Epilogue
The night before, Mebuki had learned many things about her future son-in-law, Gaara, and his family. She learned he had an older sister and an older brother. His sister, Temari, was actually in Konoha at the moment. Mebuki decided that Temari needed to be included in the wedding preparations, especially since they would be held in Suna. The next morning, she decided she would set out to find Temari and talk with the girl.
A slight description of Temari had been given to Mebuki by Sakura. She heard that Temari had befriended the Nara heir and thought she would start there first. When she arrived at the Nara estates, she found out that Temari was not there. She next decided to try the marketplace and the restaurant district. Again to no avail. Temari was nowhere to be found.
Mebuki had just about walked all over Konoha hoping to find the young girl. She decided it was time to give up and started to make her way home. Mebuki was making her way past the Hokage tower when she spotted a young blonde woman exiting the building. She decided to take her chances and ask the blonde if she was Gaara's sister.
"Excuse me. I hope I'm not interrupting you, but would you happen to be Sabaku No Temari?"
Temari looked at the strange women in front of her and wondered why she was asking her who she was. The older women didn't look to be confrontational and she did ask politely. She felt she didn't need to be afraid of this strange women.
"Yes. I'm Sabaku No Temari. Why do you ask?"
Mebuki sighed in relief. "I'm Haruno Mebuki, Sakura's mother. You're Gaara's sister. I finally got to meet your brother last night. I hope I'm not bothering you, but would you mind joining me for a snack at my favorite tea house?"
Temari took another look at the woman after she had mentioned that she was Sakura's mother. The woman stood just a bit taller than her pink-haired friend. She had straight blonde hair that was tied back in a low bun at the bottom of her neck. She wore a thin, straight, red dress with the same Haruno symbol that matched the one she would see Sakura wearing. The only facial features that reminded her of Sakura was the eyes. She had the same intense eye color that Sakura had. There were no other features about the woman that she could recognize in the memory of her friend's appearance.
The Suna nin wondered why Sakura's mother would want to spend time with her. The only thing they had in common were Sakura and now Gaara. It wouldn't hurt anything if she joined the women for a cup of tea. "I don't mind joining you," Temari answered back.
Mebuki smiled at the young woman in front of her and said, "Great. Just follow me. There are some things I would like to discuss with you in regards to my daughter and your brother."
Well, that answered some of Temari's questions. She followed the older women until they came to a quaint cafe. They entered the small establishment and sat down at a table. After ordering their drinks, Temari asked Mebuki what she wanted to talk about.
Mebuki looked at Temari and was hesitant to start speaking at first, but then she put on a brave face and started telling the young women about her first time meeting Gaara. "When they first arrived on my doorstep together, I could tell what a good match they made. Even though I don't know much about your brother, I could tell that he cares for my Sakura. I got to know him a little bit better after we had dinner. He mentioned you and your brother. After they left last night, I knew I wanted to find you. I want to get you know you as well. I also wanted to ask you to help with some of the wedding preparations."
Temari let a few seconds of silence pass between the two of them as she let Mebuki's words sink in. "Well, there isn't much to tell you about myself. I'm sure Gaara has told you plenty. As far as helping with the wedding, I would love to help in any way I can. What would you need me to do?"
"Well, I figure Sakura and Gaara will be getting married in Suna. It's been a long time since I've been to Suna. I wondered if you would be able to help instruct me in Suna's marriage ceremonies. I'm sure they are different than the ones held here in Konoha. I was also hoping that maybe you could help us get a place to hold the reception."
"Sure. I'll be happy to do that. If you need anything else, I'll be glad to help."
For the next half hour, the two women spoke of many things. Before they ended their conversation, Mebuki asked Temari a question that surprised the young blonde.
"Temari... If the time comes for when you get married and if you need someone to stand in the place of your mother, I hope that you would be willing to let me have the honor of taking that place." Nervously, Mebuki blushed and hesitantly continued. "I'm not trying to take your mother's place, but if you need a motherly figure to be there for you, I don't mind being that for you."
Temari didn't know what to say. Yes, she was in a relationship with Shikamaru, but marriage was not in the forefront of her mind yet. She had never considered the thought of how much she would miss having her own mother at her wedding. This was just too much for her to think about right now.
Temari answered hesitantly, still reeling a little from the initial shock of Mebuki's request. "I'll have to think about that, but when the time comes I'll give you my answer," she said. " Let's just concentrate on Sakura and Gaara for now."
Mebuki gave Temari a pleasant smile and nodded her head. They talked for a little bit more and then left the cafe and headed in their own directions.
