"Naruto Namikaze, will you marry me?"
20 minutes and a lot of laughter later, Naruto and Sasuke were finally calm enough to actually start discussing it seriously. "Are we actually going to do this Teme?"
Sasuke's smile turned almost sad, "Do we have much of a choice?"
Naruto grimaced, "No. I don't think we do."
"Yeah…"
"So why do you have to be tied down?"
"In order to be on the Uchiha family council, I have to be a married man. And I need to be on the council; that way I have access to the elder files on the Sharingan."
Naruto's eyes widened in realization, "The Mangekyo, huh?"
"Basically. I'm not exactly looking forward to going blind. What about you?"
"The Konoha council. Apparently, I've said no to one too many proposals."
"At least we're on the same boat."
"This is insane Sasuke. Absolutely insane. We can't just get married!"
"Naru… Marriage isn't easy. Even if it were on our own terms. I don't know about you Dobe, but if I had to get married, I'm glad it's at least to someone I actually get along with. And frankly, you're the only person I actually get along with."
Naruto smiled shyly at her friend, "I'm glad too, could be worse. Like marrying some random weirdo who proposes to get close to my father."
Sasuke smirked, the mirth sparkling in his eyes, "Remember the poor boy from last month?"
Naruto burst out in laughter, almost choking on the ramen she was still scarfing down, "Oh Kami, I've never seen anyone run so fast in my entire life!"
The Uchiha shrugged, "That's what he gets for insinuating that he could help protect you. He; a civilian stuck-up noble. You; a jonin of the highest caliber and member of the ANBU."
Naruto wiped away her tears, "Well I appreciated your help on that little plan. He really wasn't taking no for an answer."
"What are partners for?"
"Partners in more way than one now. I can't believe we're actually doing this. We're actually getting married Sasuke."
Sasuke let out a chuckle, "It looks like we are. So, what's the plan?"
Naruto sighed deeply, "Well it has to be within two months, that's the deadline council gave me."
"So soon?"
"We're gonna have to be married anyways, what's the difference between two months or two years? Plus, you need those files Sasuke, I'm not about to let my favorite teammate go crippled."
"You're right. It's not exactly the part I'm worried about though."
Fear crawled into Naruto's eyes, "Oh Kami, how are we going to tell everybody? My Dad is going to kill you. And then Sakura and Ino will kill me!"
The Uchiha groaned, "We're not going to survive this, are we?"
"Nope!" Naruto grinned, "Hey Sasuke… Do we tell people that this… is… well you know… arranged, kind of?"
Sasuke shuffled a little in his place, "I don't think we should Naru."
Naruto stared at her friend, realizing the truth behind his statement, "I think you're right. If the council believes that I'm marrying for love, they'll accept it and stop pressuring me to create bonds with foreign delegates."
"And don't forget how everyone would react. No one would let us go through with this if they knew it was forced on us… well sort of forced."
"Yeah you have a point. Despite my father knowing I have to get married soon, he would literally kill you if he knew it was because we were both desperate. Honestly though he'll probably kill you anyways."
"My mother will also prefer me marrying for love. I'm afraid that if she thought otherwise, she'll do something drastic."
The blond Uzumaki smiled, "My mother would probably be the same."
"Your mother terrifies me."
"Believe me, your family is much more terrifying."
"Are you kidding me? Your father is the Hokage, who is convinced you'll stay a nun forever by the way, and your mother is wilder than you are."
"Your family has no emotions other than intimidation."
The two friends stared at each other for a few moments in silence, before bursting out in laughter. Their situation was just so ridiculous.
Naruto wiped a few tears of laughter away, "Hey Sasuke, will we be ok?"
Sasuke smiled hopefully, "Yeah Naru, we're going to be ok."
Minato Namikaze was the Fourth Hokage; one of the most feared men in the world, and the only ninja with a "Flee on Sight" command in the bingo books. Despite his reputation and strength, no one in the world could terrify him like his wife, the all-formidable Kushina. Ever since they met at the academy, the young hot-blooded girl would terrorize the blond as often as possible, so Minato quickly learned to avoid and run whenever the Uzumaki was in one of her moods.
