Chapter 448: Before the Wedding
The Uchiha Clan Head's residence—lamplight in the study burned through the night.
The large Japanese-style desk was covered with all manner of lists, designs, invitation drafts, and sample catalogs from various shops. The air was permeated with faint ink fragrance and paper scent.
Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto sat facing each other. Documents piled between them nearly blocked their mutual view, but the pens in their hands never ceased. Occasionally they exchanged opinions in low voices. The atmosphere was busy yet didn't appear anxious.
Their own daughter was finally getting married—this recognition filled these parents' hearts with indescribably complex emotions.
Mikoto's feelings were especially direct. Joy unstoppably surged from her heart's depths, permeating brows, eyes, and lips. She maintained a gentle yet excited smile throughout. She'd waited too long for this day.
From Satsuki's childhood stubbornly wielding kunai, to her teenage years hiding then gradually revealing her obsession with Naruto, to now finally achieving fruition... As a mother, she'd witnessed all emotional trajectories of her daughter's journey. How could this grand fulfillment not make her heart surge with emotion?
Recalling that day when Satsuki, rarely showing undisguisable shyness and happiness, displayed to her that pure flawless shiromuku Naruto had commissioned, plus that exquisitely designed wedding ring where gold and sapphire reflected each other—Mikoto's heart nearly leaped for joy.
Those items—whether materials, craftsmanship, or contained sentiment—far surpassed what Fugaku had selected for her own wedding years ago. Though she and Fugaku had also married through free love, Fugaku acting in his capacity as clan head inevitably brought several points of Uchiha rigidity and formality to wedding goods selection, emphasizing tradition and symbolism over personal romantic sentiment.
Like Naruto incorporating colors representing certain meanings into the ring design—this truly struck the soft, yearning corner in Mikoto's heart, making her feel incomparable happiness for her daughter while also stirring faint envy toward bygone days without any resentment.
Preparation work had countless threads. Determining final guest lists and dividing seating ranks, planning security and alert schemes from shrine to banquet venue on the wedding day, selecting the bride's matching accessories, venue decoration flowers and styles, finalizing banquet menus and beverages, even arranging entertainment performances...
Every single matter required elders' careful consideration and decisions. This was merely the portion the Uchiha side needed to worry about. The in-laws' side—Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato were equally busy with feet barely touching ground—composing invitations, planning honeymoon travel's specific routes and arrangements, discussing bridal chamber decoration details...
Both families' elders had mustered full effort wanting to conduct this wedding as perfectly as possible.
Despite busyness, besides Uchiha Fugaku, everyone seemed to enjoy it.
Fugaku sat upright behind the desk, spine straight. His face still showed no obvious expression—no sadness or reluctance about marrying off his daughter, also no obvious excitement or agitation, only faint sentiment after years' precipitation.
He was currently drafting the most important main table guest list. The main table symbolized a family's most core connections and recognition. He held his pen, meticulously writing names.
Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Mikoto, Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Kushina.
The pen tip paused here, then he solemnly added another name: Umino Iruka.
This was Naruto's teacher during student days. During those difficult years when Kushina and Minato both "passed away," he'd given Naruto care like teacher and father.
...Satsuki is getting married.
This thought surfaced again, making Fugaku's fingers gripping the pen tighten slightly.
That youngest daughter who'd been stubborn and unyielding since childhood had finally found her own belonging. She would leave this "Uchiha" home where she was born and raised to establish the new family belonging to her and Naruto.
Suddenly, Fugaku's brows habitually furrowed tighter, thinking of a more practical problem. After marrying, should Satsuki... change her surname to "Uzumaki"?
According to worldly tradition, women taking their husband's surname after marriage was common practice. Given Naruto and Satsuki's current relationship, plus Satsuki's undisguised, obsessive possession and devotion toward Naruto, she probably wouldn't have the slightest resistance—might even be impatient.
