A Side Story: A Vow of Eternal Love
(Part 2 of A Promise of Eternal Love)
The next day, the Hyuuga heiress She didn't make a public announcement yet. woke up from a good night's sleep. Her light purple eyes slowly opened to see the greatest day in her life. When her eyes were fully opened, she told herself, "I'm getting married today."
A smile crept on her face as the rays of the sun touched her porcelain-like face. She sat up and stretched her arms. Her room was filled with flowers and gifts from her friends and relatives as a greeting of congratulations.
On the side of her bed, she saw her beautiful gown trimmed with lace and sequins. It was the most beautiful dress she ever saw. She touched the long sleeves of the gown and it was soft and silky smooth. She touched the bodice and the train with care. She smiled contentedly as she thought of her tomorrow.
Naruto snored loudly as he heard banging from his door. He did some cleaning when he got home. After all, Hinata's going to live with him from now on. He got rid of those books that Jiraiya left when he stayed there a couple of times. He did the laundry and ironed the clean clothes as well. He vacuumed the rugs. He replaced the old bed sheets. He polished the floors. Everything was sparkling.
Outside, two figures approach the Uzumaki's door. One of them, a certain dog lover, shouted from outside, "Oi, Naruto! Get out of bed!"
"Not now, Kiba." He muttered, "I want to sleep more." He covered his head with a pillow to help him not hear anything anymore.
The men of Rookie 9, well, two of them, were there. Nara Shikamaru and Inozuka Kiba were there to help Naruto get ready for the wedding, upon the Hyuuga heiress's request. Shino won't do it because he said, "I don't want to help Naruto because he should be responsible for once in his life."
Shikamaru uttered, "How troublesome of you, Naruto!" He stood there lazily as he waited for the groom to open the door.
Kiba banged on the door some more. "Remember you're getting married today?"
Naruto snapped up and ran toward the door. The opened it and gave a toothy grin to his friends. "Thanks for waking me up."
"Troublesome bastard!" Shikamaru muttered as he entered the newly arranged Uzumaki abode. "Wow… This is really something…" Both men were amazed to see the cleanliness of the house.
"So this is the mere effect of being married…" Kiba remarked as he marveled the shining floor. He looked at Naruto and said, "You better take care of her or I'll kill you."
Naruto looked at him and answered, "And I really thought Neji would do that to me." Naruto and the others laughed out loud. When the laughing died down, he looked sincerely at Kiba and said, "I will always and forever take care of her. Trust me on this." Kiba smiled at him and nodded.
The Hyuuga mansion was bustling with people running around, just like yesterday. The preparations were completed yesterday. The garden was arranged with rows of chairs. The white carpet marked the aisle adorned with white satin cloth and flowers. The gazebo was decorated with white lilies and white satin. The musicians were on the left side of the gazebo, preparing for the event. They were going to play the wedding march and the music at the reception inside the mansion.
The bride was in her room, in her white gown. She looked at the three-panel mirrors placed in her room. She admired herself with the beautiful dress. It seemed like a dream come true.
A knock came from the other side of the door. The bride meekly said come in. The person opened the door and revealed himself as the bride's father, Hyuuga Hiashi. He walked toward the bride and said, "You look just like your mother, Hinata." Before, he barely showed any emotion of love to his first daughter. And now, he wanted to change that.
She answered shyly, "Thank you, Father. I'm just glad you're here to see this."
Hiashi hugged her and held her tight. "I'm sorry for being so hard on you, Hinata. I don't want to lose you like I lost your mother. I wanted you to be strong and now, I believe that you are."
Hinata was on the verge of tears as she choked a thank you. She never dreamed of hearing her stoic father. She hoped that this day would come and now that it did, everything seemed so complete.
Hiashi let her go and said, "Now, you're getting married to someone I know you truly love and I hope that you'll be really happy with him." He took out a box and showed her a beautiful silver necklace with a heart-shaped pendant. "This was your mother's necklace. She wore it on our wedding day. She would want you to wear it on your wedding day."
Hinata was amazed. The pendant was studded with diamonds and on the middle, there was one sapphire stone. Hiashi asked her to turn around and placed the necklace around her neck. She turned around again and it was the perfect accessory for the gown. "Thank you, Father."
He smiled and nodded. He excused himself but before he left, he reminded her, "You must not forget about renouncing your position and giving it to Neji. You said you'd officially tell them today."
