Author's Note: I took a while to update this chapter, and I'm afraid I might take a little longer on the next. I already have a handful of late assignments for university, hah.

For those who are following Write your Hopes in my Heart, I found a person willing to beta read it. So I'll take another week to update, but once I do, the english on the story won't sound so strange, hehe. Your patience will be rewarded!

I apologize if this chapter sounds strange overall, I'm not very good at writing descriptions, and I didn't really intend to write their marriage at all. If you need help picturing what's happening, search for "shinto wedding" on google images. The party afterwards is a little unusual, but I think it fits Naruto best that way.

Enjoy!

PS: I wrote a drabble for this story. You can find it on my tumblr: realtad (I can't place the address here, but it's under the tab "works")

It's faster and easier for me to write drabbles, so I'll probably continue to update over there, and I'll also give information on my current WIPs if you're interested to look!

Before Gaara knew it, the day of her wedding ceremony had arrived.

Gaara felt nervous about it. Not so much about the ceremony itself – though until the last time she saw him, Naruto had been a wreck worrying about it. What worried her were the clothes she would go dressed in.

She had asked Naruto if he was alright with her wearing male clothes to their wedding, and he had been more than happy to agree. Gaara even had a formal set she could have used for it.

Her sister had convinced her not to do it that very morning. Now, she was dressed in the overly elaborated female kimono Temari had gotten for her, and she was worried sick Naruto would hate it.

Not that she allowed it to show.

"Wow, you're beautiful, Gaara!" Ino sighed as she gave the last touch to her make up. Ino was practically Temari's sister-in-law, and she had been delighted when Temari asked her to do Gaara's make up and hair for the ceremony. "Naruto's brain is going to melt when he sees you."

Gaara wasn't sure if she believed her, but she didn't disagree out loud. Her sister caught on to her reticence.

"There's no reason to feel insecure." Temari remarked with a smile. "Look into the mirror and tell me you're not beautiful.

She was wearing a wig with the same color of her hair, to make it appear much longer, and it was set up in a very elaborated hairdo, decorated with gold and jade pins that were the color of her eyes. The shade of the gold seemed complimentary to the colors of the formal haori she knew Naruto would wear – the dark orange and burgundy one he had bought.

Ino had tried to cover up her birth marks at first, but she had given up, and in the end, she had made the dark circles even more pronounced, and somehow their darker color seemed to make her eyes seem brighter, their color stronger. She had even drawn with red pencil over her scar, turning the jagged edges into more delicate strokes, and the symbol of love looked more artful.

A weak artificial blush covered her cheeks, and a hint of red lipstick covered her lips. The make up felt strange on her skin, but she had to admit that the effect didn't look half bad.

The ceremonial kimono was white, embroidered with a white thread that shone silver when the light hit it just right. She had seen Temari trying it on, but her sister had decided to wear a red and white kimono in her ceremony a few months ago. This had been the kimono Gaara had liked best on her – it seemed her sister had ulterior motives when she asked Gaara to help her buy her own wedding clothes. She hadn't seen the party dress yet, but she could bet it was the same white and silver one she had liked, because Temari hadn't worn it either.

"You're absolutely gorgeous." Ino repeated again. "I knew this before, but you're the absolute proof that the right clothes and the right make up can do miracles for a woman." Gaara wasn't sure if that was an insult or a compliment, but her sister eagerly nodded.

"Naruto still thinks you're going dressed as a man, doesn't he? He's going to be in for a wonderful surprise." Temari told her with a grin. Gaara pursed her lips.

"Oh, god. I'm having very strong homosexual urges right now." Ino fanned herself as she stared at her pursed lips. Gaara felt her cheeks warm up. "Naruto's going to die when he sees you. I feel so proud of us, my amazing sister." Ino lifted her hand, and Temari high-fived her, grinning widely.

Gaara was miffed. They had been planning this for months now, but they had only pounced on her today. Surely it was because Temari knew she wouldn't want to spent hours arguing with her and run the risk of arriving late to her own wedding.

