[14th-March-2016 Edit: this chapter has been through the spring cleaning process and re-uploaded. The pre-existing author notes is a casualty of my inner war.]
Anyway… Sakura is 20 years old right now, just so you know. Also, sorry about the length of this first scene. The story will pick up, promise. For now, enjoy! ;P
For reference:
Senkage: I got the "Sen" from the Japanese word senjō that literally means "battlefield". Appropriate I thought. Makes me think "fighting shadow", lol. (Kage means "shadow", 'case anyone's confused.)
…
Chapter One: Fate Intervenes.
...
A long time ago, there had only been five great ninja nations, the lands of fire, wind, earth, water, and lightning. But in recent years, the land of sound (often referred to as the land of rice fields) had obtained a military strength to rival the powerful ninja countries, and so had been officially recognised as the sixth great nation. As a result, a Kage was appointed as the ninja leader of the village. His name was Imaro Namena and had been singlehandedly responsible for Otogakure's rise to joining the ranks of the greater nations. Upon his death his replacement had been his grandson, Ketsu Takashi. Everyone knew Ketsu had been killed by A, the Raikage, but not many people knew the invasion of Otogakure by Kumogakure ninja that had led to the death of the second Senkage had been the result of Ketsu's underhanded dealings. He'd been lining his pockets while letting Otogakure fall into disrepair, therefore leaving the village open to attack.
But Otogakure's dark past was ending, and in the wake of the appointment of a new Senkage, they were prospering.
This war, which had been going on for half a decade, had divided the great nations. Alliances were made, treaties signed; Konohagakure had immediately allied with Otogakure, Sunagakure joined forces with their allies from Iwagakure, and the final two hidden villages Kumogakure and Kirigakure were joined with a similar accord. And the smaller countries that were also home to ninja had been completely swallowed in the wake of the initial hostilities.
A new treaty had been signed, decisions were made, and it was the pronouncement that Konoha and Oto were about to be joined together in a way they never had before, that led to the current festival-like atmosphere in the village hidden in the leaves.
The celebrations had gone on well into the night. The sky over Konohagakure was alight with fireworks, with the sound of laughter and a peaceful contentment that came with full bellies and blissful ignorance. What did they know of the sacrifice that had gone into this night, and this celebration? They only knew that this war had gone on long enough and perhaps with the recent engagement that some sort of peace talks could form. But they also had to know that nobody was going to ally themselves with a nation that looked down on them. Oto had been allies with Konoha since before the war, so falling in step along with them had been easy. But the rest of them? No, there was no way they would easily give in to the proposed peace talks.
Sakura Haruno had no faith in the honour of the other great nations. As the night wore on and she grew more and more restless, she found the sunrise to be a sight sorely missed. As a Kunoichi, she'd spent many missions travelling to other places, but not since becoming a Jounin had she watched the sunrise with Konoha bathed in the orange tint of the early morning sun. A new era in the land of fire had begun, with this sunrise a hopeful sign of things to come.
She hoped the other nations decided it was time to bring the killing to an end.
Sakura finished watching the sunrise, standing on the patio of these temporary accomodations (she was excited by a completely different festivity this morning), and then turned around to find that her best friend had snuck in to have a last minute "talk" with her. She still needed to decide between wearing a gorgeous lavender dress for the wedding or a sleek black number to match her mood. She ran a hand through her short hair, pausing momentarily to grasp the ends.
"Naruto," she said scoldingly, "you're not supposed to be in here."
This was a room set aside for the dress and makeup of the "important" female guests. The bride was already ready, in an adjacent room, with her family. Naruto Uzumaki glanced in the direction he knew they were, and then focused his bright blue eyes on his best friend, a cheeky grin lighting up his handsome face.
"I know Sakura-chan, but I wanted to see my beautiful best friend one last time as a single man."
Sakura giggled softly. "In that case, you can help me decide what to wear."
He baulked. "Didn't you have your dress picked out days ago?"
She nodded her head, feeling emotional now. "I changed my mind about that dress. It didn't compliment me."
Naruto sighed, screwing up his nose. "You mean you had a wardrobe crisis and threw it out, right?"
The pinkette nodded her head and tears started to form in her emerald eyes.
"Sakura?"
