I am officially not on my break anymore. At least, with the update of this chapter. XD Hope you guys didn't wait to long this time around! Still don't have a beta, so please bear with my grammatical and plotical mistakes for the time being! I promise I'll try my hardest!
Enjoy the chapter!
Upon entering the main city of the Uchiha Kingdom, Sasuke had forced Sakura to get off her horse and walk. With a scowl on her face and her hands tied securely behind her back, she trudged forward in her dirty clothes to greet the cheering citizens of her enemy kingdom.
Sakura was careful to keep her eyes on the floor she walked on, but it was a futile attempt at avoiding the audience's sight. Out of the corners of her eyes, she saw how some people responded to her first appearance in the Uchiha Kingdom; some stared at her in confusion, others pointed and singled her out (most likely because of her pink hair), and the rest whispered behind their hands.
To the pink haired girl's utter contempt, she also managed to spot a few females who were wildly waving their hands at her captor. Well, it was to be suspected that a prince had his own fan club in his own country. Still, this did not stop her from glaring at those particular girls and hating their guts from the moment she neared them. Who was she kidding? These were citizens of an enemy kingdom who worshipped her captor; of course she was going to despise them. (No, it had nothing to do with the fact that they were screaming like a bunch of idiots for Sasuke.)
Haruno Sakura continued to trudge down the main road after Sasuke, who pulled her along from his horse by the use of a chain. After what seemed like an eternity of passing by less than hospitable residents of the Uchiha Kingdom, she found herself in front of the living quarters of the man who had given orders to kill her first dragon. Now, even that dragon's only offspring was in the care of a higher ranking officer in Sasuke's army after being leashed and tied up. Although it was the creature's fault for following them and disobeying his master's orders, Sakura could not but help worry over him when she overheard them talking about a dungeon.
As she neared the giant double doors of the throne room, however, Sakura felt more concerned about her own safety. The exquisitely decorated and polished wooden doors were opened slowly with a creak as they approached, showing an equally elegant room within.
The crew now consisted of Sakura, Ino, Sasuke, Chouji, and Kakashi, but there were other people in the room that would add to the list. Lined up to the right of Uchiha Fugaku were Naruto and Shikamaru, both of whom were denying themselves the satisfaction of greeting the new arrivals. To his left and to the shock of the new group, were the Sabaku Siblings. They quietly shuffled to stand before the king, however, and waited patiently.
It was silent until Fugaku spoke. "So?" He looked expectantly at Sasuke, who later grudgingly spoke.
"The hostage exchange went smoothly," he bit out. "We acquired Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura, and her dragon in exchange for Hyuuga Hinata."
Fugaku did not reply right away to this. Instead, he raised his hands before his face and pulled off a thinking pose that his sons inherited from him, covering the smirk that was making its way onto his face.
"Is that all?" he asked amusedly after a while.
Sasuke found this extremely annoying, although he could not pinpoint exactly why it caused him to grind his teeth together in anger. Instead, he stayed silent while he recomposed himself. Once he was calm, he asked, "Is there a problem?"
A full on smile etched itself onto Fugaku's features. He carefully kept his gaze focused on his son as he spoke his next words. "No," he stated, "not at all." He paused here, sitting up straighter on his cushioned throne and placing his arms back on his armrests. Once comfortable, he turned to face his left and gestured towards the royal siblings in a sweeping motion.
"I would like to reintroduce you guys to the Sabaku Siblings." At his greeting, the two groups' eyes met and they warily stared each other down. "They have agreed to an alliance with us while they were in captivity."
Bewilderment reached Sakura's face as she matched their faces with their name. Weren't they allies with Konoha and the Hyuuga Kingdom? They had not met her gaze yet when she was thinking this. Didn't Tsunade-shishou tell her that Sunagakure was on their side? Anger was making its way to the surface. Traitors…
"In fact," Fugaku continued, snapping Sakura out of her reverie, "to show their commitment to this new treaty, our new ally recently paid us with his services."
Sasuke had a sinking feeling that this had something to do with his last battle against the redhead. After all, the first thing on the trio's to-do-list should have been to cancel out their bumpy first encounter.
