PART 20 Finale

It was the day of the wedding, and everyone was bustling with excitement. Their Sixth Hokage was getting married, so of course the village would be wild.

Everyone was excited except for Sasuke. He was wearing a suit, but after debating on whether to go or not, he decided not to go. However, he was too lazy to change.

Sasuke rolled up the scroll that he had finished writing. He pulled open the door in a sluggish movement, and strolled out, placing the finished scroll at the side of the door.

There was hardly anyone in the streets, since everyone was welcome to the wedding. He tried to appreciate the silence, but the reminder of the wedding kept haunting him.

He raised his head, and stared at the sky. In the distance, grey clouds were rolling in slowly and menacingly.

XXXXXXX

The bride and groom were taking pictures before a large flower covered gate inside.

You could see Naruto's wide, bright smile. But everyone was worried about Hinata.

The pale girl didn't look happy at all. More like a delicate rare doll. Her smile was weak and faint, and her eyes didn't show excitement. Her friends whispered to her to smile, but her teeth didn't even gleam from behind her pink lips.

Naruto tried to not pay attention to it, although he felt that he knew the reason to why she seemed so gloomy.

Hinata sat in her dressing room staring at her reflection in the mirror. She felt empty, and unfeeling.

A knock on her door sounded and she called, "Come in."

Her father and Neji walked in. Hiashi smiled proudly at his daughter, and said, "Today is the day you have brought our clan pride. The Hyuuga blood and the honor of the Hokage are now joined."

He rested a hand on her shoulder for a moment, and she paled even more. Before he departed, he said loud enough for her to hear.

"They say that love is the truest when the woman meets her lover's eyes, and sees the love returned."

Once he left, Neji cleared his throat a little to get her attention.

"Hinata-sama. I want to see you get married without me hiding any secrets. There is one that I have harbored for a long time. Your childhood friend, Hero, is still alive. He isn't dead."

Neji expected her to jump in glee, but all she did was close her eyes and whisper hoarsely, "I know."

XXXXXXX

Hinata was neither nervous or excited. She felt nothing. It was like all of her emotions had been sucked out the moment she saw Sasuke and Sakura together.

Her fingers could hardly grasp the stems of the red flowers in her hands, but she was about to walk through the doors and down the aisle.

She heard a crash and whirled around to see Sakura scrambling up to Hinata from rashly bumping into a table of vases.

A blank face met Sakura's frantic eyes. "Hinata!! I.-I need to talk to you!!"

Hinata's face was still blank and in her mind she wondered what Sakura wanted. But she sighed and said, "Alright, Sakura. Make it qui-"

"Sasuke loves you!" Sakura blurted, unable to hold it back.

Hinata was staring at her dumbfounded. "What?"

Sakura took a deep breath and repeated what she said, "Sasuke loves you. He always has."

It took a while for Hinata to digest the sudden information. She wondered how she felt about Sasuke, but then again, she wasn't really sure. Besides she was about to get married. And then, she had seen Sasuke and Sakura kissing.

"Please, I'm telling the truth," Sakura begged.

Hinata's eyes lowered and she murmured, "I'm sorry. But I'm getting married to Naruto now. He should have told me before-"

"But he couldn't! He didn't want to ruin the friendship between the two of you, and then Naruto had proposed to you! I just want to see him happy!" Sakura argued.

Hiashi was by Hinata's side, and saying, "Hinata. It's time."

Hinata shook her head at Sakura and apologized, leaving Sakura with disbelief.

Walking down the aisle felt like forever to Hinata. She heard each footsteps of hers, slow and unsteady. Her father's, strong and even. A strange feeling clenched her mind.

She stood before Naruto unable to meet his eyes, and listened to the priest.

"Hokage-sama, do you take Hyuuga Hinata as your wife?"

The heiress finally gazed into her future-husband's eyes. Her mind floated to the words her father had earlier said:

"They say that love is the truest when the woman meets her lover's eyes, and sees the love returned."

Blue eyes met white eyes and Naruto said, "I do."

The moment he spoke those words, Hinata felt a pang to her heart. She felt nothing towards the man before her. Only friendship. She couldn't feel the love she had had towards him for the past years.

I don't love Naruto-kun.

Who do I love?