"I'm sorry Naruto, I just wanted to look good for this. Not to steal the show of course, but I didn't want to show up in something hideous and ruin everything."
The tears were pouring out now and the blond embraced her.
"Sakura…"
"I'm being stupid, I know."
He shook his head. "Nah, chicks are always tearing up at weddings."
She giggled again. "At the wedding Naruto, not in the changing room."
He laughed, pulling away and squeezing her hand. "Come on, let's get you dressed."
They were incredibly comfortable with each other, having grown up together. They'd never dated, viewing each other too much like a sibling, but had seen each other naked, which was a confusing concept to wrap their heads around without the embarrassing memory burned into their subconscious. It was a mission, there had only been one bathroom… no more need be said.
The dress Naruto helped Sakura pick out (there was a rack here her next best friend Ino Yamanaka had had set up, knowing she was in need) was champagne coloured, with simple tassel-like trimmings and a matching shawl. She still felt like she needed to wear something black, so slipped into dark high heels and picked up the black purse she'd brought along when she thought she might wear a black dress. The material felt so delicate she worried it might tear, but the slip was at least comfortable against her skin.
Naruto admired her. "You look beautiful."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "You're not marrying me, dobe."
The reference to that nickname sobered the air. There was someone missing from today's celebration. He was still in Otogakure, and the pinkette missed him intolerably. He was a Konohagakure emissary and had been in the land of sound for several months. When he returned, Sakura intended to insist he never leave her again. His absence was another reason she was so down today. There was no way he'd return to Konoha just to watch Naruto get married. The two were currently not talking to each other, and the raven haired man knew how to hold a grudge.
In an effort to lighten the mood, Naruto started bobbing up and down, earning himself a grin from the pinkette.
"Let's leave before the bride exits the adjacent room, shall we?" Sakura asked, offering her arm to the blond.
He took it and she half dragged him out of the room. This building was taller than the smaller structure next to it – the latter held the Shinto shrine in which Naruto was about to lose his freedom. They ambled down the staircase, and strolled into the waiting room to the side of the entrance in the Shinto building only to find that they were the first ones to arrive. The Shinto priest came in a moment later, sorted some last minute details with the groom, and left hurriedly.
"He's more excited about this than you are," Sakura said.
"Well, I am the son of the fourth Hokage," Naruto said cheekily.
"You're getting married," Sakura told the bobbing blond. "Stop acting like a four-year-old."
Naruto grinned maniacally. "Yeah, yeah Sakura-chan, like that'll ever happen."
She smoothed out the material of his montsuki haori hakama unnecessarily. He was so clean shaven, smelt so good, and had the overall look of a civilised man, that she hardly recognised him. She giggled at that.
"At least you're admitting it."
He shrugged, now listening intently for the imminent arrival of the rest of his friends and surrogate family. Sakura went silent also, her gaze drifting out the window and to the light hint of dew on the glass. It was a few minutes before the blond realised she was upset again.
"Please be happy for me Sakura," Naruto said softly, trying to stare into her eyes as she continued to look away from him.
She gave a deep sigh and nodded, forcing a smile onto her face and locking eyes with him again.
"I am happy for you Naruto. I'm just…"
She trailed off and he knew what she'd wanted to say. He took her hands in his and kissed her fingers softly.
"Teme will be back Sakura. Even he's not so stupid as to let you down when it matters most." He paused, and then grinned. "Believe it."
She chuckled softly, smiling for real now; it was still a very sad one though. Watching Naruto excited about his imminent wedding vows, despite the fact that this was an arranged marriage made her grateful that her future would be of her own making. The blond wasn't marrying some ugly harridan or anything at least, and Sakura was happy for them both. He was the son of the fourth Hokage. The last of his clan, the last of his family, and this union was going to be good for Konoha. This made Naruto happier than Sakura had seen him in a long time.
His bride had been chosen by the Hokage herself, since Naruto had no family left, and the legendary Sannin felt like he was her own anyway. Tsunade had chosen well, with a little help from certain people of course. Sakura trusted them both on this. She grabbed Naruto and threw her arms around him, ignoring the fact that they were both well dressed and well groomed. She was in danger of creasing the smooth, silky material of her dress. Because she wasn't expected to do anything at this wedding, as the best friend of the groom, she felt confident in opting out of the traditional kimono. This wasn't her day after all.
