X+Family Judgment+X

[Scαrιετ]

Despite the stares, Kakashi just went on walking slowly. Already, he began the test of love that he had foreseen: being judged and not accepted. There was a careless gleam in his eye as he walked along Kanetsu. He noticed Hyuga children coming outside to play. Some of them waved. He acknowledged each one with a smiling gleam in his eye, and a little wave here and there with his free hand. He knew these kids were the future of the Hyuga clan. Some would be geniuses. Some would perhaps be shy, like Hinata. But they carried the kenkai genkkai Kakashi knew and respected.
He felt the warmth of the setting sun on his face, enjoying it's warmth, though it wasn't much. It had been a cold day, after all. The sun, even though it had made it's first appearance that day before it set, was a welcome sight.
Kakashi noticed that they were nearing the edge of the Hyuga territory. He looked around. It seemed like everyone seemed to simply mind their own business, except some of the children, but he felt the suspicion. He somehow smiled at the thought. At least they cared somewhat about their own clan. Like he thought about earlier, he respected the Hyuga's for being protective of their clan. It was only natural. Kakashi knew that he'd be the same way, and he would in the future. When he becomes a father. Each step closer to the normal village made him think of the bigger picture. He would protect his own. In a more introverted, less openly judgemental way, but there are times when you have to be suspicious about outsiders.
For the first time, Kakashi realized that they would walk through the village, hand in hand. And Kakashi was proud to show it. The love. He smiled at that thought. Of course, the village would be less hostile than the Hyuga's, but there would be a larger variety of judgements. Kakashi was prepared for the next strain.

[;; HYUUGA KANETSU ?!]

As they reached closer to the end of the Hyuga clan compound every second, Kanetsu remembered that there was one more thing she had to do. She stopped the two of them.
"I hope you don't mind...there's just one more thing that I really have to do before we go." She told him.
Kanetsu soon walked over to where Neji was standing, and Hinata was sitting. That day was the first time she had seen the two of them in nearly a decade. She smiled, remembering the fact that she was present when both of them were born. She was thirteen when Neji was born, and fourteen when Hinata was born. Even though she didn't get to spend as much time with Hanabi due to being in ANBU, she was there when she was born, and that was when Kanetsu was twenty.
Hinata stood up, and the three just looked at each other for a minute, observing how the other had grown. Finally, Kanetsu broke the silence. "...It's been such a long time, right guys?" She said, smiling. They both smiled back.
"Yeah." Hinata replied.
"We've missed having you here." Neji added.
"When we heard you were back, we immediately wanted to see you again."
"Well, I've really got to thank you two for having my back on this." Kanetsu responded, smiling even more. She hugged Hinata, while saying, "You two are growing up so fast..." Then, she took a step over and hugged Neji. Although before she did so, she compared her height to his. Kanetsu was amazed for a second, but then sighed. "You really are growing up fast...you're already taller than me." She told him in mock defeat. They lightly laughed at her comment.
Knowing that it was probably about time for her to go, she said one last thing; "I know I didn't get to spend as much time with you guys today as I would have liked, but I promise I'll come back more in the future." They both understood why she didn't have enough time, and easily let it go.
"That's fine...We don't mind. Neji and I understand all of the stuff you had to go through today." Hinata reassured her.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go now. Bye!" She told them kindly, walking away.
"Bye!"
"Bye." They responded in unison.
Before Kanetsu left with Kakashi, she looked back at Hiashi, who now had Hanabi at his side. Instead of actually speaking, her eyes replied instead. She was saying 'Thank you...' He saw the unspoken words in her eyes, and simply nodded, showing that he understood. Apparently Hanabi did too, because she smiled.
And with that, she turned around, her hand in Kakashi's once again, and began walking with him.

[Scαrιετ]

