Shizune sat stunned, mouth slightly agape and looking like someone had just slapped her with a fish, 'When he said radical he really meant it! I can't remember anything like that ever happening in the history of the five great ninja villages!' Closing her mouth with an audible snap, she tried to think of how to answer his question, 'Would Tsunade even entertain the idea? Would she be furious, or thoughtful?' Shizune could easily image the Godaime in either state, punching the diplomat through the door for daring to suggest an arranged marriage for her daughter and friend, or sitting quietly at her desk with her fingers laced in thoughtful repose as she considered all that was at stake. 'What is at stake? I don't really understand all the diplomatic details, but even I see the increasing aggression of Sound and Earth, the future of Konoha and Suna… the future could hold many deadly battles, or this alliance could prevent so much bloodshed… But could Tsunade really ask Sakura to give up her life like that?' As soon as she thought the last, she knew the answer.

"The Hokage would consider your request. We should speak to her as soon as possible concerning all you have told me." Shizune stated simply, thinking to herself, 'Tsunade will weep when sending her shinobi to the death on a mission, but if it is for the safety of this village, she will still send them. Tsunade asks shinobi to potentially give up their lives every single day. How she can live with that heavy responsibility I don't know, but she won't set it aside even for the daughter she loves.'

The ambassador let out a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding, and smiled a small smile at the young woman across from him. "I am glad to hear you say so, and truthfully, that was the other reason this meeting happened so early this morning. We can go immediately to talk to the Hokage, and have the rest of the day to discuss this business." Standing up, he politely laid down money for both their coffees and waited for Shizune to rise.

Shizune smirked, "That's a fine idea, but the Hokage isn't exactly a morning person either…"

Tsunade stood at her office windows, thrown open to let the fresh breeze permeate the room as she considered all the ambassador from Suna had proposed. She felt like she needed a good stiff drink… or ten… but couldn't in good conscience indulge the urge at the moment. 'He just had to catch me in the morning when I'm sober… Doesn't the ambassador know that all diplomacy starts with alcohol?'

However, she had to admit that Suna's extreme proposition had quite a lot of positives, and too few negatives. Along with arranging the marriage of Sakura to the Kazekage Gaara, the ambassador had requested an unspecified number of shinobi accompany her. Suna would exchange shinobi as well, as a sign of good faith, but Suna would receive the lion's share of human talent to shore up their military capabilities. All who were involved in this exchange would become permanent citizens of their new lands and answer solely to their new Kage. They would have only one standing order from their old homeland…

The ambassador leaned forward to Tsunade, emphasizing the life or death nature of this discussion with his simple words, "The only duty of the naturalized shinobi to their previous homeland would be to kill their new Kage, should they betray our alliance."

Tsunade lifted a brow slightly, asking in a soft tone, "Hanging a rather overbearing sword above each Kage's head, eh?"

It was a good system, actually, and Konoha would have more strength in place to enforce the alliance than Suna, but at a high price in talent. 'Konoha would have the ultimate sword in fact – there's probably no way to get closer to the Kage than to marry them…'

'Sakura…'

Sakura, her beloved student, friend, and now daughter. Sakura, who had grown from an average ninja to an exceptional one in the years since she became Hokage. Sakura, whose rank in Tsunade's ANBU squads was second only to her best friend Naruto. Sakura, who had confessed to Tsunade over dinner once that she had seen a family playing with their children in the park that day, and wondered if she would ever find someone to share that kind of happiness with. Sakura, who had achieved all the strength she desired as a child, but none of the love of a partner.

'Is the life of the many really worth more than the life of the few? Or the one? Can I trade Sakura's life and happiness for the lives of faceless Konoha citizens?' Tsunade felt in her heart that it might crush her to ask Sakura to do such a thing, to give her newly found daughter away after only a few short years together. 'But to ignore all the potential good that could come from this alliance, just to protect one person's happiness… As Hokage, I can't do it. I wish... desperately... to, but I can't.'

Tsunade brushed her hair aside absently and leaned her head against the window frame, 'I wonder if Naruto ever dreams of all the heartbreaking decisions that come along with the title of Hokage.' Finally decisive, she stood up straight and thought, 'I'll tell Sakura everything, and ask her to do this. But I won't order her to. If she's unwilling then it was never the right solution for Konoha anyway.'

Author's Note: Perhaps not everyone will know what sword I'm referring to above... Check out the Sword of Damocles legend on wikipedia if you're interested.

As one of my favorite quotes says, "If I do a little each day, I can gradually let the task completely overwhelm me." I think I'll try and keep moving forward, even if the chapters aren't very long. And woooow... getting reviews was amazing... Thank you all. You don't have to review for me to continue (I hate demanding readers like that), but encouragement, pointing out mistakes, or making suggestions are always welcome.