha–” Shanan had started to say.

“Obito was here,” he said as he led them to the barn. 

“Obito was here? What’s going on?” Rin asked him.

“The Prince of Guilder is on his way. He wants one of you as his bride. Obito suspects he’s after you, Rin, because he hates Obito, but I’m hiding both of you.”

“He wants… me?” she asked, surprised. “But, how could anyone hate Obito?”

“I don’t know, but come on.” He pulled them into the barn and lifted the door to the small root cellar that had been mostly obscured by the wagon sitting over the door. He could open it just enough for one of the girls to go in. “Shanan, please. There isn’t much time.”

Shanan looked at Rin as her stomach knotted and threw her arms around her. “Wherever you hide, just make yourself tiny and don’t make a sound. No matter what you hear. Ok?”

Rin nodded as she squeezed Shanan tight. “You too,” she said as tears streamed down her face. 

“We’ll be ok,” Shanan pulled away and looked at her again to assure her with a soft smile.

“Shanan, please. I don’t know how close he is,” Kakashi said as he held the door open. 

Shanan went to stand by the door and gave him a quick hug and a kiss on his cheek. “I love you.”

He caressed her cheek and looked at her with tears in his eyes. “I love you too. Now go. And stay quiet. Please,” he whispered.

Shanan nodded gently and climbed down into the small space and looked back just in time for Kakashi to close the door. She thought she’d hear them moving around above her, but if they were then she couldn’t hear or see anything. It was pitch black and seemingly sound proof.

Kakashi covered the door with a small amount of hay and then led Rin up into the hay loft and helped carve out a small spot just big enough for her to squeeze into. “Rin, stay quiet, please. I don’t know much about this guy, but Obito came all the way here and asked me to protect you and so I will.” He helped her into the small space and then did what he could to make sure she didn’t stand out in any way. “I know this isn’t very comfortable, but hopefully he’ll give up quickly. Can you breathe alright?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine. What will he do if he can’t find us?” she asked him with a concerned look on her face.

“I don’t think King Madara will allow him to hurt us if they can’t find you guys. So just stay put and try not to worry, ok?”

Rin nodded and Kakashi covered her head with more hay, leaving a small inconspicuous opening to allow for air flow. 

And then he ran back into the house to fill Shuji and Kumiko in on the details. He didn’t tell them where he’d hidden them, just in case, so that they wouldn’t be lying about their whereabouts. 

Obito had been surprised that he’d made it all the way back to the castle, but Hidan and the Kings were already on their way outside to head into the village, followed by Ryoshi, who was always happy to see Obito return.

“Father–,” Obito started.

“Don’t waste your breath, Tobi, we’re going to get my bride whether you like it or not,” Hidan said smugly as he continued to walk.

“I’m sorry, Obito,” Madara said, exasperated. “But my hands are tied.”

Obito could tell that Madara was filled with regret, but he was still angry with him for not stopping Hidan. He didn’t care what reason Hidan could’ve given. No reason should’ve been good enough to allow him to take the one girl that Obito loved.

They all reached the carriage and Hidan turned around to look at Obito. “Alright, Tobi, I’ll let you come and say one last goodbye to her,” he said as he held the door open for him to climb in first. 

Ryoshi jumped in and Obito went out of his way to shove into Hidan before getting in too. 

“I’ll let that slide, considering the circumstances,” Hidan said as he climbed in after Obito.

Once they reached the farm, the two older Takagis and Kakashi met them outside as they all knelt to their King as he addressed them. “I’m sorry to have to meet you like this, but your daughter, Rin, has been chosen to be the future Queen of Guilder. Please, where is she?”

Shuji glanced up at Madara and then back to the ground. “We don’t know, Your Highness,” he told him truthfully.

Madara nodded knowingly. “You don’t know?” he asked rhetorically. He already knew what was going on. “And you? Do you not know either?” he asked Kumiko gently.

She shook her head, but didn’t look up as she had a steady stream of tears running down her face.

“Alright.” He looked at Kakashi and then to Obito who was clearly trying to avoid looking at Kakashi. “And you, young man,” he said quietly, “would you happen to know?”

Kakashi swallowed hard and took a deep breath before looking up at Madara. The man was certainly imposing, but Kakashi looked him in the eyes and shook his head. “I do not.”

Madara sighed heavily as he closed his eyes. He didn’t believe the teen, but he couldn’t fault the young man for protecting the people he cared about. He turned around to look at Kakuzu and Hidan. “It seems they’re missing. Perhaps there was someone else that caught your eye today?” he asked Hidan hopefully.

Hidan laughed and shook his head as he looked at Obito. “Is this why you ran from the study so fast? You came here to warn them.” Hidan looked up at Madara. “Alright, fine let's say they’re actually missing. We wouldn’t be very royal if we didn’t at least attempt to help find them, would we? And hey, if they’re gone, they’re gone and I’ll have to find someone else. But we should try to help first.”

Madara relented and turned back towards the farmers. “Please rise and show us around your property.”

The three of them stood up and Shuji held onto Kumiko while she sobbed.

“I can show them around, you guys should go and–” Kakashi said quietly as he turned to look at Hidan for the first time and nearly froze in place.

He’d seen him before…

Shortly after Kakashi turned sixteen, his father, Sakumo, committed suicide.

He’d been in the village market all morning getting a few ingredients for dinner when there was a commotion in the center of the square. 

He pushed his way through the crowd and saw his father kneeling on the ground, next to a strange man, having just plunged a dagger into his own abdomen. 

His father looked at him apologetically before dragging the dagger through his side and falling over into a puddle of his own blood.

The strange man had been after his fathers skill, which was that he could touch anything and turn it into silver.

Shortly after that, Kakashi went to work for the Takagis as Shuji had been an old friend of Sakumo.

Turns out, that strange man was the Prince of Guilder and Kakashi was truly stunned to see the man responsible for his fathers suicide standing in front of him.

“I’ll show them around, Kakashi,” Shuji assured him gently. He could tell something was wrong as Kakashi, suddenly, no longer seemed up for much of anything.

“Tobi, why don’t you wait here? I don’t want you to get in my way when we get close,” he warned.

Obito scowled at Hidan as he clenched his fists.

“Son, I think it’s best you wait here,” Madara told him.

Obito kept his expression as he looked at his father angrily, but stepped back to wait by the carriage and by Kakashi.

“Is everything alright, Kakashi?” Obito asked him as soon as the rest of the group was out of earshot. 

But Kakashi was still staring at the ground, seemingly lost in a painful memory as tears ran down his face.

There weren’t a lot of places on the farm to search for the girls, but they checked a few before finally making their way into the barn.

It was much like the other places they’d checked. Typical farm stuff with hay everywhere… Hidan did a once over, but nothing stood out to him as a decent hiding place. Except for the hay loft. 

“Guess I better check up there,” he said as he made his way to the ladder. Once he’d reached the top, he scanned the area. It was small and dark and very quiet. If someone had just run to hide, then they didn’t leave any traces, but he made his way to the back wall anyway just to check the corners. He stood quietly and slowly looked to each side as he listened for even the slightest sound, but there weren’t any. He waited just a few more minutes to be sure before turning back to the ladder.

He got to the bottom and went over to Madara and Kakuzu. “I suppose I’m expected to give up now?” he asked them, a bit annoyed. “I know they’re hiding–” He stopped and turned around suddenly. “Oh, will you shut–” he started to yell at Ryoshi, who was whining and pawing at the door under the wagon. “Well, now. Who’s a good boy?” he said as he made his way over to him.

He stopped and kicked away the hay that had been used to cover the door and chuckled as he looked over at Shuji. “Clever little hiding spot you got there. I never would’ve even noticed it.” he admitted with a smirk. “I wonder which one is down there. Open it,” he told Shuji impatiently.

“Wait!” came a quiet voice from the hay loft. “I’m here.”

Everyone’s eyes shifted up to the hay-covered girl as she climbed down the ladder.

“I didn’t mean to deceive anyone. Please, I’m here,” she said as she ran to stand in front of the door where Shanan was.

“I knew at least one of you had to be hiding up there,” Hidan said smugly.

Kakashi still couldn’t stop picturing his dad in his last moments, surrounded by a couple hundred people as he performed hara kiri on himself. Refusing to be locked away and used for his skill and the look that he’d given Kakashi as if he were begging him to run away. The–

“No!” Obito yelled, pulling Kakashi from his daze.

Kakashi looked up slowly, still teary eyed, to see Obito running towards the group, who were now accompanied by Shanan and Rin. 

Just as he saw the two girls and the tears running down Shanan’s face and the way Obito ran to Rin and wrapped her up in his arms, new tears fell down his cheeks. He hadn’t hidden them well enough and he’d let Obito, Rin and Shanan down.

Shanan ran up to Kakashi and wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed. 

He suddenly felt as though every part of his body was really heavy. He went to wrap his arms around Shanan to try and comfort her, but he was moving in slow motion and the tears continued to fall silently down his cheeks. His hands finally rested on her back as he looked back up at Obito and Rin, who were still embracing and crying into one another. 

He watched as Prince Hidan finally rolled his eyes and separated them, leading Rin past him and to the carriage. 

He watched Obito fall to his knees. 

He watched him look up at Rin helplessly as she looked back at him and gave him a soft smile before climbing into the carriage.

He watched as all hope and light faded from Obito’s face as his heart shattered into tiny pieces.

And then, once the carriage had completely gone, he watched as Obito turned to look at him, still holding onto Shanan as she sobbed.

“You were supposed to protect her,” Obito said at barely a whisper as his voice broke completely. “You promised me that you would.” Tears poured freely down his face as he looked at Kakashi woefully. “And now she’s just… gone.”

Shanan let go of Kakashi and went to Obito and knelt next to him and hugged him tight. But he didn’t take much notice of her as he continued to cry and lament to Kakashi.

“Why, Kakashi? I trusted you. Why didn’t you protect her for me?” he asked sadly with a wounded look of betrayal in his eyes. 

Shanan squeezed Obito tighter and cried more for him now as they both shook, though Obito still didn’t hug her back.

Kakashi continued to look at Obito humbly. “I’m so sorry, Obito. I really tried–”

Obito broke free of Shanan and flew at Kakashi knocking him to the ground and pressing his forearm against Kakashi’s throat. Angry tears replacing the sad ones he’d been crying as he looked furiously into Kakashi’s eyes. He suddenly remembered what Hidan had told him earlier in the day about his skill.

He kept his voice calm and measured as he considered his words. Though, he wasn't even sure if he believed Hidan. “Because Rin would want me to be kind to Shanan, I’ll give you a week," he said quietly. "But then you’re leaving. I don’t care where you go. I don’t care what you do. But if I can’t be with Rin, then you can’t be with Shanan,” he said bitterly. “You’ll tell her you need to make money to marry her and then never return.”

Kakashi wasn’t sure what was happening inside of him, but whatever it was, he couldn’t fight it, no matter how hard he tried. He tried to push the intrusive thought from his mind, he tried to clench his jaw enough to suppress the words that weren't his, but neither worked. His brain felt foggy and like he had no control over himself as Obito's charm echoed through his ears and implanted into his psyche.

“Say it.” Obito said through gritted teeth. Still pressing into Kakashi’s throat and glaring into his eyes.

Kakashi’s eyes filled with tears again as he begged silently for Obito to stop the assault on his mind. 

But he refused. 

“As you wish, Your Highness.” Kakashi whispered indignantly.

Chapter Text

"Kakashi."

He wasn’t sure who was saying his name, but it was a soft and lovely voice and he could suddenly feel someone’s hand on his cheek.

“Kakashi, are you alright?” the soft voice said again as she brushed his skin with her thumb, her touch was as gentle as her voice.

He wasn’t sure why she was trying to get his attention, but the more she tried, the more he thought that perhaps he could give it to her.

Another gentle caress, followed by, quite possibly, the most delicate kiss. And, he couldn’t be too sure, but were those tears? Was he crying? 

No. 

She was. 

“Please don’t cry, my love,” he said, still unsure of what was happening or even where he was. He just knew that Shanan was crying and that he didn’t want her to. Not for him.

“Kakashi!” She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his neck as she sobbed. He hadn’t even realized that he was sitting up until now. 

He wrapped his arms around her and rested his face on her head as everything started feeling less fuzzy.

Shanan leaned back to look at him, still with tears streaming down her face. “What happened? What did he do to you?” she asked shakily.

Kakashi smiled softly at her, happy to look into her eyes again as he brushed her hair out of her face and wiped her tears. “Nothing, my love. He was just upset and rightfully so.” He looked around and realized that Obito had left while he was still dazed. “How long has he been gone?”

Shanan looked at Kakashi and frowned as she swallowed. “About ten minutes. He attacked you and then it looked as though you guys were speaking to one another. But you were both very quiet. And then he got up angrily. You sat up, but you had a blank look on your face. He looked angry and sad, but then he looked at me and apologized and then left. I ran to you right away.”

Kakashi didn’t remember any of that.

“Kakashi, what did you guys say to each other?”

Kakashi searched his memory, but all he could remember was Obito pressing his arm into his throat as he stared down at him angrily. “Probably just asking me why I failed him,” he said regretfully as he looked down at the ground.

“You didn’t fail him. You hid us. Prince Hidan wouldn’t have found us if it weren’t for Ryoshi."

He looked up at her with a look of astonishment on his face. “You mean Obito’s–” but his guilt quickly returned and his gaze fell to the ground again. “I should’ve put you in the hay loft,” he said softly. “I did let him down, Shanan, and I let you down.” His eyes filled with tears. “But most of all, I let Rin down. I didn’t mean to.” He couldn’t keep them from falling as he spoke. “I didn’t want her to be taken. Not by anyone, but especially not by him.” He remembered his father again and how the Prince looked down at him, more annoyed than anything, before walking away and leaving him to die in the street. “If anything happens to her–”

Shanan sat up on her knees and threw her arms around him to pull him into her chest as he put his arms around her and cried. “Kakashi, Rin is the kindest and gentlest person I know, but she’s far more resilient than anyone gives her credit for. I promise you that if anyone can get through this, it’s her.” She said the words not only to convince Kakashi, but to convince herself too. “Please don’t blame yourself,” she whispered as she cradled his head and kissed him softly on his temple.

It had been a few days since Rin was chosen and taken away to Guilder by Hidan and Kakashi knew now, more than ever, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Shanan. He wanted to ask her for her hand, but he knew she’d say yes immediately and he’d never be able to give her all he wanted. He needed to make money for them first, and he’d heard that there was a fortune to be made overseas. But breaking the news to her would be difficult, what with her having just lost her closest friend. He knew it’d break her heart for him to leave now, but he was only doing it for them. For her. And if he didn’t leave soon, then he’d just talk himself out of it.

He’d already figured out when the next ship was leaving and was secretly getting everything ready for him to leave within the next few days. All he had left to do was to tell Shanan and he couldn’t bring himself to do it until the day before he was to leave. He did make sure that they spent as much time as possible together throughout the week.

It was just after breakfast and Kakashi had asked Shanan to clear her day for him so that they could just be together and she happily agreed since she knew he was still struggling with feeling responsible for Rin. So they went walking through the field near the woods together as they held hands and enjoyed the fresh air while trying not to feel too sad.

Kakashi stopped walking, which caused Shanan to stop and look back at him. He did it often, so she wasn’t surprised until she noticed the tears in his eyes.

“What’s the matter?” she asked as she put her hand on his cheek.

“Shanan, I have to tell you something.”

“You’re not still blaming yourself are you?”

“Well yes, but, it’s not that,” he said softly. “Shanan,” he took a deep breath as he turned his eyes up to the sky, “I’m leaving tomorrow morning. I’m going overseas.”

Shanan took a step back from him as tears filled her eyes. “What? You don’t wanna be with me?”

Kakashi took her hands into his and moved closer as he looked at her reassuringly. “No, my love, I’m leaving because I wanna be with you. I just,” he wiped her tears and smiled at her, “I just wanna give you everything and if we get married now, then I’ll never be able to.”

Her whole face started shaking now as she tried to fight the tears. “But Kakashi, you’re everything to me. I don’t need you to give me anything but you. That’s all I want.” 

“Shanan, we can’t survive off of love alone. And I don’t just want to survive with you, I want us to have a comfortable life so that we can thrive off of our love. We can waste our days in bed all day, we can have as many children as we want, or as few, we can sit on the porch staring out at the sunset and reading to one another without ever worrying about our next meal. We just have to get through this short period of not being together so that we can live the rest of our lives only being together,” he said enthusiastically.

It made sense and it sounded nice, but Shanan still didn’t want to go through any amount of time of not being with Kakashi. Not now, not ever.

“Shanan, I’m only doing this for us. Please don’t be upset,” he whispered.

“But you’re leaving and you waited until now to tell me. You’ll be gone before I even get used to the idea,” she said as she sobbed.

“I’m sorry.” He suddenly wished he could change his mind and didn’t know why he couldn’t.

She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest and continued to cry as he held her. “I don’t even have time to be properly upset at you,” she said as she laughed a little.

And for the rest of the day they held hands and hugged and kissed and sat together under their favorite oak tree while Kakashi held her close and committed everything about her to his memory. He wasn’t sure why, but he was overcome with the eerie feeling that they may never see eachother again. 

He sat behind her as she leaned back against him and did all he could to ensure that when he imagined her speaking, that he would hear her exact voice. That he could picture the outline of her face as her mouth moved. That she used her hands to speak as much in his mind as she did in real life. Everything. He knew he’d need to consult her memory to get through being away from her, just like his father always had with his mother. So it needed to be accurate and perfect like her.

And Shanan, too, was doing all that she could to take as much of Kakashi in as she could. The warmth of his body as he enveloped her and made her feel safe. The way his chest moved as he breathed her in and tried to pretend he wasn’t. The way his arms felt around her. She didn’t know how long she’d have to go without being close to him, so she wanted to remember it so well that her dreams felt exactly like the real world. She knew it’d break her heart to wake up and realize that it had been fictitious, but she welcomed the nocturnal trickery.

Once the day had finished, neither of them were ready to say goodnight to the other. But Kakashi assured Shanan that they would have time to say their goodbyes in the morning before he left.

Shanan couldn’t even bring herself to try and sleep. She worried that she wouldn’t wake up in time to see him off and she would never forgive herself if she missed the opportunity to say goodbye and make sure that he knew how much she loved him.

She laid awake for hours wishing that she could kiss him and tell him and express her love and longing now. Wishing she could be close to him and spend the night in his arms. She was already awake. Surely he was having just as much trouble sleeping as she was. 

She finally got up and paced her room a couple of times as she tried to make her mind up. She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince herself to go to his room or go back to bed. But she finally stopped and took a deep breath before making her way to her door and opening it as quietly as she could. 

Her eyes were well adjusted to the dark by now, so she wouldn't need to chance waking anyone with light. 

Kakashi's room was a small separate building that her father had set him up in when he came to work for them. But she wouldn't have to be outside in her nightgown for long as it was just across from the main house. 

Once she’d reached Kakashi's door, she took another deep breath and reconsidered. He probably was sleeping. He had such a long journey ahead of him, how could he not be? 

