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“You’re marrying the love of your life, it's okay to be a little nervous.”
“Oh my god please don’t say the l-word this is so weird,” Naruto begged, face turning red.
“How are you still embarrassed saying you love him? You’re about to marry him…. again .” Iruka reached over to fix Naruto’s collar, fruitlessly hoping that would be the last time it was messed up.
“I kept the whole “love” thing a secret for my entire life, so it’s still weird to talk about it out loud okay? And the first one doesn’t count - I wasn’t nervous for that one….scratch that I wasn’t AS nervous for that one.” Naruto said, slapping a hand over his eyes.
“Oh yes, it was such a big secret that you were in love with Sasuke! Who could have known?” Sakura said, walking into the room. Naruto whirled around in his seat to face her.
“Hey! I did a great job keeping it a secret! I’ll have you know that Gamakichi told me he didn’t even realize until he got the wedding invitation and- wait you look so pretty!”
Sakura gave him a smile and twirled around to show off the entire look, the dress she’d chosen flaring out around her.
“Thank you! My favorite boys are getting married so, of course, I pulled out all the stops.”
“You’re so pretty, Sakura-chan, can I marry you instead? Plus, that would be way funnier than when Sasuke and I got married as a joke.”
Iruka smacked the back of Naruto’s head.
“Stop wasting time trying to marry Sakura and spend more time letting me get you ready to marry Sasuke. Besides, you know that Ino would kill you if you tried it.”
“Ow! Shouldn’t you be nicer to me? I’m nervous, remember?”
“Why are you nervous? You two already got married ages ago.” Sakura prodded, moving closer to assist Iruka in checking over Naruto’s appearance.
“It was different back then.”
Sakura snorted.
“Considering you were doing that one for a prank I can’t say I’m surprised.”
Naruto shook his head slightly.
“Not just the prank aspect. It was just…different.”
Sakura and Iruka glanced at each other. Iruka put his hand on Naruto’s shoulder.
“I know we were teasing you but it is okay for you to be nervous, you know? I don’t think there’s a person alive who isn’t nervous on their wedding day.”
Sakura added in a soft voice, “Yeah! Cheer up, Naruto. We’re all here supporting you! It will all go just fine. I’ll make sure of it.”
Naruto’s frown deepened for a moment before he switched over to a tense smile. Sakura frowned and was about to say more when the door opened. All three turned to see Kakashi standing in the doorway with his hands in his pockets.
“We can’t find Sasuke,” he declared.
“WHAT?!” Iruka and Sakura asked in tandem.
“We can’t find Sasuke,” he repeated.
Sakura glared at him.
“A groom is missing with only a few hours left until the wedding and you choose now for sarcasm? When did you lose track of him? Where have you looked? Do you have any clue where he went?”
Kakashi hummed, wholly unconcerned, “Probably the same place Naruto went off to.”
“What are you talking about? Naruto is right-” Sakura cut herself off as she turned to find the chair behind her empty.
Iruka let out a bone-weary sigh as he smacked a hand over his face.
Sakura glared at the empty chair for a moment.
“I’m going to kill them.”
Kakashi laughed and said, “Cut them some slack today of all days. They’ll be back soon.”
Sakura breathed through her nose. “Yeah,” she said, “I know.”
---
“Oi, what are you doing out here all alone? I thought Iruka-sensei would be keeping you on a leash all day to ensure everything goes smoothly.”
Naruto’s head bolted up from where he was watching the rainfall to look at Sasuke. His eyes raked over his figure before dashing away in a panic.
“Sasuke! You know we aren’t supposed to see each other’s outfits before the ceremony!”
Sasuke walked over and plopped down next to Naruto where he sat at the top of the steps leading to the backyard. Their backyard. Of the home they bought together.
“You should know better than anyone that I don’t care much for following the rules. Besides YOU’RE the one who decided to sit on the dirty porch in his wedding garb.”
Sasuke kicked at Naruto’s foot with his own.
“Seriously though, why are you out here by yourself? Having second thoughts?”
Naruto kept his head downturned.
“You know we don’t HAVE to get married, don’t you? Just because we already did that joke one doesn’t mean we have to rush into a legitimate marriage. I know everyone was on our case about having a ceremony but they wouldn’t want you to do anything that would make you unhappy.”
“I’m not unhappy.”
“Well, you sure seem unhappy. Come on, out with it. You know you’ll feel better if we talk it out now rather than you holding it in and having a crisis about it later.”
