Chapter Text
Kakashi woke slowly, tendrils of sleep clinging thickly to his mind as he slowly drifted up into consciousness, feeling more peaceful and rested than he had in what could have been years. Maybe than I ever have before. He’d clung to the unfamiliar feeling of a gentle awakening, unrushed by duty and not plagued by nightmares, only to realize suddenly that wasn’t alone in bed .
There was no fear, only ice cold adrenaline as memories of waking to knives at his throat or men knelt over him ripped him violently into the waking world just in time for him to see his own knife, held tightly in his hand, pressed lightly to the delicate throat of the girl pinned beneath him.
It took another few moments for him to realize who she was. Naruto . Still gagged and bound to the bed, looking even more helpless now that a weapon was brandished in her direction. Where the helplessness had been attractive the night before, it was suddenly offensive. Disgusting. And he couldn’t help the startled gasp that left him, the sound drawing slow, sleepy movement and a groggy noise from the girl.
He had no particular fondness for his wife, but he found himself furious with his actions, even more so with her apparent idiocy. He moved the knife from her neck to her face, not bothering to even attempt fiddling with the knot at the back of her head, instead just cutting the strap on the gag, flinching from the confused and pained sound that left the girls lips, almost certainly drawn out by the aching pain of closing her jaw for the first time in what had to have been hours. I’m not completely sober and it’s mostly still dark out, so maybe three or four hours? He wasn’t sure.
He paused in his efforts to free her just long enough to grab his mask and yukata from the floor, hastily covering himself and only stumbling briefly when he remembered her nudity, taking in the sight of her intoxicating body spread out before him with more sober eyes than he had the night before and finding himself entirely unable to cope with it in the dim light of early morning. Once he was dressed, he tore the blindfold away, revealing beautiful blue eyes, blinking away sleep and squinting a little at faint light trickling in through the window. Kakashi did his best to keep his gaze fixed on those eyes, rather than on her perfectly biteable breasts, or the beautiful flower between her legs. He tried not to wonder if he could still taste her on his lips. He tried not to get an immediate, humiliating boner just from the sight of her. He wasn’t as successful as he’d hoped he’d be.
As she oriented herself, working her jaw open and closed with a grimace, he set himself to freeing her hands, his own jaw clenched tight with anger as he worked to cut the ropes, taking her wrists in a firm, massaging grip, ensuring there was still proper circulation and putting her wrist through a quick range of motion check, glaring down at her confused face as he did so. “Why the fuck didn’t you wake me up?” Her wrists look so pretty and delicate in my hands .
She made as though to attempt to reply, a croaking sound creeping from her mouth, but he wasn’t actually looking for a reply, so he continued speaking over her as he moved to free her other hand. “Just how stupid are you!?” He was careful to ensure that he didn’t cut her as he sliced through the rope, more than a little peeved that she’d created an emergency situation where he couldn’t untie her and had to destroy his things. He didn’t believe that had been her intention. He wasn’t sure what her intention could have possibly been. Maybe she really is this idiotic?
She didn’t attempt to free herself from his grip as he worked the small joints of her wrist and fingers over with firm, soothing motions, instead just looking up at him silently with wide eyes that he refused to be affected by, her voice a quiet rasping croak as she finally managed, “ I’m sorry, Master Kakashi.”
He scoffed and released her hand, relieved to find both of them uninjured. “That seems to be your favorite thing to say to me,” he snapped bitterly, ignoring her flinch as he moved to the bottom of the bed to cut her feet free, making quick work of the same assessments and massaging he’d done for her hands, ensuring she hadn’t done any serious damage to herself.