A couple of hours later, Shikamaru had found Temari in her apartment and in tears. Temari looked up to Shikamaru with her red-rimmed eyes and trying to wipe the leftover tears away. "Have you ever met anyone as annoying as the Harunos?" she asked the Konoha nin.
"Oh, boy," Shikamaru whispered to himself while scratching the back of his neck. "I guess no one ever warned you about Sakura's parents, did they? What happened?"
Temari informed Shikamaru about her meeting Mebuki and their talk at the cafe. "I've never thought about having someone stand in the place of my parents at my wedding, especially my mother. Why would she ask that of me? That's a little presumptuous of her, don't you think?"
Shikamaru looked at Temari with compassion in his heart. He had known the Harunos for most of his life and it was just second nature for him and for most of the village to forget how kindly and loving the family was. It was what made Sakura so Sakura.
"Temari. I don't think she meant any harm by it. It's just how they are. She saw a need and wanted to make you happy. Your own mother is gone and she wanted you to feel like there is still a mother out there that could love you as one. I wouldn't turn the offer away if I was you."
"Oh, I have no plans to turn her down. It was just so unexpected." If Shikamaru vouched for Mebuki's character and Sakura turned out so well, who was she to argue. Besides, it might be nice when that special day finally came - to have a mother to love her again and just be there for her.
XXX
A few days later, Gaara, Sakura and Temari returned back to Suna. Temari was excited to get back as she was given precise instructions by Mebuki to find a proper location for the wedding. Before Temari could start her search, she needed to know from Gaara and Sakura how many people they expected to invite to the wedding.
Both Gaara and Sakura were hoping to keep the wedding small and intimate with only their closest friends and relatives in attendance. However, with Gaara being the Kazekage, they knew that almost all of the important people of Suna would need to be invited. It seemed as if their wedding was going to come close to rivaling Naruto and Hinata's wedding. Sakura trusted Temari's judgement and told her that wherever she chose, it would be fine with her.
Temari took into consideration all of the Konoha shinobi who would be in attendance and that a good majority of Suna's citizens would want to attend the wedding as well. She decided the best place to hold the wedding ceremonies would be at the arena. The reception could be held under a tent near the Kazekage tower with the festivities spilling out into the streets. Everyone would definitely be celebrating into the night and even the next day. Temari would need to talk to Gaara about maybe creating a two-day holiday for everyone to celebrate his wedding.
Temari made her way to talk to all the necessary people to help her get everything set up for the wedding.
XXX
When Gaara and Sakura had returned to Suna, they both collapsed on their bed. Gaara awoke before Sakura and noticed that twilight was falling. He picked Sakura up and cradled her close to his body. Then, using his sand, he transported them to a hillside made of sand outside Suna's city limits where it was away from the lights.
When they reached the destination he had chosen for them, he bent over and kissed Sakura on the lips to awaken her.
Sakura felt Gaara's soft kiss upon her lips. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Gaara with a soft smile on her face. "Hello, Gaara," she said while stretching.
"Hello, Sakura," Gaara answered back. He helped her sit up and moved her so she was sitting on his lap with her back to his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and laid a gentle kiss to the back of her neck. "I hope you don't mind that I brought you here? I wanted to watch the stars come out with you and I wanted to ask you something."
"Oh... What is it, Gaara?" Sakura said, yawning this time. Then, she looked up. They sat in the quietness of the night as the inky sky displayed it's spectacular show of stars. As they watched the sky, Sakura gasped when she caught sight of a falling star. She quickly shut her eyes and made a wish.
Gaara noticed her movements and asked if she was ok.
"Yes. I'm fine," she responded. "Did you see the falling star? Did you make a wish?"
"A falling star?" Gaara queried. "Making a wish? What are you talking about?"
Sakura giggled at his questions. "When you see a falling star, you're supposed to make a wish, silly."
"Ok," he said while shaking his head at her silly antics. "What did you wish for?"
"I can't tell you that. If I do, then it won't come true," she chided him.
At this, Gaara just pulled her closer to him and held her tighter. They sat a couple more minutes in complete silence. Then he unwrapped himself from her and pulled a box out of his back pocket. He opened the box and pulled a ring out of it. He lifted Sakura's left arm and reached for her hand. He placed the ring on her finger and brought her hand to his lips. He placed a kiss on the backside of her hand and then said, "I love you, Haruno Sakura, and I can't wait till the day I can change your name to Sabaku No Sakura, my desert flower."