Naruto scowled slightly into the distance.
“Are you using my own words against me?”
“Yep. I didn’t sit through that many brutally honest conversations with you after coming back to Konoha where you pried into my deepest thoughts and feelings just for you to start holding back on our wedding day. Now come on, your turn.” Sasuke prodded at Naruto’s shoulder with his own.
Naruto sighed lowly before flopping down to lie on his back, eyes floating across the ceiling of their veranda.
“Do you actually like me?”
“...what?”
“Do you, you know, like me? Like- like me that is.”
There was silence between them. Naruto resisted the urge to check the expression on Sasuke’s face as it stretched on.
“Have you been reading too many of Kakashi’s shitty romance novels or…?”
Naruto’s face scrunched.
“Who would voluntarily read those? Other than Kakashi-sensei.”
“Then why are you asking me dumb questions you already know the answer to? I’m not getting cold feet if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Naruto made a noise of frustration and his hands flew about as he tried to explain.
“That’s not what I mean. I know we both know that you like me but what if you don’t ACTUALLY like me?”
“What? What does that even mean? Of course I like you. I’m in love with you, dumbass. I thought we already established that.”
Naruto sat back up, finally turning to look Sasuke in the eye for the first time since he’d arrived.
“What if you only think you’re in love with me because I won’t leave you alone?”
Sasuke squinted at him, “You-”
“Think about it!” Naruto interrupted him before he could respond.
“All I’ve done is chase after you. Even once you came back I followed you as much as I could. I pushed and prodded even when you weren’t opening up to me. I’ve always thought I understood you better than anyone else but what if I just convinced myself I did because I WANT to understand you. What if I don’t know you at all and you don’t know me? Even if you love me on some level does it automatically translate to being in love?”
Naruto’s voice wavered and his eyes finally darted away once more as he muttered, “do you actually want me or are you just used to me being around?”
It was silent for a beat before Sasuke let out a breath beside him.
“Those are some pretty heavy thoughts.”
Naruto stayed silent but curled into himself slightly.
Sasuke hummed.
“You know I could never envision myself getting married even when I was younger.”
“Sasuke-”
“Let me finish. Especially after the massacre. You saw firsthand how much of a mess I was. I didn’t care about anything but revenge. And when I did start to care about other things,” he knocked his shoulder against Naruto’s meaningfully, “I decided to cut them all off and run away. In my eyes, my life was over. It had already been ruined and good things just weren’t on the table for me. Any time I thought about marriage it was all from a technical view for rebuilding the clan. Nothing else.”
Sasuke smiled lightly.
“It’s a lot different now though.”
Naruto’s head lifted and his eyes narrowed with suspicion as he asked, “How so?”
“Since you brought me back I started thinking about marriage more. A lot more. I thought about stupid things like dating and holding hands and buying houses and saying vows. Suddenly it was all I thought about. Simple things like making breakfast together and big things like starting a family that wasn’t out of obligation. It was like I spent so long running away from all of those thoughts that as soon as they caught up they all flooded in at once. I spent years trying not to think about you and trying to run from any thoughts that made me even remotely happy.”
“That’s just it though!” Naruto grabbed at Sasuke’s sleeve as he leaned forward.
“All those thoughts. Trying to avoid me and anything that made you happy-what if the wires got crossed. And you’re just mistaking it for love when it’s not.”
“Naruto, why are you really saying this to me?”
Naruto reeled back slightly, “It’s like I said I don’t want you to make a mistake-”
“Is it? You weren’t concerned the first time we did this. That was just as binding, arguably more so since that was our legal marriage. Naruto, if there is anyone in this entire world who should understand the way I feel it should be you.”
Sasuke turned to face him directly and cupped Naruto’s face with his hand.
“Don’t be a dumbass, if you ever need to hear it clearly then just ask me plainly and I’ll tell you: I’m in love with you. I’ve been in love with you and I’ll continue to be in love with you. I don’t think I could ever be in love with anyone else. You’re it for me and you always have been. I want to marry you. Again. In front of everyone and anyone. I don’t care as long as you’re with me, on the same side as me I’ll do anything. And if you changed your mind and aren’t ready for this after all, I’ll call it off for both of us. We can even get a divorce and I’ll be as patient as you need.”
Sasuke paused, looking over Naruto’s face for a moment.
“I can chase after you too, you know.”
Naruto’s head fell forward until it landed on Sasuke’s chest.
