title: Helen of Troy
summary: AU drabble. The night Naruto proposed, she fell in love with another man.
pairing(s): Naru/Saku/Sasu
dedication: To Thanksgiving (thank you to Thanksgiving, haha :D), turkeys, and waking up at one o'clock in the afternoon.
word count:

a/n: Hi . . . uh. Yeah. Sorry for the absence. I know it kind of sucks nowadays, SasuSaku authors leaving FFnet left and right. I won't abandon you guys, really. I will simply be off somewhere for a . . . pretty long time.
I'm really sorry about not updating. Things . . . happened recently. :P Many small things and a huge one. I won't trouble you with the details, but I will try my best to write as much as I can. No promises, though, because I'm bad at keeping them . . .
(Also, Sasuke, Not Uchiha will be my priority, for SNU fans out here. I haven't forgotten about that.)

About the story: There are a lot of versions of what happened to Helen and Paris. Some say Helen went to Paris voluntarily. Others say she was raped. At the very least, I'll try to keep it PG-13.

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Two

Without hesitation, Paris chose Aphrodite as the fairest of goddesses.

In return, he was granted the most beautiful woman in the world.

-o-

". . . and then he knelt on the ground and proposed," Sakura finished.

She had to hold the phone away from her ears as Ino squealed loudly.

"Oh my god, that is so romantic!" Ino said. "Who knew, that doofus would know how to charm a lady's heart this way!"

"Well, he already charmed my heart a long time ago," Sakura said laughingly.

"Psh, he didn't even need to charm you. You guys grew up together from elementary school to college. Remember Kakashi, that perverted homeroom teacher?"

"Of course I do," Sakura said drily. "I still see him every day on my way through Jiraiya's shop."

"God, just think about it. Soon, you're gonna be Mrs. Sakura Uzumaki . . ."

The name prompted a funny jittering in her stomach.

". . . it's like a romance novel! The prestigious but poor scholarship student and her childhood best friend turned lover." Ino sighed longingly. "Wish I could be as lucky as you."

"I thought you didn't like Naruto very much."

"Nah. That was back in high school, when he acted like the biggest doofus in the world. And then he became valedictorian."

While chatting on the phone, Sakura checked the clock on the kitchen wall and remembered that it was broken a long time ago.

"Hey, Ino, do you know what time it is?" she suddenly asked.

"Huh? Oh, it's . . . seven-thirty. Why?"

The toast Sakura was holding dropped to the ground.

"I'm supposed to go to my new job today," Sakura said frantically, pulling on her socks and jacket. "I planned on going early . . ."

"Ooh, yes, I forgot about that. Good luck! Hope you meet a cute guy there!"

"Ino!"

-o-

As Sakura waited for the man in front of her to finish talking to the receptionist, she thought back to how lucky she was, to land a job in Uchiha Corps of all places.

It was quite strange, actually. One day, after oversleeping, she had gone to a beauty salon before an interview. Cyprus Beauty and Health, though expensive, was famous for its quick fix-ups.

Halfway through a speedy (but flawless) makeup, a lady with red hair asked to speak with Sakura. The lady, who later introduced herself as Karin, told Sakura that she was offered a job in Uchiha Corps. Sakura had been completely bewildered.

She remembered Karin laughing and said, "Oh, stop worrying. You don't believe me? Go see the Uchiha Corps website for yourself."

By that time, Sakura was already late for the interview. She went back to her apartment angrily, swearing to never go to Cyprus ever again. But not long afterwards, she followed Karin's advice, just to have something else to curse the woman about.

To her surprise, there her name was, on the homepage even:

Personal Secretary to President, Sakura Haruno

When Sakura inquired about this strange occurrence over phone calls to the company—perhaps this was all a freaky coincidence; Haruno wasn't an uncommon name—the receptionist simply answered, "Your job starts at the end of October. Be there on time. The president hates late-comers," in a tired and annoyed voice.

"Excuse me, ma'am? Are you in line?" a soft voice spoke.

Sakura was startled back to reality. The people behind her grumbled quietly, and Sakura sped-walk to the receptionist hurriedly, almost colliding with an angry, stomping man with long hair.

The receptionist's name was Hinata, as spelled out on her name tag. She smiled, a little tiredly, and asked, "Sakura Haruno?"

"H-how do you know?" Sakura asked.

"Well, my boss told me there would be a pink-haired woman named Sakura Haruno coming here today," Hinata said. "I'm guessing that is you?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes."

"Take the elevator over there—next to the marble stairs, yes. That elevator will take you straight up eighty-five floors, where the president's office will be. Here is a key," Hinata said, handing Sakura a card. "Use it to open the elevator. There's a slot on the side."

"Thank you." Sakura looked at the key for a moment, staring at the bright red UCHIHA printed on the plastic. Then, realizing she was holding up the line yet again, Sakura blushed, bowed for thanks, and headed for the elevators hurriedly.

But Hinata's voice stopped her.

"W-wait! Miss Haruno—I—S-Sakura!"

Sakura turned around, fully expecting Hinata to tell her that there in fact had been a mistake, that of course Sakura would not given this job by a completely random woman under completely random circumstances, a private secretary to the president nonetheless . . . Briefly, she briefly wondered if Naruto's pranking streak from elementary school had come back . . .

Hinata was standing from her chair, ignoring the sour-faced man in front of the reception desk. She stared at Sakura with something akin to fear.

"Excuse my forwardness, but . . . is t-that—Are . . . a-are you wearing a ring?"

Sakura blinked. "Yes. I-I mean—yeah. Yes. This is an engagement ring." She held up her left hand.

Something dawned to Hinata then, it seemed to Sakura, though she had no idea what it was. Hinata straightened her back and bowed, in a complete poker face.

"I apologize for my rudeness, Miss Haruno. It is very nice to meet you. Please look kindly upon me from now on."

"I . . ."

It was then that Sakura decided to let it go; she was going to be late if she fussed over everything in the world. If things were going to be weird, let them be weird.

"Please . . . please look kindly upon me as well."

Hinata smiled. "Also, good luck."

At the very least, it seemed like Sakura had made a friend.

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