"I am disappointed that you did not mention the appearance of yet another dragon in your life, Sasuke." In reality, he sounded exactly the opposite of disappointed. "It leaves me wondering just how much more you are keeping from me."
At the mention of a dragon, Sasuke and his crew's ears perked up. Their surprise increased as Chouji stepped forward and asked, "That-… That dragon belongs to Sabaku no Gaara?"
At the moment, the redhead was looking down upon them with a frosty stare, challenging them to oppose him now with the knowledge that he was a Dragon Rider. His siblings simply remained silent by his side, although they, too, looked lethal.
"He sent his dragon as aid on my request."
Sakura's mind was unfocused as she tried to process these words and try to think of an escape plan at the same time. The hate she felt for the king was overwhelming and she did not know how much longer she could go without snapping. For the moment, she tried to calm down and think things through, keeping her mouth tightly sealed.
Fugaku was still speaking as he observed everybody's reactions to the surprising news. "Unlike other dragons, his dragon is able to obey commands and communicate with him from extraordinarily long distances."
Although he was not paying a speck of attention to Sakura, she felt like he was specifically hinting at Kaoru's recent rebellion streak. Heat crept up her neck and onto her face as she started to feel ashamed and embarrassed of the difference between the two dragons' levels of training.
"Then why didn't he attack us with his dragon when we first met?" Sasuke asked, taking up Gaara's challenge. Their eyes met before they started a glaring contest, neither of them backing down easily.
"He was on an errand," was Gaara's stony reply. His eyes closed momentarily—either as a sign of defeat or as a sign that he was tired and could not care less—and shifted to the left.
His older sister shifted her weight to her right foot before saying randomly, "It was a good thing, too. Imagine being beat up by a dragon on a first encounter." She laughed quietly to herself. "It would not have looked good on the whole alliance thing."
"It's blondes like her that give us a bad name," Ino muttered distastefully from behind Sakura's back to Chouji. He nodded slightly to satisfy her, but did not express any other opinion.
"Anyhow, they will now be aiding us in our battle against the Hyuuga Kingdom. Sasuke, I trust that you will include these three in your meetings with the others from now on," Fugaku stated, signaling the end of the brief meeting. "You may all return to your rooms for some rest."
And with that, they were dismissed from his throne room.
Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji's walk to their rooms was silent. Their rooms were, of course, located next to each others', so they were all greeted by Ino's four servants when they reached their floor. The atmosphere surrounding them was tense as Ino dismissed the girls.
"I have to talk to Shikamaru for while before my bath," she said quietly, avoiding their gazes. The four girls left silently, although a bit hesitant at first.
The remaining three people stood awkwardly for a while before Ino cleared her throat.
"Aren't you busy, Chouji?"
The well-rounded fellow took the hint and casually excused himself, which now left Ino and Shikamaru standing quietly in the middle of the hall.
"Your room or mine?" he prodded gently, even if his voice and stance was still lazy. He knew what to expect from the blonde, so he was not going to tempt her into doing anything rash.
The blonde princess answered this with a terse, "Yours."
Shikamaru sighed softly, so that his fiancé would not hear it, and simply opened his door. However, he did not make it past the entrance without freezing.
"Apparently, mine is occupied, too," he stated with a slight hint of nervousness to his voice.
Ino looked over his shoulders and seethed inwardly. There, lounging on his bed with a book in hand, was the blonde she had discreetly insulted in the throne room just minutes before.
"What's she doing here?" she accused immediately.
The slight strain on the second word did not go unnoticed by the two people in front of her.
Shikamaru, having things suddenly dawn on him, took a slight step away from Ino and called her name warily. He said nothing else, waiting for Ino to cool down, but it did exactly the opposite, for she looked up at him with a sudden fire in her eyes.
"How dare you?" she hissed.
Amusedly, Temari watched the drama unfold before her eyes form her spot on the bed, taking note of how Ino was clenching her fists.
"You are supposed to be my fiancé!" Ino continued. "I can't believe this!"
Shikamaru successfully contained the wince that was itching to grace his face; Ino was finally cracking.