When he’d finished, he looked back up at Naruto, finding that she’d pulled her hands in close to her chest, covering herself once more. He was a confusing mix of grateful and irritated at the show of modesty, because on the one hand, he didn’t want his growing erection to get any more noticeable, but on the other hand, what right did she have to hide away what was his? He pushed these thoughts away, and tore his eyes form her chest to her face. She was looking at him with an expression that he couldn’t parse, but that twisted his stomach and tightened his chest. Gone. I want her gone. He tore his eyes away, gluing them to the rumpled blankets, his voice threaded with ice. “Next time, you wake me . You will not allow yourself to fall asleep in that condition. Am I understood, Miss Yamanaka?”
He was clenching his jaw so hard he had a faint, irrationally worry that he’d crack his teeth as he waited for her response. It was a relief when it came, in another raspy whisper as she pushed herself to sitting. “ Yes, Master Kakashi.”
He kept his face a blank mask as he continued, “Good. Now get dressed, and go. ” There was a brief pause as she processed his words, and he experienced a moment of horrible guilt and fear that he’d hurt her. He wanted to gather her up in his arms and apologize and promise to never do anything like that ever again, and the impulse made him feel sick to his stomach. Then she moved to follow his command, and he thanked the Spirits that she hadn’t tried to push him on it, terrified as he was that he would’ve folded immediately.
He listened closely, not allowing himself to watch as she slowly crawled out of bed, fighting tooth and nail against the beast inside of him that desperately wanted to watch her crawling naked for him, and maybe this had been her plan. To get him addicted to the sight of her. But he was stronger. Strong enough to keep his eyes glued to the floor as she hastily dressed on stumbling feet, clearly feeling the effects of having been bound for far too long. Once the sounds of rustling fabric went quiet, there was another pause before she spoke, her voice hesitant and still painfully rough, sending another spear of guilt through him. “I-is there anything I can do for you? Before I go?”
He shook his head firmly, still averting his eyes as he pointed to the door. “No. Now leave. Go to your room and get more sleep there. I don’t want to see you until at least half past ten.” She needs the sleep. And he needed the safety of knowing where she was, and that he wouldn’t have to see her for a while unless he himself willed it.
There was another momentary pause before he heard her making her way to the door, then through it, closing it gently behind herself. Kakashi stood there, listening intently until he heard the sound of her door closing. Then he took a deep breath, trying to center himself and let go of the anger, panic, and arousal that plagued him.
Then he caught sight of a wet spot on the bed, obviously the remnants of Naruto’s orgasm the night before, and any hope he had of getting himself under control was promptly shredded to pieces. Fuck, he sighed to himself. Maybe I should just jerk off.
____
As Naruto hobbled back to her room on tingling feet, she felt more than a little bit conflicted. On the one hand, she was miserable, and with good reason. She’d figured Kakashi hadn’t meant to fall asleep with her in bed with him, but she hadn’t been able to muster the courage to wake him intentionally. And then he’d been winding his way around her, wrapping her in his strong, warm arms and holding her like she was something precious and she just hadn’t been able to risk that he’d send her away if he woke up, so she’d held as still as she could and stayed as quiet as possible, listening to her husband’s soft snores as she drifted off into a surprisingly deep sleep, given her uncomfortable arrangement.
It hadn’t been a shock to be pulled abruptly from sleep by pain, and if anything, she’d been grateful it was only the aching of her jaw that ailed her, given her transgression. And even as Kakashi had admonished her, her hands and feet had been filled with pins and needles, and her jaw had popped and clicked uncomfortably, she found that she didn’t regret her choices. Even as she’d been pushed out the door and sent to her own room on shaky legs, she didn’t regret staying silent when Kakashi had fallen asleep. It was honestly a little strange. She felt more guilty about not feeling guilty than she did for actually committing the wrongdoing. After all, she couldn’t have messed up too badly . He’d said that next time, she should wake him. That meant there would be a next time.
