Hi everyone :) I just had this little one-shot burning away in my head. I hope you enjoy it. Sasuke might be a little OOC in that he's much more tender in this. And maybe a little more emotional too. Sorry in advance :( Oh, and I only put this in Sasuke/Sakura because it is Sasuke-centric and it's about his love for Sakura and his feelings about her marriage. If you don't like reading about Sakura moving on and ending up with someone else, then please leave and don't flame me.

I don't own Naruto; if I did, this is how I would have written Sasuke's character *points below*

Spread Your Wings

A white envelope lay discarded on the bedside table. Its contents lay on top, holding the final confirmation that she was going to fly even further out of his reach. She would soon be taken away from him forever; to be happy with another man.

Another man ...

That phrase left a bitter taste in the Uchiha's mouth and conjured up the darkest thoughts that he had pushed to the very back of his mind. Everything he could do to that man, everything he was so tempted to do; it all came flooding back to him, as vivid as it had been when the announcement had been made. The fifty ways that he could maim the man. The fifty ways that he could claim that woman for his own. It was all so tempting.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, Sasuke reached out to grasp the card once more. A laugh erupted from his throat as he read the greeting:

'You are cordially invited to the wedding of Inuzuka Kiba and Haruno Sakura.'

Sasuke could practically see the underlying words that Sakura's fiancé would have liked to have written:

'Stay away.'

'She doesn't want you.'

'You're only invited because she insists.'

'I won.'

It was true. He had won. Only three times in his life had Uchiha Sasuke been bested by anyone, and this was the most humiliating. Not even his loss to Gaara of the Sand compared. Not even the embarrassment of his teammates dragging him back to Konoha compared to the utter humiliation of losing the one woman who had supposedly always cared for him. Not that he blamed Sakura for finally giving up hope. Lesser women had given up long before she had; something which Sasuke had taken for granted before. Now that it was gone, he missed it.

He missed her pining after him. He missed the small gestures of kindness that he didn't truly deserve.

He just missed her.

However, Sasuke was glad that Sakura had finally figured out what was best for her. A woman like that didn't deserve heartbreak or pain like the kind she had been enduring for too many years. She deserved to have a man who could give her everything that she could ever want and, unfortunately, Kiba was that man. Sasuke could see the way that he gazed at Sakura with complete adoration in his eyes. The usually coarse Inuzuka showed a more tender side whenever she was around. The way he would wrap his arms around the pink haired woman gave her the protection and love that she needed.

Sasuke knew that he was not good for her. Even though he cared about her just as much, this was the one aspect of his life that he couldn't match Kiba in. He still struggled with himself sometimes. Sasuke still felt the urge to massacre his village. If his concentration slipped for a moment and he...

No.

Sasuke couldn't bring himself to think of that. The card was crumpled in his hand as he tried to force back the newest image in his mind...

It was Sakura's wedding day. Everyone was in the chapel, watching as the soon to be happy couple exchanged their vows. The usually tough Hokage was crying on the other side of the alter as she married her student. Sasuke himself was stood at the very back, seething as Kiba slipped the ring onto her finger. His fist clenched tightly as his chakra burst out, chirping loudly.

"Sasuke ..." Sakura gasped as he stood menacingly at the back.

The Uchiha roared as he leaped forwards faster than anyone else could move. He felt a grim satisfaction as his hand plunged through the challenger's chest, ending his pitiful existence there.

Sakura's blood curdling scream of anguish filled his ears. It wasn't his name she screamed, but Kiba's.

Sasuke shook his head to dispel the image. Maybe the Sasuke of a few years past would have done something so callous, but not now. He couldn't bear the thought of causing Sakura any more pain. As much as he'd have liked to, Sasuke had made a vow not to touch a hair on the Inuzuka's head for as long as Sakura remained bound to him. If his hunch was correct, then he would never get his pound of flesh. He smoothed out the card and read it again. The wedding was little more than a week away and he had still not even decided if he should go or not. The Uchiha knew that everyone would be there; Naruto, Tsunade, Kakashi. Could he really face them and turn up so brazenly at the Inuzuka Compound as if nothing had ever happened? Then again, if he didn't go, would he be able to face Sakura again? What would Kiba do to him if he refused?

