So, welcome back to what is probably going to be the final part of this story. I have got an idea floating around for a second epilogue, but I'm not sure how good it's going to be.
Disclaimer - I still don't own Naruto - characters may be OOC - This story was written for fun :-D
Thanks to TDotShia for giving me the encouragement to finish and post it.
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Epilogue
Jiraiya, the toad Sannin was wandering through the streets of Konoha having just returned after being away for almost a year. He wondered why it was so quiet. He had not seen a single Ninja since his arrival, which was pretty strange.
He walked through the corridors towards the Hokage's office. Clerical types were here and there, but Tsunade was conspicuous by her absence.
Wondering what the hell was going on he stopped a random passer by. "Hey, where is everyone?" he asked.
"They are all at a wedding," came the reply. "It's being held up at the memorial."
The toad Sannin was surprised. He didn't think he'd ever heard of anyone having a wedding at the memorial before. "Is every Ninja in the village up there or something?"
"Most of them are, yes. Now if you'll excuse me."
Jiraiya watched the person he had stopped leave, then bopped himself on the head. He hadn't even asked whose wedding it was. Oh well, he would just have to go up there and find out.
Besides, there were always plenty of pretty girls at a wedding.
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Up at the memorial, all the preparations were now complete. Almost every ninja in the village, plus a few from other villages, were there to witness this occasion. Lee was notable by his absence. Although he had been invited, Sakura's relief had been obvious when he had declined stating that it would not be appropriate for him to be there. He had taken a mission to ensure that he would be out of town on the big day.
Inside the tent that had been set up for the women to prepare, Sakura was nervous. She was currently in her 6th month of pregnancy and she was certain that she looked awful. "Ino, are you sure I look ok?" she asked.
Sakura was wearing a simple off-white dress that did not accent her growing stomach. She had a simple band of white blossoms in her hair and she held a matching bouquet. No ninja paraphernalia for her today. Well, she didn't expect to be in any danger with so many Ninjas in attendance.
Ino, who was helping her get ready along with Hinata, tried once again to put her mind at rest. "You look radiant, Sakura. You'll knock his socks off."
Hinata murmured agreement, "You look wonderful, Sakura-Chan."
"So how late do you think he's going to be?" Ino asked. "You do know they are running a book on it?"
"Yeah, I heard about that," Sakura was faintly amused, "but I don't think he will be all that late with Iruka hurrying him along."
"Damn, I forgot about that," Ino said.
"How late did you bet he'd be, Ino-Chan?" Hinata asked.
"57 minutes." Ino replied.
"My money is on 23," Hinata replied.
"I don't believe you two!" Sakura said looking outraged, then she burst into laughter. "Oh never mind, but if he is 57 minutes late I'm gonna be pissed."
Ino and Hinata looked at each other. "And you should never upset a pregnant woman," they chorused.
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As Naruto and Sasuke had been waiting for Kakashi to make his appearance, Naruto had spotted a familiar face making its way towards the party.
"Watch out, here comes trouble," he said under his breath to Sasuke. "Oi! Ero-Sennin!" the recently passed out Jounin called out to the white haired man, "long time no see!"
"Don't call me Ero-Sennin!" Jiraiya blustered to the younger man, "You'll ruin my chances with all the lovely ladies here."
"Che, as if you ever had a chance," Sasuke muttered. He was still Chuunin, but was hoping to make Jounin soon.
The Sannin narrowed his eyes at Sasuke, but decided to let it drop. "So, just who is getting married that everything has to stop for them?"
"If you look behind you, you'll see the groom coming now." Naruto gestured towards Iruka and Kakashi who were approaching rapidly.
"Eh? Iruka is getting married?"
"Actually it's Kakashi-Sensei who is getting married." Sasuke supplied.
Jiraiya was stunned, "No way!" he said, "I never expected that he would be the type." He considered for a few moments then asked, "So who is the lucky lady?"
"No time for that now, Jiraiya," Tsunade had noticed the arrival of the old man and thought that she had better take a hand. "If you are staying then take a seat," she levelled a fierce glare at him, "And stay out of trouble. If you ruin this day you'll have to become a missing nin to escape the retribution that will pour upon you!"