"Hinata?" The priest said. "Did you hear me? Do you take Uzamaki Naruto as your husband?"

There was no voice from her throat. She just stood there searching for an answer to her mind.

Who do I love?!

Sasuke…

It finally dawned on her. She loved the man who had been her best friend. The man who had saved her from loneliness and death. The man who stayed by her side for so long. The man who still waited for her…

Sakura's words echoed in her mind. "Sasuke loves you!"

"No."

The audience gasped. Had the bride just declined?

"I will not marry Naruto-kun." The woman turned to her once-husband-to-be. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I feel no more than friendship toward you."

She picked up her skirts and dashed down the aisle and burst through the door.

Hiashi, enraged, stood and ordered, "After her-"

"Stop!"

Hiashi stared in shock at the Hokage.

"Let her be. It's for the best." Naruto said with a smile. In his eyes, there was a hint of relief, hint of freedom. "I've held her back for so long. She deserves to be happy."

XXXXXXX

Where are you Sasuke?

When she arrived at his door, she rapped on the door, but there was no answer. She was about to search somewhere else, when she saw a scroll before the door. She broke the seal and read with fear.

"To Hinata,

If you are reading this, it may be too late already. You would be married to Naruto, your love. But I want you to know this: I love you. There is no one else in the world who I'd rather spend life with. When I saw you next to my hospital bed when we were little, I was happy because you were there

But since you are now at Naruto's side, I have no more purpose in life. I have accomplished my goal, and my other goal would have been to be with you, but I was too late to tell you. I'm sorry for keeping it a secret that I was Hero.

I'm not good at farewells. In truth, I never said them. Never had a chance to say goodbye to anyone. But I will do it right this time. Farewell, Hinata. Farewell, love, Farewell, life.

Sasuke

Hinata would have let out a scream, if she was not so distressed. She sank to the grounds and sobbed endless tears. Never before, had Sasuke been so open. He would only have done so if he were truly leaving.

It had begun raining and black clouds thundered viciously.

She sprang to her feet, and activated her Byakuugan, searching the village from where she was.

There! On top of the Hokage Mountain, was a distant figure. She looked closer and saw Sasuke standing there.

NO!!

Never in her life had she run so fast. Never had she used up as much chakra as possible to increase her speed. Never had she…had to run in a stupid wedding gown.

Wait! Sasuke!! I won't let you go like this! Wait!

XXXXXXX

Sasuke felt that the end had come. Nobody would stop him, save him. He stared at the sky on last time, rain stinging his eyes and whispered into the damp air, "Be happy Hinata."

He took a step off the mountain, and felt him fall. But it only lasted a second.

A slender hand was firmly holding his wrist, and he stared at his savior.

"Hinata! What are you-"

"Listen to me! Please listen," Hinata begged, rain and tears mixing together on her face.

"I won't let you go like this. I won't let you die alone. I won't let you leave without knowing that I love you. Maybe more than you love me. You've always been by my side even when I didn't know it. I can't just leave you now!!"

Sasuke felt as if her words were foreign. He had never imagined that she would speak those words to him.

But then he saw the rock crack beneath her. "Hinata, let go. You're going to fall too," he pleaded frantically.

"No, I won't ever!" she cried.

Then lightning came crashing down and broke off the rock that she kneeled on. She fell along with Sasuke, who pulled her into his arms, and turned over in the air to protect her from the debris.

She buried her face in his chest, as he tried to release his curse mark for flight. But nothing came. He felt drained.

Suddenly, they weren't falling. Sasuke opened his eyes and found Hinata staring at him in shock.

Maybe the cursed seal worked and she's horrified at my appearance.

But he looked at his skin, and saw that it wasn't darkened, and no marks covered his body.

"S-sasuke…you look…beautiful," Hinata whispered breathlessly.

Out of Sasuke's back were wings. Not the same leathery grey ones. These were pure black and feathery. Like a black angel's.

He smiled back at her and whispered, "You do too. And I promise that this love story will have a happy ending." He closed the distance between their lips and warmth spread through each other.

If anyone looked up at that moment, they would see a handsome man in a black suit with wings, and a beautiful woman in a long elegant white gown.

A perfect couple, a perfect story, a perfect ending.

The end.