Hey guys! Surprise! :D This is a commissioned piece for QueenJayMhir. I wasn't supposed to add another chapter for this but I was thrilled with Queen's idea when she commissioned me.

Please let me know what you think about it! Will this be a happy ending or not? Keep on reading! :)

o - o - o

You are cordially invited to
celebrate the marriage of

Hinata & Naruto

November 26, 2020 | 3:00PM
Konoha Tower Main Hall

She scanned the rest of the invitation, her green eyes expecting to see a familiar name on the list of the entourage. As expected, she found it listed as the Best Man, yet seeing it for real still made her heart skip a beat.

Sakura placed the parchment paper back inside its envelope with a sigh.

"I'm happy for you, Sakura. But I cannot say that I'm happy for me."

It has been a year since she heard those words, and since then, they began lingering in her mind. She never expected that two sentences could have a drastic impact on her decisions, but up to now, she still wondered if all the things she has been deciding about were worth it.

Is it the perfect time for them to see each other again? What would she tell him? Would he talk to her? Would he...bring a date? These were just some of the questions that bombarded her mind as she sat in her living room, the same place where she read about Sasuke's departure from show business a year ago.

As tears began to brim her eyes, she just hoped and prayed that Sasuke would at least talk to her the moment they saw each other again.

Her phone's ring made her sit up and wipe her tears with the back of her hand. When she saw who the caller was, she almost felt like crying again. "Hello, Sasori?"

o - o - o

He took the invitation for the last time, reading its contents with a sigh. His suit was ready, but Sasuke couldn't help but shut his eyes as he rested his head against the couch.

Sitting in the same spot where he had read Sakura's blog about her relationship with Sasori, he thought about making excuses to Naruto again just so he wouldn't have to see familiar people, especially her.

However, just when Sasuke was about to type a message, Naruto's name appeared on his screen. He answered the call. "I know what you're thinking, Teme! You've hidden for a whole year so the very least you could do for your best friend is to celebrate his big day with him, whether you like it or not!"

"Tch. Aren't you supposedly preparing for the ceremony?"

"And aren't you supposedly here by now? My goodness, Teme! You're just a few tumblings away from Konoha Tower!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

"Promise me you'll go here."

"I'm not your wife-to-be, Dobe."

Naruto groaned. "Idiot! Just tell me you'll be here, I want to make sure my Best Man will not ditch my wedding!"

Sasuke replied after pinching the bridge of his nose, "Fine."

As he dressed up for the wedding, he just hoped and prayed that he wouldn't have to encounter Sakura.

o - o - o

Sasuke reached the venue just in time for the entourage to fall in line. He went to his position, barely greeting anyone until his best friend tapped him on the shoulder.

"Finally, huh?" Naruto smirked. "Thanks for coming, Sasuke. I'm really glad you're here."

Sasuke stared at him blankly. "Being sappy does not fit you, Dobe."

"You–!" Naruto almost punched his arm, but he resorted to just heaving a sigh and fixing his bow tie for the nth time that day. After all, he didn't want a ruckus at his wedding. "You never change, Teme." He shook his head. "How's life in the business world these days, by the way? You never come to our get-togethers anymore."

Sasuke's mind traced back to the past year. So many things have changed, contrary to Naruto's comment. If the show business was vibrant, the business world was simply monotone in Sasuke's eyes, or maybe, he was just looking for literal specific colors around him. Its absence made his life somber that sometimes, Sasuke felt as if he was suffocating.

He had received a few invitations for guestings and movie roles in the past year but he rejected everything despite his desire to act again.

His silence made Naruto frown. He brought back his hand on Sasuke's shoulder before saying, "Must've been hard without her, huh?"

Looking away, Sasuke placed his hands in his pockets.

Naruto sighed once more. "She'll be here, though. I hope you get to sort things out."

"We have nothing to sort out."

"You left her in the dark, Sasuke. And I believe you need to hear her side as well so things would be okay between you two again."

Sasuke snorted. "For what? She's in a relationship already, which has nothing to do with me."

Naruto parted his lips as if to contradict him, but he paused and cleared his throat instead. He then shrugged. "I don't know about you, Sasuke. But I'll be fine with my wedding being the key to your reconciliation with Sakura."

In a beat, Naruto left and talked with the rest of the entourage, leaving him to his thoughts.

He wondered if Sakura would talk to him and if he would even allow her to do so. It wasn't that he was completely fine with how things were between him and Sakura, but for his peace, he just didn't want to put salt on his wounds anymore.

Naruto had hundreds of guests, that's why as best as he could, he didn't want to cross paths with her. However, not all wishes come true.

"Yes, Miss. The maid of honor, the bride's sister, got stuck in traffic from the airport." Sasuke overheard someone behind him. "Would you be willing to take her place, at least, for the processional?"

"Sure! That's fine with me!" He stiffened when he heard the other voice. Sasuke wanted to turn around to confirm his thought, but how could he be wrong? It was the voice that she memorized so well. It was the voice that he tried so hard to forget, but to no avail.

The next thing he knew, the wedding coordinator caught his attention. "Mr. Uchiha?" The woman holding a clipboard smiled at him, but he didn't get to respond for he already saw pink in his peripheral vision. "Miss Haruno here will fill in the role of the maid of honor during the processional since Miss Hanabi won't be around yet. Will that be okay?"

