AN This is just a plot bunny that popped in my head don't own Naruto so don't sue feel free to review if you have the time. This is a girlxgirl story so feel free to hit the back button if that does not float your boat. Also for the sake of the story Sakura is 16 years old at the start of the story because otherwise it would just be creepy, I have also made Tsundae a lot younger 32. This story is very much an AU so if you don't like that feel free to look for something else.
The Arrangement
There was not enough sake in the world to deal with how annoying and aggravating this day was turning out to be. "Lady Tsunade I know this sounds unconvential but we have all agreed that this is what would most cement the village's power and secure your position". Tsunade could not tell which gravelly voice had muttered that she was currently staring at her now empty sake bottle wishing for more to appear. She knew that if she were to look at the advisors that she would end up killing them. Not the precedent she wanted to set in her first official day as new hokage.
"I see you waited until I was sworn in to tell me your idiotic plan what were you scared that I would run screaming for the hills if you told me beforehand?" "My lady there is precedent for this as you know and more than that if you would just consider how this would benefit our region and listened fully to our proposal." God how did this happen to her she was somewhat running happily around getting drunk, gambling and then that idiot Naruto showed up, and now hear she was listening to the ramblings of senile elders.
"Yes maybe I would listen more seriously to your points if it was not for the fact that you think the best idea to secure the region is to have me marry a woman!"
Seeing that the elders had stepped back in fear Tsunade smirked honestly they were scared of her when she raised her voice, if they continued this idiotic line of thinking how would they react if she threw them out the window.
"My lady as you know you are taking over this position at a sensitive time in our village, we have just recently been attacked and the village requires large loans from the fire daimyo as well as several lords they are reluctant to give out such loans as they see us as a risky investment and unstable."
"Those old men are such fools after all this village has done to secure the country and keep their heads on their body, they won't hand over a few measly ryo's!"
"It is more than that my lady, it is the nobles and rich merchants who make up most of our revenue in missions, as you know they are very old fashioned and struggle to accept our village as strong and secure as we have a hokage who is female and unmarried."
Tsunade had taken to calling the elders twedledum and twedledee there was no point in learning the names of senile old fools after all. "If you wanted me to wed so bad why are you not suggesting some fool male, why a female?"
"My lady hokage as we have previously stated these nobles are old fashioned they fear you marrying a male would destabilize your power, as a male would have the right to take over your seat if something were to happen to you."
"Furthermore it is not a few ryo we would not be in this situation if it were, it is a few million ryo over 100 million ryo to be exact that we need to amass just to get the village stable." "We have substantial damage to our buildings, and business, as well as having our water sources impaired, not to mention all our defenses need to be repaired."
"Quite honestly my lady if we don't get the money in the next several weeks I fear and the council fears that the village could cease to exist altogether."
Tsunade knew the situation was dire when she saw the shock of long white hair come begging her to take the seat of hokage. Quite honestly the fact that the village had to resort to come seeking a woman that had been absent from the village for more than a decade was a huge tipoff, the fact that they had come for a woman in a world where women were still seen as delicate flowers was the proverbial straw.
No matter how bad Tsunade had thought the situation was, she could never in a million years fathom that it would be this bad. A world without the hidden leaf village impossible, the fact that the village needed hundreds of millions of ryo just to survive was mind boggling.
Fear shot up Tsunade's spine like an ice cold blast in winter, before she met Naruto and got her ideals back the only thing that struck fear into Tsunade was blood. That fear was different as well it was a heart pounding fear a fear that you made you feel like you were running a marathon, but yet your entire body was immobile, your mind became incapable of thought and all you could do was focus on the blood.
This fear was different Tsunade still had control over her limbs and mind but yet it felt as though she was being crushed from the inside out by thousands of people. She was in a sense being crushed the hokage carried all the hopes and dreams of an entire village, every man, women, and child depended on her to keep their home intact and peaceful.
Her dreams, hopes and aspirations did not matter she knew as long as the villagers could keep theirs. "This plan if you fear it is made by senile elders was not in fact made by us or by the other elder who is absent today, it was in fact made by one Shikaku Nara and he believes and we agree that this is what the village desperately needs my lady."
Tsunade knew she needed to take them seriously there was no running from this problem if the situation really was this dire every avenue needed to be explored, even one that could steal away any chance of future happiness that would exist for her, and whatever unlucky fool was deemed the best candidate.