Kakashi just stopped and put his hands in his pockets. He watched. Seeing Kanetsu, Hinata, and Neji reminded him about how each individual had grown. He remembered Neji and Hinata as younger ninja.
Neji was a genius. A star Hyuga. Kakashi knew that. Watching Neji grow, Kakashi only found that Neji had made himself better, and better. Though, a bit too much into the concept of fate and destiny, Neji had his reasons.
Hinata was all around shy, and a bit weak at first. But Kakashi had watched the years go by. He seen her grow stronger, especially after Naruto's two year disappearance. Though, still shy. But it was her unique personality trait (one that Naruto knucklehead would never understand).
They had both grown physically, too, as Kanetsu discovered. He was watching carefully and silently as Kanetsu said her goodbyes and promises.
Kakashi watched Kanetsu's silent thanks to Hiashi, with Hanabi at his side. He smiled too, sending his own sense of thanks to Hiashi in his gaze. And he couldn't help but chuckle as he saw Hanabi smile at Kanetsu. A soon to be ninja, with a great talent of her own.
Seeing Kanetsu turn toward him, he held out his hand again, keeping the other one in his pocket.
He was thinking. How he had watched Kanetsu through all these years. And she had never known. Seeing her grow up a troubled girl. Experiencing deaths that she shouldn't have. Living a nightmare that she didn't deserve. Facing an enemy that fed off her fear and hatred. That created what she is today.
And it all took real strength for her to hold on. To hold onto what seemed a life full of guilt, feeling that it was her fault for all the misfortune that fell upon her comrades. Terrible misfortune. Death. But Kakashi knew that it wasn't her fault. Even as she left the village for as long as she did, Kakashi held a secret faith in her. Wishing her to live on. To make her troubles into strengths.
Kakashi did want to protect her. In ways, he wanted her to be safe from all harm. He didn't want her to fight. He wanted to fight for her. But he also had faith in her as a female shinobi. He wanted to see her fight and succeed. He wanted her to come out on top, and even fight for him. He wanted them both to fight for each other. Because they were shinobi. And if one was to die...he would hope the other would live on. Continuing to fight for that person and everything else they loved. The village and their friends.
One thing Kakashi knew for sure was that Kanetsu shared that same love that he did: the love for his home village. The love for his friends. And of course, their love for each other. They had 3 things to fight for. Three things that made up their reason for living their life as far as they have. But the three things could be put together as one: love.
Though, Kanetsu had another thing to love that he didn't. She had a clan to take care of. And he truly respected that. Equal halves: one being because of Kanetsu, and the other being simply because of how he regarded the skills of the clan as superior.
As they left the Hyuga territory, Kakashi began to lead the way to the park. As they walked, the sunset only grew more vividly beautiful.
"I'd like to ask you something, Kanetsu...it only seems like the perfect time for this..." He said, a bit quieter that he usually sounded, "But I'll tell you when we get over to the park." He said, grinning.

[;; HYUUGA KANETSU ?!]

On Kanetsu's way back towards Kakashi, she happily reclaimed his hand, and continued walking with him until they were out of the large and private Hyuga territory. Soon, she heard that deep, almost blush-inducing voice of her beloved speak to her. And after he did, it had her wondering; what did Kakashi have to ask her? She wasn't sure why he had wanted to ask it then. After all, the park was a public park, so she thought at that point postponing the question till then was a bit...peculiar.
To her, it felt like something was up. Does he have something planned...? She thought. Kanetsu soon began to think that whatever he had to tell her must of been important, because to her, he made it sound like it. But that fact collided with the fact that they were going to a public park, which probably had even more people than usual there, just because of the setting sun's beauty. However, she soon concluded that he must have been taking her somewhere in the park where nobody could find them, because she soon found herself going in an unfamiliar direction with her hand in his.
Kanetsu's thoughts were soon dismissed from her head when she looked up at the sky once again. The sky was still filled with orange and pink, with little spots of yellow here and there. But, it was then created with different shades. The part closest to the sun was the brightest; orange was illuminated almost perfectly along the skies. The few distant clouds that surrounded the sun appeared to be a bit pink. Yellow began to appear when you would look more in the upward direction, however it would quickly fade, and turn into a much darker shade of orange than before, which continued to get darker and darker until it became a dark gray at the very top of the clouds high in the sky.
Although she stared into the sky, Kanetsu still walked right next to Kakashi at the same time. It made the walk for her seem much faster. Because by the time she looked back down, she first looked at him, and then the area where they had stopped at.

[Scαrιετ]

Kakashi was getting more and more nervous as they neared the area.
And before he knew it, he had brought her there.
It was a small meadow, with a handmade bench, not like the others in the park. There was a small fountain, and there were flowers dotting the meadow. The trees surrounding the meadow were in a perfect circle. Every plant was perfectly healthy.
"I call this our sanctuary." He spoke, after having paused, watching Kanetsu look around on ground level for the first time since they've been walking, "I built the fountain and bench myself, and I took care of these plants myself. And I made these trees grow in a perfect circle." He continued to explain, speaking softly.
"Nobody knows about this. It's protected by a special genjutsu that no one would even consider. Not even the Hyuga's could see through it. Truly a sanctuary." (PLOT IDEA!!!)
He looked at Kanetsu. "Do you like it?" He asked, "Because, I made it in hope that you would be with me. My wish came true. Everyday, after visiting the memorial...I would come here and think. Think about you."
He pulled her by the hand and lifted her off her feet, cradling her in his arms. He then walked over to the bench and set her down on it. He then kneeled on one knee.
"I believe I have something to ask, Kanetsu." He said, pulling down his mask.

[;; HYUUGA KANETSU ?!]