Probably kill him.

That was another thing that made Kiba perfect for Sakura; he would protect the cherry blossom from anything. He wouldn't die for her like Sasuke convinced himself that he would, but only because he'd never be so selfish as to leave Sakura all alone.

Sasuke stood up with a sigh.

Hopefully there would still be time to get her something nice.

XxxXxxXxxXxxX

Sasuke stood outside a jewellery store with a frown on his face. There was nothing in the window which seemed to do Sakura justice. As the amount of people on the streets began to reduce sharply and the lamps came on, Sasuke came to the conclusion that there was no gemstone which could make up for everything that he had put Sakura through.

And then there was Kiba also. He needed to have something with which he could more readily protect Sakura in his place.

Sasuke marched off in the direction of one of the oldest corners of Konoha, an idea blooming in his mind.

XxxXxxXxxXxxX

Stood at the altar, Tsunade looked down upon her student and her fiancé with a fierce amount of pride welling up inside her. She had watched Sakura grow from that insecure twelve year old girl into a powerful, confident, respected woman. Kiba had all but completely transformed too. Gone were the days when he would sleep around for the hell of it. He had changed markedly in attitude too. From what Tsunade could tell, he had always been a hard worker when it came to ninjutsu. But now he worked ten times as hard. After all, he would soon have a wife and family of his own to protect and Sakura's fists could only do so much alone.

Wiping a tear away, Tsunade spoke in a voice that shook with raw emotion, "Haruno Sakura ... Do you take Kiba to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Golden brown eyes met with green. Kiba stood waiting for an answer to the question, his heart pounding like never before. Even now he was terrified that Sakura would run away from him. He instinctively gripped her hand tighter at this thought, making Sakura chuckle softly.

"It's alright, Kiba." she said holding his hand equally as tightly, "I do."

Kiba grinned furiously before pulling Sakura into a tender kiss, even before Tsunade could tell him to do so. He heard a tut come from the Hokage and several of the Inuzuka elders but it didn't deter him from making sure that Sakura had a good welcome into the Inuzuka household. His arms snaked out the woman's body which was draped in white silk, making her look and feel heavenly against his body.

"Love you, Mrs Inuzuka." Kiba chuckled, pressing his forehead against Sakura's. His face darkened briefly as he lowered his lips to her ear, "Sorry he didn't show up, hun. I'll hurt him for ya later."

Sakura shook her head, her pink curls shaking, "There's no need." she smiled, glancing back down the aisle. In the shadows of the chapel's doorway, the pink haired young woman could see the form of her teammate stood alone. He did not venture outwards, instead beckoning her and Kiba to follow him.

Kiba looked almost disappointed, "Damn. I was looking forward to smacking him good and hard in the face." 'Kami knows that bastard deserves it' was the part that he failed to add. Sakura sighed, swatting his head.

"Behave." she said before glancing back at Tsunade.

The blonde Sannin seemed to have noticed Sasuke's presence at the ceremony. She looked back at Sakura with a knowing look in her eyes, "You two had better see what he wants. I'll deal with everyone else." Sakura nodded in thanks to her shishou before taking Kiba's hand and tugging him along after her. He wasn't quite as enthusiastic to see the man waiting outside for them and was, in fact, quite insulted that his wife even wanted to see him.

Her voice then boomed out, "Kiba and Sakura have some business to attend to for just a moment. Please be patient until they return!"

"Sakura." Kiba whined, "Do we have to?"

"Oh, that was very alpha male." Sakura teased, "Did your mother teach you to whine like that?"

"Nope, I learned all by myself." Kiba grinned, deliberately sounding like a child. Sakura laughed with him as she led him outside. Neither had to walk far until they saw the raven haired Uchiha leaning against the wall, dressed in his tuxedo. Kiba's hand gripped hers tightly again as his entire body stiffened. The Inuzuka let out a low growl in warning.