She opened the door just as quietly as she had opened hers, but it hadn't been quiet enough.

As soon as the door opened, Kakashi sat up in bed to see Shanan slip inside. 

She closed the door without a sound and leaned back against it as she looked at him and he couldn't help but smile at her as she stood there in her nightgown. 

He pulled his blanket back to welcome her and she came right over. 

But she didn't climb in next to him.

She climbed on top of him and immediately started kissing him. 

"Shan–" he tried to say as he pulled his lips away. He didn't want her to do anything she'd regret just because he was leaving. 

She put her finger over his lips and stopped him as she gazed into his eyes longingly. "You don't have to say anything other than, I love you," she said at barely a whisper. 

He reached his hand up and brushed her cheek with his thumb as he smiled again. "My love, saying I love you is the easiest thing I've ever said to you. And yet, it never feels like enough. I love you more than anything in this world. More than there are stars in the sky. If I had to choose between you and the air I breathe, I'd spend the last minute of my life loving you until my lungs gave out. Love you? I do, very much. And so much more," he said as he wiped the tears that had fallen down her cheeks. And then he pulled her in and kissed her passionately as she wrapped her arms around him and pushed him back…

"I should skip this part," Jiraiya said. 

"Is it bad?" Naruto asked him a bit confused. 

"No, no. It doesn't go into detail or anything, but I'd still say it's for grown-ups." 

Naruto raised his eyebrow at him. 

"They just love each other a lot, is all," he said nervously. 

"Oh brother. Fine, just skip to the part where they say goodbye. I have a feeling something is gonna go wrong." 

"Well, aren't you the observant one? Guess we'll see if you're right, won't we?" Jiraiya teased as he skimmed through to find their goodbye. "Ah, there it is. We really aren't skipping much. Just know that they spent the night cuddling and saying I love you a bunch. Ok? Great..."

Shanan helped Kakashi gather the last of his belongings and even slipped in a small note for him to read anytime he really missed her. 

She was really glad that she'd gone to his room and spent the rest of the night with him, but she couldn't help but feel really emotional about him leaving as they stood there and hugged each other and kissed each other outside of the gate. 

"I fear I'll never see you again," she said with tears in her eyes. 

"Of course you will," he said, though he had the same worry. 

"But what if something happens to you?" She was trying not to, but once again the tears fell and she couldn't stop them. 

"Shanan, my love, I will always come for you. No matter what," he said as he tucked her hair behind her ear. 

"How can you be sure?"

Kakashi smirked at her and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Because," he whispered, "this is true love. You think this happens everyday?" he said as he pulled her lips up to his and kissed her deeply. 

"Kakashi didn't reach his destination. His ship was attacked by the Dread Pirate Hashirama, who never left captives alive.

When Shanan got the news that Kakashi was murdered–"

"Murdered by pirates is cool." 

"Oh, Naruto, shut up already. She's very sad about this.

–she locked herself in her room and for days, she neither slept nor ate." 

"I will never love again…"

Chapter Text

Four and a half years had passed and King Madara’s health had been rapidly declining. So Obito was feeling the pressure to choose a new bride, even though all he ever thought about was Rin. He hadn’t seen or heard from either Rin or Hidan since the day Hidan took her away to Guilder, and he hadn’t heard anything of her or their wedding or if they’d had children yet. He didn’t know if she was happy and settled or if she was being hurt. He knew nothing. But he still thought about her constantly. Surely no other woman would live up to her memory.

It was Obito’s mother, Kurenai that seemed to put the most pressure on him to choose someone. She hated seeing him so miserable. And Madara’s health had deteriorated since that very fateful day it seemed. Obito never did forgive him and the guilt seemed to be driving Madara deeper and deeper into madness. Only Kurenai knew of this, though, since Madara talked so much about it in his sleep.

“My dearest, you have to choose someone. I know that you won’t ever love them as much as you did her, but maybe feelings will grow between you and whomever you choose.” Every morning it was the same conversation at the breakfast table. “Afterall, how could they not? You’re amazing and easy to love. I’m sure she wasn’t the only one capable of doing so.”

“She was. And she’s the only one I’ll ever love. So stop trying to convince me that whoever I end up choosing will ever be any more than just my wife and mother of my children.”

“What about her cousin?” Itachi asked him. It was a thought he’d had a lot recently and he knew that Obito had sent her love away from Florin shortly after Rin had been taken. “You used to tell me that she was kind to you.”

Obito thought for a moment. He was surprised that he hadn’t considered Shanan, but Rin wouldn’t like for her to be in a loveless marriage anymore than she’d like him to be. Yes, he’d sent her love away, but it was to punish him, not her. “No, I couldn’t. She’s probably moved on to someone else anyway. Her skill is beauty after all.”

Itachi took a bite of his food and looked over at Obito. “Dear cousin, I’ve already inquired as to her availability. I wouldn’t bring it up if she were already taken. I went to the market place last week and followed her around and asked a few people about her. She’s taken a vow to never love again since that Kakashi died at sea. And my God, she really is striking.”

Obito’s jaw clenched at Kakashi’s name. He hadn’t ever meant for him to be hurt or killed, but he couldn’t say that he was upset about it. He still blamed him fully for Rin being gone now. 

“All I’m saying is, it’s something to consider, cousin.”

“Sure. Let’s do it,” he said almost before he realized why.

Kurenai dropped her spoon as she looked up at him. “Why the sudden change at heart?” she asked curiously.

“Because. Itachi is right. Shanan is the next best thing. And the people will love her,” he said as he stood up. He couldn't tell his mother why he’d suddenly changed his mind. But if he could exact even more revenge on Kakashi, even in death, then he would. And Shanan had always been just as kind to him as Rin had been.

Itachi set his utensil down and stood up from his chair to follow Obito. “I didn’t mean that we had to go now, you know?” Itachi said as he caught up to Obito. 

Obito was walking at a fast pace. Having made his mind up so quickly, he worried he’d think more clearly about it and decide against it. “No, of course you didn’t. But there’s no time like the present. Best to get it over with.” He grabbed Itachi’s cloak and handed it to him, which he then draped over his left side.

“How do you think she’ll take it, being made a princess?” 

“I have no idea. It’s been so long, I barely remember anything about her other than–” he stopped as he remembered their conversations as a group.

“What?” 

“She just… has a bit of a sharp tongue is all,” he said as he started walking again.

“I see. Is she going to be more of a problem than she’s worth then?”

Obito shook his head as he smirked at Itachi. “No, she’s tough. She can handle it.”

As the Takagi's farm came into view, Obito’s enthusiasm quickly faded into dread as his yearning for what he’d once had intensified. This was the exact spot that he’d last seen Rin, and the memory of that day replayed in his mind as the carriage came to a complete stop.

Itachi gave him a moment as Obito sat there with his eyes closed, trying desperately to keep the tears at bay. “Cousin, I know I’ve said it a thousand times before, but I’m sorry I wasn’t here–” 

“Yes, and I need you to stop saying it. Nothing you could’ve done would’ve stopped Hidan from torturing me. It never has,” he reminded him. “I think he kind of liked it when you punished him anyway. It made him feel even more powerful in the end,” he said as he leaned forward and pulled back the curtain. 

“You’re probably right about that. He always was a sick bastard, wasn’t he?”

None of the Takagis were outside at the moment, so Obito closed the curtain and sat back. “I’d rather not think about the twisted things that he’s capable of,” he said as he fought back new tears. He never could think about the things Hidan probably subjected Rin to. Not when there was nothing he could do to stop him, other than starting a war in her name. Which she would more than likely disparage if it meant that anyone was being hurt in her honor. Then again, as Prince, it wasn’t as though he could start a war anyway.

“I’ll go and collect her for you, just wait here,” Itachi said gently as he opened the door. “Hopefully this goes smoothly.”

Obito let out a doubtful sigh.

Itachi knocked on the door of the Takagi’s house and stepped back a few feet as he angled his right side to face forward more. He wasn't the largest man, but knew that he could come across to new people as threatening and intimidating, and he didn’t want to cause alarm to anyone.

A rather large man answered the door and looked Itachi up and down. “Can I help you?”

Itachi bowed slightly to the man and then looked him in the eye. “I’m here on behalf of Prince Obito, he’s–”

“Obito?” Shanan asked as she stepped out from behind Shuji. 

“Yes, m’lady, if you could–”

Shanan peered out just enough to see the carriage and the curtain closing quickly as Obito noticed her looking and ran out to say hello to him. 

Itachi gave Shuji another quick bow and followed her to the carriage.

Obito hadn’t expected her to run out or even be excited to see him, not after he’d attacked Kakashi in front of her. Especially after he’d stood up, thinking he’d somehow broken Kakashi’s brain as he stared off into nothing. Obito had been so frightened that all he could do was look over at Shanan apologetically before running off, still with tears running down his face. He cried the whole way home. Upset about losing Rin. Upset about losing his friends, but even more upset that one of his friends had let him down so much. That he’d betrayed Obito by protecting Shanan more than he’d protected Rin. He still resented Kakashi very much.

“Obito, don’t make me come in there. Come out and say hello.”

He took a deep breath and opened the door to step out. His feet had barely touched the ground before Shanan’s arms were tight around his neck. He could immediately tell that she was crying, so he tentatively put his arms around her as he looked over at Itachi. 

“Why didn't you come and see me?” she said through her tears. She leaned back and looked into his eyes as the past rushed to the front of her mind and broke her heart all over again. “I really did miss you, and after Kakashi left…”

Obito looked at her sympathetically. “I’m sorry, Shanan.”

“It would’ve been nice to have someone to reminisce about Rin with,” she said with a hint of bitterness.

Hearing someone else say her name almost made it to where he couldn’t stop the sudden rush of tears, but he caught them just before they fell. “Shanan, that’s…” He looked away from her and swallowed as he readied himself. “That’s not why I came here. I don’t wish to talk about Rin. Or Kakashi,” he said through gritted teeth. 

“Then why did you come? And why do you say his name with such contempt? You don’t still blame him for–”

“I’m to choose a bride.”

“Because Kakashi’s dead , so you will watch how you speak of him in my presence,” Shanan warned him.

“M’lady,” Itachi said as he stepped forward, as if to caution her tone.

“Stay out of this,” she said boldly. “Do not speak ill of Kakashi, Obito. I won’t have it.”

Obito glared at her with tears behind his eyes. But he refused to let them fall. “Kakashi’s death means nothing to me. Less than nothing. And I’ll say whatever I please about whomever I like,” he said as he stared into her eyes.

“You’re right to use your skill, cousin. She’s being quite difficult and we shouldn't make a scene and upset her family,” Itachi said quietly.

Shanan could see that his eyes looked a bit different and she suddenly felt really odd as he spoke to her.

“Now. I need you to go and get your things, Shanan. I’m choosing you to be my bride and I won’t allow you to be your usual troublesome self and embarrass me.”

Shanan stared through him, barely blinking.

“Say it,” he ordered.

Shanan scowled at him as tears ran down her face. “Say what, you imbecile? I thought you had a skill you were going to use on me for being difficult.”

Itachi moved closer and Shanan put her hand up to stop him in his tracks as she looked back at a now stunned Obito, whose tears had finally escaped his eyes.

“You don’t get to give me orders, Obito. I don’t care if you’re the Prince of Florin. I warned you not to disrespect Kakashi. Not in life, and certainly not in death. My dear Rin would be so ashamed of you today, and I have an inkling that she would be ashamed of who you’ve been since she left.”

“Miss Takagi, please–” Itachi begged. He hated seeing his cousin in pain and her words were serving their intended purpose, which was clearly to cut him deep.

“I’m not finished,” she said through clenched teeth. She and Obito both had a steady stream of tears as she continued.  “I thought we were friends. I’ve never been anything but kind to you because you deserved kindness. I’ve missed three people over the last four and a half years, and you were one of them. But I suddenly find myself wanting nothing to do with you. So if you think I’m going to get into that carriage with you quietly, then please try me. Surely you realize that you dishonor Rin’s memory with such behavior.”

Obito bit his lip as several tears fell from his face and onto the ground. He knew she would be upset, but resisting his skill was not something he had expected. “Then... I guess we do things the hard way,” he said as he clenched his jaw and jerked his head towards Itachi.

Shanan turned to look at Itachi just as he turned towards her house and Obito picked her up by the waist to shove her into the carriage. 

It wasn’t an easy task. Shanan kicked and screamed and hit and bit Obito the entire time.

Once they were both in the carriage she continued to attack him as he tried to calm her down. 

He was finally able to grab ahold of both of her wrists once she’d tired herself out a bit. But she was still seething as he spoke calmly, albeit breathlessly. “Itachi isn’t going to hurt your parents. He’s just placed them in an illusion. They’re most likely sitting quietly at the kitchen table having a conversation about their day while he gets your things together,” he explained.

Shanan spat at him and continued to try and break free.

“I’m not letting you go until you stop,” he tried to convince her.

She glared at him, half amused. “You think I’ll stop?”

“Eventually.”

“Wait until Rin hears about this. She will despise you more than I do.”

He frowned at her as he swallowed to try and bring moisture back to his suddenly dry throat. “Have you heard from her?”

Shanan took advantage of his loosened grip and tore her wrists away from him as she continued to glare at him. 

“Please,” he begged.

She had calmed down enough to stop attacking him or trying to escape, but she refused to give him any information on Rin at this point as she sat back and looked away from him.

After several silent and tense minutes, Itachi climbed into the carriage with a big bag of Shanan’s belongings. “Are you alright, cousin?” he asked as he noticed all of the scratches and bite marks along with all of the bruises that were rapidly forming. 

Shanan sat forward and snatched her things from him as she smirked.

Obito nodded and sat back, exasperated, as he stared up at the ceiling of the carriage.

Itachi looked over at Shanan who was staring back out of her own window as the carriage started for the castle again. “Should I expect this level of insolence for the remainder of your reign then, Princess?” 

“Don’t call me that. And yes, you should. And don’t ever put your hands on me or you’ll end up worse off than him,” she assured him.

Obito closed his eyes and tried to drown out the noise so that he could forget about all that had just happened as he tried to picture Rin’s smiling face. 

But Shanan had been right. 

Rin would be ashamed of him.

And he was ashamed of himself for letting her down yet again.

Chapter Text

It’d been nearly five years since Hidan had really shown Obito who the better man was and taken the girl that he loved from him. 

He didn’t love Rin, not at all in fact, no matter how attractive she was. Though, he had to admit, she was pretty great in bed. And that was honestly his favorite thing about her. 

They still hadn’t been married, but only because every date he’d set, he’d had to push back for one reason or another. His father would live a long life with his skill of slow aging, so it wasn’t as if it were an emergency to be married anyway.

Hidan’s skill was quick healing, so he knew he’d live a pretty long life as well, especially with Jashin on his side. Rin probably wouldn't, but that certainly didn't bother him. She was there in Guilder and sleeping with him and not Obito and that was all he really cared about.

It had been a couple of nights since he’d gone to her room and he’d already decided to go again tonight. 

He had a couple of girls he liked visiting, but Rin was special in that everytime they were together he’d write it down and rate it, to hopefully show Obito one day. He hadn’t seen that pathetic loser since stealing his girl, but that would just mean higher numbers and a deeper wound to open when he did see him.

“Hinata, do you think you could give Rin and I some privacy tonight,” he asked his little sister as they ate their dinner. He was always very polite to Hinata, he didn’t know why, but he always had been and it had always been genuine.

Hinata rolled her eyes at him. “Brother, this is hardly an appropriate meal discussion, but if you wish to kick me out of my own room, yet again, then you know the secret knock,” she said as she glanced over at Rin. They were both pretty used to the routine by now, but it was still rather annoying. Why did they have to share a room anyway? This was a huge castle with an abundance of space, afterall.

“Right, I just thought that maybe you could be out of the room before I showed up this time. It’s always awkward having to see you before–”

“Hidan, you’re the one that asked me to help her to get ready when you come for your visits. With that make-up you always like her to wear. She doesn’t know how to do make-up!” Hinata reminded him.

Hidan stared blankly for a moment as the conversation seemed to materialize in his memory. “Oh, that’s right. I do really like that make-up on her. It’s very nice, but most things are on her,” he said as a matter of fact, though he wasn't sure why.

“That’s all well and good, big brother, just stick to the routine.”

“I agree,” Rin added softly. She tended to keep her head down around Hidan, but since Hinata had come to live in the castle a few weeks after Rin had arrived, there hadn't been any wicked or cruel outbursts from him like there had in the beginning. He'd said some pretty vicious things to her in the beginning…

“I apologize,” Hidan said with a slight nod to Rin.

She saw the nod from the corner of her eye and gave him a slight nod in return. "I forgive you."

“She might not next time,” Hinata warned in a harsh tone. “Alright, well I’m quite full, Rin?” she asked as she stood up.

“Yes, I’m ready for our walk.”

The two walked together after dinner every night. In fact, the pair were never apart from one another. Day or night. They were completely inseparable and it drove Hidan a little insane never being able to see or even speak to Rin without his little sister present. Except for when they slept together and even then, Hinata didn’t permit them much time. So he complimented her various body parts as much as he could during those times as that was all he ever really cared to discuss with her anyway.

It wasn’t too long after returning to their room after their walk when Hidan showed up and knocked their secret knock.

Rin sighed, like she often did and Hinata went to answer the door. “Bit early tonight, Brother, don’t you think?”

Hidan rubbed the back of his neck and rolled his eyes impatiently. “I know. I just couldn’t wait any longer, could you leave now?”

“Did you clear the hall?” 

He looked at her incredulously, he knew her biggest rule by now. She didn’t want any of the guards talking about Rin inappropriately and he’d decided at some point that that was probably for the best, though he couldn’t remember why he’d made that decision. “Gone.”

She raised her eyebrow at him, which only increased his irritability. “All of them?”

He nodded once and then looked past Hinata at Rin who seemed to be waiting for him on her bed. He realized now that she hadn’t had time to put her make-up on yet, so he really was quite early. “Can we be alone now?” he asked Hinata more politely than he had meant to. 

“Let her freshen up first, you can wait in her bed for her.” She turned back to Rin and jerked her head towards the powder room and then let Hidan in as Rin got up. “I’ll give you thirty minutes.”

“Come on, sis, forty-five this time,” he begged her.

“Fine. But not a second longer and remember not to lock the door because it sticks.”

He nodded again and kissed her cheek before closing the door. He did think to lock it, but as soon as he did, his entire body started to tingle until he stopped thinking about it. 

He stripped off all of his clothes as he made his way to Rin’s bed and was completely undressed by the time he was there. “Come on out here, Sweetie,” he said as he put his hands behind his head and waited with the covers completely off of him.

Forty-five minutes to the second had passed and Hidan left the room completely satisfied, elated even, with the same grin he always wore when he left her bed.

All he could think about was how amazing she'd felt and how pretty she had been with her make-up done just the way he liked. 

Rin closed the door behind him and went to lay on Hinata’s bed. “I wish you could just get him to stop coming in here at all,” she said, exasperated. "He snores so loud."

“I know, but that’s too big of a change to make since he thinks about it so much.”

