Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sakura finished labeling the last box of dishes and set it safely on top of her small dining table. Packing up her apartment had been a lot more tedious than she originally believed it would be, even with Ino and Sasuke's help. She hadn't realized how many possessions she had accumulated over the past few months.
"I just finished packing up the last of your clothes." Ino gently plopped the box she was carrying on top of a stack already sitting in the living room. "We should have just hired a team of genin."
"And lose the sentimental aspect of it all?"
Ino snorted and rolled her eyes at how goofy Sakura was acting. Now that they were done with all of the packing and after a while she would probably feel the same but at the moment she was just tired. Ino smiled to herself, so sure that helping and fighting with Sakura during her moving process would make a good memory to look back on when they were both older.
"Are you going to feel the same when you help me pack all of my junk from my parent's place in August when Sai and I get married?"
"Of course I will."
Sakura and Sasuke's wedding was only a week away and Sakura was busy putting her life away into boxes. Most of the furniture would follow her to her new home but some things like the bed she brought from her childhood bedroom would be returning to the Haruno residence.
"So the boys will be moving all of the stuff?" Ino asked as they moved around the apartment cleaning and dusting the now empty rooms.
"Naruto insisted on helping out and Sai wanted to be included so I left the boxes for them to deal with for when they get back from their mission. I moved the furniture myself and Sasuke and I took the fragile stuff."
"Good idea. Who knows what those two could break if Sai puts Naruto in one of his moods."
Sakura and Ino finished dusting the apartment and sweeping and then headed back to the Haruno home to have lunch with Mebuki. The Harunos were excited to have their daughter back home for a bit before she was to move into her new house. Kizashi even hid the paperwork she planned on working on even in her off time so that they could enjoy time as a family.
"There you two are!" Mebuki greeted them at the door and ushered them into the kitchen where she was setting the table for lunch. "I thought I was going to find you in the hospital again."
"Almost Auntie, almost." Ino giggled. Mebuki had asked her to keep an eye on her best friend who kept sneaking away back to work. Ino and Shizune kept threatening to call Sakura's mother and having Mebuki drag her daughter out of her own hospital and humiliate her by causing a scene.
"After lunch can you take some to the bakery for Papa?" Mebuki gestured to a bento sitting on the counter behind her and Sakura nodded. Luckily her mother understood that she hated sitting around and kept coming up with errands for her to run.
"So Auntie, what do you think of Sakura's latest Uchiha dilemma?"
"I wouldn't necessarily call it a dilemma." Mebuki crossed her arms in front of her chest and blew air out of her mouth so that her bangs fluffed up and then back down. "Her in-laws don't have a problem with her working so who cares about the rest of them."
Sakura beamed at her mother and took a bite of the sweet curry her mother prepared.
A few of the elder Uchiha men had an issue with Sakura refusing to step down as director of the hospital and retire as a shinobi when she got married. It was insulting that they thought she would give up everything she worked hard for to tend to the house. If there were kids in the picture she could see herself cutting back hours and splitting her time between working at the hospital and taking care of her children until they reached a certain age.
And what would be so wrong with Sasuke being the one staying home with the kids and taking care of the house? He was perfectly capable of keeping a house clean. And out of the two of them he was the better cook and had more time than she did to prepare meals or to tend to household duties. Well, he had more time when he wasn't away on missions.
But that was a conversation to be had between her and Sasuke when they were ready to make plans for kids. At the moment they only had a brief taste of married life whenever they spent time together. It wouldn't be until they were actually living together that they would come across more problems as a couple that they could work on.
"So how are plans going for your wedding Ino-chan?" Mebuki asked as they were finishing up their meal.
"It would be going better if my parents would both agree with me on things." Ino tossed her hair over her shoulder and she pouted in frustration. "I'm interested in more western wedding customs. Like far, far western but Tou-chan wants something more traditional. He says a gown would probably be an odd choice of attire at a shrine. So he definitely has his heart set on Shinto traditions."
"Then what would you like?"
"A civil ceremony. Just something in a banquet hall."
Sakura's mouth quirked to the side as she tried to picture Ino's perfect wedding. It was very easy to see her in a stunning gown. It just seemed very Ino in comparison to a shiromuku or uchikake.
"What does your mother say?"
"She doesn't mind actually. She actually can't wait to shop for a gown."
"Nori-chan would get excited about that." Mebuki covered her mouth to stifle her giggles. She stood up and began to clear out the plates. Sakura tried to to help but her mother slapped her hand away. "I've got it."