"Calm down, I'm not here to cause trouble." Sasuke said, never taking his eyes off Sakura. She looked utterly radiant. It was too bad that she was on another man's arm, but that couldn't be helped now. Sasuke dipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out a long, velvet box. He took Sakura's spare hand and placed it gently inside it, "Congratulations, Sakura." he said softly.

Sakura glanced from Sasuke to the box repeatedly, not quite sure what to make of it. She hadn't truly expected Sasuke to turn up after they way he reacted to the initial announcement, let alone bring a gift. She released Kiba's hand and teased the box open warily.

Inside was the most beautiful piece of jewellery that Sakura had ever seen. The chain was so dainty that Sakura was scared that she might snap it as she lifted it out of the box. However it was the pendant's charm which caught her attention. Sakura's eyes widened when she saw what looked to be an eye encased in some form of glass. She looked back to see the disgust on Kiba's face.

"Is this some kind of joke?" the Inuzuka snarled, holding his wife closer, "Giving her an eye? What the fuck is-"

"Izanagi." Sasuke said simply, "Within that eye the power of Izanagi is sealed. I wanted to give something which could protect Sakura from anything. Izanagi is the perfect defence."

Sakura gasped as she held the eye up to the light. With the Sharingan active, the charm really was beautiful in a morbid way. Even though it was not conventional, the sentiment behind such a gesture was not lost upon Sakura, "Sasuke ... Arigato." she sighed as she hugged him. Sasuke and Kiba locked eyes as Sakura continued to squeeze her teammate. The woman's husband looked mildly impressed now that the gift had been explained.

"Arigato, Uchi-douche." Kiba smirked.

"I wouldn't call me names just yet, puppy." Sasuke frowned, pulling out a scroll from his pocket and handing it to Kiba.

Kiba unravelled the scroll and laid it out on the ground before summoning whatever was sealed within it. A much larger box appeared in a puff of white smoke, causing Kiba's eyebrow to arch. As he lifted the box lid away, Kiba was ready for all manner of tricks to come his way. He half expected the box to explode.

"Wow... I mean ... Wow." Kiba stammered as he peeled away the tissue paper. A set of black claw-like weapons sat amongst the paper, gleaming in the sunlight. Kiba lifted one of them out and slipped it onto his large hand, the tips of his fingers becoming covered by the claws.

"I had them specially crafted." Sasuke said, "They're unbreakable and moulded with my own chakra."

"Why are you giving these to us?" Kiba asked as he placed the weapon back into its box beside its brother, "Why the sudden change of heart?"

Sasuke remained silent, "I just want what you do ... For Sakura to be safe. This way, I can make up for what I did to her."

Sakura sniffed and buried her face into Sasuke's chest, muttering and mumbling all manner of thank-you's. Her shoulders shook with the intensity of her bawling and Sasuke merely wrapped his arms around her. Kiba smiled softly as his wife and then nodded.

"Thanks man." he said, for once truly meaning it, "You've got a long way to go though before we ever forgive you though."

Sasuke chuckled, "I know, I know." While Sasuke may not have won Sakura, he could still watch over her and be the teammate that he should have been in the first place. Kiba was right; he had a long way to go before he was anywhere near worthy of Sakura's forgiveness. He couldn't care less if Kiba forgave him. Only Sakura's opinion really mattered.

Still ... It was a start.

I'm sorry if that was horrible. I just wanted to challenge myself since I'm not used to writing Sasuke's character so much (in fact, I HATE him). So if he's completely wrong don't flame me. Please. Sakura ended up with Kiba because I love that pairing and also because I didn't like the idea of Sakura just instantly forgiving Sasuke and throwing herself at him. I think she's been burned enough to be a little wary of him. She's ready to be friends but nothing more.

Reviews are appreciated :)

Until next time,
AN. T. Karismah