The more Kanetsu looked around the area, the more surprised she became. Did he really do all of this for her? The thought of him building it all for her just seemed so unreal. She wondered if she really deserved such treatment. As she looked around, the red waves on her cheeks returned.
She soon began to wonder how long he had been working on it. Something as big as this couldn't have been done in a short amount of time. In fact, telling by how the all of the plants in the area looked, Kanetsu knew that it must have taken at least a few years, since they were all very healthy.
And if Kakashi came there everyday and thought about Kanetsu, and he had worked on it for a few years, she concluded that he must have thought about her almost constantly. In fact, who knew how long he had thought about her before he created it. The thought caused the waves of red to increase a bit. Did he really think about her that much without her knowing?
Finally, as she was taking in everything he was saying to her, Kanetsu heard Kakashi ask her if she liked it.
"Of course...I love it." She told him. "It's so beautiful...I-" Suddenly, she was interrupted mid-sentence by him picking her up and setting her on the bench. But when she saw him get on one knee, her mind erupted in an explosion of thoughts. And her face's color looked like like the lava of a volcano. W-what...? She all her mind could make out.
"K-Kakashi...?"

[Scαrιετ]

There was a faint smile as Kanetsu replied to his question about their sanctuary. The words she spoke sounded like beautiful harmony from a songbird, a beautiful answer and comment.
As he was kneeled down, he looked up at Kanetsu. Love and nervousness flooded the glint in his eye. And he had a bit of a blush on his cheeks, more noticeable than before. Due to the fact that his mask was pulled down. He could even be seen shaking slightly with close inspection.
He tried to speak, but no words came out.
He tried again:
"K-Kanetsu...w-will you marry me? Will you take my hand in marriage?" He said, as steadily as he could. He knew the answer. But he had to ask it. From his pocket, he pulled out a little case. He opened it up. A ring.
It was a nicely decorated ring. Both white and yellow gold.

theora.com/images/weddingRing.jpg

[;; HYUUGA KANETSU ?!]

Kanetsu's mind went from the explosion to a frozen state as Kakashi spoke. It wasn't exactly a calm state of mind, but it was one that made her wonder if what he had just asked her was a reality. It could have been just another dream. After all, Kanetsu had a ton of them before. Some of them may have been like what had just happened, but this time it obviously wasn't a dream. It just took her a second or two to convince herself of that fact.
Her face lit up as bright as a fiery lantern as she had finally realized it. It was possibly the most red it had ever become. And her face had gone crimson hundreds of times, thanks to Kakashi. For the slightest second, a cool breeze passed over them, cooling her face off, even if it was only a little.
Kanetsu felt as if her heart had stopped along with her thoughts. Being with the one person she loved the most would usually have the same effect, but to a smaller extent than that moment. When she did feel it beat, they were large thumps, which seemed to also rattle her stomach a bit. It had that effect continuously after that. But finally, Kanetsu had gotten enough energy once more to reply.
"Y-Yes...O-Of course I will, Kakashi..." She replied with a soft voice.

[Scαrιετ]

Kakashi's face reddened more. But a huge smile appeared on his face. He took her hand, and placed the ring on her finger. He then embraced her.
"I love you so much. I never want to let go..."
The sun had made it's descent all the way down, under the horizon. Nothing but a purple sky and darkened clouds remained. Dew from the melted snow still dripped from the plants. It was getting cold.
The clouds were slowly setting back into the sky. Another night of snow was coming.
Kakashi put his chin on top of Kanetsu's head, holding her close to his body. A tight embrace. He started to hum.
We're together...forever. Nothing's gonna break us. We're unbreakable. I'll die before we break, but even death won't break us.
Unbreakable. Kanetsu, you and I...we'll live on this world together.

[;; HYUUGA KANETSU ?!]

As Kakashi slipped the ring onto her finger, Kanetsu began to realize what all of it meant. The two of them were now engaged to each other. He was her fiancé, and she was his fiancée. Kanetsu's last name would become the same as his soon. All the revelations poured into her mind.
When he spoke, she faded back into reality. She slowly began to smile warmly.
"I never want to let go of you either...and I never will. After passing the tests that today has brought us, I feel like I can take on anything that is thrown at me. But now...I know that I won't take on anything alone, because I love you too." Kanetsu spoke softly once more, nuzzling her nose into his chest.
As the clouds began to appear again, she felt the slight wind from earlier kick up again. It was more fierce this time, but it died down quickly. After the breeze came back one more time, little balls of snow soon began to fall from the sky slowly. Although they were little, it didn't take long for the ground to become icy and white.
Kanetsu's head fit comfortably under Kakashi's chin, keeping her face warm. as she was held tighter, she too made her arms apply more force into the embrace. When he began humming, she noted how perfect and beautifully deep his voice was. It was music to her ears, and it would always make her smile when she heard it. At that very moment, her smile from before increased a bit as she kissed the spot on his chest where his heart was.
It kind of confused Kanetsu. The day that she thought would be just terrible turned out to be the best day of her life thus far. Everything that could have went wrong went completely right. And she was ever so glad it happened that way. Because now, she had the one person that would always make her day much more brighter, no matter what.