9) The Lovers
Fandom: Naruto
Characters: ShikSak, Tsunade, mentions of others
Description: "I bet you'll have an unhappy ending." There are few times that Tsunade bets right. She wishes this wasn't one of them.
Dedication: AGENT Kuma-chan
Warning: Angst, spoilers
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Characters and Naruto do not belong to me, but to Masashi Kishimoto. I am responsible for creating the situation, and the storyline only. Please do not take and use or post elsewhere without my express permission. Thank you.
Word Count: 443
Tsunade finds the lovers curled up together in the middle of a battle field. There is destruction everywhere, evidence of pain and sorrow- blood long since congealed and then dried completely. There are other bodies strewn about, torn to pieces or just plain crumbled where they were. However, it is these lovers clinging together that she can't stop staring at.
Sakura's hand holds a kunai still, a bloody blade clutched in a death-stiff grip. Somehow, Tsunade knows that the blood will be his- no, there isn't even a question. His throat is slit, after all, and it's clearly a mercy execution; the evidence is the fatal rent in his chest.
Shikamaru's expression is frozen in regret- he'd known what was coming, perhaps for both of them. By contrast, Sakura is smiling. There is a blade plunged into her back and ripped halfway up. Her murderer lays in pieces behind her; torn away by the wind itself, and Tsunade knows who came to the rescue far too late.
Somewhere behind her, the Hokage can hear Naruto's hysterical sobs. Gaara is still beside him, somber-faced and empty. And the woman can still remember the words spoken a month ago, during the first lull in the war.
"Shisho... He's everything to me. You are everything to me. Please, we want..." A quick glance at the man beside her, who isn't even trying to hide a lazy grin. Sakura grins too. "We want you to wed us, Shisho. Before we won't have the chance."
Because Tsunade knows that war brings out both the best and the worst in people, she does as they've asked her to. It is quick, and it is secret. Their only friends present are Gaara and Tsunade herself. Neither Kage seems to mind, and anyway the whole thing makes Gaara smile so it's probably okay in the end.
Sakura admits that she's glad Naruto isn't here. She has come to hate waiting, and telling him before will just delay it all.
Tsunade is so over joyed that she makes a bet, just as her gift. "I bet you'll have an unhappy ending," she confides over sake later. They laugh, and carry on. Everyone is happy.
The healer drops to her knees beside the corpses, and she cries. Part of her is aware that Naruto hasn't been told yet, and he will hurt all the worse for it later. She wonders why she couldn't have been wrong. She begs and pleads with the gods to let her wake up, because this just isn't true and she must be dreaming.
There are few times that Tsunade bets right. She wishes this wasn't one of them.
xXx
Totally came out of nowhere. I wasn't even supposed to be WRITING fanfiction during November (which is when this was written)! I had to save the rest of AGENT Kuma-chan's stuff until after the month. Kept trying to inspire me. Hope you enjoyed. Feedback is desired.
