A/N: I lost my previous account themanliestman where this story was originally kept. Not only did I lose the password, I also lost control of the email account that I used for it. So, it's lost. Maybe not entirely, but I'm lazy trash and don't feel like losing my hair over recovering it. So I made a new one.

I forgot all about this thing until i found a file on my laptop that had like five chapters of unfinished draft of this story. so i felt like working on it again and here it is. i tweaked this a bit. big changes are found on the dinner scene but that's about it. and i changed a bit of sakura's parents dialogues. mebuki and kizashi werent introduced yet back in 2011.

/rewritten/ published sometime during 2011 (i think) on another account. that account is mine, i swear. but Naruto and it's characters aren't. obviously.

and for new readers, it's mulan inspired.

01 pink lady

Sakura stared in horror at the pink kimono in front of her. There was no way she was going to look good in this. No way in hell. She picked up the kimono and stared at it nervously. Wasn't it a little too—pink? As if her hair wasn't pink enough. They should have just picked a red one or a yellow one. Anything a little less…pink. She will stand out like a sore thumb in the Uchiha compound. Everybody knows the standard Uchiha Clan look: dark hair, dark eyes, both of which are made even darker with pale skin. And what, she was going to step in there with her pink hair and green eyes? And now there was this pink kimono to boot. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

There was a knock on her door followed by her mother's voice, "Sakura! Are you ready yet?"

"Not yet, mom!" Sakura called out, then hastily added, "Isn't this kimono a little too…bright?"

"What are you talking about? It's perfect!" Her mother exclaimed, "It complements your hair,"

"It does not," Sakura sighed, "It matches my hair. It will make me look like the latest fashion faux pas of the century. Didn't you say I had to make a good impression to the Uchihas?"

"Sakura, you're just nervous. That kimono will look stunning on you!"

But Mom, I—"

"Sakura. Stop complaining and get ready. Tardiness isn't very ladylike, don't you think so?"

Sakura sighed, and stared at the kimono with a frustrated expression. When she heard footsteps outside her door, she knew her mother had left. Sakura wore a thin white robe before donning the pink kimono. She fastened it at the waist with a brilliant red obi and stared at herself in the mirror. Yup, as expected. She looked like an over decorated Christmas tree. She pinned up her long pink hair into a bun and secured it with a black ribbon. Then she picked out the dullest hair ornament she could find. Her hair was already pretty distracting. She didn't need an overly shiny hair ornament to make things worse. Her mother barged in a few seconds later to pile on layers of makeup on her face. Sakura wasn't against makeup. She liked wearing a little makeup here and there. But to pile it all on?!

By the time it was all done, she looked nothing like herself. Her mother took great pains to conceal the dark circles under her eyes—the product of countless nights of staying up reading. Her lipstick was pink. The shimmery eye shadow on her eyelids were pink. She was going to be the pink clownfish in a sea of blue and black sharks.

After leaving the room and rolling her eyes at the exaggerated gasps of delight from both her father, Kizashi, and mother, Mebuki, Sakura was off to whatever fate had in store for her tonight. From all that she heard about the clan and the boy she was supposed to impress, she doubted anything resembling a fairytale awaited her.

The Uchiha Clan is one of the biggest and most honourable clans in the Land of Fire, followed closely by the Hyuga Clan. The clan leader is a stiff, by-the-rules kind of man named Uchiha Fugaku with a stern face and an ever present frown. Sakura only saw him twice, and he was scowling at both times. His wife is Uchiha Mikoto, a very distant relative of his. They had a son, and Sakura was chosen as a potential wife for him. Today's dinner was meant to give them a chance to actually meet in person and get to know each other. Of course, none of this was final, and they could always reconsider the engagement if worse came to worst.

Sakura looked glumly at the passing houses outside the car window. Large houses were slowly turning into enormous mansions and manors. The Uchiha Clan lives at the outskirts of the village, in a large gated compound with more than fifty large houses. The largest one is at the very middle, and that was Sakura's destination. She wiped her palms on her kimono, hoping they wouldn't sweat so much. She could see the bright lights just ahead of them. They were almost at the Uchiha Compound.