Sakura's mother was oddly indulgent the past few days. Unlike her father who would randomly burst out into tears over his little girl growing up so fast, Mebuki was more subtle and would spoil Sakura every now and then as if it were the last chance she could get away with treating her daughter like she was still a child.
"I'm heading out! I'll be back soon." Sakura shouted to her mom as she left her home.
Mebuki watched from the window facing the street as Sakura and Ino walked down to the corner where they parted, going off in different directions.
"Itterashai..." Mebuki sighed. Even though her daughter wasn't moving far away and had already been living on her own for the past few months it wasn't until recently that it really clicked that Sakura wouldn't be coming back and calling their home "home" anymore.
There was a more permanent feeling of her being out of their house now that she was going to be officially married and living with her husband than when she lived in her apartment.
Maybe that's why Kizashi is so attached to the cat, Mebuki chuckled inwardly to herself. He needs something to deal with the empty nest syndrome.
Izumi frowned at the blue lump on her couch. She placed her hands on her hips and nudged at Sasuke's back with her foot.
"Really, Izumi? Really?" Sasuke turned and glared at her. He sat up and stretched out his long limbs and smoothed out the creases in his sleeveless, knee-length blue coat. Itachi and Izumi had recently bought him new shinobi attire that was reminiscent of his genin outfit and in place of expressing gratitude verbally he made sure to wear it when he visited their home.
He was visiting almost every day now.
"Why can't you be cute and call me nee-san?" Izumi grumbled. "And when are you going to stop crashing on my couch? You have your own home!"
"You know why I'm here."
Izumi grimaced and let Sasuke be. She returned to the kitchen so she could finish preparing dinner. Luckily she always made a lot of food just in case Shisui decided to drop in which he was prone to doing most nights.
Sasuke had been spending more time in his older brother's house because he was hiding from the chaos that was his own home. His mother's mood was more volatile than it had ever been as the days were counting down to Saturday when his wedding to Sakura would be held.
Sasuke couldn't say he was looking forward to anything about the day besides having his marriage finally recognized and being able to go home at the end of the day with Sakura. He would have preferred something small with just his immediate family and hers and Naruto, possibly even with Kakashi and Sai who would then bring Ino.
His mother had planned the event to be a lot more lavish than he thought was necessary. If it weren't for the fact that Sakura seemed excited about the event he would have asked to do away with the reception with all of the guests that had been invited.
"Tadaima." Sasuke heard his brother's clear voice as he entered the front door.
"Okaeri." Izumi's response came right after. From the sounds coming from the entrance he concluded that Izumi went to greet his brother and take his things from him.
"You're here again?" Itachi teased good humoredly. He ruffled his brother's hair and then continued to the bath that Izumi had prepared after a crow summon brought a message that Itachi would be arriving home on time.
Itachi was only in the bath for ten minutes when Shisui arrived, removing his hitai-ate and gear. He greeted Izumi and then Sasuke making his way to the bath as well. A second later he came back and sat down next to Sasuke, a red mark on his forehead.
"Did you really─?"
"Yes, yes I did."
"Don't you have your own place?"
"Don't you?"
Sasuke glared at Shisui and then crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaning back against the couch.
"Shisui, really? You know he prefers his baths alone. Wait your turn." Izumi brought out tea and then frowned at Shisui. "You're covering my couch in dirt."
Sasuke tried his hardest not to frown. There were similarities in Izumi, Itachi, and Shisui's relationship to his and Sakura and Naruto's that were eerie at times. Perhaps it was time to help his best friend propose to the Hyuga girl so that he would be too busy to impose on his marriage life with Sakura.
"So what are you doing here?" Shisui turned to Sasuke after being reprimanded by Izumi.
"He's hiding from his mother and Naruto," Izumi answered for him. "Mikoto-kaa-san is a little overzealous at the moment and, well, I don't know why he's hiding from Naruto."
"He wants more male bonding time before the wedding. I don't think Sakura would be too happy if I electrocute him for being irritating."
"What, no bachelor party?" Sasuke glared at Shisui and let out a low growl. Shisui raised his hands in surrender. "Sheesh you're attitude's worse than Itachi. But then again, we couldn't even find him before the wedding to throw him one. He kept disappearing before we could drag him away. You sure you don't want to go party? It's your last two days as a single man."
"I haven't been single in like a year and a half. And what's the point of a bachelor party? I'm actually looking forward to married life. Bachelor parties are just...sad."
"Definitely my favorite Uchiha after Itachi." Izumi beamed at him and ruffled his hair.
"Hey…" Shisui whined. "That's supposed to be me."
"Oh, be quiet. And go take a bath." Izumi cleared the tray of tea when Itachi entered the room. Shisui left, grumbling to himself.