“I’m sorry. I know you aren’t mistaking your feelings.”
“Good, you should be sorry.”
Naruto huffed a laugh, “Asshole.”
Sasuke’s voice softened and his hand rested tentatively on Naruto’s back.
“I know what it’s like to get stuck in your head and start twisting your problems into something else entirely. I know you don’t actually think I’m not in love with you so will you tell me what’s really wrong? Do you want to call the ceremony off?”
Naruto took a breath but stayed where he was.
“I don’t want to call it off. I want to marry you. For real.”
“But?” Sasuke prodded.
“But it’s just…everything has always been just us. The loneliness was just us, the end of the world was just us, the understanding was just us…”
Naruto brushed Sasuke’s empty sleeve with his prosthetic hand.
“Dying was just us.”
They both remained silent for a moment, the sound of the rain pittering in the background.
“I didn’t question anything during our first ceremony because it was just us. And maybe it’s wrong of me but I don’t know how to let anyone else in. Maybe I just don’t want to. Everyone already knows I’ve been obsessed with you for forever, but none of them really understand.”
“Are you worried about their reactions?”
Naruto shook his head where it still rested against Sasuke.
“No. I’m not ashamed of how I feel about you. Pretty much every single one of our wedding guests can attest that I want to talk about it all the time actually. Probably too much. And as much as I want everyone to watch me marry you and to know how much I love you…it’s just…we’ve had so many moments that are just us. It feels weird to have so many people intruding this time. I don’t know how to react. I don’t want them to judge me for not being enough for you and I don’t want them to judge you for not being enough for me either.”
Sasuke let out a snort and Naruto lightly slapped his chest.
“I’m being serious here!”
“I know. Sorry. Just, I get it. I want a public marriage but part of me is also unsettled by it. All of it was making me nervous too but I somehow never imagined you’d feel the same even if it should have been obvious.”
Naruto finally whipped his head back up to make eye contact and pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke.
“And yet! You didn’t say anything! You were going to let us get married - AGAIN - without talking it out! Again!”
“You wouldn’t have said anything either if I hadn’t come to find you.” Sasuke pointed out.
“Hey! You don’t know that!”
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.
“....Fine. Maybe you do.”
Sasuke knocked their shoulders again and a small smile finally crept onto Naruto’s face.
“So, what now? Wanna elope?” Sasuke teased.
And Naruto looked at him and part of him did. Part of him wanted to go off together where no one could find them. Where he could satisfy whatever possessive part of him couldn’t stand letting other people get even the smallest glimpse into everything that made them them . And that part of him heard the part of Sasuke that wanted to do that too.
All at once the turmoil he’d been struggling through settled.
He gave a burst of surprised laughter.
“I really do need you around to work through my feelings.”
Sasuke’s eyes were shining.
“We can’t elope,” Naruto said.
“I know.” But Sasuke wasn’t disappointed as he replied.
“I have another idea to settle our dilemma though.”
Sasuke smiled, “Oh? And what’s that?”
Naruto stood up, grabbed Sasuke’s hand, and pulled him along.
He led him out from the safety of their roofed patio and into the rain where their meticulously chosen wedding outfits slowly grew damp from the water. He held Sasuke’s hand all the way to the back corner of the yard they shared with the garden that Naruto had only recently started. There were no flowers, barely even a few sprouts. Sasuke barely even had to look down to know where each one of them was and Naruto loved him for it.
He stopped them in the middle of the garden. And they stood in their ruined clothes and messed up hair, holding hands and facing each other. Sasuke smiled at him.
“We can’t elope.”
“I know,” Naruto said. He squeezed Sasuke’s hand.
“But we can do this.”
Sasuke gave him a grin.
“I hope you know I don’t know any of the wedding speech. I wasn’t listening when we got married the first time.”
“That’s okay, neither was I. I spent the entire time staring at you honestly,” Naruto said with a wink.
“I noticed,” Sasuke said as he rolled his eyes and Naruto loved him for that too.
Finally, completely at ease and happy, he took one last breath and said, “I can’t remember the speech or even what I wrote for my public vows right now. But before anyone else hears me say it before anyone else gets involved I want you alone to hear that: I do. Whatever it is, I do. As long as it’s you and only if it’s you. There’s no joke or pretense this time. I want to be your husband and I want you to be mine.”
Sasuke’s expression shifted. It was awe and wonder and more affection than Naruto ever thought he’d seen on his face. Sasuke’s eyes squeezed shut, his hand gripped even tighter, and then, ever so gently, he rested his forehead against Naruto’s.
