Island of Storms [Sakura]

Chapter 69 | Wedding

Sakura looked out toward the now raging storms that circled the island. They had grown harsher over the past week and she was wondering exactly what the cause could be. It was hard to guess as she had no idea what was behind them in the first place.

"You called for us?" Shino asked as he, Sai, and Isobu entered the office after requesting to come in with a knock. She turned to them, keeping her position next to the windows with her arms crossed.

"Yes, I wanted to ask you to research the storms as well as you can."

They understood why Sai and Shino were called. Sai could help them reach the clouds and Shino's beetles were perfect to see what the inside of the said clouds were like. However, they were confused about Isobu.

"Why am I here for that?" the three-tails asked.

"I'd like you to check the ocean floor under the walls if you could."

He stared at her for a moment, thinking about what she was asking before giving a nod.

"That's simple enough, I guess..."

"Just tell me if you see anything out of the ordinary," she requested. He gave a nod.

"You want me to do it now?"

"If you could."

He gave another nod before leaving the room followed by the other two. She looked back out the window, wondering why it decided to act up all of a sudden.

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Temari looked in the mirror as she looked at the wedding dress that Iro had prepared for her. It was an aegean blue slip with a lace neck and sleeves. It was a beautiful dress with green beads of different shades stitched to the skirt in the pattern of wisteria since she had liked the flower so much. The dress had turned out better than she could have ever imagined and was a nice change from the usual white which Temari didn't think she would look very good in.

Her hair was pulled back in a bun with some of it sticking out to create a crown effect. Her veil was pinned to her bun and makeup was put on her to give her the nude look. She looked at herself in the mirror, not having ever imagined herself in this sort of situation before she had started her planning.

"You look beautiful!" Tenten squealed, finishing in putting on the bride's earrings. They were small hanging purple fabric wisteria flowers that matched the necklace she was wearing.

"Are you ready?" Ino asked, doing a double-check with her eyes before they stood and made their way to the door. Aiko was sure to bring the bouquet of fresh wisteria of varying colors with her. On the other side was a waiting room where Kankuro and Gaara were waiting for their sister to come out. As she did, their eyes grew wide as they had never seen her so dressed up.

"You look beautiful," Gaara told her, giving an almost full smile. Kankuro on the other hand...

"You look weird..." Temari went to stomp over to him in her low heels but was stopped by Tenten holding up her hand. The brunette walked over and gave the man's foot a nice stomp, causing him to hunch over and grab his foot.

"We can't have you messing anything up," Ino smirked.

"And you wonder why I chose Gaara to walk me down the aisle and not you..." Temari huffed before watching Kankuro and Tenten talk for a moment, a smirk coming to her face. Kankuro noticed her and gave a cough.

"Whatever I only meant that I don't usually see you this pretty."

"Me or Tenten?" Temari asked, grin only growing as she walked past him. The man whipped around, with pink cheeks and was about to retort when he felt a menacing aura from behind him. An arm looped with his and he looked over to see Tenten with a smile.

"It's her wedding day! Give her some slack!" she said as she tugged him out of the room and to the garden before letting him go. He ignored what she had done to the best of his abilities as they both made their way to their seats along with everyone else. A few minutes later, the harp that had been moved to the public garden began to be played. Temari stepped onto the aisle with her arm linked with Gaara and they made their way to the altar.

At the altar were Shikamaru, who was trying to keep his jaw from dropping, and Iro, who was smiling, ready to conduct the ceremony.

The ceremony went quickly, a picture being taken at the request of Yoshino. After a small photoshoot so that pictures could be sent back to those who knew Shikamaru when he was growing up in the Nara clan, the reception was held.

Temari was quite happy as things turned out just the way she wanted them to, both her relationship with Shikamaru and the wedding preparations. After a first dinner and their first dance, the rest of the party went into swing.

Tenten was laughing with Neji and Shino when Kankuro appeared from nowhere, asking to speak with her for some reason or another. They were off to the side of the garden away from the crowd so that they would be able to hear each other.

He was clearly nervous and she could see it, though she didn't pressure him into saying what he wanted to say and just watched the party until he cleared his throat.

"Would you... Maybe... Want to get lunch later this week...? Or some other time is fine too... Whenever really..."

"Sure."

"Yeah, I just—" he paused and looked at her in surprise. "Wait, sure?"

"Yeah, let's get lunch," she grinned. His cheeks tinted pink.

"Er, no... I meant—"

"As a date?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"Sure," she said, reinforcing the fact that she knew he was asking her out.

He took a deep breath.

"Not as bad as you thought, huh? I'm surprised you're into getting your feet stepped on," she cackled, grabbing his arm and dragging him over to the dance floor. "Don't worry! It'll happen more before the night is over!"