"?"
Aoba was left confused by Naruto's remark, which was easy to misunderstand.
If anyone else had said that, he definitely would have misunderstood something.
But coming from Naruto... he felt there was a ninety percent chance Naruto was just dense and hadn't thought that far.
He wanted to say something else, but Naruto had already caught up with Sasuke, and the two of them were gone.
Seeing this, Aoba could only shake his head helplessly before his figure flashed, returning home.
———
The next day was the wedding, and the house had been decorated very festively.
Many wishes had been pasted on the walls, paper-cut window decorations had been placed in the four corners of the windows, and lanterns had been hung at the front door.
The girls were all in the large room on the third floor.
This room would be the bridal chamber for tomorrow's wedding.
Naturally, it had been carefully decorated.
But because there were so many people, and quite a few like Karin and Anko who liked making noise, it was especially lively.
Seeing everyone was there, Aoba walked over as well.
But the moment he appeared, all the girls chased him back to his own room to take a bath.
After all, he had just come back from the yakiniku restaurant. The smell of spices and cooking smoke on him went without saying.
"..."
Aoba had no choice but to go back and take a bath first before returning to help with the decorations.
Tomorrow was the wedding. Today, everyone seemed excited while also showing remarkable restraint.
For example, everyone had said that Aoba wasn't allowed to visit them tonight so they could all be in perfect condition.
Aoba naturally had no objections.
He was just a little curious whether that would really help them rest well.
Because even he couldn't sleep.
———
[The Next Day]
At dawn, Aoba felt as though he had only just closed his eyes before it was already time to get up.
He could vaguely hear the wedding venue becoming lively.
The wedding was being held beside the Senju clan grounds.
After all, there was plenty of space there, and the surroundings were nice.
After getting up, Aoba went to the kitchen and quickly prepared breakfast for the whole family.
He felt the others had probably slept even worse than he had.
Sure enough, each of them came out yawning.
Most likely, none of them had slept all night.
Fortunately, that amount of sleep wasn't a problem for ninjas. Otherwise, it would have been pretty miserable.
Aoba quickly called everyone over for breakfast.
After eating, they immediately headed to the wedding venue. The ceremony would begin at nine o'clock.
Although it seemed like there was still more than an hour left, they still had to do makeup and change clothes after arriving, so there really wasn't as much time as it seemed.
As soon as they arrived, Aoba separated from the girls.
He went to the room where he would change clothes.
To his surprise, Hayame was there as well.
"Something this important, and you still didn't come earlier?"
Seeing Aoba arrive even later than himself, Hayame couldn't help complaining.
"I was too excited. Didn't sleep well last night."
Aoba didn't argue and simply explained with a smile.
"By the way, Uncle, why aren't you outside chatting with Uncle Hiashi and the others?"
Without changing his expression, Hayame said, "We've already talked. We've known each other for years. There's nothing much to talk about."
"Uncle, you're still single because you don't socialize enough. If you were a little more outgoing, maybe I'd already have a little sister."
Seeing his reaction, Aoba immediately realized he had come in here to avoid attention and smiled as he teased him back.
Hayame was one of Konoha's rare elite jonin in terms of ability, and as for looks, he was definitely a handsome older man.
Yet he was still single because he preferred being alone and didn't like interacting with people.
A textbook introvert.
"You brat, now you're talking about me?"
Seeing through his thoughts, Hayame smacked him on the back in annoyance.
"..."
Aoba only shrugged with a smile before changing clothes.
Watching Aoba put on the wide black montsuki haori, Hayame felt a mixture of emotions.
When he was little, Hayame had worried that one day the Yamanaka clan or the Hyuga clan might knock him out and carry him off. Back then, all he could do was bluff people with that so-called "future Hokage" talk. Who could have imagined he would come this far?
Thinking of that, Hayame even felt his eyes sting. He reached out and patted Aoba on the shoulder.
"You're about to get married, and your child will be born soon. Don't keep acting like you used to..."
"Aoba, you've always been the pride of me, your father, and your mother."
Aoba froze for a moment before nodding seriously, "Mhm..."
"Alright. Once you're ready, hurry outside and spend some time with your fathers-in-law. I'm going to the restroom."
Hayame urged him once more before turning and leaving the room.
