Hey you guys, thesaiyanjedi here with the final chapter of "Naruto's Big Day."
Personally, not a whole lot to say about this chapter, its really just an epilogue to wrap up the last remaining threads and to end everything on a bright and happy note. Its also a really short chapter for me, so I hope you don't mind and manage to get some enjoyment out of it.
With that said, lets get to reading!
Chapter 14: A Happy Ending
"Dearly beloved," the priest began, "we are gathered here today to bear witness to the union of this man and this woman in the bonds of holy matrimony..."
It was just like the last time, that first, failed wedding attempt of which they did not speak. Naruto and Sakura stood there at the alter, Naruto in his sleek black tuxedo and Sakura looking ravishingly beautiful in her white wedding gown. Although, unlike last time, Sakura was using a genjutsu on herself to make her appear as fit and thin as possible, in order to hide being several months pregnant with their son. It wasn't that she had any shame in it, or that any of their friend's didn't know by this point...she just really didn't want to look like a blimp on her big day.
Anyway, just like the first time, neither one of them were willing to take their eyes off of the other, Naruto becoming hypnotized by her jade eyes and Sakura growing entranced by his sapphire ones. They were both ready, long since ready to finally make this official, to begin the next phase of the rest of their lives together. And, in just a few short months, they would begin their new lives as a family.
Sasuke, the best man, was smirking at his best friend and how lost in love he was, while Ino, the maid of honor, was barely starting to tear up at her own best friend's day of happiness. The fellow groomsmen, Shikamaru and Kiba, were smiling too, as were the other two bridesmaids, Hinata and Tenten.
In the audience, the rest of their friends and senseis—Kakashi, Tsunade, Shizune, Chōji, Shino, Lee, Sai (who was now taking extra responsibility for overseeing the dramatically increased security this time), Karui, Gaara, Kankurō, Temari, Durai, Omoi, Chōjūrō, Kurotsuchi, Akatsuchi, Iruka, Guy, Kurenai, Mirai, Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, A, Killer B, Mei, Ōnoki, Inari, and several others—were all happy to be there to witness this moment. But it was Mebuki Haruno that was balling tears of happiness as her husband, Kizashi, wrapped his arm around her.
The priest kept speaking until, finally, it was time for them to exchange their vows. "My we have the rings please?"
The ring bearer presented the rings to the happy couple as they exchanged their vows and professed their love. Once they were done, the priest spoke again.
"Naruto Uzumaki, do you take this women to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"
"I do."
"Sakura Haruno, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live?"
"I do."
And now things suddenly got tense. This was it, this was the moment where everything went wrong last time. Sai had practically every Anbu Black Op in the village on stand by to act on a moment's notice in case something should go wrong again. Every guest had agreed to a mandatory pat down and examination before entering the cathedral. All of it was to prepare for what the priest was gong to say next.
"If there be any person here who has any reason why these two should not be wed, please speak now or forever hold your peace..."
One could cut the tension with a knife! Everybody was braced for the worst, ready to take action if need be.
For their own part, Naruto was deadly serious as he waited in silence, holding the scarred-but-serious-Sakura's hand tightly as they waited...and waited...and waited...
At least 3 seconds of silence past and there was nothing. Nobody spoke up, nobody burst through the front doors dramatically, no one made a single move. It was safe!
After a couple of people let out a sigh of relief that they may not have known they were holding, the priest took this as his cue to bring the service to a close. "By the power vested in me by the Land of Fire and the Village Hidden in the Leaves, I hereby pronounce this couple...husband and wife." He turned to his Hokage and smiled, "You may kiss your bride."
He never got the chance. Sakura took that moment as her cue to instead fling herself at him and claim his lips passionately. He was quick to return the lip lock as they both totally lost themselves in the moment. They were oblivious to the camera flashes, the applauding, the cheering, everything, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he her waist.
By the time they broke apart, they could both see the undying love that was reflecting in each others eyes. They mouthed a simple "I love you" to one another as they turned to face the witnesses, hand-in-hand.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the priest said aloud, "I hereby present Lord Seventh Hokage, Naruto Uumaki, and Lady Sakura Haruno Uzumaki."
The organ played the customary wedding music as they two of them walked down the alter together. Sakura blossoms were throw at them as they walked, passing by all of their friends and accepting their congratulations. Sakura stopped to hug her mother and father and whisper to them how much she loved them, while Naruto gave them both their word that he would protect their daughter and their future grandson...yeah, he could still remember how tense it was when they had to speak to them about that.