"Such a pig," she said thoughtfully. She could never imagine Obito spending that much time thinking of her in that way. At least not only in that way. He was a man after all. But she knew that Obito considered her in sweet ways, mundane ways, beautiful ways as well. She knew that he thought of her as kindly as she thought of him.

"Not much I can change about that, unfortunately." Hinata told her.

Rin had lived in Guilder for nearly five years now and every other night was nearly the same. 

Hidan would come into the room that she shared with his little sister, Princess Hinata and ask for some privacy so that he could bed Rin.

And every other night, after thirty to forty-five minutes of sleeping in her bed naked and alone, he was sure that he’d succeeded before going back to his own room.

Princess Hinata, as it turned out, had a skill of memory alteration.

In fact, she wasn’t the Princess of Guilder at all, but had previously lived on the streets alone for several years before being sent to the castle to protect Rin from Hidan and all that implied.

Nearly four and a half years ago, Kakashi had gone to the docks to board his ship and saw a young girl using her skill to convince a vendor that she had already paid for the food that he was handing to her. 

“That’s an impressive skill you’ve got,” Kakashi told her as he smiled.

“Do I need to convince you that you didn’t see anything?” she asked him suspiciously.

He put his hands up and shook his head innocently. “Not at all.” He thought for a moment as she took a big bite of her food and sat down. “So, how good is it?”

She looked up from her MLT, confused. “The food?” 

“No, no. The skill.” He sat next to her as he looked up at his ship and the men boarding it. “Could you, say, convince an entire kingdom that you were– oh, I dunno, their Princess?”

She laughed as she took another bite and chewed thoughtfully. “Actually,” she said with her mouth still half full, “I definitely could." She swallowed down her bite before continuing. "I could stand up now and alter everyone here’s memories and make them think that they were once mermaids that had lost their fins and the ability to breathe underwater. They’d walk around for the rest of their lives talking about it. ‘Shame we can’t live in the ocean anymore, isn’t it?’ ‘Yes, a real shame.’ ‘Alright, well good day to you.’ ‘Yes, very good day. Tell your wife I said hello.’ Which, don’t go two villages north, because that’s exactly what everyone there thinks," she said with a wide smile. "It was a fun prank to pull on them after I saw them mistreating a small homeless boy. I did set him up with a nice family in the next village over, though. He was happy."

“Wow. That’s... truly amazing,” he said with a laugh. “So then, how ‘bout it?”

“How ‘bout what?” she asked with another mouth full of food.

“Well, I have a dear friend that was taken to Guilder last week to be the Princess Bride to Hidan. The Prince of Guilder is an awful person–”

“Oh, I’ve heard stories,” she interrupted.

“Right. Well, my friend is very kind and sweet. She was meant to be the Princess Bride here to our own Prince Obito, but, as I said, that Prince Hidan is a piece of work.”

She continued to eat quietly as she tried to put it all together. Once she finished her food she wiped her mouth off with her sleeve and looked back at Kakashi. “So what you’re asking me, is if I would be willing to convince my way into the Guilder castle and become the heir Princess and protect your sweet friend while I’m at it? Is that the basic premise?”

Kakashi looked at her nervously and nodded. “That’s exactly it.”

“And what is your kind little friend's name?”

“Rin. Though, I guess technically, it’s Princess Rin, now.”

She thought for a few more minutes as she tried to figure out the exact steps she’d need to take. Although, if she ever did get caught, she could easily get out of it. It was just a hassle to have to alter the same memories over and over again. “Alright. I’ll do it. It’ll be easy enough.” She laughed at herself as she stood up. “I honestly can’t believe I've never thought of turning myself into royalty.” She held her hand out to him. “And who do I owe this brilliant idea to?”

Kakashi stood up and shook her hand. “I’m Kakashi Hatake.”

“Hinata Hyuga. And don’t worry, Kakashi. Your friend Rin will be safe from Prince Hidan. The Princess of Guilder will make sure of that,” she promised with a chuckle.

And so she had. After she arrived in Guilder on the biggest fishing boat she could hijack, she and Rin had become fast friends. Conniving her way into the castle and into the royal family was easy. All she had to do was convince the King to make an announcement to the people with mandatory attendance and the rest was history. And although protecting her from Hidan's near constant advances was quite the chore, she was more than happy to do it if it meant a full belly and warm bed each night. Not to mention the upgrade in clothing. Rags to riches and all that.

And it didn't hurt that Rin truly was so lovely and grateful for the help after her first awful and frightening week alone.

Rin could never thank Kakashi enough for sending Hinata to protect her, but was glad that, at the very least, he and Shanan still had one another. The first week in Guilder had been rough, but Hidan had at least given her some space at the request of his father. 

Shanan was the only one that she'd been able to write to a few times. She knew Shanan would have no way to respond, but she didn't ever want her to worry. Hopefully she thanked Kakashi many times for Rin like she asked her to. And hopefully she told Obito how much she'd always love him and that she was safe.

She thought about Obito constantly. She could picture the shattered look on his face so clearly as he fell to his knees. How helpless and heartbroken he'd looked. She despised Hidan so much for doing that to him and she wondered if he'd ever fallen in love with and picked anyone else to be his bride. 

She kind of hoped that he had and that they were making each other happy…

Chapter Text

It’d been about two months since Shanan had moved into the castle and she still hadn’t forgiven Obito for being such an insensitive bastard about everything. And that was putting it mildly. Obito hadn’t meant for them to start off on such a sour note, but since she wasn’t Rin and had been with Kakashi, he couldn’t help but feel resentful of her. Her mere presence was a constant reminder of Rin and why Rin wasn’t the one that was there with him now. 

Even when she tried to be nice. Even when she tried not to hate him. Even when she was in a perfectly good mood, he couldn’t help but bring her down with him.

Shanan retired to her room early after dinner one night after he’d completely ruined her cheerful mood as she carried on a pleasant conversation with Itachi.

“You know, cousin, your behavior reminds me of Hidan these days,” Itachi said as he stood up from the table.

“What did you say?” Obito asked him as he glared over at him. 

Itachi’s shoulders slumped as he looked down at him apologetically. “I… I don’t mean to upset you, I’ve just noticed that you seem to find pleasure in hurting Shanan. That’s all.”

Obito continued to stare up at Itachi with the same wounded expression on his face. Surely he hadn’t been that bad. “I’m–”

Itachi sat back down and took a deep breath. “My dear cousin, I know that it’s been quite the struggle for you. You despise the man that she was once promised to and you feel as though you’re betraying Rin by pretending to move on from her. But Kakashi is dead and Rin is promised to another.” He could see that Obito was starting to tear up as he spoke. “You can’t go on hating a dead man. I don’t know what happened that day, but surely–”

“Surely what?” Obito’s face hardened again. “Surely he didn’t betray me? At the very least, surely he didn’t fail me? Fail Rin? Because of him, Rin and I have undoubtedly been sentenced to a life of misery and pining.”

“I can’t imagine that the man didn’t try his best is all I’m saying. But anyway, as I already said, you can’t live the rest of your life hating a dead man,” he said, almost sounding as though he were begging Obito to relent. “And Rin. I never had the pleasure, but from what I’ve heard from you over the last five years, and all that Shanan has told me about her just in these two months, she would be very hurt to learn how you’ve been towards her cousin.”

Obito’s jaw tightened as he stared at the table and considered Itachi’s words. 

“I mean no disrespect–”

“You seem fond of her.”

Itachi’s breath caught slightly as he was momentarily taken aback. 

“Is there anything going on between the two of you?” Obito asked him sharply. “Or is it just feelings on your part?” 

“Cousin, I–”

“Because I could have your head–”

Itachi gave an exasperated sigh as he rubbed his temple. “Cousin. There is nothing going on between Shanan and I. It is true that we’ve become close friends. But…”

“So then you don’t have any romantic feelings for her?” Obito asked with a raised brow.

Itachi seemed to be searching his own mind for the right words or maybe even trying to decide how he truly felt, either way, whatever he’d been trying to figure out, made him look back at Obito with a pained expression. “I… yes. I do. But–”

“Then why should I listen to you? You've betrayed me too, then.” Obito said bitterly.

“Not at all. If you would let me finish any of my thoughts…”

Obito continued to look at Itachi impatiently. “Go on then. Finish them.”

Itachi took a deep breath as he prepared his speech. “Yes, I… could see myself with her. However, you are and have always been my first priority. I will always live to serve and protect you. I made that vow to you long ago and I intend to keep it. Besides, she’s still keeping her vow to never love again. I can… love… her from afar, I’m alright with that. She doesn’t return my feelings, I can tell. And she loves your parents very much. She would love you too if either of you could forgive one another–” 

Obito started to interrupt and Itachi held his hand up. 

“Please let me finish.” 

Obito clenched his jaw shut again and continued to listen. 

“You’re both more alike than either of you care to realize. Both of you are pigheaded and hold a hell of a grudge. You could do so many great things if you worked together. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but your father has been doing a lot better since she arrived. She’s been a light in his life and has truly helped him. She’s so kind and sweet to him. But you haven’t even noticed. He would be devastated to know that you delight in upsetting her so much. So yes, you’ve been much like Hidan these last few months. He took senseless pleasure in bringing you down to his level of sadness, and now you’ve become the bully.” He looked at Obito harshly as he stood back up. “Again, I’ll always follow you and protect you. But I wanted to let you know that your behavior has been abhorrent even to me, and it truly pains me to have to tell you this. I hope that once your anger with me subsides then you can find the truth in my words and that it resonates.” He put his hand in his pocket as he started for the door.

“What do you wish me to do, cousin? She hates me anyway,” Obito said shakily without turning his head.

Itachi stopped in the doorway and looked back. “A grand gesture might help. Do something to make up for it and be genuine about it. She’s a lovely girl. Really, she is. Even with her sharp tongue and her snarky wit. You’ll think of something,” he said as he finally left the room.

Obito sat and stared thoughtfully at the table until his anger melted into regret. He never meant to bully her. In fact, once they’d arrived at the castle he considered really trying to move on. But as beautiful as she was, he just couldn’t stand to look at her and he took his pain out on her. He regretted very much dragging her to the castle and into his sad, pathetic life.

A few weeks had passed since Itachi had pointed Obito’s behavior out to him and Obito had made attempts at being better. It was still very difficult, and he mostly just held his tongue around her instead of saying anything, but it was an improvement.

He’d finally decided to take her on a little date so that they could hopefully talk and possibly move on from the day that he’d showed up to her farm. It wasn’t as if he could take her into the village market, but he’d spent the last few weeks setting things up on the castle grounds so that they could be alone, but it could also feel like a date that she would enjoy.

The day had finally come and he realized that he hadn't ever asked her, and that she might say no, but he was prepared just in case.

They were all having breakfast together and though he hadn’t said more than two words to her in the last few weeks, he decided that if he didn’t bring it up now, then he never would. He took a quick sip of water and cleared his throat loudly.

“Shanan, I was wondering if you would accompany me on a… well… a date, this evening?” he asked, nervously.

Shanan stopped mid-drink and swallowed her water down slowly as she absorbed his words. 

“Of course, you don’t have to, I understand I haven’t been pleasant to be around, but–” he glanced over at Itachi as he gave him an encouraging nod, “I’d like to be better.”

Shanan also looked over at Itachi, who also gave her an encouraging nod, though maybe, slightly less so. 

“Sure, Obito. I’m sure I could do better as well.” She was certainly hesitant and she didn't really think she needed to improve upon anything on her part, but it felt polite to say in the moment.

Obito nodded once and then went back to his food and the rest of the meal was spent in an awkward silence as everyone ate quietly and secretly worried about their date.

Once evening had arrived, Shanan was surprised that Itachi had been the one to knock on her door instead of Obito.

“Ah, couldn’t be bothered to escort me himself?” she asked, a bit annoyed.

Itachi chuckled as he held his arm out. “Cut him a bit of slack, Princess– I mean, Shanan.” He knew she hated being called Princess because she didn’t feel like she was one and probably never would.

She took his arm and sighed heavily as they started walking. “I’ll try. He did seem genuine earlier.”

“He really does want to do better. He’s capable. And I swear he’s a good man. He was worthy of Rin and he is worthy of you,” he assured her.

“Any idea what he has planned for this evening?” she asked, trying to shake the feeling of dread that had been building up all day.

“Not at all, but he seemed pleased with himself. So I remain hopeful. I think the two of you will come away from this as friends, if not more.”

Shanan raised her eyebrow at him and pulled his arm closer as they walked. She really had grown fond of Itachi since arriving at the castle. She despised him all of two minutes, but he apologized to her profusely for placing her parents in an illusion and assured her that they weren’t anything but happy for her because of it. No harm had come to them and he had never been anything but kind to her.

 Shanan and Itachi arrived in the courtyard and Obito had set up a really nice dinner and had even made the effort to dress up. 

“Wow,” she said as she looked around and took everything in. There were torches and candles lit and several bouquets of different types of flowers surrounding a small table for two. It really did look quite romantic.

“You look surprised,” Itachi whispered.

“Well, of course! Seems like a lot of effort from someone that’s done nothing but fight with me since I got here,” she pointed out.

Itachi nodded gently as they continued to walk. “Well, he really does hope that the two of you can move on from that and put it behind you,” he said with a soft smile.

Shanan smiled back at him and then looked at Obito as he stood waiting patiently for them to stop in front of him. “I’ll try. I do miss his loveliness. Surely, we can’t be too far gone from that.”

“No. Surely not,” he said hopefully as they reached Obito. 

Shanan let go of Itachi’s arm and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for walking with me.”

He bowed his head politely to her and then turned to Obito and gave him a look that said, Good luck, as he gave him a slight nod. “I’ll leave you to it, cousin. Do enjoy yourselves,” he said as he looked quickly at both of them and then took his leave.

Obito held his arm out for Shanan to take and she did so, even though she still felt a bit skeptical.

“I… appreciate you agreeing to spend time with me. I know I haven’t made any of this easy for you and I’d like to apologize for that.”

Shanan looked over at him sympathetically, already attempting to fight back tears, she really had missed her dear friend.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a jerk, I should’ve been so much kinder to you, and not just for Rin, but because you were my friend too.”

She stopped and nodded gently as a tear fell. “Thank you, Obito. Your words truly mean a lot to me.” His apology felt genuine and she couldn't help herself as she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. “I’ve missed the shy prince in the carriage.”

He finally hugged her back, though he was still hesitant to do so.

“I even get a hug back, there may be hope for us yet,” she said with a slight chuckle. 

Obito smiled softly as he let go of her and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Uh, let me get your chair for you.”

They sat and ate and had a lovely chat as they caught up on the last almost five years. And then when they were done, Obito asked her to walk with him through the castle gardens as he’d heard from Itachi that she was quite fond of them and he didn’t think that she’d had the chance to see them at sunset, which she hadn’t. He even held her hand a bit awkwardly as they walked, and pointed out his favorite purple flower that he said reminded him of Rin for some reason, though he wasn’t sure why. 

“She would love it. She always wanted to plant a small shade garden next to the barn. She loved flowers, especially the purple ones,” she informed him.

Obito smiled softly at the new knowledge. “Then I’ll have the gardeners plant more.” He looked over at Shanan, who he suddenly realized resembled Rin in this low light, and turned away quickly. “Which ones are your favorite?” 

She pulled him by the hand to the part of the garden that she always lingered at the longest. And when they arrived, she stared at the flowers thoughtfully. 

“White lilies, of course.” Obito said rather plainly. He still wasn’t ready to talk about Kakashi warmly and was relieved that she didn’t say more about the flowers. She simply stared at them for a few minutes before looking back at Obito with misty eyes. 

“We should, um–”

Obito wasn’t exactly sure what to do, so he channeled all of the kindness Rin had ever shown him and hugged her tight as she sobbed into his shoulder. As he held her, he couldn’t help but notice how her hair smelled of gardenias and how it reminded him of Rin since her hair had always smelled so lovely. He tried to push the thought out of his mind, but then thought that maybe he shouldn’t. Maybe he could trick himself into thinking she was Rin somehow. Would that be so wrong?

She pulled away and wiped her tears as she smiled up at him and noticed that he was nearly the same height and build as Kakashi. “Thank you, Obito. I think I needed that.”

He nodded gently, and looked away again. The family resemblance seemed to just be toying with his mind now. “Would you like some tea?” he asked softly.

“I would,” she said as she began walking, but he swiftly grabbed her hand and stood still, stopping her from going very far. She looked back and frowned as she remembered how Kakashi used to do that to her often.

“Shanan,” Obito said softly as she quickly let go of his hand. The small reminder of Kakashi stung more than she thought it would.

“What is it?” she asked, a bit worried.

He closed his eyes as he steeled himself. She wasn’t Rin, but if he could only charm himself into believing she was sometimes, then perhaps things could work out between them. He looked at her as affectionately as he thought he’d look at Rin and slowly walked up to her with a hand in his pocket, which, again, reminded her of Kakashi. He slid his free hand around her waist and placed the other on her cheek, brushing it with his thumb as he stared into her eyes. Every part of him screaming at him that she wasn’t Rin. But he had to try for the sake of Florin. Or for himself, he wasn’t sure anymore.

“Obito…” she whispered as she stared at him anxiously. She hadn’t been touched like this in nearly five years, but this was Obito. This was Rin’s love, not hers, not Kakashi. But maybe… maybe she was supposed to move on. Maybe her vow was foolish. Never is so infinite. Or maybe she was just caught up in the evening. Her insides were churning and she wasn’t sure why or what she was supposed to do now.

He slid his fingers into her hair and paused slightly, before finally leaning in to kiss her softly. How could he have ever been so vile towards her? She was beautiful and lovely and genuine. Not Rin, but absolutely the next best thing.

Shanan closed her eyes and put her arms around him, pulling his lips closer to hers. It wasn’t the most passionate kiss she’d ever had, but still, how had she hated him just a few hours ago? She'd spent the last several years wishing he'd come and visit her so that they could bond and be sad together, and she was really happy when he finally did show up. She didn't regret fighting with him, but she probably could've been warmer since coming to live with him. Maybe she could love again. Kakashi would forgive her. And Rin would approve if Obito was truly happy.

They stood there kissing each other deeply, trying their best to feel what they thought they should, until Shanan opened her eyes slightly and caught a glimpse of the lilies again. That reminder of Kakashi making her heart nearly skip a beat, as she pulled her lips away abruptly. 

Obito looked at her, concerned. "Is everything alright?" he asked her softly. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling at the moment, but he didn’t mind figuring it out with her just a bit longer.

She looked back and forth between him and the flowers as she teared up.

"Shanan–?"

"No." She whispered.

Obito's expression changed from concern to confusion. "No?"

She shook her head at him as tears poured down her face. "We can't do this, Obito." 

Her lips started quivering as he held her face in his hands and continued to look confused. Their date had gone well and the kiss felt nice. 

"But, why? Shanan, I think we could–"

"Because. I still love Kakashi so much and I know you love Rin–"

Obito's face hardened. "Kakashi? Still?" He couldn’t help but feel angry now, his eyes thought to tear up, but he fought it off. "You choose to pine over a dead man instead of moving on and acknowledging that you could ever have feelings for me?" he asked her bitterly.

