Primal
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that everyone enjoys the Wedding Chapter.
Naruto talking to Kyuubi in bold.
Kyuubi talking to Naruto in bold italics.
Chapter 20
Weeks. It had taken weeks to organize their wedding ceremony. Suki didn't really understand why it had taken that long, but at least she knew her Mate shared in her frustration. The ball of light was all over the place. It was as if the Sun was pacing and twitching.
"Are you sure that you're ready for this? You and Naruto are re-ally young." Hinata says.
She was getting married in just over an hour. Suki had chosen Hinata to be her Maid of Honor. The Uchiha woman knew that decision had likely shocked a lot of people, but the raven haired woman had several good reasons for doing so.
The first was because Hinata adored Naruto. That meant that the Hyuga Heiress wanted him to be happy. Clearly, marrying her would make him happy. So Suki knew that the other woman wasn't going to deliberately sabotage their wedding.
"I'm sure. I'm sorry, Hinata. I know that you cared for him and if he was smart, he would have chosen you. I love him though. I just didn't express that very well for a long time." She whispers.
The second was because Hinata was a Hyuga. The Hyuga Clan was one of the largest in the village. It was also well respected and having Hinata have a place of honor at her wedding would make an informal tie between the Clans. It was a smart decision strategically.
"I'm sad that it wasn't me, but love either there or it isn't. He's not stupid. Naruto just has a way of seeing the good in people, even if they can't see it themselves. I hope that you'll be happy together." The other ninja whispers.
The third was that she was quiet and not annoying. Actually, Hinata was just a good person in general. Suki didn't know if she would have been able to do what the Hyuga woman was doing. To watch her first love, marry someone else with grace and dignity.
"Thank you. I'm sure that you'll find a lovable idiot of your own one day. He is stupid. He's loyal to the point of absolute stupidity, but I love him. That's probably why I love him, actually." Suki says.
"I can't believe the two of you are actually getting married. You've always fought like cats and dogs and now you're getting married." Sakura says.
Suki had invited Sakura as well. She was her former teammate. Though she had mostly done so out of respect for Naruto. The blonde was still friends with the medic and Suki didn't want to come between them.
The truth of the matter was that she still didn't know where she stood with the other woman. Maybe, it didn't matter. She had Naruto and Itachi. That was enough for her.
"Believe me, I didn't think that it was ever going to happen either." Suki says as she glances at the other members of her Bridal Party.
Temari, Tenten, Ino, Kurenai, and Anko made up the rest of her Bridal party. Suki didn't feel particularly close to any of them. Though it would have looked strange to only have Itachi at her side and Naruto to have lots of Groomsmen. So she had just invited everyone that she could think of.
"I felt the same way about Shikamaru and I." Temari tells her and Suki smiles in response.
Well maybe Temari wasn't so bad, the Uchiha thinks to herself as she looks in the mirror. She almost didn't recognize the woman staring back at her. This woman was a far different creature than the one who she had been for several years.
This woman was actually happy. Years of inner torment were gone on this day. Replaced by something else entirely. An emotion that before she Mated with Naruto, Suki didn't think that she was capable of feeling anymore. Joy.
"Treasure the time that you have together." Kurenai adds.
Suki knew why. The Genjutsu Mistress had already lost the love of her life. The Uchiha woman couldn't imagine a world without Naruto. She had tried to make one, but it had never worked.
Kurenai was stronger than her in a lot of ways. Suki wasn't sure that she would be able to function without her lovable idiot. Then again, Kurenai was also a mother. That was probably why.
"I will." She promises her.
Speaking of children, Mirai was going to be the flower girl at their wedding. The small child was absolutely giddy about this prospect and had been practicing everywhere. To say the least, Mirai was certainly helping Ino's Flower Shop to stay in business.
"So do you think you can keep up with him? That boy is rather…energetic." Anko says with a wink.
Suki was glad to be looking at the mirror. It didn't take a genius to realize what Anko was referring to. It was the strangest sensation to realize that she was actually blushing.
The blush contrasted startlingly against her ivory pale skin and raven black hair which now reached to the middle of her back. She had inherited her mother's color, but there were now hints of Madara's trademark spiky texture.
"I wouldn't marry him, if I didn't think we were…compatible." Suki retorts.
She was wearing a beautiful snowy white wedding kimono with a v neckline and a Uchiha Crest on the back. Her sash was navy blue and she thought it went well with her eyes.
The silky fabric flattered her figure. She knew that was a bit vain, but she was happy that it did. There was no reason not to try to look her best for her Mate and if anyone happened to get a nosebleed in the audience, well let them.
"Anko!" Ino scolds the older woman.
"What? She's getting married. Women speak of these matters." The older ninja says.