Making it out of the cathedral, they were next pelted with rice as they shook hands and were congratulated by still more guests. They were so in the moment that they could not see the elder Uragi Rimonō staring at them in disgust...
They were just about to board their coach that would escort them back to their home for the reception. Kakashi had fortunately agreed to come out of retirement to cover for Naruto while he and Sakura enjoyed their honeymoon...a honeymoon which she was already several months pregnant for, granted, but a honeymoon nevertheless.
Anyway, the newlyweds were about to get in the carriage when all of a sudden Sakura stopped him. "Wait!"
"What's the matter?" Naruto questioned.
"I still have the throw the bouquet."
She signaled to her girlfriends to get ready as she held the bouquet in her hands. Naruto cupped his hands over his mouth and cried out "Heads up guys!" to alert them to what was about to happen.
The bouquet was tossed and the women all scrambled for it, until the panic cleared and it was revealed to have been caught by...Karin.
Sasuke stared at what had just happened and could only respond with a barely audible "Oh crap..."
At the reception, the party was in full swing. Sasuke, Shikamaru, Ino, and many others all began making speeches and telling stories about the happy couple, some of which were rather embarrassing. When that was over, the best man raised up his glass of champagne and offered up a toast.
"To Naruto and Sakura, the two best friends I could have ever asked for. They both saved me from the darkness and, frankly, I don't know where a loser like me would be without them. To their health, their dreams, and to their future family."
"CHEERS!" Everyone raised their glasses and drank their champagne, except for Lee who, as usual, was prohibited from having any liquor, and Sakura herself who, as a physician, was not willing to drink while she was this many months pregnant.
Everybody had a great time at the party, especially after Naruto and Sakura cut the cake together, feeding each other the first slice. The food was delicious and the music, save maybe for an improve rap by Killer B, was romantic and catchy. And the bride and groom were the center of attention when the time came for them to share their first dance.
Everybody congratulated the two of them on their wedding and on their baby, in fact some of them gave their congratulations more than once.
When the happy couple finally got a moment alone, they kissed passionately before breaking apart. Naruto ran his hand along Sakura's stomach.
"It's still hard to believe," he said. "Shinachiku will be here before we know it, and then everything's going to change."
She closed her eyes, "I know. But we'll get through it together sweetie."
Naruto suddenly got a bit nervous, "Umm...hey Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"When...When a woman gives birth...does it really hurt as bad as I've heard it does?"
A vein appeared on the annoyed bride's forehead. "Well, its not like I've ever done it myself before you moron! But yes, its the worst kind of pain you can possibly imagine; I should know, I've had to help deliver more that my share of babies already."
He took her hands in his own, "Well I just want you to know that you won't have to go through it alone sweetie. I swear that when the baby comes I'm going to be there and never leave your side, my job be damned."
Sakura felt like crying as he told her that. "A-Arigato Naruto." She leaned in and wrapped her husband in a loving hug, himself wrapping his own strong arms around her softly.
"Together forever?" she asked him innocently.
He answered by kissing the seal on her charming forehead, "Together forever."
"AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
"That's it Sakura! Come on, you're almost there, just a little more! Push! Push!" Tsunade was there coaching her former student, only this time it wasn't training for a battle, or to become a great medical ninja, this was to give her support as she endured the worst pain a woman ever can endure.
Nine months have passed since Sakura's husband first proposed to her. Nine months since they made love for the first time. Now, five months after their second wedding, following the disastrous first one of which neither of them prefer to remember, the pink-haired kunoichi, top medical ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village and wife of the Seventh Hokage, was about to give birth to their first child.
Shizune was there as well, serving as wet nurse to the future mother. "She's right Sakura, you're doing great! Just a few more and we'll see the head."
Tsunade decided to offer up more words of encouragement. "Remember Sakura, you're a woman, you can do this! Men aren't built to handle this kind of pain, that's why we women are stronger!"
"Where is he?"
"What?"
"Where is Naruto?!" Sakura practically screamed.
"He stormed out of his meeting as soon as he heard you went into labor. He'll be here soon."
As if on cue, the doors flew open at that very moment. "Where is she?! Baa-chan, Shizune-chan, where is my wife?!"
"Calm down brat! Sakura's fine! She's doing great and now that you're here you can be here for her."