"As we were saying lady Tsunade your marriage would one divert attention away from the fact that our village is recovering from an attack, and two cement the bonds between the shinobi world and the civilian world."
"Wait you not only want me to marry a woman but a civilian one as well." Tsunade could not believe that she was actually considering this the third is probably having a tremendous laugh at the huge mess he has left me to deal with.
"My lady you marrying a woman, and a civilian one at that is the only way this strategy will work." "The civilian world thinks of shinobi as standoffish and cruel, with each generation they are becoming more and more wary of doing business with us." "I should not have to tell you how missions have decreased at least 30% with each generation." "If you marry a civilian woman and not only a civilian a woman who is mix of both nobility and merchant it will show our clients that we are human and that they should not fear doing business with them."
It made sense in a weird twisted sort of way civilians led completely separate lives from shinobi even in the hidden leaf village the civilian sector and the shinobi sector were completely separate. Civilians viewed Shinobi as necessary evils like a vicious guard dog, necessary but when a better solution came about gotten rid of without a second thought.
While Shinobi viewed civilians as blithering fools who were less reliable then children. It could not in many ways be helped that shinobi had no patience for civilians when your entire career was surrounded in death and blood, the ordinary problems of a merchant seemed trivial and petty.
A healthy fear was always believed to be good it could end fights and save lives before a battle was even started. This level of fear and distrust that had accumulated between civilians and their shinobi neighbors was frankly bad for business. If it continued on the way it was even if the village managed to secure the necessary relief loans at a reasonable interest rate. There would not be enough missions coming in to pay the loan and the village would default.
A marriage between the village leader and a civilian would show both the shinobi world and the civilian world that they were not that different and both professions could work together for a common interest. It would in a sense be the largest PR scheme that the village hidden in the leaves had ever tried to pull off.
If it worked it could reestablish the village as a superpower in the five great nations, and if it didn't the village would stay the same up a creek without a paddle.
"Elders are you sure there is no other solution that you have been able to come up with?" Tsunade was proud of herself that what she had just asked did not come out as desperate and terrified as she felt inside. It came out strong and grown up and not like a terrified little girl that wanted someone to rescue her.
"Believe me lady hokage we have gone through many various scenarios and no one has been able to come up with a solution that has a reasonable chance of working as this one." "This strategy delivers the most good with the least sacrifice it is also frankly the only strategy that allows the village to maintain complete autonomy and not become a puppet village to the daimyo or some noblemen."
Looking at it now even while her heart sank to the depths of her toes, Tsunade had to agree that this was the best solution, frankly the only solution. The village could not lose their autonomy to lose it, would be the same as the village not existing at all.
Tsunade shut her eyes to steal herself for what she knew she would have to say next before she opened her mouth to give her response she sent a silent prayer of forgiveness to her lost lover.
"I agree with your assessment this does provide the least amount of damage and sacrifice and what is a hokage if not someone who would sacrifice everything for their village?"
"I know you would not come to me with this plan, if you had not already found someone you think would be a suitable candidate, so please tell me elders who is to be my future wife."
The word wife felt like acid never in her wildest dreams did Tsunade imagine herself married to a women. Although same sex unions had been legal for more than a 150 years due to a late fire daimyos beloved son committing suicide so they wouldn't be separated from their lover, and common practice for more than 100 years.
It was something that Tsunade had never considered, she had always been a strong hetrosexual woman after all, and she had only imagined herself married to one person and that person was most definitely a man.
"The woman we have chosen is named Sakura Haruno the daughter of a wealthy merchant who has ties in all five lands and also the niece of a lord who is an advisor to the fire daimyo himself". The female elder opened her mouth to speak after her male counterpart finished "Best of all my lady her parents live in the hidden leaf village their loyalty is firmly to us and she is therefore not a threat to our way of life."
As if sensing to the fact that the hokage was becoming more and more open to the idea of being married to a woman the elder slowly shuffled forward and brought out a file from their robes. The file was very innocent looking just a plain manila folder labeled Sakura Haruno in black sharpie.
How queer thought Tsunade that such an innocent looking folder would hold all the information on the one person that could save an entire villages very existence.
