-In which, people who love each other end up reuniting

Finally! I got the chapter up! Thank you for those of you who were patient enough! I'm sorry I made you wait three months, but I was really busy! My aunt's back in Singapore, and I would have updated so many more of my fanfics, but I've got three sisters to take care of and a house to keep clean, and yada yada yada. This is the last chapter which will have the format of the second chapter but then it will return to the format of chapter one, so I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Three

To say that everyone in the audience was shocked or surprised was an understatement—for some like Sasuke, it was an overstatement. Unfortunately, both Sakura and Shizune (and most of the other guests) were part of the former group. They both had not realized Naruto would do something so drastic, something so dramatic. They never would have thought he would go all out on something like this. Meanwhile, Hanabi could barely contain her anger. How could he treat her like this? Embarrass her so? In front of so many people? She looked to her father for help, but Hiashi only sighed, his eyes downcast. She had never felt more betrayed.

"Sakura."

The rosette's attention returned to the soon-to-be Hokage. She didn't know what to say, how to act. The first thing that came to mind was to scold the idiot who stood in front of the crowd, but Sasuke held her hand, holding herback, his unsaid request heard. She looked up at Naruto, ready to hear him out.

The blonde took a deep breath. "Remember me saying that there was something I didn't get to tell you?" he asked, glancing at the people in the reception hall. "I'll tell you now." He inhaled another large amount of breath before continuing.

Sakura wondered why he seemed to be holding back tears.

"Hinata . . . she can't see anymore. She's lost her eyesight."

Murmurs began to pick up in the room once that again, some gasps and crying from Hinata's closest of kunoichi friends. Sakura fell back in her seat—even the infant she carried grew quiet once hearing the news—wondering how she could have missed the signs. Shizune's thoughts followed Sakura's. How could they not have noticed?

Hanabi, however, found it harder and harder to keep her temper under control. Taking a sip of cold water, she knew something bad was going to happen. Her secret… Would it be revealed here?

"She's being treated for the same disease that killed her mother," Naruto explained, more so to his friends than anyone else in the room. "But there's no telling when it'll come back." A tear rolled down his face. "Marrying someone who could die at any second, someone whose future is uncertain . . . I know that might seem reckless. That's what Hinata thinks, too. And that's why . . . she's trying to leave me." Another deep breath and a couple of more tears. "But her losing her sight doesn't make her someone else. And the uncertainty of her life doesn't change who she is. What's most important is that I love her and that I can't wait any longer. I don't want to give her a chance to run away again."

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He felt bad for tricking his cousin—the woman he considered his sister—like this, but he knew that, in the end, she'd be happy. Happy with the man that she loved. That was all the really mattered right here and now. It was his duty to get her to the event but, as they approached the building, he paused and turned to his cousin, asking to hug her. She smiled, finding it silly that he'd ask and allowed him to do so. She felt him shake—was he crying?

"From now on, no matter what, you have to fight for your happiness. You understand?" he told her. "Don't let it be taken away from you."

Her smile remaining on her face, she nodded. She ignored the little voice in the back of her head, telling her that it was strange that Neji was saying these things.

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"It's taken my bride-to-be a long time to come to me. The journey has taken too long. But at last, we want to be together. She's on her way here now, and I hope none of you will stop her from coming to me." His last sentence almost sounded like a threat.

It was then that his attention was turned to the entering duo. Everyone followed his line of vision, and murmurs once again picked up as Neji guided Hinata into the room. Silence filled the air between Konoha 11, taking in the helpless expression painted on the bride. Hanabi's teeth gritted together. Her fury increased only when her father strutted towards her older sister.

Neji, once seeing his uncle walk towards them, unclasped his hands from Hinata's unwilling fingers and stepped aside. He bowed his head to which Hiashi returned with a nod. The middle-aged man then preceded to holding his daughter's hands.

At first, Hinata didn't know what to make of this but, after caressing the man's hands and the wrinkles on them, her eyes widened if not by a little. "Otou . . . san?" she asked, unsure if she was correct or not. She knew Neji would never leave her in the hands of a stranger, but she doubted herself. Just where was she?

He nodded, wishing his daughter could have seen that, a cry struggling in his throat. "Yes…" he answered. "It's me, Hinata."

"Where am I?" she asked, wondering where Neji had brought her. "What is this place?"

