I so happy i can finally update.
I hope you enjoy the story.
Disclaimer : Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
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Haruno Sakura stared blankly at the sheets that covered her as she sat on her bed leaning against her pillow. Her large luxurious room stayed dark behind the heavy curtains that were drawn close to stop any light from entering the room. The birds chirped loudly singing their morning songs, but time had stopped in her room and for her it was still the night that had crushed her dreams.
Her bed and floor was scattered with napkins that she had used to wipe her tears for the past few days, and the trolley of food lay untouched at the foot of her bed since last night.
An elaborately decorated scroll lay open on her bedside table.
The reason for her tears.
It had arrived a week ago and since then it had been resting on her bedside table. Untouched but not forgotten.
She slowly turned her head to glance at it for the umpteenth time. Neat calligraphy spelled out the name of her beloved and another foreign name next to it.
Uchiha Sasuke…Uzumaki Naruto…
It was a wedding invitation.
Uchiha Sasuke…
She felt a painful lump in her throat and she tried to swallow it.
Sasuke…
Squeezing shut her puffy red eyes she let a soft sob escape her throat. A tear ran down her swollen cheeks that looked rosy from all the wiping.
Every time she looked at it her heart shattered into a million pieces.
Sasuke…
She knew this day was coming. She always knew. Yet, it hurt so much.
And she only had herself to blame.
Before she knew, she was already in too deep. She was already dreaming impossible dreams. She was already lost in her fantasy.
She was already in love.
Sasuke…
She loved him.
Oh, how she loved him.
And it wasn't fair. There was nothing she wanted more. There was no one she loved more. There had never been anyone she had thought about more than him.
She had worked so hard to be perfect for him. Hoping that maybe, maybe, he might look at her just once. And maybe that could be the start of something. Just maybe.
She was dreaming about their life together. She would be the perfect wife for him. Be there for him after his tough missions. Make him his favorite dishes. Prepare everything before he could even ask for it. She knew all his likes and dislikes. She would take care of him and spoil him. She would do everything and anything.
Where had she gone wrong?
In falling in love. In hoping for it. In building dreams on clouds. In hoping for a miracle. That's where.
Uzumaki Naruto
Another sob escaped her lips and she looked away from the scroll.
The boy bride.
More tears ran down her face as she thought of how lucky he was and…
…how unlucky she is.
How happy he was…
…and how unhappy she will be.
And yet she couldn't hate him. She could only hate herself.
This was not her story. She wasn't a part of the prince's life and he was never hers.
She covered her face with a napkin and sobbed uncontrollably.
She wanted the pain to go away. She didn't want to hurt this much. She didn't want to feel this way.
It hurt.
It really hurt so much.
Take it away…take it away…take it away…take it away…take it away…please…
And yet…
She didn't want to let go.
Why was it not her story? Why was the prince not hers? Why did he deserve him and not her?
Where had she gone wrong? What had she not done?
She deserved this. She deserved this more than that bride.
Sakura stopped her sobs and lifted her head. She took a deep shaky breath and wiped her tears.
She didn't want to let go.
And she wouldn't.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Deidera poured some tea for Itachi as they sat in the king's personal garden right outside Itachi's room. Sasuke had joined them for tea today since he had a few things to discuss with Itachi and was rolling up the scroll that they had been working on.
'Tea, Sasuke?' Deidera asked lifting up the pot.
'Please.' Sasuke nodded and put the rolled up scroll aside.
'Where's Naruto-kun?' Itachi asked, taking a small sip from his cup.
'He's been with Iruka-san the whole day.' Deidera said, passing Sasuke his tea.
'They could've joined us for tea.'
'I did think about that, un,' Deidera nodded. 'But I think they needed some time together. They haven't been able to talk to each other properly since Naruto's arrived.'
Itachi just nodded.
'Oh and before I forget, the carriage ride is tomorrow Sasuke, so please don't keep any meetings in the morning.'
'Hn.'
'Don't 'hn' me, this is important. The people need to see their prince's bride.' Deidera said pouring some tea for himself.
'Hn'
Smack!
'Okay, I heard you.' Sasuke smirked. An annoyed Deidera was always fun to tease.
'Have you arranged the security for tomorrow, Sasuke?' Itachi asked, a small smirk spreading on his own face.
'Yes, nii-san.' Sasuke nodded. 'Kakashi's in charge.'
