The main hall was brimming with people. Almost all of them the Toad Sage had never met. Unlike most individuals, this didn't bother him. Jiraiya was perfectly at home anywhere he was. Especially with so many beautiful women milling about. How could he resist? From his vantage point he could offer each of them a brilliant smile and look down the front of their dresses in almost the same motion.

Of course that's the way he intended it to work. The sharp elbow that jabbed him just beneath the rib cage was more than enough reminder of why he was here in the first place. A wedding. His wedding. His dark eyes rested on the woman standing next to him and he sighed. Tsunade was opening her mouth to speak, this could mean only one of two things. She was going to call him a name or try and talk him out of it.

It was too late for the latter. He wasn't backing out. Things between the two of them were over. They had to be. He couldn't spend whatever life he had left waiting for someone who still pined over Dan. The man was dead, had been for several years.

He liked to think Tsunade was jealous and he intended to work that into the equation. Once Naruto realized how he felt for the eldest Hyuga daughter things would begin to fall into place and the fifth Hokage would come to realize she couldn't live without her old teammate. At least...that's how things were supposed to go.

Another elbow to the ribs told him that Tsunade had been speaking for some time and he hadn't heard a word of it. He gave her a sheepish smile. "I said there is still time to back out." The blond said as she adjusted her white robes and brushed a strand of hair back over her shoulder. "You're too old for this girl. You're a per..."

Jiraiya held up a hand, clearly not wanting the entire wedding party know what the Hokage thought of him. Self proclaimed pervert was something different. "My mind is made up. I am taking a wife."

Things were beginning to get a bit edgier as the younger Hyuga walked down the isle, her lips set in a rather nasty frown. She was escorted by her cousin, the ever brooding destiny preaching Neji. Jiraiya couldn't help but smile as he remembered how much Naruto had once ranted and raved over this young man. Things were so much different now, though it was because the two had become tentative friends. Not to mention becoming Jounin had changed all of them in a way that only maturity could.

Neji wasn't smiling, though he never usually did. His facial expression wasn't so different from his cousin and the elder man sensed a strange bit of mistrust and animosity from the dark haired boy. He didn't quite understand why.

He would have explored the thought in more depth had his chosen bride not stepped into the room. The Legendary Sannin hadn't been planning to look at her much at all. Hinata was, after all, much younger than himself. Not only that, it was his intention that this marriage be in name only. He would resist temptation of any kind, at any cost. But this... Hinata herself was breaking the rules.

Horrified, Jiraiya realized he was very close to a nose bleed as the young woman approached. He wasn't sure if it was the breasts that threatened to spill from the bodice or the silken fabric that clung to the tiny waist, but either way he was having trouble controlling himself. He hadn't known this young woman was so beautiful. She hid herself well. If Naruto were here in this moment he suspected the young man certainly wouldn't have allowed his old sensei to remain standing there.

Without even realizing it, his hand reached out for hers. Something deep inside him quivered when her slender fingers slid into his own and he pulled her onto the altar to stand beside him.

"Master Jiraiya." Hinata breathed, her cheeks coloring as she offered him a timid smile.

"Miss Hyuga." Jiraiya whispered, winking at her if only to see that blush deepen.

Hiashi cleared his throat rather loudly. "Might we get this over with?" He said gruffly. "It's getting late and there are many people to feed."

Tsunade nodded, beginning to deliver the vows before her old companion could open his mouth and stick his foot in.

-4-4-

If Jiraiya had thought the wedding was full, he'd been sadly mistaken. The reception was packed with bodies, all of them milling around the head table. Most of them were basically trying to rub elbows with the head of the Hyuga clan which left him free to watch his new wife as she sat beside him, nervously picking at the table cloth.

He could tell something was deeply disturbing her and he was willing to take a guess at what it was. He wished he could tell her she had nothing to stress about. There would be no wedding night for Hinata. At least not with him. If things went as planned sooner or later there would be another wedding with his former student as the real groom.

Tsunade was looking at him again. He could feel her burning brown eyes practically boring a hole into him. It was what he wanted and it was this reason he flung an arm around Hinata's slender shoulders. He could almost feel the deep crimson blush as the young woman turned her face to him, offering him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "You worry too much." He whispered to his new wife, wondering why he was making such an effort to comfort her.

-4-4-

Tsunade wasn't the only one staring with narrowed eyes. Her set were coupled with at least four others. "You guys have to do something." Hanabi whispered, touching the arm of Shino Aburame. "You can't let that guy take Hinata away from here!"

Shino's ramrod posture turned ever so slightly to look down at the younger Hyuga, who was now the only remaining daughter of the main branch of the family. "The marriage was blessed by the Hokage herself." He said as if it were as simple as that. "There is nothing any of us can do."

"Infidelity." Neji put in, his tone more like a deep growl. "It's not like it would be hard to catch him at it.

"There's the problem though..." Kiba Inuzuka put in, all but dropping his pet and fighting partner Akamaru the dog when Neji turned to fix him with a hateful glare.

Even though Shino and Kiba were Jounin as well as old partners of Hinata's, her serious faced cousin thought them stupid. "There's no problem. My young cousin is right. We have to save Hinata from the Ero-Sennin before he ruins her."

The others looked at Neji strangely, though they all wondered what his intentions were, they all agreed with him. Something had to be done for Hinata's sake.

-4-4-

Hinata was oblivious to everything save Jiraiya's arm around her shoulders and her thoughts of Naruto. She hated herself for being disappointed that the outspoken blond man hadn't even bothered to show. She'd had this fantasy that he'd come bursting in and tell them all why marrying his old sensei was such a bad idea. But none of that had happened and here she sat as another man's wife. Which begged the question...

Having no mother, there had been no one to talk to her about the things that were required of her as a wife. She had a pretty good idea about the cooking and cleaning, but what went on behind the closed doors was still a mystery to her.

Well...perhaps that was not totally true either. She'd been speaking to a few women who worked in the local escort places. They'd seemed to know quite a bit. More than one of them had been willing to tell her things that the Legendary Sannin enjoyed. Most of the time they'd only gotten to the part about removing clothing and she'd turn a brilliant shade of red and be forced to leave.

How could she hope to please a man who knew so much? What did he really expect of her? She cast her eyes to his rugged jaw line, surprised to find that he wasn't looking at her for once. It gave her a chance to study the solemn lines to his face and the crimson ones that ran just beneath his eyes. It almost reminded her of Kiba and in a way made her miss her old teammate.

The nodding of Jiraiya's head brought her attention back to him. She wanted to know what he was thinking, what had him so lost in his own thoughts. She'd just worked up the courage when her father suddenly got to his feet.

"I thank you all for witnessing the marriage of my eldest daughter to the Legendary Sannin. And as much as I would like to continue this gathering, I think you all know what time it is." His speech was paused by low laughter that left Hinata blushing. It couldn't be that time already could it? "Please respect the privacy of the bride and groom as they travel to their chamber to make this joining...official." It might have been her imagination, but Hinata was sure her father had cringed at the last words. Before she could dwell on it, the white haired shinobi had swept her into his arms and was carrying her across the room, wearing a brilliant smile that showed a mouth full of perfect teeth. Naruto had teeth like that...

Applause erupted around them as the Hokage stepped forward. "Please, Jiraiya." She said in a tone that left the younger dark haired woman quivering with worry. "Be gentle with her."