Require Satsuki to retain the "Uchiha" surname? Fugaku felt this unrealistic, also might not match his daughter's wishes.
Uchiha bloodline and pride weren't merely sustained by a surname. However... the notion of inheritance still lingered in his heart.
He pondered, deciding to later find an opportunity to subtly mention to Naruto—if they had children in the future, could they consider having one inherit the "Uchiha" surname?
Temporarily suppressing this thought, Fugaku continued writing. After the main table came the adjacent "mentors and close friends table." He smoothly wrote:
Jiraiya (Naruto's master, Fifth Hokage), Hatake Kakashi (Team Seven instructor), Haruno Sakura (Team Seven companion), Gaara (Naruto's close friend, Fifth Kazekage).
Further on was the "special honored guests seating"—a longer list encompassing numerous peers, companions from Naruto and Satsuki's student days, plus mentors who importantly influenced their growth. Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, Sarutobi Asuma, Sarutobi Konohamaru (plus accompanying Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen), Rock Lee, Might Guy...
The pen tip traveled. Name after name fell onto paper.
"Dear..."
Suddenly, Mikoto's gentle voice interrupted Fugaku's thoughts. He raised his head, discovering the bright joyful smile previously on his wife's face had somehow faded somewhat, covered by a layer of shallow anxiety and sorrow. She'd stopped her pen, gaze somewhat distantly falling on empty space.
"Satsuki... probably won't allow it."
Mikoto's voice carried a trace of uncertain hope mixed with knowing-the-answer-already dimness.
Fugaku was silent briefly, setting down his pen. "...Satsuki won't allow it." He slowly spoke, tone calm. "This also can't be helped."
He naturally knew what Mikoto meant. It was in this increasingly long guest list, at the soon-to-arrive wedding destined to be filled with laughter and blessings, that perpetually vacant position. The name belonging to their other child—Uchiha Yuu.
That eldest daughter who chose to betray the clan, slaughter close relatives, and was ultimately forced to reside elsewhere.
"Yes..." Mikoto lowered her head, voice even more dejected. "She... still hasn't forgiven Yuu."
This was a consensus requiring no articulation. Invite Uchiha Yuu to attend the wedding? This notion itself carried cruel naivety.
Not to mention where Yuu currently was—Satsuki's gate alone was absolutely impossible to pass. At Satsuki's life's most important happy moment, mentioning that name—even just tentative inquiry—would be tantamount to sprinkling salt on a wound not yet completely healed, an absolutely unacceptable taboo.
Fugaku looked at his wife's dejected expression, his heart also aching. How could he not miss that eldest daughter who'd once been excellent enough to make him proud, yet ultimately walked a path he couldn't completely understand?
But reality was thus. The clan's tragedy, the child's choices, time's chasm had long severed many possibilities.
"...Right... she still hasn't forgiven Yuu." Mikoto repeated this sentence, as though convincing herself to accept this helpless reality.
She lightly inhaled, striving to press that loss back into her heart's depths. When she raised her head again, her face struggled to raise a gentle yet somewhat forced smile.
"However," her gaze regained firmness and maternal radiance, "it's alright. I'll take many videos, many photos... every single detail, Satsuki wearing the shiromuku, Naruto placing the ring on her finger, them exchanging vows, plus everyone's smiling faces at the banquet... I'll record everything clearly."
"Wait until later... wait until perhaps someday, when circumstances are different... I can bring these to show her. Let her know her younger sister finally obtained happiness. Our Satsuki got married."
As Mikoto spoke, crystalline teardrops emerged in her eyes. But behind those teardrops was all-encompassing maternal love and hope. She knew the road ahead might be long, hope might be slim, but she was willing to preserve this complete joy—for that absent child and for future impossible reconciliation—leaving a gentle window.
Fugaku quietly watched his wife, saying nothing, only extending his hand across the desk piled with documents to gently squeeze Mikoto's hand.
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