She would probably be late as it was, they had taken forever to get the kimono on her. She glanced at the clock and her eyes widened when she saw she had ten minutes to arrive on the temple that was fifteen minutes away on a moderately fast pace. "I'm going to be late."

"That's fine, Naruto needs a little suspense in his life." Ino grinned.

"I don't even have time to check on Yukio and Yuraku." she sighed.

"Sakura and Lee are probably already at the temple. You can check on them when we arrive." her sister patted her back.

"Just don't pick them on your lap! I've heard you love babies drooling and puking all over you, but not today." Ino told her firmly, giving her a last once over. "Right, you're ready to shine!"

She readied a sand platform to take her, but her sister interrupted her jutsu by grabbing her hand. "Oh, no. You're not getting wind and sand on your hair. We'll go walking." she told her forcefully.

Gaara took a step back as Ino and Temari both glared her down. Trying to argue with them would just make her even more late, so she resigned herself to her fate.

Gaara was almost twenty minutes late. Naruto curbed the urge to pace and tried to fight the terrifying fear that she had changed her mind. It wasn't like they weren't already officially husband and wife.

Shikamaru was smirking by his side. He glared at his friend and advisor. "Do you think I'm funny?" he growled, not in the mood to deal with his knowing smirks.

Shikamaru looked him from head to toe, then raised an eyebrow. "Well... You are in all orange and red for your wedding." he pointed out. Naruto huffed.

"I look awesome." he argued, crossing his arms. "Gaara agrees." she had already seen him in these clothes, and she seemed to love them on him.

"At least you had the good sense not to get clothes that clash with your wife's hair. What color is she going to wear?"

"She's wearing a burgundy hakama. We took her clothes to the seamstress to be sure the colors matched." he huffed, offended that his advisor was questioning his common sense. A sudden, worrying thought hit him. "I wonder if there's something wrong with her clothes... Is that why she's late?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened as he looked behind Naruto's shoulder, then he grinned. "I get the feeling your wife's late because Ino got her claws on her poor soul."

Naruto heard gasps and whispers from the few people who had been invited to the somewhat private ceremony, and he turned around to see what had shocked everyone – even Shikamaru, who was too lazy to be surprised about anything most days.

His breath got lodged in his throat when he saw her.

He had no words to describe how beautiful Gaara looked under the Spring sunlight, walking slowly up to him with a somewhat neutral expression but a blush on her cheeks. When their eyes met, she smiled.

Something in his brain short circuited right then.

He snapped his mouth shut to keep himself from drooling when Shikamaru shook his shoulder and hissed on his ear, "Go and meet her up."

He was moving forward before his brain even parsed the words. Gaara looked up at him once they met up in the middle. Once their eyes met again, something clicked in his mind and his mental faculties returned.

He grinned at her. "...Hi!" he forced himself to say as soon as his lips opened, tempted to tell her she looked amazing, but not wanting to let her believe he thought her any less amazing when she dressed as a guy.

Gaara blinked, a little confused. "Hello," she replied softly. He curbed the urge to hold her close, and offered her his arm instead. "I'm sorry I'm late."

"You're not all that late!" Naruto dismissed quickly. Ino snorted behind them.

"I told you his brain would melt. Completely." she snickered, but left to walk up towards her husband before Naruto could say anything in response. Naruto flushed as he looked at Gaara again, and her smile seemed to widen.

"Do you think I look pretty?" she asked quietly as they returned to the position they should take.

"You look wonderful. Like always." he whispered in return. She studied him for a long moment, then her posture relaxed a little.

They didn't exchange any more words as they stood in place and the ceremony began. Naruto felt giddy and excited now that he was no longer worried, and he had to curb the urge to bounce on his feet as they walked in procession towards the temple. Gaara could read it on him, probably, because she looked subtly amused.