Sakura looked at the ring and recognized it as her mother's ring. "Gaara, when...how… did you get this? This was my mother's ring."
"She gave it to me before we left Konoha. She knew you would want it. I'm glad that I could give it you."
Sakura turned herself around so she could see his face. "Gaara, I'm so happy right now." She hugged him. "I can't wait to become your wife."
They stayed laying next to each other until dawn started to break the sky.
XXX
A few days later, Mebuki, Kizashi and Ino showed up in Suna. Temari showed them to their rooms in the Kazekage mansion. Then she took Mebuki and Ino to the arena and let them meet all the people who would be involved with assisting with the wedding arrangements.
After spending a full day of checking out everything necessary for the wedding, Temari, Mebuki and Ino sat around the table in the mansion. Temari informed Mebuki that she had already started to send out the invitations for the wedding. Ino talked about the flower arrangements for inside the arena and for the reception. Mebuki said she already had Sakura's wedding kimono already picked out. Sakura just needed to try it on and see if it needed to be sized for her.
XXX
Two weeks had passed since Gaara had placed the ring on Sakura's finger and the day of their wedding was fast approaching. He still couldn't believe that she was going to be his. He never thought that he would ever feel this kind of love. He remembered the first time he had met her and thought of her as a weak, useless kunoichi. Then, she had faced him to protect Sasuke without fear. After that she grew to be someone who was formidable. She saved his brother and then helped to rescue him from the Akatsuki. She cried when Chiyo gave her lifeforce to bring him back from the dead. She fought hard during the war and never gave up on Naruto, even after the Kyubi had been taken from him. Not only was she beautiful, but she seemed to be much stronger than her namesake.
When the council came up with the idea of the Kazehime Trials, he thought he had lost her forever. He would forever be indebted to his sister for insisting that Sakura participate in the trials. She persevered and she had won - not just the trials, but his heart as well. He couldn't wait for the day they would be joined forever.
XXX
The day finally arrived. The day that Sakura would no longer be a Haruno. After today she would officially be a Sabaku.
Mebuki entered Sakura's room. Ino had just finished doing Sakura's hair and makeup. Mebuki laid the large box on Sakura's bed. She gently lifted the lid of the box and placed it to the side. She pulled the kimono from the box and shook it out to straighten it.
Sakura stood up and walked over to her mother. She gasped at the sight of the kimono.
Mebuki wrapped the material around Sakura's small body. Then, with Ino's help, she wrapped the obi around her daughter's waist and tied it into a bow. They stepped back and looked at Sakura. The kimono was white at the top while leading into a scene depicting cherry blossom trees with falling petals. Egrets were also shown either standing on the ground looking up to the sky or were flying towards the ground. The bottom lining of the kimono was made of soft pink silk. The obi around her waist was red with gold inlaid brocade.
Mebuki looked at her daughter with tears in her eyes. She looked so beautiful. Ino couldn't help but have her breath taken away as she looked at her best friend. Never had she thought that Sakura could look more beautiful than at this moment.
"Garra is one lucky guy. You may just stop his heart, Forehead," Ino gushed.
Sakura looked at herself in the full mirror that Temari had provided and gave her best friend a blush. She turned to her mother and saw the tears in her eyes. "Oh, don't cry mom. You're going to ruin your makeup." She handed a hanky to her mother who took it and patted her eyes softly.
"Oh, Sakura. It's my prerogative to cry. You're my baby and you have grown into a young, beautiful women. I'm so happy for you," Mebuki chided.
A few minutes later, Kizashi knocked on the door and asked if it was ok to enter. Mebuki opened the door slightly and stuck her head out to make sure he was alone. Once she noticed he was alone, she allowed him to enter and closed the door behind him quickly. She knew it was only superstition that it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding on the big day, but she wanted the best for her only daughter and didn't want the day ruined by starting it with bad luck.
Kizashi entered the room and stopped when he saw his daughter. She took his breath away. A quick memory of her as a child running to him with her favorite blanket and calling him daddy rushed to his mind. It seemed as if it was only yesterday that that had happened. Now, here she was a women and ready to meet her future. He quickly wiped a tear away, hoping no one had seen the action.
"Sakura, what a beauty you make. You certainly do your namesake justice. Are you ready to meet your future?"
Sakura turned to her father and gave him a wide smile. "Yes, daddy. I am and you'll be right by my side when I do." She proceeded to give him a hug before they exited the room.
