Chapter Text
"Kakashi…"
"Yes, Hime-chan?"
"I-I… umm… I need to ask you for something. Could you… help me?"
"That depends." Kakashi arched a brow, his visible eyes narrowing playfully.
'Hime-chan.' He'd been calling her that since she was four years old. The nickname had long outgrown its meaning, yet he never stopped using it. My Hime. That's what he always said — half teasing, half tender. They had known each other for a long time. Longer than the years she spent pining after Naruto, even longer than she had known her teammates. And certainly, long before Hanabi was born.
The story of Hinata's kidnapping at age three was no secret in Konoha. Everyone knew — or at least, they knew of it. Maybe not the full story, not back when she was still a Genin. But by now, it had become part of the village's recorded history. The details — the who, the how, the aftermath — were all written in the sealed archives of the Konoha library.
It was because of that incident that Kakashi Hatake, then only fifteen back then, was personally appointed by Hyūga Hiashi, head of the Hyūga clan, to be Hinata's personal guardian. Naturally, Kakashi refused at first. The Hyūga were no ordinary clan; they could've chosen any of their own clansmen to protect her. And Kakashi's duties as an ANBU certainly didn't include babysitting noble heirs. So he didn't understand why he'd been chosen.
But after the Third Hokage himself intervened, Kakashi relented. Hiashi had lost faith in his own clan — the kidnapping had been possible because of a traitor within. So he'd requested an outsider. Someone trustworthy. Someone who could protect Hinata until things returned to normal. And from that moment on, the two of them grew close. What started as duty slowly turned into something quieter, gentler — a bond built through years of shared silence, small smiles, and unspoken trust.
"I-I-I was wondering i-i-if… you would marry me."
Hinata couldn't meet his eyes as she said it, her voice barely above a whisper.
"What?"
Kakashi, who had been lazily flipping through his favorite book, froze. His relaxed gaze snapped into sharp focus, as if someone had just poured a bucket of ice water over his head. Then, he laughed.
"Your sense of humor's finally catching up to mine. You've been spending too much time with me, Hime."
Hinata's gaze fell, her lips pressed tight as she tried to recall the words she'd rehearsed over and over the night before. Her heart was racing. Her face burned. But she had no other choice.
She was desperate now.
And Kakashi… was her only way out.
"Y-Y-You know… the clan has decided I'm old enough to marry," Hinata began softly, her voice trembling. "So they've started looking for a suitable match. They've already sent invitations to several allied nations—those interested in taking me as a wife."
Her words fell heavy, her tone barely above a whisper.
The sadness in her voice couldn't be hidden. Who wouldn't feel sad, knowing their life was being decided by others? But Hinata was… Hinata. Always the good daughter. Maybe too good.
So when her father first told her about the decision, she hadn't dared to argue. Hanabi had done it for her—furious, loud, and reckless. Her little sister nearly slit the throats of the elders with a kunai for even daring to bring up the idea. It took Hinata three full hours to calm her down afterward.
"I-I-I don't want to marry someone from outside Konoha," she continued, her fingers tightening in her lap. "I don't want to leave this village. I want to stay here… even if it means marrying someone I don't love."
The silver-haired man frowned beneath his mask. "But… why me?"
His voice was calm, but his mind was racing. "Why not Naruto? Didn't you… like him? Or Kiba? Or Shino? I'm sure either of them would do it for you."
"Kiba has Tamaki-san," Hinata said with a small, sad smile. "And I know if I asked, both Kiba and Shino would agree. But they're like brothers to me. They're like Neji to me. And I could never let them throw away their lives just to protect mine."
The Jonin stared at her, momentarily stunned.
If she felt that way about them—why didn't she feel the same about him? Did she not realize he had a life of his own too? He was much older than Kiba or Shino—older even than Neji had been. By all logic, she should see him as more of a brother… or even a father figure.
He winced inwardly at the thought. Father.
No — not a father. That made him sound too old, too far away. And for some reason, the idea unsettled him more than it should have.
"What about Naruto?" he asked quietly.
Hinata froze. Her breath caught.
"H-H-He…" she stammered.
"What?"
"N-N-Naruto-kun… rejected me."
This time, the tears came before she could stop them. She had thought she was stronger than this. That by morning, her heart would stop hurting. But her eyes betrayed her, shimmering with the pain she tried so hard to swallow. She quickly wiped them away.
"Oh," he murmured, his voice softer now. "Did he tell you why?"
"He just said he sees me as a friend," she whispered. "And that he still has feelings for Sakura-chan."
Silence fell between them.
Only the wind moved—gentle, passing through the trees. Birds chirped somewhere in the distance, and the laughter of children echoed faintly across the training grounds.
It should’ve been peaceful, yet now it felt unbearably heavy.
Kakashi exhaled slowly, drawing in the quiet air that suddenly felt too thick, too still—
He didn't even know how he'd gotten himself tangled up in all of this.
Marriage?
Him?
Marry?
The words felt strange, almost ridiculous, echoing in his head like a bad joke that refused to end. He'd fought wars, buried friends, faced gods—and now here he was, being asked to consider marriage by the Hyūga former heiress of all people.
He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This is absurd…" he muttered under his breath.
Across from him, Hinata's fingers twisted nervously in her lap. She didn't speak. She didn't dare. Every second of silence stretched like a blade between them.
