The Lady or the Tiger?

OneShot

SasuSaku

Once in a far away land there lived a barbaric king by the name of Sasori. He had a daughter, yes, and he loved her even more than the cruel trial he had for criminals. The people loved him, though and they were always at the trials just to see what would happen.

The trials were held in the king's arena. There were two doors on one side of the arena and on the other the accused walked out of a door. In the two doors there was either a beautiful lady or a hungry tiger. If the accused opened the door with the lady he was instantly married to her whether he had a wife or not. If he opened the door with the tiger he was torn to shreds and eaten.

So the people either got to see an exciting and beautiful wedding or a man torn to shreds. Either way they were entertained.

Now, more about his daughter. She was a beautiful woman of the age of only 16. She had long locks of wavy pink hair and eyes like emeralds. She was only half as barbaric as her father and a temper to be reckoned with which leads to the beginning of her story…

"Sire, I brought captive the princess from the country you had us destroy," a man in a military uniform said, bowing to his king.

"Bring her in, General Sasuke" Sasori said, motioning for him to bring her in.

"Get in here," Sasuke snarled as he pulled on a chain that led to her shackles that bound her wrists. The princess came in and nearly fell when he tugged on the chain. When she stood back up she stuck her nose in the air.

"Princess, what is your name?" Sasori asked.

"Princess Ino of Earth Country," Ino snarled.

"General Sasuke," the king's daughter said, arrogantly as she strode into the room.

"Princess Sakura," Sasuke said.

"Hello, father," Sakura said, turning her attention to her father and doing a curtsy. Her father nodded.

"Now, General, why won't you give the princess of Earth a nice room. We wouldn't want our guest to be uncomfortable," Sasori said.

"I hardly want your hospitality," Ino said, glaring at the king.

"Show your king some manners," Sasuke growled, pulling on the chains and jerking her back some.

"Ha, General Sasuke, you should know something about manners," Sakura mocked.

"What are you implying?" Sasuke asked as Sakura grabbed her father's sword and held it up in a defensive position, aiming it at Sasuke. She swung it at him and Sasuke quickly got his sword out and blocked.

"You should know," Sakura said as they kept blocking and thrusting. Sasuke eventually cut the princesses cheek and she looked offended.

"Enough! Stop with the bickering. Now I'll take the princess to her room and you two find some common ground," Sasori said as he took his sword from his daughter and Ino to her room.

"He's gone," Sasuke said as Sakura ran into his arms. He brushed a hand through her hair.

"Should he find out about us I wouldn't know what he'd do," Sakura said, hugging the general.

"He won't find out," Sasuke said as he passionately kissed her on the lips.

Later Sakura was walking through the palace looking for Sasuke when she saw him talking to the princess of Earth. She hid behind the wall and looked over her shoulder while glaring at the princess. Sakura took a deep breath and walked over there.

"General," Sakura said as she made her way over there. Ino immediately left once noticing Sakura.

"Sakura," Sasuke greeted.

"Why were you talking to her?" Sakura asked, glaring at him.

"It was nothing. Just a simple chat," Sasuke said.

"So you don't loveher?" Sakura spat out.

"No, Sakura-chan, I love you," Sasuke said, stroking her cheek. At that moment the king came into view.

"Father!" Sakura said, in shock.

"Your majesty," Sasuke said, bowing in respect.

The king was furious. General Sasuke had committed the worst crime there possibly was. Falling in love with the king's daughter. Sasori didn't want his daughter to marry of such low status. She had to marry a prince. Not some commoner.

"Guards! Take him to the prison. His trial will be held one week from today," the king said as guards took Sasuke off. Sasuke gave Sakura one last look before being dragged off to the prison.

"Father! That was hardly fair!" Sakura complained.

"You should know better. Falling in love with a commoner!" her father scolded.

"You do not choose who you love," Sakura stated, boldly. Her father gave her the hardest glare she had ever seen.

"Get out of my presence!" her father yelled as she left to go to her room.

Sakura stayed in her room for a while, taking deep breaths and trying to calm herself. Eventually she had enough courage and she walked out of her room and went to see her father. She saw him and was about to announce herself but then she saw he was with one of his friends and highly valued right hand man.

"I want you to find the most fierce tiger in all the lands," she heard her father say.

"Yes, Sasori-danna, but what about a maiden, un?" her father's friend, Deidara asked.

"Find the most beautiful and eye capturing maiden," Sasori said. Deidara bowed and left the way Sakura was.

"Sakura-chan, un?" Deidara asked, mildly shocked.

"Deidara-sama," Sakura said, bowing.

"What are you doing here, un?" Deidara asked.

"I was going to go speak with my father. He's talking about the trial for General Sasuke isn't he?" Sakura asked and Deidara sighed.

"I'm not supposed to talk about it, un. Listen, I've got to go. Bye, Sakura," Deidara said as he left to find a maiden and tiger. Sakura then walked in and bowed to her father. He nodded and she looked back up at him.

"Father, I am sorry for what I said earlier," Sakura said and he nodded.

"All is forgiven, my precious Sakura. You'll be at the trial sitting next to me as always, no doubt?" Sasori asked.

"As always," Sakura said as she bowed again and walked out of the room. She took a breath and did what no other person has ever done. She went out to find out which door the maiden would be in and which one the tiger would be in. She even found out who the maiden was. Not even the king knew which door or who would be behind it.

Now Sakura had a tough decision. General Sasuke would, no doubt, look to her during the trial wondering which door to choose but should she point to the door where the lady was or where the tiger was? It seems easy enough, right? Wrong.

Sakura found out who the maiden was and she hated her. It was Princess Ino. Sakura did not want her lover to be happy with thatwoman! She absolutely detested her. Then there was the tiger. She also didn't want to see Sasuke torn to ribbons by the tiger. All that blood and gore made her stomach churn.

It was the day of the trial and Sakura had made up her mind about which door she would point to for her lover to go to. She walked to the arena where there were already thousands of people and she sat right next to her father. After about five minutes of waiting the arena was full and everyone quieted down. The far door opened and Sasuke came out facing the two doors he would pick from.

He walked to a spot in front of the king and bowed his head but wasn't looking at the king. He was looking at Princess Sakura. He knew that she found out which door the maiden was and which one the tiger was. People who share their souls know that stuff.

Sasuke whispered, "Which?" only loud enough for the Princess to hear. She made a small signal to the door on the right and Sasuke walked over there and opened the door without hesitation.

Which door did he choose? That is up to you. The lady or the tiger?

Fin

This story I actually didn't come up with. It's based on a story some dude wrote years ago. I just went to see the play and thought it was pretty cool so I added some stuff that the guy didn't have in his story like the king's best friend. The characters in his story were the king, his daughter, the other princess, and the general so I added some. But the ending was the same! Hope you enjoyed! Love you all!