I'm going to be sick…'

Sakura fanned herself, trying to settle her nerves. It wasn't working.

I'm going to be so sick…'

They stopped in front of a large manor in the middle of the compound

Fuck…I'm going to throw up…'

The driver opened the door and held his hand out to her

I should have just killed myself while I had the chance'

She accepted his hand

'Here goes nothing…'

Good morning, Lady Haruno," A stern looking woman wearing a dark blue kimono greeted her at the front door. Her voice was blank and unemotional. There was nothing enthusiastic about the greeting at all. The woman's eyes landed briefly on her hair, then she turned away, telling Sakura to follow. Sakura touched her hair self consciously before following the woman up the stairs. There were guests chatting at the hall. They were all finely dressed with lovely kimonos and tuxedoes. They all had black hair and dark clothes. Sakura glanced down at her bright pink kimono and focused her eyes determinedly on the floor, feeling the Uchihas' stares burning behind her back. So she was right. She was sticking out like a sore thumb amidst this sea of blacks and blues

Sakura almost breathed a sigh of relief when they left the hall, away from prying eyes. The woman stopped in front of a huge door, which, presumably, leads to another hall with more prying eyes and dark haired Uchihas. When the woman opened the door, Sakura sucked in her breath, for fear that she might lose control and make a run for the front gates. Unfortunately, the woman destroyed her original plan of discreetly sneaking inside by ordering a servant (with a microphone) to announce to her arrival to everyone in the hall

Everyone's eyes were instantly on her.

Well, fuck

Sakura was positively convinced that her face turned even pinker than her hair. She avoided everyone's gaze by keeping her eyes glued to the shiny floor as the woman led her towards her table. No one was whispering and pointing. No one was talking in hushed voices. They were all just staring at her with unemotional faces in complete silence.

The woman suddenly stopped, "Here is your table, Lady,"

"Thank you very much," Sakura raised her head and her green eyes met onyx ones. She instantly hid her trembling hands behind her back.

"Good evening, Lady Haruno," It was Fugaku Uchiha. His voice was calm and still. It was terrifying

"Oh, uh, hey…" Sakura muttered incoherently. She turned to the woman who guided her, "So…uh…I have to…sit with them?"

The woman gave her a dry stare, "Of course. You are Lord Uchiha's guest for tonight. Where do you think you were supposed to sit?"

Sakura's face matched the colour of the Cherry Tomatoes on the table. She sat down on the empty seat beside a woman who she presumed was Uchiha Mikoto. Her long black hair was pinned up elegantly with sapphire hair ornaments and she was wearing a plain navy blue kimono with the Uchiha seal at the back. She smiled politely at Sakura. Not warmly. Not kindly. Just politely

Sakura swallowed hard, trying to force her hands to be still

"So, you are the only child of Haruno Kizashi and Mebuki," Fugaku's voice was very, very calm.

"Oh, yes," Sakura replied, trying to sound as polite as possible

Fugaku wasted no time interrogating her, "What are your interests, Lady?"

"Um…" Sakura stammered over this question. She had to make a good impression. A good impression. She mentally recalled every admirable thing about herself that she could, "I play a lot of shogi, and I can confidently say I'm pretty good at it. I read a lot of books, that's my hobby. I don't write or read poetry, but I dabble a bit on fiction writing. Um. My strong suits in the Academy are Literature and Science, though my History isn't bad—"

The reaction Sakura expected did not come. Instead, Fugaku was looking at her with furrowed brows. He interrupted her tense little narration, "Literature. Science. Those are optional courses, correct?"

"Yes," Sakura knew she was saying something wrong, but she couldn't quite point out what, "I am taking a lot of optional courses because I loaded on credits during my first two years in the Academy. One of the Instructors, Sir Iruka, was very kind to guide me on the courses I could take,"

"I expect you received some opposition from some Instructors when you expressed your wishes to take optional courses?"