Shanan's expression matched Obito’s now. "I can give my love to whomever I choose. Dead or alive."

Obito let go of her and shoved his hand back into his pocket, rolling his eyes at her now. "You're a silly girl, you know that?"

"So what if I am? If being faithful makes me silly, then I'm alright with that."

Obitos jaw clenched as he continued seething. Even in death Kakashi had found a way to ruin things. "Do you really think Kakashi would've been so faithful? Because I think he would've let you down eventually, just like he let me and Rin down. You should thank me for sending him away that day," he said coldly.

Shanan's face went blank and turned nearly white at his words. "You– You what?" she asked sadly.

He looked at her with as much contempt as he could and kept his voice even. "I charmed him into leaving and told him to never return. I didn't expect him to be murdered, but I can't say I'm upset about it. He lost me my love."

For once, Shanan had no words as tears fell freely down her face and over her lips before falling to the ground. 

Obito had expected her to fly at him or scream at him. He hadn't expected her to be stunned into silence. He didn't know what to do or what to say and he suddenly felt guilty. He knew he shouldn't have told her. He may have still been able to win her over if he hadn't. But now there was zero chance of that happening. Though maybe he was glad that Kakashi was keeping her from moving on. He could continue to blame him for everything and more now. 

She continued to stand still and stare through him as she cried helplessly. How could he have sent Kakashi away from her into the unknown like that? Kakashi tried to hide Rin. Kakashi tried to help Obito. Why couldn't Obito see that?

He could no longer fight back the tears and he didn't even bother wiping them away as he walked off silently towards the castle, leaving Shanan all alone. 

She didn't move an inch and she wasn't sure how long she had been standing there before Itachi showed up to help her to her room. And whatever he knew about the situation, he didn't say anything about it. He didn't apologize on Obito’s behalf. He just made sure that she stayed upright as he guided her through the castle. 

"I'll send a maid to help you change for bed," he said softly. He helped her to sit on her bed and then went to the door before stopping. "I'll bring your breakfast up in the morning and we can eat in here. You can talk to me if you like, but you don't have to. I'll see you in the morning. Good night, Shanan." 

She didn't really notice anyone helping her change her clothes and she didn't really notice whether or not she was lying down. 

All she knew was that not only had Obito sent Kakashi away, but he was the reason that Kakashi was dead. 

And not only had she kissed him, but she had also nearly opened her heart to loving him. 

So much for being faithful…

Chapter Text

A few more months had passed and Shanan and Obito were still pretty cold to one another. 

Shanan hated that she had kissed the man that had gotten Kakashi killed, and Obito was resentful of the fact that she continued to choose Kakashi over him when he was living and breathing. At least, that was what he told himself.

Shanan often ate in her room either alone or with Itachi when he decided to keep her company over Obito and the pair had gotten quite close. She knew that she could confide in Itachi almost the way that she did with Rin and he had told her all about his past and his father and about the Uchiha family. She honestly loved hearing his stories and about all of his adventures as a fighter and Obito’s personal bodyguard. 

And he was just glad to spend time with her.

However, after so many months of Shanan and Obito’s obvious loathing of one another and Shanan and Itachi’s clear fondness of  each other, rumors spread quickly throughout the castle and word had finally gotten back to Obito about it all.

He grabbed the first guard he’d seen and charmed him into telling him everything.

“Itachi and the Princess are having an affair and everyone thinks you weak to let another man come in and take what belongs to you. Everyone figures that it’s probably because of your scars, but she seems so lovely, they aren’t sure. After all, Itachi–”

“My scars?” Obito asked the man sharply. “Everybody assumes that they can speak freely of my scars and that they’re the reason the Princess doesn’t love me?”

The guard’s worried gaze fell to the ground. “Y-yes, Your Highness, it’s just that, well, they cover half of your body, how can anyone so beautiful–”

Obito groaned impatiently. “How could anyone as beautiful as Princess Shanan love someone as ghastly as I? Is that what you all think?”

The guard glanced up at Obito quickly before looking back at the ground and nodding. Dear God, he couldn't stop himself from spewing words he knew he shouldn't say.

“Leave. Forget about this conversation.” Obito said as he dismissed the man.

He leaned back in his chair and stared up at the vastly high ceilings. They had always calmed him as they were covered in angelic paintings. 

At one end it was painted to look like the morning and as it progressed to the other end it faded into nighttime. 

“Cousin?” Itachi whispered softly so as not to startle him.

“What do you want, Itachi? Here to talk about the rumors?”

“So you’ve heard about them?” Itachi said as he sat in the throne seat next to Obito.

Obito’s eyes fell slowly to look at Itachi and then back up at the ceiling. “Of course. People speak too loudly, and too boldly,” he added with a hint of bitterness. “You do realize that the reason these rumors spread is because of you spending every other evening with Shanan alone in her room, right?”

Itachi gave an exasperated sigh and joined him in staring up at the ceiling. “Naturally. I can’t help that I enjoy her company so much. And I can’t help that I’m glad she enjoys mine,” he said with a hopeful smile.

“Itachi…” Obito closed his eyes and sighed. “I can’t just allow you two to develop feelings for one another. I’ve already announced that she and I are getting married. Think of how that would look if you married her instead. I would lose favor amongst the people, and I can’t have that.”

Itachi continued to stare at the ceiling. Of course he knew that he and Shanan couldn’t ever be together, though the reality of that was becoming harder to face as time progressed. Sure she may never love him the way she had Kakashi, but he would love her enough to make up for it and they were good enough friends that they could grow old together happily. 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you to spend time with her alone anymore.”

Itachi wanted to protest, he even opened his mouth to do so, but he knew that Obito was right. He’d created this mess, and Obito would lose favor if people thought of him as a pushover.

“And what’s worse is that I’m going to have to spend time with her alone now,” Obito said, completely aggravated as he stood up.

Itachi eyed him suspiciously. "And what does that mean?" 

Obito looked down at him plainly. “What it means, dear cousin, is that I have to create new rumors. It means that I have to show this castle who the future king is. And it means that Shanan and I are going to be spending a lot of miserable time alone together.”

“But… Cousin, couldn’t I just put all of the guards under an illusion and make them think that I’m you and continue sharing meal times with her? The two of you don’t have to be miserable.”

Obito smirked and put his hands in his pockets. “Yes, Itachi, you could do that,” he said as he turned to walk away.

Itachi’s jaw tightened. “But you’d rather torment her instead, even if it means tormenting yourself,” he said after his cousin.

Obito said nothing further as he exited the throne room.

Itachi sat quietly as he considered Obito’s plan. And he knew that, no matter what, Shanan would hate it. 

It was hard to believe that the two of them had nearly decided to give their hearts to one another and that they had actually kissed. He’d even heard from both of them that the kiss was quite lovely. But he would be lying if he said that at least a small part of him wasn’t a bit relieved that their date had gone awry. He was upset for Shanan and what Obito had said to her, but their kiss did make him pretty jealous. 

Obito was his cousin and best friend, though, and he knew he should only want the best for him. And Shanan was that and more. 

He didn’t like it at all, but he knew that he had overstepped and that Obito was right to keep them apart. 

He sighed heavily as he stood up and left the throne room through a different door. He was really going to miss spending time with Shanan and hoped that she would miss it as much as he would.

Obito wandered through the halls with every intention of going to his room, but he soon found himself standing outside of Shanan’s bedroom door. He didn’t know why he’d gone there, he still hadn’t made his mind up about what spending time with her meant. 

He looked at the guards posted at either end of the hallway and leaned against the wall opposite of her room with his hands still in his pockets. Were these really the people he felt the need to impress? 

No. He quickly decided. Not impress. But he couldn’t have them speaking so freely of him as if he were weak. He’d charmed all of them years ago to no longer mention the fact that they thought his scars were grotesque and hideous. 

But they’d clearly found a loophole. They didn’t think ill of his scars, no, Shanan did. They could say that as much as they liked, despite his old charm. He knew his charms didn’t wear off, but he’d never thought to change the wording in such a way to keep them from saying such things. 

He stood up straight and ran his fingers through his hair as he thought. He knew what he needed to do, even though he hated it. He could allow Itachi to place the guards under an illusion, but that could easily spiral out of control and he really couldn’t allow the two of them to fall for one another, if Shanan hadn’t already. He knew Itachi was already pretty far gone. 

He started off towards his room as he continued to think. 

He couldn’t lose Itachi. Aside from Rin, he never cared about anyone as much as he cared about Itachi. They’d been close ever since he came to live in the castle when he was ten years old and he’d vowed to protect him a year or so later and dedicated most of his free time to training in order to do so. No, he couldn’t lose Itachi…

Later that evening, Shanan had been a bit sad that Itachi didn’t at least bring her her dinner and say hello to her like he usually did. It had been awhile since they’d gone a full day without seeing one another and she realized now how much she really depended on having him around, at least a little. 

But tonight the only person she got to see was a maid and the maid didn’t stick around to chat with her or tell her where Itachi was. Not when she brought Shanan her food and not when she came to collect her dishes when she was finished.

It was about an hour after the maid had left for the second time that there was a knock on Shanan’s door. She couldn’t help but feel kind of relieved as she jumped up to answer the door, but her cheeriness was quickly replaced with disappointment as soon as she opened the door and saw Obito standing there instead of Itachi.

Obito’s expression was that of indifference as he walked past her without asking to be invited in. “I can see you were expecting someone else,” he said as a matter of fact.

Shanan stayed by her door and held it open as she glared over at him, already making himself comfortable on her bed. “What do you think you’re doing? Leave, now.”

Obito reached behind him to fluff a pillow before settling back and looking over at her. “Just close the door and I’ll explain to you why I’m here.”

Shanan took a deep breath and readied herself for the aggravation she knew she was about to deal with and closed the door. 

“Come and sit, why don’t you?” he said lazily as he patted the spot next to him.

“I’ll stand. Now get on with it.”

Obito continued to wear his stoic expression as he pressed his lips together. “Fine.”

Shanan stood at the side of the bed and folded her arms impatiently. “Just tell me why you’re here already so that you can stop being here already.”

Obito clicked his tongue disapprovingly at her and put his arms behind his head. “So callous,” he teased as he shifted his gaze to the ceiling.. “ I have to silence a series of rumors that have been spreading throughout the castle and no doubt the kingdom at this point, as guardsmen do have homes and lives they return to after their shifts.” He looked back at her with his brow raised. “I’m sure you’ve heard these rumors?”

Shanan was thoroughly confused as she didn’t leave her room much these days and she wore it all over her face enough so that she didn’t have to respond to him.

He looked back up at the ceiling. “Ah well, the guards have noticed the amount of alone time that you and my dear cousin have been spending together and believe me to be the kind of man that allows his woman to lay with other men.” His eyes alone shifted to look at her plainly. “Clearly, I can’t just allow these rumors to spread any further.”

Understanding dawned on Shanan’s face as she suddenly looked half amused and half disgusted. “So your solution is to spend some time in here in order to make everyone think we’re–”

“Correct.”

“And I’m to just go along with this?” she asked incredulously. “What’s to keep me from poking my head out and telling the first guard I see that nothing is going on in here.”

Obito laughed as he tilted his head to the side. “If you wanna do that, then by all means. Let the guards continue to think that you’re cheating on me with Itachi instead. Sure it looks bad on me, but it looks just as bad on the two of you,” he said confidently.

Shanan’s jaw tightened and she narrowed her eyes at Obito.

“Don’t blame me for this, Princess. After all, it was you and Itachi that put us in this unfortunate position.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“But you are, Shanan, you’re my Princess. My bride-to-be. I don’t know why you haven’t accepted it at this point. It’s happening and there’s nothing that will change that.”

Shanan sat on the chair in front of her vanity and turned her back to him, though she couldn’t block her view of him in her mirror, so it didn’t make much of a difference.

“Tell me,” he pressed, “do you have feelings for Itachi?”

Shanan scowled slightly at his words, though she suddenly wasn’t sure how to answer. She couldn’t say yes , but no didn’t feel like the appropriate response either.

Obito sat up a bit as he looked at her, positively delighted. “So, you’ve finally moved on from Kakashi, have you? I couldn’t get you to do it, but Itachi could, hmm?”

Shanan turned around to look at him with tears in her eyes. 

Too far. He knew it would be, but he really had trouble stopping himself. He gave an indifferent shrug and sat back again. Though, honestly, he did feel a bit guilty for being so abrasive towards her about Kakashi. Or was he more upset with Itachi right now? He wasn’t sure. But they spent the next hour or so in complete silence until he finally decided that enough time had passed for their meeting to be believable.

He stopped at the door and looked back at Shanan, who was avoiding eye contact with him as she continued seething silently. “I’ll be back at the same time tomorrow. And every night after that. At least for a while,” he told her almost with a hint of remorse in his voice. “And I wouldn’t expect to see Itachi for some time, I’ve forbidden him from visiting you.” And with that he opened the door and left the room. 

Shanan stared at the door after him and couldn’t help but cry angry tears. Itachi was her only friend and had been her only friend since Rin and Kakashi left her almost five years ago. 

Now all she felt was isolated, alone and miserable.

Chapter Text

The next three weeks were really tense as Obito showed up every evening to spend time alone with Shanan in her room. The new rumors didn’t seem to move as fast, as the guards didn’t seem to take as much pleasure in discussing a man and his future bride being in bed together as much as they enjoyed discussing the scandalous alternative. 

Obito had even stayed in her room all night a few times to really get people talking, but the news of them didn’t seem to spread much at all. 

She'd mostly stayed in her room previously to avoid Obito, but now that he was visiting her regularly, she ventured out again and had meals in the dining room with the King and Queen, whose company she always enjoyed. 

But in all this time. She hadn't even run into Itachi. 

She missed his stories. She missed their conversations. She missed his face. 

Itachi had missed seeing Shanan too.

He’d been forbidden from eating in the dining room at the usual times and was told to use secret passageways in order to completely avoid running into her, though he hated doing it and absolutely would’ve preferred to run into her at least sometimes. As far as going to her room, he still did, but only after everyone else had gone to bed and he only sat outside of her door and pretended that maybe she was sitting just on the other side and missing him too.

Which, sometimes, she was.

It wasn’t until about four weeks into Obito’s attempt at steering everyone’s conversations to what he wanted it to be that he started to feel pretty defeated. 

Itachi had just stepped out from one of the secret passageways and ran into Obito on a set of stairs with his head against the wall, looking as forlorn as ever. 

“Cousin,” he said a bit surprised. “Is everything alright?” 

Obito barely looked up at him as he traced a groove in the stone wall. 

“Obito. Did something happen?” Itachi asked him again, a bit more worried this time.

Obito sighed as his hand dropped down. “I just miss her,” he said pathetically.

Itachi went and sat next to him and patted him on the back. “I know what you mean. Or well…”

Obito glanced over at him slightly. A month ago, he would’ve been agitated about Itachi thinking he understood, but he couldn’t pretend as though he weren’t causing his own cousin comparable heartache, even if it hadn’t been for nearly as long. “No, I know. I’ve been a monster. I shouldn’t have kept the two of you apart.”

“You were right to.”

“I wasn’t, Itachi. I should’ve just let the two of you be happy and figured something else out instead. It wouldn’t have been as bad as I made it out to be. Not if I stood in front of everyone and told them that I made a choice and am choosing a different bride. I could’ve thought of something. I wanted to be a jerk.”

Itachi looked over at him, surprised at his words. “Let’s not be too hasty, cousin, she… might not even share the same feelings,” he said timidly.

Obito continued to look sad and broken as he shook his head. “No, she does. She may not even realize it yet, but she does. She misses you very much.”

Itachi couldn’t help but smile softly to himself as he thought about how much he cared for her and if she cared about him even half as much, then he’d be satisfied.

“You should go and see her,” Obito said as he teared up. “She’d like that a lot and I know you would too.”

“Obito.”

Tears were streaming down Obito’s face as he continued to stare off, head still against the wall, arms across his knees. “Really, Itachi. I’m sorry I’ve taken my misery out on either of you. Just go. And be happy. And maybe forgive me? You shouldn’t have to constantly worry about the girl you love the way that I do. I wonder if she’s happy. I wonder if she’s safe. I wonder if she’s even still just… Rin. I don’t know the answer to any of those questions and I hate it.”

Itachi exhaled softly. “Dear cousin, you know... I meant to tell you this awhile back, but the time was never right.” He put his hand on Obito’s shoulder and smiled. “Rin. She and Hidan haven’t married yet. In fact, she’s never even been touched by him.”

Obito sat up and looked at Itachi hopefully. “What?”

Itachi nodded at him. “This is according to the last letter that Shanan received from her. It’s a long story, but she has a friend that has been helping her all this time.”

Obito was suddenly eager to hear as many details about it as Itachi could tell him. “A friend, who?”

Itachi looked at him, confused. “Well, did you know there was a Princess of Guilder?”

“There's no Princess of Guilder,” Obito said, confused.

Itachi shrugged. “That’s what the letter to Shanan said.”

Obito thought for a moment and then frowned at Itachi. “Why are you just now telling me this?”

Itachi sighed as his shoulders sagged. “I was about to when you forbade me from seeing her anymore. I’d only found out the night before and was coming to tell you, but then you were upset and the subject had become the rumors and I never got the chance.”

Obito’s expression didn’t change, though he seemed to be deep in thought now as he stared at the ground. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Itachi told him.

“No,” Obito said dismissively. “It’s… it’s alright. Go and…” he trailed off.

“Cousin?” Itachi said as he tried to get Obito’s attention.

Obito’s eyes quickly shifted to Itachi. “Sorry. Go. Spend some time with Shanan. I mean it. Just… use your skill on the guards until we can figure things out,” he said as he settled back into his thoughts.

Itachi stood up and felt lighter than he had in awhile. “I’ll see you soon, cousin. Thank you.”

Obito gave a slight nod as he continued to stare off, deep in thought.

Itachi was feeling extremely elated as he made his way back to his room. He wasn’t sure if Obito was right in his assessment that Shanan returned his feelings, but he was excited to surprise her when he showed up to visit her later.

He considered bringing her her dinner like he used to, but decided to wait and surprise her even more by showing up when she normally expected Obito.

He really wasn’t sure what to expect when he showed up, but he remained hopeful and even wore one of his nicer cloaks. 

He’d carefully placed the two guards at either end of the corridor under an illusion to make them think that he was Obito and then stood outside of her door nervously as he psyched himself up. Surely she’d at least be a little bit happy to see him. He knew they were good friends, at the very least.

After a few minutes he raised his hand and knocked on her door, heart in his throat. 

It felt like several minutes had passed as he stood there waiting. He worried that maybe she’d gone to bed early or that maybe he just didn’t knock loud enough.

He suddenly felt silly as he stood there, though he wasn’t sure if it was because he was so nervous or if it was because he wasn’t sure if he should try knocking again or not.

He decided that enough time had passed that he could go ahead and knock again and just as he raised his fist to do so, the door swung open.

Shanan looked thoroughly annoyed at first, but as soon as she realized it was Itachi, her face completely lit up and her eyes filled with tears as she ran out and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. 

He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her in as he rested his face on her shoulder, trying not to get too emotional himself, though he was sure his eyes had more moisture in them than usual.

