Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine, and I make no claim to its characters or settings. Masashi Kishimoto is a fantastic writer and artist, and he's the one to thank for the wonderful world this story is based in.

Enjoy!

Sasuke Uchiha had expected to have been gone for a great deal longer than he was. It had been merely three years since the defeat of Kaguya Ootsutsuki and the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War. Peace had been steadily maintained between the five great nations, but there would always be the outlying criminal element to deal with along the roads and unsettled forests. Sasuke himself had dealt with a few undesirables during his travels to seek atonement. The encounters had made him temporarily cynical: Can peace ever truly be achieved? He would often ask himself that question, but a few very specific thoughts had constantly prevented him from saying "No."

For a time, he had been driven exclusively by his brother's ideal of a peaceful world; Itachi Uchiha was perhaps the greatest unsung hero of the entire generation, but it was still a rare occurrence for a living shinobi to say his name without spite. Sasuke had recognized the importance of keeping the Leaf's treachery silent from the rest of the world; to reveal the collaboration between Itachi and the Third Hokage's ruling council would have been to doom the village to further internal strife. There was no need for arguments over long-dead men and women nor discussion about an incident that could never be taken back.

Another thought that drove him was the image of Naruto's obnoxious grin. The orange-headed moron had been a guiding light throughout Sasuke's darkest hours, and his constant pestering was actually a welcome thorn in the Uchiha's side. The pain of that irritating splinter was enough to keep him at least tangentially aware of the family he had left behind—the family he had nearly lost during his single-minded quest for vengeance. Family was important—the most important thing to him, in fact. Yes, even Naruto was important to him, but the one who was even more important than that was a beautiful young woman named Sakura Haruno.

Sakura was the one who necessitated his return to Konoha after those three aimless years; her name upon the missive was all it took to bring him home. During his travels, Sasuke had seen much of the world, but there was still yet more to see. He had duties to fulfill, curiosities to sate, and wrongs to right. He had been far off in the Land of Earth when the messenger hawk arrived to him with the news that changed his perception of life, had warped it into something skewed. After receiving that message, he knew what he had to do—he had to return home in order to attend the event that threatened to rock his very existence. He had to see it with his own eyes; he had to make it real.

Such an event was enough to reunite the somewhat-scattered group once called the Rookie Nine, the most gifted Genin of Sasuke's own generation. He and Naruto had surpassed their comrades many years ago, but the less-talented ninjas had still played a crucial role in ending the war and picking up the pieces in the aftermath. They had integrated themselves deeply into the community of their village and had remained loyal to one another throughout the years. Sasuke himself was the sole outcast, the one who seemed most unlikely to return for the ceremony to come. Perhaps that unlikelihood is what motivated him the most to show up. He wanted to prove that he had no hard feelings, but it was a surprisingly difficult notion to appease.

There he was, then, as the outcast on a warm, cloudy evening in the earliest weeks of spring. Sasuke stood outside the clean gates that may as well have been the opening into hell itself. He realized that he had ultimately lost his chance at happiness due to his wandering, but perhaps it was not so simple...perhaps his chance had been lost many years before that. He had made dozens of poor decisions, took all of the paths that only the foolish would have chosen to take. He was a fool. He had every opportunity to go back and make it right, but his plotted course of vengeance saw only one way to traverse—he could only go forward, never backward. And with that same mindset, he could not step away from the dreaded portal into the unknown.

If he walked through the white archway with the rice-paper sign designed to flag attendees to the proper location, he would be acknowledging the truth—he would be giving credibility to the words that were written on paper and crumpled in the satchel that was slung over his shoulder. He wanted to turn away and go to sleep, to dream away the worst of his pain. His heart was beating quickly as he stood there, and he could hear whispering voices and quiet music beyond the high white fencing that bordered the open-aired park.

Sasuke Uchiha was in Konoha again, and the nostalgia was overwritten by a severe sense of unwelcome change. He had always taken her for granted. He had expected to always have her love at his fingertips, and thought that she would never abandon her longstanding feelings for him. See you soon, he had said to her when he elected to depart on his self-imposed mission of atonement. My sins have nothing to do with you, he had also said. He felt a sting in his chest that must have been focused regret; for the briefest of moments, he wondered if things might have been easier if the sting was actually the knife of an assassin, and his dropped guard had presented the perfect opportunity. Feeling the way he did had actually made death seem like a welcome alternative.

He took one solitary step forward, his black travel cloak swaying silently in the calm wind of the evening. The street lights hummed around him, but he stayed in the shadows. Guests were still arriving in front of him, dressed in black and fancy clothing to present themselves adequately. Many people from many villages had motivation to attend the gathering; Naruto had a heavy stake in what was to come, and he had touched the hearts and minds of very nearly every shinobi who survived the war.