'And he's okay with that?' Itachi raised his eyebrows.
Sasuke nodded.
Itachi silently took a sip from his cup and said. ' Put someone else in charge.'
'Why?' It was Sasuke's turn to raise his eyebrows.
'Because Iruka-san will be there.' Itachi explained calmly.
'Ah.' Sasuke nodded in agreement. 'okay, I'll talk to him tonight.'
'You know,' Deidera scrunched his eyebrows. 'I know Iruka-san and Kakashi are not in good terms, but I never got to know why. Even you've avoided talking about it much.'
He accused Itachi, who looked at Deidera for a while and sighed as he placed his cup down.
'It's not my story to tell, Deidera.' Itachi explained. 'And you know how private Kakashi is.'
'Exactly.' Deidera shrugged. ' And that's why I'll never know. How can I help him if I don't know.'
'He will not want any help.'
'Because he thinks he can handle it himself, which I highly doubt he can since it's taken him years to settle this matter.'
'It's because he's left it in the past.'
'See! He's given up. He needs our help.'
'Deidera.' Itachi's tone had a slight hint of a warning.
Deidera opened his mouth to say something again, but settled for a sigh. He knew better than to argue with Itachi when he was being this stubborn.
'Deidera's right.' Sasuke said, putting his cup down. 'Kakashi needs our help.'
'Sasuke-'
'He doesn't know it, but he does.'
Itachi looked at Sasuke and then at Deidera who were watching him expectantly. Kakashi would probably hate him for doing this, but Sasuke and Deidera were right. He needed their help, to either fix this or end this for good.
'Kakashi is not going to be happy about this.' Itachi sighed. Sasuke nodded and Deidera's face lit up in expectation. Both of them watched Itachi eagerly, all ears.
'Kakashi…' Itachi paused, looking reluctant, but continued again, ' When he turned 18, the council had sent him to Konoha to assist them in their chunnin exams.'
Sasuke and Deidera listened carefully.
'When he came back…he told father that he wanted to get married and that he had chosen a boy bride for himself.'
'A boy bride?' Deidera's eyes widened. 'But he's the only son.'
'He is,' Itachi nodded, 'and that's exactly why the council was not very happy about it. They wanted him to get married to an Uchiha lady from a noble family. So even when father, though a king, had given his consent, he stood alone against the council.' Itachi poured himself another cup, knowing this was going to take some time.
'Even the king does not have the power to make changes in Uchiha traditions.' Sasuke explained to Deidera.
'So father couldn't help Kakashi with this.' Itachi nodded again. 'I remember the council trying to introduce him to a lot of girls after that, but he refused to meet them, and they finally started to panic because they wanted Kakashi to produce an heir.'
'At the age of eighteen?' Deidera looked at Itachi disbelievingly.
'Kakashi is a national treasure.' Itachi explained. ' They had high expectations from his heir.'
'And another reason for me to hate the council.' Deidera frowned.
Itachi chuckled. Deidera never got along with the council, and the council was not very fond of him either.
'It was when the council decided on a girl for him, without his consent, that Kakashi finally snapped.' Itachi continued. 'He threatened the council that he would accept the Hyuuga's offer to join their force and leave the land of wind if they did not allow him to marry the boy bride.'
'Sounds very much like Kakashi.' Deidera giggled.
'The council was helpless against such a threat.' Itachi said, smirking. ' They had taken his loyalty for granted, but he was too valuable for the country, so without thinking any further, they agreed. Father had immediately asked for the boy bride's hand in marriage, but the bride had a few months to go before he was of legal age to get married, so Kakashi had to wait until the boy was 16.'
'I knew he was a pedophile.' Sasuke almost rolled his eyes.
'He was just 18 himself.' Deidera giggled. 'It was young love.'
'He only had to wait for 2 months.' Itachi said. 'But after a month, the boy sent Kakashi a message, a request rather.'
'A request?' Deidera leaned forward.
Itachi nodded. 'A request to adopt a child and bring the child with him to the land of wind after the marriage.'
'That was a fair request.' Deidera tilted his head.
'Yes, but the child was already 10 years of age, without any basic shinobi training. The council didn't find any advantage in bringing up a child like that in the palace, so there was a massive disagreement between them and Kakashi.'
'Those old hags and geezers.' Deidera grumbled.