They held each other close for several minutes as Shanan cried into his shoulder, happy to see him, and he breathed her in, just in case they ever had to spend any time apart again.

Shanan finally released her grip on him, sure that he was really the one that had shown up. “Itachi,” she smiled at him as she put her hand on the side of his face, “you’re finally here.”

Her gentle touch sent fire throughout his entire body. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner,” he whispered as he looked into her eyes.

Her gaze intensified as she suddenly teared up again. “I forgive you,” she said as she wrapped her arms around him again and kissed him deeply.

Her lips were softer than he could’ve imagined and he couldn’t believe that she was finally kissing him like this. 

She knew she had missed him, but even she didn’t expect to kiss him like this upon seeing him again. But now it all made sense as she slowly pulled him back into her bedroom and closed the door behind him, she’d wanted to kiss him for a while. He’d always been so lovely to her and was the first friend she’d had in nearly five years. And now she just wanted him to be more than that. Now, kissing him passionately the way that she was, felt like the only thing she’d been thinking about lately. And the warmth that was spreading from her lips to the rest of her body was bringing her back to the life that, until now, she was content to give up on.

Once they’d reached the edge of her bed, Itachi pulled his lips away and looked into her eyes as he brushed his fingers gently down her cheek. “So you did miss me,” he said softly as he smiled at her.

Shanan nodded. “Very much.”

“And… You’re sure you want to be with me right now?” he asked tentatively as he moved her hair out of her face.

Shanan nodded again as she smiled softly at him. “I’m very sure, Itachi,” she said as she pulled his lips back to hers and sank into him again.

“Ok, I should…” Jiraiya’s eyes moved rapidly over the rest of the page as he spoke slowly, “probably… skip… this…” he flipped the page while his eyes continued to skim through the paragraphs, “part.”

“Again?” Naruto asked, impatiently. “Why’d you choose a book with so much grown up stuff in it anyway?”

Jiraiya continued to scan the pages a bit more slowly as he laughed at a certain part that had caught his eye. “Uh… Trust me, Naruto, this book has, probably, the least amount of grown up stuff in it than any of my other books,” he said without looking up.

“Well fine, are you just gonna sit there and read it quietly, or are you gonna skip over it? I’m already bored here.”

Jiraiya held his finger up as he continued to read fairly quickly, but not as rapidly as he had been before. “Just a few more… and… done!” Jiraiya looked up at Naruto and laughed, “You’re really gonna enjoy that part in a few years, kiddo!”

“Yeah, yeah… just get on with it, I wanna know what happens next now that Obito knows about Rin,” Naruto said excitedly.

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s pretty good!” he said as he looked back down and picked up where he thought was appropriate.

Shanan rested her head against Itachi’s left shoulder while he ran his other hand up and down her arm.

“This is where you start back up?”

“It’s a sweet moment, Naruto, be quiet now.”

“I’m surprised Obito let you see me again, after all the rumors.”

“He knows he was a jerk to you, to both of us. He knew we had… feelings for one another,” he said as he looked at her hopefully.

Shanan sat up and brushed his hair out of his face and smiled at him before leaning in to kiss him softly.

“Is that your answer then?” Itachi asked with a soft smirk when they pulled their lips away. 

“No. It was just a kiss. My feelings are there, but they remain complicated,” she told him honestly. 

Itachi grabbed her hand and kissed it while keeping his eyes fixed on hers. “Well, if this is what we do in the meantime, then I can wait.”

“Are you sure you want to?”

Itachi smiled as he stared into her eyes and caressed her cheek. “For you? Absolutely.”

"Shanan leaned in again and kissed him even deeper and they spent the rest of the night making up for the last month."

“What on Earth does that mean?”

“Ask your parents.”

Itachi spent the next week almost exclusively with Shanan. It didn’t matter what time of day it was, they did everything together and hadn’t heard much about anything from Obito in the meantime.

And Shanan’s feelings did remain complicated. On the one hand, she cared for Itachi more than she had cared for anyone in a long time. But on the other hand, she didn’t feel as though she could move on from Kakashi since she had made a vow never to do so. And she had meant it, but she didn’t ever think that someone like Itachi would ever come along and make her feel soft again. Not close to the way Kakashi had. So she couldn’t help but feel torn, though she was glad to have Itachi with her during her struggle. His love and his patience were both really helpful.

It wasn’t until day eight that Itachi ran into Obito finally while Shanan was out for a horse ride, and even then he seemed to be in a rush to get somewhere.

“Cousin!” Itachi yelled as he caught up to him.

“Oh, uh… What do you need?” Obito asked as he stopped and scratched his head, seeming as though he were out of breath.

Itachi looked him over and grimaced. “Is everything alright, cousin?” 

Obito rubbed the back of his head anxiously and shook his head. “I’m not really sure what you mean.”

“You… You seem a bit uneasy is all. I haven’t seen you since the stairwell. Do you want to tell me what’s been going on with you this past week?”

Obito shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged innocently. “Not much, I suppose. But um…” He did seem very nervous as he considered his words. “Have you had a nice week? With Shanan?”

Itachi eyed him suspiciously. “I have.”

“I’m glad,” Obito said as he started to walk away.

Itachi grabbed his arm quickly, stopping him. “Why do you ask me this, cousin?”

Obito’s face nearly lost all expression as he stared off dully.

“Tell me,” Itachi said with more force.

“I–” Obito’s eyes filled with contempt as they shifted towards Itachi. “I need to get Rin back, so I did what I had to do,” he said as he yanked his arm loose from Itachi’s grip.

“And what is it that you had to do?”

“I can’t just…” Obito started quietly as he stared at the ground now. “I can’t just start a war with Guilder, I–”

“Start a war?” Itachi asked incredulously. “What–”

“Yes, dear cousin. A war. A war in which I defeat Hidan once and for all and I bring Rin back here with me to be my queen.”

Itachi wore his confusion all over his face. “And what is it that you had to do to start this war?” he asked, fearing the answer.

Obito swallowed hard and clenched his jaw.

“Cousin…” Itachi pleaded.

“Florin wouldn’t ask as many questions if they thought Guilder was responsible for the death of their beloved Princess,” Obito said quietly, unable to look Itachi in the eye.

“No. Tell me you– what did you do?” Itachi asked as his eyes welled up.

Obito looked at Itachi through pained eyes as guilt and remorse rushed through him. “Itachi, I’m… so sorry, I don’t know why I–” He was suddenly frantic as he watched his cousin breaking down in front of him and showing more emotion than he’d ever seen from him. So this was why Shanan cared so much for him, this was the side he gave her. “There may still be time, if we leave now.”

“Now? You set something up for… now?” Itachi asked as his entire face continued to shake and tears streamed down his face. He was suddenly so overcome with panic that he could barely stand. He would never have believed that Obito, his closest friend, could be so cruel and heartless, but ever since he’d taken Shanan as his bride-to-be, it was all he seemed to strive for.

Tears rushed to Obito’s eyes for someone other than Rin for the first time in a long time and he couldn’t keep them from falling. “I’m… Itachi, we have to leave now, we may be able to catch them.” He wiped his face of any tears that had fallen and grabbed Itachi by the arm as he guided his distraught cousin to the stable. 

His hands trembled the entire time he helped him onto his horse and then as he climbed onto his own. Even he couldn’t believe that he’d taken things so far, but the entire past week had been a blur as he had one goal in mind and set his plan to get Rin back into motion. Much to the heartache of the person he cared for most in the world, besides her.

Surely they wouldn’t be too late and could reach Shanan in time to save her.

Chapter Text

Kakashi had spent the better part of five years on the open sea. 

Shortly after his ship departed from Florin, they were attacked by the Dread Pirate Hashirama and everyone on his ship had been killed. 

Everyone except for him. 

He had no intentions of begging or pleading. But all he could think about before it was his turn to die was Shanan. 

As he stood in front of the Dread Pirate, the word “Please,” barely audible, escaped his lips.

He wasn’t even sure that he’d said it until Hashirama’s blade stilled and he looked down at him.

“What did you say to me?” he asked, confused.

Kakashi turned his head to the sound of his voice, but stared right through him as his eyes welled up. He couldn’t see anything or anyone except for Shanan.

“Speak.”

“Please, I need to live,” Kakashi said as a tear fell quickly down his cheek and onto the deck.

Hashirama’s men laughed heartily at Kakashi, but Hashirama was intrigued. “You don’t think everyone else on your ship would like to live? What makes you different?”

Kakashi tried to focus his eyes on the man that was speaking to him, the man that, at the moment, held his life in his very hands, but he couldn’t chance not seeing Shanan as he took his last breath. “I have someone waiting for me. The most stubborn woman I’ve ever met. Intelligent. Kind. Beautiful.”

Hashirama continued to look down at Kakashi, he never left anyone alive, ever. But he truly felt that killing Kakashi would be detrimental, so he sheathed his katana. “Stand up.”

Kakashi’s eyes suddenly focused as he blinked back tears. “I don’t–”

“I’ve never had a valet. We can try it for tonight, but I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.” He looked at his first mate and nodded his head towards Kakashi. “Cut him loose.”

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and Kakashi was brought back to the present.

“Hashirama,” said the young man, “The prisoner still isn’t talking, what do you want us to do with him?”

Kakashi sighed and stood up. “Let me speak with him,” he said as he made his way to the door.

As he walked out onto the deck several of his men were surrounding a man on his knees with his hands tied behind his back.

Kakashi studied him with his hands in his pockets. “This could all be finished if you just told us where you keep your fortune.”

The man tried to spit on Kakashi’s shoes, but missed before looking up into his eyes. “I’d rather die a rich man than a poor man,” he said with a smirk.

“Is that so?” Kakashi asked with an air of indifference. 

The man continued to stare into Kakashi’s eyes angrily.

“You really won’t talk?” Kakashi asked him as he squatted down to his level. “Then I guess we have no use for you, so you may as well walk the plank.”

The man’s face suddenly went blank as he stood up almost effortlessly, turning his face quickly to the plank. He didn’t run, but without another word he walked right over to it and jumped right into the sea. 

Kakashi grabbed his head as pain shot through his eyes and he turned to his first mate. “Go after him!” he ordered.

Again, his first mate’s face went blank and he ran over to the plank and dived in after the man and just as he did, another sharp pain shot through Kakashi’s eyes and he doubled over.

“Are you alright, Hashirama?” asked one of his men.

“Make sure you pull them up,” he instructed. The pain was intense, but it was already subsiding and he was able to stand straight again. “Let me know if you have any more trouble,” he said quickly before heading back into his cabin. 

Once he was back inside, he played back the last few minutes over and over. It was almost as if both men had been hypnotized by Kakashi’s words. The way their faces lost all expression as soon he gave them an instruction. He’d seen plenty of men swear that they wouldn’t talk or give up information. Men with much greater resolve than that coward. But never in his life had any of them ever walked straight off of the ship and into the sea.

And then his first mate, Guy, he always was a bit of an idiot, but his eyes had never glazed over like that. 

Kakashi sat back and scratched his head. He obviously had to test things out, but there was no way that he could have dual skills. 

Not too long ago, he realized that he had inherited his father’s skill to turn anything he wished to into silver just by touching it. A useful skill, but one he had to keep very secret, just like his father had.

He stood up and went back to the door and stuck his head out. He scanned the deck for anyone he considered to be fairly intelligent and landed on one of the newer guys.

“Iruka, in my office, now!” he ordered.

Iruka cowered slightly, but did as he was told and went to stand in front of Kakashi’s desk with his arms behind his back.

Kakashi studied the man. He was new so hadn’t yet realized that Kakashi really was pretty easygoing, even for the Dread Pirate. He stared out of the window behind Kakashi, waiting for Kakashi to give him an order. “Stand on one foot,” Kakashi told him.

Iruka seemed surprised as he looked down at Kakashi. “Sir?”

No change in the man's face this time. “Hmm…”

“Did you really want me to do that?” 

Kakashi looked him in the eyes this time. “Yes, stand on one foot.” 

Iruka’s face went completely blank and without hesitation, he lifted one foot off the ground and balanced on the other. 

Kakashi winced as he felt the pain again and pressed his palms into his eyes. 

So that was it. He could order someone to do things as long as they made eye contact with him.

Obito flew at Kakashi, knocking him to the ground and pressing his forearm against Kakashi’s throat. Angry tears replacing the sad ones he’d been crying as he looked furiously into Kakashi’s eyes. 

He kept his voice calm and measured as he spoke. “Because Rin would want me to be kind to Shanan, I’ll give you a week," he said quietly. "But then you’re leaving. I don’t care where you go. I don’t care what you do. But if I can’t be with Rin, then you can’t be with Shanan,” he said bitterly. “You’ll tell her you need to make money to marry her and then never return.”

Kakashi wasn’t sure what was happening inside of him, but whatever it was, he couldn’t fight it, no matter how hard he tried. He tried to push the intrusive thought from his mind, he tried to clench his jaw enough to suppress the words that weren't his, but neither worked. His brain felt foggy and like he had no control over himself as Obito's charm echoed through his ears and implanted into his psyche.

“Say it.” Obito said through gritted teeth. Still pressing into Kakashi’s throat and glaring into his eyes.

Kakashi’s eyes filled with tears again as he begged silently for Obito to stop the assault on his mind. 

But he refused. 

“As you wish, Your Highness.” Kakashi whispered indignantly.

Kakashi opened his eyes quickly as he sat up in bed, covered in sweat. 

Had that really happened?

He thought about Shanan again. Of all the times he’d wanted to return home. But everytime he tried to move or speak or do anything with the intention of going back to her or to Florin, his body and his mind completely tensed up. He often thought of himself as a coward and he had never been sure why he was, why he couldn’t just go home and marry the girl that he was still very much in love with. Was it because of what had happened in the dream?

Kakashi jumped out of bed and went to his desk, frantically pulling out a piece of paper and a pen. If he could write it, then he could say it.

He scribbled the words quickly.

Return to Florin. Return to Shanan. 

There it was. And it was perfectly legible. 

He’d tried to write it down in the past, but his hand shook so bad that none of the words could be read. But here. He’d finally written them.

He stood up and continued to read the note with tears in his eyes as clamped his hand over his mouth. He’d always known deep down that he wasn’t really a coward, but he had no idea that Obito had ordered him to leave and never return. 

And now a new question nagged at him. How on Earth did he suddenly have the same skill as two people he had known? 

The more he thought about it, the more he wondered if he didn’t have more.

His men often commented on his strength. 

Shuji was strong.

And not too long ago, someone attempted to use their deadly skill on him, but they couldn’t seem to make it work at all. On any of his men. He wasn’t sure if he had ever known anyone with a skill that suppressed other skills, but if he did and he somehow had it now, then he was grateful. Otherwise he and his men would all be a large pile of ash.

He took out another piece of paper and wrote down the skills of several people he knew and had once known that he thought he might now be in possession of, and many of them could easily be written off as coincidence. But a few were so unmistakable, he couldn’t believe he’d ever brushed them off.

His conclusion.

“I can copy skills,” he said to himself, completely in disbelief, as he set his pen down and read through the list again.

Once the sun was up he made the announcement to his crew that they were to head for Florin straight away. It would take several months, but at least it would give him time to familiarize himself with some of his skills and to make a complete list of all the ones he had. 

And perhaps he could also figure out how he actually copied them and possibly gain a few more by the time they reached the shore.

Over the next five and a half months they’d made port at a few places so that his crew wouldn’t get too antsy, but really so that Kakashi could find useful skills to copy. 

Some people flaunted their skills out in the open, which was fine as most were fairly mundane. But many kept them hidden. Usually the ones that had truly extraordinary skills, the exact kind that Kakashi wanted to copy as he had no interest in creating a light breeze or removing stains or even mending stab wounds, though… Perhaps that one could be useful. 

Kakashi stayed in the shadows as much as he possibly could when they made port so that he could observe as many people as possible without being noticed. He wore all black, so it was easy to not be seen.

They were at their final rest stop before Florin and Kakashi hadn’t obtained very many new skills, at least not any that he was particularly excited about. But he did have the technique in which to copy them all figured out. It was fairly inconspicuous, though he did have to get close to the person whose skill he wished to gain.

He’d spent the entire night in one of the local pubs watching men drink and gamble and fight, but after a few hours, nobody had revealed anything useful to him, so he decided to make his way back to his ship. 

They’d be in Florin soon and he'd be able to see Shanan again. 

Finally. 

He hoped that she was still waiting for him the way he had waited for her, but he wouldn’t blame her if she’d already moved on. Five years without communication is a long time.

He thought about her and Rin and Obito often, even now that he knew the truth, he still thought of Obito fondly.

He’d been lost in thought as he walked back to his ship, hands in his pockets as he stared down at the ground, but there was a constant little flicker out of the corner of his eye that refused to go unnoticed until he finally looked up.

Down the road in an alleyway, stood an older man talking to himself in a store window. 

“Wanna see a trick?” he heard the man saying over and over again. Then he’d grab his right arm and lightning would completely engulf his right hand. 

Kakashi had never seen such a skill and had certainly never thought that he, of all people, could ever come to possess anything like it.

As he approached the alley, he could tell that the man was clearly drunk, but Kakashi was too intrigued to just leave, so he tentatively approached the man as he continued with whatever it was that he was doing.

Once he was close enough, the lightning illuminated him enough to be seen by the man in the window and he whipped around quickly and grinned at Kakashi with his eyes closed. 

“Wanna see a trick?” the man slurred as he nearly lost his footing.

Kakashi helped the man to steady himself, but since his eyes were still closed, he couldn’t walk away just yet. “Sure, old man, what’s your trick?”

The man continued with his wide toothless grin, all the while keeping his eyes closed. “I’ll show you, but it’s gonna cost ya,” the man teased as he laughed.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the man. He clearly didn’t seem to realize that he’d just been giving a free show to anyone who happened to wander through the area, but Kakashi played along anyway and bent down to grab a small handful of gravel. “How’s…” he glanced down at the contents in his hand, “eleven pieces of silver sound?”

The man's smile faded and his eyes widened as he looked at Kakashi with a stunned expression. 

That was all Kakashi needed. He grabbed the man’s hand and looked him in the eyes as he gave him the silver and then he turned and made his way back to his ship.

He couldn’t wait to learn more about his new skill…

Chapter Text

No matter what was going on in Shanan’s life, she always made time for riding her horse. It had always helped her to clear her head, and she did her best thinking when she was out.

This past week, she and Itachi had grown closer than ever and Obito had even given them permission to be together. It was all Shanan could think about on her rides. She still felt guilty and still wanted to be with Kakashi more than anything, but Itachi was truly amazing and she knew she’d be really happy with him.

She could see the love in his eyes as he looked at her. Hear the soft unspoken words on his lips when he said anything to her. Feel his intense affection every time he touched her, even a little. She knew he loved her very much. 

And with each passing day, it became more and more clear, she really was falling in love with him too. 

She stopped and smiled as she thought about seeing him again. “Tonight,” she said aloud. “I’ll say it tonight.”

“Say what, tonight?” 

Shanan looked up towards the unfamiliar voice.

There in front of her, stood an odd trio of men.

