Hey everyone!

So with all the new episodes coming out for the Naruto Shippuden wedding arc, I ended up getting caught up in the rush and felt like writing my own tribute to our favorite ninja's special day. I hope I did him and the show justice.

Congratulations on getting married, Naruto! Believe it!

I'm gettin' married in the morning,

Ding dong, the bells are gonna chime,

We'll have a whopper, pull out the stopper,

Get me to the church on time!

For Naruto, tomorrow promised to be the happiest – and most frightening – day of his life.

It was the day he'd set aside his boyish ways, finally settle down, and become a man.

After weeks of brooding over it and worrying whether or not it was the right time to do it, he had taken the plunge. He'd announced his marriage to Hinata Hyuuga.

The minute he did so, everyone rushed in to begin the preparations – it was like they'd been waiting for him to get it on already. As the Sixth Hokage, Kakashi gladly gave the couple his blessing and sent invitations to the other villages so as many people as possible would come.

Naruto had chosen Shikamaru to be his best man. He did tend to be sluggish, but he was also down-to-earth and a good organizer, and this allowed the young ninja to take time away for other things.

Like mentally preparing himself for what was up ahead, for one thing.

"Oi, Naruto!" He heard a voice behind him and turned around to see Shikamaru approaching him.

"Hey! How are the preparations going?"

"Everything's just about ready." The ninja smiled confidently. "The guests are arriving and should all be here by the evening. Gaara and his siblings are at the Hokage's office right now – want to go say hi?"

"Already ahead of you, pal." Lee strode up to them followed by Gaara and Kankuro. "Well well, looks like tomorrow's the big day! You nervous?"

Naruto grinned and shook his head. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be, dattebayo," he replied shakily. "Hey, Gaara. Long time no see."

"It's been a while, my friend," the Kazekage greeted with a warm smile. "Let me know if there's anything more you need."

"I'll do that. By the way…have any of you guys seen Hinata? I haven't seen her all day today, dattebayo…"

"Oh, Hinata! She went off with the other girls for some last-minute preparations or something like that," Lee replied. "Probably a bachelorette party – Temari went off with them as soon as she got here, too."

"Bachelorette party?"

Kankuro nodded. "You know, like to celebrate your last day of being single. Everyone does it. Which brings us to why we're here."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"We're going to throw an awesome bachelor party tonight!" Lee burst out, unable to contain himself any longer. "Just for us men! I invited Chouji, Kiba, Sai, and Shino too!"

The blond bounced up on his toes excitedly. He liked where this was heading. "Really, you don't have to go to all the trouble…" he protested for politeness' sake.

"Oh, please! It's like Guy-sensei says – when you leave your virginity behind, you must create beforehand lots of good memories so when you think about the old days you can go back to them! This will be a great memory!"

"Don't talk about virginity! You'll scare him off!" Shikamaru spluttered indignantly. (Normally he couldn't care less about things like that; he was just doing it for the benefit of pure virgins like Naruto and Gaara.)

Naruto just laughed. It felt good to be able to relax and goof around with everyone again, without having to worry about war or some other threat to Konoha.

Sasuke would make sure of that.

The blond wished more than anything Sasuke would come to his wedding, but he was constantly travelling and fighting to eliminate threats around the country. It would be difficult to reach him, and even if they did, there was no way he'd make it in time.

Still, wherever he was, Naruto wished him well.

"So, do we do it?" Shikamaru interrupted his train of thought. Lee and Kankuro were already eagerly discussing ideas for their little party.

"Okay!" he replied. "Will it be at my place?"

"Yep. We'll be there at eight, shall we say?"

I've got to get there in the morning,

Spruced up and lookin' in my prime,

Pull out your compass, kick up a rompass

Get me to the church on time!

Naruto's apartment hadn't changed much over the years. It was the same one he'd lived in most of his life, and thanks to his bachelor housekeeping it was a bit of a mess. (Iruka-sensei had taught him many things as a child, but unfortunately housework wasn't one of them.)

The 19-year-old tidied up his living room as best he could, threw away all the old ramen boxes covering the coffee table, and changed into a casual T-shirt and jeans. Satisfied with his work, he took a glance at the clock. It was almost eight in the evening.

Right on time, the doorbell rang.

"NARU-TOOOOO!" The door burst open so hard it nearly fell off its hinges. The blond barely managed to jump out of the way in time to avoid being run over by four charging ninjas and a dog. The other four casually strolled in after them, carrying armloads of food and other paraphernalia.

