Title: A Gods' Princess
Chapter 1: A Proposal
"Talking" 'Thinking' "Inner Sakura"
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters.. As with all my other stories, this is the only time I'll say it.
"Talking" 'Thinking' "Inner Sakura"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX SAKURA, SAKURA, SAKURA, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It was like any other day in Konoha. The sky was bright, hardly a cloud in the sky, the birds singing merrily. I sat under a tree at our old training grounds just relaxing. War was on the horizon and with the threat I hadn't had time to deal with anything and so my hair went uncut and it now brushed my hips. I kept it in a clipped up pony tail, my bangs swept to the right side of my face. My Hospital shifts had been picked up but civilian nurses so that I could be ready at any time in case war suddenly broke out. Naruto was glued to Tsunade's side since he would be the next Hokage. Ino's team trained two fields down from mine. Kiba and his team had been sent on a patrol mission, Tenten's team was focused on making and distributing weapons. Kakashi strolled lazily into the field and stopped leaned against the tree right beside me.
"Kakashi, how are you?" I asked smiling up at him. He smiled and ruffled my hair.
"I'm good, but I've been sent to retrieve you. The Hokage and soon to be Hokage need to speak with you urgently." His voice was smooth and velvet rich and I sighed.
"Alright, let's get going." I stood and followed as we began racing across the rooftops. We landed on the Hokage's window soon enough. Kakashi knocked quietly, and Naruto opened the window pane allowing us in. we walked past Tsunade's desk, turned and bowed quickly before standing strait.
"You wanted to see me?" I asked politely. Tsunade didn't smile, Naruto barely looked at me.
"Sakura, you know war is on the horizon." Tsunade looked at me pleading for an open mind. I nodded unsure.
"As I'm sure you're aware, Akatsuki resides in and rules Amegakure, they are the ones waging war upon us. They have sent a message this morning. A proposal, if you will, and we've been forced to consider the proposal with all seriousness. The qualifications of said proposal allows for only two possibilities." She paused to take a long sip of her Sake. Sighing she started again and I had a bad feeling in my gut, I naturally grabbed for Kakashi's hand. He allowed the contact but didn't give the usual squeeze. I cast him a worried glance before refocusing.
"We have two options. Either we ignore the proposal and face going to war and most possibly losing. Or we can search for the requested object that could halt all probabilities of said war." A tear slipped down her face. Naruto had crossed his arms across his chest, his knuckles going white, he still refused to look at me.
"What is the condition to avoiding war? And what does it have to do with me?" My voice was small and I could almost guess why I had been brought in.
"The condition is a marriage of one of the purest, most powerful women to Akatsuki's leader and the Kage of Rain Village. They sent a golden cuff, we've tested all the possible women in Konoha except you, and only one has passed the test. You have two options, Either you can choose to accept the challenge of the cuff and step up to help this country avoid war, or you can deny the challenge and continue on your current path with Kakashi." I blushed like mad, and it was then that Kakashi gave me a gentle squeeze, I rubbed the back of his hand with my thumb looking up at him with sorrowful eyes. It had been no secret that he and I had started a light relationship, but we hadn't gotten to anything serious yet, we had spent the night together but nothing beyond sleep itself, other than some serious cuddling. A single tear slipped.
"Who was the one person?" my voice shook with unshed tears. It was only then that Naruto raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot. I gasped at the sight. He gave the weakest smile I had ever seen on his normally bright and cheerful face.
"Hinata." His voice cracked and he sounded like a man on his death bed. I gasped and rushed forward throwing my arms around his neck. His arms wrapped around my small waist and his nose buried itself in my shoulder. My fingers snaked into his hair and I took in his sandalwood and sunshine smell shaking as we both cried into each other. Sniffing I finally forced myself to stand back and Naruto crumpled to the floor, looking less than okay at the moment. I rounded the desk and took my place beside Kakashi. I stared up into his eyes for a moment. He looked pained. I reached up on my tip toes, pulled down his mask and kissed him gently before lowering back down and allowing the mask to slide back into place. I walked up to Tsunade's desk and gave her the best poker face I could muster.
"What do I have to do for the test?" my voice was a flat line. Tsunade looked crushed. She picked up the golden cuff that had been sent with the proposal scroll.
"All you have to do is put on the cuff. If it turns red, you fail. If Akatsuki clouds show up on the golden band, you pass." I held out my hand. She gently rested the cuff on my palm, it was a deceptively light thing. I held it in my right hand and began to slide my left hand through it. It automatically expanded on its own around my hands and as I settled it on my wrist it shrunk down to the perfect size leaving only a half inch of space. A bright white light flashed in the room temporarily blinding all four of us. After the light finally faded I looked down and gasped. Not only was the band gold with perfectly red Akatsuki clouds but there was now an identical band on my right hand wrist. My gaze shot up to Tsunade wondering what was going on. Her eyes were wide as saucers.
"I'm guessing this didn't exactly happen with Hinata?" I asked. Tsunade could only shake her head. Suddenly the scroll shot up a foot into the air off of Tsunade's desk, It flashed white a moment, though not nearly as bright as the cuff had. A hologram of the legendary Itachi flickered to life beside the still floating scroll.
"The Band has chosen the perfect female." His voice was smoother that Kakashi's and I shivered in slight pleasure. Itachi gazed at me, a slightly thoughtful look on his face.
"What is your name?" His attention was focused entirely on me. I held his gaze dead on, not allowing any fear or sorrow into my voice.
"Sakura Haruno." He smiled lightly.
"Ah, Yes you used to pine after my brother. Well Sakura, will you accept the proposal? Or will you allow your country to fall to war and ultimately destruction?" There was no venom in his voice only curiosity. I gazed deep into his Obsidian eyes getting lost in their depths. I blinked and fell back into reality.
"I accept." It was a no brainer, there was no way I'd allow a war to befall Konoha when I could be the one to prevent it. I felt Kakashi's hand on my back. The bands on my wrists began to burn with a white hot intensity. I jerked backward past Kakashi, clawing at the bands that were now molded perfectly to my wrists with no space between them and my skin. They cooled quickly.
"Ah, I would advise no male contact unless you want another dose of that pain. Our leader, and our organization are the only ones able to touch you without inducing that pain again." Looking up there was a rueful smile on Itachi's face. He turned to Tsunade.
"Hokage, in one months' time we shall meet where our lands border, while there our leader and your apprentice shall be wed and then we shall part and out countries will be at peace. If you should try to break our new contract in any way we shall continue our hunt for Naruto and in the process we will destroy the village without exception. Am I clear?" It was a direct yet detailed instruction/question.
"Understood." With that the Itachi hologram and the scroll disappeared. I sunk to the ground on the far wall away from both Kakashi and Naruto. Tsunade wouldn't look at me for the tears and the Sake she was chugging down from her bottle. I wrapped my arms around my legs and cried.