Oh my goodness, it's been eleven years y'all... I'm so sorry. I actually wasn't going to finish this because I haven't been in the Naruto fandom enough to feel comfortable writing fic anymore, but every so often I kept getting reviews asking me to finish... And finally I couldn't stand it! I've always prided myself on following through with the tasks I set myself, and having this single fic eternally incomplete was bugging me so much.
I have to admit that I have basically forgotten everything about this story, so I went back and re-read it (and surprised myself with several plot twists that I didn't even see coming!) and produced this epilogue based on what I, as a reader, found to be missing a conclusion. I tried to match the flavor of the previous chapters as best I could, but writers grow over time, and it's hard to go back! So essentially this is a fanfiction of a fanfiction... Death of the teenage author!
Thank you so much to everybody who has kept this fic on your alerts, hoping against hope that someday I would come back! I really appreciate all of the reviews that I've gotten over the years even after I basically stopped uploading on ff dot net! (I am on AO3 under the same penname, if you're interested in seeing what I've been up to since then.)
Hopefully this will be a good ending!
Neji Hyuuga's eyes softened as he looked at the new Marchioness of Spindale. She caught him his expression and laughed, smacking his arm playfully.
"You look so sappy," she teased him, though her gentle smile softened her words. "It's already been a month since we were wed."
"And each day I am more and more grateful that I married you," he replied, catching her hand as it slid down the side of his arm. "I am afraid that you will have to endure, wife; the sappiness is only likely to increase from here."
She turned away with a blush. "Truly, if someone had told me when we first met that you would be speaking such words to me, I would have suggested they find a weaker drink! And look at you now."
He squeezed her hand. "I would much rather look at you."
"All right, enough of that," she laughed, tugging away from him and turning her attention back to the center of the room. "It's Itachi and Sakura's wedding, after all. We can hardly upstage the happy couple."
"I hardly think that would be possible," he murmured. "Look at them, Sakura is radiant, and I don't think I've ever seen Uchiha so satisfied with himself."
She chuckled. "Shouldn't it be the other way around? They were engaged for less than a week, and people were still placing bets on when he would make his escape! Nobody actually expected him to make it to the altar, let alone all the way through the ceremony!" She surveyed her friends proudly. "And yet, here we are. Vows made and everything."
He shrugged. "Nobody has ever accused Uchiha of being logical."
Tenten continued to smile, listening to the whispers from the noblemen around her. Harmless as they were, the rumors that Sakura must have practiced some kind of witchcraft on the Marquess of Mirrorwood amused her.
"He doesn't even flinch when he sees his wife and his mother with their heads bowed together behind his back," one man said in a hushed voice. "Either he's far more confident in his ability to rein them in than any man has a right to be, or else he's touched in the head."
Another man agreed, "I would rather my wife and my mother hated each other than be scheming together."
Tenten rolled her eyes, but secretly she had to agree that there were very few prospects less daunting than the combined forces of Sakura Haruno, now Uchiha, and Mikoto Uchiha.
Compared to those rumors, the gossip about the second Uchiha son seemed almost tame in comparison. When the Viscount of Hawkford had caught his wife kissing another man, he had given her a verbal dressing down that had echoed around the ballroom for a full minute. The very next day, Lady Karin had found herself being sent to their home in the country for some peace and quiet, guarded militantly by a group of maids hand-picked by her husband.
But Lady Karin had never been one to go resignedly to her fate. As her husband had dragged her out of the ballroom, to be sequestered in her bedchambers, she had unleashed upon the gathered people a tirade outlining every one of her dalliances with Sasuke Uchiha, the duration of said dalliances, and a list of every point she felt to be a weakness in Lord Sasuke's lovemaking techniques.
Even Tenten, who had a very justified disdain for the woman, had to admit she had been impressed at the sheer gall of the maneuver. And the lung capacity.
Sakura was basking happily in the love and affection of her new family. In her hand, she carefully held onto the wispy veil that she and Itachi had painstakingly embroidered together.
Itachi kept a similarly tight grip on her waist, as if afraid she would drift away from him when he wasn't looking. She leaned back against his side and tipped her chin up to smile at him.
"You don't have to hold on so tightly," she teased. "If anything, I should be the one worrying about you running away."
His hold only tightened. "Perhaps I am afraid that you will come to your senses and realize that you can do better than me." Then he gave her a small smirk. "Regardless, you've bound yourself to me now. No matter where you run, I will always find you."
