(art by @WJbC9K7S6uMJRQ7 on Twitter)
(Y/n) crouched down in order to get a better angle. She pulled the camera to her face and focused the image on the kid in front of her. She smiled when he did, finding the blonde child too cute. Then she snapped the picture.
"Make sure to make me look badass!" Naruto said, pulling out a peace sign. (Y/n) chuckled.
"Where did you learn that word?" she asked, arching a brow and looking at the picture.
"Who cares," he said, running to (Y/n)'s side in order to look at the picture "Can I have it?" he asked now, looking at her with excited eyes and bouncing his legs. (Y/n) chuckled again.
"We need to print it first," she said, standing up and making the kid pout.
"And when will that be?" he asked, excited once more.
"I still have some shots left in this film, so we'll have to wait," he pouted again while the two of them resumed their walk "or," he now looked up at her with shine in his eyes "we can keep taking pictures and go develop them later," Naruto nodded effusively and both of them continued walking, running and walking around the fields of wheat.
(Y/n) took more pictures of him playing around, of him failing to make a clone jutsu, she took pictures of the beautiful fields and the blue sky, and the beautiful butterflies that flew around. Even Naruto wanted to take pictures of (Y/n) as well. And after a long and tiring morning, once they were exhausted and sweating from being under the warm sun for so long, they went to eat lunch at Ichiraku. But only after having developed the pictures.
"Ha! I'm such a good photographer," Naruto said with his mouth full of ramen while they both looked through the pictures they took.
"Well, if you ever get tired of being a ninja you now know you can always be a professional photographer," she teased him, eating from her own bowl of ramen.
"Never! I will be a ninja. The greatest ninja of all times!" he said with a frown more prominent due to his cheeks full of noodles. (Y/n) laughed, swearing she could almost see the steam coming out of his nostrils.
"What will you have?" Teuchi asked the person who just sat on the stool on (Y/n)'s right. But she didn't pay much attention as she was looking to her left, looking at Naruto.
"Nothing, thank you," he said. But such short words were enough to have (Y/n)'s blood freeze, her smile had disappeared and she was starting to have a frown. She slowly turned to her right, only to find her father "I finally find you," he said with a solemn tone different than the one he had the last time they talked "I thought I was clear the other day. But Sho says you refused even to him personally," he said, sounding annoyed. (Y/n)'s eyes widened, cursing Sho for having betrayed his word.
"He told you that?" she said, sounding bothered as well.
"No," (Y/n)'s frown relaxed a little bit, confused "His grandfather overheard him talking to a friend of his. He didn't say anything to either of us. And I don't understand why" her father answered, arching a brow suspiciously.
"(Y/n)," Naruto called her, squinting his eyes at her father "Who is he? What are you talking about?" he asked, now curiously. (Y/n) smiled at him, although it looked rather strained.
"He's my father," she answered, shocking Naruto "I'll pay for your ramen, why don't you go leave the pictures at your house?" Naruto looked at her and then at her father, who to (Y/n)'s surprise was silent. And in the end, he left the place, leaving the two of them alone.
"I told you, I won't marry him, I don't care what you say," she said, standing her ground with a frown.
"You don't get it, you have no say in this. I thought you would be smart enough to accept it and start working on your relationship with him"(Y/n)'s jaw clenched, and she was starting to have a burning feeling in her throat and nose. She looked at him with hate and a frown, and it took a while for her to get the courage to answer.
"You got to choose to marry mom, why can't I choose who I marry? Alyss isn't being forced to get married either," she said, her voice breaking. His father's angry expression deepened, and putting some money over the counter he grabbed his daughter's arm and forcefully pulled her out of the place.
"Alyss is a ninja that can provide for herself," he said, letting her go once they were outside Ichiraku and in a less secluded street "But in due time, if she can't find anything on her own, I will arrange something for her as well" he said with a stern tone. (Y/n)'s lip trembled.
"But you wouldn't force her to marry someone she doesn't want," she tried to remain responsive. To defend herself, but her confidence and will was starting to get more and more wrecked by him.
"I know what's better for her, and for you," was his answer "Sho is a good man," he now talked with a calmer tone, hoping she would understand "You won't do better, (Y/n). Let's face it," he said with pity in his eyes. (Y/n)'s chest and stomach revolved, anger and sadness mixing "You don't have proper education or qualifications, your only working experience is at a bar and a flower shop, and you have no skills whatsoever. Nobody would lay eyes on you," by now, (Y/n)'s eyes were starting to get wet, and as much as she wanted to respond angrily to all of his claims, she knew some of them were true. And for the other ones... well, her throat hurt too much she feared her voice would break "If you marry Sho, your life will be solved" (Y/n) bit her lower lip, her body trembling a little bit while she tried to gather enough strength not to stutter.