"Hey guys! YAAAAH KIBA GET IT OFF OF ME!" Akamaru bowled Naruto over and eagerly licked him all over, barking joyfully.

Kiba burst out laughing. "Heel, boy," he called, and the dog trotted over to him. "So what are we doin' first?"

"Let's eat," Shikamaru announced, taking charge. "Chouji got loads of chips and soda, Gaara brought ramen, and Lee got takeout yakitori. Sai made cheesecake." The others got to work arranging all the food on the table and passing out bowls, mugs, and chopsticks. "And I…" at this he paused for effect, then hoisted up a small barrel. "I borrowed some sake from the wedding stock."

"Just one?" Lee whined.

"Do you want the bridegroom to be hungover on his own wedding day? Horrible luck. You guys can drink as much as you like, but Naruto and I will have just one shot each. Remember that, Naruto."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

In no time at all the blond found himself sandwiched between Gaara and Shikamaru at the table with a huge bowl of ramen in front of him. His mouth watered hungrily and he picked up his chopsticks.

"Itadakimasu!"

It was 9 PM by the time they finished eating.

"Man…I'm stuffed, dattebayo…" Naruto groaned with a belch as he slumped back on the cushions. "That was amazing…"

Gaara nodded faintly next to him, looking about ready to doze off. Even Akamaru had eaten his fill.

"Alright, now we can move on to the fun stuff," Lee piped up. "Now, since the wedding's gonna be a really formal occasion we probably won't be able to play any games, so I thought we could do that now."

"Games? We're not children," Sai objected.

"I mean mature games! That are both fun, challenging, and will break down the barriers that still lie between us! Like this!" At this the ninja whipped out a poker set and slammed it down dramatically on the table.

There was a stunned silence. "Poker…?" Kankuro and Kiba questioned in unison.

"Not just any poker! It's strip poker!"

Gaara flushed as red as his hair, Chouji choked on his soda, and Naruto's eyes gleamed the way they did whenever he performed Sexy No Jutsu.

"No way! Sakura would totally kill me, dattebayo!" the blond yelled. "Let's do this!"

"But…how do you play…?" the Kazekage asked, still looking completely out of his element.

"It's simple. I'm guessing you all know how to play regular Hold 'Em poker, right?" Lee grinned as everyone nodded. "Well, the rules are the same, but instead of betting with chips or money, you bet on one item of your clothing. The one with the lowest hand at the end of the round has to take off that piece of clothing, and so on. When you're down to your boxers, you're out."

"And if you don't have boxers?" Chouji mumbled over his mug of soda.

"Then your bikini underwear or whatever you have covering your ass," Shikamaru snarked. "Nobody wants to see that. Jeez, how troublesome…"

"Okay, now we kind of have to each be wearing the same amount of clothing to make things fair," Lee interrupted. He looked over Naruto's outfit approvingly. "Naruto, put a sweater on. Gaara, take your sand belt off. Shino, your shades don't count. Sai, Chouji, put your headbands over there…" As he spoke he took off his orange ankle warmers and put them aside while Shikamaru cleared the table.

In a few minutes everyone was attired suitably, and they all gathered around the coffee table and waited for Lee to deal out the cards and Kiba to pour out the sake for everyone (except Naruto, of course).

The night was young, and a good thing too – this looked like it would take a while.

An hour later, the game was still going on. Chouji, Lee, Kiba, and Shino had been stripped down to their boxers (or Sakura's panties, in Lee's case) and were contentedly munching chips, sipping sake, and cheering on the remaining four players. Naruto had lost his sweater and sandals, Sai was down to his pants, and Kankuro only had his pants and hat left. Shikamaru was the only one still fully clothed. Gaara had lost his coat, but after that played fervently to avoid exposing himself further.

"I didn't think you'd last this long, Kankuro," Naruto commented as he turned a card over on the table.

"Well, when you're the Kazekage's bodyguard, you end up meeting other bodyguards during meetings. If you want them to take you seriously, you win their money at a round of poker. So I've had plenty of practice." The older ninja checked his hand and slapped the cards down face up. The others did the same.

Naruto grinned. "Sorry Sai, looks like your luck's out. Pants, please." With a faint blush, the ANBU ninja pulled his pants off and tossed them onto the growing pile of discarded clothes before walking over to join the group watching the game.

"Join the club, buddy," Kiba called merrily as he held up a mug of sake. "Nice boxers. I didn't know they made them with ANBU mask logos." Sai blushed harder.