"Did you ask him yet?" Itachi spoke softly to Izumi. She flushed pink and averted her gaze.
"Not yet. I wanted to ask him together. And not in front of Shisui."
"What's going on?" Sasuke looked back and forth between his older brother and his sister-in-law, confused by the nervous looks they were giving him.
"We wanted to know if you could ask Sakura-chan to make an appointment for Izumi before you two left for your honeymoon. We could always wait until you come back as well, no pressure. We just would rather she see Sakura-chan, and only Sakura-chan, as soon as possible."
"Is something wrong?"
"Not necessarily," Izumi assured him. "It's just that I received an injury on the last mission with my genin squad that's a little concerning. It seemed to have healed properly but…"
"We are planning for kids in the future and want a second opinion, a more trustworthy opinion. From a medic that's more confident that we shouldn't have any issues when the time comes."
Sasuke's eyes went wide. Izumi's eyes turned downcast as he looked at her. He looked away when Izumi's hand went to her right side, cradling her abdomen protectively.
"I'm sure Sakura wouldn't mind seeing her tomorrow. I'll ask."
"Thank you. And don't let anything slip to Okaa-san yet. She shouldn't have to worry about anything if it turns out to be nothing."
Sasuke nodded in agreement, eyes shifting over to look at Izumi one more time. He knew his brother and his parents wouldn't care if it turned out that Izumi couldn't have children. The problem would be with the elders.
"Enough with that face," Izumi snapped at him. "Let's go eat. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. I have faith that Sakura-chan will have good news for me."
She dropped her frown and gave him a reassuring smile. Sasuke hoped that Sakura could help her. He was sure there would be no better or more deserving people to become parents than Itachi and Izumi.
Sakura was up at dawn on the morning of her wedding. Considering she was up late into the night reading, she didn't expect to feel so refreshed after what seemed like an hour nap. After only getting small hours of asleep with her work hours at the hospital she usually felt groggy.
"Mrow…" Sakura felt small movements on her bed and then her vision was blocked by white as Hisui sat her body right in front of her face.
"Good morning, Hii-chan." Sakura stroked her cat absentmindedly for a moment, listening to the tiny vibrations of her purring. "I'm getting married today. Again."
Sakura giggled and hopped out of bed. She was going to take the chance to take a walk before everyone stormed to her house to whisk her away to get ready for the day.
Mikoto frowned when she noticed the yawn Sasuke tried to hide. She should have made sure that Sasuke had gone to bed on time the night before. It was morning but not so early that he should have been tired. It was eleven and he should have been bright eyed and bushy tailed.
Sasuke went to yawn again and Mikoto cleared her throat. He blinked into awareness and glanced over at his mother who had her eyes narrowed at him, red eyes gleaming.
Don't embarrass me in front of our in-laws, she mouthed to him. Sasuke immediately straightened up and looked toward the door of the waiting room, where Sakura and her parents would walk through to meet with them before they made their walk to the shrine in line with the priests and shrine maiden.
Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno came in dressed in a suit and an ornate kimono. Sakura came in afterward and Mikoto's breath caught in her throat. She was wearing her shiromuku and the contrast with her pale pink locks made her look ethereal. Mikoto took a sideways glance at her son who remained impassive but was given away by the redness of his ears.
She's just too pretty. Mikoto smiled softly to herself. She couldn't wait to see her in the iro uchikake that was made for the wedding. Mikoto was sure she would look even more splendid and that there would be an even more noticeable reaction from her son.
The ceremony was a blur. Mikoto could remember following the procession to the shrine and the offering the couple gave. She blanked during the reading of Norito and soon enough Sasuke and Sakura were drinking their sips of sake. Mikoto could still hear how clear and steady her son's voice was as he made his oath in front of the gods.
Soon enough she was drinking sake alongside her husband, Itachi, Izumi, and the Harunos, symbolizing the strong bond between their families with this union.
Mikoto took her bow with the rest of the party, vision blurring with tears. Her youngest, her last child, was now wed. Another moment in life now past.
Sakura giggled as she watched Naruto running after Kiba who had just narrowly missed spilling his drink on Hinata's cream and gold furisode. Ino shrieked at the two of them, taking her task of wrangling the troublemakers seriously.
"This is probably the most boisterous any Uchiha wedding has ever been." Sasuke winced when he saw Rock Lee fall into a handstand. TenTen pleaded with him to stand normally. Neji just looked in the opposite direction, pretending that whatever his teammates were doing wasn't happening. "Who invited Team Gai?"
"Your mother probably did. Come on. We like them."