Jiraiya held his hands up. "Ok, I'll behave," he said quickly and he quietly took a seat. If even Tsunade was involved…
He decided that it would be best for his health if he was just to do as he was told and stay out of the way.
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As it happened Kakashi had only been 12 minutes late. Inuzuka Kiba gave a whoop as he realised that he'd won the bet, and Akamaru yipped happily. The rest of the congregation gave them filthy looks.
Ino and Hinata looked at each other. "Shit." They chorused. Sakura giggled. They spent a few more moments making sure that Sakura looked absolutely perfect, then they stepped out ready to begin the approach.
Sakura was flanked by Naruto and Sasuke who were both giving her away. Sakura had decided that they could both do it, seeing as otherwise there would have been a huge argument, and it just wasn't worth the trouble. Naruto had been more than a bit put out with Kakashi when he had first heard that Sakura was pregnant, but after Sakura had a long talk with him, he accepted that it was what she wanted, and eventually had even managed to be happy for her.
She wished that her parents could be here to witness this event, but they had been missing for several years, having gone on a mission that they had never returned from. Sakura had never really given up hope that they would return, but she knew that the chances of that were now next to nothing. She sighed as she realized that they probably wouldn't have been too happy with the circumstances surrounding this day.
She settled her bouquet in front of her as the music started and she walked forward.
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Jiraiya boggled at the sight of Sakura when she appeared. Who would ever have thought that Hatake Kakashi and Haruno Sakura would find a match in each other.
He boggled again as he noticed that she was pregnant. Damn, he'd never have seen that coming either. No wonder Tsunade had threatened him like that.
He really did need to be on his best behaviour, at least for the moment. Mind you… once the drinks had started flowing at the reception, things were probably fair game. He settled back, content to wait for now, looking forward to the mischief he could get into later
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Kakashi stood at the front with Iruka who was doing his best to keep the silver haired man calm. Kakashi was fidgeting, the suit he was wearing being much more constricting than the ninja garb he was used to, and not for the first time that day he wondered how on earth he had got into this.
Of course, Kakashi was still wearing his mask, but he had foregone the forehead protector for a simple eye-patch and his unruly hair fell a lot freer without the constriction of the forehead protector to hold it in place.
Iruka put his hand on Kakashi's shoulder as the music began, and the masked man turned around to see Sakura approaching. His breath was taken away, she looked absolutely radiant. If he had any doubt in his mind that he was doing the right thing, it was washed away by the sight of her.
As she approached, his mind returned to the night he had asked her the big question.
oooo FLASHBACK oooo
It had been a couple of weeks since his return, and he and Sakura were lying in bed, doing the whole "afterglow" thing. He was absently rubbing the gentle swell of her abdomen, and it suddenly came to him just how lucky he was. He was in bed with a beautiful and willing young woman who was expecting his child, which was something that he never thought he'd have. There was only one thing missing, and he was afraid to ask her in case she said no.
'Hah', one might think, 'but surely the great copy-ninja of Konoha is not afraid of anything,' but he was afraid of this. If he asked and she said no then surely things would never be the same, and he found that he didn't want to lose what he had.
But still… she might say yes…
He sighed and propped himself up on his elbow so he could look into the face of his lover. Her emerald eyes looked back at him full of emotion. Now they had never used the dreaded L word, but they each knew how the other felt. It was almost as if saying it out loud would make it… cheaper somehow.
"Sakura," he hesitated, "Would you let me make an honest woman of you?" It might seem too soon to be thinking of such things, but considering that he had already got her pregnant… He was the kind of person that took his responsibilities seriously, even if outward appearances belied that fact.
Sakura looked at him in shock, "Was that a Proposal?"
He looked embarrassed, "Ah, yes. I'll understand if you say no." Damn, maybe it had been too soon to ask.
Sakura considered for a few moments. This had come completely out of the blue and she was quite stunned. She would be lying to herself if she hadn't secretly entertained the idea of marriage, but she had thought that it would be a long time coming, if ever, and she had decided not to push for it, being content with the fact that he was with her. Still, he had asked and she needed to give him an answer.