With the competition lower, the rounds got more intense. Half an hour and four rounds later, Kankuro and Naruto were out. Now only Gaara and Shikamaru were left to play against each other.

"Alright…I'm betting my vest that you won't beat me," Shikamaru said slowly, dealing out the cards between the two of them.

Gaara didn't flinch, his dark-lined eyes boring a hole into the jounin's skull. "Shirt," he replied in a monotone.

"GAA-RA! GAA-RA! GAA-RA!" Naruto began chanting. Kankuro and Lee picked it up as well.

"SHI-KA! SHI-KA! SHI-KA!" Chouji roared, along with Kiba and Sai.

The two's eyes narrowed as they checked their hands, calculating their moves as they turned over cards and got further into the round. Then it was over, and Naruto let out a low whistle.

It was a tie. That hadn't happened before.

"Alright, for the sake of the game, let's say you both lost if it's a tie," Lee announced. Reluctantly the two took off their respective clothing items and added them to the pile.

The game continued, with the ninjas yelling themselves hoarse as each round went by. First Shikamaru lost his sandals, then his shirt and Gaara lost his sandals. Now only their pants were left, and the two swapped cards and checked their hands as tensely as if they were fighting Madara again.

"Okay! Final check! Let's see it!" Lee shrieked, waving his pants like a banner.

The two slapped down their cards as everyone gathered round. Gaara had the highest score.

"YEAH! The Kazekage wins!" Naruto cheered as Shikamaru took off his pants and the others congratulated them both.

"Man, that was good," the best man sighed as he flopped down on the cushions. "I haven't had such a good opponent in a while. You have a good hand, Gaara."

"Well, when you're the youngest Kage and at the summits everyone thinks you're immature, it helps to be good at something they also enjoy. Like poker." He turned to Naruto and added, "No offense to Konoha but your previous Hokage was the worst gambler ever."

"Oh, Granny Tsunade? She is the worst." Naruto clapped his hands together and put away the card deck. "Should we start turning in? I do have to get up early tomorrow for the wedding, dattebayo…"

Shikamaru checked his watch. "We still have some time. You choose what you want to do."

The blond thought a moment. "We could read the books Ero-sennin gave me. I probably won't have much chance to read them once I'm married." Sakura was always after him to give them to Kakashi, but they were the only thing he had left of the old man and he couldn't bear to do it. It was a good enough excuse to keep erotic books in his sock drawer, anyway.

The rest nodded. "Alright, Icha Icha it is then," Lee announced loudly. "Bring 'em out, Naruto."

Meanwhile at a spa on the other end of Konoha, Sakura, Ino, Tenten, Temari and Hinata were all relaxing together during their own pre-wedding party.

"Now remember, Hinata, Naruto is terrible at being punctual," Sakura admonished as she painted the girl's toenails a delicate liliac hue. "So you've got to wake him up every morning precisely at seven AM, make sure he showers and has a good breakfast, and that he gets to the Hokage's office by eight."

"You're an early riser, right?" Tenten asked hopefully as she passed around tea sandwiches, cookies, and champagne glasses of sake.

The Hyuuga shrugged. "It depends on what I did the day before. I think I can do it."

"Oh, and make sure he gets rid of his stash of erotic books!" the pink-haired girl continued. "Don't try and let him tell you he doesn't have any. That boy was a born pervert."

"I'm sure it's not as bad as that," Hinata giggled as she took another sandwich. "He told me he was mostly doing it to get your attention, actually."

"Is that so? And was the time he kissed Sasuke also to get my attention?"

Ino spit out her sake. "He did what?"

"Oh, that. That was an accident, because another Academy student knocked him on top of Sasuke-kun while he was on his desk. He's still really grossed out about it." Hinata finished her sandwich and smiled at the memory. "Can I move my feet now?"

"Not yet. Just let me finish up the rhinestones." Sakura delicately arranged the tiny silver stones on each toenail in the same pattern as on her fingernails and used a seal to glue them in place. "There. Now just wait a few minutes for the polish to dry and you're good."

Temari poured a desert-rose scented conditioner into the girl's hair and began rubbing it in. "Tomorrow you're going to be the queen of the ball," she said proudly. "And a wife. You nervous?"

The Hyuuga giggled shakily and shrugged. "I hope so. I really do want to make Naruto-kun happy…I just hope I'll do a good job."

"And that you will." Each of the girls took a glass of sake and lifted it to the sky at Sakura's cue. "To a successful celebration tomorrow and a happy marriage! Gambatte!"