Fugaku's voice was mild and calm, but Sakura couldn't help feeling that she was walking straight into a trap. "I did, yes. Some of the older Instructors, especially, were quite passionate in their opposition, though I frankly don't understand why—"

"I do," Fugaku cut in, and the sudden shift of his tone and the coldness of his stare made Sakura feel smaller than she really was, "Because those optional courses are meant for sons. Boys. Dabbling on one shouldn't be a problem, but to take on all of them—no wonder your Instructors were opposed, Lady. I'd be surprised if your parent's aren't. Surely they know?"

"They do," Wrong answer, Sakura, "Father and Mother don't mind,"

Fugaku's stare was definitive. Conclusive. He didn't like her. "I see, then I that's all I need to know about you, Lady,"

She didn't like the way he said it. She felt mortified.

After the brief silence ensued, the Lady Uchiha Mikoto felt that it was her turn to torture the prisoner. She turned to Sakura, all prim and gorgeous in her Uchiha-ness, and gave her a smile.

Sakura was horrified.

"Do you have any more interests, Dear?" She asked, "Ikebana? Tea Ceremony?"

This! This is your chance to set things right!

But then she blurted out, "Fencing, and a bit of Aikido,"

Mikoto started in her seat, but then relaxed and smoothed her prim lady face back into place, "I see. That's very interesting, Dear,"

The silence that followed after that was overwhelming. Fugaku sipped on his tea, not looking at her. Mikoto was eating lightly, dabbing a napkin on her chin once in a while. Sakura's hands were shaking madly now. She grabbed one of the forks on the table and started eating her Cherry Tomatoes. It was a bit bland compared to the food she was used to, but she didn't even notice. Her mouth felt dry and her fingers felt numb.

"That's the wrong fork you're using,"

Sakura looked up, "Huh?"

"That's the wrong fork," The boy repeated. She examined him briefly and intently, or as intently as one could in this kind of situation. Dark hair, dark eyes, and a frigid expression that suggested enough warmth as being inside a run-down house with broken windows on the night of a particularly violent snow storm. Sakura dropped her gaze back to her Cherry Tomatoes, hoping he would do the same.

"Hello, Sasuke," Mikoto's voice was warm as her son sat down on the only remaining vacant seat at the table.

Sakura almost choked on her food. 'Sasuke?! He's Sasuke…?'

"You must be Sakura," His voice was dripping with all the pompousness and bad breeding in the entire Uchiha bloodline combined, "Haven't you ever had fine dining lessons?"

Sakura looked down at her food, guessing which one of the forks was the correct one. When she grabbed the wrong one yet again, Sasuke's cold stare shifted into an icy sneer. "I guess not," He said, taking his own fork, the correct one, and started eating his dinner.

Sakura felt her face go hot. Suddenly, the room seemed so small. She felt small, too. Mother of all that is merciful. I've been thrust into the very heart of hell.

"Do you do traditional dancing, my dear?" Mikoto asked, breaking the suffocating silence that was beginning to settle on their table.

Say yes! Yes! You pink haired ingrate!

"No,"

"Any instruments? The shamisen, or the piano?"

Boom, second chance! Say it! Say it now!

"No,"

When Mama iceberg ceased to reply, Baby iceberg felt compelled to add his own input, "Do you even do anything?"

Dancing! Say Dancing!

"I do Fencing," And I can damn well kick your ass in it, too. I think.

"Funny, me too," But his voice didn't sound funny. At all. Sakura could tell she walking into a trap again. "I beat my instructor at age 11,"

"I beat mine at age 15," She countered.

His haughty expression turned into a sneer, "You actually have an instructor? I wonder what kind of wonderful parents you have,"

"Thank you for the interest, Sir," She said coldly, "If I were to describe my parents, it would take a while. Because then I'd have to mention every positive adjective in the world, and it probably still wouldn't be enough,"

He took a few seconds to reply. Sakura suspected what she said was too blindingly holy and good for his evil heart that he was momentarily put into a state of muteness. He recovered quickly enough. "I wonder about that. If they really are as wonderful as you claim, it's a wonder why you turned out like this,"

What was this? A prospective marriage dinner that has quickly turned into a battle of whichever clan heir threw the best insult? In the number of supporters, she was also losing. She could hear snips of conversation going on in the nearest tables.