"I go to the Hyuuga Kingdom because you ask me to, endangering my life, only to come back to find you cheating on me!"
Ooh… ouch, Temari mentally cringed.
"I end up becoming a hostage there, and after weeks of being in danger, I show up at the hostage exchange and you aren't even there!" Ino seethed. "Was it too troublesome to come ensure your own fiancé's safety while she was being exchanged? I was hoping that you would have at least sent me a letter, or something!"
Shikamaru watched in horror as tears started to escape Ino's eyes.
"Instead, you don't even give me a proper greeting when I finally see you, and now you have another girl in your room!" She was on the verge of ripping her hair out. Her lungs were starting to burn with all her yelling.
"Calm down, Ino," Shikamaru advised, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Instantly, Ino slapped the hand away and continued yelling. "Don't tell me to calm down! I have every right to be screaming at you, and if you take away this right, so help me, I will murder you and your whore!"
Temari was snapped out of her entertainment at this last comment. "Excuse me?" she asked, looking offended with her hand on her chest and her head reeled back.
"You heard me!" Ino shouted, not backing down at the older girl's presence although the tears were flowing even more now. "Any girl who goes after a guy who is ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED should be considered a whore!"
"Why you little-"
"That's enough!"
The firm statement snapped both blondes out of their anger induced frenzies, drawing their attention to Shikamaru and away from each other.
"Ino," he said in a much quieter yet harsher tone. "I have no idea why you're screaming right now."
Ino was getting ready to shout all her reasons again when Shikamaru quickly continued, his voice steadily rising as well.
"I sent you on the mission because I felt that it was time for you to learn some valuable life lessons. I'm sorry you were caught, but that wasn't my fault. You believe that I didn't think of that possibility before I sent you? You know me better than that…" He was on a roll, hissing in his deep voice and saying anything that just popped into his head.
"As for the hostage exchange, I hold no blame over it either! Fugaku-sama held me back so Naruto and I could deal with the Sabaku Siblings-!"
"Is that how you deal with things now?" she demanded, leaning forward to challenge him.
"No!" Shikamaru shouted suddenly, causing Ino to shrink back. "You're going to let me do the talking from now so that I can show you you're wrong!"
Ino took this moment to recollect her thoughts and regain her breath, listening silently to Shikamaru's rant. She sniffled occasionally, her tears still pouring.
"I carried out my orders and arranged an alliance with Sunagakure! I'm sorry I wasn't there to pick you up, but there were more pressing matters at hand and I was needed here!"
Ino emitted an inaudible gasp at his choice of words, trying desperately to withhold her streaming tears.
"You never asked for a letter before! How was I supposed to know you wanted one? I didn't even know how to greet you, so I was waiting until we were alone, and you just start freaking out on me! Everything I did was for both our countries, but you're screaming at me about it! How do you think I feel now? Can you see why I think girls are so troublesome now?"
The veins on Shikamaru's neck disappeared as he rested his throat, his deep breaths loud in the silent and tense room. He could not take his eyes off Ino's now that his first major argument with her was drawing to a close.
For a moment, the only sounds heard in the room were that of Shikamaru's panting and Ino's sniffling. Offhandedly, Temari disrupted this silence with a flip of a page in her book.
Ino's lips trembled, but she was determined not to bawl in front of her two most hated people at the moment. "You know what?" she asked after a while, done with glaring at Shikamaru. She took a deep breath, wiping away her tears and sniffling once again before straightening up and saying, "Everybody's wrong about you."
Shikamaru took a cautious step forward, surprised at how small her voice was suddenly.
"Stay away from me!"
Instantly, he drew back, but not before Ino took back a step of her own.
"They think you're the smartest person on earth…" she muttered, her eyes unfocused and shifting to Temari every so often. "…but they're wrong." She took another step back, hands trembling and fumbling to get a grasp of the door handle. Her legs tensed for a moment, preparing herself for a sprint to her room, and her head shook from side to side in disbelief of what was currently happening. After swallowing the gulp in her throat and sniffling one last time, she shouted the one thing she thought would affect Shikamaru the most.