"I love you Naruto," she said, nuzzling his neck and feeling emotional again. "Never forget that, no matter what happens."
"Are you planning on attacking me again Sakura-chan?"
She laughed. "No, you baka. But I will change my mind if you don't stop bobbing up and down. It's incredibly distracting."
He stopped moving. "Oops, sorry."
She pulled away as the sound of people entering the building reached their ears.
"Are you nervous?"
He nodded mutely. She sighed.
"Naruto!"
The voice belonged to master Jiraiya, Naruto's godfather and the man who singlehandedly tamed the Hokage. He was forever doing things to piss her off, but over time she'd decided to give him a go (but still refused to marry him). The blonde didn't want to settle down, in any way.
"I'm too young", she had cheekily told Sakura, as though the pinkette hadn't known her real age – that vanity jutsu of hers notwithstanding.
"Pervy sage." Naruto nodded to him, and for once, the Sannin ignored the jab.
"Well, well," the pervert said. "How are you feeling?"
"Better than you will be when granny finds out you came with a date that wasn't her."
Naruto motioned playfully to the Shinobi who'd followed the pervert into the room.
"Very funny, Naruto," Kakashi Hatake said, holding the recent edition of Icha Icha, but not reading it.
He nodded to both of his former students. His eye twitching as he surveyed what Sakura was wearing.
"Sakura!" Jiraiya yelled, as though just noticing her. "You look beautiful! Are you going to get married next?"
"Come on Jiraiya," the silver haired Shinobi said lazily. "Out of here before we have to cancel the wedding due to structural damage done to the building."
Kakashi had noticed the clenching of Sakura's fists and half dragged the older man away.
"See you inside," Jiraiya called over his shoulder.
The pinkette lost all her anger and sighed. Naruto ignored the previous tension as the rest of his friends entered the waiting room: Kiba Inuzuka slapping him on the back and congratulating him, Choji Akimichi embracing him gently (a reflection of his happiness and kind nature), and Shikamaru Nara smiling slightly despite his reluctance to partake in such a troublesome show of affection. They looked so grown up, all in their black suits, and ready to have photos taken of them at a moment's notice.
The blond glanced back at his best friend, noting that Sakura hadn't been able to hold back the tears after all and gave her a goofy grin, trying to cheer her up. He waved her over.
"Come on Sakura, you're not getting out of this."
There was no more reason to delay now. Traditionally, the actual wedding was performed only in front of family, friends, and co-workers, but this was a wedding that had all six great nations talking, ally or not, and officials from all over the land of fire as well as the land of sound had wanted to be a part of it. It was only after several tantrums from Naruto and drunken threats from Lady Tsunade that said officials agreed to only attend the reception (kekkon hiroen).
Everybody except for the bride and her father filed into the Shinto shrine and took their places. Kakashi stood next to Sakura and she nervously took his hand in hers, entwining their fingers for comfort as the bride eventually entered.
Hinata Hyuuga looked beautiful, no stunningly beautiful, in her shiromuku (white kimono). She was literally the most beautiful bride Sakura had ever seen and she felt herself crying the instant she laid eyes on the Hyuuga heiress as Hiashi accompanied her. Nearby, Hanari Hyuuga held Hanabi's hand, watching her eldest daughter tearfully; Neji and his parents, Hizashi and Nami Hyuuga were next to them, both men impassive while Nami teared up (a male Hyuuga trait… and freakishly inherited by Hanabi anyway).
Sakura cried the entire time. She did so quietly, squeezing Kakashi's hand every time either Naruto or Hinata glanced furtively at each other. How had she missed that? This wasn't just some arranged marriage for them.
'No wonder Naruto was so happy. Why didn't he tell me?'
Maybe the idiot assumed she knew, or just "forgot".
They kissed; Sakura had to refrain from crushing Kakashi's hand. He ignored the renewed squeeze that would bring a lesser man to his knees in pain, but his eye twitched nonetheless. Once they moved to the reception, Sakura finally let go of her ex-Sensei's hand. The kekkon hiroen was fun and for a while, Sakura forgot her own troubled, sombre love life, and danced with each person who asked (even Kiba). Once the happy couple had left, after many hugs and well wishes, Sakura walked away from the building, still feeling emotional. Weddings did that. She went home, changed out of the dress, remembering to take that back to Ino's house later, and rested for a while.
