Naori's eyes were stinging from the airflow, and she didn't know where they were going. She could only squint, trying to see her surroundings, but it was pitch black. She decided not to bother and closed her eyes, waiting until they arrived.
She had thought it would take a while to reach the destination, but to her surprise, they landed on a stable surface in less than five minutes.
Naori slowly opened her eyes. "Are we... here?"
"We are," Torifu replied.
Naori could only hear the wind in her ears, and everything before her was a vast white blur; she couldn't see clearly without light. Just as Naori prepared to activate her Sharingan, Torifu snapped his fingers.
The lights inside the palace instantly came on!
Countless suspended crystal lamps on the ceiling shone with dazzling brilliance, no different from streetlights. The crystal lamps illuminated the entire Cloud Palace. As far as Naori could see, there was a long path covered with a red carpet. Though it looked like a carpet, it was actually made of red crystal by Torifu. On both sides were the seats for the guests. The red crystal path led to the stage, which was where the two of them would finally be married. However, the stage was bare and lacked any design.
Naori was speechless, and even though everything inside was still relatively rough and many areas needed improvement, tears were already welling up in her eyes.
"How... how did you do this?" Naori couldn't imagine how such a massive palace was made.
Torifu put one arm around Naori. "Do you remember the Cloud Palace that rose into the sky on the day I became Hokage? This is it."
"We are currently in the Cloud Palace, right above Konoha Village."
The Cloud Palace. Naori remembered the name. On that day, the rising of the Cloud Palace was grand and spectacular, but people slowly began to forget it because it hadn't appeared again since then.
Naori walked out of the inner palace and came to the edge. Without even needing to activate her Sharingan, Naori saw that the moon in the sky was incredibly close. Everything was self-evident—they were truly in the sky! Torifu was going to hold their wedding in the heavens!
"Torifu, I feel like this is all a dream. I can't quite believe it."
Torifu gently rubbed Naori's hair. "But this is all real. In half a month, we will get married right here. You will be the most beautiful woman in the entire Ninja World."
Naori felt like crying but managed to hold back her tears. She was incredibly satisfied with this wedding venue. Nothing could make her happier than getting married in the sky. She was probably the first in history to do so. This was a wedding worthy of being etched into the annals of history.
"Let's decorate the stage together. You can design any scene you want."
"But due to the constraints of the Cloud Palace, almost everything will ultimately be made of cloud, though I can use crystal for secondary enhancement."
Naori nodded. "Okay, let's do it together."
The two exchanged a smile and immediately got to work. Torifu created many crystal vines along the red crystal path leading to the stage. Naori also added some of her favorite designs to the stage. For aesthetic purposes, most of the decorations used flowers as the main element, which were then accented with brightly colored crystals. This kept the design from looking too plain.
The two worked tirelessly for a long time, well into the night. But Naori wasn't sleepy at all; she felt more energetic than ever. This was because she was designing her own wedding—a wedding they were designing hand-in-hand. It wasn't particularly tiring, and she was enjoying every moment of it. The effort required was less exhausting than a single mission and was nothing to a Ninja. Torifu had purposely chosen today to bring Naori along. After all, the stage was the most important part. The tables and chairs from yesterday were the most tedious work, and he had already completed that by himself, sparing Naori the trouble.
Around midnight, the two finally finished most of the wedding venue setup. Torifu took note of the remaining minor details and omissions, planning to clear them up all at once tomorrow. Since the main structure was complete, he would decide whether to bring Naori along tomorrow based on her mood. If she was busy, he could finish the remaining tasks himself.
With the wedding venue complete, the most important task was finally finished. The venue was quite large—about the size of the old Konoha Village—so the people in the back wouldn't be able to clearly see what was happening up front. Therefore, Torifu used crystal to create many projection screens, placing them around various points in the venue. It looked just like a concert hall.
"Alright, Naori. The main structure is complete. Shall we go back?"
Naori wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Hehe, okay. This place is truly beautiful. It really feels like we're getting married now." Naori was incredibly happy tonight. Watching her wedding venue being decorated piece by piece gave her an unspeakable sense of accomplishment. And since she only had to express what she wanted, leaving all the creation to Torifu, it wasn't very tiring. However, running back and forth over such a large area was somewhat taxing on her stamina. At this moment, she regretted not eating more for dinner.
"When the seats are filled with guests, and we receive their blessings, it will feel even better." Naori wrapped her arms around Torifu's neck and gave him a kiss. "Thank you for all your hard work these past few days, running back and forth. You really should have told me; we could have done this together."
Torifu smiled. "I was a bit too focused on giving you a surprise. Thankfully, I came to my senses."
They both shared a laugh, and then Naori asked, "Are the Kazekage and the others coming on the day of the wedding or a few days before?"
Torifu thought for a moment. "Jiraiya and the others haven't returned to report yet, but I think they will arrive early. We'll have enough time to entertain them."
"Alright. But there's one more thing: how will the villagers get up here?" This was a necessary consideration. Torifu couldn't ferry them up one by one, could he? If he did that, he wouldn't be able to get married; he'd have to open a shipping company.
"I've naturally considered this. I'll have the Cloud Palace descend to just above the village, and then I'll use Cloud Release to extend its staircase, allowing the villagers to walk up."
Naori thought about it and concluded that this was the only viable option. "Okay, I understand. I'll keep this a secret, too, to give the villagers a surprise."