So this is the product of watching Pride and Prejudice in English. We were supposed to read the book too, but we ran behind schedule and my teacher gave us Northanger Abbey instead. But watching the movie, I think I'll read the book over the summer in addition to my summer reading. This story basically is thanks to my English teacher's remark about Lizzie being proposed to three times, so if you like it, thank her.
Not entirely happy with this chapter, but I figured you guys might like this. Tell me what you think and if I should continue this or not.
Key: "Talking"
'Thinking'
Flashback
Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto or Pride and Prejudice.
Mr. Darcy
Chapter 1
"Marry me."
Sakura whipped her head around so quickly, she thought she might have gotten whiplash. There, in the same street where she had been left on a bench, was Sasuke. He was looking so absolutely straight-faced that one wouldn't have known he had just proposed, but had he really? Maybe she had just been imagining it. After all, Sasuke would never talk to her and the first words he'd said to her since returning to the village eight months ago certainly would not be a proposal of marriage.
Yup, Sasuke had returned to the village at last. It was a bit later than she expected—she thought he would've come back at an earlier date and they were both nineteen now—but he had come back, even if was only because Naruto knocked him out and dragged the unconscious boy back, leaving her to deal with their injuries when they collapsed at the gate.
The first few weeks were spent in silence. Both Naruto and Sasuke's bodies had shut down from exhaustion and were comatose. The only words spoken during that time was from Sakura's own mouth and even then, it was just to read aloud their charts or to berate them for their unattractive qualities, knowing Sasuke would've never let her get away with those things had he been awake.
Of course, after he did wake up, he responded merely in nods, grunts, and the same mono-syllabic answers he gave when he was twelve. Anything longer than that was passed onto her by Naruto (she questioned whether or not Naruto had just been putting words in Sasuke's mouth), and even after their blonde friend left the hospital, Sasuke had barely uttered a sound in her presence.
Sasuke's stay at the hospital lasted three months. Though the first three weeks were spent with him in a coma and the next few weeks conscious of treatment, he spent in check-ups, he could not leave, even after given a clean bill of health.
By order of Tsunade, Sasuke could not leave the hospital. This was for a multitude of reasons. For one, few people had forgiven Sasuke for his treachery and he was certain to be harassed if he left the grounds; second, he was still considered a threat and Tsunade would have an easier time keeping an eye on him if he was relegated to an area where she had most power over; and third, he had no place to live. Though the Uchiha compound had been repaired to a certain degree after he left, there was no furniture or running water, and the paperwork would take weeks to fill in order for the place to become habitable and under the care of its sole heir should he be granted clemency (though it was no question that he would. The village couldn't afford to lose the Sharingan, after all).
Of course, his hearing was another reason for his stay at the hospital. Tsunade had explained it to her once—something about the elders of the council possibly sending assassins after him—but the way Sakura saw it, they were all used to being the objects of assassination at one point or another and she was sure that Sasuke, a missing-nin feared in three countries, would have little trouble disposing of his enemies—not to mention what Naruto would do if he found out what happened—and so, she just tuned it out and nodded with a "yes, Tsunade-sama."
At the trial, Sakura was called on to be a character witness. The entire Rookie 9 and Team Gai had been called in, as well as Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai, to speak on Sasuke's behalf. (Danzou had been one of the few to speak out against Sasuke.) And while she couldn't say that she particularly cared for Sasuke anymore—her feelings of love had turned into a bitter resentment against him in these past few years—she still valued him as a friend and teammate, even if it was nostalgia, and spoke highly of his character. Due to their efforts (mostly Naruto and Kakashi's), Sasuke's sentencing had been light: a mere two years probation from leaving the village walls as well as being under a six-month watch before he was able to start training again to become a chuunin. Suffice it to say, the council was not happy with Tsunade's decision, but she didn't care and with a flourish, stamped her signature on his sentencing papers.
After that, Sakura lost touch with Sasuke; partially due to her work load at the hospital and in the field; partially due to whatever the hell Sasuke did during his probation. They ran into each other occasionally, but passed on like strangers. They rarely spoke—Sasuke was still freakishly attached to mono-syllabic answers. Would it kill him to say something more than 'Aa' or 'Hn'?—and she probably would've lost contact with Sasuke all together had it not been for Naruto's scheduled Ichiraku-Team 7 dates, but even those events were strained at best.
Looking back, it was as if they were never friends to begin with. If anything, Naruto's friendship with Sasuke seemed to have gotten stronger, but there was always a silence between Sasuke and her. It might've been because they didn't know what to say to each other, or it might have just been because they were entirely different people from who they were before.
Frankly, Sakura didn't know if she would ever be able to forgive Sasuke for all that he'd done to her and Naruto—she had to hand it to Naruto, he was a far better person than she ever would be—but despite efforts on her part (and she suspected/hoped on his as well), that silence was there and at the rate things were between them, she thought it would remain there forever.
So when Sasuke had stopped her in the middle of an empty street to propose to her, it was an understatement to say she was surprised. Sasuke had never spoken anything beyond a grunt to her. A proposal—much less to her—was just inconceivable and she desperately wracked her brain to figure out what had spurned him to say that.
Had he eaten something strange? Was he running a fever? She was anxious to find out because Sasuke was certainly not in his right mind if he gave a declaration of love to her with a straight-face. How could he be? When Naruto asked her out a few years ago, she was sure the village would be flooded by the amount of sweat pouring off his body.
And that's when it hit her. Naruto. That idiot probably riled Sasuke up into one of their stupid arguments and dared him to do this as a prank. How else could he have proposed with such a straight face?
And so, Sakura did what any reasonable girl would've done: she refused him. Not in the long, apologetic way she would've done when she was fifteen or the sharp, curt response she would've given at twelve had she wanted to refuse him then. No, this refusal summed up who she was now: a smart, young woman too experienced to deal with this crap and would be damned if she was going to fall for it.
Lifting her head so she could meet his gaze—eye-to-eye was impossible given their difference in height—she stared him down and drew a breath. "No," she said flatly and walked off confidently with a smirk on her face. She could just imagine the stunned look on his face as she practically sauntered away when she realized something…it was Tuesday, and Tuesday was Ichiraku-Team 7 night.
'Crap, I have to see him again later,' she thought dismally.
Groaning to herself, she silently cursed every god, deity, and relative—dead or living—she could think of, and covered her face with her hand. If there was ever a time for a face-palm moment, it was now.
Chancing a look back—it was a chance. If he was still there, it would seem like she was reconsidering, which she wasn't. She didn't do that stupid saunter for nothing—she was lucky to see him gone. Sighing a breath of relief, she began to massage her temples, soothing the sudden headache that had appeared. She had to plan; plan what she was going to say, plan what she was going to do because she would certainly be forced to talk to him by Naruto during the night and god, she didn't want to do that, but first things first, she had other problems to deal with…like the fact she was late to work (leave it to Sasuke to propose to her on the way to her job).
Pushing a bit of chakra to her feet, she propelled herself onto a rooftop and set a quick, easy pace. She should've just done this instead walking in the streets. Maybe then, she wouldn't have run into him.
She still couldn't believe it though. Even for a prank, that marriage proposal was pretty low and just when she thought it was over, she'd have to deal with it again over dinner. She didn't even know where to start in addressing this little problem. Great. Just great.
And with a heavy sigh, she skidded to a halt on a rooftop for another face-palm moment when she realized the full brunt of the problem before her. Screw addressing the problem. She'd be lucky just to survive the night.