Hiashi sighed, his eyes watery. He hated how feeble, how scared, his daughter sounded and looked. "I'll take you to the one who loves you the most."

Her body went rigid. What did her father mean by that? Was Naruto . . . was he here? What was this place? Why did she feel so many eyes on her? Her dread escalated once her father handed her a bouquet. She almost froze to the spot she stood but, when her father guided her down the aisle, she found herself walking too. They stopped soon, and her father released her hands, but she continued reaching out of them. Why was he leaving her here? Don't let go, she wanted to cry. Her worries subsided once another pair of hands grabbed hers.

". . . Na . . . Naruto-kun?"

His calling out her name was all the confirmation she needed. She wanted to ask him what this place was, but he was already answering it.

"Hinata, this is our wedding."

Her lavender-tinted eyes grew with revelation. How could she have been so gullible? All the men in her life—Neji, her father, and her love—they all were in on this. They all tricked her into coming here. She wanted to run, wanted to get out of there, but Naruto's grip was tight on her hands.

"Don't run from it." It almost sounded like a plea. "Everyone came to give us their blessings . . . even all of our friends."

Hinata relaxed at those words. All of their friends…? Even Sakura? She wanted to ask how many people were there, who were there. She almost contemplated on going through with this.

"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!" Hanabi stood from her seat, her anger evident from the decibels her voice had taken and from the expression fitted on her face. "Naruto, how dare you make a fool of me! What are you trying to do? How could you do this to me?" She ignored her father's entreaty to stop her nonsense. "I am your fiancée! Yet you make me a fool in front of all these people? I can't go along with this wedding! It's null and void!" Her temper got the better of her as she flipped over the table she had been sitting at, the silverware on it falling to the floor and the glass shattering. Cameras began flashing then. This was sure to make tomorrow's front page.

"In fact, you knew about this, didn't you?" she asked her father. She then turned on Sakura who had been seating with them. "Sakura-san, were you in on it too?" She looked feral now, as if she were going to attack the woman holding her wailing baby. If Sasuke and Shizune hadn't been standing next to the rosette, Hanabi would have slapped her. "Was I the only one in the dark?" She was shrieking by this point, walking over to her sister. "I can't accept this wedding!" She took Hinata by the shoulders and began to shake her. She almost succeeded in this, if it had not been for her father who held her back. "I'm going to sue you two for defamation of character!"

"You don't have the right to say that," Neji spoke up.

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!"

"What happened to Hinata's eyes is your fault," her cousin revealed. "She lost her eyes because you tried to kill her five years ago! You betrayed your own sister!"

The younger Hyuga heiress scoffed, ignoring the gasps from the crowd. "Ha! No one here is going to believe you!"

"But there's me!"

Everyone's heads whipped around to the man walking in.

"It's been a long time," he not only addressed Hinata and Hanabi but the rest of the Hyuga family as well. "I'm Kou, Hinata's former bodyguard!" he told the audience. "As a member of the Hyuga clan, I didn't want to say this, but there are things a person just can't tolerate." He paused before continuing. "Hanabi, didn't you come to me five years ago, saying you had accidentally killed someone and asking me to hide a corpse?"

"It wasn't a corpse!" She gasped but, by the time Hanabi realized her mistake, it was too late.

"No, it was an unconscious Hinata!"

"That's enough!" Hinata yelled. Regardless of what Hanabi had done, the girl was still her sister, still family. She couldn't stand by as others ridiculed her. "Please stop!"

"NO, you have to hear this too, Hinata!" Kou argued. "She brought you to me, covered in blood, begging me to hide you, saying she didn't want to go to prison. She abandoned you like that and split. And I found out only later that she made it look like you were dead. Unless she tried to kill you intentionally, she couldn't have done what she did. Isn't that true?" He clicked his tongue, sighing. "I really wasn't going to say this. But everyone, look at Hinata. How could I keep quiet? After what Hanabi's done to her… You wicked woman! You're not even human!"

"SHUT UP!" Hanabi grabbed the nearest glassware and threw at him. "Those are all lies! Lies!"

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Hanabi, continuing to deny everything, was dragged out of the room by ANBU guards (led by Kakashi). But despite that setback, Naruto pressed on, asking Sakura for her blessings then. It seemed at first she wouldn't but, when she clapped her hands and smiled, her answer was clear. As was everyone else's when they joined in the applause. Hinata was never happier. She could not see her father crying, asking himself how he could be so blind as to not see the bitterness between his two daughters.

