Lauren's POV
When my eyes finally creaked open, I instantly realized that I was in a hospital. I'd been in such an establishment many times before, and even if this wasn't the Konoha hospital the setting was basically the same. The bed lined in white sheets, medical equipment set up on a stand nearby, many beeping sounds—the only thing that had changed was the color of the walls. Oh, and usually there weren't two neutral faced Uchiha sitting beside the window.
"Imouto," Itachi greeted as I shifted my eyes over to the two, symbolizing that I was awake. "Are you well?"
"Stiff," I responded with a shrug, gently pushing myself into a sitting position. "I'm alive though, thankfully."
Suddenly I winced, rubbing my jaw. Tess's final punch had certainly left a mark—it even hurt to talk. I had a feeling eating would be a challenge as well, when the time came.
Sasuke quirked a brow as he watched me, looking slightly amused. "I'm surprised Tess was even able to muster up so much strength after the genjutsu you put her through."
By the time he had finished speaking, his tone held no amusement but definite seriousness. I stared at him for a moment before shifting my eyes over to Itachi. His onyx eyes were hard, waiting for me to respond.
I sighed.
"I got the feeling you two would notice."
Itachi shifted in his chair, crossing one of his legs over the other.
"Of course. It's only typical for us to be able to spot a jutsu in which we also use."
"And your feelings on myself wielding such a jutsu?"
"It is a dangerous genjutsu, and has its risks," Itachi slowly responded, tilting his head to the side. His eyes suddenly lightened as he spoke his next words. "I am simply worried that you are not completely ready to use it."
I nodded, giving him a small smile at his consideration.
"I…am not quite ready to utilize the complete effects of the Tsukuyomi," I admitted, being complete honest with the two. "That's probably why Tess still had some strength left when I ended the genjutsu. At this point I can only make the Tsukuyomi last about 24 hours…"
Itachi nodded in understanding, and beside him Sasuke crossed his arms.
"You should have told us that you had awakened your Mangekyo," he scolded lightly, and I drooped my head in acknowledgement.
"I wasn't completely sure that I had awoken it," I admitted with a small laugh, causing them both to raise their eyebrows in surprise. "When I was trapped by Orochimaru…I think that the power could sense my distress and emerged to try and help me. I was too weak and mindless to realize it however, and wasn't sure of what had happened until I was training a few weeks ago, and sensed the power of the Mangekyo."
"I see," Itachi mused, and Sasuke dipped his head in consideration at my words.
"I'm still honing my skills so I can get it to full potential," I continued on, trying to give them and myself a bit of reassurance. "I realize I'm not completely ready to use the Mangekyo—I had never even planned to use it in my fight."
"But it was because your fight was against Tess that you did," Sasuke said, almost speaking the rest of my thoughts, and I nodded.
"Had I not brought out a trump card our match would've have dragged on forever," I said, snorting slightly at the thought of Tess and I still out on the field battling. "Only a few people there would've been able to recognize the signs that it was the Tsukuyomi, anyway," I continued on, suddenly freezing when a thought came to me.
"Honestly, I only came to view the Chuunin exams, but if you'd prefer me to cause some kind of ruckus I'd be willing to."
Tobi—I'd complete forgotten.
My body went stiff with shock.
Tobi had said he'd been in Suna to watch the exams, and as fate would have it, he was also an Uchiha. If he had been there to witness Tess and I's battle—which I doubt he'd want to miss since it was most likely a source of amusement and entertainment—then he now knew I had awakened the Mangekyo, if only slightly at that.
"Imouto," Itachi said, breaking me from my thoughts. I snapped my head towards the two, who were both frowning in concern at my suddenly quietness. I looked up to Itachi's eyes, and just as he was about to ask what was wrong, flashed my Sharingan.
My eyes were only red for a second, fading back to their colorful green a moment later, but it'd been enough time to replay the scene from my night-talk in the desert with Tobi to Itachi. He stiffened instantly once it was done, but quickly forced himself to relax.