She’d been all but certain that Kakashi wouldn’t want to sleep in the same bed as her. She was pretty sure people only shared beds after sex when they actually liked each other, and Kakashi very obviously didn’t actually like her. She was Kakashi’s wife, and she’d clearly failed to please him. His displeasure alone should have been enough to bring about remorse on her part, but she could already tell that without additional consequences, she wouldn’t regret a thing. Her only punishment had been a brief verbal rebuke and being confined to her room, and not even for an entire day. It hardly counted as punishment at all, and she would likely spend most of it asleep. At the moment, she felt it had been well worth the harsh words to be held by him for a few hours, and she was certain she’d do it again if given the chance. Sure, the man’s shouting had been a little frightening, but nothing bad had even happened.
As she made her way into her room, not even bothering with her futon as she stretched out to lay across the floor, she figured that was probably a pretty good way to describe the events of the night before. A little frightening, but nothing bad.
Perhaps the best part of it all was that he’d said such sweet things to her, during the sex. He’d called her Naruto , sounding for all the world like he wanted her and no one else. And anyway, why take her to bed if he didn’t want her? Why finally call her by name, if he didn’t want her at least a little?
It had stung a bit, when he’d gone back to calling her by her maiden name after waking, but she’d count it as progress anyway.
She also couldn’t pretend there wasn’t another best part of the sex. What was it Kakashi had said? “Come for me.” That must be what it was called. Coming. It had certainly felt as though something had come over her. As she lay on the floor, she allowed her eyes to fall shut as she remembered the way hot pleasure had washed over her when Kakashi had put his mouth on her. How it had built and built before breaking over her, tearing through her with a violent rush that had her pulling hard against the ropes despite her earlier promise to herself that she’d be good and stay where Kakashi had put her.
It had been a little bit scary, as had most of the sex, but now that she knew what to expect, she imagined it would be easier. At least, she hoped it would be. It also had hurt a little bit. Only a few times, but it felt worth noting since she was thinking about the parts that hadn’t been quite as nice. But that was okay. She could take it. She’d taken worse for far less. Generally, it had been well worth it to hear him call her pretty and sweet and good and perfect. It did make her sad that she wouldn’t get to be held after, next time, but that was okay. She could deal with that.
She hadn’t intended to actually sleep once she’d gotten to her room, but now that she was lying there on the floor with nothing to entertain her but her thoughts, her exhaustion was making itself known. As she began to drift, she decided she didn’t actually want to spend much time thinking about the bad parts of sex. They made her feel cold, empty, and sick. They pushed her to run her fingers along the imprints the ropes had left on her wrists, imagining that she could still feel them being held down tightly. She would much rather think about good things. If she thought about good things, maybe she’d have good dreams.
So as she curled up and let her eyes fall closed, she allowed herself something she usually knew better than to indulge in. It was something she’d been bending on far more often than she ever had before, and since she was being optimistic, she counted that as a good sign. She let herself hope. Kakashi was a tough nut to crack, that was for sure, and Naruto had never been good at winning people over. But when her husband had been too drunk to lie, he’d called her by her name. He’d called her Naru. Nobody had ever called her that before. And more than that, he’d called her perfect. Nobody had ever called her perfect, unless it was to say that she was perfectly useless . And he’d said she’d done good while they were having sex. She hadn’t been sure she’d be any good at sex, but Kakashi had seemed to think that she was.
So, with all of this in mind, Naruto let herself begin to hope. She hoped that maybe, just maybe , if she kept being good, and kept giving Kakashi sex, and kept giving everything she had, that things might actually be okay. That Kakashi might one day come to actually like her. Maybe even love her. And that maybe, just maybe , he wouldn’t actually mind when he found out who she actually was.
It was unlikely, and it was definitely more than she deserved, but she didn’t let herself worry about that as her hopes carried her off into soft dreams that echoed with the sound of a deep voice that whispered things like so good, and perfect , and mine.
_____
Kakashi had ended up leaving the house a little before ten thirty, unable to make himself stick around to face his wife in the light of day after how he’d behaved the night before. He hadn’t had anything specific that needed doing, though, so he’d decided to take the opportunity to meet up with Sakura to discuss her findings, per her recent note. That was how he’d found himself seated on the young woman’s couch, looking at her from over a cup of tea. “So,” he entreated her. “You found something for me?”
