Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.
Special Thanks: goes out to DUH BOMB, DivineGlory, Sachiko Heiwajima, Eurkin, Tamani, Danish 78, Ze, SasukeXhinataXOC, mangetsu no hime, rao hyuga 18, and Michiyo-chama3 for all your reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites and follows lists!
Author's Note: And then there was one. It's hard to believe there's only the epilogue after this! But I love this chapter, and have been looking forward to sharing it with you all. I hope you all like it, too!
*~Chapter XLIV~*
~Radiant~
The Uchiha estate had never looked better.
As the bright colors of spring spread across his lawn and the surrounding woods, Sasuke admired the tasteful man-made wedding decorations which had been easily woven into the natural ones already there. The white runner spread down the emerald-green grass provided a great contrast, and the pastel colors of the fabric swagged along the rows of seats on either side perfectly fit the spring theme. The trellis arching over where he and Hinata would say their vows was covered in ivy and real roses from the flower shop in town, owned by one of Hinata's best friends.
Hands tucked in his pockets, Sasuke mused he'd never seen the estate so full of people before. Jiraiya had flown in from New York for the occasion, and Utakata and Hotaru had even accepted the invitation Hinata sent them in thanks for flying her and Sasuke back to Missouri last August. Now, with April flowers blooming and the spring sky glowing a gorgeous, cloud-free cerulean, he figured the day couldn't get any better.
Even Itachi, Temari, and Karura had flown in for the big day. Sasuke had yet to see his sister-in-law without month-old Fugaku cradled in her arms as she rushed about, seeing to last-minute wedding details. It made Sasuke glad he hadn't been around for the planning of her and Itachi's wedding - if she was like that now, when helping with a wedding not her own, Sasuke figured she must have been a real bridezilla before her wedding.
Somewhere upstairs, Tenten, Hanabi, Ino, and Sakura had sequestered themselves with Hinata, banning Sasuke from a good-sized portion of his own house. Thankfully, the author had already changed into his tux; his groomsmen were allowed upstairs to the extra bedrooms to change into their own. Only the groom himself had been banished from "frou-frou alley," as Naruto had so colorfully christened the space.
Through the open window to the left, Sasuke heard the hum of conversation grow louder as several more wedding guests arrived. He and Hinata had agreed to keep the list small and exclusive, with the press being kept out of it as much as possible, but even at that the number of people filling the lawn was intimidating.
And yet, with all those people, Sasuke noticed one who was conspicuous in his absence. Hinata had tried multiple times to make contact with her father about their engagement and the wedding, hoping to spark some sort of healing of the rift between them. Hiashi adamantly refused to take any of her phone calls; neither did he respond to any of her email or snail mail attempts.
Despite even that, Sasuke knew Hinata held onto a faint hope Hiashi would come, even if only for a few minutes. For her sake, Sasuke hoped so, but at the same time, he harbored a secret preference for him not to show. The man did not like his future son-in-law, and to be honest, the feeling was mutual.
"Almost time." Naruto's words proceeded his friendly slap to the shoulder by a mere nanosecond. "You ready for this, man?"
"Yes." Sasuke didn't even have to think about his response; he'd waited all winter to marry Hinata. They wanted an outdoor wedding, so they'd had to wait until spring. Once spring arrived, however, they had to wait until April so Hanabi would be home from college on spring break to be one of her sister's bridesmaids. While Sasuke hadn't wanted to wait so long, he had given in without much fuss because Hinata was completely worth the wait. He wanted this day to be nothing short of perfection for her, and had done everything within his power to make sure it was.
He was just glad the things outside his control - like the weather - had cooperated. Sasuke had heard the horror stories of Neji and Tenten's wedding, and was guiltily glad the same thing had not happened to his and Hinata's.
Though, come to think of it, he didn't have a gazebo anywhere on his property, so even if a tree had fallen, it would have been far enough away from the part of the grounds set aside for the ceremony it wouldn't have made a difference. If one had fallen toward the front of the house, it would have been a different story, but thankfully it was a non-issue anyway.
Naruto glanced at his watch, then outside. "It's time for us to get into our places. Sakura's already reminded me nine times what my duties as your best man are supposed to be, so I don't think I'll forget. But if I do, apologies in advance, all right?"