Itachi understood the implications. He understood that Tobi could possibly still be around at this very moment, and that I wasn't supposed to have let him know I'd seen and spoken with the masked man in the first place. Itachi also knew that Tobi would carry through with his threat to end my life if I leaked a word—Sharingan was my way of trying to get around speaking about it. Technically, I'd just shown Itachi what had happened after all, not spoken.
Standing from his seat, Itachi glided over to where I was sitting on the bed, and briefly leaned down to hug me. I blinked in surprise, but hugged him back nonetheless.
"We will speak more once we are home," he said quietly and then pulled back, giving me a small smile. I smiled back.
"I must go and fetch Tsunade-sama and Gaara-sama now," he announced louder, now allowing Sasuke to hear. The navy haired male was still by the window, and had been watching Itachi and I with a curious look. "They told us to alert them when you woke," Itachi said further, as he padded towards the door. With a beckoning of his head, Sasuke scuttled after him, and without a further word the two exited the room, the door swiftly snapping closed.
When they were finally gone I released a sigh, falling back onto the mattress. That fight had really worn me out. Besides the use of the Mangekyo I'd used a fair amount of chakra, and Tess's final blow had certainly done some damage as well.
Speaking of the red head, I really hoped that she was okay. The Tsukuyomi wasn't an easy thing to endure—even if at this point I could only maintain the genjutsu for 24 hours, not the full 72. I felt bad for having put her through it, but to be honest Tess had actually taken the torture quite well. This was also proved by the fact that she'd managed to punch me in the face before passing out.
Laughing to myself quietly, the sound quickly died in my chest when the door was forcefully pushed open. Tsunade soon stepped into the room, Gaara calmly following after her.
"And to what do I owe this pleasure?" I questioned somewhat sarcastically, bowing my head to the two. Both cracked a small smirk.
"You are well?" Gaara questioned, eyeing me carefully. I politely inclined my head.
"I am. Tess's punch did leave a mark though—my jaw hurts like hell," I said with a small laugh, rubbing said sore spot. "Speaking of Tess—how is she?"
"Tess is fine," Tsunade assured me, crossing her arms. "She briefly woke about an hour ago and cursed you."
I laughed, not minding that she did so at all. She had the right to, and that was typical Tess behavior anyway.
"Overall, she is healthy though," Tsunade confirmed. "You both should be discharged shortly, so that you may start back towards the Leaf."
"Hai, arigatou," I replied, bowing deeply towards the two. Neither moved to leave however, their eyebrows actually rising in surprise.
"You are not going to inquire to the results of the exam?" Gaara questioned, and I blinked.
"It slipped my mind."
The Kazekage chuckled, and then out of nowhere pulled out a Leaf chuunin jacket. He walked up to the bed and gently handed it to me.
"This is yours," he said, and I blinked once again, staring at the olive colored vest in surprise.
"I did not win though…"
"Nor did Tess," Gaara said calmly. "Your match was a draw, but you must remember that it is not only the winners who earn the title of chuunin, it those who display exemplary skill—which you and Tess both did."
"So we're both chuunin now?"
Gaara nodded, offering a tiny smile. I instantly smiled back, suddenly overwhelmed with happiness at the fact that Tess and I had both succeeded in becoming chunnin.
"Now, let me check you over," Tsunade exclaimed, stepping up beside the bed. Gaara stepped back to give her room.
After a moment the Hokage placed her hand on my head, and I felt her soothing healing chakra flow into me as she double checked for any possible problems.
"Everything seems good," she said, straightening herself back out. Placing a hand on her hip, she smirked at me. "I'll order a permit for your release right away, along with Tess. You two probably want to get back as soon as possible for the wedding after all."
For a moment I stared at her in wonder. I had forgotten about Taylor and Itachi's wedding! It was at the end of this week!
"That would be very much appreciated," I told her honestly, and she chuckled, turning to leave with Gaara. A moment later they were gone, and I still sat there in shock.
How had I forgotten?
My mind stilled for a second, and then I laughed.