Among the arrivals, Sasuke even recognized Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage and a man who had played a vital role in helping Sasuke to realize what was important to himself. Standing there in that moment, watching the auburn-headed figure of authority with the word 'love' almost ironically tattooed onto his forehead, Sasuke flashed back to the image of Sakura being pinned ruthlessly against a tree and knocked unconscious. He was powerless then to stop her from feeling that pain, but if he had a mind to do it in the present, he could have finally achieved his revenge against the unwitting Kazekage.

Sasuke hadn't felt the darkness in his heart surge so powerfully ever since he tried to kill Naruto in the final hour of the war. At the time, he had wanted to kill all five of the Kages at once as they slept, but he had since changed his mind. Despite all of their disagreements in the past and the rift that was regrowing between them, Sasuke still respected Naruto greatly and allowed the world to fall into his hands, to adhere to his simplistic way of things. It had been a difficult pill for Sasuke swallow, but in just three years the climate of the world had changed so much that it was nearly impossible to argue against Naruto's special way of reaching out to touch every willing or unwilling heart.

Gaara was one of those hearts. Looking at the ex-jinchuriki caused Sasuke's lip to quiver at its corner, a snarl threatening to bare itself. As a teenager, Gaara had caused enormous suffering to Sasuke and his friends...yet Naruto still extended a naïve offer of friendship. The notion of such a friendship had deeply offended Sasuke at the time, but it proved to be a spark that lit into a fire that burned for peace and integrity. Gaara had become a stupendous Kage and a remarkable human being—no matter what grudge Sasuke held against him, that fact could never be denied. The world was infinitely better with Naruto Uzumaki among its denizens.

Sasuke shook his head clear of vengeful thoughts as Gaara entered the fearsome gate. He was flanked by Temari and Kankuro, his eternal siblings and bodyguards. They were chatting with one another. They laughed before they vanished beyond the open fence to join the rest of the guests. They weren't watching their backs; why would they be? The world was safe again. There was no war to fight, and not even a minor political dispute to solve that day.

The crowd had gathered there for a merry occasion, not a sad one, yet Sasuke felt the gloom of his own thoughts. He reached his hand into his pouch, searching for the crumpled paper and folding it out with deft fingers. One thing he had quickly gotten used to was life with a single arm. He had always preferred to use his left hand, but in its absence, his right was more than enough. He read the note again. It was personalized to him and penned thoughtfully in Sakura's handwriting. At the end of the important parts, she made a final appeal in thicker letters: "It would mean the world to us if you were to come. We really hope to see you soon! -Sakura"

He had intended to throw the letter away until his eyes had taken in the significance of that final line. To Sakura and Naruto, he was still a treasured part of Team 7. Kakashi, too; they had all worked their hardest to bring him home and to get him to stick around, but he had insisted upon walking the world instead. It was a necessary thing for him to do, he thought, and he didn't regret his choice on the surface. Deep down, though, he had wished that he could have stayed in Konoha long enough to see the signs coming. Perhaps he could have stepped in and changed things before they grew too solid. A betting man might have seen it coming from a mile away—at least, a man with any sense of social awareness would have.

His sole regret was that he didn't take her with him. She had asked to come, practically begged to be a part of his life, but he had turned her down and walked away. He had no right to be surprised by what had happened in his absence, but the realization still cut into him when he observed the growing pile of invitees. At least half of the audience probably still wanted Sasuke dead, but he wasn't afraid of their wrath—his power was unrivaled by any man aside from Naruto, and the imbecile would have probably taken Sasuke's side anyhow if a fight were to erupt.

He hesitated for two different but related reasons—first was the nagging feeling from above. He didn't want to be the cause of unrest at what was supposed to be a happy occasion. Several of Sasuke's former classmates were still pretty likely to raise hell if they caught sight of him walking through the archway and into the merriment. Kiba Inuzuka was the one with the loudest mouth, and a whiff of the air told Sasuke that he was already in attendance with his large dog, Akamaru.

The second reason, as mentioned to be related to the first, was that he was afraid that he himself would start a scene. It was one thing to psyche himself up during the journey home, but another thing entirely to have actually arrived within the Leaf to experience all of its familiar sights, sounds, smells, and flavors. Everything had superficially changed since he was a child; the village had been utterly demolished by a spiteful demon called Pain, but the ashes had quickly risen into something even greater than before. In retrospect, Sasuke wondered what might have happened if he had been in the village during Pain's attack—could he have made a difference, or was Naruto the only one destined to become the savior?