"Look at her hair,"

A giggle, then, "The color is ridiculous,"

"I bet that's not natural,"

"It's a wig,"

More giggles.

"Enough about me," Sakura said, sweetly. And through gritted teeth. "I want to know more about you, Sir,"

"I am an Uchiha," He said, as if that gave him all the excuses in the world to be an asshole.

"And you drank coffee before you came here," She remarked, "You came here in a hurry, probably from training. And you don't get well with your sibling. A pity. Good relations with the whole family should be encouraged in such a big clan, like yours,"

Fugaku and Mikoto looked confused with her seemingly mindless babbling, but Sasuke was looking at her with furrowed brows. He was in the middle of eating and his hand, still holding his fork, was suspended midway between his plate and his mouth.

"And fond of travelling, are you, Lord Uchiha?" She continued, completely aware of his discomfort, but ignoring it all the same, "Been somewhere else, lately, haven't you? Let's see—somewhere beyond the outer borders of the Land of Earth?"

This time, even Fugaku looked tense.

"Wait, wait, it wasn't some vacation, wasn't it? Military business? Clan business? Something like that? Your life must be so interesting, Sir. I envy you. I am, after all, often stuck in our manor,"

Fugaku butted in, but without his usual stoic composure and coldness. He looked tense and slightly nervous. Sakura realized she preferred him this way. He wasn't half as frightening when he was squirming in his chair like a trapped hare. "Where did you get that information, Lady? And when?"

Sakura feigned a look of confusion. She knew it helped to look dumb. "Why just now, Sir!"

"I'm afraid I don't follow,"

Sakura smiled at the family sweetly. Then she pointed at Sasuke's wrist watch, "The time on your watch is wrong, Sir. And didn't I mention that I'm quite well read? My memory is quite hazy, but I'm fairly sure that would be the time at this very moment if we were on the other side of the globe. Land of Earth was just a lucky guess, though, since I doubt there'd be much of interest further on. You don't seem like the type of person who wears watches just for appearances, so the wrong time suggests you'd been away for some time, had just come back, and because of pressing matters which are unknown to me, were too busy to set it right,"

"You knew it was a Military operation," Fugaku put in, bewilderment resting on his voice.

"I do now, since you have kindly mentioned it, but I certainly didn't before,"

"Then how—" It was Sasuke this time.

She cut him off, and replied coldly, "With a bit of common sense, Sir. I noticed Lord Uchiha, your Father, seemed surprised that I knew you had travelled far, which wouldn't be the case if you simply went on a vacation, or something like that, because a well-off clan like yours obviously has a considerable number of servants, and having lots of them means having an extensive gossip network right under your noses. My knowing about a trivial affair such as a vacation shouldn't be too surprising. So judging by his surprised reaction, it is more likely a private Clan business. Or a Military one, since your clan leads the Leaf's Military,"

Then to spite them all, she added in her most saccharine voice, "It's simple, really,"

Fugaku settled back slightly, though he made no further inquiries, nor did he say anything else to the pink-haired Lady. Sakura had to push down the smugness that threatened to overflow.

"Or are you just a stalker?" Sasuke sneered, refusing to believe that she had just guessed all that information based on the time of his watch and his Father's reaction. Refused to believe she was smart.

"Are you talking about the coffee?" She asked. She was hoping he would. She did this so she could wipe the floor with his ego after all.

Without further preamble, she grabbed his wrist, pushed up the sleeve of his black dinner coat he wore to fully reveal the cuff of his white inner shirt. Sure enough, there was a dark brown stain there. Then she gestured under the table, "Your boots have dried traces of mud at the bottom, probably you just wiped them with a rug on your way here. I just assumed you came from the training fields, that was a lucky guess. Also, I knew you came in a hurry because if you had time to stop by your room you would have noticed the coffee stain and changed your inner shirt, and changed your training boots into dinner shoes, and why would you wear training boots if you weren't actually doing some outdoor work? Lucky guess, all of those were,"

Sasuke's voice was flat as he replied. "And my relationship with my brother must be from rumors,"

"On the contrary, I haven't even heard of you before this," Sakura corrected him, matching his flat tone with a biting one, "I have heard of your parents, but not you. And your relationship with your sibling? It's all in your rings."