'But, of course, Kakashi had the upper hand no matter what.' Itachi shrugged. 'They couldn't afford to lose him, so they agreed again. But after another month, just when it was time for Father to go and meet the Hokage formally for the marriage, the boy bride called it off.'
'What, why?' Deidera asked.
'We don't know.' Itachi shook his head. 'The council forbade us to contact Konoha with this matter any further, taking the rejection as an insult to the royal family. We couldn't convince them otherwise and they refused to talk about this matter any further, saying it was a huge mistake to begin with.'
'Something must've happened.' Deidera bit his lower lip.
'We don't know, Kakashi never talked about this matter after that.' Itachi took a sip of his tea.
'And what's Iruka-san got to do with this?' Deidera asked, taking a sip of his own tea.
Itachi looked down at his cup and paused for a moment.
'Iruka-san was the boy bride.'
'What?' Sasuke and Deidera looked at Itachi with wide eyes.
'Wait, wait.' Deidera placed his cup down. 'If Iruka-san was the boy bride then the child…'
'Naruto.' Sasuke said slowly.
Itachi nodded. 'Iruka-san wanted to adopt Naruto-kun and bring him here. Perhaps Naruto-kun wouldn't have been a boy bride had Iruka-san not called off the marriage.'
Sasuke and Deidera were both silent, and Itachi sat back calmly and waited for them to process all that information.
'Does Kakashi know it's Naruto-kun? Deidera asked.
'He does.' Itachi said and gave a small smile. 'And he's also aware that Naruto-kun could've been his son had things gone well.'
Deidera nodded.
'I thought Kakashi wouldn't be too keen on meeting Naruto-kun,' Itachi smirked. 'But he seems to want to get to know him.'
'He's so obvious.' Deidera smiled sadly and Itachi hummed in agreement.
'Right.' Deidera said a little loudly and sat up straight. 'We need to do something about this. We need to come up with a plan!'
Itachi and Sasuke sweat dropped as they looked at each other warily. Deidera loved playing the cupid, and sometimes things ended up in a bigger mess than it already had been in.
'Let's not do anything for now.' Itachi said carefully. 'We don't know Iruka-sans side of the story.'
'Yes.' Sasuke quickly agreed. 'Lets not rush it.'
Deidera pouted and looked at the two brothers suspiciously.
'Fine.' He sighed. 'But lets not wait too long or it'll be too late.'
'Okay.'
'Hn'
Itachi and Sasuke relaxed in their chairs, completely unaware that Deidera had already given their little mission a name. He fought back a giggle and poured himself his third cup of tea.
Mission: Icha Icha !
Fighto !
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Naruto was lost, he was sure of it. He had passed the same courtyard thrice even though he had tried every direction. Iruka had told him to take one of his maids with him, but he wanted to find the prince's room on his own. Feeling completely lost he walked into the courtyard hoping there would be another passage on the other side.
He walked up to the small fountain in the middle of the courtyard and paused. Deciding he was a little tired he sat on the bench next to the fountain and looked around. Someone would surely pass by, right?
He relaxed against the bench and closed his eyes. The sound of the water flowing in the fountain was very soothing, he could get used to it. He vaguely wondered if there was a fountain like this in the prince's quarters. So far he had only seen the library and the training room, but he had heard from the maids that the prince's quarters was the largest after the king's.
Speaking of which, he wondered where Tenten was. She was a maid in the palace, but he hadn't come across her yet. It would've been nice to have her around in the prince's quarters, but the apparently the prince was very particular about who entered his quarters.
It somehow made him feel special that he was allowed to stay there.
His lips broke into a small smile.
And he was also allowed to use the prince's personal library.
'This is quite a lovely sight.' Naruto jumped hearing the voice coming from behind him. A tall man with half his face covered in bandages appeared from behind the fountain and walked up to him.
'My apologies.' The man bowed his head and smiled. 'I was just passing by and couldn't stop myself from walking up to you.'
Naruto gave the man a feeble smile, feeling very suspicious.
'I think I have frightened you.' The man gave a low chuckle and Naruto's skin crawled unpleasantly. 'Please, allow me to introduce myself, I am Danzou.'
For some reason Naruto couldn't bring himself to talk to this person. He looked behind the man at the entrance to the palace. Why didn't this place have guards?
