Contrition [Itachi Uchiha x Reader]

Epilogue

Two years later

"Where's the groom?"

"I think he's still in his room getting dressed."

Naruto Uzumaki cast the speaker a worried look. "And he seemed fine?"

The blue-haired woman sighed, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend. "You need to relax. His brother is with him, so I'm sure he'll be fine."

The blond visibly relaxed. "Yeah. I just want this day to be perfect, you know. She deserves it."

Hinata placed a chaste kiss on Naruto's lips before turning on her heels. "Go check on him."

The last thing she heard before she turned the corner was the man mumbling, "If this were my wedding, I'd be a nervous mess."

*

"Are you nervous?" Sasuke Uchiha enquired as he fixed his kimono in front of the mirror. Not receiving a reply, he cast his brother a sideways glance. "Itachi?"

"Huh? Yes, a little." A very distracted Itachi paced the room back and forth, twiddling his thumbs as his brother watched. "That's normal, right?"

"Very," the younger Uchiha chimed in. "I would be, if I were you."

The door opened, and Naruto popped his head into the room. "Let's go, gentlemen. The shrine is twenty minutes away and your bride is already there. You don't want to be late for your own wedding do you, Uchiha?"

"Let's go then," Sasuke muttered, checking his appearance one last time. "Are you ready, Itachi?"

Itachi smoothened the creases on his own kimono before saying, "Of course."

Friends and family gathered outside the shrine on that beautiful May morning. The sun shone warmly, unobstructed by the clouds that ironically only appeared during important outdoor events but were fortunately absent that day. The crowd began to cheer when the groom's entourage arrived, and the men alighted from the vehicles.

Ino approached them, positively beaming. "Everyone's inside and waiting for you. Sakura is a beautiful bride. You're a lucky man, Sasuke."

The man smiled. "Believe me, I know." As they walked into the venue, the two brothers exchanged glances.

Sasuke smiled. Thanks for being here.

Itachi patted him on the shoulder. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

*

"Imagine my surprise when I found out that Naruto was really good friends with Sasuke Uchiha," Hinata mused, studying the nearly-empty glass of champagne in her hand. "I mean, he's talked about him a lot, but he's never mentioned him by name. As far as coincidences go, this one's my favourite." She took a sip of her drink and giggled. The party had moved to nearby hotel for the reception. The newlyweds sat at the table in the far end of the room surrounded by immediate family and friends, laughing and rehashing old stories. Naruto was loudly entertaining Sakura's parents with magic tricks while Sasuke simply glared daggers at him. Occasionally someone would walk up to them, congratulate them, have a picture or two taken and then return to their tables.

"That's such a weird word, isn't it?" Hinata rambled to her companion. "Coincidence. What if we pronounced it like coin-cidence? So weird."

"I think you've had a little too much to drink," [Name] whispered, amused. She slowly slid her empty glass away and replaced it with another containing a clear liquid. "Have some water instead."

The blue-haired woman pouted, "I don't know how you didn't drink yourself to sleep every day after handling those... monsters all day."

"Oh, I did. You just didn't see me do it," [Name] joked. "Plus, it was easy for me because I had you," she added with a wink.