She didn't dream, and awoke shortly after noon, feeling miserable. Where had the morning gone? Sakura decided to take more aggressive action in her own happiness. Watching her best friend marry someone he was clearly smitten with had helped her realise she wanted that too. Every young girl wanted a perfect, fairy tale wedding and today, Hinata had gotten that.
Sakura jumped out of bed, dressed in full ninja gear (which was expected even around the village) and left her apartment, remembering to place the seals over her windows and door. She needed to see Lady Tsunade. She needed an excuse to take a mission and go to Otogakure.
…
He found himself watching the celebrations without taking part. It wasn't for the greater good, of this he was sure. How could anything that only strengthened the bond between Konohagakure and Otogakure be good? There was some sort of engagement, and having heard snippets of people talking about a wedding this morning, the man believed the bride had been from Otogakure. But seeing the people file into the Shinto shrine, he was surprised to see she was actually a Hyuuga.
Not that it mattered.
The man was only here to keep an eye on her. If he could get close to her, over power her, and take the pinkette away from here, he was certainly authorised to do so. His master wanted her. Sakura Haruno was the renowned medic that trained under and surpassed the legendary slug queen Lady Tsunade. But the idea that this slight of a woman had surpassed even her own Hokage was a stretch of the mind the man could not imagine. She was attractive of course, and that dress she'd worn definitely complimented her figure – a well-toned body that got the blood pumping south, definitely. But looking at her, he couldn't see the strong Kunoichi he'd heard so much about. She was crying of all things.
The man shook his head, disgusted.
A medic: that was all she was, some girl who had become a formidable medic rather than an acceptable Kunoichi. That was what he believed at least, seeing her emotional outpouring while more seasoned Shinobi stood stoically. But Sunagakure was in desperate need of a formidable medic. There wasn't much time left, and this war was dragging on for too long. If he could just get the pinkette back to Suna, then his master would take it from there. His master, Gaara Sabaku, was the strongest of the hierarchy in Sunagakure and his reputation alone scared most people into submission. It would be a piece of cake to convince this insignificant Kunoichi to do what they needed her to do.
Getting impatient, the man cast a henge on himself, grabbed a festival mask, and mingled with the party goers. It was morning, but not early, and the excitement of the wedding was still lingering in the air. Many civilians were still wearing the masks they had brought for this occasion, so he blended in nicely. Of course, these civilians were also suffering from hangovers or extreme fatigue from staying awake throughout the course of the night.
It was tradition in Konohagakure for the night before a wedding (especially such a high profile one) that the village would stop everything to celebrate. They took such events very seriously, funnily enough, with the next few days promising to bring out the lethargy in the civilians and slowdown in the ninja community. It was one straw short of continuing the celebration, as far as the man was concerned. But it made him smile slightly, despite himself. He was walking amongst the enemy, searching for a well-known Kunoichi (who had disappeared into the crowd after departing the Shinto building) to kidnap and take to another country, and yet suddenly feeling like he'd been a part of the night's festivities. He didn't let it affect him however, his eyes scanning the area through the slits in his mask. He wasn't familiar with her chakra signature, but fingered the photo in his pocket; it was of her from her Genin days.
He didn't need it now of course, having spotted her in that dress and knowing now what she looked like grown up. The pink hair was a definite give away. He would be lying to himself if he didn't admit she was a tempting piece of eye candy. But no, he was on duty.
The man decided to check out the ninja residential area and when the sun was at its peak, he spotted a flash of pink hair. She was in ninja gear now, and jumping from rooftop to rooftop, heading in the direction of the Hokage Building. He followed her without jumping onto the nearest building but quickly entered the Hokage's place, skirting through the shadows, noticing that (probably due to the celebrations) there was nobody around. The Hokage's office was higher up. He found the door easily, remembering that a Suna ninja had interrogated some civilian from the land of fire for information on something trivial only to discover the civilian had been a periodic visitor to the Hokage Building.
This was how the man knew where he was going.
