A tall, strong, elegant, just and handsome man and his retinue overshadowed the whole wide street. The groom's face shone with light not from the sun, but from the most hidden cave in his heart, where nobody had ever entered except Sakura. He was very nervous and that was why his sister gave him wheat grains to hold tight in his hand and let them go when he was going to enter the church. She explained to him that it will help calm down and be more confident. He had repeated in his head for a long time everything he had to do and say, but even so, his palms kept sweating, his mind couldn't focus and he wondered what Sakura would say if she saw him weak. What if she'll be disappointed in me? It seemed that only Temari felt her little brother's stress, but there was nothing more she could do to help. He was about to become a man.
Shinki stood next to his father. He was very bored and looked in all directions because he didn't understand what they were all waiting for.
"Dad, let's go. Why aren't we going?"
"Have a little patience, son."
"Oh!" Shinki looked down in disappointment.
Behind Gaara there were Temari and Kankurou, each holding a framed picture of their parents, then Baki, Gaara's sensei, all the officials and lastly, all ninja in the decreasing order of their rank. Simple people gathered in groups on the street and joined the retinue of the Kazekage, by happily sitting in the back and waiting along with everyone else for Sakura's arrival. Everyone was happy to attend the open ceremony and Kazekage-sama's retinue grew so much, that you couldn't see sand, but people. Everybody kept silent in the front of the retinue, but in the bottom, there was an indescribable noise. Some whispered, others, more drunk, shouted congratulations.
When Sakura's retinue could be seen from afar, everyone shut up. As she got closer, everyone could take in all of her glow and grace. Her hair was decorated with white flowers, the make-up brightened her face like the sun gives light to the moon. The crystals on her attire scattered the sun's rays everywhere. She bit her red lip. Her hands shook and her eyes were already filled with tears, although not even one dared to roll down on her rosy delicate cheek. Sakura was scared of falling, stumbling, embarrassing herself in front of all of Suna and Konoha. Her head hurt from all the worry she carried with her from home until the meeting place. She was followed closely by her mother who was already crying, her father, then Naruto, Kakashi, Tsunade, Ino and all the other girls from Konoha alongside Matsuri.
When Gaara saw that Sakura was just as nervous as he was, he plucked up courage. He gave her a flourishing smile and she lowered her eyes in shyness. All of Gaara's retinue bowed before Sakura. Sakura and all of her retinue bowed to Gaara. Lastly, Gaara bowed to his soon to be wife and all of her retinue. All Shinki could do was stare and express his awe: "Waa!"
Sakura threw the boy a motherly look before she took her place next to Gaara to enter the church together. Of course Gaara forgot to let go of the wheat grains in his hand, so he kept them without realizing throughout the whole religious ceremony. His other palm was open, next to Sakura's, but they didn't touch. No couple has ever sparkled as brightly as them.
The priest bowed before them and they replied the same.
"Love is patient and kind. It does not envy or boat, it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it's not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Be completely humble and gentle, bearing with one another in love."
Sakura's breathing was so quiet and low, that Gaara was scared she stopped breathing at all, so he glanced at her from time to time from the corner of his eye to make sure she is still alive. However, Sakura was afraid if she turned to look at him, she would faint. She is so shy. Gaara thought.
"Bow to your spouse." The even, strong voice of the priest could be heard even in the farthest corners of the church.
Sakura and Gaara turned to face each other, without looking into each other's eyes and did as they were told.
"Bow to your parents."
Gaara and Sakura turned to the crowd, where Temari, Kankurou and Sakura's parents were and bowed to them respectfully.
"Lastly, bow to the realm."
Gaara and Sakura bowed to everyone in the church and everyone bowed to them.
"The bride can now give the groom the symbol of eternal love which both of you will have to carry until the end of your days. You will be buried with it, each of you with his half, so you can find each other in Heaven."
Sakura pulled out of her white sash a white handkerchief that she ripped in half. She gave one half to Gaara and kept one to herself. Sakura embroidered the handkerchief herself back when she lived in the same house with the old women. Gaara placed his half inside the vest, close to his heart. Sakura embroidered the windblown red coat that he always wore, while on her half there was a cherry tree flower on a small frail branch.
"May what God united never be unbound by man's hand."
This last sentence represented the ending of the ceremony. Gaara earned the right to hold Sakura's hand as her legitimate husband, after she wiped her eyes with great difficulty. That was when Gaara finally opened his fist, the grains scattered at his feet and his steady fingers caressed her wet cheek trying to comfort her. The words were stuck in his throat, so he stopped at just cupping her cheek.
Among huge pots with divers flowers and exotic trees, the guests walked and wondered of the great beauty of nature. There were people on all floors of the enormous gardens that Gaara offered Sakura as a present back when she came back to him after her trip to Konoha. All the girls admired the vines, flower buds, all the colors one could think of and many other colors that have never been discovered before because they belonged to hybrid species that Sakura obtained in the lab by cross matching sprouts in the lab.