"Well yeah, but that's the kind of thing that she should be telling her classmates. Suki barely knows you! So Suki, what's he like? Does he use his clones when you two are together, together?" The blonde asks.
Suki sighs and glances at Tenten rather helplessly. Thankfully, the brunette got the message and covers Ino's mouth. There would be none of that.
The last thing that she wanted to admit was that she and Naruto hadn't actually consummated their Mating yet. They had other things on their mind. Mostly Itachi.
"Ino, y-ou should be more respectful!" Hinata tells her and the blonde sighs as she nods her head in resignation.
"Well hopefully, the guys are having an easier time of it than we are." Temari says.
Meanwhile Naruto heads towards the alter with his Groomsmen. He couldn't believe that he was actually getting married. Kakashi was the one who was acting as his "father" so to speak and helping him get there.
"Now, remember don't forget your anniversary. I wouldn't put it passed Suki to Chidori you below the belt." Kakashi says cheerfully.
"Honestly, Kakashi. I'm shocked and appalled that you would suggest that my sister would be capable of such savagery towards her Mate." Itachi says.
It was only an hour or maybe a little less before dawn. Naruto could still see the Full Moon peeking out over the Hokage Mountains. Thankfully, it was also a warm summer's day. So no one would be cold.
That was a good thing because they had decided to hold their wedding outdoors in the Uchiha District. They kinda had to. The happy couple needed a lot of space to accommodate thousands of guests. Suki's District was really the only place big enough to do so.
"You're right. I was only joking though." The silver haired man replies.
It was amazing, really. The District was alive again. There had to be thousands of guests jammed into the crowded street with dozens of tables piled high with all kinds of food, drinks, and wedding gifts.
Naruto was rather surprised at that last part. Though he probably shouldn't have been. After all, he and Suki had helped to win the war. While people still might be uneasy about the Uchihas, they definitely considered him a hero. So that meant lots of presents.
"Good. That and my sister wouldn't want to damage that. She wants to restore our Clan. So she'd probably attack everything ELSE with her Chidori." Itachi says smugly.
"Yeah. That's true. You're baby sister definitely has claws, Itachi." Kisame observes.
Oh yeah. That sounded like Suki. She could be quite vicious when she wanted to be, but she could also be cuddly. Of course, he knew better than to actually say that and ruin her reputation of being scary. (She really would Chidori him, if he did that)!
There were banners everywhere. Uchiha, Uzumaki, Namikaze, and Leaf Banners. Colorful lanterns were strung up almost at every conceivable location, lighting up the early morning sky. There was also music playing in the background.
"Naruto, you had to Mate the one woman who could possibly kill you." Gaara says.
"Yeah. I know! I mean that's just part of the fun really. We tear into each other a lot, but we could never actually do it." Naruto says brightly.
He was wearing his Hokage Robes and Tsunade was going to officiate the ceremony. Everything in his mind was perfect as he stepped up to the silver alter that had been placed in the middle of the Uchiha District.
The blonde couldn't place the music for the life of him. It was just ancient and powerful. He'd never heard it before.
"Brat, it's tribal music. It comes from a time before the Leaf was even founded." Kurama informs him.
"Oh cool. Well hopefully, Suki likes it." He says brightly.
That's when he hears cries of fright coming from the crowd. Naruto blinks and looks around to see what on Earth was going on. Now, he could see what the "problem" was.
Their Summons. Garuda had taken to the skies and was flying around joyously. Aoda and Gamabunta were at the back of the District and watching. There was also Sakura's favorite Slug sitting next to her companions.
"Oh boy. Kakashi, do you want to take care of this one?" Naruto asks.
"This is such a drag. Now, the Summons have scared the guests have to death." Shikamaru says with a loud yawn.
That's when Kakashi sighs. He quickly uses a Jutsu to magnify his voice and attempts to soothe everyone's nerves. The last thing that they needed was a panic at his students' wedding.
"Everyone calm down. Those are merely Summons. They mean you no harm. Now, relax and enjoy the grand spectacle that I'm certain this wedding will undoubtedly be." He says with a smile.
Thankfully, that appeared to do the trick. Well that or Mirai's presence did. The cute little girl was now prancing about the Uchiha District's Streets as if she owned them. Naruto smiles as he watches her throw flowers everywhere.
"Asuma would be so proud." Itachi whispers to Shikamaru comfortingly as he places his hand on the other man's back.
"Yes. Yes, he would be." The other ninja says, uncharacteristically somber at the mention of his fallen Sensei.
That's when everyone gasps. Suki and her Bridal Procession had made their way out and were heading down the aisle. Kurenai was the one who was walking Suki down the aisle.
Suki had asked Itachi to do it, but he had said that he didn't want to risk it. The elder Uchiha didn't want to risk jinxing their wedding. After all, the reason why the father of the Bride couldn't do it was because Itachi had killed him. There was no need to remind people of that unpleasant fact.