She pointed at the rings on his fingers, "I know it's customary for big clans like yours and the Hyugas to wear rings for each immediate family member they have. Your parents each wear five. Three on the right, two on the left. The only rings they have in common are the two on the left, which must represent family members they have in common, which would be their kids. The other three rings must represent their respective parents and each other, their spouse. The two rings they have in common are shaped to those of a thunderbolt and a crow. You, Sir, only wear two rings which is neither the thunderbolt nor the crow, so those rings must represent your parents. If you didn't wear the rings at all, I'd merely attribute it to forgetfulness or unwillingness to wear jewelry, but since you wear your parents' rings but not your sibling's, I just assumed you don't get along. Unless you lost it?

She only realized it just then but the dining hall was silent and the guests nearest to their table were probably listening in.

He probably knew it to because he said his next retort in a loud voice, "You have the makings of a typical, gossipy witch. I doubt even a marriage into the Uchiha can make you decent enough,"

"I wouldn't want a marriage with anyone in this clan," She didn't care anymore. Let each and every rude, insensitive Uchiha hear it. Fugaku pretended he didn't hear it. Mikoto pursed her lips and looked down.

"I wouldn't want my sons to have pink hair,"

The female guests nearby started giggling.

"I asked a lot of people about you before coming here," Sakura replied. By a lot of people she meant, Ino, her best friend, who came from a large clan herself and knew the Uchiha from the many inter-clan gatherings they had, "And from what I heard, I didn't think you'd even be capable of fathering sons,"

High class attitude and etiquette was instantly forgotten as hoots erupted from a nearby tabled occupied by various young gentlemen. Laughing the loudest among them was a blue-eyed blond with a halfway unbuttoned tuxedo. The girls in the room were silent, looking at each other questionably. They were rooting for the Uchiha heir while the boys were clearly on the pink-haired girl's side. Sasuke smirk turned into a sneer, and Sakura was almost sure that his cheeks had turned slightly red.

"What is that supposed to mean," It wasn't a question. More of a threat, really.

"It means a lot of people think you're a frigid iceberg in human form, which I see to be true based on tonight's events, and—" She started laughing, "—that you have the sexual drive of a dead tree,"

The boys were laughing uncontrollably now while the girls were flashing Sakura murderous looks. With one final resentful glance at Sasuke, she stood up and left the hall.

Haruno Mebuki was noticeably disappointed. Sakura felt it in the silence that hovered over the table like fog during breakfast. Kizashi broke the silence now and then with a clever little pun. Sakura tried to laugh. Mebuki tried her best not to laugh. Sakura, so unused to the household being so silent, took a day off from cooping herself up in the library and hung out with her friends instead.

"Very funny, Pig," Sakura grumbled, hugging her knees tightly against her chest.

Ino Yamanaka, daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka, heiress of the entire Yamanaka Clan, was an elegant, intelligent, well-bred lady of nineteen with considerable skills in Ikebana and traditional dancing. And now she was rolling on the grass, laughing at her bestfriend's unfortunate plight.

Hinata Hyuga, who sat between the two, was torn between sharing Ino's mirth or Sakura's sombre mood. She went with her usual tactic: the neutral.

"We shouldn't laugh, Ino. Sakura feels so bad right now," She admonished quietly.

"But you have to admit, it's hilarious! Admit it, Hinata!" Ino snickered. "I mean, I was the one who told her about that dead tree sex drive thing, but if I knew Sakura was going to say it to his face, wait, no—to his entire family's face—I would've told her something even more horrible!"

Sakura sighed, "I'm beyond saving,"

"It is rather funny," Hinata remarked, an amused smile on her face.