Before the fountain and pond where red and orange fish swam, there was a white table where guests left envelopes with an odd number of banknotes. Tradition said that anyone giving a married couple an even number of banknotes, wanted to separate the couple.
When food was brought, Sakura sat down next to Gaara, at the head of the table, and only after they sat down, the others followed suit. Both Gaara and Sakura ate sour cream from the same plate to bring prosperity and healthy beautiful children. Shinki sat down next to the other kids and bragged about how cool he is. The other guests happily talked and drank without measure. There were screams of good health coming from all corners of the room from everyone at all times. There was an infernal clamor even if there was no music playing. Sakura didn't let Gaara drink after what happened last time. Gaara just laughed and kissed the back of her hand.
The bride and groom spoke to each other in a low voice, as they carried peace and silence in their hearts. All until the girls came to steal Sakura. They all gathered around Sakura and pulled at her hands to get her to stand up and follow them.
"Kazekage-sama, please excuse us for borrowing your wife a little."
"Go ahead." He replied cheerfully, moving his index finger in a gesture that encouraged them to go, as he looked at them from where he was sitting on the chair.
Sakura gave him one last troublesome look before she stood up and left with all the girls who screamed and sang around her. While the girls were strolling in the gardens, taking pictures, Gaara didn't even get 1 minute to himself as he was immediately surrounded by Naruto, Kankurou Shikamaru and many other men who kept congratulating him and slapping his shoulder while pouring wine into his glass.
"A man should drink on his wedding day."
"Yes, because after marriage, his wife won't let him."
Gaara laughed as he was the only one who knew how ironic that was. He didn't want to drink from the beginning, but Sakura insisted with her crazy ideas. He kept these thoughts to himself though.
"If there's anybody here this afternoon who's feeling nervous, apprehensive and queasy at the thought of what lies ahead, it is probably because you've just married Sakura-chan. She is going to kill you if you don't listen to her. She's scary. I remember..." Naruto spoke carefree.
"I can allow you many things, but not talk like that about my wife."
Naruto's face fell to the floor and he looked scared and dismayed until everyone else started laughing, including Kankurou, who kept drinking glass after glass of wine.
"Who are you laughing at? Shut up!" Naruto yelled as he got up from his seat and pointed at them with his index finger.
He was joking, no doubt about it. The boys talked loudly and enjoyed themselves until Gaara started to miss his wife. He excused himself and got up to look for his flower, his Sakura. She was one floor above the boys. When the girls she was with saw Gaara approach, they all shielded Sakura, preventing him from getting closer to her.
"If you want to see her, sing something for us."
Gaara blushed.
"What? Move away, please." He spoke with kindness as he knew this was a game.
The girl tapped her finger on her lips while another one whispered something in her ear and they both ended up laughing.
"If you don't want to sing, tell us a joke."
"I am not a buffoon."
"Oh, how boring. Fine. I will let you see her f you give us candy."
"And you must say 'I am dying for Sakura' three times."
Gaara looked around and saw that nobody paid attention to him because they were all drunk enough to not hear or care about what he did, so Gaara laughed and agreed to the girls' terms. He sent the sand to bring them candy while he recited what they wanted to hear.
They all moved aside except for Ino, who refused to let him touch Sakura unless he did something else.
"Eat a fistful of candy and only then I will let you touch her."
Gaara tried to move past her, but she wouldn't let him. Sakura was so close, that he was frustrated to not be able to touch her. He ate some candies and Ino finally moved aside. He was so impatient, that he grabbed Sakura around the waist firmly with on hand and held the back of her head with his other hand while crushing her lips with his without hesitation. His mouth was so sweet thanks to the candies...Sakura was delighted. The girls elbowed each other, screamed and clapped their hands in happiness. Some teared up while others kept wishing the couple good health.
"You are mine and only mine from this day forward. I won't let anybody stay in my way to get to you." Gaara whispered into Sakura's ear, careful to cover his mouth with the sleeve when he embraced her to his chest, so the girls wouldn't hear what was only meant for Sakura's ears. Poor Sakura teared up for the hundredth time that day.
There were so many memorable moments that they will never forget: Sakura's toast to her parents, Gaara's toast to his wife, son and to all the guests, the incredible photos taken in the gigantic gardens, the cutting of the cake by both him and her. Sakura held the knife in her hand. Gaara placed his hand on top of hers and pushed to slice the first piece of cake together. All these moments made so many years of suffering worth the wait. After all the guests slept in their rooms like babies, each with his own gift for coming to the wedding, after Shinki fell asleep in Temari's house in Suna, Sakura and Gaara slipped into the big red hotel room, where they were going to enjoy each other's body until morning because both of them were far from tired.
"Give me a baby." Sakura whispered into Gaara's ear.
It gave him goose bumps and he squeezed the flesh of her hips between his fingers while blowing out air from his nostrils like a bull.
Note: I hope I didn't disappoint. The next chapter will be about their honeymoon in the Land of Bears. I genuinely hope you like it. Sorry for the delay; I tried to translate it as soon as possible. Thank you very much for being so supportive:D
I will post another chapter on my other story soon. Please be patient with me.