In another room at the arena, Gaara was getting ready with his brother, Kankuro. Due to him being the Kazekage and this being a formal ceremony, he needed to wear his Kazekage robes. He would stand proudly with the Kazekage hat on until Sakura entered. He didn't want to wear the hat during the whole ceremony. Under the robes, he had chosen to wear a traditional black montsuki.
Kankuro had chosen to wear his official shinobi attire. "How are you holding up?" he asked his brother.
"I'm fine, Kankuro. You don't have to worry about me. Everything is going to go smoothly."
"Yeah. As long as Naruto stays under control. By the way, where is he? I thought he would be stopping by before the ceremonies took place."
Just as Kankuro had finished his sentence, in strolled Naruto with his goofy grin. "Hi'ya, Gaara. Kankuro. Are you just about ready to get this shindig going? I hope you have ramen for the reception. I'm already getting hungry."
Gaara could only look at his friend with irritation on his face. "Naruto," he called out. "Was there something you needed?" He hoped that by asking it would get the blonde to focus and he could get Naruto out of the room faster.
"Well, yeah. I wanted to talk to you before you and Sakura sealed the deal. If you know what I mean."
"Get on with it, Naruto. Time is getting away from us."
"Sure. Gaara, I want you to know that I see Sakura as a sister. She's been hurt quite a bit by the Teme and I never once liked it. I want you to know that if you ever treat her the way he did, I'll come and kick your butt. Ever since she came back from the Trials though, she has been happy and I know you had something to do with that. I know you'll be good for her just as she will be good for you. I'm glad things worked out the way they did. You both deserve each other."
Gaara looked at his friend with surprise on his face. It never ceased to amaze him that Naruto, who was always goofing around, could oftentimes speak such profound words. "I'll do the best that I can to take care of Sakura. She will never once be made to feel lonely or unloved," he responded with conviction.
"Great and if you ever need some pointers, I'm always here to help," Naruto said while wiggling his eyebrows.
Kankuro just rolled his eyes at the blonde and decided it was time for Naruto to go. He picked the blonde up by the back of neck and pushed him through the door. "Bye, Naruto," he said. "We'll see you at the reception."
Naruto looked up at the Suna nin and said, "Sure. You better believe it." He walked away from the room in hopes of finding Hinata.
Gaara shook his head at the blonde's antics and grabbed for his hat. In a matter of moments, he would be meeting his future.
XXX
Temari made her way to the arena where she met Shikamaru. They had corded off a section of the arena for where people could sit. She knew that just about every Suna citizen would want to be in attendance. It was not every day that a Kazekage got married. In the center of the arena, they had erected a simple platform with a gazebo on top of it. Two tables sat in the center of the gazebo. One table held the sacred wine that would be placed in the sacred cups for the couple to drink from. Usually the ceremony is a private one, but Gaara and Sakura wanted everyone to feel as if they were a part of their family and so they opted to have an open ceremony.
Shikamaru stood next to Temari and admired the handiwork that had been performed to make the day special. "You did a good job putting this all together, Temari," he told her.
Temari sighed. "I'm glad that everything is coming together. Gaara deserves some happiness in his life."
They were quiet for the next couple of minutes, holding hands until Gaara and Kankuro joined them on the floor.
The seats were filling up fast. The priest made his way to the gazebo along with the priestesses. Gaara and Kankuro stood before the platform waiting for Sakura to show herself.
Gaara had his back to her entrance. He heard Kankuro's breath suddenly still and knew she must be near. He turned around and saw what could only be heaven itself. He was sure that there was nothing on earth that could surpass her beauty. He wondered what he had ever done to deserve someone like her. His life had been nothing but hurt and turmoil. The gods must have taken pity on him and so they created a goddess to recompense him for all the pain he was put through. He looked towards Sakura with a smile on his face and a tear in his eye.
Sakura couldn't help herself once she caught sight of Gaara. He was such a handsome man. He really did fit the part of a leader with his Kazekage robes on. She entered the room with her father on her right side. Once they met up with Gaara, Kizashi kissed Sakura on the cheek and put her right hand in Gaara's hand. He looked the redhead over and gave him a quick glare and then said, "I'm trusting you with my most prized possession. Please don't ever break my trust young man."
Gaara looked up to Kizashi and then nodded his head. He then guided Sakura up to the gazebo and they both knelt before the two tables with their heads bowed. The priest welcomed them and then said a prayer. One of the priestesses poured the sacred wine into a cup and handed it to Gaara. Gaara drank from the cup and then handed to Sakura to drink from. When she finished, the Priest said another prayer and they drank from a second cup. Before they drank from the third cup, the priest asked if the couple had any words they wanted to say to each other. They both nodded their heads in the affirmative. The priest motioned for Sakura to go first.