'Perhaps you will allow me the pleasure of learning your name?' The man smiled at him expectantly.
Naruto didn't want to be rude. He didn't know this person, for all he knew he could be someone important and he didn't want to offend anyone in the palace.
'Naruto.' He said meekly. 'Uchiha Naruto.'
'Uchiha?' The man raised his eyebrows in surprise. 'It is a pity we have never met. Perhaps you are a relative of his majesty?'
Naruto shook his head. 'I am an Uchiha by marriage.' He explained.
'Of course.' Danzou nodded. 'And he's a lucky man to have such a beauty for a bride. Perhaps I know him?'
'I am his highness, prince Sasuke's bride, sir.'
The smile on Danzou's face dropped and his expression became thoughtful.
'I see.' He said in a low voice and smiled again. 'His brother has chosen him a lovely bride. I apologize for my absence at the wedding. Had I known that the bride would be someone as beautiful as your highness, I wouldn't have missed it for anything.'
Naruto awkwardly smiled back, feeling very uncomfortable with the way the man was complimenting him.
'Perhaps I could interest you in a tour around the castle? The prince must be very busy lately, and your highness seems to be lost.' Danzou said, offering his arm for Naruto to take.
Naruto looked at the arm reluctantly and shook his head.
'Thank you, that's very kind of you,' He managed to fake a small smile, 'but I need to hurry back to the prince's quarters. I've been away all day.'
'Well, in that case, please allow me to escort you back to his highness's quarters.' Danzou pressed. 'He wouldn't want his new bride to end up in the wrong area of the palace. There are some areas where a young bride shouldn't be found-'
'Your highness!'
Naruto felt a wave of relief wash over him when he spotted Miko-san calling him from the entrance behind Danzou.
'Your highness, the prince has been very worried.' Miko said, looking relieved herself at having found Naruto.
'Thank you, sir.' Naruto said, giving Danzou a slight nod. 'But please don't trouble yourself, the prince seems to have sent someone to fetch me.'
'Of course.' Danzou smiled at Naruto and lowered his arm. 'Until we meet again, your highness.'
Naruto gave another small nod and hurried towards Miko-san.
'Your highness.' Miko-san smiled at him. 'Should we return?'
'Yes.' Naruto quickly agreed. 'Yes, please.'
'We should make our way out of this area as soon as possible, your highness.' Miko said as she hurriedly led Naruto through the corridors. 'We have the council's office and study here. They are not too pleased when we enter this place.'
'Oh.' Naruto nodded. 'And who was the gentlemen in the courtyard?'
'He is Danzou-sama, your highness.' Miko explained. 'He was in charge of the anbus before, and now he is a member of the council.'
'I see.' Naruto said, feeling relived that he had not acted in any way that would've been offensive.
'But it's best if your highness avoided frequent interaction with him.' Miko said lowering her voice. 'Sasuke-sama and Danzou-sama are not exactly very fond of each other.'
'Aren't they related?' Naruto asked, trying to keep up with Miko's pace.
'Distantly, your highness.' Miko nodded. 'On our late Queen's side.'
'Oh, Okay.' Naruto nodded. He had no problem in avoiding that man. For some reason he had felt very uncomfortable in his presence.
They walked for quite some time, which made Naruto realize how far he had actually walked away from the price's quarters. They finally reached the prince's room and Miko opened the door for him to walk in first.
'Please rest a while, Naruto-sama.' Miko smiled at him. 'Sasuke-sama will not be joining your highness for dinner unfortunately and has asked me to tell your highness that he will come to take you to join Deidera-sama for breakfast tomorrow.'
'Thank you, Miko-san.' Naruto smiled and nodded.
'Thank you, Naruto-sama.' Miko-san said as she bowed. 'I will bring you your dinner in a while after you have rested.'
She walked out of the room and closed the door. Naruto slowly walked to the bed and took off his outer robe. He neatly placed it at the foot of the bed and taking off his slippers climbed on top the large bed.
He felt good after spending the day with Iruka. It seemed like it had been ages since they had last spent such a leisurely time together. He decided that he would like to do this often. At least once a week.
He could've done without having to meet the strange creepy gentleman in the courtyard though, but as long as he avoided him he would be fine.
He buried his face in the soft pillow and before he knew it, he was drowning in a deep peaceful sleep.
Yes, he would be fine.
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