Damn, this was gonna be a busy week.
Normal POV
"Deidara, hurry up!"
A week had passed, and Lauren was currently in the bathroom attached to her and Deidara's room, attempting to throw her hair up in some type of suitable fashion. Deidara stood in the center of the adjoining room struggling to pull a pair of black dress slacks over his legs.
"I am hurrying, yeah!" he shouted back as he finally managed to secure the pants around his waist.
"We're gonna be fucking late for the wedding!"
Sighing at her obvious anxiety on the subject, Deidara sternly spoke back to her. "We are not!"
As the blonde grabbed a belt from the bed beside him, slipping it through the loops on his trousers, he heard Lauren's frustrated growl from the bathroom. Deciding it'd be good to check in on her at this point, Deidara leaned back while slipping his belt through the buckle and raised his eyebrow in surprise.
"If you continue to frantically braid your hair like that it's going to get frizzy, yeah," he sighed and stepped into the bathroom with her, quickly taking the knotted hair from her hands. Lauren puffed her cheeks out defiantly but didn't move, allowing her boyfriend—who clearly knew more on how to handle hair than her—to finish braiding what she had started.
A minute later Deidara picked up a bobby pin and grabbed the two braids framing her face, pulling them back around her head in a halo fashion and pinning them together. He took a step back, symbolizing that he was finished, and Lauren took a second to look over his work. A small smile graced her lips briefly, making Deidara's chest swell up happily, but the moment quickly ended when Lauren whisked back out into their room. The brunette grabbed her dress from the rack in the closet while Deidara stepped out of the bathroom, less frantically than she had, and picked up his laid out dress shirt from the bed.
Lauren hurriedly unzipped the navy colored dress and stepped into it. As she pulled the straps over her shoulders she stepped up to the large window at the head of their room and tentatively drew back the curtain.
On the street below florists and caterers where scurrying about, carrying flowers and food to the banquet hall—which, by the way, she had forgotten to ask the location of.
"I can't believe I forgot to set our alarm!" she finally groaned, internally scolding herself as she struggled to reach behind her own body to zip up the dress. Deidara quickly noticed her predicament and scooted around the bed, stepping up behind her.
"I can't believe you forgot to set the alarm too, un," he said as he pulled the zipper up, his tone teasing.
Face flushing slightly, Lauren spun around and faced him, hands immediately flying to the blondes neck where his tie was dangling loosely.
"It's not my fault you decided to come to bed with a boner last night!" she hissed at him. Deidara grinned smugly, a small chuckle escaping his lips.
Yes, she'd certainly been surprised last night when he'd climbed on top of her half asleep form and started to strip her clothes off. She rejected him at first, saying they needed to get their sleep, but she had shut up the moment his hands found her breasts, tongues poking out to—
"Don't do this again!" she scolded him, pushing the knot of his tie up farther, choking him slightly.
"Hai hai," Deidara responded playfully and loosened the knot, watching as Lauren scurried around to find her shoes. He only sighed and started to tuck his light blue dress shirt into his pants.
Hopefully the others were faring better than them.
"Hidan," Tess growled, her eyes trailed on the small mirror beside her as she struggled to perfectly line her eye in eye-liner. "I fucking hate you."
Across the room Hidan, who had been in the middle of buttoning up his burgundy colored dress shirt, paused. He glanced over at her incredulously.
"What the fuck did I do?!"
Sighing again, Tess set her make-up supplies down and pushed herself off the bed with challenge.
"This is what you did!" She yelled at him, pointing at her legs as she stiffly made her way to the door, where her dress was hanging. "I can barely fucking walk!"
Despite her anger towards him Hidan could only grin triumphantly as she ripped her dress from the hanger and slipped it on.
"Aww c'mon," he said with a snicker and stepped up behind Tess. The red head only rolled her eyes at him, brushing her hair to the side as she waited for Hidan to zip her up. Hidan did so without needing to be told, and then wrapped his arms around her torso.