He clenched his fists. Did he even have a choice? Slowly, he turned to face the said replacement. His dark sullen eyes locked with her wide green ones, and to his surprise, his heart missed a beat. He looked away immediately. Swallowing hard, he sighed and nodded at the wedding coordinator.

The woman clapped twice. "Great! Miss Haruno, please stay in line here with Mr. Uchiha. The processional will begin in a few minutes."

"O-okay."

Sasuke clenched his jaw as the person she didn't want to encounter stood beside him shyly.

The autumn air was crisp around them, emphasizing the cold demeanor of Sasuke as he refused to glance at Sakura.

"Hi," she eventually muttered.

Sasuke's chest constricted. For some weird reason, he wanted to embrace her and kiss her hair right then and there. It took a lot of his willpower to restrain himself before he slowly looked at her and gave her a nod. The moment their eyes met again, Sasuke realized how much he had missed her. To his surprise, Sakura spoke once more.

"I...I missed you, Sasuke."

His eyes widened while those three words left him frozen in his place.

Sakura looked down, shifting her weight from one foot to another. She parted her lips to speak again, only to be cut by the wedding coordinator who announced that the processional was about to begin. She bit her lip as she shot another glance at Sasuke. She then gasped upon seeing Sasuke's arm extended for her to hold.

"Let's get ready," he said without meeting her wide-eyed gaze.

They did their roles when the program began, and as they parted ways after walking down the aisle, Sasuke took a glance at her and wondered if parting ways was also the best ending to their story.

o - o - o

"Can I sit next to you?" Sasuke heard Sakura's voice again during the reception. The seat beside him was supposedly for Hanabi, but she was already seated on the special table alongside the other Hyuuga's, leaving the space empty. He cleared his throat and nodded once without looking at Sakura.

She gave him a small smile. For the next few minutes, she tried to have a small talk with him, and thankfully, he replied to her queries while they watched the program commence in the middle of the hall. He might have been responding, but it felt like he was miles away from her instead of being next to her.

She exhaled deeply, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Sasuke, can we...can we talk about us?" She finally let it out, tensed and uncertain.

"There's no us, Sakura."

His response felt like an arrow shot through her chest. But Sakura could no longer hold back something that she wanted to tell him ever since he left. "I know." She averted her gaze. "But what if I tell you that having an us is something I've always wanted to happen?"

With furrowed brows and parted lips, Sasuke faced her. "What? What are you talking about?"

"I've…" Sakura fiddled with the table napkin as she remembered everything. She couldn't look at him when she said, "I've always been in love with you."

Sasuke stiffened, his fists clenching on his lap. "I'm not playing around with you, Saku—"

"Me neither." She finally met his stern gaze. "I was afraid, Sasuke. I was afraid that maybe I was just so used to having you around that's why I developed feelings for you. I was afraid that you won't ever feel the same, that everything was simply work for you. That's why before I got hurt, I already reached out to my manager and laid down my plans."

"That's nonsense. You have a boyfriend. Months after the love team parted ways, you're already in a relationship with Akasuna."

Sakura looked down at her hands. "I thought I already stopped loving you. Sasori made me really happy, but what we had...that wasn't what we needed."

Sasuke clenched his jaw and continued to stare at her. His eyes widened when he caught something within her words. "Wait...had?"

Slowly, Sakura looked at him again. She nodded before adding, "We broke up a month after the KSA's."

Sasuke was unable to reply immediately. He brushed his hands through his hair, trying to parse everything. She loved him all this time. She broke up with her boyfriend by the time he left the industry. He didn't know what to say. Mixed emotions filled his chest as he looked back at her. "Why are you telling this to me now?"

"Because…" Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes while they locked with Sasuke's. "I realized I can't live without you."

"Tch. Damn it, Sakura! If you're just doing this to try to woo me back into pairing up with you just because you don't have a boyfriend anymore, quit it. I don't intend to go back to show business."

"N-no! That's not my intention at all, Sasuke."

Sasuke sighed, averting the sight of Sakura's teary eyes. "Then what do you want?"

There was a pause as the background music played in the hall.

Sakura fixed her gaze on him when the lights dimmed during Naruto and Hinata's first dance as a married couple. She waited until he looked at her before she muttered, "You."

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat.

His widened eyes triggered her tears to fall. "Is it too late to try if things would work for SasuSaku in real life, Sasuke?"

Quickly looking away, Sasuke placed his hands in his pockets. He shut his eyes as if to restrain his tears from falling. Then, he shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sakura. For everything."

o - o - o

Seeing Sakura's tears before she stood up and walked away crushed Sasuke's heart in ways he never felt before. He clenched his fists with his head down, ignoring the cheers of the people around him as the newlyweds shared a passionate kiss. He didn't notice that a tear already fell on his right cheek. He took a sip of wine as if to numb the pain, but he was only reminded of how Sakura told him that she has always been in love with him.

Glancing at his best friend and Hinata in the middle of the room, he realized that being loved by Sakura was what his heart always wanted all along. Quickly, he wiped his tear with the back of his hand before exiting the hall to finally follow his heart once and for all.

Sasuke found her at the lobby nearing the exit of the venue. With a racing heart and a firm resolve, he ran after her, pulled her by the wrist, and cupped her face to kiss her as ardently as he could. This time, he did those not as any of the roles he has played as an actor, but simply as himself.