"Daaaaaaaamn…" Shikamaru groaned as he put the book down, gazing at the others who were still in varying stages of semi-shock. "Now I know why I never read Kakashi's books."

"I thought it was riveting," Sai piped up innocently. Lee eagerly agreed with him while the best man face-palmed.

"How does that not give you eye cancer, Naruto?" he demanded.

The blond shrugged. "Ero-sennin made me read his rough drafts all the time in between training. So I'm kind of used to it, dattebayo."

"I guess if you consider it a walkthrough to romance it's actually quite useful…" Gaara mused. Behind him Shikamaru face-palmed harder.

"Hey, it's past midnight. Didn't you say you had to get up early tomorrow?" Lee asked.

"Oh, right!" Shikamaru shot up and dusted off his boxers. "Naruto, you should start heading for bed. It was a great party – I actually enjoyed myself."

"Yeah! It was epic!" Kiba added. "Thanks for letting us throw it!" Akamaru barked appreciatively next to him.

"Don't mention it. This is the most fun I've had in a while." Naruto grinned and began gathering up his clothes. "Hey, why don't you all stay here for the night? I've got plenty of room and enough futons."

The group took a few seconds to each think about it, then they nodded.

"Sure! Sounds great!" Lee said. "I don't have anybody waiting for me, anyway."

"Alright, I'll get the stuff out." Naruto strode off to get out the futons while everyone began pulling their clothes back on.

Naruto woke up with a start. The room was pitch black, and he could barely make out the sleeping forms of his friends around him. A light breeze blew in from the balcony.

He got up slowly to avoid waking up the others and tiptoed out to the balcony. Chakra instinctively gathered at his hand, ready to form a Rasengan at a moment's notice and giving the area around him a dim glow.

A silhouetted figure stood at the balcony gazing over the city, and Naruto's heart skipped a beat. He recognized the tall build and jet-black bangs fluttering with his cape in the night breeze at once.

"Sasuke…" he whispered incredulously. The figure turned around, the purple glow of the Rinnegan visible for barely a second.

"Hey, Naruto." The Uchiha smiled faintly.

"What are you doing…I mean, how are you? What brings you back to Konoha?" Naruto asked, a million questions rising up at once.

"I'm not staying for long. I'll just be taking some data to Sakura after this and then I'll be on my way." Sasuke reached over and placed his hand on his shoulder. "I heard about your wedding. Congratulations."

The blond returned the gesture. "Thanks. Are you sure you can't stay until tomorrow?"

Sasuke sighed, as if they'd been over this a thousand times. "I wish I could," he replied softly. "But you're a hero now, and I still have a long ways to go until I redeem myself completely. It wouldn't do to have a shadow like me mar your special day."

"You're not a shadow…not anymore. You're my friend."

"To you, yes. But to the village, my deeds can't be erased that easily." The ninja dug around in his belt and took out a small box. "I wanted to give you this. Now that you're going to be married, you'll need a bigger place to be with her…and raise a family, I guess. The papers are already filled out and taken care of. All you need to do is move in." With that he handed him the box.

Naruto opened it and smiled broadly, a warm feeling rushing through him. Inside was a house key, attached to a gold chain. On the chain was a round metal charm, engraved on one side with the Uzumaki clan symbol and the Hyuuga symbol on the other. The title deeds and a photograph of the house were also inside.

"It's…it's amazing, Sasuke." To anybody else this may look like a simple gift, but knowing the Uchiha's pride this was incredibly generous on Sasuke's part. "Thank you."

The ninja smiled and bowed his head slightly. "That's all I came to bring, so I'll be going to Sakura's now. Once again, much happiness to both of you."

"I'm sure I'll have it. And Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care."

Sasuke's eyes softened a little and he gave him the smirk Naruto hadn't seen in over a year. "I'll be fine. You're the one who needs to take care of himself. You'll catch a cold outside in your boxers, you know." With a flourish his cape floated down to cover Naruto, and he was gone.

Still clutching the box, Naruto pulled Sasuke's worn cape tighter around him, already feeling warm. It smelled like his friend and the forest, and he snuggled happily into it.

Getting married wasn't exactly the beginning of a whole new life. It was the continuation of his old one, but with new challenges, responsibilities, and the chance of raising a whole new generation.

Thinking of it like that made him feel excited as he gazed up at the star-filled sky.

Mom…Dad…Ero-sennin…

I think…

I think I'm ready to be married tomorrow morning.