"I just can't help it," he said, snickering to himself. Tess rolled her eyes and turned to face him, brushing a stray piece of silver hair from his forehead. "I got goddamn excited."
Tess scoffed and stepped back over to the bed, quickly twirling her locks up into bun and securing the style with a pair of decorative chopsticks.
"You're excited whenever you want to be Hidan," she finally mumbled back, causing the Jashinist to grin yet again.
"Oooh, I'm getting excited again!" he said and snuck up behind her, but Tess slipped out of his grasp. Smacking his arm, she couldn't help the small smirk that came to her face.
"We're going to be late for the wedding," she reminded him and playfully dragged his mouth down to hers, chastely kissing his lips. "Grab your jacket, we have to go."
"Hai hai~," he drawled, but nonetheless walked back to the bed to grab his tuxedo jacket. Hidan then trailed out of the room and to the front of the house. Tess was on the landing slipping on her heels and Hidan quickly stepped beside her, pulling on his own cleanly polished dress shoes.
For a moment the two then paused and stared at each other. Not thinking of anything they needed to remember, the two exited their home and quickly set their pace at a fast jog. They were late after all.
Together the two ran down the tiny path towards their home towards the main road in the district. Tess's black dress was billowing around her shins, and Hidan, well; Hidan actually was managing to look cool as ever as he jogged down the path, lined in his tux.
However, to their surprise, just as they reached the bend of the main path Deidara and Lauren rushed out of their house. The four all met each other's stares as Lauren and Deidara descended the front steps.
"We're trying to be fashionably late, right?" Tess said, trying to lighten the mood as the four all started running together. Lauren only picked up the sides of her floor length dress and sent Tess a hefty glare. They all were silent instantly.
A couple minutes later they finally spotted the chapel where the ceremony would take place, and Lauren breathed a sigh of relief.
As they slowed down, approaching the enterance, Lauren noted that Sasuke and Kisame stood on either side of the double doors. Both were dressed up in tuxedos and were likely greeting those who were coming to attending the wedding.
"Ohoho, would you look at the time?" Kisame said with a grin as the four approached, looking at an imaginary watch on his wrist. Lauren sent him a very unappreciative glance, and he stepped forward hugging her comfortingly. He could tell she was stressed about the fact that they were running late.
"I'm just kidding, shorty," he said, stepping back to his original spot beside the door. "You're right on time. The ceremony isn't going to start for a little while yet."
At hearing this Lauren visibly relaxed, releasing quiet sigh. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his sister, slightly amused, and the held his arm out, motioning them inside.
The four all trailed inside the small church. Despite the fact that the district had been abandoned for years, the chapel remained in good shape. The high ceilings met at the center beam, and sky lights were placed in certain areas, allowing the suns natural rays to brighten the church. The pews were all wooden, but nice wood at that, and, like the rest of the church, remained in pristine condition.
In the front rows sat the more important people, such as Naruto—who sat on the right side of the church. Sakura sat beside the blonde, and behind the two were the rest of the Konoha 11—along with their sensei's and other Leaf shinobi.
The Akatsuki were all seated at the front of the left side of the church. Sasori sat in the front row, almost all the seats around him empty—and Lauren presumed they'd been left for Tess and herself, along with their dates. A row behind the puppet master was Pein, Konan, and Kakuzu.
"You're late," Sasori boredly stated as Lauren plopped down into the seat beside his.
"It's Deidara's fault," she mumbled, a hint of a smile gracing her face as she turned to look at the blonde who was now sitting beside her. He rolled his eyes, not saying a word.
Sasori chuckled at the two, and down the row Hidan and Tess also got settled into their seats. The two instantly started a conversation with Kakuzu, who was sat directly behind them, as they all waited for the wedding to commence.
They didn't have to wait long, however, because a couple minutes later Itachi walked in and perched himself at the head of the alter. The eldest Uchiha was dressed up in a plain tuxedo, and had his normally pony-tailed hair down, only held back by a few decorative clips.