"You know," Sakura turned to Ino, "Why didn't they just choose you, Ino? I mean, the Haruno clan is barely known and I bet anybody who's anybody has heard of the famous Yamanakas,"

"Daddy wouldn't allow it," Ino pouted, "He says there's something about Sasuke he doesn't like,"

Sakura whistled. "As expected of the head of the Interrogation Department,"

"But really," Ino propped herself up with her elbows and grinned at her bestfriend, "You really outdid yourself this time, Forehead. When we were in primary school you couldn't even stand up to that bitch whatsername—ah, Ami, was it?—and now you're making enemies with the son of the most powerful clan in the country. Your improvement is incredible. I'm so proud of you, Forehead,"

Sakura shuddered, "Yes, I just made an Uchiha hate me. Quit reminding me, Pig,"

"Change topic, then!" Ino turned to the Hyuga girl. She propped her chin on her hand and smirked slyly at her. Hinata looked disconcerted, "What is it, Ino?"

"Guess who the next marriage candidate will be, Forehead," Ino said.

"Eh? Hinata? Really?" Sakura turned to her dark-haired friend, who turned pale (as opposed to her usual blush).

"Yes," The Hyuga sighed, looking very troubled, "I'm scared, honestly. Hanabi is too young and since our Father recently made her heiress, I'm the one that has to go. What if he humiliates me? I think I'll—I'll—" Her head sank and her shoulders drooped, "—I think I'll just cry on the spot,"

"He won't do it," Ino snorted, "I'm betting my position as Yamanaka heiress that if Uchiha Sasuke dares to treat you less than a queen with four countries under your wing your Lord Cousin will make mincemeat out of him,"

Hinata giggled, "Oh, Neji wouldn't do that. He's far too kind,"

Yeah, to you. Sakura thought with a shudder. She was fairly sure that if it was Neji Hyuga in the place of Sasuke Uchiha that night, she wouldn't have composed herself enough to insult him. There was just something inexplicably scary about Hinata's older cousin. Though she knew Hyuga Neji wouldn't have insulted her, either. He would just stay quiet, make polite conversation if pushed to, and keep his criticisms in his head.

The three girls' conversation was muffled by the blaring of drums and trumpets. Activity in the village seemed to cease as well. The large village gates opened and dozens of sleek black cars rolled in, startling everyone. The cars stopped in front of the Hokage Tower, and everyone in the village stopped what they were doing to watch. The door of the first car opened, and out stepped a thin man with pale, pasty skin. He was wearing the clothes of nobleman.

"Who is that creep?" Ino muttered, referring to the thin man.

Before Sakura could reply, the doors of the Hokage Tower opened, and a beautiful blond woman stepped out, looking furious and maniacal, like she wanted to eat somebody. She was the Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade

"What do you want, Orochimaru?" She hissed at the pale man.

He held up his hands a bit, trying to appease her, "Just delivering orders from the Lord of the Land of Fire,"

"Then spit it out,"

Ino tried not to gape. She had heard (from Sakura) about the Lady Hokage's spitfire personality but never had the chance to see it for herself before. Everyone knew the Hokage disliked Orochimaru. He had a major position in the Leaf's Military and was once deemed worthy enough to be Hokage. But then, Tsunade was chosen and he was among the ones who looked upon coldly at the fact that she was a woman.

A threat is approaching the Land of Fire," He began, "There are rumours that the Land of Water is planning a war against us. There are also rumours that the Land of Wind is building an army. Some of the minor Lands surrounding us might take advantage of this war and pull us down. And as for the Land of Earth, we still don't know where their loyalties lie. Attempts of peace towards the Land of Earth haven't been responded too positively."

Attempts of peace towards the Land of Earth, Sakura recalled Sasuke's trip to the Land of Earth. Did it have something to do with it?

"The relationships between the Lands have been deteriorating badly for the last fifteen years. Leaf merchants have been found dead in the harsh deserts of the Land of Wind, not because of the desert itself, but because the soldiers from the Sand killed them. Tons of Mist guards have infiltrated the borders of the Land of Fire and many have died. The Land of Earth seemed neutral to all this, but their strong connection to the Land of Water cannot be ignored, either. If the Land of Earth and Water do collaborate against us, then we are surrounded. Attacked on both sides, based on the geographical location of our land,"

Everybody expected this war to come sooner or later. But still, everyone was paralyzed by shock

"Continue," Tsunade told him.