"You won't forget." And, if the blond did happen to do so, Sasuke would only kill him a little bit. Deciding to keep that particular fact to himself, he followed Naruto outside, where they met up with Shikamaru, Jiraiya, and Itachi. Then the five men went to the end of the aisle and arranged themselves in their proper places.
Off to the side, the string quartet Sasuke had hired played mellow music to set the mood, though the buzz of conversation made it clear few were paying attention. However, when the music stopped for a moment before changing to Pachelbel's Canon, the guests quickly went silent and turned to watch the processional.
Karura looked adorable in her white dress, and she importantly marched down the aisle as she scattered handfuls of flower petals carefully in her wake. Temari followed, carrying Fugaku and his little pillow with two plastic rings glued on. Sasuke and Hinata's real rings were safely with Hanabi and Naruto, respectively.
The bridesmaids dresses all matched in style, though the colors differed from person to person. Sakura's pink, Ino's yellow, Tenten's blue, and Hanabi's lavender matched the pastel colors of spring, and whimsically, their own personalities.
Sasuke could barely spare any of them a glance, though. His attention remained riveted on the head of the aisle, waiting for his bride to appear. When she did, he felt all the air in his chest leave on a long, sighing whoosh.
Hinata's A-line wedding gown held just the barest brush of lavender, perfectly matching her eyes. A wreath of flowers matching the shades of her bridesmaids' gowns, and the flowers in her bouquet, cleverly attached to the veil hanging down her back. Crystal-studded sandals peeked out from beneath the hem of her dress with every step she took, and pearls rested proudly along her collarbones and dangled from her ears.
But it was her face which drew Sasuke's attention the most. She fairly glowed, her expertly-applied makeup the perfect complement to her natural beauty. He was glad she'd chosen not to wear a lot; she would still have been beautiful either way, but Sasuke preferred her this way. Her eyes never wavered from his during her journey down the aisle, the pace of which felt excruciatingly slow to Sasuke, but he figured was the norm for this sort of thing. She only glanced at Neji when he placed his cousin's hand in Sasuke's. Hinata's cousin, he distantly noted, wore only a mild look of don't screw up instead of his usual hurt her and I'll kill you one.
And then Hinata's hands were securely in Sasuke's, and the rest of the world vanished entirely.
Hinata had a feeling she would be glad, later, that she and Sasuke had chosen to have their wedding recorded. Bits and pieces stood out clearly in her mind: their vows, when they'd exchanged rings, their first kiss as husband and wife, their first dance; but the rest was a blur of smiling faces and streaming colors. They were vague impressions on her mind rather than solid memories, and she dimly realized she should be sad about that.
But she was too deliriously happy being Uchiha Hinata to give the matter more than a passing consideration.
Though the ceremony itself had been at Sasuke's house, the reception was at the same place Neji and Tenten's had been. They'd both agreed it was better that way, so when they wanted to leave, they could. It was easier to do so at the park than it would have been if the reception had been held in Sasuke's own house.
As Sasuke drove them through the dark but comfortably familiar streets of Konoha, Hinata leaned her head back against the headrest and watched Sasuke. The dash lights highlighted his strong jaw, the slope of his nose, his chiseled cheekbones, the arch of his brows. He was perhaps more handsome in that moment than the entirety of their acquaintance thus far, and Hinata couldn't stop looking at him.
Eventually, though, she had to look away when they got home and pulled into the garage. Hinata had been spending a lot of time at Sasuke's house recently, getting ready for the wedding and moving her things over. But for some reason, coming here now, as his wife, felt completely different.
A thousand times better.
Sasuke helped Hinata (and the train of her gown) out of the car, then unlocked and opened the house door before sweeping her up in his arms and carrying her inside, where he promptly kicked the door shut behind him. Naruto had graciously agreed to take care of Ninja while the couple were honeymooning, and had already taken the big black dog to his house.
They were, at last, alone.
Hinata rested her head, free of flower crown and veil, against Sasuke's shoulder, content to let him carry her through the house, up the stairs, and to the bedroom. A kind of nervous, excited fluttering erupted in her stomach, and she swallowed back the sudden urge to giggle. She almost felt like she was in a dream - a good dream, a wonderful dream from which she never wanted to awaken.
As she lazily kicked off her shoes somewhere along the staircase, something occurred to her. "You still haven't told me where we're going to honeymoon," Hinata told him. He'd dropped vague hints, but resolutely refused to come straight out and tell her. And his hints, infuriatingly, didn't build a big enough picture for her to figure it out.