Hinata nodded and watched her father leave the room. A few moments later, her friends came in and gave their personal congratulations.
The sun shone brightly over the gardens. The clouds covered some of the sun's rays, making patches of light. The breeze kept passing by which made the event more magical than it already was.
Naruto and his best man, Neji, stood at one end of the aisle near the priest, waiting for the bride and her bridesmaid. The wedding music started and all of the people looked behind. There she was, a vision in white. Her hair fixed in a bun. Her face covered by a veil. Her smile was more radiant than ever.
She was followed by a pink flower, smiling, as if nothing had happened for the past few days. Everybody watched her and refrained from gossiping about the incident as ordered by the Hokage.
The ceremony went as planned. The two said their vows of eternal love. It was their promise to love one other, till death make them part. Of course, some of the audience was crying because of the powerful and heart-warming vows.
The priest announced them as husband and wife. The kiss was the seal of their vows. Everybody clapped and cheered the newlyweds. The two broke their kiss after a minute and looked at everybody's smiling faces.
Naruto held Hinata's hand as they walked out of the altar and into the reception hall inside the Hyuuga Mansion. Slowly, the reception hall got filled with people. Hinata and Naruto sat on the table elevated by a stage so everybody could see them.
When everybody settled in after eating, Hinata decided to make the announcement. She whispered to Naruto about it. In so doing, he tapped his glass loudly with his spoon, getting everybody's attention. "Friends, my wife has something to announce and I want all of you to listen."
Hinata blushed a bit upon hearing him pertain to her as his wife. She slowly stood up and took a deep breath. "My family and friends, as we all know, I am the successor of the Hyuuga clan for I am the daughter of the main branch. However, I decided to give up my position due to personal reasons. And in so doing, I decided to give my position to my cousin, Hyuuga Neji who, I believe, will do a great job as the clan leader. This also diminishes the difference between the two family branches. Please give a hand to the new Hyuuga heir, Hyuuga Neji." She clapped her hands along with everybody else.
Neji was speechless. Sakura smiled and told him to stand up and say something. Slowly, as the clapping died down, Neji stood up and made an announcement himself. "Hinata, I don't know what to say but thank you so much. Thank you for choosing me as the new heir. I promise to do a great job – as you said. And also," He paused for a moment and looked at his princess. "Sakura, I…" He knelt down on one knee. "I must ask you once again to marry me again and help me rule over the family." He took out a ring box and opened it to reveal a silver ring with diamonds arranged like a cherry blossom.
It was Sakura's turn to be speechless. Tears accumulated in her eyes. "Of course, I will!" She hugged him tightly. "I love you, Neji." Everybody cheered and clapped for them. Another wedding was at hand and this time, nothing was going to stop the celebration.
Author's Notes: Hi-ya! This is my Christmas gift to you, my readers. I'm sorry it took so long. Lots of things happened in school and the homework got piled up. This didn't go as I imagined it would be but it's nice in its own way. I'll try to write the epilogue after I post this.
I'm still thinking though… what would be the perfect title for the epilogue: Close to the End or Four Feet Distance? Here's a little preview for it. (I just wrote it…: P)
Sakura was walking with Haruka and Tamaki around the memorable bridge where Team 7 used to meet up to talk about missions. She stopped for a moment to recapitulate her youth. All those memories brought tears to her eyes.
Young Haruka pulled the sleeve of Sakura's pink kimono. "Mommy, why are you crying?"
Sakura looked at her daughter's concerned face. Then, she looked at her son's face. She smiled and hugged both of them. "It's nothing, my sweethearts. Go and walk ahead of me. I'll catch up. Tama-chan, watch over Haru-chan, okay?" She let the go and smiled at them.
"Yes, Mommy." Tamaki held Haruka's hand and walked ahead.
"Are they your children?"
Sakura looked back to see who the person was. Upon seeing the raven-colored hair and eyes, she gasped. Tears streamed down her eyes.
"Still teary-eyed, you never changed, Sakura."
That was just a draft of what the epilogue would be. The names Tamaki and Haruka just entered my mind so I decided to use it. Also, there would be a song that'll accompany that moment.
I hope you do review. I really appreciate reviews. If you just read this story, please do check the "Add to Story Alert" as you review. The epilogue's something worth reading, I assure you.
Ja ne!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto – but I wish I do.