"Terrifying," she said evenly, but her shoulders relaxed in relief. After the terror of narrowly avoiding ruin at Kabuto's hands mere days ago, it was reassuring to hear those words.
"I have to admit," Sakura's father cut in from beside Itachi, "I was skeptical about this marriage. But I think you'll be happy, daughter."
Her mother dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief. "Of course she will!" she exclaimed, nudging at Lady Mikoto Uchiha's side. "Have you ever seen a couple so well matched?"
Lady Uchiha smiled demurely, but Sakura could see the hard glint of satisfaction in those eyes. "I have not," she agreed. "Not since my dear Fugaku agreed to marry me, at least."
The Duke of Fanshire, standing beside her, nodded in agreement. Something in the way he held himself and gazed off into the far distance when not directly being addressed told Sakura that he was very well aware of his wife's machinations. And for some reason, possibly simply for purposes of self-preservation, he was steadfastly refusing to look underneath the calm surface of Lady Uchiha's waters.
A wise choice, that.
Lady Haruno was still going. "The guests seem happy," she noted, clasping her hands to her chest. "And they've certainly been generous with the wedding gifts!"
Sakura grinned. "The Duke and Duchess of Sixwood above all."
Itachi sighed in agreement, a puff of warm air stirring her hair as he pressed a quick kiss to her temple.
"It is a shame about that Kabuto," Sakura's father grumbled. "Who would have expected him to be the type to have secret debts?"
Sakura exchanged a look with her new husband and they nodded in silent agreement. Itachi, as a man who circulated in many of the same professional circles as Kabuto, had explained to Lord and Lady Haruno that the Marquess of Shieldwood had accumulated several heavy debts due to his involvement in some unsavory business, and that unfortunately it would take the poor man quite a while to sort out what he owed.
The night of the ball at Hawkford, they had told Sakura's parents, Sakura had almost gotten caught up in Kabuto's mess and might have come out more than merely shaken had it not been for Lord Pein and Lady Konan, as well as Itachi himself, who had discovered them in time and managed to extract Sakura from the situation.
"Naturally, of course, the Duke and Duchess have taken Kabuto's properties under their stewardship while he is away," Itachi said smoothly. "Unfortunately, taking inventory of what, exactly, that entails necessitates that they be away from town at this moment."
Sakura rested her head on his shoulder. "They've more than made up for their absence with their gifts," she giggled. "The poor man they hired to deliver everything this morning could not wait to be rid of his load!"
She had yet to look at the gifts in detail, of course—that would be crass. But from quick peeks she had glimpsed several gorgeous pieces of art crafted entirely from folded paper with gilt edges, as well as an intriguing wooden puzzle and several books that seemed to be philosophical and medical musings on the possibility of achieving immortality. She was looking forward to going through the pile with Itachi later.
Lady Uchiha leaned in conspiratorially. "Dear daughter-in-law, now that you are officially part of the family, I will need to request your assistance with my other son."
Sakura drew away from Itachi's side, studying her mother-in-law with caution. "Whatever might I be able to help you with, Lady Mikoto?"
Lady Uchiha's smile widened. "Why, with introducing Sasuke to a good woman, of course! I am deliriously happy to see my oldest son in wedded bliss, and I am determined to see my youngest son the same way!"
Sakura considered this. Certainly, after Lady Karin's ill-intentioned diatribe against his skills in the bedroom, many of the young ladies around the younger Lord Uchiha had drawn away, scandalized. But she had also seen others, many of them older women, studying him contemplatively, as if wondering whether or not it would be worth it to take him in hand and teach him better skills.
From the way Lady Uchiha's eyes narrowed, she could almost certainly tell that she had Sakura intrigued.
"Excellent!" she exclaimed. "Then I will count on your help in this matter."
Itachi gently caught Sakura's hand and tugged her away from his mother. "Mother," he said in exasperation, "perhaps this new scheme can wait until after the wedding is over. Look, Lord Hyuuga and his new wife are waiting for us to greet them."
Sakura let herself be led away from their parents, toward the cluster of their friends who were even now catching sight of them.
"To be truly honest," Itachi breathed into her ear as they walked, "perhaps my mother will need to be patient for a while longer than that." His hand squeezed her hip, burning like a brand even through the many layers of her wedding gown. "After all, you are mine now. And I plan to keep you very well occupied for the next few weeks."
one journey comes to its
end.
and another begins