The young man walked through the crowded house, deftly avoiding being run into a multitude of times. He had never seen so many Akimichi clan members all gathered in one place before, but considering today was a special day, he understood the cramped space. Why they couldn't all congregate outside where the celebration was going to be happening was beyond him.

He quietly made his way to the back of the large house, greeting some of the clan members he actually knew. A couple stopped him on several occasions, asking him how he was related to the family - wary of letting any stranger ruin the big day. When he explained that he was a close family friend the let him through. Finally making it to the back bedroom, the man knocked on the door.

"No boys allowed." Ino's voice carried well through the solid door. Not accepting defeat from Ino's disembodied voice, he knocked again. The door was thrown open, revealing only the blonde's face. "I said, no boys -" Ino cut herself short, gasping at the sight of the man standing before her. She had not seen him in months, at least not since the date for today's festivities had been set. "Shikamaru!" She whispered, quickly popping out of the room. It was hard for her to step out of the room without opening the door completely, given that she was about 8 months pregnant, with a belly the size of a house. "Temari said you couldn't come?" She whispered.

"Yeah… I lied. I'm kind of here for a surprise."

"You're not going to try and ruin it, are you?" Ino suspiciously asked, prodding a boney finger under his chin. "I may be pregnant, but I can still kick your ass."

"Protective as ever, I see."

"The hormones make it worse. The other day, I got in a growling match with Shiromaru over one of my socks." Ino tried to laugh the embarrassing event off, but Shikamaru just stared at her like the crazy woman she was.

"Anyway, can I go in?"

"No boys allowed." She adamantly clung to her motto of the day.

"I have a gift that she needs to open."

Before Ino could stop him, Sakura opened the bedroom door. "Ino, Hotaru needs help with her - Shikamaru!" The girl yelled joyously, letting the door fall completely open. All of the women inside the room turned to see the Nara male standing in the hallway. In the center of the room, Hotaru stood up stoically.

"I thought you couldn't come?" She asked as he side stepped Ino and walked into the room. She was wearing a white kimono and obi with a purple lace overlay. The edges of the lace had small Japanese Iris patterns with infusions of red that matched Hotaru's hair. The lace was much longer than the white kimono creating a long train of purple and red that pooled at Hotaru's feet. Her hair had been pulled up in a series of intricate braids, while her make-up was only half finished.

"I decided not coming would be a drag." Shikamaru joked, as he handed Hotaru a small box wrapped with a bow. Hotaru greedily opened the box. Her eyes grew wide and her hand flew to her mouth at the sight of what was inside.

"What is it? What is it?" A small girl with pale blonde hair and chubby cheeks asked, tugging at Hotaru's kimono.

"Choko, don't pull on Auntie's wedding dress." Ino scolded the girl.

"Sorry, Mommy." The girl sighed as Hotaru squatted beside her niece. Pulling the gift outside of the box for the child to see.

"Look, Little Butterfly, it's a porcelain hairpin from Uncle Shikamaru. It's an Iris, just like my favorite flower. And it matches the design on my kimono."

"Temari did some recon. And, it isn't from me. Kankuro wanted you to have it before the ceremony began. So, I stayed back in Suna until it was ready to be picked up." He admitted, looking over at the Sand kunoichi.

"This is from Kankuro?" Hotaru's eyes lit up at the mention of her fiancé.

"He was so worried it wouldn't be ready in time. You should have seen him cursing the jeweler." Temari chuckled, taking the hairpin from Hotaru, and placing it lovingly in her braided hair. The woman smiled at her future sister-in-law, holding Hotaru's cheeks in her palms. "Never thought I would see the day when Kankuro would be getting married." She gently squeezed the tall woman's face. "Hinata, you need to finish her make-up. Can't have her looking half done." Temari turned from Hotaru, but Shikamaru saw her nonchalantly wipe a tear from her eye.

"I should leave you to your work now, ladies." Shikamaru stated as he turned to leave.

"Shika?" Hotaru stopped him. He turned his head, so he could see the bride out of the corner of his eye. "I'm glad you're here. It wouldn't be the same without you."

Shikamaru laughed with a 'humph'. "Troublesome." He muttered sarcastically before shutting the door. He found his way outside, where Kankuro was standing with Choji, Gaara, and Naruto. Shikamaru nonchalantly walked up to the men and shook Kankuro's hand.

"Glad you made it." Choji announced, clasping his best friend around the shoulder.

"Did you give it to her?" Kankuro asked nervously. "Did she like it?"

Shikamaru had never seen the man on such an edge before. If there was one thing in this world Shikamaru knew for sure, no matter how nerve-wracking a situation, Kankuro could generally be stable and level-headed. But the man who stood before him now looked as though he was going to vomit from nerves. "She loved it." Shikamaru answered, hoping the good news would put him out of his misery if only for a moment. "Man, she's going to take your breath away."

Kankuro gave Shikamaru a broad smirk before stating, "She's always looked like a goddess."

"Wait until you see her." The Nara man smirked.

Kankuro and Hotaru had opted for a traditional wedding, allowing only close family members to watch the ceremony at the temple. The Inuzukas had figured none of their kin would be invited to the ceremony, but much to their surprise Tsume and her two children were allowed to come. The Inuzuka Alpha openly cried when Hotaru came to her house to invite her. Kiba had only seen his mother cry once before in his entire life, she was tough as nails and nothing really seemed to get to her. But in the two years since Hotaru had awoken from her coma, she had made the decision to get to know her Inuzuka family, and having her absent niece finally in her life had softened the woman up a little.