"Sakura, are you sure?"
The voice belonged to the Hokage. The man employed the strongest genjutsu he knew; it was his specialty (which was why he was specifically chosen for this mission). The two women on the other side of the door didn't hear him slip through an already open adjoining door to get closer. He could see them now.
Sakura nodded her head. "I need to go."
Tsunade sighed. "Well, I guess with the baka getting married and Sai and Yamato both indisposed on other missions starting tomorrow, I could send Kakashi along with you."
"No, I want to go alone."
"Sakura!" Tsunade scolded. "Never! We are still at war, or have you forgotten? Every ninja who leaves this village must be escorted, you know this."
The pinkette lowered her head, and her shishou lost her aggravated tone.
"I'll assign a squad of ANBU and a few special Jounin to go with you."
"Thank you, shishou."
"Oh don't thank me yet Sakura. When you arrive in Otogakure, I need you to pass a message onto that ridiculous excuse for a Senkage." The older woman grumbled. "Thinks he can just skip out on the wedding of the century. I know him – he didn't want me to pummel him for encouraging Jiraiya…"
She rambled on while Sakura waited patiently. Tsunade eventually calmed down.
"Give me time to get the team members ready for you, and the paperwork on the ANBU that the idiot council wants me to do from now on." The Hokage scratched her chin softly. "And no matter what, you willcome back by the end of the month, got it?"
The man moved away as the pinkette was dismissed, and unfortunately, Sakura quickly ran into some short haired brunette outside of the Hokage's room, deciding to join her friend who was about to go for an early lunch. The pinkette spent the rest of the day in the company of others, making it impossible for the man to get her alone. So he resolved to not trying to grab her. He needed to find out her intended route and send a message back to Suna. This capture was going to take more than one Shinobi sneaking covertly into Konoha could handle.
…
The sand Shinobi had been travelling for days, heading through territory controlled by Konohagakure. But instead of the usual route, they intended to intercept an entourage of leaf ninja who were on their way to the land of sound. They needed to cut them off before the Konoha Shinobi crossed the border. Their route took them close enough to Konoha though, and they had to deviate slightly so as to not come up behind their quarry.
Any Shinobi worth their salt would soon realise they were being followed, so intercepting them from the west was the best option, or at least the one they'd managed to agree on. Still, this would put them dangerously close to the land of sound before intercepting their target, but it couldn't be helped. Less than ten minutes behind the sand Shinobi, another group from Suna was following in their wake. This was to prevent ambushes yes, but it was also back up; there was no telling which ninja the Hokage had sent to accompany Sakura Haruno.
The sand Shinobi were ANBU level, and a part of a special unit that combined high levelled tracking and assault capabilities. Their targets were always high priority. A quick message from their spy in Konoha and they found themselves having to personally take charge of this mission. There was too much at stake to let the star student arrive at her destination.
Unfortunately, one of the ninja in the leaf group had the Byakugan. That long brown hair was a trademark – he was in the bingo book. Neji Hyuuga was the most powerful member of his clan for generations, for his age of course. The ANBU tracking squad barely had time to set up their ambush before the entourage accompanying Sakura Haruno spotted them. Mia, the leader of the sand ninja, was also the cousin of the sand siblings (the nickname known far and wide for the children of the Kazekage). She was the strongest in her immediate family (father and mother), but no match for a high levelled Hyuuga like Neji, let alone her red headed cousin. But knowing that another squad was right behind them, she attacked the enemy with everything she had.
Sakura could hold her own, beating into the enemy with chakra enhanced fists and deflecting thrown kunai with her own weapon. Neji activated his Byakugan and used his Hakkeshō Kaiten (the rotation technique). The fight was coming up good for them, but the clinking sounds of metal hitting metal seemed to have hastened the arrival of a second squad of sand ninja: it consisted of four special Jounin plus the older siblings of the infamous Gaara Sabaku. The pinkette hit a female sand ninja, sending her slamming into a tree. The blonde female in the new group looked especially pissed off at this, making Sakura wonder.
She moved into a new stance, the Konoha ANBU holding their ground as the blonde sand Kunoichi sent an unbelievably powerful gust of wind at the pinkette. Sakura forced chakra to her feet, trying not to get blown away. This was an extremely powerful jutsu! A one eyed weasel had erupted from the woman's iron fan and the strange looking man next to her called out.