"The Lord of the Land of Fire wanted me to deliver a special message," Tsunade didn't like the way Orochimaru was grinning when he said this, "He said that our armies are not enough to fight a force from two or more Lands. He and his advisors have no idea where to get such a great amount of soldiers to join the army in less than three months. So he has a proposal for all of you,"

Tsunade swallowed a bit, "And what might that proposal be?"

"He proposed that one man from every family must step up and join the army,"

Murmurs of indignation rose from the surrounding villagers. Even Tsunade looked stunned. Next to her, her apprentice Shizune stood slack-jawed and pale faced. Ino balled her hands into fists, wondering tensely which one of her cousins would be chosen to go.

Sakura wasn't any better off. She recalled her clumsy father laughing as he stumbled over some microscopic root in the forest, hitting the dirty ground face first as his and her laughter echoed in the wide forest. Her father fighting to keep his eyes open as he sits in front of a fireplace, listening to Sakura's rather childish lamentations about her forehead. Haruno Kizashi was clumsy, at times childlike, and much too kind for his own good. Sakura couldn't imagine how he would ever fit in a war. He fit in much better in their humbly built manor, bickering over Mebuki Haruno over trivial things. He was hesitant at first when Mebuki agreed to hire a fencing instructor for Sakura, because he didn't like the idea of anything that could be violent. But he agreed in the end, because he was kind. He always was.

But he could ignore it. Ignore the call.

No, he cannot. She recalled her disastrous dinner with the Uchihas that night. Why was she in that position again? Ah yes, because their little clan of three was close to losing their clan seal and nobility, and her engagement to the spiteful Uchiha brat was supposed to integrate their clan under the Uchihas wing. If he ignored this war call, they'd lose everything. So he had to.

She felt Hinata's hand on her shoulder, "Sakura?"

Blurry vision, light-headedness, weak knees, feeling like I'm going to vomit. What does this mean again? Think, Sakura, you're the smartest in the Academy.

"Hinata," She turned to look at the Hyuga girl's worried eyes. "I'm going to faint,"

And she did.

When Sakura woke up, it was late. The sky was pitch black, save for a few pinpricks of light from the stars. Even the moon felt like hiding.

"Sakura," It was Mebuki. Her face just looked like faint outlines in the dark. "You fainted,"

"I know," Sakura sat up, "How did I get back?"

"Ino and Hinata brought you back," Mebuki answered, dipping a washcloth in a basin of warm water by the bedside and wiping it over Sakura's brow, "With the help of a nice gentleman,"

"Who was he?"

Mebuki shrugged, "He didn't leave a name,"

"Is Father going?"

"He must,"

"Maybe he shouldn't,"

Mebuki smiled at her, "He must,"

Sakura looked down at her hands. Small, slender, a bit worn from aikido. "That's not true. He can refuse,"

"You know that's not true,"

Silence, then,

"It's my fault,"

"It's not,"

"You know that's not true," Sakura wished for a bit of light, just enough to see Mebuki's expression.

"He insulted you," Mebuki said, "I only kept my temper because I knew you insulted him back. If you had kept quiet and let him do as he pleased I would have stormed the Uchiha compound when I found out the next morning,"

"I wish I could've seen that," Sakura grinned.

Mebuki smiled. She wiped Sakura's brow again, "Sleep now,"

Sakura nodded, "I will,"

She lay back and let her mother put her blanket over her. Mebuki closed the curtains before leaving the room. When the house was safely still, Sakura rose, walking lightly across the room and lit the lamp on her dresser. She had to be quick before she got caught or before she changed her mind. Nerves of steel, this plan needed, and she just didn't have it. But it was easier to pretend she did under the cover of this moonless darkness.

She touched her long, pink locks. Years ago, she decided to grow out her hair like Ino (ultimately, Hinata joined in) and they always compared their locks in front of a mirror. In a way, it was something that could be considered a remembrance of their friendship. She retrieved a small knife from her drawer, burned the image of herself with long hair into her memory, and took a fistful of her locks.

It's a shame, but it would have to go.

.

TBC