So, when his red-haired terror of a wife burst into his office only a mere three hours after their sullen meeting with their daughter, the esteemed Hokage ducked under his desk and mountains of paperwork.
"Minato, I know you're hiding under the table. Come. Out. Now!" Kushina growled.
Minato chuckled nervously, slowing peeking up from his hiding place, "Yes my dear?"
Kushina stalked towards the desk, before plopping down onto the seat in front of him in anger and unconcealed frustration, "What are we going to do about Naruto? We can't let the council pressure her like this!"
The Yondaime sighed, "We've exhausted every possible option. Our daughter… is beautiful." He said the word painfully, as if the very idea of men being interested in his progeny was hurting him deeply, "She's been getting proposals since she was a genin; a genin, Kushina! The very fact that we were able to stall the council for this long is nothing short of amazing."
"I know that Minato!" Kushina exclaimed, running her hand through her hair, "But she's still so young!"
"She's a jonin. And in the ANBU. As much as I hate to admit it, our daughter is a woman."
"But marriage? To some random guy none the less? Naruto deserves romance, and love, and a fairytale ending! She deserves a love like ours! Not an arranged marriage to some merchant's son in Suna!"
"Do you think I wanted this!? Naruto is my little girl! The last thing I want is to get her married, especially now. But if we don't, then all of Naruto's dreams, all of her hopes, aspirations and struggles would be gone to waste. If Naruto doesn't get married within the next two months, she will never be Hokage."
"This isn't fair."
"I know Kushina… I know."
"So, whose head do you think will implode first; my fathers or yours?" Naruto asked, taking a lick from her ice-cream cone.
Sasuke chuckled as they walked side by side in the forest of death; their favorite place to train and hang out. No one ever went there other than them; after all, no one was suicidal enough to ever get caught in the middle of Raven and Fox's training sessions. "It's hard to say. Perhaps it would be simultaneous."
"Perhaps. So Teme, how are we going to do this?"
Sasuke gave a sound of acknowledgment, before replying, "Well, we need to tell everyone soon, that way the wedding will be able to be ready in two months."
"True. So we'll have to get our families in the same room together in order to break the news. I was thinking you could convince your parents to invite my family over for dinner; since our moms are friends- which makes this whole thing easier by the way."
"It's our fathers who don't get along. It should be fun."
"Very fun. Now we just have to decide on what to actually tell them."
"You see I've been thinking: we'll just keep it simple. We're friends and have been getting closer. We've been seeing each other for a while now, and that's the reason I never went on any of those Kami-annoying blind dates my mom has tried to set me on, and why you never gave any of those proposals any thought."
Naruto smiled at the raven-haired boy, "That's perfect. But our parents still think we hate each other, and it's not like we can tell them that we've been ANBU partners for the last four years. Other than my dad, no one can know our identities."
"We can just say that we struck up an odd friendship at the chunin exams, which is true, and that ever since, we've been put on a lot of missions together because of our complimenting skill set."
"And father would have to back us up because he has sent us on countless missions together; just as Raven and Fox instead of our actual identities. Brilliant."
Sasuke smirked infuriatingly, "Aren't I always Dobe?"
"Oh shut up Teme."
Itachi was a smart man. He knew very well that his title as a prodigy was well-earned, and so he himself knew to trust in his own intelligence. Itachi also knew his brother very well. So when Sasuke came home later than usual with an odd smile on his face, Itachi knew something was up.
"I heard about your discussion with father this morning."
Sasuke turned to look at his perceptive older brother, "Which discussion?"
"The one about the family council."
"Hn."
"Sasuke, you know that if I could give you the scrolls you needed to help your eyesight, I would, right?"
The younger brother looked at Itachi in gratitude. It wasn't Itachi's fault he couldn't access the files. After all, only those who have activated the Mangekyo could read the files pertaining to them, and Sasuke is the only Uchiha in over a century to be "blessed" with those accursed eyes. "I know brother, I know. But it doesn't change the fact that unless I become a full member of the council, and soon, I will go blind."
Itachi winced at the painful reminder of his brothers' fate, "Just… Please try to be careful, ok?"
"When am I ever not careful? I'll be fine brother; I promise."
