Mending The Past To A Better Future

Chp. 19Ceremonies and Sake

Okay so this is quite a big chp so sit tight! And happy reading! 💕

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Wedding preparations had taken a bit more than half a year and it had been completely exhausting to pour over binders and dresses and flowers day after day at her parents' house. It had also been completely wonderful to see them argue about what flower would be the main flower while Rin had politely inserted that perhaps the Yamanakas who owned the flower shop would know best what arrangements should be made. Obito had been present as well, proposing outlandish ideas like whoever won hand to hand combat with Obito would be the person who walked Kushina down the aisle since her father wasn't present. Kakashi, who had barely had any commentary concerning the wedding had only snarked that the first person on line would've won because Obito was too weak to take down anyone.

That had been a bad day because Kushina had went a little crazy and her chakra chains had unexpectedly protruded from her body and slammed into the kitchen table and the fridge door while she had been yelling at the boys, who had managed to let their bickering escalate. The table had promptly collapsed and the food had gone bad, and thus planning the wedding had taken a break so that they could go furniture shopping.

Minato had been asking her more about the wedding than strictly necessary, but Naruto suspected that it was because he wanted her to be a part of the wedding as their daughter, even if no one but himself was aware of it. She had been more than happy to lend a hand, even if things like weddings and formal attire had never been her particular forte in her own timeline. And, as enamored as Naruto was with watching the celebrated union of her parents come together, at night she laid awake in her bed and fiddled with the raindrop charm on her bracelet that Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato had given her, thinking about how the time between the present and her and Jiraiya's training trip was quickly coming to a close. She thought about how Fugaku had convinced the clan elders to stand down, and how during the night on the rare occasion that everyone was in the same vicinity, she, Shisui, Minato, and Fugaku would spend time working out the details to destabilize Root and take down Danzo. She thought about how Madara was still out there and how no one had been able to identify the aloe vera source of the person who had broke into her house.

In secret, she had told Minato about White Zetsu, and he had placed a comforting shoulder and told her that they'd figure it out, but deep down she thought that it might as well be a lost cause.

Kushina and her were closer than ever now that her mother believed that she was some sort of extended relative.

More than that though, she thought about how on her training trip, she'd miss all of the friends she'd made. It was probably the thing she should be least focused on but the extended period of time where she'd be forced to work without them made her upset to think about. But when she thought about all the lost time she'd be making up for hanging out with Jiraiya, her heart warmed a little.

"Naruto?" Rin's sweet voice interrupted her inner thoughts, pulling her away from the mirror she had been staring at. Reflected behind her, Rin stood looking as beautiful as ever standing in the doorway. Her chocolatey brown hair had been pulled back by a silver clip, letting the back-framing strands fall to her shoulders. She had worn a pale pink apron styled dress that fell just above her knees, a satin ribbon tied into a bow in the back and her lips had a glazed sheen on it that Naruto recognized as lip gloss. "You're not ready, yet?"

Naruto looked down to wear she had donned a robe, having already showered for the occasion but not wanting to put back on the clothes she had been wearing prior. How long had she been staring at the mirror?

"I suppose not," she said guiltily. She was supposed to be walking out with Obito as the third couple, Mikoto and Fugaku being first, Kakashi and Rin being second.