Sakura, who hadn’t seemed surprised by his unannounced arrival, nodded affirmatively. “I did, and it’s…. Well, I’ll be honest, it’s not what I was expecting to find.”
Kakashi leaned in closer, raising a questioning eyebrow. “How so?”
Sakura sighed, resting her head in her hands. “Well, to start, your wife isn’t who you think she is.”
He waited for her to go on, but she paused expectantly, and he remembered with sudden clarity the downsides to having her do recon. She loved to draw the reveal out, especially when she’d found something she thought was particularly juicy. “Cut to the chase, Haruno, what did you find?”
“Well,” she drawled, leaning in like she was sharing some particularly tasty gossip, and not politically important intelligence he’d paid her to find. “You were wondering why Inoichi would consent to allowing his beloved daughter to wed you? He didn’t.” Kakashi blinked at her, not understanding what she meant and reaching the end of his patience for entertaining his subordinate. He raised his eyebrow in a way he knew she would understand to mean hurry up .
She rolled her eyes, but thankfully got to the matter at hand. “Ino Yamanaka is the eldest daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka, and she was added to her family record immediately upon birth. Naruto is also a daughter of Inoichi, but she was only added to the family record nine days before she married you, and her mother’s name was left notably blank.”
Kakashi found himself stunned. Of all the things he’d considered, that hadn’t been on the list. “She’s a bastard?” He hadn’t even known the Yamanaka family had a bastard daughter. It was a shockingly well-kept secret, if that was true. An almost too well-kept secret.
Sakura nodded her head to confirm it. “According to the staff, yes. I have no idea who her mother is, so that’s next on my list to find out. Seems to be a pretty big secret. And all previously given intel might be incorrect, since it pertains to Ino, and not Naruto, so keep that in mind,” she informed him briskly. Kakashi had the brief thought that if the intel he’d gotten was wrong, maybe Naruto wasn’t as experienced as he thought. Maybe she was even— He clamped down on the thought before it could fully form. He couldn’t think about that right now. Not when Sakura was continuing on. “But there’s more than that.”
“How could there be more?” His voice was tinged with disbelief. He was already going to have to rethink everything he thought he knew about Naruto, and there was more?
Sakura’s lips pressed into a thin line, and she shifted uncomfortably, taking a big breath before finally voicing the other secret she’d uncovered. “She isn’t a spirit user. She doesn’t even have spirit sight.”
Kakashi furrowed his brow in confusion. “That doesn’t make any sense. The whole point behind forcing this marriage was to ensure I have children with a powerful spirit user. Why would the Hokage intentionally pair me with someone who can’t even see spirits?”
Sakura just shrugged. “I don’t know, but I will say that it appears as though Ino had a very hasty wedding shortly before Naruto arrived at your home. I don’t have enough evidence either way, but I wouldn’t assume that the Hokage knew about the bride swap.”
Kakashi hummed. He had a lot to think about, and he preferred to do his thinking in private and with a drink in his hand, when possible. “Alright. Was there anything else?”
He watched as the girl scrunched her nose up, suddenly reminding him vividly of the young student she’d been when they’d first met. “It isn’t, like, intel intel, but I think I should probably mention it. I’m not so certain she had a very… kind upbringing.”
Kakashi tilted his head to the side, finally giving in and beginning to tear at the napkin he’d had sitting in front of himself through the whole conversation. “Well, I suppose most bastard children aren’t brought up under the most doting of conditions.”
Sakura shook her head. “I think it might go further than that. Just, maybe be gentle with her, while you’re still gathering all the information. I didn’t get any good information on where her loyalties are likely to lay.”
That boat had certainly already sailed, he thought to himself with a small cringe of guilt as he remembered the night before. He certainly hadn’t been gentle up until now. “I’ll take that under advisement,” he replied, wondering if he was even capable of ‘being gentle.’ Sakura nodded, and Kakashi rose from his seat. “If that’s everything, I’ll leave you to your day off.”
