"Hi Sasuke!" shouted Naruto from the training ground when he saw his best friend approaching.
"Hn," grunted Sasuke. It was early...a little too early for Sasuke's liking…but since Naruto was getting married the next day, Sasuke had already decided to cater to his whims as much as possible. It was Naruto who had suggested a short training session with just the two of them, just so he could use the intensity and sweat to ward off some of the jitters he had been feeling.
They began with simple taijutsu and didn't go further than the simplest of ninjutsu. The point was not to defeat one another, but rather to work off some of Naruto's tension. Sasuke was more than happy to oblige.
"Are you ready, Naruto?" asked Sasuke while they were sparring.
"Yeah, Teme," Naruto answered back, sending a nicely placed punch toward's Sasuke's gut.
"Why the need to train the day before you get married?" asked Sasuke. "What's bothering you?"
"I've been thinking about a lot of things and they are starting to bother me. I thought training would help me stop thinking about it," explained Naruto.
"Like what?" asked Sasuke.
Naruto paused. "I'm a little sorry that I'm only going to have Hinata to myself for a few months."
"Dobe, you've got more than a few months...nearly seven. And when that kid comes out, you are going to love it so much you are going to wonder how you lived without him or her all this time," said Sasuke.
"Wow," said Naruto pausing for a second and looking at his teammate.
"What?" asked Sasuke.
"I just never thought I'd hear something like that coming out of your mouth," answered Naruto.
Naruto then tried a high-placed kick, but Sasuke dodged it by ducking.
"It's no big deal," said Sasuke.
"No big deal!?" said a stunned Naruto. "You've changed, and for the better I might add. Or..."
"Or?" Sasuke repeated.
"Perhaps it was Sakura who really changed you. You finally let her in after all these years and look what happened," said Naruto flashing his gigantic cheesy smile.
"Ridiculous," answered Sasuke flatly.
"Oh, I don't think so," said Naruto. He knew, as much as Sasuke wanted to argue with him that the opposite was true, that Sasuke was indeed a different person. Sure, he had his pivotal change of heart during the battle with Tobi that day nearly a year ago, but even so, he could still have ended up a cold, bitter, lonely Uchiha living in the Hidden Leaf. Instead, he was a good friend, and a good lover to Sakura. He now definitely cared about his village once again.
Sasuke sent a few fireballs towards Naruto. Naruto lept off to the side.
"Hey Dobe," said Sasuke.
"Yeah?" Naruto asked.
"If you're getting married tomorrow, when is everyone else arriving?" Sasuke asked.
"Who in particular?" asked Naruto.
"Well, I figured you invited a bunch of people from outside the village. You have friends basically everywhere, don't you?" said Sasuke.
"I actually didn't invite too many people outside of the village. The wedding did get planned rather quickly after all. Killer Bee couldn't make it, but Gaara and his siblings said they'd come. They should be here later today for that dinner the Hokage is hosting," said Naruto.
"Oh," answered Sasuke. "I almost forgot about that. I'm glad you said something."
"You'd better be there!" exclaimed Naruto, making a clone so he could make a simple rasengan. "I hate these formal shin-digs."
Sasuke laughed. "Yeah, I'll be there. Sakura would kill me if I wasn't."
"Oh, and Teme? Do me a favor?" asked Naruto.
"What?" Sasuke said jumping out of the way of Naruto's outstretched hand at the last minute making him hit a tree instead.
"Come stay with me in the Hyuga compound tonight," said Naruto.
Sasuke could tell the invitation was sentimental in nature. Naruto simply wanted to be next to his friend on the last night before he was a married man. "Sure, Dobe. I'd be happy to."
OlOlOlOlOlO
Sasuke and Sakura made it to the Hokage's dinner a little late. Thankfully, seats were pre-assigned and Sasuke didn't have to face one of his biggest dislikes…having to control himself and be polite around anyone he truly disliked. Naruto had made sure that Sasuke and Sakura sat with himself, Hinata, Chouji, Ino, Tenten, and Neji.
"Where's Shikamaru?" asked Sakura to the others at the table wondering why the genius wasn't at the table with the rest of them.
"Where do you think?" said a sarcastic Chouji. He looked in the direction of the only other abnormally large table in the room – the table where Tsunade sat.
"Ahh, now I understand," said Sakura.
Shikamaru was seated at the Hokage's table for one significant reason...Temari was there. Gaara, as the Kazekage, was asked to sit with the Hokage for dinner. His two siblings naturally sat with him and a special request was made by the Hidden Sand contingent that Shikamaru join them. Kakashi, Might Guy, and Shizune sat with the Hokage at the main table as well.
Dinner went off without a hitch. Lady Tsunade stood up to make a small speech once the meal had concluded. She recognized the close ties between Sand and Leaf and thanked the Kazekage for making the journey for Naruto's wedding. She also congratulated Naruto and Hinata on their upcoming nuptials and wished them all the best. Finally, she shared some additional thoughts about the Hidden Leaf, the will of fire, and how she hoped the village would stay strong and continue to prosper for many years to come.
Naruto practically fell asleep during Tsunade's speech and not one of the Hokage's dirty looks actually made it through to him. It took Sasuke elbowing him once the speech was obviously wrapping up to wake him up again.
"Now, I sincerely hope everyone enjoys themselves this evening...but be sure to call it an early night. Tomorrow is a big day for the Leaf as well...the hero of the Fourth Shinobi World War is getting married!" concluded Tsunade.
Applause and a few cheers and whistles were heard from the attendees. Once Tsunade sat back down, music was heard filling the silence that had been left...followed soon by jovial talking and joking. It was a good time for the Leaf and the joy was felt by almost all who were there.
Shikamaru did eventually make his way over to the table where most of his closest friends sat just to say hello.