Lauren smiled at the sight. He looked very nice, and happy at that, but behind it all she could also tell he was fairly nervous. Thankfully Sasuke walked in a moment later and patted his brother on the shoulder, flashing him a small, reassuring smirk. Itachi smiled back.
Sasuke then proceeded to walk up to Naruto and drag the blonde from his seat. Naruto ran out of the room instantly, and Sasuke seated himself in the blonde's previous spot with a sigh, to which Sakura patted his shoulder comfortingly.
A minute later there was the sound of people being shushed.
Kisame managed to sneak in just before the music started to play, and quickly claimed a seat at the end of the pew beside Kakuzu.
With everything settled, everyone shifted to look at the back enterance, and not a moment later did Taylor appear, Naruto's arm looped with hers. Taylor looked absolutely stunning, and the moment she looked straight ahead to Itachi, she felt herself blush. He was staring at her lovingly, a small smile of surprise on his face at the sight of her beauty.
Tugging her lightly, Naruto pulled Taylor back to the real world and lead her down the center aisle. The two stopped a couple feet in front of Itachi, and with tears threatening to spill from both of their eyes, the two hugged. After a moment Naruto pulled back and flashed her a wide smile before retreating back to his seat beside Sasuke—or rather, his future brother-in-law.
With Naruto gone from her side Taylor took a deep breath before turning back forward and stepping up next to Itachi. With the two participants of the commencing marriage now in place, the priest appeared and stepped forward.
The ceremony was simple: a right of marriage was read, vows were said, and rings exchanged. With all that taken care of the priest finally spoke the words everyone was waiting for.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife—you may kiss the bride."
Itachi was on Taylor in an instance, and Taylor wasted no time swinging her arms around his neck in reply. For a good minute the two kissed, everyone's clapping and hollering their only background music.
And suddenly, to even Taylor's surprise, Itachi swooped down and scooped her up into his arms, a large smile lining his face. Taylor blushed heavily, smiling herself, and Itachi carried her from the church. Everyone else stayed put, knowing it was traditional for the bride and groom to have some alone time before showing up later at the banquet hall.
"That was beautiful!" Naruto suddenly cried, pulling out his handkerchief to blow his nose in. From beside the blonde Sasuke rolled his eyes, though seemed thoroughly amused. The Uchiha's amusement faded however, when Naruto suddenly sprung on him with a loud cry of, "nii-san!"
The blonde, of course, meant the term jokingly, but Sasuke still scrunched his face up in disgust. Across the way Lauren laughed at the two, gingerly wiping the remaining tears from her eyes so not to smear what little make-up she had on.
Deidara and Sasori simply smiled at the girl between them, having expected such a reaction from her.
With the wedding now taken care of, Kisame and Sasuke took their places as escorts once again, and lead everyone to the banquet hall. Lauren followed curiously, not knowing where it was going to be held.
To her surprise, it was a legitimate banquet hall, and she almost cursed herself for not having thought the Uchiha—previously one of the largest clans in the Leaf—wouldn't have one.
On one side of the hall was a classic banquet of food, surrounded by multiple tables for people to sit at. The other side of the hall was a dance floor, a small stage positioned on one side.
The building was instantly filled with chatter as everyone flooded in and took their seats. Food was served instantly, diminishing the chatter, and half way through the meal Itachi and Taylor walked in. Everyone started clapping again, happy for the newlyweds as they locked hands and waved in greeting.
After a minute Itachi stepped over to the small stage and picked a microphone up off of it.
"Thank you all for coming to the wedding—it has been amazing thus far," he said simply, giving gratitude to all the people there, and everyone clapped once again. Before he could set the microphone down though, Taylor snatched it from him.
"Everyone," she said. "Thank you so much for coming. It means so much to be surrounded by everyone on this special day, and this is literally the happiest day of my life so far. I'm very grateful to you all for coming."
Taylor's little speech earned her many loving looks and clapping, and once the sounds had quieted down she spoke into the mic again.