"Oi Temari! We need her alive, you idiot!"
"Don't call me an idiot, you freaky kabuki face painted loser!"
Sakura gawked at them as they argued. They were siblings, insane, and after her!
"Neji," she murmured, as the first sand squad were all knocked out.
The Hyuuga nodded to her and then indicated to the leaf ANBU who had accompanied them. It was only them and Neji who had accompanied Sakura. She'd insisted to the Hokage that a larger party would only draw more attention, and got her wish. Now she was kind of wishing she'd relented and brought the rest of Neji's team with her. He'd insisted on coming, his Byakugan constantly keeping an eye out, and having noticed the enemy before the sand ninja could get the drop on them.
'Thank Kami for small favours.'
With her allies out of the way, Sakura slammed her fist into the ground at the same moment the siblings stopped their bickering.
They really shouldn't have both come out. They hadn't let their guards down however, and jumped out of the way of the destruction Sakura had just caused. But the sand ANBU who had been much closer were not so fortunate. Feeling proud of herself, Sakura did not notice at first they had another visitor.
"It's about time you got here," Kankuro said, his lips twitching as he struggled not to smirk at his younger brother.
The red head had his eyes trained on the pink haired Kunoichi, his expressionless face reminding her of the one she loved on her boyfriend. She shook herself out of this reverie and positioned herself, ready to fight, with Neji standing nearby, in a Hyuuga fighting stance. But it was all for naught.
A wave of sand crashed down, tearing down trees, and sweeping the leaf Shinobi out of the way. It cut them down, leaving them bleeding and battered as it lashed out, streaming toward the lone Kunoichi. The siblings of this man that Sakura suddenly realised was the infamous Gaara Sabaku, stood quietly, just watching her as she evaded the sand. It had gone for Neji first, torrents of the stuff erupting out of the ground beneath him, negating his most powerful trigram attack. But to his credit, he lasted longer than the ANBU who were targeted after he was.
Those lavender eyes turned to see Sakura rolling out of the way of more sand and bleeding and knocked backwards hard, away from the battlefield, he could only watch. He tried to activate his Byakugan, but a stinging sensation shocked his body as he tried to use his chakra. His vision blurred, but he saw the sand wrap itself around Sakura's body, like a lover. He couldn't help her, fighting his own fatigue. It wasn't even a long battle! He had more fight than this! He couldn't comprehend the exhaustion that was claiming him.
Sakura saw him fall and cried out as the sand squeezing her body held her firmly.
Gaara appeared in front of her in a flurry of sand and stared intently at her, his eyes raking her body. He was expressionless, but a slight twitch of the corner of his mouth indicated what he was thinking about. The pinkette couldn't fight anymore, surprised by her lack of energy, and closed her eyes (though not unconscious, yet).
She could hear what the sand ninja were saying as they relaxed, their mission complete.
"I don't think she's your type," Kankuro teased, noticing the way his brother was staring at the Kunoichi.
Temari chuckled slightly, her eyes raking over the barely contained expression on her baby brother's face. The sand ninja ignored that this conversation was not going unheard, not caring that there was still a conscious leaf Shinobi watching and listening, even though he could barely keep his eyes open. He felt like a failure, watching how easily the red head had taken control of the battlefield; he assumed this was the renowned son of the Kazekage. No-one had ever beaten him in battle.
He still felt like a failure.
Neji closed his eyes as Kankuro opened his big mouth again.
"Well if you're done here," he said cheekily, "why don't we bring our new friend home, shall we?"
Gaara ignored his taunting, lifted the pink haired Kunoichi effortlessly using his sand, then turned, and disappeared into the darkening forest, forcing his siblings to collect their fallen comrades before followinghis lead.
…
XXX
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A/N: Reviews, reviews! Oh how I love thee! What's just as good? Guessing what's going to happen, that's what. Bring it on! ;P
This was just the beginning… of course. The wedding was always going to happen here, just not in so much detail, so sorry if it seemed to drag on. I wanted it this way. Even though I opted not to put "mystery" on the genre, so much of what I put into the chapters has an underlying purpose. ^_^
R&R
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