"Do we?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Neji who just smirked at him when he noticed someone staring and turned away.
"Relaaaax." Sakura clung to his arm and rubbed her hand on it soothingly. "You know the Hyugas were invited because of Naruto."
"Hn."
Mikoto had taken the time to approach Hyuga Hiashi and invited him to attend the wedding. She wanted the two families, even if it was just the head families, to get along for the sake of Naruto and Hinata. Although Iruka took on the role of Naruto's father figure, the Uchihas were more like his family after he was placed on Sasuke's genin squad. Getting along with his future in-laws was the least she could do for her late best friend.
"It's funny how nervous Tsunade-shishou is making your aunts and uncles."
"Well, you wouldn't expect to see a Senju at an Uchiha wedding."
"I'm glad your mother invited her. It wouldn't be right if she wasn't here." Sakura smiled softly in the direction of her parents and Tsunade who was laughing louder than usual at something Kizashi said.
"Who's that with Akimichi?"
"Hm?" Sakura looked for Choji and found him by a table loaded with sweets, a pretty girl with red hair and dark skin accompanied him. "Oh. Karui-san. She's one of the Kumo ambassadors. Shikamaru introduced them and had Choji escort her around the village. Ino hoped they would hit it off."
"Weird how everyone's pairing off…"
"Hello, lovebirds!" Ino hooked her arm with Sakura's and pulled her out of Sasuke's reach. "I'm going to borrow the wifey, okay? The girls want a photo of just us."
Sasuke sighed and nodded even though Ino didn't care for his permission and whisked his bride away. Sasuke kept his eye on the back of Sakura's uchikake, an uchiwa proudly displayed. His mother was definitely responsible for that.
"What are you doing all by yourself?" Naruto popped up by his elbow. Sai sidled up next to them, a pleasant smile on his face. They appeared more often now, especially with his engagement to Yamanaka Ino.
"Aren't you suppose to be Hyuga's escort?"
"Ino dragged her into the group photo for the girls."
"It was...nice of your family to include her," Sai's brow wrinkled thoughtfully as he tried to find the right words.
"Oh yeah, we need to find Kaka-sensei so we can take a team photo." Naruto's head whipped side to side as he tried to look for their former sensei. "This is probably the nicest we will all look when we're all together."
"I'm surprised you still have your entire suit on." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his friend's attire. For once he wasn't in orange and instead was wearing a cream and gold tie that matched Hinata's furisode.
"I'm maturing, my friend. I'm maturing."
"Also I might have adhered his suit jacket to his vest and button down shirt," Sai muttered, only loud enough for the three of them to hear. Naruto pouted, put off by Sai's betrayal.
"There's my favorite men," Sakura wrapped her arms around Naruto in a hug. Sai reluctantly accepted a hug after being reassured that no it was not cheating if he hugged a female friend. "Where's Kaka-sensei? We should take a photo."
"Right behind you." Kakashi poofed to their side. "Anything to get away from the toddler. Cute as Mirai may be, children have such grubby fingers. Who's taking the photo?"
"I'll do it!" Shisui rushed over them, a camera in hand. "I've been waiting to use this."
"This can't end well," Sasuke muttered.
"Wait, where's Yamato-taichou?" Sakura stood on her toes and looked around.
"Couldn't make it unfortunately. Mission." Kakashi snapped his book closed and shoved it into his suit jacket. "We should get this over with. It looks like the parents of the bride want photos as well."
"Do you think maybe─?" Sakura attempted to use her sweet voice when she wanted to get her way.
"No can do Sakura-chan." Kakashi patted the top of her head and she pouted.
"But it's their wedding day, Kaka-sensei," Naruto chirped. "It could be your gift to them."
"I'm not taking off my mask you guys."
Naruto and Sakura groaned and Sasuke snorted at their reaction. He knew it wasn't likely that Kakashi would show them what was under his mask with that as the reason. They would have to find another way to figure out what he was hiding underneath.
"Alright everyone, get closer" Shisui readied his camera. "Can you at least try and stand closer to Naruto, Sasuke?"
The two of them grumbled but did as they were told. It took a while for Naruto's pout to go away but soon enough he was giving everyone a mega-watt smile.
Why does this seem familiar? Sakura brushed her hair to make sure it was smooth and smiled brightly for the photograph.
"They're so sweet." Izumi giggled. She and Itachi were watching the younger shinobi from afar. "This is kind of more pleasant than what I expected considering all of the fuss."
"I think it's only going smoothly because of all of the fuss. I'm so glad my mother kept it to three courses instead of the seven she originally planned on." Itachi shook his head slightly, patting his wife's hand which was tucked into the crook of his arm. "This would have just been a huge dinner at that point."