Naruto went through the ceremony by route, because the only part of it he paid attention to was Gaara. The happy light in her eyes, the look of single minded concentration on her face as they shared and drank from the small cups of sake.

Sometimes she looked at him as if they were sharing a great secret – because there were dozens of people around them, and none but the two of them could tell that people could be talking about the weather and neither of them would have noticed. Looking interested on anything they weren't paying attention to was a neat skill they had both developed since they became Kages.

Good thing he had asked Sai to film the whole ceremony, because he would probably need to watch it later.

Once the ceremony part was over, Naruto was tempted to hug Gaara again, and this time he didn't fight the urge. She chuckled and held him back. "You've wanted to do this since I arrived, haven't you?" she teased.

"Of course! You look so squishable, you have no idea." he whispered into her ear, and Gaara breathed out a faint chuckle against his chest.

Gaara was right. Temari did buy the party dress she had liked for her. It hugged her body, and the skirts flared – either Temari had a wonderful eye, or she had gotten very lucky, because it fit her well.

It was maybe a little loose on the waist, but Gaara had lost even more weight during the past months – she was now slimmer than she had been before she had gotten pregnant. It might have something to do with the fact Yukio and Yuraku drank so much milk.

She was wearing another wig now, one with a looser hairdo. She felt the hair brush her shoulders every once in a while, it was strange but not unpleasant.

Naruto was wearing a black tuxedo with an orange vest and tie, and he looked handsome. Like before, when he saw her, his eyes lit up. He didn't compliment her on her appearance unless she fished for compliment, even though it was plain in his eyes that he liked what he saw.

She felt cherished that he seemed to be going out of his way to make her comfortable, and she felt maybe a little silly that he would even feel the need to do it in the first place.

Their party was held in a spacious garden, and in a Spring afternoon, it looked beautiful. Most trees and bushes were covered in flowers, and some fallen petals covered the grass – specially cherry blossoms. The scent of flowers and fresh air was pleasant to the senses.

There were few chairs around a wide area – people were allowed space to roam. Only one of the tables had chairs around it, where the oldest people invited were seated, seeming interested in their little conversation.

Naruto and Gaara walked around side by side, and Naruto would cheerfully greet everyone by their name or nickname, while Gaara spoke politely with people she didn't know well, and warmly with their shared friends.

"Congratulations on your marriage." Sasuke responded quietly to his greeting. His wife, Karin, stood by his side, holding their son and daughter by their hands. Naruto and her shared a silent smile as Sasuke continued. "You, of all people, deserve to be happy."

"Thanks, B-man." Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. It had taken her a while to discover what b-man meant, but it was Naruto's way of calling Sasuke a bastard when there were children around. "I really like it that you came to the party, even if you didn't come to the ceremony."

"I didn't think having a small child there would..." Sasuke began.

"You really thought my own children wouldn't be there? Hmm..." Naruto leaned in and they stared at each other intently. "They were guests of honor, you know. Our matchmakers, and all that."

Gaara stood uncomfortably as Sasuke and Naruto exchanged forced smiles, but Karin seemed more than used to it. She didn't even seem to mind. Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it when Sakura stomped over to them, looking extremely annoyed, her hands closed into fists.

Her moods had been all over the place since she had given birth, and her loss of sleep probably wasn't helping her at all. "If you two start arguing, Sasuke, I swear..." she growled. "We're going to have a nice chat later, by the way."

Sasuke pressed his lips and said nothing. Naruto hummed and took a step back. "Well... Have fun, Karin!" his cheer was honest once again as he messed with the children's hair.

Sakura wasn't holding her daughter, but a cursory glance and Gaara could see Lee had the baby on his arms, and Temari was chatting with him, holding the twins on her lap.

Since Sakura had grabbed a hold of Naruto's arm and was dragging him towards them, she didn't need to feel torn between going to check on their children and following Naruto.

"I swear, Naruto, if you make a scene today..." Sakura hissed as they walked.

"...It's my own wedding, why are you worried?" he whispered back.