Though the village had changed aesthetically, much of its spirit was the same—its people had remained strong and stable, its foundations unwavering. As far as Sasuke was concerned, only one thing had changed too remarkably much, and that one thing happened to be the only thing that truly mattered to him. Sakura was no longer waiting there with open arms and begging to him to embrace her. She was no longer over his shoulder to chase him down and declare her undying love for him. At some point during Sasuke's extended absence, she had been swayed off of her once-chosen path and onto another.

He took another step toward the entrance. He was in the light of the streetlamps, then. He could feel the warmth of the electrical bulb as it pulsed down onto his covered self. He was hooded and cloaked, looking awfully suspicious. Despite his ominous garb, nobody even glanced his way as they continued to gather. It was odd to be so unremarkable within the village—while he grew up, all eyes were constantly upon him. He was expected to do great things and to become known as the hero who had slain Itachi Uchiha. Things had turned out to be quite different from what the village expected, indeed.

The dull hum of conversation beyond the fence had become a steady rumble. He heard familiar and unfamiliar voices dancing off of one another, some shouting seating arrangements and others making last-minute preparations. There were only a few minutes left before the ceremony was scheduled to begin. Sasuke was going to have to make a decision soon—would he step through that doorway and acknowledge his imperfect new reality, or would he turn away and harbor a resentful darkness in his heart that was sure to grow?

He clutched his chest with his single hand, shuddering with indecision. His future had once been so clear. He would return to his village and finally give Sakura the love and affection that she had always craved from him. He had thought himself to be the final goal in his cherished teammate's life, the only one who truly mattered to her when the sun had set at the end of every day. For as long as he could remember, he had loved her. He loved Sakura Haruno with his entire heart, but some twisted blackness in his mind and body had convinced him to suppress that emotion for the sake of attaining greater power. He had come close to killing her on more than one occasion, his body acting on its own while his desperate heart screamed for his hand to stop.

Naruto had saved her from his deadly intentions then. Without Naruto, Sakura would have been dead and Sasuke would have been the sole person to blame. He owed the Kyuubi's host a great deal, didn't he? No, Sasuke corrected himself. It's Kurama, not the Kyuubi, isn't it? Over the years he had still been coming to grips with the idea that the tailed beasts were living, thinking entities who hated war and imprisonment as much as any human had ever done. The world was new and brave, and Naruto Uzumaki had been the joint upon which it turned itself around. Sasuke was but a pebble on the tracks, an insignificant mite to be brushed aside by the compelling desire of the entire planet to find real peace. In hindsight, he was grateful for having been knocked away by Naruto's foolish idealism.

That gratitude was replaced by a secretive hatred during that evening, though. Sakura had slipped through Sasuke's fingers after a long, unbroken chain of mistakes and neglect...but Naruto was the one to sway her at long last. If he hadn't been there to pull her in, Sakura most likely would have remained faithful to Sasuke for an eternity. Maybe it's for the best, Sasuke figured in his head as he took one more step. He was fully bathed in the light now, and the guests were no longer funneling in. He was going to be the final one to arrive, and he was going to do it quietly. He would find a place in the back, out of the way and out of sight. He wasn't there to appease anyone, only to see the truth for himself.

He reached up to pull back his hood, his frazzled black hair falling down around his ears and neck before he ran his fingers through the locks to correct their orientation. Sasuke Uchiha was showing his face in Konoha for the first time in three years, and he had an uncertain lump in his throat. He had done well, thus far—he hadn't killed a person or even felt the need for vengeance since his fight with Naruto. The impending night was going to be an extensive test of his willpower, however. He still hadn't seen it, yet he already felt the nagging urge to rip his own heart out and force it to stop thumping in his chest. It was almost starting to physically hurt as he read the sign above the gate one more time. He was in the right place, and it was far too late to turn back. The only way to go was forward. At one minute to eight, he finally crossed the latticed threshold and entered the gathering spot while keeping his chin up and holding his breath.

As he passed under the rice-paper banner of congratulations, the wind blew it around lazily. It flapped without a care, the wobbly sound of the rustling banner filling the otherwise quiet street. Written in orange and pink alternating letters, the sign read: Congratulations to Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno! Their wedding ceremony begins tonight at 8:00 p.m. sharp!

Alright, let's get this ball rolling! I should say that I'm actually a huge fan of Naru-Hina and Sasu-Saku, and I was overjoyed when the canon story ended with those pairings. That said, it left me wondering about what might have happened if things went in the opposite direction. What if Sasuke's constant absence finally wore on Sakura's patient resolve, and what if Naruto was there for her all along? I want to explore how these key characters might have felt and what regrets they might have faced in the aftermath of that pivotal change. There will be sadness and heartbreak, jealousy and rage...conflicts abound, and even a few battles between friends and allies. But of course it's not all going to be bad! This is ultimately going to be a happy story.