Aoba: "..."
———
At the wedding venue, although the ceremony had not officially begun yet, many people had already arrived.
Most of them, of course, were familiar faces.
The Hyuga couple, the Yamanaka couple, the Haruno couple, the Kurama couple, and the other in-laws had all arrived early.
They were chatting together.
Looking from a distance, there were about a dozen people.
Kushina and Uzumaki Kaori were mixed in among them.
Hanabi, who was standing beside Hyuga Hiashi and looking around, noticed no one was paying attention to her and immediately slipped away.
Meanwhile...
"Aoba's wedding is really lively. So many people have already arrived this early. Hikari, when it's our turn in the future..."
Standing at the entrance, Fuu looked inside and had just turned around to talk with Uchiha Hikari about the future.
Only to find Hikari staring at the huge cake in the middle, looking like she was about to drool.
"..."
Fuu quickly took out a lollipop and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Hikari, we have to wait until the wedding officially starts before we can eat the cake. Have this first."
"Mmh~ I know."
With the lollipop in her mouth, Uchiha Hikari withdrew her gaze, looking a little speechless.
She wanted to eat it, but she wasn't a child.
"Huh? Fuu, Hikari, are you two in charge of collecting the gift envelopes?"
At that moment, a voice drew their attention back.
Turning around, they saw Ayame in a blue dress and Teuchi in formal attire.
It was the first time the two girls had seen them dressed like this.
"Ayame-nee, you look so pretty in a dress."
It was also the first time they had seen Ayame wearing anything other than her usual clothes, and they praised her sincerely.
The two of them were indeed standing at the entrance to receive the monetary gifts. After all, among everyone in the family, they were the most suitable for the job.
"Thank you. You two look great today too. Here, this is our gift."
Ayame smiled brightly as she handed over the red envelope before asking warmly, "But can you handle everything yourselves? Do you need any help?"
"No need! We've got this!"
After putting away the envelope, Fuu immediately struck a muscle-flexing pose.
"Alright then."
Ayame didn't say anything else, but before they could go inside, another voice sounded from behind.
"Uncle Teuchi, you came so early."
Everyone looked over together and saw Naruto waving at them, with Sasuke naturally beside him.
After meeting, they naturally exchanged greetings, and Shikamaru, Choji, and the others soon joined them.
The group quickly grew larger.
While they chatted by the roadside, ninjas from the other villages also arrived one after another.
"Gaara, Kankuro, long time no see."
Naruto spotted them in the crowd.
"Long time no see, Naruto."
Gaara walked over with Kankuro.
"The Village Chief is here too?"
Fuu also spotted Shibuki, the chief of Takigakure, in the crowd.
Not only them, but Onoki, Kitsuchi, Akatsuchi, and even Zabuza and Haku had come as well.
They just weren't as familiar with Naruto and the others.
Jiraiya and Nagato were walking farther behind. They had originally been heading straight for the wedding venue, but after the teacher and disciple met again after so long, they slowed their pace.
As the wedding venue became more and more lively, Aoba had already finished changing clothes, and his simple makeup was done.
Without Hayame needing to remind him again, he left the room.
However, he didn't go to see Hyuga Hiashi and the others. The moment he stepped outside, Hanabi blocked him and pulled him toward the backstage bridal dressing room.
She wanted to see what the backstage looked like and gain a little experience for her own future.
But the moment the two of them entered the large backstage room, both of them were stunned.
Because it was a sea of white.
Although during the individual wedding photos everyone had competed in colorful wedding outfits, today everyone had coincidentally chosen to wear white shiromuku. It was quite a sight.
"Aoba, why are you here?"
Uzuki Yugao was a little surprised to see Aoba suddenly come in, but after noticing Hanabi beside him with sparkling eyes, she immediately understood why.
"I came to see if there was anything I could help with."
Aoba explained, without exposing Hanabi.
"Then if you're free, come help wrap my waist."
Hearing that, Tsunade immediately put him to work.
A shiromuku required towels or cotton padding around the waist to deliberately flatten the curves of the chest and waist.
For Tsunade, that was no small amount of work.
"Okay."
Aoba naturally didn't refuse. He walked over and took over from the staff member standing behind Tsunade.