She grinned up at him and gave him a farewell wave. “That’s everything. Bye, Kakashi! I’ll see you back at work in a few days!”
As he left and began the slow walk home, he pondered the information he’d been given. When he’d first left that morning, he’d considered driving, but had decided the walk would do him good. Now he was glad for it, as it would give him time to think about everything he’d learned. He always thought better when he could move.
It made sense for the Hokage to want to put a member of the Yamanaka family inside the Hatake household. During the war, the military had grown in its political power, and Kakashi’s bloody victories had paved the way for much of that growth. Now, in the aftermath, the military was strong enough that its leaders had more sway over the political landscape than they ever had before, and the Hokage was obviously anxious for a way to reassert his own power. It was why he went out of his way to bring Kakashi to heel so regularly, and to denigrate his public reputation when he could. It was a great way to indicate to the public and to his allies that he had the military handled, even if behind closed doors things were a slightly different matter.
The Yamanaka family was made up of known loyalists to the Hokage, and they had next to no military ties, instead tending to orient their activity towards civil service and diplomatic missions. Having their daughter in the Hatake household would enable them to surveil him, and to influence his decision making if he made the choice to trust his wife. It would also be an even greater signal to the other families that the Hokage had his ‘mad dog’ well in hand. It would also increase the odds that Kakashi’s successor would align with the loyalties of the Yamanaka household, as it wasn’t uncommon for heirs to inherit their political ideologies and alliances matrilineally, as the education of children was a duty given to the matriarch. And if Kakashi were to impregnate the daughter of the Yamanaka Clan, and then be killed, it would be the best possible outcome for the Sandaime.
So Kakashi understood why the Hokage would want him to marry an heir of the Yamanaka family. But that wasn’t what had happened. Kakashi had married the bastard daughter of the Yamanaka family, who’d allegedly been mistreated to the extent that Sakura wondered if she was loyal to the Yamanaka family at all, and he had feelings about that prospect as well, hot and fiery and so difficult to manage that he shelved the thought entirely for the moment. She’d also, quite intelligently, pointed out the question at the center of the issue. Did the Hokage know that Kakashi had been sent Naruto instead of Ino?
There were a few potential advantages for the Hokage that came from Kakashi marrying a bastard. For one, it could potentially be construed as a blemish to the dignity of his family name. It was also a strange ploy, in the face of the rumored murder of his first wife. People weren’t likely to care much about him marrying someone of humble origins when there was bloodier talk available to them.
There was also the chance that this was simply another murder attempt. Naruto stood to inherit a titled name if he died, something she had little chance of doing elsewhere, and the Hokage stood to gain the Hatake family’s support if she did so. Because of Kakashi’s reputation, it would be easy to construe any attack against him as self-defense. And it made sense that the Yamanaka family might send a particularly disliked bastard child for the task, waving luxury and wealth in front of the girl to motivate her, willing to risk her life as they don’t care much for it anyway. Perhaps she’d been given martial training in preparation?
Still, it didn’t seem likely to Kakashi that the Hokage knew about the bride swapping. If it came out that he’d intentionally married the head of the Hatake Clan to a non-spirit user, there wasn’t a clan head that wouldn’t be disgruntled and threatened by the utilization of that power to weaken both a historically powerful family and the future martial power of their nation. It seemed more likely that the Hokage had overestimated the loyalty of the Yamanaka clan, and that they’d been unwilling to send Ino to do the risky job of spying on him and plotting his murder, so they’d convinced Naruto that her life would be better if she took the job instead.
That was what seemed most likely, but he’d still need to put the theory to the test. He needed to get his own eyes on the Yamanaka compound. And he knew just when to do it. He still had dowry negotiations to finish up, after all. By the end of the week, just as the Hokage had demanded.
It was time for Kakashi to meet his in-laws.