"YOU are the stupidest person on EARTH!"
Sasuke's meeting alone with Naruto was tense, to say the least. After the greeting from his father, the group of royals had all dispersed and he had been released of his supervision over Sakura momentarily by Kakashi.
This was when Naruto caught up to him and dragged him outside, saying he needed to talk to him. Knowing this was about Hinata and that it was inevitable, Sasuke allowed him to do as he pleased, stopping only when they passed his favorite spot in the garden: the giant oak tree located near the fountain.
There, the two best friends stood in silence under the shade of the giant tree. They looked at each other, at the ground, and at the scenery around them. Apart from the fountain and tree, there was relatively little in this part of the large maze of gardens.
Since Naruto did not speak, Sasuke sighed. There was no way he was starting the conversation when he was the one who was forcefully brought here in the first place.
The silence lingered on.
Then, just as he was about to open his mouth, Naruto spoke. "While you were gone, Sasuke," he stated, straight to the point, "I thought over the decisions you made for me." He glared at him spitefully in that moment. "The ones you made without my consent."
Sasuke carefully kept his face void of any emotion.
Naruto's fists clenched with emotion as he forced himself to continue speaking. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't mad at you, but I suppose it was for your kingdom."
Birds chirped.
"That's why…" he trailed off, waiting for Sasuke to meet his eyes. When he did, he put on a look of determination.
"…I'm going to move away from this place."
"Are you crazy?" Sasuke immediately erupted, narrowing his eyes and preparing himself to stop Naruto from doing anything completely irrational.
Knowing that Sasuke misunderstood him, Naruto was quick to elaborate. He backed away slightly, hands up in a defensive position. "Not now," he said, giving Sasuke a serious look to show he was not joking around. "When we're older."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed even more at this resolution. Choosing his words carefully, he stared Naruto straight in the eyes and demanded, "Is it because of that Hyuuga girl?"
He could see Naruto hesitate in answering, but when he finally spoke, his words surprised him.
"Only partly…" The blonde looked almost melancholy. "It's because of my whole life here."
Sasuke was obviously confused, so he proceeded to explaining himself.
"I feel like I have no connections to this place, Sasuke. I don't see a future for myself here."
"What are you talking about?" Sasuke seethed. "Of course you have a-"
"I'm talking about family, Sasuke."
Time seemed to stand still for a moment, but the continuously chirping birds stated otherwise.
"I guess I shouldn't feel this way… since I didn't have a family to start with," Naruto said painfully, face cringing as tears started to surface on his eyes, "but I'm still curious."
"Naruto-…"
"I'm really grateful for having a friend like you, Sasuke, no matter how much of a bastard you are… Honestly, I couldn't ask for a better ice block of a friend." Oh dear, the tears are pouring.
"Your dad treated me as his own son, too… but how long is this going to last, Sasuke?"
He did not answer.
"I'm going to rise to the top, one day, Sasuke, and I can't do it if you're the one in my way."
Sasuke's eyes were starting to gloss over with tears, too, although his was more out of anger than sorrow.
"This is why I'm going to move to Konohagakure and become Hokage."
A slam of the doors was heard as Hyuuga Neji stomped into the room of his female teammate. Without a word, he threw all things appropriate to the wind and flopped down onto Tenten's bed, face first.
The lighter brunette, sensing the built up tension in her comrade, wisely chose to say nothing. As the silence dragged on and the sky outside grew darker, all she did was prepare some tea from her spot at her wooden round table.
It seemed like he had fallen asleep.
However, Tenten knew that his stress would not allow him to simply slumber at a time as depressing as this. So, when she was done with preparing her drink, she quietly sipped at it, watching the skies slowly turn dark enough to see stars.
After almost an eternity of silence in the heavy atmosphere, the girl felt that if it had not been for Neji lying on her bed, she would have found her inner peace already. This is why she tried to go to the source of her gloominess after some time.
Not bothering to light her room as she crossed it, Tenten quietly crawled onto the queen sized bed next to Neji, who was occupying the middle of it quite selfishly. She propped her head up with one arm and faced him, the top of his head reaching her chest from her spot on the bed. Her other hand reached out to softly stroke his long hair, almost tentatively.