One giant man with red swirls on his cheeks.

One smaller man with dark hair and dark, familiar eyes.

And the one that had spoken to her. A white haired man with a ponytail and round glasses. 

She tried not to be startled by their sudden appearance, but she was by herself in the middle of the woods.

“Can I help you?” Shanan asked them, suspiciously.

“We are but poor, lost circus folk. Tell me, are there any villages nearby?” asked the white haired man.

Shanan gulped, but didn’t want to come off as rude, so tried to keep her voice friendly as she forced a smile. “No. There is nothing nearby. Not for several miles.” And just as the words left her lips, she knew she had been tricked. 

She immediately snapped the reins on her horse and tried to escape quickly. But as she did, the giant stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her horse's neck to stop him.

“Sasuke, hurry, I can’t hold him back as easily,” he yelled as he strained with all of his might against Shanan’s horse. 

Sasuke wasted no time coming to the aid of his comrade, but as soon as he got close, Shanan kicked him in the face with her heavy riding boots, knocking him to the ground, and then turned to look at the giant's hands. She wanted to kick them too, but didn’t want to hurt the horse in doing so.

“Hurry,” said the giant as he dug his feet into the ground to keep the panicked horse in place.

Sasuke stood up, wiped the blood from his lip, closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he ran towards her again. Shanan tried to plant her heel into his face again, but he spun out of the way and dodged her easily. 

She dropped the reins from the force of her missed kick and when she tried to grab the pommel to regain her balance, he took advantage of her falter and was able to very gracefully grab her hand and wrap his arm around her waist to easily pull her down from her horse. All the while, with his eyes still closed.

But Shanan refused to go quietly as she raged at Sasuke and pulled his hair and threw as many punches and kicks at him as she could.

He dodged most of her blows and continued to try and restrain her.

However, once Sasuke had succeeded in removing her, the giant released the horse and breathlessly went to assist his teammate. 

Shanan turned some of her attention to the giant now as she attempted to hit and kick him as well, but he was built very solidly and didn’t even seem to take notice of her fists or her feet.  

Sasuke held her in place and Shanan was surprised at how strong he was as she kicked back at his shins now. Anything to get him to loosen his grip or drop her before the giant got ahold of her, but nothing worked.

She finally decided to try and scream, but just as she did, the giant grabbed her neck and applied just enough pressure to put her to sleep. 

Sasuke opened his eyes just as she collapsed in his arms and his giant teammate took her from him and carefully cradled her.

“Well, she certainly put up a hell of a fight,” the white haired man said as he finally stepped forward to join his men.

Sasuke looked over at him incredulously as he dusted himself off. “I’m pretty sure she could see me the entire time. Could you guys see me?” he asked the pair.

“Once you stood up after that first kick, you disappeared, like always,” the giant assured him.

The white haired man went to stand next to him as he examined Shanan in the arms of the giant. “I certainly couldn’t see you.”

Sasuke rubbed a sore spot on his head and pulled out a small chunk of hair that Shanan had relinquished him of. “Well, Kabuto, she definitely seemed to hit and kick me in all the right places.”

“Certainly a coincidence,” Kabuto said as he pushed his glasses up and shifted his gaze towards the giant. “Choji, tell me you didn’t let that horse escape.”

“Oh, sorry, I couldn’t make myself any bigger for some reason. He got away.”

Kabuto looked back down at Shanan. “Certainly a coincidence,” he said a bit more thoughtfully.

“Well, didn’t your boss tell you anything about her?” Sasuke asked him.

“My boss remains anonymous and he said nothing of the girl, except that her death will certainly be sure to start a war.”

“What? You never said anything about killing anyone,” groaned Choji.

“I’ve hired you two to help me start a war, what did you think that entailed? Certainly a death or two, no?”

“I just don’t think it’s right,” he said as he looked down at Shanan, “killing an innocent girl like that.”

Kabuto glared at Choji over his glasses and then pushed them up again. “Certainly, you of all people, didn’t just use the word think in my presence. Leave that to me and don’t hurt yourself in trying to keep up. Just do as you're told. That’s why I'm paying you.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the man and shook his head. “Choji’s right, Kabuto. She’s done nothing to deserve even being taken, let alone killed.”

Kabuto smirked at Sasuke and pointed to his own mouth. “You’ve got a little something,” he teased, “a gift from the damsel in distress.”

Sasuke wiped the new blood from the split in his lip and continued to look at Kabuto disdainfully. “How would killing this girl start a war between Florin and Guilder anyway?”

“Well, Sasuke, this here,” he said as he delicately brushed the hair from her face, “is Princess Shanan.”

Obito was sure they couldn’t be too far behind Shanan as they rode quickly through the woods. “Itachi, you have to snap out of it, we may need to fight.”

Itachi had been in a daze since learning of Obito’s betrayal. It was unlike him, but the fact that it was Obito of all people, stunned him. However, he knew they needed to try and hurry in order to make it to Shanan in time. “So what did you do and why might we have to fight your own men?” Itachi asked angrily.

“They’re not my men,” Obito told him. “I hired them anonymously. Met the guy late at night in the corner of a pub. I wore a dark cloak that I’d found with red clouds all over it and an orange mask. Even disguised my voice to sound like my father.”

Itachi clenched his jaw as Obito spoke. “Why your father, cousin?”

“Honestly, it was just the first thing that came to me and I think I executed it quite nicely.”

Itachi scoffed loudly at Obito. “I don’t care how well you think you did! How could you be so callous? Even towards Shanan. But especially towards me?”

“I know. I let bitterness and longing selfishly consume me. But I’ll fix it. They can’t be too far gone. They were instructed to take her to Guilder first.”

“And how many is they?”

Obito glanced quickly at Itachi and then back to the forest in front of him. “I’m not sure. I hired one man, but he said he’d gather his own team and that he had some competent yes men in mind to help him. I didn't stay too long or go over too many details. I gave him a time and a place and a destination." 

"And instructions to murder her?" Itachi asked him bitterly. 

Obito swallowed, but didn't say anything. Itachi already knew the answer. 

They rode in silence the rest of the way as Obito led the way. 

Itachi couldn't stop worrying about Shanan and wishing he'd told her how much he loved her. 

He knew he'd had feelings for her for quite some time, but this past week had only deepened his devotion to her. He decided that he didn't care anymore if she said she loved him too. As soon as he saw her again he'd hold her and kiss her and tell her that his life was hers from now on. His heart. His soul. Everything. He'd lay it all down at her feet, always. 

They just had to make it to her in time…

Shanan opened her eyes and sat up slowly as the memory of what had happened came rushing back to her. 

"Bout time you woke up, Highness," Kabuto said indifferently as he read his book.

Shanan scowled as she looked down at her hands that had been bound together and then back up at him. "And where do you think you're taking me?"

Kabuto sighed at her without so much as a glance. "Certainly I'm not at liberty to discuss that." 

Shanan chuckled softly at him as she located the other two men. "That's fine. I was giving you a chance. The Prince will find you. And you'll all be hanged. If you're lucky."

Kabuto finally turned his head towards her. "Of all the necks on this boat, Your Highness, the only one you should certainly be worried about is your own."

"Well you certainly are a mouthy one," Shanan retorted. 

Kabuto thought to use his intellect against her, but found himself struggling to come up with a witty comeback, which was unusual. His skill made him incredibly intelligent. 

Sasuke's chuckle at Shanan's boldness made him shift focus from her to him and it felt as though the tension in his mind eased up immediately. "Quiet, orphan boy," he said as he shot him a look. 

Sasuke didn't take much notice of Kabuto's words and he didn't see his look as he looked behind them for the umpteenth time.

"And why do you keep looking back there like that?" Kabuto asked impatiently.

Sasuke turned back to Kabuto. "I'm just making sure that nobody is following us." 

Kabuto chuckled as he turned a page in his book. "Certainly, that would be impossible. No one in Florin could've gotten here so fast and no one in Guilder knows what we've done. We're fine." He sat quietly and read a few lines from his book and then looked back up at Sasuke. "Why are you so worried about it, anyway?" 

"Well, I just happened to look up and suddenly there's someone back there." 

Kabuto and Choji ran to stand next to Sasuke as they looked out into the darkness and saw a small boat seemingly following them. 

"Where did that come from?" Choji asked.

"It's certainly a local fisherman," Kabuto told him.

"You're all idiots," Shanan said as she laughed. "It's most likely the Prince coming to rescue me." Though she didn't truly think Obito would bother. Itachi on the other hand…

"Sasuke…" Kabuto started as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. "Please make her stop talking," he said as he continued to stare back at the boat that was gaining on them. 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and took the cloth before heading over to Shanan and stopping before she could reach him in any way. "You're not gonna kick me again, are you?"

Shanan smiled up at him as she noticed the split in his lip and the bruise on his cheek. "I make no promises." 

Sasuke sighed at her. "Look, I don't want to do it, but Kabuto can be a jerk and as smart as I am, I could never outsmart him . I can guarantee that you wouldn't be able to either. So how about you just let me do this without any problems?" 

Shanan looked over at Kabuto and studied him momentarily before looking back at Sasuke. "Fine. I won't kick you." 

Sasuke knelt in front of her and folded up the handkerchief. 

"You look familiar," Shanan said quietly. "I've seen your eyes a lot lately." 

He didn't say anything, but she could see that she wasn't wrong in her assessment by the way his brow furrowed. 

"You're an Uchiha, aren't you? I didn't realize there were more of you out there–" 

"There aren't. Not anymore. Not since the King betrayed his own clan in order to keep power." 

Shanan frowned at his words. She had a hard time believing that about King Madara. "But–" 

Sasuke held up the folded handkerchief. "I'm sorry, Princess. I have to cover your mouth now," he said as he placed it over her mouth and tied it up. "Try not to make too much of a fuss and I'll ask if I can remove it soon."

Shanan nodded once and leaned her head back as soon as he walked away. 

King Madara wouldn't kill his clan for power. Though, truth be told, she never knew him at his strongest. He always seemed kind and benevolent when he and Obito visited the village. 

After a few hours, the sun had risen.

Sasuke had kept his word, but this time he sent Choji to remove the cloth from her mouth in his place. 

The boat that had been following them was practically on top of them as they pulled up to the rocky shore and exited. 

Shanan gulped as she tried to look up to the top of the cliff. She'd never seen it with her own eyes, but she'd heard plenty about it in stories and knew how Obito had gotten his scars. "Here? But how will we get up there?" Shanan asked them incredulously. 

Sasuke helped Choji with his harness as Kabuto looked at Shanan and pushed his glasses up. "Certainly we wouldn't stop here without a plan in place, Highness." 

Sasuke gently led Shanan to stand next to Choji as he looped a harness over her head and underneath her. "You'll have to hold on tight," he said softly. 

Kabuto stared out at the boat. "Fortunately, whoever that is, will have to sail around for hours. Only Choji is strong enough to go our way." 

"Let's go, Kabuto," Sasuke urged him. 

Once he had Kabuto secured in his harness, he climbed into his own harness and held tight as Choji pulled them all up. 

"This feels really difficult for some reason," Choji said. 

"Certainly, you're not implying that I should find myself a new giant? What a waste," Kabuto said.

"You should just drop him," Shanan said to Choji, followed by another chuckle from Sasuke. 

Kabuto remained quiet as he could think of nothing witty to say to her. Again!

Sasuke looked down and then sighed. 

"What is it now?" Kabuto asked, annoyed.

"He's climbing the rope," Sasuke told him, completely exasperated. 

Shanan looked down at the man and smiled. It wasn't Obito or Itachi, but whoever he was, he was quite impressive. 

Chapter Text

Once they reached the top of the cliff, Kabuto ran to try and cut the rope while Sasuke was still trying to help Choji out of the harness. The climb had taken more out of him than usual thanks to Shanan’s skill.

“You really couldn’t wait until Choji was up here too?” asked Sasuke.

Kabuto pushed his glasses up and smirked at Sasuke. “Certainly, you saw how fast that guy was climbing behind us. I couldn’t risk him catching us and taking the Princess.”

“Should’ve let him fall,” Shanan said under her breath.

“Quiet, you little…” Kabuto started before trailing off. He thought he’d finally had something clever to say to her, but whatever it had been now eluded him.

Sasuke glared at Kabuto. “You’re such an–”

“He’s got really good arms,” Choji said as he looked over the edge of the cliff.

Kabuto and Sasuke both turned quickly and ran to see what Choji was staring down at. Sure enough, the man in black was holding onto the side of the wall and attempting to climb it.

“I was certain he’d fall,” Kabuto said as he pushed his glasses up again. “Oh well, guess it’s the katana for him. Choji, grab the Princess. We’ll continue towards Guilder while Sasuke disposes of this nuisance. Try and hurry, though, we’re kind of on a time crunch.”

“I’m going to fight him left-handed.”

Kabuto sighed at him. “I just told you to make it quick.”

Sasuke smirked and looked back down at the man climbing up the side of the cliff. “I can’t pass up an opportunity like this. If I use my right hand it won't be as satisfying. Besides, I haven’t had a good fight in awhile and I have a feeling this guy’s gonna make things interesting.”

Kabuto sighed again, but relented. “Have it your way then. Choji,” he snapped, “the Princess. Now!”

Choji picked Shanan up and walked over to Sasuke. “Careful. People in masks like that can’t be trusted.”

Sasuke nodded at his friend and looked back down over the edge.

“I think he’s quite handsome,” Shanan said with a smile.

“How can you even tell? Half his face is covered and he has an eyepatch. All you can even see is one eye,” Choji said as he turned around to follow Kabuto.

“Well, I’m a girl. We can just sense these things.”

“Choji!” Yelled Kabuto, causing Choji to hurry behind him.

Sasuke stepped away from the edge of the cliff to practice a few moves, but found himself quickly growing impatient, so made his way back to the edge. “You seem to have lost some of your stamina, I thought you’d be up here by now.”

The man glanced up, incredulity etched on his face. "Well, did you have to do any of the climbing, or did your giant friend do all the work?"

Sasuke's expression remained neutral. "That's fair," he acknowledged. "But do you think you could at least try to go a little faster?"

"You could always throw a rope down or find something useful to do,” the man suggested.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "There is some extra rope up here. Are you sure you even want my help, though?" His tone turned introspective. "I'm only waiting around up here because it's my job to kill you. But I promise not to kill you until you reach the top."

"And why should I believe you?” The man asked as he tried to find a good placement for his foot.

Sasuke's eyes locked onto him. "I could give you my word as an Uchiha."

Amusement danced on the man's face. "An Uchiha, huh?"

Sasuke's stance remained unwavering. "Yeah, and?"

The man chuckled, shaking his head. "That won't work for me. I've known one too many Uchihas."

Sasuke shrugged, though he did wonder who it was the man might have ever known. “So there’s no way you’d trust me then, huh?”

"Nothing I can think of, sorry."

Sasuke stood tall, sincerity etched on his face. "I swear on the soul of my father, Fugaku Uchiha, you will reach the top alive."

The man's expression shifted. "Throw me the rope."

Sasuke unraveled the rope, throwing it down. Together, they pulled him to the top. As the man caught his breath, Sasuke waited.

"Thank you for that," the man said, hand on his katana.

Sasuke raised a calming hand. "I can wait until you're ready. Rest for a few minutes."

"Again, thank you."

Sasuke nodded and leaned back against the wall of the crumbled old castle they were standing in. “That left arm of yours, is it real?”

The man gave an amused chuckle and held his hand up as he wiggled his fingers.

“You sure you can’t grow limbs as your skill? I’ve heard of at least two people having the ability to do so.”

“Sounds useful, but no.” 

Sasuke gave a satisfied shrug.

“Do you always begin conversations this way?”

A somber shadow crossed his face, and he paused, weighing his words. Something about the man's calm demeanor put him at ease, urging him to share the long-hidden pain. "Sometimes," he began, voice measured, "it's just that…" He hesitated, uncertainty flickering. "My father, he was slaughtered by a one-armed man." Pain seeped into his tone. "I really looked up to my father. He was a very stoic man, but he was passionate about what he believed in, and he made the strongest, sharpest katanas." Memories flooded back. "The one-armed man showed up in the middle of the night to steal all of my father's swords, and my father confronted him. Cut his arm clean off. That's how good his blades were." Admiration tinged his voice.

"But then, for some reason, the one-armed man came back a few months later. And… I wanted to kill him then and there," Bitterness crept in, "but my father's last words to me were to hide." Resignation softened his tone. "He told me to keep my eyes closed no matter what I heard."

“So you kept your word…”

Sasuke nodded. “Next time I see him though, I won’t hide. No matter what. I’ll walk right up to him and say, ‘Hello. My name is Sasuke Uchiha. You killed my father. Prepare to die.’”

“How old were you?”

“I was ten,” he said as grabbed his katana to show the man. “I’ve spent the last six years studying fencing and perfecting my skill. I had a great start thanks to my father, he started training me with a katana as soon as I could walk, but then when my skill developed, he didn’t get the chance to train me on both. So that was all me.” Sasuke handed his katana to the man so that he could admire it.

“I’ve never seen a sword this perfect.”

“He had hundreds made before the one-armed man stole all but this one.”

“Made for what purpose?”

Sasuke gave an exasperated sigh as he sheathed his katana again. “Protection. Against the King.”

The man looked at Sasuke, confused. “But the King is an Uchiha.”

“The King is a traitor to his clan and he killed my older brother in cold blood,” he said as a matter of fact. “So how ‘bout it, think you’re ready?”

“Whether I am or not, you’ve been more than patient,” he said as he stood up and removed his katana from its scabbard.

Sasuke chuckled softly and positioned himself to fight. “Well, you seem a decent man. I hate to have to kill you.”

The man took a more defensive position as he stood tall. “You seem a decent man. I hate to die.”

Sasuke nodded and smirked. “Begin.”

Sasuke carefully swung his sword, which was met with a block, before slashing at the man who dodged his blade easily.

They circled each other slowly before the man took a turn swinging his katana. Sasuke blocked, but the man knew he would. They were just warming up at this point. He slashed at Sasuke who leaned effortlessly out of the way and smiled at the man.

Their katanas met again, this time with Sasuke as the aggressor as he moved forward in an attempt to back the man into a large boulder. But the man jumped up onto the rock and laughed as he continued to block Sasuke’s attack.

“Quite an interesting terrain we find ourselves on,” the man said without so much as a shaky breath.

“I’ve fought on worse,” Sasuke bragged as he jumped onto the boulder in front of the man as he continued to attack and force him to move backwards.

The man chuckled and continued to meet all of Sasuke’s blows with a perfect block and once he reached the edge of the boulder he jumped down without even looking to see where he was going.

Sasuke jumped down and landed in front of him and their fight continued up a set of stairs.

Once they reached the top of the steps, the man turned things around and it was now Sasuke’s turn to block as he was pushed into a wall. 

“I had a feeling you’d be good at this,” Sasuke said as he held the man’s blade off.

“Well, you don’t seem too worried.”

“Not at all, you see,” Sasuke smirked and pushed the man back. “Because I’m not left-handed.” He tossed his sword from his left hand to his right hand and attacked the man again.

