(Updated😘)

Kakashi Hatake had faced a thousand enemies. He’d stood on the battlefield with blood on his hands and death at his heels. He had mastered jutsu that most shinobi could only dream of.

But nothing — nothing — prepared him for this.

Sitting in the middle of the Hatake household, arms crossed, jaw tight, as his father Sakumo smiled calmly and said:

“You’re getting married.”

Kakashi blinked. Once.

“I’m sorry, what?”

Sakumo leaned back with the confidence of a man who had already made up his mind. “The Nara clan and I have made an agreement. Strategic alliance. Long overdue. She’s strong, smart, and… tolerant. You’ll figure it out.”

Kakashi scoffed. “Tolerant of what? My resentment?”

Before Sakumo could respond, the front door creaked

And in walked you.

Wearing calm like armor and beauty like danger.

You bowed politely. “Hatake-sama. Kakashi.”

Kakashi didn’t move. Just watched you with cool, unreadable eyes.

He hated this.

He hated the way your presence meant everything was real now. That you were the person chosen for him — without his input. That you looked so composed, while his whole world felt like it had been yanked out from under him.

Sakumo, ever the optimist, clapped his hands together. “Wonderful. You’re both here. I’ll give you a moment to… talk.”

The door shut behind him.

You turned to Kakashi. “So… I assume you’re thrilled.”

He gave a slow, sarcastic smile beneath the mask. “Ecstatic.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Good. Because I’m equally overjoyed at being tied to a brooding, emotionally unavailable war hero with commitment issues.”

Kakashi chuckled darkly. “At least you did your research.”

Silence hung between you. Tense. Sharp.

Then you said quietly, “I don’t want this either. But we’re shinobi. We don’t always get to choose.”

His expression didn’t change. But you noticed the flicker in his eye.

“You think this is some noble sacrifice?” he said. “Being stuck with someone you don’t care about — just to please your clan?”

“No,” you said simply. “I think it’s war in a different form.”

He looked at you then. Really looked. For a second, something unreadable passed through him — like recognition.

But it vanished.

“Fine,” he said coldly. “We’ll play house. Smile for the elders. Sleep in separate rooms. Do our duty.”

You met his gaze without flinching. “That’s all I ask.”

Neither of you knew it then, but this fight — this resentment — would be the start of something far deeper.

Because hate is just another form of obsession.

And Kakashi Hatake would soon learn…

He didn’t hate you nearly as much as he wanted to.