The gray-eyed man finally looked up, his gaze softening just slightly. The poor girl looked terrified, and yet… determined. There was a quiet strength there, buried beneath the shyness he'd always known.
He sighed again. "You really thought this through, didn't you?"
Hinata bit her lip and nodded once, barely meeting his eyes.
Of course she had. Hinata always thought things through—always too carefully, always putting everyone else before herself.
Marriage… huh?
Kakashi leaned back, his hand rubbing at the back of his neck as the weight of her request settled in.
He'd been her protector once. Her shadow. Her guardian. The one who watched her from afar, making sure she never stumbled too hard, never fell too far.
But this?
This was something else entirely.
"So… why me?" Kakashi finally asked.
"Hmm…" she hesitated, her fingers fidgeting slightly. "Because I thought you’ll help me. You always do. You're always there for me. You're my protector… my savior… and my wingless angel."
She smiled then, but it was a fragile smile — the kind that trembled at the edges, the kind both of them knew wasn't real.
"But… Hinata." Kakashi's voice was quiet, uncertain. "We're talking about marriage."
He stumbled over the words, unsure how to say what he needed to without hurting her. He couldn't bring himself to reject her — not outright. He wasn’t the one she should turn to — but how could he refuse when she looked at him like that? And he couldn't stand seeing her trapped in something so unfair. Poor girl. Poor, gentle Hinata, his Hime.
"Hinata… I—"
"I know," she interrupted softly. "It's okay. You don't have to say it. I understand, Kakashi."
Kakashi cursed himself inwardly. He felt useless. "Hinata… I'm sorry." It was all he could manage.
Silence lingered between them, fragile and heavy. Then Hinata spoke again, her voice almost breaking.
"Would you be sad… if I got married? I mean, I wouldn't be here anymore."
"Of course I'd be sad," Kakashi replied lightly, forcing a crooked grin beneath his mask. "No one else in Konoha can tolerate me the way you do. You're the only one patient enough to handle my bad jokes, my lazy habits, and my… questionable hobbies. Everyone else thinks I'm just wasting my life away. But you… you always thought otherwise."
He scratched the back of his head and chuckled softly, trying to lift the mood.
The lavender-eyed girl giggled, her laugh quiet but genuine this time.
"I think I'll miss you most, Kakashi," she said, eyes warm and distant with memory. "I'll miss you in summer… when you'd drag me fishing because Naruto-kun got tired of going with you. I'll miss you in autumn, when we'd lie under the trees—or sometimes hide on top of them—just to avoid Sakura-chan when you were too tired to listen to her complain about Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, or Tsunade-sama."
She smiled faintly. "I'll miss you most in spring, because it's our favorite season. We'd sit on my porch for tea and watch the flowers bloom in the garden I planted. And I'll miss you in winter too… when I'd knit you new scarves and gloves for your collection. We'd go to the winter festival together, celebrate my birthday, and talk about the future like we actually had a clue."
Her voice cracked softly at the end.
The masked man looked at her then — really looked — and for a moment, the world around them seemed painfully still. The wind, the laughter of children, the fading light of day… all of it felt distant.
Because for the first time, he realized what it might mean to lose her.
Slowly, almost hesitantly, he lifted his hand and brushed his fingers against her cheek. His touch lingered for a moment before it moved up, gently smoothing over her hair.
His Hime had grown up.
She was going to get married.
He wondered — was this what parents felt when they watched their children grow and finally leave home?
Or what an older brother felt when he had to entrust his sister to someone else, to be protected and cherished by another?
If that was the case, then Kakashi felt… awful.
Yes — terrible.
Why couldn't Hinata stay four years old forever?
She'd been so tiny then — so fragile that he'd been afraid to hold her too tightly, afraid she might shatter in his arms.
Or twelve?
Back when she'd been the shy, awkward girl with that short, boyish haircut — the cutest of her class, in his quiet opinion.
Or fifteen?
When she'd begun to grow strong, confident… beautiful.
But Kakashi knew better.
Like him, Hinata had grown. She'd learned to stand on her own, to carry her own heart. She was eighteen now — an adult.
Then a thought crossed his mind.
Yes… Hinata was an adult.
So technically, there was no reason he couldn't marry her, was there?
There would be whispers, of course — about the age gap, about their history, about the strange, blurred lines between guardian and ward. But to Kakashi, that wasn't the problem.
The problem was the idea of marriage itself.
He didn't like it.
He liked his life the way it was — quiet, simple, detached. No commitments. No responsibilities beyond the missions and the occasional fishing trip and his books. Marriage meant change. Obligation. A kind of permanence he wasn't sure he could handle.
And if it was Hinata — a Hyūga, from one of the most powerful clans in Konoha — could he even fit into that world? He didn't know.
What he did know was that he wasn't ready. Not now.
Maybe if she asked again in two or three years, when things had settled — maybe then his answer would be different.
But right now… his answer was no.
Hinata's soft voice broke through his thoughts.
"Will you visit me, Kakashi? Wherever it is?"
"I will," he said.
"Even if it's far away from here?"
"Of course."
"Can you promise?"
"I promise."
Kakashi took her hand and held it tightly — tighter than he meant to, as if afraid that if he let go, she might disappear.
He wanted her to know — even if he couldn’t say it aloud — that she mattered.
That he'd always be there.
That he would never forget her.
That even if distance, duty, or time separated them — she would always be his Hime.
Someone precious.
Someone irreplaceable.