Tsunade was grateful to the fact that the elders held enough restraint to not commit on the fact that her fingers were slightly shaking as she moved from her positon at the window overlooking the village to open the folder. Bringing her fingers to the folder Tsunade quickly jerked the folder open and stared open mouthed at the smiling girl that was if all went according to the elders and Naras plan would be eternally bound to her.
Her eyes sparkled like emeralds if the first thought that went through her mind. Her hair was long and pink such an interesting shade and made one wonder if it was a fashion statement or a natural color.
She was in a word beautiful and her eyes retained both joy and challenge something that would be interesting to see in greater detail. However she was young at least a decade younger than Tsunade and guilt plagued her.
This poor beautiful girl would be forced to marry a woman at least a decade older than her, a woman who would probably by all accounts never be able to love her the way she deserved. To never experience the joys of intimacy because in a shinobi village taking a lover would be out of the question, what a cruel, cruel fate for one so young and full of life.
Guilt enveloped Tsunade like a cocoon because even though this girl Sakura deserved so much more, Tsunade knew that she would have no hesitation in taking away that bright future. For a hokage holds thousands of lives on their hands one civilian girls happiness for thousands of lives there really was no contest.
Picking up the file Tsunade had her breath stolen from her body she was even younger than she had previously thought. Next to age it clearly in bold ink read 16 that made Sakura a whole 16 years her junior yes the third must surely be having a laugh at the turn life had taken for his former student in the afterlife.
"The girl is so young elders surely there is someone more suited a widow perhaps?" "It seems incredibly cruel to take away the choices of one so young with their entire future ahead of them."
A shake of the head was the answer from the female elder while the male did answer her question "My lady as we said the men we need the loan from are incredibly old fashioned they would deem a union between an impure women and someone of your standing a scandal in itself." "Furthermore we need someone who has loyalty to this village and she is the only one of this age with the right pedigree that currently exists she is frankly our only option."
"If you are worried about her future remember she is the daughter of a civilian in the civilian world, arranged marriages are the norm she has been bred to accept a spouse of her parents choosing since birth."
The other elder opened her mouth to speak they must convince lady hokage otherwise there would be no village to be an elder to after all. "Also my lady civilian women marry much younger in life then kunochi woman do, kunochi woman after all wait until they have progressed in their careers, and often don't get married until late in life." "Civilian women on the other hand sometimes marry as young as 14 although 16 seems to be the most common time of engagement and then marriage comes at 17."
"You would not be taking anything away from her that would not naturally already happen lady hokage." Tsunade turned these words over in her mind the fact that the girl was young never influenced her decision, she would sacrifice one for the sake of many but the fact that this would happen anyways did fill her with some ease.
"Do her parents know of the arrangement Elders?' "We have informed them of our plan, they are happy that their family can serve the village in its time of need, they however are waiting to inform their daughter until they hear word of your acceptance of the arrangement." "They are asking if you do agree to let them break the news to her, and give her a couple of weeks to adjust to the fact that she has a fiancé."
"So lady hokage what should we tell the Harunos?"
Tsunade walked serenely over to the window again one hand was still clutching the folder that held the information of one Sakura. Gazing out at the village, the charred and battered remains of a village that in her memory remained clean and beautiful Tsunade knew her time of selfishness had come to an end.
She had more than a decade after all after Dan's death in which she had indulged her pain and grief in alchol and gambling. Now the village that her lover and younger brother had died defending needed her to serve, it was time for Tsunade to embrace the title and responsibility of hokage.
"Inform the girl's parents that I accept the arrangement and that I would like if the girl agrees to make her my wife in a years' time."
"A year my lady?"
Glancing at the elder out of the corner of her eye Tsunade replied with all the nobility her position demanded "Yes a year, we need to get to know each other after all after we are married this girls life will never be the same she should have some time to adjust to that fact. If we are officially engaged it should assure the nobility of our village. In a years' time our village should then be restored a hokage getting married will be a huge draw for clients, we need our village to look its best."
"Of course lady hokage we shall inform the Harunos immediately and arrange for an official engagement ceremony."
Strangely with these words instead of the dread and bitterness that had surrounded her since this idea had been brought up, Tsunade felt a feeling of giddiness. Yes she was being forced into a marriage she would never have chosen but she was going on her own terms. Not to mention her village would be safe anything was worth that.
Looking down at the picture of Sakura, Tsunade thought well if I am going to be stuck married to a woman, at least I am being stuck with a beautiful one there are worse fates after all.