The man blocked and dodged a few slashes as he moved backwards again as Sasuke was definitely more skilled with his dominant hand. “Somehow I knew you weren’t giving it your best effort.”

“Really? Is that why you’re smiling?”

The man chuckled heartily as Sasuke pinned him into a corner. “No, no.” He strained against Sasuke as he leaned into the man with his katana. “I’m not left-handed either,” he said to a stunned expression from Sasuke. He took advantage of the situation and pushed Sasuke off of him and tossed his sword into his other hand much like Sasuke had just done.

Their katanas continued to clash as they made their way back to the top of the steps. 

Sasuke knew he couldn’t give the man the high ground while Sasuke was on the defensive, so he took a deep breath and closed his eyes before making his way quickly down the stairs.

“That’s an interesting skill you’ve got there,” the man said as held his katana in front of him with both hands and looked slowly around him.

“Well, if it makes you feel better, I’m no longer up there,” Sasuke yelled as he got into position for a sneak attack.

“Oh, alright. I guess I’ll just come down there for you to ambush me. Is that right?”

“Unfortunately, we are in a hurry.”

“To do what?” the man asked in an effort to keep Sasuke talking. “To kill the girl?”

Sasuke couldn’t help but feel extremely guilty. “That’s not up to me,” he said just loud enough for the man to hear.

“Ah, the man with the glasses. Why go along with him?”

“Because. His skill makes him impossible to outsmart. If I tried to leave, he wouldn’t let me go without a fight. I don’t know how, but I’d probably end up dead. And I can’t leave Choji alone with him.”

The man considered Sasuke’s words before making up his mind. “So then, you’d let the girl go if you thought you could?”

“I would’ve let her go when she kicked me in the face had I been able to make that choice. She put up a hell of a fight when we took her. That’s why my face looks the way it does. I never wanted–”

“It’s a shame about your skill,” the man said as he hit Sasuke with a jolt of lightning, stunning him and causing him to open his eyes as he fell to his knees. He could feel the electricity coursing through him and the man stood in front of Sasuke as his body seized up. “Seems it only works when your eyes are closed, so I won’t be able to copy it.”

The lightning around Kakashi’s hand was the last thing Sasuke could see before his eyes closed fully and his face hit the ground as he blacked out.

Chapter Text

“Are you kidding me?” Kabuto asked as he pushed his glasses up. 

 They’d just stopped for a rest and to wait for Sasuke when they noticed the man in black running in their direction.

 “But. Sas–” Choji started, wide-eyed with worry.

“Certainly, he’s still alive,” Kabuto assured him.

Choji looked down at the man in black as he continued to run up the steep hill.

“I’m sure Sasuke’s still alive,” Shanan said as she smiled gently up at Choji. “That man doesn’t seem like the killing type. Trust me.”

Choji gave Shanan a quick nod, but he still couldn’t help but worry about his friend.

“Quite foolish of him to have bothered making it this far,” said Kabuto.

“Oh? And why’s that?” Shanan asked him with a smirk.

Kabuto glared at her and grabbed her arm as he looked up at Choji. “I know you’ve been feeling rather weak, but certainly you can take care of him no problem.” He looked back at the man in black and pushed his glasses up. “He’s seen us with the Princess, so he has to die. Make it quick,” he said as he pulled Shanan towards Guilder.

“How do I make it quick?” Choji yelled after Kabuto.

Kabuto looked at him plainly and sighed. “Get big, grab him, and rip him in half.”

“I could never do that to anyone,” Choji said quietly as he turned away from Kabuto.

“Are you sure you wish to leave your last bodyguard behind? Who's going to protect you now?” Shanan asked him after several minutes had passed.

“Oh, I’m not worried about that mystery man, Choji will certainly make short work of him.”

Shanan stopped and laughed at him. “You misunderstand me.”

“Is that right?” Kabuto asked her, exasperated as he looked back at her. “How’s that?” 

“Perhaps it’s not him you need protection from.”

Kakashi had finally caught up to where he’d last seen the group just as a large rock came flying at his head, missing him by mere inches. Startled, he looked around quickly for the source.

Choji stepped out from behind a large boulder holding onto another large rock. “I missed, but I did that on purpose.”

Kakashi eyed him suspiciously, ready to dodge anything else the giant might throw in his direction. “I believe you. So what do we do now?”

“We fight. Fair. Skill against skill.”

“And, what is your skill exactly?”

Choji tossed his rock aside and chuckled. “I’m glad you asked.”

Kakashi’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as Choji grew larger and larger in front of him. Everytime he didn’t think he could get any bigger, he did. His mind raced as he considered which skill of his to use. Should he stick to one and risk choosing the wrong skill or use multiple skills and reveal that he has more than one.

Choji towered over Kakashi, who didn’t even come up to his knees anymore, as he cracked his neck and his knuckles. “Well then, are you ready?” he asked as he squatted down a bit lower.

“You know, somehow I can’t help but think the odds are slightly in your favor.”

“That’s not my fault being the biggest and the strongest.”

The strongest, Kakashi thought. Perfect. And maybe he won’t notice if I use a little bit of my speed, he doesn’t seem as smart as that Sasuke fella. He slowly lowered his sword to the ground and tightened the bandana covering his hair as he got into position.

Choji lowered his hands and attempted to smash Kakashi between them as he clapped them together forcefully.

But Kakashi tapped into the speed he’d gotten from Guy and dodged him easily, though the shockwave that Choji had created did throw him off balance enough to almost be crushed by Choji’s foot as it came crashing down. Kakashi rolled out of the way quickly and leaned against one of the giant boulders.

“You’re quick,” Choji said playfully. “Why are you wearing a mask anyway?”

“Oh, this old thing?” he teased as Choji lifted the boulder as if it weighed nothing. Kakashi darted between Choji’s legs. “I just find them to be quite comfortable.”

“Is that so? And what about the eyepatch? Are you a pirate?” He watched as Kakashi ran to hide behind a tree and threw the boulder in his direction. 

Another dodge.

“Speed, huh? Why do you have to make this difficult for me?”

This time Kakashi tapped fully into his speed and before Choji could tell which direction he’d even run off into, he was sliding between Choji’s legs, but Choji wasnt that stupid. He quickly sat down to catch Kakashi underneath him.

“Guess you didn’t think that one through, did you?” Choji chuckled for a moment before stopping abruptly. He suddenly felt himself rising up off the ground slightly. “Hmm?” was all he could say before being tossed headfirst into another large boulder. “Ow!” he yelled as he rubbed his head. “How’d you do that?”

Kakashi staggered a bit as he caught his breath from being sat on. “Amazing what one is capable of when their life is on the line, isn’t it?” he quipped.

Choji started to stand up, but Kakashi ran up to him and tackled him to the ground and stood on his chest. 

“Enough,” Kakashi said, still a bit breathless. “You and Sasuke, you're friends? What’s your name, giant?”

Choji looked at him surprised. “Choji. So he is alive?”

“Of course he is. He seems like a good man. Besides, I wouldn’t rob a man of his vengeance. Even if he is an Uchiha.”

“He told you about his dream?” Choji chuckled. “Nevermind, of course he did. He tells everyone. It’s all he talks about. I bet he even told you the line.”

Kakashi smiled down at Choji. “He said your other friend is the one that’s truly the bad guy here. Do you agree?”

Choji nodded. “He’s gonna kill that girl if I don’t get back to them. If he hasn't already.”

Kakashi jumped to the ground and stood next to Choji who began to shrink back down to size. Once he was back to his normal size, Kakashi helped him up. “Don’t you worry about that. I can save her. You should go and find your friend. He should be right where I left him, unconscious. The girl and I will be fine.”

“And what about Kabuto?”

“I’ll do what I have to do. But you needn’t worry about him anymore either.”

Choji thought about it for a moment and then gave Kakashi a quick nod. “Good luck. He’s really smart. Nobody ever beats him.”

Kakashi gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Good luck to you as well. And best of luck to Sasuke on his quest for vengeance. Please tell him I said so, Choji.”

And with that the pair parted ways and Kakashi gathered up his sword and followed in the direction of Shanan and Kabuto.

As he ran, he came across a small blood trail, and his stomach knotted up as he considered what both Choji and Sasuke had told him about Kabuto. Though, having seen the man, he didn’t think he was strong enough to carry anyone, even Shanan. Especially if she were… he swallowed the thought down as he looked up the steep hill he would’ve had to carry her up.

Whatever had happened he at least knew for sure what direction they’d traveled and that she was still alive.

So he followed the trail up the hill and eventually the blood stopped.

As he searched the ground to make sure, he came across a small, but deadly Grass snake and smiled. “Hello, my old friend,” he said as he bent down to pick him up. “Been awhile since I dealt with one of you, but–” he suddenly pulled his hand back and shook it out as the small snake bit at him, “there’s that short temper. Let’s save it, shall we?” He gingerly stuffed the snake into the small pouch on his belt and closed him in as he continued his way up the steep hill having found no other signs of blood.

Once he reached the top of the hill he spotted Kabuto and Shanan seated around a rock. Kabuto had laid out bread, cheese and wine, along with plates and goblets in order to host Kakashi as they decided their next moves.

Kabuto was holding onto his side where he’d wrapped himself up in part of Shanan’s dress that he’d clearly ripped to make a bandage. His breathing was deep and labored as he winced in pain, but tried to play it off as waiting for Kakashi.

Shanan was bound, gagged and blindfolded. Kabuto had seemingly lost the majority of his patience for her, but he hadn’t killed her, which was quite curious considering the kind of man the other two had said that he was.

Kakashi slowly approached them and Kabuto quickly unsheathed his small blade and held it to Shanan’s throat. “If you wish her dead, by all means.”

Ah. leverage. If he’d killed her, then what reason would Kakashi have not to kill him on the spot?

“Please,” Kakashi said, “Surely we can come to some kind of an agreement.”

Kabuto shook his head. “No. There can be no agreement. And you’re killing her,” he said as he pressed the knife further into her neck, causing her to whimper in pain.

Kakashi stopped and looked at her, worried. “Well then, if we can’t reach an agreement, then we are at an impasse.”

“It would seem so. You’re trying to take what I’ve rightfully stolen. Though, you might as well give up now. You may have beaten my men, but they were certainly nothing compared to me. At least not mentally.”

“You’re that smart, huh?” Kakashi asked as he chuckled.

“Let me put it this way. You’ve heard of Orochimaru?”

Kakashi nodded.

“Incompetent moron.”

“Wow. So I guess I’d stand no chance against you in a battle of wits then?”

“Are you challenging me?”

“I suppose I am,” Kakashi sighed.

Kabuto looked at Shanan and then sheathed his blade. “Very well, I accept.”

Kakashi sat down on one of the smaller rocks across from both Kabuto and Shanan. 

“So what was it you had in mind?” 

Kakashi lifted his pouch and started to search for something. He tossed the snake, who he knew was now feigning its own death, onto the rock, along with a few other items as he continued his search. 

Kabuto jumped back slightly as the snake landed in front of him. “What is this foul thing and why did you have it in your pack?”

The snake, as part of its instinctual defense mechanism, was now secreting a foul smelling liquid from its body.

“It would appear to be a dead uncommon grass snake,” he said as he continued his search. “Now where is that iocane powder?”

“Uncommon, you say? The smell of it is downright offensive. How long has he been dead?” he asked as he picked the snake up to examine it. 

Just as he dangled the snake in front of his face to get a better look at it, the snake opened its eyes and lunged at Kabuto, sinking its fangs into Kabuto’s eyebrow and pumping the man full of venom. He fell off of his rock and onto the ground, but he managed to pull the snake from his face and toss it away. 

It nearly landed on Shanan before Kakashi caught it, receiving a few strikes on his own hand as he knelt down to free the snake back into the grass.

“Wha–” Kabuto said as he sat up and quickly ran his fingers over his eyebrow. “What was that? I thought grass snakes didn’t bite! Why can’t I feel my face?” he asked frantically as he started slurring his speech. “You knew it wasn’t dead.” He said as he started to drool uncontrollably, now unable to swallow.

“Amazing how quickly the venom works its way into the bloodstream. That was an uncommon grass snake. Discernible from the common one only by the yellow stripe along its belly. And he does bite. I thought it a fitting end considering what I’d heard of you from your own men.”

“But… he bit you too…” Kabuto said, almost completely incoherently.

Kakashi nodded. “I guess my skill is a bit more useful than yours is. Too bad I couldn’t find that powder, you would’ve died almost instantly. I will pass the news of your death on to your men. Perhaps in your next life you’ll make better choices and be less of a snake. Best of luck to you,” he said sincerely. Even though the man had every intention of killing Shanan and seemed all around despicable, Kakashi never did enjoy taking anyone’s life.

He turned his gaze from Kabuto, who now looked as though he’d been frozen in place as he sat wide-eyed with drool still hanging from his open mouth, and ran over to Shanan to untie her.

Once she was untied and he’d removed the gag and the blindfold, Shanan touched his face and smiled at him. “My love,” she said softly.

Kakashi pulled his mask down and smiled back at her before leaning in to kiss her deeply. How he’d missed those lips on his. The way she set him completely ablaze. Her fingers in his hair as she pulled him closer. How he wished he’d been able to fight off Obito’s charm like he’d tried so hard to do. Five years without her kiss felt like both yesterday and an entire lifetime, and nothing would ever take it from him again. 

“How did you know?” he asked when he finally pulled his lips away.

She chuckled at him and shook her head. “I only just listened to you speaking for a good five minutes. I’d know that angelic voice of yours anywhere.”

“Is that so, my love?” 

“Always.” she said before pulling him close and crashing her lips into his again. She never thought she’d see him again, let alone kiss him again. All of the love she’d ever had for him came floating to the surface, but it had always been right there anyway. She’d only been saving it for the afterlife when they finally met again. But now she could let it overflow once more and so she did.

“Who writes this crap?”

“I already told you. Some old guy.”

“Oh, so you’re all a bunch of pervs.”

“Shut up.”

Chapter Text

“Well, it seems there was an epic battle here,” Itachi said as he followed the tracks around the ruined castle.

“You think so?” Obito asked as he, too, tried to make heads or tails of the footprints.

“I’m sure of it. In fact, the winner took off that way towards Guilder and the loser, along with someone much larger, ran off in that direction,” he said as he pointed away from Guilder.

“Probably some of Kabuto’s men. Do you think we should go after them?”

“No. Only Shanan matters. You said that this Kabuto was taking her to Guilder to murder her, right? Were we supposed to be following their trail the whole time only to stumble upon her dead body and act surprised?” Itachi asked, still very bitter.

Obito sighed and rubbed his neck nervously. “I… had planned to bring a few men and leave you out of it, but… yes,” he said, unable to look at Itachi.

“Let's go then,” Itachi said through clenched teeth. “Who knows how much time we’ve lost or if we’re too late.”

“I don’t think we were too far behind, cousin,” Obito tried to assure both Itachi and himself. He would never forgive himself if Itachi lost the girl that he loved just so that he could try and steal the girl he loved back. Though he wasn’t sure if he’d ever forgive himself for even attempting to have her murdered, even if they did rescue her in time.

Kakashi led Shanan through the countryside of Guilder as they had to take the long way back to his boat. “So tell me what happened to that Kabuto, I followed a trail of blood about halfway up the hill before it stopped and I noticed he had part of your dress wrapped around him. His own men seemed to cower at the thought of him, so what did you do to him?”

Shanan smiled proudly at him as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “Well, as soon as he left Choji, the giant, behind to fight you, I attacked him. He was stronger than he looked though, but I managed to grab that little dagger of his and got him pretty good before he finally restrained me.”

Kakashi put his hand on the side of her face and looked at her, worried. “Did he hurt you?”

“No, my love. He wanted to wait until we got closer to the castle.” He was already dead, so there was no point in telling Kakashi that he’d slapped her and that it had been pretty hard, though she was surprised there wasn’t still a mark on her face based on how long it had stung her cheek.

“I’m glad you didn’t go so quietly, though I’d be surprised if you had,” he told her as he gave her a quick kiss.

As they started walking, Shanan couldn’t help but think about how close to Rin they were. “You know, I often think about when Hidan took Rin away.”

Kakashi frowned as he thought about the day again. Until recently he’d been made to forget a few of the details. “I do too.”

“I’d like to think that if it were me he’d picked, I’d have fought Hidan too, but I’m not so sure. Not with all the people I loved so close and vulnerable.”

“Well, I don’t think King Madara would’ve allowed Hidan to hurt any of us.”

“No. He wouldn’t have. He’s really lovely,” she assured him.

Kakashi stopped and looked at her, confused. “What’s that?”

“Do– do you not know where I’ve been?” she asked as she tilted her head to the side.

He slowly shook his head at her. “No. I’d just reached Florin and something…” he looked down and thought for a moment before looking back up at her. “Something told me exactly where you were and that you were in trouble, so I followed you. Found a small fishing boat and it didn't take me long to close the distance between my row boat and Kabuto’s sloop. Where did they take you from anyway?”

Shanan grimaced at the thought of having to fill him in on the last six months. 

Kakashi watched her as she tried to form the words, worried about what she was about to say to him. Five years was a long time after all. 

“Well, I was on my horse in the forest when they grabbed me. But, I live at the castle.” She took a deep breath before she continued, since she knew he’d be upset to hear the next words she knew she had to say. “Obito chose me to be his bride…”

Once they came upon the area with the large boulders, Itachi jumped down from his horse as he looked around the area in shock.

“This looks even more intense than the fencing match.”

Obito climbed down from his horse to stand next to Itachi. “It looks as though a few large boulders and even a tree were completely destroyed.”

“Who were these men that you hired?” Itachi asked incredulously.

“I–” Obito stared at the ground as he swallowed hard. “I don’t know, cousin. I’m sorry.”

Itachi glared at Obito momentarily, but kept calm and started to look for tracks instead of saying all he wanted to say. “These tracks right here match one of the fighters from earlier.” He pointed down to a trail of them as Obito stood next to him. “You can tell that he was moving extremely fast. I wonder if that’s his skill.”

“Were there any signs of him moving as quickly at the castle?”

“No, but perhaps he didn’t feel the need to utilize his skill then.” Itachi followed the trail and gasped when he saw the tracks of the other fighter. “Obito, look.” He pointed down to a set of footprints big enough for both of them to lay in.

“Who–?” Obito started as he looked around.

“There was a larger set of prints with the loser of the last match. They weren’t nearly this large, but I’m betting it’s the same person.”

“A skill of growing larger?”

“I would say so,” Itachi said thoughtfully. “That would explain the large broken boulders. Mere pebbles to someone like that. And would also explain why the other guy had to move so quickly to dodge those.”

“But who on Earth is this other guy?”

Itachi looked at Obito plainly. “Your guess is as good as mine, cousin. Though with the mess you’ve created here, it could very well be anyone.”

“Itachi,” Obito said, pleading.

“We don’t have time for this,” he said as he quickly made his way to his horse. “The other guy was the winner here too, it seems. His trail goes off towards the hill while the giant made his way back to the cliff. Let’s hurry.”

Obito. The very man that had banished him from his home, from his life and from his love, had come and laid claim to that very love of his. Much like Hidan, the vile, slimy Prince of Guilder, had done to Obito.