"How's Temari?" asked Sakura seeing her chance to be nosy.
"She's well," answered Shikamaru. "Y'know it's funny that we don't see each other for large stretches of time, yet whenever we are together, it's as if no time at all has passed."
"Speaking of Temari...," said Sasuke.
"Hi everyone," said Temari, taking her place at Shikamaru's side.
"Anything interesting going on at the main table?" asked Sakura.
"It's funny you should ask," said Shikmaru, rolling his eyes.
Temari leaned forward and spoke so that only Sasuke and Sakura could hear. "Remember when you two were in the Hidden Sand and Kankuro flipped when he found out Shikamaru and I were together?"
"Yeah, I do," noted Sakura.
Temari looked back at the table where Gaara and Tsunade continued to converse. To Gaara's immediate right was Kankuro talking with Shizune. Both appeared to be enjoying themselves, smiling and laughing.
"No!" said Sakura. "Kankuro and Shizune?"
"Yes!" answered Temari. "They have been flirting like that since before dinner."
"I kind of feel sorry for them," noted Sasuke.
"Huh? Why?" asked Sakura.
"Because if I know you, Temari, you're never going to let him hear the end of it," said Sasuke.
"After what he pulled? You got that right!" Temari, smiling from ear to ear.
OlOlOlOlOlO
The night was filled with a lot of heartfelt talking and reminiscing by both Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto actually shed a couple of tears when he thanked Sasuke for coming back to him and village...and for saving him when he fought against Tobi. Sasuke, a bit out of character, took note of Naruto's genuine thankfulness and happiness at having him by his side once again. By the time time morning rolled around, the two friends were in frantic pre-wedding mode fumbling around trying to get ready in time to head over to where the ceremony was scheduled to take place: a courtyard in the middle of the compound.
Sasuke was dressed formally and was helping Naruto with the last of his garments when Neji stuck his head into the room to verbally nudge the two along with their preparations. It would seem that everyone was in place and were merely waiting for the groom to arrive to start the event.
Sasuke made the final few tweaks to Naruto's formal wear before the three of them dashed halfway across the compound to the doorway that ultimately led outside to the courtyard. They stopped rushing just out of the site of the guests who were sitting in their seats on the grass.
Naruto looked outside and noted how nice a day it was. Bright, sunny, and not too hot...it was still technically morning when the blonde hero led his two friends outside. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust. But soon enough Sasuke could see quite a few people from the Hyuga clan, Gaara and his siblings sitting next to Lady Tsunade, all of their classmates and senseis from the academy, several members of the Koshosuru clan including Sumato and Kanja, and many others. He recognized nearly everyone from one place or another.
Music played as the beautiful bride made her way towards her groom arm-in-arm with her father.
Hiashi showed no sign of anger or sadness at the prospect of marrying away his first born daughter. His face showed nothing but pride as he walked down the aisle. It looked as if he had made peace with the circumstances and now wanted nothing more than happiness for his daughter and his new son-in-law-to-be.
The ceremony didn't last long. Neither Hinato nor Naruto desired a lot of pomp and circumstance. They simply wanted to get married in front of friends and family, then to celebrate the occasion afterwards...and that is exactly what happened.
Because it was not a huge affair, the courtyard which had been filled with rows of chairs for the ceremony was simply converted within minutes to a venue suitable for a polite social gathering with tables and chair for eating, an area for dancing, a place to get food, and a place for musicians to play. Everyone was full of smiles and words of congratulations to the newly married couple.
Sometime during the gathering, Sasuke made his way to the twins to see how they were coping since arriving back in the Leaf. He actually hadn't seen them since the day they had returned from Hidden Mist.
"Sasuke!" both Kanja and Sumato shouted almost in unison when they saw their ex-teammate approaching them.
"How are you two doing?" Sasuke asked.
"We're good!" said a rather excitable Kanja.
"Has anyone ever told you that you seem different when you aren't on a mission?" asked Sasuke.
"Aw, give her a break. It's a wedding after all!" said Sumato.
Sasuke laughed. He had never seen them quite so light and happy but considering the past circumstances, perhaps that made sense. They were still quite young after all; it was just the shinobi life, their abilities and the pressures felt from their family that had made them so serious in the past. Now, it seemed, they were given the green light to let loose and be kids again for the day.
"Well, you two have fun today," said Sasuke as he was turning to leave them to go find Sakura.
"We will!" they shouted.
Sasuke went to the food table to see if he could still get some of the sushi rolls that had been brought out before he went to find Sakura. He spotted her across the way talking to Sai and Shino. He took a moment to admire her beauty as she stood there smiling from ear to ear, counting himself lucky. For just a moment, he thought about the future he was sure he had with her and wondered if everything would work out between them as it had with Naruto and Hinata.
Just then, a loud BANG! was heard. Something seemed to have exploded. Smoke started to rise from the far end of the courtyard. Pieces of stone had gone flying. When the smoke started to clear, it showed that a gigantic chunk of the compound was now crumbled and in a pile on the ground.
Rightfully so, many of the guests had run in the opposite direction of the explosion. It looked like most of the guests had been able to get away, but Sasuke was nearly certain there were bound to be casualties amongst the rubble.
Sasuke instinctively leaped towards where the explosion had taken place. He found a few people located under some rocks and pulled them out. The first two were knocked out and bleeding. However, in Sasuke's assessment, they looked like they would be just fine after medical attention. When he got to the third person, a man, he found that he was still conscious...though just barely.
"The twins...," the man mumbled, just barely audible.
"What?!" shouted Sasuke at the man, who Sasuke recognized was dressed as a member of the Koshosuru clan. "What about the twins?"
"They're gone. They...took…," said the man before he lost consciousness.