Once Kakashi had come home and Sasuke was gone, he still couldn't bring himself to be close to Shanan the way he would normally be. He tried, but the smell was still too overwhelming for him. However, he did sit by the front door and talk to her. He even apologized to her for not waking her up or saying goodbye, which she assured him he didn't ever need to feel guilty about.
They stayed up all night talking to one another, Shanan on the couch and Kakashi in front of the door, and it was agonizing for both of them even if the conversation wasn't entirely unpleasant or serious. In fact, they both actually laughed a lot. And by morning, Kakashi was able to at least give her a long hug and a kiss on the forehead before going back to work.
Shanan was really thankful that Sasuke was going to be the one to help her with the wedding and that he'd offered to go with her to speak with Shikamaru.
Not long after Kakashi left, Sasuke showed up and was glad to see that Shanan really did seem to feel a lot better.
He walked with her and waited outside while she talked to Shikamaru and told him about Sasuke taking over with helping her.
He was visibly hurt, but he kept the tears at bay since he was well aware that they couldn't keep doing what they'd just spent the last few days doing.
"I'm sorry, Shikamaru. I really wish…" she trailed off not knowing what to say exactly.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight as he cried softly into her. "It's alright," he whispered. "I had a really nice time with you and I'm glad you came."
Shanan felt terrible. They had had a great time together, but hurting Kakashi was always the most unfortunate side effect of her and Shikamaru giving in to their old feelings and making them new again.
Shikamaru sat back and chuckled softly, wiping the tears from her face. "Until next time, right?"
She nodded, but the words were bittersweet.
Satisfied at her response, Shikamaru pulled her in and kissed her deeply before telling her how much he loved her and then walking her to the door and hugging her once more to say goodbye.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Sasuke teased as they walked to the Yamanaka flower shop.
Shanan laughed and wiped the last of the tears from her eyes. "Super easy." She made sure the words dripped with as much sarcasm as possible as she wrapped her arms around Sasuke's arm and leaned against him while they walked. "Thank you."
Sasuke pulled his arm from her and put it around her as he pulled her close. "Anytime, Shanan."
Sasuke actually had some really good ideas, which had surprised Shanan. He completely decorated the altar, saying that he'd seen it in a dream once. And he knew exactly what to do with all of the flowers as well. Lee was really helpful when it came to putting everything together and after a few weeks they'd had everything set up perfectly.
Shanan still tried to spend time regularly with her old team, but Neji was in charge of his own squad these days and was seeing a girl that he really liked. And Lee and Sakura had started spending a lot of time together when he wasn't helping to care for Guy.
"I feel like everyone's pairing up," Shanan said as she looked over the guest list.
Sasuke took the clipboard from her to examine the seating arrangements.
"How do you know who's dating who?" he asked, a bit confused.
"I asked them and then wrote it all down so that I could seat them next to one another."
He continued to examine the list. "Ino and Sai," he said as he laughed.
Shanan looked at him confused. "Why's that funny?"
"I've just heard people say that he looks like me and she used to have a massive crush on me. That's all."
"She did?" Shanan thought for a second. "I suppose I can kinda see the resemblance, but not really. You're a lot more handsome than he is."
Sasuke blushed a bit. He knew that she thought that, but she's also called Naruto handsome too, so he tried not to read into it too much.
"I think I remember someone mentioning Sakura liking you for a while too. Did you like her back? Was she the girl you kissed?" she asked excitedly.
"What? No, and definitely not," he said quickly.
Shanan was slightly disappointed. "Well I like her and Lee together. I knew he had a crush on her and she's very pretty," she said as she looked at Sasuke. "You're not gonna try to find a date?"
Sasuke put his hands in his pockets a bit awkwardly and looked down at her with a completely unreadable expression as he shook his head.
Shanan felt bad. He clearly still felt the need to punish himself and he deserved so much more, but she had already told him that several times and she didn't know what to say to him about it anymore. He looked like he needed a hug though, so she set the clipboard on the nearest table and wrapped her arms around him and sunk in so that she could hopefully say it without words this time. He seemed to understand as he wrapped his arms tightly around her and rested his head on hers. The chakra cycling between them seemed to want to keep them together. It was very hard to pull away.
"Is everything ok?" Lee seemed to yell at them, completely snapping them out of whatever trance they both seemed to be in. Neither of them were sure how long they'd been standing there.
Sasuke pulled himself away from Shanan's embrace and picked up the clipboard as he walked over to Lee to make sure he was alright with where he and Sakura would be seated and Shanan went back to examining centerpieces to make sure that they were perfect.
After a short, three month engagement, Naruto and Hinata were married. They both looked so amazing and elegant and traditional.
The guests weren't required to dress so traditionally. Kakashi was sort of a mixture of both traditional and modern since he'd chosen to wear his mask because he had to attend as Hokage and he didn't like to show his face to outsiders much. Shanan had helped Sasuke with his outfit and they'd landed on all black with a long black tie. And Shanan had decided on a long and elegant, backless floral dress.
The three of them were all right in the front row with Shanan in the middle and the ceremony had gone perfectly. Sasuke had thought to bring extra tissues for Shanan since she was, predictably, a complete mess.
Afterwards they had an indoor reception and Shanan didn't get to relax much. She wanted to make sure Naruto looked good in front of his new in-laws, so she didn't put her clipboard down and she didn't sit once. Kakashi at least made her take a break to dance with him since he couldn't stay all night. And Shanan made sure to appreciate how handsome he was as she held him close. She didn't feel like the majority of people got to see them together like this very often, so she held him close and looked into his eyes the whole time. She didn't make him take off his mask, but she did pull it down just enough to kiss him sweetly before he'd had to go.
Once he left, it was just her and Sasuke without dates and he wouldn't let her do anything else as he'd asked Lee to handle anything else that came up. So they sat there talking and laughing and drinking for the next hour as everyone else danced and drank. He had thought about asking her to dance once, but he knew she'd say yes. Especially with what kind of drunk he knew her to be now. He didn't have to ask her anyway, though.
"We should dance!" she said as she finally grabbed his hand.
"No we-" he had started to say, but she was already dragging him. Luckily it was a fast song.
But Shanan didn't seem to care. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into her. All he could do was lean down and wrap his arms around her waist and follow her lead.
And there was that feeling again. He closed his eyes and pulled her closer. It was ok, they were both drunk. He had his hands on her back and her skin was warm and soft. She was on her toes seemingly trying not to make him have to bend so far down to her.
Sasuke's breathing had slowed as he tried to make time stand still. He could no longer hear any music or anything at all. All he wanted to do was kiss her. And just as he'd thought it, she loosened her grip on him and leaned back to look at him. Time had stood still, he was sure of it. She stared so deeply into his eyes. He almost worried she was reading his memories and maybe that wouldn't have been such a bad thing.
She slid her hand from around the back of his neck to touch his face as she smiled at him. Sasuke's heart was beating out of his chest. Her hand was so soft as her thumb lightly brushed his cheek. She was going to kiss him. She was drunk. He couldn't let her.
"Sasuke..." she whispered.
He looked at her longingly, but ready to stop her if he needed to.
"I need to sit down," she told him softly as she rocked on her feet a little.
He couldn't help but feel both relieved and disappointed at the same time. "Just hold onto me, ok?" he whispered as he wrapped one arm around her waist and held her hand to guide her back to her seat.
She immediately put her head down and passed out for a little while as Sasuke sat with her as he tried to make the room stop spinning.