Shikamaru, though complaining about how troublesome it was, did the honors of joining the couple together. Naruto's answer came out quick but, when it came Hinata's turn, she hesitated. Once Shikamaru asked again, Naruto told her to answer, whether her answer was yes or no. She gave a firm, "I do."

Naruto was never a happier man.

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Neji knew he had done the right thing, watching as Hinata received congratulations and hugs from her friends and family after her wedding. She had been crying tears of joy, unable to compose herself. But when he had read the newspapers the next day, he couldn't help but cry in sorrow. He hadn't wanted to put Hanabi in jail. She was still his younger cousin, no matter what. He wondered how and why she turned out so bad. He couldn't believe it turned out like this.

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He visited the happy couple days after their honeymoon. Naruto had to return to the Hokage mansion to make the last few preparations for his coronation, and so he had asked Neji to watch Hinata while he was out. Needless to say, the Hyuga-now-Uzumaki had been glad that it was her cousin who Naruto had chosen. She wouldn't have taken it lightly if Naruto had invited a stranger.

She confided with Neji her wishes once Naruto was gone. She knew she didn't have that long to live, but she wanted to see Naruto's face just one last time before she had to go. She so desperately wanted that.

And with that in mind, Neji just smiled when he told Hinata that he was to go to the Land of Lightning to help with diplomatic relations.

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It was the day after Naruto had become Hokage that Shizune sent a messenger hawk to him. They had found a donor for Hinata. And upon rushing to the hospital, Hinata was prepped for surgery, Sakura being the head surgeon for the operation despite being again pregnant.

Naruto almost danced in the hallway, but his mood fell once he saw Iruka come to him, his lips pressed into a grim line. His former teacher handed him a note and a bloodied headband. Hyuga Neji was in the morgue, a suicide, because the hospital could not accept live donors.

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Naruto arranged for a small funeral the next day, inviting only Neji's genin team. Tenten and Lee had both cried. Gai had never felt prouder of his student, sacrificing his life for his cousin's joy. They kept quiet when Hinata entered the room. Naruto wanted to honor Neji's last wishes and continued with the illusion that Neji was still on his mission. Hinata had no clue who gave her their eyes, but she thanked him still, for her wish could be granted now. She promised she'd only look at beautiful things with her new eyes.

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Once Hinata was able to take off her bandages, she had cried when the first person she saw was her husband. Her wish was finally granted. She could see again.

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Naruto held a party for her on her birthday, all of their friends there. It was the first time in years since Konoha 11 had gotten together like that, and everyone was in a joyous mood. It was almost too good…

Hinata fainted in the middle of it. And when Sakura checked on her condition, the rosette could only gasp. She didn't know how to tell Naruto, and she didn't need to. He already knew just from her expression.

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Hinata refused to take the operation. Why should she even take it? There was only a fifty percent chance that she would live, the other fifty percent that she'd die during it. She refused. She refused because she didn't want to die in a hospital. She didn't want that. She didn't want to die just like her mother. And she didn't want to take the risk of shortening her life any more than it already was.

Naruto continued to pester her about it, begging her to take the operation. She might live, and he would do anything to prolong her life, their time together. He even accidentally let it out that Neji had been her eye donor. And as expected, Hinata had not taken that well. She had run from Naruto then, ran to find her cousin, only to find Naruto's story to be true.

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She had had enough of crying, she had told her husband. She didn't want to spend the rest of her life bawling out her eyes. She had made Neji a promise, only to see beautiful things with her new eyes. And that, she would do. She wanted to spend her remaining days with her husband, her love. She didn't know how long she had, but she would do it. She wanted to die a happy woman, and she wanted to be in the arms of her loved one when that happens. She wouldn't die in a hospital. She would live out her days with no regrets, and she would fight for her happiness, just as her cousin had told her to do so.

"Love is something that returns."

"People who love each other always end up reuniting."

And done! Whew! I kind of rushed through it, but I hope you all still enjoyed it! It took me a long while to actually come up with everything in this chapter since I had to decide what to take out and what to leave in. It's hard, especially with a show like Naruto. Please review!