"Now, I believe the best man would like to say a speech…"
Beside her Itachi blinked in surprise, not seeming to have known that this would happen, and Sasuke stood from his seat. The younger male Uchiha stepped up and took the mic from Taylor as she dragged Itachi to a nearby table and shoved him into a chair before seating herself beside him, smiling anticipatorily.
Sasuke rolled his eyes at Taylor's apparent happiness that he was doing this—but then again he had easily volunteered when she'd suggested he do this.
Sighing slightly, Sasuke looked out to the crowd and raised the mic.
"When I first met Taylor, it was because Itachi had taken Lauren and I to the park. She was hanging off the money bars, but was too scared to jump down, and didn't have the strength to go back to the ladder to climb down. Itachi noticed and had to go save her—she immediately befriended him, and started to call him "Ita-chan"."
At this the crowd laughed, and Sasuke glanced over to his brother and sister-in-law only to find that they were both staring at each other in amusement.
"Of course, Taylor got along better with nee-san since they were the same age, so they quickly became close friends, and often the two would hang around at our house. On more than one occasion they would play tag along with Tess, and more than once Taylor also managed to run into Itachi—who always seemed to be her knight in shining armor.
"This tradition carried on—even after being apart for a decade—and Itachi still continues to save her from daily evils today. If I recall, when were visiting Lauren's home, Itachi had to save her from a bug in the shower. That made for an awkward situation, but also sparked up their relationship—so truthfully we should all be thanking that bug for having brought them together."
The attendees erupted into laughter, Taylor and Itachi included, but the loudest laughter came from Lauren who was nearly dying at one of the back tables.
"But in all seriousness—Itachi and Taylor, I hope you guys are happy, and wish you a very happy life. I can't say I'm thrilled to have Naruto as a brother-in-law, but if it means your eternal happiness I'll deal with it."
With that, Sasuke lowered the mic, and everyone started clapping once again. Naruto was the first to stand and ran to hug the Uchiha. Sasuke easily evaded and instead stepped into Taylor's embrace, accepting her thanks for the great speech. Itachi simply patted his back, sincerely thanking him as well. Sasuke nodded and smiled at the two before taking his seat.
The remainder of the meal then resumed, and for a while people started chatting once again. Only when the catering crew came back out to collect dishes did Kakashi stand and grab the microphone.
"In typical wedding tradition, we would now like to have the bride and groom perform their first dance together as a married couple."
Itachi immediately took Taylor's hand in his, helping her from her chair like a gentleman. However, before the two could make it to the dance floor Taylor darted away, and Lauren blinked in surprise when Taylor suddenly dragged her away, whispering loudly.
"Do you think you could sing the first song for us?" she questioned, and Lauren blinked in surprise.
"I don't…I mean…," she staggered, pausing once again when Taylor suddenly pulled something from the bust of her dress. Lauren blinked in surprise and took the metal object from her.
"I hope you don't mind, but before we came here I went into your house and grabbed your iPod," she said, smiling brightly. Lauren blinked again, looking form the blonde to the device in her hand.
"Are you okay with me singing it?" she finally questioned again. "My music tastes are different than yours…"
Taylor giggled slightly, shaking her head. "I know that you will make it fine, Lauren."
At this Lauren smiled back, and the two briefly hugged before Taylor rushed back to where Itachi was waiting for her on the floor. Lauren herself hurried past them and hopped up onto the stage, glad to see that Taylor even had an iPod docking station set up for her, the station attached to a large set of speakers.
Quickly the brunette scrolled through her iPod and picked a song she felt Taylor and Itachi would appreciate. After a minute she found it, and quickly pressed play before spinning around to face the crowd, grabbing the microphone from her feet.
'Well,' she thought as the music started to flow from the speakers, 'here goes nothing.'
Aaaaand, you'll have to wait till next chapter to find out how the rest of the wedding goes!
Damn, I updated fast. I was looking forward to writing the wedding chapters though.
Well, I wanna go play Sonic Generations now, so I'll make this AN short.
Hope you're all having good Holidays!
Please review!