"I know," Sasuke replied with a crooked smile. "You'll find out tomorrow, when we get to the airport."
She remembered their trip back in August, and the way he'd stiffened when they'd boarded Utakata and Hotaru's Lear jet. She didn't sense nearly the same level of discomfort this time when he spoke of their flying, though she did see a hint of unease in his eyes. He would probably always be uncomfortable flying, but at least he'd faced and conquered his outright fear.
He'd told her to make sure her passport was up to date, which clued her in they were going somewhere out of the country. But Hinata knew they lived on a big planet, and leaving out the continental U.S. didn't really help narrow down the field much. For all she knew, he could have a wacked out sense of humor and be taking her to Siberia, where they'd honeymoon in a nice, cozy igloo. (Did they have igloos in Siberia? She wasn't sure, but she did know she didn't want to find out.)
They reached the doorway to the master bedroom, and Sasuke stopped abruptly. Hinata lifted her head from his shoulder to look at what had halted him in his tracks, then groaned.
Candles flickered about the room, releasing a heady, fragrant mix of flowers and spices. Hinata thought they were real at first, but then realized they were battery powered and held no real flame. She wondered how long they'd been on, but the thought was quickly swept away when she noticed the floor. And the bed.
Mostly the bed.
What looked like a million red and white rose petals carpeted the floor, completely hiding the hardwood floor and plush rug. More were scattered over the bedsheets, which had been neatly folded back, ready to welcome the newlywed couple. In the corner of the room, the stereo played softly, setting the mood with slow, romantic music.
Hinata once again had to swallow back the urge to giggle. She didn't protest as Sasuke leaned down to set her on her feet, and they stood side by side staring at the spectacle before them in shared consternation.
"What in the world...?" Sasuke shook his head, looking torn between amusement and bemusement as he regarded the sudden change in decór his bedroom had undergone.
Taking a step forward onto the carpet of rose petals, which tickled her bare feet, Hinata caught sight of the silky black thing hanging on the closet door and covered her face. "I think," she said with a groan, "I know who's responsible."
Sasuke stepped up next to her, and out of the corner of her eye she saw him blush. "Hm," he said, clearing his throat. Snagging a piece of paper she hadn't previously seen taped to the hanger, he cleared his throat and read, "'Dear Newlyweds, Enjoy this, our gift to you. Have fun.'" His expression convulsed slightly, strangely, and he finished in a somewhat strangled voice, "'Yours, Itachi and Temari.'" He closed his eyes as if in pain and growled, "I'm going to kill them."
Still blushing and refusing to look directly at the slinky piece of lingerie clearly intended for her, Hinata slipped her arm around Sasuke's and rested her head on his arm. "I don't know," she said hesitantly. "It was nice of them. In a weird sort of way."
Shaking his head, Sasuke tossed the note aside and pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. "This has got to have been Temari's idea," he said. "I refuse to believe my levelheaded, serious brother had anything to do with this nonsense." He was silent for a moment; then the corner of his mouth kicked up in a little smile. Opening his eyes, he fastened his gaze on hers and added, "Though I wouldn't be opposed to your taking that with us," indicating the lingerie with a tilt of his head.
Covering her face with her hands, Hinata shook her head and tried to fight back her embarrassment. She shouldn't be, she knew - this was her husband, after all. But something about this ridiculous situation (which might be a funny story later - much later) made her blush. "In your dreams," she muttered.
Grasping her hands, Sasuke pulled them away from her face and smiled down at her, an unfathomably wonderful expression on his face. Warmth kindled in his dark eyes, setting her blood alight in a way which made their encounter in New York seem icy in comparison. "A place I've always wanted to visit with you," he murmured.
Then his arms went around her, his lips descended upon hers, and the rest of the world disappeared completely for the next few wonderful, unforgettable hours.
*~To Be Concluded~*
Author's Ending Notes: Ahh, finally the wedding! I've been looking forward to this the whole fic. I love weddings, I really do. And the ending of this chapter - heehee, that was so fun to write! I've always thought Temari would have a wicked sense of humor, and I can see her wanting to tease her shy brother- and sister-in-law with something like this. It was so fun to write! I hope to see you again next week for the epilogue (and the accompanying announcement of my new project), thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this penultimate chapter!