Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 2 – The Decision
Knock
Knock
Knock
Tsunade had just finished her third bottle of sake as she continued to ignore the knocking on the door. Each drop that landed in her mouth was like another piece of worry her head could temporarily forget about. As she bought the cup to her lips, she paused slightly, thinking about the current situation of Naruto, before downing it all in one gulp. She wanted to get really pissed…no…she had to. The thought of Naruto in hospital and Sakura saving Naruto by…
The cup that held her favourite drink of all time cracked under the pressure of her fingers, the sake spilling over her whole body while small cuts formed over her hand. Casually she tossed the cup into the corner where 20 other broken cups lay before using her chakra to heal the small wounds. She was never really good at keeping things in good condition…that is if she hadn't gambled it away already…
Damn…I'm still sober…is this actually real sake? I bet Jiraiya swapped all my good stuff for something really weak. Curse that pervert!
SLAM
"Tsunade-sama! I have been knocking on this door for ages now. Will you please put down that cup and stop drinking yourself to an early grave! You are a medic not to mention Hokage so shouldn't you know better!?" Shizune basically screamed everything out due to all the pent up anger from knocking like an idiot.
"…"
The expression on Tsunade's face told her that she hadn't paid attention to anything that she just said. Cheh…typical. Her eyes travelled to the corner where all the broken sake cups laid.
Guess I'll have to order some more soon…With the rate she's going through these cups, she won't have any money left at the end of this month.
"What's wrong Tsunade-sama? I haven't seen you go through so many cups since the whole failed rescue mission of Uchiha Sasuke."
"…I told Sakura…"
Shizune's eyes widened for a few seconds before settling back to normal. I see…I should have known it had something to do with Naruto and Sakura. But telling Sakura…
"Are you thinking that maybe I shouldn't have told her?"
"…"
FLASHBACK
Tsunade reached her office and she let her tears fall at an unstoppable rate, almost as if she decided to release the dam that held them back when she was in the hospital room. Trying to calm down her emotions she walked over to her cupboard to fish out something that would help ease her worries away. She never really considered herself an alcoholic…it was nice to a have a drink now and then but lately she has been consuming it excessively.
Knock knock
"Shisou? Can I come in please?"
Tsunade knew it would be her…she probably came to try and get her to explain what she meant by 'sacrificing her happiness' in order to save Naruto. Drying her eyes while slyly hiding her bottle of extra strong sake Tsunade answered, letting the pink-haired kunoichi in. Sakura bowed slightly before strengthening up and turning her gaze on Tsunade.
It was nice to see Sakura out of that hospital room; she definitely needed to get some rest and a bit of fresh air. She knew what was coming up next…she will have to explain everything to her. Tsunade interlocked her fingers together, leaning her forehead against them. After a considerable period of time she regained her composure. The aura of the room suddenly turned very serious and this was spotted by Sakura.
"I'm guessing that what you said in the hospital was really true. Naruto is really going to be saved. To me that's all that matters so please don't be so hesitant in telling me what I have to do in order to ensure his recovery."
"Ichimura Kei…"Tsunade stated bluntly, eyes focused on Sakura's reaction.
"Ichimura Kei…as in the Feudal Lord of the Hidden Village of the Mist? Sakura asked unsurely. "Isn't he also the leader of the Ichimura clan? Famous for…" Sakura paused…her eyes shot open. She now knew what Tsunade meant by sacrificing her happiness. "…famous for their rather unique ancient medicinal remedies which are all based on poisons..."
"Now that you understand, are you sure you want to go through with this?"
"Marriage, right?"
Sakura had met this Ichimura Kei before when he came to Konoha to try and establish diplomatic relations with the village. At the time Sakura was 14 years-old and was beginning to master some of the more advanced medical jutsus. Ichimura was rendered speechless the first time her saw her. Her beauty was astounding and literally took his breath away. Tsunade, being a medic, had on numerous occasions asked for some of his family's remedies but being the prestigious clan they are, the secrets were only passed onto the leader of the clan. At that time Ichimura had offered to break this rule and reveal the secrets to Tsunade in return for Sakura. Tsunade had outright refused. There was no way she was going to marry Sakura off to that kind of guy!
Ichimura Kei also had a reputation of being a bit of a womaniser. Coming from a family of such vast wealth and fortune, he had many wives and yet he was only 20 at the time. Who knows how many more women he has acquired in the past one and a half years? His choice of women was generally based on their beauty, although he does have a specific interest in kunoichi, in the hope of producing strong heirs for his clan. Sakura, being the student of one of the Legendary Sannin (not to mention a talented medic in training), definitely ticked all the right boxes.
"I accept."
"Are you sure you don't want more time to think about this? This is your happiness we are talking about! Don't throw it away so easily! You will regret it for the rest of your life!"
"If Naruto dies…I…I –I can't even begin to think about the degree of regret I would feel!"
"…" Tsunade was a bit taken aback by Sakura's comment.
"When Sasuke left, I was in a terrible state. I felt unloved and lonely. It was at that time that Naruto stood by me, supporting me, keeping me company. I'll be damned if I cannot save him this time! It is my turn to do something for him after everything he has done for me!"
Silence paraded the room as the woman behind the desk took some time to think about whether or not to mention a particular person.
"…What about Sasuke …?" Tsunade whispered every so slightly, unsure of what reaction she will receive.
Sakura's face flashed with pain at the mention of his name. "What about him?"
"…Sakura…Sasu –"
"He is nothing to me now." Sakura boldly interrupted, a little stronger than she had intended. "I am done crying for him…waiting for him…loving him… He chose his path and now I'm choosing mine. Chances are…I will never see him again in my life…" Sakura said with her head slightly inclined towards the floor. "Naruto is more important to me."