"Because Sasuke can be an idiot sometimes, but he's right. You deserve to be happy, and to have the best memories of today." she told him firmly. Naruto chuckled at her words.

"Nothing can spoil my day short of a war breaking out right now, Sakura." he told her cheerfully. Sakura glanced around with concern, as if expecting his words would summon enemy ninja raining over the garden.

But nothing bad happened.

As she approached her sister, Yuraku lifted his arms and started babbling. She leaned in to pick him up, but Temari quickly stepped back. "No. He's going to drool all over you." she chided.

"That's fine." she said impatiently.

"Of course it's not fine." Temari was just as impatient. "I swear, you and Naruto..."

Realizing his mother wasn't going to pick him up anymore, Yuraku started to whimper and pout. Gaara made a shadow clone, and this time her sister didn't argue against her clone lifting the child up carefully.

"Have them been fed?" she looked towards Lee. It was Sakura who responded.

"Just before the ceremony." Yuraku just seemed to want her lap. When Yukio started to reach out for her, Kankurou swooped in and took Yuraku away from her.

"That's enough. Stop spoiling them. Go off and have fun. They have plenty of highly qualified baby sitters right here." he waved her away. The baby was unhappy with his uncle, but before he was outright crying, Lee walked up and took him. Sakura was holding her daughter again.

"I've got him, Gaara!" he said cheerfully. The baby was startled to be thrown in the air, but his sadness washed away. Then Lee placed him over his shoulder, and he started looking at everything. Yuraku always loved riding on Naruto's shoulders when they were walking around crowded places. "Trust me, they're safe with me!"

"I trust you." she agreed softly. Lee grinned in response.

Naruto gently ran his hand over both of their babies' heads before they walked away again, and resumed greeting all of their guests.

She noticed he would brush his hand on her hair every time she came close enough to him. Her shoulder seemed the favorite place for him to rest his hand on – where it could touch both her skin, and the hair.

"Do you like me with long hair?" she asked some time in the middle of the party. Naruto blinked and watched her.

"...Hum." he didn't seem to either agree nor disagree.

"I'll take that as an yes." she hummed, running her hands through the strands.

"...Eh. You don't need to grow your hair because of me." he muttered, looking away.

"I never said I would." she pointed out. Naruto relaxed, then grinned at her, but before he could say anything else, one of the council elders came to congratulate them, and they were both distracted.

The idea of allowing her hair to grow, however, was now firmly placed in her mind. Temari always complained about hers, so it might take some work, but she could definitely try.

Several people made speeches for them. There was no time for all of their friends to say everything they wanted, and by the time they left, Gaara felt exhausted. Naruto looked tired, himself, and Yukio and Yuraku were both grumpy. They were more than thankful when Kakashi and Hinata gave them an excuse to go home.

Gaara promptly got rid of the make up and all the clothes on both herself and her children, then lied with them on the futon. Yuraku was hungrily nursing, but Yukio was just lying on his tummy with his face on her breast, looking towards the door.

Naruto seemed to like her idea, because he started getting undressed as soon as he walked into their room. "So, how did you like the party?"

"It was memorable." Naruto had done most of the planning, so he preened at her words. "I really enjoyed it."

"Great! I know how annoyed you get with most social events." He laid by her side once he was completely naked. "Will you share mom with me, Yuki-chan?" he asked the baby, smiling.

As if Yukio had understood his words, the baby turned his back on him and started to nurse, reaching up to lay his hands over her. Gaara chuckled as Naruto gaped at him. "...Wow! You won't share? How mean of you! She was mine first, you know."

"I think they have the greater claim now." she whispered with a serious voice, even if she was teasing. "It's two against one."

Naruto eyed her for a second, then with a single hand sign, there was a clone lying by her other side, and one sitting by her head. Yuraku stopped nursing for a few seconds just to stare up at his dad. "It's three against two now. I win."