"I. Don't. Want. To marry. Sho" she managed to say, making him sigh, he ran his hand through his forehead, exasperated.
"You will marry him, whether you want to or not. It's on you how you want to live with it. If you want to live resented, bitter, and push the few people you have away, go on. But you'll marry him by the end of the month, and you cannot avoid it," he said before leaving.
(Y/n) stared at his father's figure disappearing down the more crowded street, the more faded his figure, the angrier she felt. Her whole body burned, and she couldn't control her urge to scream. She bawled her hands in a fist with strength, clawing her own nails on her palms, but even then, she was so helpless that it wasn't enough. She kicked the wall while tears streamed down her cheeks, and this time, her scream didn't sound as angry. Instead, it sounded more like a cry for help. She punched the wall then, but she hissed when she felt her knuckles break. Now she was crying for the pain and blood instead of her doomed fate. But when she realized, sadness overcame her again until she was kneeling on the floor, holding her bleeding hand and crying helplessly.
She knew Sho wasn't to blame. It was her father and sister. Even if Alyss had nothing to do with this, the fact that she had always been compared to her had helped his father end up treating her like that. Or perhaps not, perhaps had she been an only child she would have ended like this anyway. But the fact that it was her the one to be forced into a marriage and not Alyss infuriated her the same.
She knew there was nothing she could do, that she couldn't avoid it even if Kakashi promised he would find a solution. Even if Sho promised he would find a solution. Nobody was going to save her from this. Nobody could save her from this.
She tried to dry her tears. Why should she cry if that wasn't going to solve anything? But she couldn't stop. She stood up with trembling hands and with rushed steps, she left the center of Konoha until she arrived at one of her favorite forgotten places.
Just from stepping foot in it, many old emotions flooded her body, mixing with her current desperation. She cried more helplessly, not bothering to stop her tears anymore or to be silent. She didn't care, nobody would hear her there, in such a hidden river. That was one of the reasons why she used to love this place.
After nights of stealing, of feeling like shit and not seeing any future for herself, she would go there to cry, only accompanied by the moon, the stars, and the solitude of the forest. And now, there she was again.
As hours passed, she only felt worse and worse because she now understood the severity of this. In a month, she would move to Sho's house. She would not only be his wife, and be forced to have his children, but she will also continue to be mocked by her grandfather-in-law, father, and sister. She would continue to be forced to see them and act like a good wife, whatever that meant. She could feel how her world was starting to cave in because she knew that her life would be even more miserable than it used to be before she met Kakashi. Her despair and agony only grew when she realized that she would no longer be able to be with her silver-haired boyfriend, so she cried inconsolably.
The pain in her heart was so big, that she didn't even feel the pain in her hand anymore. And her life had suddenly turned so grim that she didn't even realize it was dark outside. So obviously, she didn't realize the distant voice that seemed to be calling her name. She only reacted when the person was right beside her.
"What happened?" Kakashi asked almost with fear in his voice, carefully holding her bruised hand in his. (Y/n) trembled, and slowly looked up at him. And at the sight of his worried masked face, she couldn't help but break crying again. Kakashi didn't waste a second and quickly enveloped her in his arms. He pulled his mask down and, while he rocked her in his arms at a soothing rhythm he also laid short and tender kisses over her head "(Y/n)," he called her after a while "What happened?" he asked again, still with heavy worry. (Y/n) sniffled, but when she tried to talk she choked on her tears. So she only shook her head in denial, hugging him even tighter and making his heart sink.
"I don't want to lose you," she cried. Kakashi frowned, and feeling his own throat closing he hugged her tighter as well.
"You won't," he said, voice breaking slightly. She couldn't help but cry harder.
"Yes," she answered, burying her face in the crook of his neck and getting his shirt all wet "My father will make me marry Sho by the end of this month" she loosened her hug a little, being soothed by Kakashi's caresses on her back. But they stopped upon her words. 'So soon?!' he thought.
Ever since he knew about her arranged marriage he had been trying to think of ways to avoid it, but it was to no avail. He had even mentioned it to the Hokage who did nothing but crush his hopes even more. But he refused to let it happen. He refused to let (Y/n) go, to give her to her abusive family. To give her to someone who wouldn't care for her as he did, who wouldn't care if she was happy or not. He refused to let her cry one more time. But he didn't know how to avoid it, how to make her happy. They stayed like that for what seemed like hours. Both holding each other and holding each other's hands while the breeze from the near-flowing river blew past them. (Y/n) continued to sniffle and tear up, and Kakashi seemed to be completely absent-minded.