This drew his attention, for Neji slightly shifted, rolling over to his side to look up at her. His eyes were glazed over as they met Tenten's.
"Hey," she almost whispered, trying to keep her voice quiet. "You wanna talk?" She sent him a small smile, looking down at him lovingly.
Neji stared back at her, not able to bring himself to appreciate such a wonderful companion like Tenten with the depressing whirlwind settled in his head. She waited patiently, half expecting him not to reply at all, and was pleasantly surprised when he opened up to her after some hesitation.
So, with the comfort of the still darkness around them and Tenten's hand running through his hair, Neji explained to her in utmost agony why he was feeling down in the dumps currently. This is an extreme understatement, of course; he felt exactly like he did before Tenten entered his life when they were younger.
Like then, he felt utterly hopeless and defeated, controlled by Fate.
The first reason why he felt depressed was because he was always losing to Uchiha Sasuke. Although this was not actually true, it certainly felt like it with his most recent losses against the Uchiha Prince. Not being able to overcome his only rival… It was a blow to his pride.
Because he was not able to beat Sasuke, his cousin was endangered, which made him a failure as her protector, as well. As a Hyuuga Branch Family member, his most significant job was to protect the Main Branch's members, especially the heiress. Yet, it was because he let Hinata be captured in the first place that Sakura had to be exchanged to the Uchiha Kingdom…
…Which brought him to the point of Haruno Sakura. She, her dragon, and her freedom were sacrificed for his mistake—his weakness. Sakura had been one of the few tolerable females he had associated with outside of his family, which made him come to believe that he failed as a friend, as well. The fact that she was now in the Uchiha Kingdom was a nightmare come true.
Here, he took a sidetrack and proceeded to telling her about the Prophecy and how he had overheard Sakura and Elder Li talking about it. This surprised his friend greatly, and she sympathized with him when he later shared his worry on how Sakura's stay in the Uchiha Kingdom equaled a greater risk of her marrying Uchiha Sasuke, bringing with them the downfall of the Hyuuga Kingdom.
Finally, he ventured into the messy tangle of his own love life with the girl he was currently speaking to. He told her of his uncle's blatant refusal to acknowledge them as lovers and how he would soon be expected to marry Hinata, despite any protest. This just tied the knot on the ever tightening ropes of confinement that disabled him from living his life the way he wanted to.
Although he did not shed tears, his cold, pale eyes betrayed feelings of hurt, loss, confusion, helplessness, depression, and many other bitter emotions. However, to Tenten, who was analyzing his orbs with the utmost care and precaution, there was one emotion that was pouring out the most: agony. Agony at losing, agony at having no control over his life, and agony at being pushed back into the cage she had worked so hard to coax him out of.
His expression was even more of a giveaway to the pain he was going through currently; his jaws were clenched when he occasionally fell silent, his mouth was set in a straight, grim line, and his eyebrows were arched down in distress, making him look like he would shed angry tears in any given moment.
They fell silent once again when Neji finished spilling his heart's troubles. The dark, almost chokingly heavy air surrounding them did not lift as Tenten continued to stroke the prince's hair, gently easing him of a slight headache that was starting to form.
Finally, after some time, she sighed and pushed herself up to sit straight.
The girl was about to slip out of bed when an arm wrapped tightly around her waist kept her in place. She looked back at Neji and saw a questioning, almost hurt look on his face.
Her face softened and a small smile made its way onto her expression. "I'm going to have to do some stargazing before giving you any advice, Neji," she said teasingly, almost as if she was explaining something to a child.
But still, he did not budge.
"You don't need to get out of bed to do that."
Tenten's eye lids were half-closed when she turned around, making a move to get off the bed again. This time, Neji let her go, but only because she insisted.
"I'm going outside." She slipped on her kunai holster. "To the training grounds." A scarf was thrown over her neck and shoulder before she turned around to him. "Do you want to come?"
It took all of Neji's willpower to reply with an affirmative and sluggishly roll of the bed.