"Try getting them off me." she challenged with a chuckle, her voice still a low murmur. Naruto hummed, and both him and his clone moved closer to her, comfortably sandwiching her between their bodies and helping support their children's weights. The clone sitting by them ran his fingers over her hair. She closed her eyes and a pleased sigh left her lips.

"You look exhausted." Naruto leaned in and kissed her cheek. She turned around so their lips met into a soft, chaste kiss.

"So do you." she remarked.

"Let's sleep, then." Naruto suggested.

Still, they both remained awake, even after Yuraku and Yukio had long dozed off and could be safely placed on their futon. She was in no rush to leave the bed, however, and her husband didn't seem that keen to leave either.

"...I'm hungry." Naruto said without warning, a few hours later. Gaara opened her eyes and glanced at him.

"You barely ate at the party." she should have made him eat something when they arrived. But she had been so tired.

"Do you want to have some ice cream?" he offered with a small grin.

"Only after you eat something healthier." she admonished.

Trying to leave the room without waking the children was hard, but they weren't Kages over nothing.

They spent their wedding night sitting side by side over a towel in their inner garden, naked under the full moon light, sharing one of the few flavors of ice cream she enjoyed while Naruto made her laugh by sharing anecdotes from his friends' own wedding ceremonies.

"Do you know what day is today?" Naruto greeted her cheerfully that morning. "It's our anniversary!"

"...Anniversary?" she studied him with a raised eyebrow. Did he mean the fact that their wedding ceremony had been held exactly a week ago? That was a silly concept to her, but it was hard to tell with Naruto.

"Yes! You forgot about it? But that's fine, I'm here to remind you." his cheer didn't diminish. "It's been exactly ten years since we first ate ramen together!"

Gaara just stared at her husband. At least he seemed fully aware she would never have remembered that – she wondered if he did remember, or if he had pulled that date at random. She really didn't doubt Naruto's ability to actually remember something like that. "Really?" he grinned.

"I have just the way to commemorate it!" he swooped down and grabbed Yuraku, throwing the baby in the air. Yuraku shrieked with laugher. "Let's go to Ichiraku, Yura-chan?" he cooed at the baby.

She had been expecting him to try and drag the twins to eat ramen for a while now. At least they had already introduced solids into their diet by now.

So she accepted, and an hour later they found themselves sitting at one of the tables with one child on each lap. She had ordered the smaller portion of the mildest lamen they had, and she made sure it was lukewarm before she allowed Naruto to feed it to them. Naruto was already on his third bowl by then, and she was done eating.

"So, this is your first taste ever of the most divine food you'll ever eat." Naruto grinned as he just wet the spoon on the broth, then brought it to Yuraku's lips.

Yuraku licked it. Naruto beamed. "Isn't it great?" the baby just cooed in response, and attempted to get the spoon from him. "I know you want more, but let your brother have some first!"

Once again, he just wet the spoon and held it up to Yukio. The baby licked the offered spoon. Then, he promptly grimaced and buried his face on her breast.

Gaara laughed at the dismay that overtook Naruto's expression.

"Naruto, watch it!" she gasped while laughing as she saw Yuraku throw himself forward and make a grab for the ramen bowl. Naruto quickly held his own bowl out of his reach, but the baby tipped the smaller bowl they had ordered for them, grabbing the noodles into a tiny fist and pulling them towards him as half the remaining contents spilled on the floor.

Gaara laughed more as Yuraku brought his full fist to his mouth and sucked on it, more interested on the broth than attempting to chew the noodles which were hanging from his fingers. "...At least Yuraku seems to love it. He's the one and true Uzumaki in this family." Naruto claimed, his lips turning into a teasing grin.

Yukio started to giggle when she didn't stop laughing. Yuraku ignored them, busy playing with the noodles within his grip instead of attempting to eat. Naruto chuckled and watched him to make sure he wouldn't choke.

In the end, they didn't need to worry. More noodles had made their way into his shirt than into his lips, and he seemed delighted with his parents' apparent approval of his mischief.