He was having similar thoughts to the ones she'd had earlier. He as well couldn't believe something like this would happen, that she would be taken from his side. How could a father force his own daughter to marry someone else?
He continued to try and think of a plan, but he was so scared, and he had already thought of so many possibilities, that all he did was end up getting more depressed. And the more he thought of a plan, the rougher his caresses turned; until he realized. He bit his lip, and gently rubbed his cheek on her head with a soft caress while his hand went to her healthy hand. He looked down, at their now entwined fingers, and with a shaky voice and cautious eyes he spoke.
"Let's get married"
He finally separated to look at her, and his words were so sudden and unexpected that (Y/n) stopped crying for a moment. She looked at him as well, confused, but also feeling a wave of small relief through her body. At least it felt like relief to her, compared to how awful she had been feeling during the whole evening.
Suddenly, when Kakashi had her beautiful (e/c) eyes staring at him from that close he started to feel insecure about his words. But he knew that this was the only way, so he stuck to his plan.
"If we get married I will be your tutor instead, at least for a year until you're 18.... then your father cannot force you to marry someone else,"
(Y/n) blinked in silence, she could not process his words no matter how hard she tried. She would have even thought he was messing with her if it weren't for his warm hands holding hers and the way his dark eyes looked at her. With such pain and sincerity, she swore she was getting bewitched by him.
"I can't make you do that..." she tried to follow logic and not her heart no matter how hard it was pounding. Kakashi's eyes lowered to their hands again and he frowned when he heard she thought she was forcing him.
"We would do it sooner or later anyway," he swallowed "And I'm already all yours," he said, cringing innerly from how cheesy it sounded. But because as much as it sounded weird, it was in all senses true. And in the end, he didn't quite dislike the idea of him being hers, and hers being him. In fact, the more he thought about it the less cringe it sounded.
She blushed, tempted to accept right away. 'We can't get married' she tried to reason with herself 'We're too young!' she panicked. But then she realized she was going to get married anyway. At least, this way, it would be with the person she loved.
"I-" Kakashi stuttered. He could see that (Y/n) was uncertain, and even though he had never thought of marriage, he didn't dislike the idea either. After all, it was like he said, he would have asked her in due time. The only thing he hated was that it had to be this way.
He swallowed, dying from embarrassment. But if marrying (Y/n) was the only way to keep her by his side, he would do it. And if in order to marry her he had to finally confess, he would, no matter what how difficult it was:
"I love you"
(Y/n) blinked twice again, surprised by Kakashi. By his proposal and confession, but again her eyes started to tear up. And in a swift movement, she threw herself in a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck and hiding her face in his neck again. At least though, she wasn't crying but smiling, and if there were any tears they surely weren't from sadness but happiness.
"I love you too," she said, tickling his neck with her voice. She couldn't believe she was actually getting married, but now she didn't feel sad at all upon the thought.
Her simple and short words had been enough to ease Kakashi's worries, and knowing that from now on they would be together forever made him not regret his decision at all. She wouldn't need to see her family ever again, to stand her awful sister or father. He would be the one to be with her. He would worry about her illnesses and well-being. He would make sure to provide for her and that she was happy. And most importantly he would give her the life she deserved, he would try at least.
"We'll go tomorrow to speak to the Hokage," Kakashi spoke, feeling his skin hot from thinking about getting married for real.
At first, he thought he was dreaming, he asked himself what the hell he was thinking of. But as proud as he was, and as edgy as he was, his love for her was more significant than anything else. Surely, this wasn't like he used to be, but it was undeniable that she had changed him as much as he had changed her, and that together they would continue to nurture each other as a person.
He had never felt like he did with her. She had made him forget about his miseries and nightmares, about Obito and Rin; and as much as it bothered him to forget them, he was embarrassingly glad that he didn't live in pain anymore. And it was all thanks to her. So if he were to live without her, if he had to give up on her... only God knows what would be of him.
No, he had to marry her to prevent that from happening. But most importantly, he wanted to marry her. She separated from him, drying her wet and red cheeks, and nodded.
"Ah, I'm sorry, I got your shoulders and chest all wet..." she said embarrassed, but he made his usual closed-eye smile. He didn't say anything and instead, he made her look at him from her chin just to lay a long and tender kiss.
"It's fine. I have more shirts, but there's only one of you," he said, making her even softer. So much that she unconsciously leaned in and kissed him back.