"You are family." Hotaru protested when Tsume tried to decline, stating that the Akimichi should be present for the ceremony. They were the ones who raised her, they should be the ones to go. "I want you there, and if my mother were alive, this would be a non-issue. You, Hana, and Kiba are all coming to the ceremony, and that's final."

The reception afterwards at the Akimichi estate was the talk of the village for months to come. The entire Akimichi clan and Inuzuka clan was there, with majority of the Hyuga, Nara, Aburame, and Yamanaka clans, as well as many distinguished Sunagakure clans members. The Konoha 11 had obviously been invited, and Naruto had purposefully used his power as Hokage to make sure none of them would be assigned a mission the entire week preceding the wedding.

It was absolute chaos. The Inuzukas, being the rowdy bunch they were, were only permitted a certain amount of alcohol before being cut off. Hotaru tried to protest this as unfair, but Tsume had put in the executive order. Children from all clans ran wildly around with ninken, while the much more reserved Akimichi adults introduced themselves to the Suna villagers. Many had served in the war together, allowing for the two villages to reminisce and regale heroic war stories. As the evening went on, the reception became a joyous festival in itself.

Kankuro and Hotaru stood arm in arm greeting guests. Despite finding this a drag, Shikamaru stood at the back of the line, waiting to offer his congratulations to the couple. Ino stood with him, her arm tightly wound around his. She had not spoken to the man in months, and could not help but hang on him, waiting for him to inform her of every detail of his life.

"They make such a beautiful couple." An elder Inuzuka woman spoke as she worked her way toward the newlyweds.

"That they do." The man with her replied.

"I wonder when they will start having pups of their own." The woman inquired, accidentally throwing Ino into a giggle fit.

"Stop it, Ino." Shikamaru scolded her, despite the giant smirk that stretched across his face.

"Can you imagine Kankuro as a dad, though?" Ino wailed with delight. "Oh, that would be too funny."

"You of all people know how much his attitude towards kids has changed. He absolutely dotes on Choko."

"Probably because that girl is exactly like Hotaru. But, when the time comes, I imagine he'll be a great father." As the pair of shinobi came upon the couple, Choko appeared from nowhere, forcefully taking hold of Hotaru's hand, and ripping her off of Kankuro's arm.

"Come on, Auntie, you have to see!" She yelled excitedly, before her mother could scold her.

"Akimichi Choko! You know the rules! Don't pull Auntie like that!" Ino stomped after her child, ready to give her a stern lecture.

"I don't see the big deal." Shikamaru stated, standing next to Kankuro.

"You don't know?" The Sand shinobi asked.

"Know what?"

"Last winter, Hotaru got sick again. It messed up her equilibrium pretty badly. She can't stand on her own for very long. If you watch throughout the night, whenever she stands up, she'll usually be holding on to someone or something else to brace herself. She's gotten better over the last couple months, though. It used to be that she could barely stay standing before almost passing out."

"So you made up rules that Choko has to follow?"

"Yes and no. The main reason is for Hotaru's equilibrium. But they're also there to get the girl to stop yanking on people."

"Have you and Hotaru decided where you are going to be living?" Shikamaru asked nonchalantly. There was a piece of him that hoped they would be living in Suna. He was now permanently stationed there, and having another person from Konoha would be nice.

"We'll be staying in Suna. Naruto and Gaara have been talking about making her an ambassador in some capacity, and she was very adamant that I remain a Suna shinobi. I think she is already trying to plot out a way for me to be officially elected to the village council.

"And she's okay?" Shikamaru asked. Kankuro looked at him, knowing full well that the man was asking about how far her recovery from the traumas in her life had come.

"I believe so. She hasn't had a nightmare about the people she killed in about a year. Ever since we dismantled that syndicate, Hotaru seems to have gotten immensely better; knowing that they aren't out there forcing others to live her life has really helped. She doesn't have to use the Calorie Control Jutsu daily, and has even put on some weight, which is always a good thing when it comes to her… She's always laughing." Kankuro added as they heard Hotaru's high pitched cackle somewhere in the distance. She slowly made her way back to the pair, her niece on her hip and Shiromaru trotting gracefully behind her. Kankuro smiled sweetly at the sight of his new wife. She took hold of Kankuro's arm before giving him a loving kiss on the cheek.

"How are you doing?" He asked as Choko sprang from Hotaru's grasp. The young girl skipped away, laughing while chasing a butterfly that had floated into the back garden. Shiromaru followed the young Akimichi through the garden.

"Young Koinu, do not wander where your parents cannot see you." the dog told the toddler.

"I'm happy. Absolutely happy." Hotaru smiled innocently, resting her head on Kankuro's shoulder.

So, this is it. This is the last chapter. There were some scenes/chapters that just did not fit, or I couldn't flush out completely and had to be cut, hence the two year time skip to Hotaru and Kankuro's wedding.

I just want to thank all of you that stuck with this story all the way through. Thank you for reading, following/favoriting, reviewing, messaging me. Thank you for everything. This is my first fic ever, and I was really nervous about putting it up. But you all have made it worthwhile, and I appreciate the hell out of all of you! You guys are awesome and I pretty much love you!