"Well now I can see why he's willing to let her smack him around so much." Kiba says and Naruto gives his friend a dirty look.
Suki was something else in that kimono. Of course, this was Suki. She'd look good even in a potato sack, but this was on whole nother level.
The way that it glided behind her and the long sleeves swished through the air was utterly hypnotic. Not to mention, there was her natural grace to consider. It was Suki and yet it wasn't at the same time.
"There you are. Glad you didn't run off for once." Naruto whispers to her, once she made it to the alter with her Bridal Party.
"You're such a loser." Suki whispers back with a smile as she wraps her arms around his neck.
"And you're still an ice princess, but you're my ice princess." He retorts.
Thankfully, most of the guests couldn't hear what they were actually saying to each other. That was a damn good thing. Otherwise, Naruto was pretty sure they would have all been laughing at their rather unique pet names for each other.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Naruto Uzumaki and Suki Uchiha. A Union that apparently is more a matter of formality than anything else. It seems the two of them were actually foolish enough to run off and get demonically married, but I digress." Tsunade begins.
Suki could feel her face burn red with embarrassment. Did she really have to mention their Mating in such casual terms? She felt like a Genin that had gotten caught making out with her teammate in the tent or something.
Naruto must have felt the same way though. He was blushing almost as red as Hinata could. That was both impressive and a little disturbing, really.
"It's so beautiful and youthful!" Lee cries out as he starts bawling with Lee soon joining in.
"Sand gag." Gaara mutters as he gags both men with his sand.
Suki looks at the red head gratefully. While it was perfectly normal for some people to cry at weddings, those two were extreme in everything they did. Their joyful sobbing was rather distract to put it mildly and she wanted to focus solely on Naruto.
They were about to be married. Well Tsunade was right. It was more a formality than anything, but still. It was the principle of the thing!
"Thanks, Granny Tsunade. Really, really appreciate the scolding." Naruto mutters quietly.
"You're welcome, brat." She whispers back.
"If there is anyone here who has any objections to this match, speak now or forever hold your peace. I would understand if there were objections. There are certain things that need to be considered like how many times that they've nearly killed each other, but I really wouldn't recommend objecting." The busty blonde continues.
Suki rolls her eyes. She supposed that the other woman was enjoying this. Tsunade was getting a little payback for everything that she'd put Naruto through. What ever.
Suki didn't care. One look at those sapphire blue eyes and she was a goner again. He was her own personal Sun. After spending so long in the darkness, the Uchiha woman didn't want to ever go back to it.
"If you do, it will mean a Chidoria, Rasengan, or Tsukuyomi." Itachi adds helpfully.
"No threatening the guests! Anyway, Naruto do you take Suki Uchiha to be your lawfully wedded wife? To love, honor, cherish, and to forsake all others for the rest of your days? To stand by her side in sickness and in health? In good times and in bad until death do you part?" Tsunade continues.
The Sunrise was beautiful. There were so many colors in the now blue sky. Pinks, oranges, reds, and yellow. None of them could compete with Naruto's smile at the moment though. It was simply beautiful.
"I do. Believe it!" He says happily and there were many chuckles from the crowd.
"Well that was enthusiastic as always. Suki do you take Naruto Uzumaki to be your lawfully wedded husband? To love, honor, cherish, and to forsake all others for the rest of your days? To stand by his side in sickness and in health? In good times and in bad until death do you part?" The former Hokage continues on.
"I do. Always." Suki replies automatically.
There was no hesitation in her voice. Suki doubted that she had ever been more sure of anything in her entire life before. Naruto was her Mate and now he was her husband. In time, he would also be the father of their children. He was her everything, even if she wanted to strangle him half the time.
She supposed that was how you knew that it was love though. If you didn't want to kill your intended sometimes, there wasn't really any passion there. Passion was what made love in her mind.
"Good. Then by the power vested in me by the Leaf Village and the Fire Nation, I pronounce thee man and wife. You may kiss the bride." Tsunade finishes.
Naruto smiles and grabs Suki by her waist, pulling her closer to him. He was only going to get married once. He might as well make a grand show of it.
The Hokage didn't want there to be any doubts that Suki was the only one for him. That and he figured it'd be a good start towards reassuring the villagers that Suki wasn't actually going to try to destroy the Leaf. Well at least not anymore.
"I love you." He whispers and Suki smiles.
"I love you too." She whispers back.
Naruto knew that she meant it. He could feel the panther practically purring with contentment in her mind. Which was a bit odd because panthers couldn't purr, but whatever.
He leans down and kisses her. The blonde really kisses her. Suki returns the kiss with equal passion. For a few moments, it was as if the rest of the world ceased to exist. Well that was until he heard some rather uncomfortable parents start to protest the rather passionate scene.