“Me too. Me too. Me too. I do. To all of it. To anything and everything.”
And that’s all he had to say. They understood each other without needing to say a single thing more. The rain mixed with tears and two pairs of lips were cold even as they pressed and held firmly against each other.
And, although they would never say it out loud, would never let anyone else into the secret vow they took in the rain, both would always consider this the moment they were really truly married.
---
No one knew where the two grooms had disappeared for so long. Or how they managed to completely ruin their wedding outfits after Iruka had kept such a careful eye on them. Strangely, the man did not seem too upset when the two had shown up, soaked to the bone and apologizing - Naruto with a sheepish grin on his face. Instead, he gave a resigned smile back and simply ushered the two back to their separate dressing rooms.
Attempts were made to save the drenched and mud-covered clothes but ultimately replacements had to be scrounged from whatever shops happened to be open at the time. Sakura had cursed her way through the village before returning and cursing some more at her two teammates even as she meticulously styled their hair back into place and wiped their faces clear of any dirt they’d managed to miss after coming back inside.
“I can’t believe you’re making me do this again .” She complained even as she was acutely aware that she’d made both of them swear that they would leave the final appearance check to her
“You don’t seem so nervous anymore at least,” She commented off-handedly to Naruto as she continued prodding at his hair.
“I’m still nervous but I feel like it will all be alright now,” He said with a smile.
Sakura paused and stared at him.
“What?”
“Nothing. You guys are just so gross.”
“I didn’t even say anything that bad!” Naruto protested.
“You didn’t have to. Your expression said more than enough. Absolutely disgusting. Can’t believe we’re all going to have to watch you two face each other and say your vows. I might throw up when it happens,” She teased, fanning her face with her hand.
“We’re aiming to incapacitate at least 60% of the audience so we can go home early and take a nap.”
“Careful, if you try too hard you might kill Iruka-sensei. You know he’s already cried six times today and nothing has even happened yet.”
“Do you think killing Iruka-sensei is worth trying to make Kakashi-sensei cry?” Naruto asked thoughtfully.
“Do I even want to know what you two are talking about?” Iruka asked as he walked in, glancing warily between the two of them.
“Oh hey, Iruka-sensei. We weren’t talking about anything. Are your eyes okay? They look a little red?” Naruto asked innocently.
Iruka lightly swatted his shoulders.
“I just came to let you know the ceremony is set to start in ten minutes and that I’ll be waiting for you by the main doors.”
Naruto visibly brightened.
“Already?”
“‘Already’ he says as if we aren’t starting late because two people decided to go play in the rain,” Iruka said with a head shake.
He went to leave once more but paused with his hand on the door handle and looked back.
“I was sworn to secrecy on this subject. But it is your wedding day so promise not to say anything to anyone else if I tell you two?”
Naruto and Sakura both mimed zipping their lips shut. Iruka glanced around as if to make sure no one else could overhear them before stage whispering: “Gai told me that Kakashi was already bawling his eyes out about the wedding last night at home.”
And with that, Iruka slipped back out the door.
The dressing room was silent for a beat before Naruto and Sakura both burst into laughter.
---
It felt as if everyone Naruto had ever known was at the ceremony. He watched Sakura run over to finally settle in her seat next to Ino and glanced over the crowd as much as he could from the cracked open door. There were his classmates from Konoha all grouped up in a block, chatting amongst themselves. Temari sat inconspicuously next to Shikamaru with her brothers on the other side of her.
Tsunade sat in the crowd as if she was just another wedding guest, which just for today, was all she wanted to be. There were elders who clearly disapproved and genin leaders whose expressions were practically screaming finally .
He felt himself smile slightly watching one of the elders glance warily at a few of Sasuke’s friends from his time with Orochimaru who had shown up.
Next to him, he felt Iruka squeeze his hand. And across the room he watched Kakashi whispering something to Sasuke before offering Naruto a smile and thumbs up. From inside himself, he heard a rumbling voice offer a few words of support alongside a teasing remark or two.
And in a room full of people, some who cared for them, some who became family to them, some who feared them, and some who only followed along with their lives via street rumors they got married. Again. Arguably for the third time.
But even as they offered the crowd a glimpse into the vastness of their relationship, Naruto and Sasuke still smiled privately at one another as secrets formed in the rain sat at the forefront of their minds.