Sakura took both of Gaara's hands into her own and began speaking. "Gaara, I'm so happy to be meeting my future with you by my side. I know we didn't have a great beginning, but I'm looking forward to creating a beautiful future with you. I'm entrusting my heart to you. I love you, Sabaku No Gaara."
Gaara's heart swelled at her words. "Sakura, we definitely did not have a good beginning. The first time I met you in Konoha, I wrote you off as a weak, spoiled, little girl that had no right to being a shinobi. But, you proved me wrong. The day you faced me down in trying to protect one of your precious comrades showed me your strength in loyalty. Then, you grew and showed more strength when you saved my brother from a death of poison. You helped Lady Chiyo in bringing down Sasori and rescue me from death. During the war, you showed even more strength when you fought to protect all your friends no matter what nation they were from. Through all these things I could only ever come to adore you more. I want to share in that strength and I want to support you. I want to be by your side as we make a future together. I love you, Haruno Sakura and I entrust my heart to you."
After finishing their words, they shared in a drink from the third cup. The priest said a final prayer and congratulated the newly married couple. Kankuro turned to the people who were watching the ceremony take place and announced, "Congratulations to Sabaku No Gaara and his wife, Sabaku No Sakura." Everyone stood up from their seats, clapping and cheering the new couple.
Gaara and Sakura stood down from the platform and waved to everyone in the stands. Naruto couldn't take it any longer and yelled out, "Why don't you kiss her already?" Everyone broke out into laughter and then watched as Gaara placed a gentle kiss upon Sakura's lips. Everyone then left their seats to go line up outside the arena. The line of people led the couple to the tent where the reception would be held.
The new couple exited the arena and the first person they greeted was Naruto. He gave Sakura a big hug and told them he was happy for them. He also said that Kakashi and Sasuke sent their well wishes also. They opted to stay back in the village so others could come and attend the wedding. Both Gaara and Sakura told Naruto to give their thanks to Kakashi and Sasuke for their sacrifice. Hinata then joined Naruto and gave her own well wishes to the couple.
Besides being congratulated by both of her parents, Gaara and Sakura were greeted by Lee, Guy, TenTen, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Shino, Kiba, Tsunade and Shizune. Baki and the Suna council were also there to greet them. The very last person to greet them before they entered the tent for the reception was Matsuri. She lunged herself at Sakura with tears in her eyes.
After the Tribunal she had trudged home in defeat. Then, after her final battle with Sakura, she had gone into some heavy thinking and found that the things that Sakura had talked to her about during the trials were indeed truth. There was so much she could learn from the pinkette. She could only hope that Sakura could forgive her for her actions and they could work on being friends.
Matsuri looked up at Sakura with tears in her eyes and asked, "Can we be friends? I'm so sorry for what I did and I'll do whatever you want me to do to make amends, but could we really work on being friends?"
Sakura looked down at the brown-haired girl and felt compassion on her. "Of course we can be friends, Matsuri". She patted the young girl on the head and hugged her back. When they separated, Sakura took Gaara's hand and then entered the tent.
The group of people celebrated the marriage of the Kazekage and the Kazehime throughout the night. Before dawn broke, Gaara wrapped sand around him and Sakura and he transported them back to their room in the mansion. They sat on the bed looking at each other for a moment and then let their passion take over.
The next morning, they packed their bags for the honeymoon they would be leaving on in a couple of hours. Gaara checked in with Kankuro to make sure he would be ok with being in charge of the village for the next couple of weeks. He also thanked his sister for all her hard work with the wedding.
He met Sakura at the door of the mansion. He greeted her with a kiss and asked, "Are you ready to start our future?"
Sakura looked at Gaara with love in her eyes and answered, "I'm ready, Gaara. Let's go."
Author Notes: Happy New Year!
And so ends the Kazehime Trials. I hope you all liked this story. Sorry, there was no lemons in this story, but as a first time writer I didn't think I was ready to write those type of scenes. I do thank you for hanging with me on this story. I thank you all for reading and offering your support.
I again thank everyone who followed this story and for those who marked it as their favorite. I loved reading everyone's reviews and thank those who did leave them. It was a joy writing this story. I also give big thanks to my husband who spent time editing and listening to me talk about the concepts I wrote about.
I do hope you look forward to reading my next two stories, which by the way, are Sasuke/Sakura stories. They probably won't be out until later in 2019.