“So–”

“I don’t love him, I–” Shanan started as her eyes started to tear up.

“Then it’s settled. Easy. We can go back to my ship and live happily. Peacefully. We can even send for your parents and they can travel with us.”

Shanan’s shoulders slumped as she looked back at the ground. “I… Obito and I never got along, Kakashi, but there was someone else. Is?...” she considered momentarily. “No. Was. I–” she suddenly felt really guilty. 

“It’s alright,” he said as he pulled her into his arms. “You thought I’d died a long time ago.”

Shanan cried into him for a few minutes. She never meant to hurt either Kakashi or Itachi. And as much as she now cared for Itachi, as much as she’d fallen for him over the last several months, her love for Kakashi was deep seated and had been very much a part of her for over six years now. Her love for Kakashi kept her going on days she felt lonely or hopeless. And on the days where all she did was worry about Rin and what Hidan was subjecting her to, it was Kakashi that had gotten her through all of that. There’d always been a small sliver of hope somewhere in her mind that maybe Kakashi hadn’t died and that he would one day return to her.

“I’ve been with someone else. We shared feelings for one another, but… I will always choose you, Kakashi. I’m so sorry. I will never doubt again,” she said apologetically.

Kakashi smiled softly at her as he gently grabbed her chin and tilted her face up to look at him. “Oh, my love, there will never be a need.” 

He leaned down and kissed her deeply as he poured every bit of his soul into her. Claiming the heart that should’ve always belonged to no one else but him and making sure she knew that he bore no ill will against her for nearly giving it to someone else in his absence. If he were to blame anyone for her confusion, it was Obito. Though he might even go a step further and blame Hidan. But he hadn’t decided yet as he lost himself in–

“Oh my GOD! We get it! They love each other and kissing is beautiful and–”

“Don’t make me close this book and leave right now, Naruto!”

“You wouldn’t dare! And leave me hanging?” 

“Oh wouldn’t I?”

“But– it’s just getting good.”

“Then stop interrupting me.”

“...”

“I’ll do it. I’ll leave right now.”

“Fine.”

“Good. Ok… Though he might even go a step further and blame Hidan. But he hadn’t decided yet as he lost himself in–”

–reminding Shanan how much he loved her, how much he always had and how much he always would. 

Once they reached the rock, they saw a man with white hair lying behind it and Obito quickly flashed back to Kakashi until they approached him and saw his glasses. 

“This is Kabuto,” Obito said as he looked around. I’ve only seen his face, but this is definitely him.

Itachi bent down to examine the body. “He’s been bitten.” 

Obito watched as Itachi examined the bite on Kabuto’s face. “A snake? Seems fitting.”

“I’m sure it was. Looks like an uncommon grass snake. Most people don’t know of their existence as the normal ones don’t bite humans, I’m sure he thought it was dead and went to toss it away from him,” he said as he stood up and looked around. “Now the real question is, was this all a fluke? An accidental death? Or did our mystery guest use this snake as a weapon against your man?”

“Accident sounds too serendipitous, my money is on weapon.”

Itachi continued to survey the area since Kabuto was still quite warm. “Who is it, Obito? Who are we dealing with right now?”

Obito furrowed his brow as he shook his head. “I can’t think of anyone that would take Shanan. Unless–”

“Who?”

“Do you think Hidan found out?”

Itachi considered for a split second before shaking his head. “If Hidan had found out then he wouldn’t have interfered.”

“You’re right. He’d welcome a war between our two countries.”

“Who else, cousin? Think!”

Ever since he’d laid eyes on Kabuto’s white hair, he couldn’t help but think about Kakashi. Hidan also had white hair, but his was always slicked back, unlike Kakashi’s.

“I can tell you have someone in mind. Spit it out.”

“Kakashi. But… there’s just no way.”

Itachi swallowed down the jealousy that had suddenly risen in his chest. He hadn’t had to worry about the man since they all knew him to be dead. But the mere suggestion, however outrageous it may be, that he might still be alive and was the one currently rescuing Shanan, made Itachi feel incredibly uneasy. If anyone were going to rescue her, he wanted it to be him. And if not, then someone that had no ties or claim to her heart.

Obito could sense the change in Itachi’s mood. He’d spent the better part of the last two days worried, hurt and angry, but even mentioning Kakashi seemed to shake him. A feeling he was all too familiar with, especially when it came to Kakashi. “Surely it can’t be him, though,” Obito said confidently. “Even if he hadn’t been murdered, he was still ordered to never return. So don’t worry, Itachi. Whoever it is has now kidnapped the Princess and must therefore die.”

All Itachi could do was nod, but now that the idea had been put out into the universe, he couldn’t shake the uncertainty of it all.

“Where do the tracks lead?” Obito asked in an attempt to recenter Itachi’s focus.

“I–” He looked around and then off in the direction the pair had run. “It’s this way. Towards…” he trailed off. “Oh no.” Itachi took a few steps forward and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword out of habit.

“Where? What is it?” Obito asked wide eyed. “Where is he taking her?”

Itachi looked over at Obito with worry and concern on his face as he tried not to panic. “The Fire Swamp.”

Chapter Text

As much as they would’ve preferred to avoid it, Kakashi and Shanan made their way into the fire swamp as the only path to Kakashi’s boat went straight through it. 

“Are you sure there’s no other way? We’ll never survive this place.”

“Nonsense,” Kakashi laughed. “You’re only saying that, because no one ever has.”

Once they crossed the threshold of the treeline, everything became much more dark and ominous as if the pair had stepped into a nightmare.

Shanan held on to Kakashi, afraid of what might possibly be lurking in the shadows of the tall, gnarled trees. 

“It’s not that bad,” Kakashi said as he looked around and nodded.

Shanan looked at him incredulously. She thought it was the most terrifying place she’d ever seen with her own eyes.

“I’m not saying I’d like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite nice.”

She continued to look at him, waiting for any indication that he’d been joking, but he remained as deadpan as ever.

Once they took a couple more steps into the fire swamp, they heard a few loud spurts and looked around them, confused, before a flame shot up from the ground, igniting the bottom of Shanan’s dress.

But before she even had time to decide what to do, Kakashi grabbed her and sat her down while he made short work of smothering the flames out. With barely a burn on his fingers, he helped her up again. 

“Singed a bit, were you?” he asked her cheekily.

Shanan smiled and shook her head. “You?”

Kakashi shook his head and smirked before grabbing her hand and leading them deeper in. “Ah well, I will say one thing, the fire swamp certainly keeps you on your toes.”

Shanan followed him, completely in disbelief, as she tucked her hair behind her ear. When she arrived at the Cliffs of Insanity this morning, the last thing she had expected to happen was that she would be rescued by Kakashi, of all people. And yet, here they were, navigating their way through the fabled fire swamp together.

Kakashi made sure to stay in front of Shanan as he chopped down branches and vines and moved her out of the way at even the faintest spurting sound. 

He made sure to tell her all about what he’d been doing for the last five years, since she’d already told him as much as she could about her life and time in the castle.

“This will all soon be but a happy memory,” Kakashi said cheerfully. “The pirate ship Revenge is anchored just outside of Florin, and I am, as you know by now, Hashirama.”

Shanan looked at him, perplexed. “But how is that possible? He’s been marauding twenty years, and you only left me five years ago.”

“Right, well it’s all very simple.”

“Go on.”

“Shortly after leaving you, my ship was attacked and boarded by none other than Hashirama Senju himself along with his pirate crew. He lined all of us up in a row and proceeded to kill each member one by one, as was his usual routine, but when he got to me, I couldn’t stop myself.”

“From?” Shanan asked him.

“From… saying one word. Please.”

“Please?”

Kakashi stopped and looked at her, longing. “Yes. Please. I need to live. It was the please that caught his attention. Of course I told him all about you and he seemed to hang onto my every word as I spoke, not only of your beauty, but of your intelligence and your cunning and your humor.”

She couldn’t keep herself from blushing as he continued.

“He finally took pity on me. Told me to rise and stand with his second in command. Said, ‘alright Kakashi, I’ve never had a valet, we can try it for tonight, I’ll most likely kill you in the morning, though.’ Three years, he said that. Every night before going to sleep. Until finally the strangest thing happened.”

“What was it?”

“Well… Hashirama had finally grown so rich he decided that he was ready to retire. So he pulled me aside and told me a secret.” Kakashi stopped and looked at Shanan as if to gauge her reaction. “‘I am not the Dread Pirate Hashirama,’ he said to me.”

Shanan furrowed her brow at him in confusion.

He turned back to chopping down vines and branches as he continued. “‘My name is Hiruzen Sarutobi. I inherited the name from a man named Tobirama Senju, who inherited it from his older brother, the real Hashirama Senju.’ And then he explained that it was the name that really mattered. You see, no one would surrender to Kakashi Hatake. So we stopped at a smaller port and took on a whole new crew with him as my first mate, all the while he called me Hashirama. And once the crew believed, I’ve been Hashirama ever since. Though I suppose I could hand off the name to someone else if you prefer to live on land.”

Shanan nodded gently. 

Kakashi stopped again and looked at her curiously. “So has Obito charmed you at all? I’m assuming he told you to go to the castle with him to be his bride, but you don’t seem to be struggling with leaving.”

She couldn’t keep herself from laughing as she shook her head at him.

“What is it? When he ordered me never to return, my body wouldn’t ever let me move with the intention of returning here for even a second. Nothing I did would let me even try to come home.”

“Oh, my love,” she said as she touched his face softly. “My skill never actually was beauty.”

“No?”

She shook her head. “I’m not sure what to call it, but nobody can use their skill on me. And Obito tried to. He was quite upset when it didn’t work on me. Especially when I fought with him as he stuffed me into that carriage.”

Kakashi smiled at her. “Of course you did.”

“He carried those marks for days. But even Kabuto couldn’t use his intellect against me. And Sasuke. Well, apparently he can make himself invisible. But I could see him the entire time. Kicked him right in his face when he tried to pull me from my horse.”

“He did mention something along those lines,” he said as he laughed.

“Though, the more I think about it, the more I realize that it might not always be a good thing.”

“How’s that, my love?”

“Well, imagine I got severely injured. Not even Lady Tsunade could use her healing powers on me.”

“That’s a fair point,” Kakashi said with a slight frown. “Well, I suppose we better wrap you in wool so that nothing ever happens to you.”

Shanan shook her head and laughed before taking a few steps toward a small clearing. Just as she stepped onto a small pile of leaves, the ground underneath her gave out and she fell completely through before she even had time to scream.

Kakashi’s eyes widened as he looked down at the small patch of earth and quickly realized that this was the second mystery of the Fire Swamp; lightning sand.

He grabbed a vine and cut it in half so that he could hold onto it and dived in immediately after her.

It was quite deep, but, luckily, it wasn’t bottomless. He was able to locate her still struggling to climb her way out to no avail, but as soon as she felt him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and he started climbing the vine. All she needed to do was hold onto him and they’d be out where they could breathe once more. 

The weight of the sand seemed to push against them as if trying to keep them down, and though the muscles in his arms were burning and aching and felt as if they might fall off, he refused to give up. If he stopped for even a second, he’d never be able to start again. And he had no idea if Shanan was even holding her breath still or if she’d be able to for much longer if she was. But she hadn’t let go of him, so he pushed through the resistant sand until finally, they broke through the top as both of them instinctively took in as much oxygen as they could. Sweet, burning oxygen. And a little bit of sand, but mostly oxygen.

Kakashi helped her onto solid ground and they both laid there for several moments as they caught their breath and cleared their lungs of whatever sand had made its way into their airways.

Once they sat up, Shanan couldn’t keep herself from sobbing. She was sure she would die as soon as she realized what had happened and that she’d fallen into lightning sand. Her entire life had already been playing through in her mind when she felt Kakashi grab her arm. She’d been so close to inhaling a mouth full of sand, but then feeling him there made her hold off. She knew as soon as he appeared next to her that they would both survive. And now she was completely overwhelmed, because they could both be lying in the bottom of that pit, already gone from this world. 

Kakashi cupped her face in his hands. “I told you I would always come for you, my love.”

She nodded as he brushed her now sandy hair out of her face.

“And you know, if we wanted to, we could live here forever.” He kissed her forehead and smiled at her softly.

Shanan chuckled quietly through her tears and he helped her to her feet.

“No, really. We already have this place figured out, and we’re both quite brave if I do say so myself.”

“Well, don’t be too confident there. We still haven’t seen an R.O.U.S."

“Rodents of unusual size? I don’t know if I believe in those,” he said thoughtfully.

And right on cue, a gigantic rodent leapt at Kakashi, knocking him backwards onto the ground.

Kakashi didn’t waste any time in activating his lightning, and had hoped that that would do the trick. But as he threw the rodent off of him and stood up, he was surprised to realize that he was now dealing with a supercharged R.O.U.S.

“Take this,” Kakashi said as he handed his katana to her. “And keep an eye out for any more of these things.”

“We should just run, look at that thing!”

“I’ll be fine, my love. I do have a few other skills I can use on him.”

Shanan relented. “Just be careful please. I can’t lose you again,” she said as she moved to a defensive position, sword at the ready.

“As you wish,” he whispered as he winked at her.

The rodent stood, waiting ominously with electricity coursing over its body. And the way he watched the two of them, he almost seemed sentient and excited for the battle that was about to take place.

Kakashi got low to the ground and before Shanan could see him move, he was gone from his starting position and had already tackled the rodent to the ground as he attempted to overload the thing with as much electricity as possible.

“I don’t think that’s working, my love!” Shanan yelled out to him as she continued to scan the area for any more of the giant rats.

Kakashi threw the rodent a good twenty feet before standing up breathlessly. “I can see that. If only the thing could speak, I could charm him into just forgetting about us.”

“That would be quite lovely, but, I’m sure the stupid rat wouldn’t understand. You’ll just have to fight him. And stop giving him power. He’s growing stronger every time you give him more of your electricity.”

Kakashi made note of her words and squared up with the rodent once more.

As he charged this time, he used more of his strength and threw the thing into a large tree, which did more to the tree than it did to the rodent. 

“Make sure you keep a look out,” he reminded Shanan as the rodent shook off the blow and scrambled to its feet.

She looked around once more with the sword ready. “I am, just don’t let this one out of your sight.”

Kakashi chuckled at the thought. The thing was glowing bright blue with bands of electricity encompassing it. Hard to miss. “I don’t think we have to worry about–” he started to say as he spotted a nice section of lightning sand. 

Just as he noticed the sand, the rodent glared at him as he swiped his two front feet on the ground, ready to run full strength at Kakashi. 

All Kakashi had to do was get him close to the pit of sand and he could be rid of the thing.

Just as the rodent made his move towards him, Kakashi ran head on towards the rodent and they clashed in midair nearly halfway, right next to the pit of lightning sand. 

The rat knocked Kakashi back onto the ground and dug his front teeth into Kakashi’s shoulder before he could successfully pull him away. He attempted to pull the giant rat’s jaw apart, but he resisted Kakashi’s strength and snapped his jaw shut. 

Just as he went to close his jaw around Kakashi’s throat, Kakashi channeled his father’s skill and rolled towards the pit of lightning sand, sending the now solid, silver R.O.U.S. into the bottom of the pit.

Kakashi lay there panting breathlessly as he grabbed his shoulder, unsure if he could heal himself or just other people.

Shanan took one last look around, still brandishing Kakashi’s katana before deciding that the rodent didn’t have any friends coming to help. “Kakashi!” she yelled as she ran to kneel beside him. “Oh no, that’s deep,” she said, frantic, as she examined the bite on his shoulder.

“No, it’s alright. I think I can heal myself.”

“You think?”

“I haven’t done it, and it’s not the miracle that Tsunade has, surely, but I think I’m able to,” he said as a green aura surrounded his hand. The wound on his shoulder began to close immediately and the blood stopped pouring from the various bits of masticated flesh as they smoothed into normal again.

“Wow. That’s quite impressive. Does it hurt?”

Kakashi winced as he looked up at her and continued to heal himself. “Oh, just a bit, my love…”

They finally made their way out of the fire swamp, exhausted, as they gripped each other's hands tightly. They both could’ve laid down on the spot and fallen asleep, but they were just glad to be on the other side and that they were still together. 

Shanan took a deep breath as she inhaled the fresh, crisp air, free from the musty decay of the thick, overgrown swamp. As she exhaled, she let out a relieved chuckle and Kakashi pulled her close, ready to kiss her deeply once more.

Just before their lips met, they were both pulled back to the reality of approaching horses.

Shanan looked up and was a bit surprised to see Obito and Itachi in front of them.

“Surrender,” Obito ordered as his horse came to a stop.

“You mean, you wish to surrender to me?” Kakashi asked him cheekily. “Ah, well… I accept.”

Obito’s eyes widened as they registered Kakashi’s face. “You… How di–”

“How am I back?” he asked as he smirked. “I assume this is only the second time this has happened to you?”

“Cousin…” Itachi started, though he needn’t ask at this point. All of his second worst fears were rushing to the forefront of his mind at the moment, surpassed only by Shanan being in any kind of danger.

“I was very specific,” Obito said frantically.

“Indeed you were.”

Shanan looked around as several men suddenly surrounded them and pointed their crossbows right at Kakashi. Surely he could take them, but there was a chance he might not escape them. And while he’d been exposed to Obito’s skill, he had never come across Itachi’s skill and she wanted to avoid that if at all possible. “Will you promise not to hurt him?” she yelled out before she could stop herself. 

Kakashi looked at her with an eyebrow raised. As did both Obito and Itachi.

Shanan looked at Kakashi, pleading, begging him to trust her, before advancing towards the pair of Uchiha’s. “Please, Obito,” she asked before shifting her desperate gaze to his dear cousin. “Itachi. Please. Just let him go back to his ship. He saved me from Kabuto. Don’t punish him.”

Obito looked back up at Kakashi in disbelief. Still completely suspicious of how he’d even broken through his charm and returned. All of the hatred he held for him was as strong as ever and all he wanted to do was cut him down and be done with him, but he knew that Shanan would never come back from it. And killing him outright was not something he felt he could justify even just to Rin’s memory. “Fine. No harm will come to him,” he said through gritted teeth. “Itachi?” 

Itachi gave Obito a short, quick nod, but struggled to make eye contact with Shanan. 

“Right. Let’s go, Shanan. Itachi will take the long way and make sure Kakashi is taken care of.”

Shanan looked back at Kakashi, longing, with tears in her eyes. “I lost you once. I can’t do it again. Not when I could save you,” she said as Obito rode up to her and swooped her up effortlessly onto his horse.

Kakashi furrowed his brow after her as they rode off and then looked back at Itachi. 

“Right. Well, let’s get you back to your ship," Itachi said coldly.

“We’re men of action, sir, lies do not become us."

Itachi glared down at him. Pain in his eyes as he measured the man in front of him. This was the man that Shanan had loved? This was who she was choosing over him? “Well spoken,” he said as he began to sheathe his blade.

Kakashi laughed as he watched him. “I see you’re missing your left arm. Someone was looking for you.”

Itachi frowned as he quickly redrew his blade and hit Kakashi on his head with the hilt, effectively knocking him out.