His hands moved skillfully as he began wrapping.
It also let quite a few people see Tsunade's strength even more clearly.
"Lord Aoba, help wrap mine too."
Seeing Tsunade asking for help, Samui naturally followed.
She believed she wasn't inferior to Tsunade at all.
"Me too! Me too!"
Anko naturally refused to be left behind.
She stepped forward with her chest held high.
In an instant, the three great mountains of the household stood before Aoba.
Shizune, Mabui, and the others had long since gotten used to it and seen through everything, so they merely rolled their eyes.
But seeing such a spectacular sight, Karin, Sakura, and the younger girls could only comfort themselves that they were still young while urging the blushing Hinata to step forward and compete.
But there was only one Aoba. Even if he helped, he could only do it one by one.
Seeing this, the staff members who had originally been responsible for dressing them quietly left the room, leaving the space to them.
Aoba had only just finished wrapping Samui's waist and was working on Anko's when Karin, already fully dressed, appeared in front of him and spread her arms before spinning around.
"Aoba-nii, do I look good?"
"You look great."
Aoba nodded as though it were only natural, then hugged her and kissed her once.
This was actually a sad story.
But she really did look beautiful.
"Hehe~"
Karin immediately beamed with happiness and went to help the others get dressed.
Then Sakura and Inner Sakura also came over to Aoba.
After all, they didn't have much work to do...
"It's crooked! You wrapped it crooked!"
Seeing Aoba busy comforting Sakura and Inner Sakura, Anko found that he had nearly turned the waist wrapping into a chest wrap and pinched his cheek in annoyance.
"Ahem! It's fine. Just pull it down a little."
Realizing the mistake, Aoba quickly fixed it.
Anko: "..."
After helping Anko finish dressing, he also helped straighten the outfits of the others.
Altogether, it took nearly half an hour.
At last, everyone had finished getting dressed.
"Aoba-nii, before everyone goes out, let me take a group photo of you and all the sisters."
At that moment, seeing that all the preparations were complete, Hanabi somehow produced a camera.
"A group photo?"
Aoba checked the time. There was still a little while before the wedding officially began.
There was enough time for a photo.
He looked at the girls again, and none of them objected.
"Then let's take a more relaxed group photo first. One that's not so formal."
The official wedding photo later would naturally require everyone to stand properly. They could relax for this one.
Using Wood Release, Aoba created a three-tier platform in the room large enough to fit everyone in the picture.
He stood in the center of the second tier.
But because he had said they didn't have to be so formal, everyone crowded around him, squeezing him into the middle.
Yugao was on his left, Tsunade on his right, Kaguya behind him, Tenten in front.
But after Hanabi set up the camera and pressed the shutter, the girls who had been gathered together were suddenly distracted.
Because the moment Hanabi pressed the shutter button, she hurriedly ran over and threw herself toward Aoba.
"Hanabi, you're causing trouble again."
Having been prepared for this, Hinata immediately reacted and intercepted her halfway, pulling her into her arms and pinching her cheeks.
"Mmph~ I'm Aoba-nii's future wife too. I'll just treat this as getting my share in advance."
Hanabi said it as though it were perfectly justified.
"..."
Even Hinata couldn't help laughing at those words.
Since when could something like this be claimed in advance?
Not just her, even everyone else who had been standing together for the photo wore expressions they could hardly hold back because of Hanabi's words.
At that moment, the camera flashed white.
With a click, the scene froze in that instant.
In the picture, clear sunlight streamed through the glass onto everyone. The pure white wedding robes shone with a sacred glow, and every bride wore a different smile.
But including Aoba in the center, along with the struggling Hanabi and Hinata, the happiness in everyone's eyes could not be hidden.
Bang!
Ceremonial cannon fire sounded outside. It was the prelude to the official beginning of the wedding.
But this was not the end of the story.
It was only a period marking the end of youth.
(End of the Novel)
[T/N: Oh boy~ Did I enjoy it. 883 Chapters? Gotta admit, it has been a long journey. I hope I didn't do a very bad work and you all enjoyed as much as I did. See ya in the next Naruto fanfic? Also, check out my next fanfic: "ReZero: I Reincarnated, But I Am Still Miserable?". Have a great day~]