"Sakura…"
"You don't have to be worried about me Shiso!" Sakura spoke with such a forced smile upon her face. It always pained Tsunade to see her like this. "Who says I can't find my happiness with Ichimura-san? He is very handsome…more handsome than Sasuke-kun in fact! Aren't I the lucky one?" There it was again.
"Look at the time! I'd better get back to Naruto. He might wake up and wonder where I am. Please contact Ichimura-sama and tell him I accept the proposal. I'd better find Ino and start buying things for the wedding. Bet she will be very jealous to hear that I'm getting married before her!"
"Alright then Sakura, leave the wedding preparations to me. You have always been like a daughter to me…seeing you get married off…to me it will feel as if it was my own daughter getting married. I will pray for your happiness…Sakura."
"…" Sakura could no longer contain herself as she ran to Tsunade and enveloped her in a tight hug as she let the tears cascade down her face. The thought of leaving the village and all her friends to marry a man she knew will not bring her happiness was painful, but she knew that the thought of saving Naruto will be enough to keep her going through with the marriage.
END FLASHBACK
"Tsunade-sama…" Shizune really did not know what to say at that moment. Who is to judge whether the decision was right or wrong. Ultimately, the decision was Sakura's and if she was willing to go through with it, Tsunade should not be so hard on herself, although she too was very worried for Sakura.
"Sorry Shizune, but can I have a little time to myself?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama." Shizune lightly bowed her head before exiting the room, slowly closing the door behind her.
The next morning, the cleaners came into the office to discover sake bottles littered all over the place and a big mountain of about 50 broken sake cups in the corner of the room.
The sound of footsteps echoed through the hollow corridors of the building, dimly lit by the flickering flames placed at equal intervals along the sides of the walls. The quivering shadow of a man was projected onto a big set of wooden doors before him. The shadow loomed over the door handle with each sound of a footstep until a hand reached out and enclosed around it.
Uchiha Sasuke was sitting on a windowsill, leaning his forehead against the cold panel of glass with his mask of coolness and calm composure, seemingly deep in thought. He closed his eyes briefly before tossing a kunai over his shoulder at the sound of the door opening.
"Sasuke-kun…you should always look where you are throwing things, you might end up hurting someone, even yourself…" Yakushi Kabuto's words seemed to be laced with mockery and poison. The kunai seemed to have sliced through the top layers of Kabuto's hair leaving a clear trajectory of the kunai on top of Kabuto's head before embedding itself into the wall just outside the room. However, it seemed like the Sound medic didn't really pay particular attention to it. You wouldn't dare to kill me Sasuke-kun…after all, I am Orochimaru's most loyal follower.
Sasuke's expression hardened and he felt his fist tighten against his leg. If only I can get rid of this guy…can't wait for that day to arrive…
"Sasuke-kun, Orochimaru-sama seems to have a mission for you so you'd better run along to his chambers. You know how cranky Orochimaru-sama gets when you are late…" Kabuto smirked, staring at the large cut running across Sasuke's face as well as the bruise located near his mouth.
"Hn. You should go too Kabuto, seeing as how you have got your hair cut especially for Orochimaru to appreciate." Sasuke smirked as he walked past Kabuto, deliberately bumping shoulders with him before heading down the corridor. As soon as the Sharingan user was out of sight, Kabuto raised his hand to his hair and his anger increased tenfold when his fingers came into contact with his scalp.
Damn you, Uchiha…
"Ah, Sasuke-kun, I'm glad you have come to me so promptly this time." Orochimaru's eyes fell onto the scarred face of the Uchiha, licking his lips with pure delight. "My, my, Sasuke-kun, you should get Kabuto to heal those nasty injuries on your face. We wouldn't want your handsome face to become scarred now do we?"
"What do you want Orochimaru?" He really didn't have time to waste here as every second spent with the Sannin made his skin crawl and his blood boil.
"Tut tut. Impatient today aren't we? I'll get right to the point then since you really need to get back to some more training if you are ever going to stand a chance of defeating Itachi." Orochimaru was pleased to see that he was pushing all the right buttons as anger and fury was starting to leak through that cool façade of the Uchiha boy. The snake user really was as twisted as he looked. "Your mission will revolve around Ichimura Kei."
Sasuke stood there with a puzzled look on his face, not quite understanding where his mentor was going with this. What would Orochimaru want with that lecherous feudal lord? Sasuke had heard of the prestigious Ichimura clan, famous for using poisons to heal any ailments. He had very low opinion of the leader, a man who abused his wealth and status to get what he wanted. I bet his ancestors are all turning in their graves…
"I want you to obtain a hidden scroll from him and bring it back to me. It's that simple."
"Hn." Sasuke smirked. "You expect me to be able to steal a scroll from Ichimura Kei, a man who is highly skilled and knowledgeable in the field of poisons. I'm not stupid Orochimaru. You really think I am just going to throw my life away like that when Itachi is still alive in this world?"
"Sasuke-kun, who said anything about stealing?" A sadistic smile formed at the corner of the Sannin's mouth. "We are simply going to offer him something in return for his scroll."
"And what will that be?" Sasuke asked, losing interest in this conversation by the second. He just wanted to get this stupid mission out of the way so he could concentrate on his revenge. All these distractions were hindering him in his quest for more power.
"His bride."
End of Chapter 2
I was tempted to not continue with this story. I actually wrote this a while back but never quite got round to finishing it. I am currently in exam week and the revision was starting to get to me so I decided to edit this a bit and post it up. Still not very happy with the chapter but I have to get back to revision now.
Cheers for reading and reviews are very much appreciated :)