She came to a decision, then decided to put the poor man out of his misery. "Hmm… I suppose Hatake Sakura does have a kind of ring to it…"
"Was that a yes?" he asked. Sakura nodded, then he kissed her with renewed ardour.
It would be a while before either of them got any sleep that night.
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After that, preparations for the wedding had begun in earnest. Initially they had wanted it to be a quiet affair, but that notion was soon blown out of the water when they realised that almost every ninja in Konoha, plus a few from other villages, would want to attend. Then they had the headache of finding somewhere that could hold all of those people.
It was then that Sakura had tentatively suggested that they hold it outdoors at the memorial. At first Kakashi had been unsure, but once he'd thought about it for a while he found that it would be quite fitting really.Their past would be present as they began their future.
There was a lot of work to do to get things ready in time as Sakura did not want to be walking down the aisle as she was about to give birth and they had decided that they really wanted it over and done with before the baby arrived. Tsunade really had to pull some strings to help them out, but everything was ready within a reasonably short amount of time.
oooooEND FLASHBACKooooo
Before Kakashi knew it, Sakura was beside him and Iruka was producing the rings. Then they were exchanging their vows and suddenly it was all over – except for one last thing.
You could see almost the whole congregation lean forward at the words "you may now kiss the bride."
Everyone held their breath as Kakashi reached up to his mask. Sweat pooled on the floor as the tension mounted… he was finally going to show his face in public…
At the crucial moment, Sakura raised her bouquet to block everyone's view. A massive facefault ensued, with the exception of Hinata, who had activated her Byakugan and was standing there with a blush on her face.
Sakura and Kakashi laughed. They had planned this from the start and it had gone off perfectly. It had been so obvious why so many people had wanted to attend that it was almost a shame to disappoint them. Almost.
They moved apart, Kakashi's mask back in place, then arm in arm they went forward through the chaos to begin their married life together.
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Authors Notes
And it's finally done. I hope you all enjoyed the story! What a rollercoaster ride! I had completely forgotten what it was like to write a story like this.
I know I've never mentioned Sakura's parents before now, it just never came up. I suppose I could have left them out altogether, but then I'm sure I'd have had someone going "Hey? What about Sakura's Parents? Where are they?" so I put that in to explain it. Actually, that's what gave me the idea for the second epilogue. If it does come out ok, I'll post it, but I'm not quite sure it's going to work out yet.
Whatever, it's probably going to have to wait until I've finished working on the alternate 'One Shot' version that I briefly mentioned in the authors notes right at the beginning of this fic. It's not quite going in the direction I thought it would, (Funny how stories like to do that,) but I've really enjoyed writing it so far. It's also come out a helluva lot bigger than I expected it to, with it being just about to break the 10,000 word mark! If I manage to finish it, and if I think it's anywhere near good enough (and so far it's promising on both counts,) i'll post it. But because it's so long, even though its supposed to be a one-shot, I'm considering breaking it into at least 3 chapters.
I just hope that after I'm done with this, it's not another three years before inspiration strikes me again! XD
Also I've just joined LiveJournal and the KakaSaku community. Thanks to all the nice reviews I've got I'm thinking about linking this story up on there, but I'm just trying to raise the courage to do it. (yes, even after all the nice reviews I've got on here, I'm still fretting about it XD)
Thanks to -
TDotShia - see, told you it was better :-D And you won't find the other ending unless you saved it to your comp cos I removed all the chapters after about 4 from my blog a while back XD. I still haven't got round to putting them back! And I'll let you see that one shot after I finish it - promise!
Also thanks to Senx2, Catc10, Ruka-Kun, Kakashidiot, December Jewel, Zezura, Angel Yuriko, Hao's Anjul, ERALDA (even if I'm not quite sure where you are coming from with your review,) Queen of the Fairys, Freakenout and Angelic Warrior.
Plus thanks to anyone else who reviewed during the story, and to the people who didn't review but added me to favorites/alerts lists.
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