"Right. Right. Sorry. We got a little carried away there. Suki, can you sit down. I wanna get the garter belt." Naruto tells her.
Suki nods and sits down. Naruto then slowly slides the lacy material off of her legs. Her wonderfully long and shapely legs. Now, maybe he'd get to associate them with something besides how fast she could run away from him or how hard she'd kick. So the blonde was suddenly developing a new appreciation for his wife's legs to say the least.
"Here. Someone catch these!" Suki calls out as Naruto grabs the belt and she throws her bouquet of red roses into the crowd.
"Couldn't wait to get rid of the flowers, huh?" Naruto asks with a laugh as he throws the garter belt into the crowd.
"I'm a former S Class Criminal Ninja. Flowers aren't really my thing." Suki says with a shrug as a fight for the belt and flowers ensues.
Naruto and Suki blink a few minutes later. The fight was vicious to say the least. Eventually, the smoke clears to reveal that Lee had caught the belt and Sakura got the flowers.
"Serves her right." Suki mutters under her breath.
"Suki, be nice." Naruto gently chides his wife as he caresses her cheek.
Lee beams happily and drags Sakura to the dance floor. Naruto snorts in amusement when he saw his other teammate flail about helplessly as Suki smirks. Alright. His wife could be mean sometimes, but he loved her anyway.
"She planned that. Clever vixen." Kurama says approvingly.
"Yeah. She totally planned that." Naruto agrees.
Suki shakes her head in amusement and leads Naruto to the cake. Well there were actually a lot of wedding cakes, but this one was in a league of its own. It was easily twice Naruto's height and he was by no means short.
"How are we even going to cut this thing?" Naruto asks.
"Just use your clones." Suki tells him.
"Oh right! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He calls out and suddenly there were three Naruto's
Naruto climbs up on the clones back and proceeds to cut the cake. Suki just watches on with a smile on her face. Well that was until Itachi walks over.
"Don't say anything stupid." She warns him.
"Foolish little sister, why would you feel the need to say such things to me? Don't you trust me?" He asks as he pokes her forehead.
"When it comes to not making light of my relationship with Naruto, no. Not really and stop poking my forehead!" She grumbles.
That's when Naruto hops down and glances at Itachi. Uh oh. This might not end well. He was going to have to do some major damage control.
"I just wanted to offer you both my well wishes and remind Naruto that if he would like to keep all of his reproductive capacities fully intact, he had best treat you the proper way a husband should treat his wife. Oh and I suppose that I should stop poking you. That's Naruto's job now." He says with a smirk.
"ITACHI!" Suki growls at him in outrage.
"Um right. Thanks. I think. You might want to go before she kills you. Come on, Suki. Let's go have our first dance as a married couple." Naruto says as he offers her his hand.
Suki mutters something about annoying older brothers and takes her husband's hand. He leads her out to the "dance floor." Well she supposed that dance street was more accurate, but that just didn't have the same ring to it.
"Sounds like a good idea to me." She agrees and with that, the two begin to dance.
"You know, you really look amazing in that kimono." Naruto tells her.
"Thank you. You look better in Hokage Robes than I thought you would. You actually really look like your father at the moment." Suki comments.
"You really think so?" Naruto asks as he twirls her around.
The way that kimono billowed around her was ethereal. Naruto didn't use that word often, but today it was definitely true. He doubted that he was ever going to forget today.
"Mhm. I really do." Suki says as she allows herself to be spun around.
"That's nice of you to say. Well speaking of nice, as much as I love the kimono…" Naruto begins and then pauses as he realizes this could definitely get him smacked.
"I sense a but coming." Suki replies, raising an eyebrow.
She didn't know what he was going to say, but Suki knew her husband. It was going to be something unexpected. God only knows what he was planning to say.
"You promised me that you'd cook me ramen in nothing, but a pink frilly apron. So I'm really looking forward to that!" He says cheerfully.
"Suki, did you really promise him that? Well I never would have expected you to be so playful. If you are into playing dress up for your husband, this book has lots of good ideas for you to select from." Kakashi says as he hands her a familiar orange book.
"Kakashi, get that filth away from me and I don't need any help pleasing my husband. Oh and stop eavesdropping on us! It's really creepy. I would Chidori you, but I don't want to start a panic." Suki warns him.
Naruto laughs. Well it wouldn't be Suki, if she wasn't threatening to kill or maim someone. Some things would never change.
"Kakashi Sensei, you might wanna go. Come on, Suki. Let's get in a few more dances and have some cake. Then we can sneak off and you can try on that apron for me later." He says brightly.
"Alright. I really hope that this doesn't become a fetish though. I hate pink." Suki sulks.