Naruto saw his wife on the hospital bed as she inhaled another deep breath before making another painful push. "AAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"
"Sakura!" Naurto practically teleported over to her bedside and grabbed her hand. "Sakura! Its okay, I'm right here! I'm not going to leave you honey; it'll all be over soon-AAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Now it was the father's turn to scream as his wife squeezed his hand, which, coupled with the monster strength she inherited from her master, almost broke the bones in his hand.
"YOU! YOU DID THIS TO ME! YOU ARE NEVER TOUCHING ME AGAIN, DO YOU HEAR ME! THIS IS YOUR BABY NARUTO…GET IT OUT!"
Naruto couldn't do a damned thing but take the verbal abuse and offer all the words of comfort he could; it was a pregnant Sakura, what retort could he possibly make anyway?
For hours Sakura was forced to endure the pain, and Naruto was forced to endure the pain she was giving him; thank goodness Shizune was there to help heal his wounds, since Tsunade was too busy with other things at the moment. This kept going until finally…
"There, I see it! I see the head! Come on Sakura, just a little more! I swear, your baby's almost here! Now PUSH!"
"You hear that Sakura? Our baby's almost her! You're almost a mother and I'm almost a father! Just a little bit more and we can all be a family."
Sakura looked over at her husband, love and compassion in his eyes. It was enough to stir the exhausted young woman to keep going. 'We are almost a family,' she thought to herself. 'Yes, I want this, more than anything I want this. I want a family!'
And so she pushed again, and again, and again, until, at long last…
"That's it Sakura, it's almost over! One more, just one more!"
"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"
A loud cry echoed through the hospital room, but it was not from the mother…It was a newborn baby's cry.
"Shizune! Hot water, NOW! And bring a blanket too!"
"Yes m'lady!"
Time seemed to stand still for the Orange Hokage. Nine months of waiting, all for this moment, the moment when he would finally be blessed with the thing he has always wanted more than anything else in the world."
"Shinachiku…you're here…You're really here." Naruto allowed tears of joy to fall down his face as his eyes never left the tiny, crying infant with blonde hair and green eyes.
He wiped away his tears and looked up to the sky, "Dad…Mom…are you seeing this? Today, your son is a father."
"Yes Naruto," Tsunade said as she held the child in her arms, now wrapped in a soft red blanket as it continued to cry. "You are the father to a handsome baby boy."
"He's beautiful," Shizune said.
"Shinachiku…" Naruto tried to reach out to the child as Tsunade walked passed him.
"HANDS OFF!" Naruto pulled his hand back in confusion. "Mother first, father second."
"O…kay." Again, what could Naruto say? Sakura deserved to see their son first.
Tsunade stood at her bedside, "Sakura?" The woman was so exhausted that she thought she might pass out, but her master's voice immediately caught her attention. "There is someone here who wants to meet you."
The Slug Sannin put the crying bundle in the mother's arms. There was no use stopping the tears of joy from falling.
"Shinachiku…At last we meet. My name is Sakura…I'm your mother."
She felt a hand on her shoulder as her husband leaned in next to her.
"And my name is Naruto…I'm your father."
The boy's crying seemed to calm down as he just started cooing and giggling, making the parent's both smile with pride.
"Sakura," Naruto started, "I'm so proud of you. You've made me the luckiest man in the world today. I love you so much."
"I love you too Naruto." With that both parents shared a soft yet passionate kiss, little Shinachiku still in his mother's arms...
And with that, my journey came to an end. Not as a lonely little boy desperate for attention and mistaken for the very monster sealed within him, but as a respected leader, hero, and most importantly of all, a husband and a father. Are there things about my life that I wish I could go back and do differently? Sure, but you cannot argue with the way life takes you. If I hope my story has taught people anything, its that perseverance is the key to all things and tonever give up on anything. Fight for your dreams, strive to become the best, and never, ever sacrifice your bonds with the ones you love, for that is what separates us men from the monsters.
"Hey dad!"
A twenty-seven year old man stopped typing on his laptop computer and turned his head at the sound of the voice. Standing in the doorway to his home office was a young boy with blonde hair and green eyes, four years of age. The boy was full of excitement, much like his father was back in the day. The boy was wearing a simple orange T-shirt and green shorts.
"Come on dad! You said you'd play ball with me!"
The young man chuckled to himself, "Okay kiddo, I'll be right there."
As the boy ran outside to his families back yard, Naruto went back to his laptop to write one last, quick message to his manuscript.