"I can't believe Shisui got another camera."
"He got two." Izumi's jaw dropped and Itachi chuckled at the look of shock on her face. "He tried to fix the other one and apparently the warranty covered the damage and replaced the camera."
"Too bad about the video."
"Oh, I forgot to mention that part. He thinks the memory card might have survived the incident."
"Yes!" Izumi clapped her hands together excitedly. "I really wanted to see the meeting."
"Well, how about we go see the 'newlyweds' right now? I kind of want a photo too."
"You just want to bother your brother. You know he's tired."
"Ah. You know me so well."
Sakura threw herself on the bed face down. She picked up a corner of the duvet and rolled until she was wrapped in it.
"Uh, Sakura? Maybe you should change first?" Sasuke sighed and unwrapped her from her bundle. She whined but sat up and untied her obi.
"So many layers." Sakura slipped off the iro uchikake until she was only in the white underlayer. "But worth it huh? I looked very pretty today, right?"
"Don't ask questions to which you already know the answer," Sasuke muttered to himself as he helped her fold up her kimono to be put away.
"Want some help?" Sakura asked, sliding Sasuke's haori off of his shoulders. "I'm so sleepy."
"It's probably from staying up all night looking through texts," Sasuke teased. He flinched when Sakura pinched his side but then smirked when he saw her face flushed red.
"Like I told you this morning when we met─" Sakura wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him. She seemed somewhat smaller with her hair down and dressed in all white "─I just want to be able to help Izumi as much as I can. I don't do OB/GYN cases normally."
"But she should be able to conceive right?"
"Oh, definitely!" Sakura nodded her head enthusiastically. "You only need one healthy ovary which she has. She may need a little help, which I'm looking into, but whenever she's ready she should be able to conceive just fine."
"Thanks for helping them, by the way." Sasuke stroked her hair and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"It's kind of my job, remember? I'm a medic." Sakura laughed good humoredly. "Besides," She laid her head against his chest and drew a circle on it with her finger, "they're my family too. I want to help them if I can."
"We should take a bath," Sasuke murmured into her hair.
"How about we just go to sleep?" Sakura let go of her embrace and turned to rummage through her overnight bag and pulled out her pajamas. "This is kind of what I've been waiting for all day."
"Even more than our ceremony?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, only teasing in his questioning.
"Okay, that was actually beautiful. I'm glad your mother insisted," Sakura mumbled, cheeks bright pink. "What I meant was that I was looking forward to this."
Sakura gestured to the dimly lit room and Sasuke's eyebrows just furrowed in confusion.
"It's night time. No one's bothering us and I can sleep next to my husband." Sakura let out a dreamy sigh. "We can lie next to each other, curled up, when we're tired. Doesn't that sound nice? Just to lay close to each other, maybe with our limbs all tangled up, and just enjoy each other's company as we're lulled to sleep by the sound of each other's hearts beating and each other's breathing."
"Yeah that sounds nice." Sasuke smiled softly at her. It was so like her to romanticize the act of sleeping in the same bed. "So let's just do that. Hm, yome?"
Sakura nodded her head and peered up at him through rosy lashes. She became unusually bashful although they were just going to be innocently sleeping next to each other. They finished dressing for the night and slid under the covers. Sakura reached over and held Sasuke's hand, lacing their fingers together.
"I forgot to mention the best part," she whispered, eyes already shut.
"What's that?"
"When I wake up, as soon as I open my eyes, you'll be here anata."
Sasuke pulled Sakura closer so that he could lay an arm over her waist, curling his fist into her night shirt. Sakura sighed contently and snuggled closer wrapping her arm around his waist.
"Good night, Sakura."
"Good night, Sasuke-kun."
Author's Note: Hello everyone.
It took a while. I was busy with work and then I got sick and was in so much pain I went against my doctor's instructions and took pain killers. I was knocked out for a whole day. So this chapter was pretty much all written yesterday.I really wanted the update to be today, July 23rd.
I wanted to make this more family oriented. So I focused on the Harunos a bit and then the ceremony more than the reception. More feeling than fanfare.
(who knows, maybe I'll come back and add things...maybe. But for now I'm content.)
I know that we don't know if Mikoto had the sharingan or not but I gave it to her anyway.
And sorry...no wedding night fun...this is my fluff fic.
Like I said before that this fic wouldn't end until Sarada made her appearance so there are still many chapters to come...hope you don't mind how long this is going lol
I can't promise when the next chapter will be. I hope it's soon…
Happy Birthday Sasuke~