So, if I were to wrap this up in a bow, I would say that this story is not one of a monster, or even of a great ninja, it is the story of a man. A man who overcame much and beat the odds before him. A friend of mine who I dearly miss once said that a man's destiny is set in stone, predetermined by fate. I never believed that, and I like to think I proved my point.
I am not Kurama, the Nine Tailed Fox, I am not the dead last of Konoha Academy, I am not even the Child of Prophecy. No, in my heart, there is only one person I am...
...I am Naruto Uzumaki, the Seventh Hokage.
"And...done!" He hit the save button and let out a deep breath.
"Naruto?" A young woman and mother of one with pink hair and green entered his office, making the young man smiled in happiness.
"What's up honey?"
"Shinachiku's waiting outside for you."
"Don't worry, I'm just wrapping up right now."
She looked at the screen and saw the last two words that her husband had typed: THE END.
"You've finished it?" she asked incredulously.
"Only the first draft," he clarified. "Thank God I used some clones to help ghost write this thing or else it may have taken me years to write this book."
She scrolled up to the top of the massive document and read the title. "The Tale of Naruto."
"Don't like it?"
"No its fine; simple, to the point, nice and short."
"You think anyone else would want to read it?"
"I don't see why not. You are the world's hero after all."
"Being a hero doesn't matter to me as much as being a good man and raising our family."
She wrapped her arms around him and brought him into a hug. "Well just remember that everyday...you're my hero." She planted a soft kiss on his lips that he returned, letting some of his inner passion come through the kiss.
Breaking apart with a line of saliva between them, they smiled as they looked into each other's eyes, until Naruto realized something. "Sorry babe, but I guess I shouldn't keep Shina waiting any longer."
Sakura stood there in his office as he left and made his way downstairs. Her mind wandered as she ran her hand along her stomach.
'Such a good man, and such a terrific father...Maybe I should tell him tonight that our family is going to be growing a little bit larger really soon?"
The next morning, husband and wife were sitting at the dinner table sharing a cup of coffee. She was holding his hand as they smiled. She had broken the news to him last night and, much like last time, he had taken it really well. They had been talking about expanding their family for a while and were impressed at how quickly it had worked out.
The facts were accepted, but there was still one more piece of business that needed to be addressed first.
"Shinachiku?" Naruto called out to his son, who was currently laying with some of his toys in the living room. "Son, could you come here please?"
A few seconds later, the little boy innocently walked into the room and walked up to his father. "What is it dad?"
"Sweetie," Sakura began, "please sit down. Your father and I have something very special that we need to tell you..."
So there you have it folks! That's the conclusion of "Naruto's Big Day!" I want to thank you all for following and favoriting this story and I hope I made the ride well worth it.
For those of you new to my work that are confused about why Naruto and Sakura had two weddings and what the heck went wrong the first time, please read Chapter 4 of my other story, "Shinachiku's First Adventure," for the full sequence of events, as well as a flashback scene that takes place directly after it in Chapter 7.
And yes, the scene of Shinachiku's birth was a direct lift from Chapter 5 of "SFA." It was intended to mirror Naruto's own birth, right down to Tsunade being insistent that Sakura by the first to see their son instead of Naruto, much like Biwako Sarutobi was insistent that Kushina be the first to see baby Naruto instead of Minato. The difference, of course, is that unlike with Naruto's birth, this scene, fortunately, did not end in tragedy.
The flash forward to four years later shows Naruto finishing writing the first draft of his book, The Tale of Naruto, which has been another recurring element in "SFA." The ending also foreshadows, in case you didn't figure it out, the pending birth of Naruto and Sakura's daughter, Hanami. Giving how close of a bond the two siblings have in my continuity, I thought showing the parents about to tell their son the good news would be a fitting note to end this story on.
I know that some of you might have wanted to see me go into more detail about the wedding itself, and to honest, at first I was going to do exactly that. But as I was writing it, it just didn't seem to flow right and required a bit too much description and exposition for the final chapter of this story. So, thinking it over, I might decide to come back at a later time and write an entirely separate story just focuses on the wedding...both of them (again, long story, read "SFA" to learn what i mean). But for right now, I just wanted to bring this romantic epic to a close so could get back to "Shinachiku's First Adventure."
I hope you all enjoyed this story, and I thank you all so much for following me on this journey. You guys are the reason why I keep doing this. NaruSaku forever!
Until next time, cheers!