Training…
Training will do him some good right now.
It was nearly dinnertime in the Uchiha Kingdom, which was why Sakura found herself in the kitchen. Accompanying her was Sasuke, who had taken her from Kakashi earlier in the day and showed her around, claiming that she was an honored guest as long as she was in the Uchiha Kingdom.
Apparently, she was not considered an enemy to them since her origin lied in Konohagakure, which was a neutral country. This just told Sakura that she was no threat to them whatsoever and that she would be able to do as she pleased as long as she did not leave the castle or cause any trouble.
With that being said, she gingerly bit into an apple offered to her after checking it for poison. Of course, this action caused the Uchiha next to her to snort, but she paid him no heed. Since they were alone in the large room, she acted as if he did not exist and ate her apple a little more enthusiastically.
"My father will summon you after he is done eating. If you want your dragon to stay alive and healthy, I suggest you stay put and do as you're told. Even you won't be alive once you step out of the castle walls."
The girl did not answer to this menacing threat, munching away on her apple and eyeing a banana in the fruit bowl. However, when Sasuke made a move to exit the room, she looked up with a startled look on her face.
"You're just going to leave me here?" she questioned incredulously.
"Isn't it obvious?" he inquired, almost bored of her already. "There's no chance of you escaping. Why would I waste my time babysitting?"
Sakura rolled her eyes, her façade not betraying her inner fears of being left alone. "What an asshole…"
Sasuke, who was once again making his way to the door, paused dead in his tracks. "Hn," he muttered as he continued, reaching the door before looking back to start her straight in the eyes.
"You're annoying."
Sakura paused, wondering if it was her imagination that conjured the absolute hate in his voice. Before she knew it, he had slammed the door and left her alone in the large, desolate room.
An hour had passed and Sakura still had not been summoned. So of course, she was using this time to scout the building and look for possible ways to escape. It was the fifth statue she had tried to squeeze behind where someone finally approached her.
"Oi, what are you doing?"
The girl slightly jumped at the boyish voice that came out of nowhere from behind her.
"There aren't any secret escape routes in this castle, if that's what you're looking for…" he commented nonchalantly at first. Then, his eyes narrowed at the girl, inspecting her; they had not been in contact with each other since Hinata was taken away from her, and they had seemed pretty close at the time.
Sakura rolled her eyes when she recovered from her surprise; Naruto did not see this. Turning around and absentmindedly pulling down the back of her shirt, she stood up straight to look the blonde square in the eyes.
"Who says I was looking for a secret escape route?" she questioned in a snooty voice, wrinkling her nose at him.
Now it was Naruto's turn to roll his eyes. "Oh, you dropped something, then?"
Sakura pouted, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Her eyes were shot to the side, glaring at the walls for concealing the outer world from her. It was to be expected that she did not notice Naruto standing in front of her the next minute.
"Hinata."
At that one word, Sakura's ears twitched and she found herself unconsciously paying more attention to his next words.
"I love her."
Her eyes narrowed expectedly, but this did not stop Naruto from delivering the final blow.
"And I promised her that I would see her again. So consider me an ally."
A slam of the doors was heard as Sasuke roughly dragged Sakura into the throne room, where his father was already seated. When he shifted his attention to Sakura, she was already prepared with her defiant façade and struggling against Sasuke's strong grip on her bound wrists.
"I thought I was 'an honored guest' here, Uchiha," she hissed to him, shooting him death glares.
He did not blink as he tactfully kicked the backs of her knees and pushed her down. Since his hand did not reach her wrists at his height, he held her by her locks of hair, making sure she did not stand up again.
"It's for the old man's safety," he deadpanned. "Stop complaining."
Hatefully, Sakura mumbled angrily to herself, "Right, just like how I was forced to walk on my own two feet when we reached the city," and turned her burning eyes towards the man seated in front of her. She hatefully noted the silent ANBU members standing on either side of his throne and snorted inwardly at Sasuke's obvious lie.
"So, Sakura-san, how do you like my castle so far?" Fugaku started casually, folding his arms to insert them into the large sleeves of his simple, yet elegant robes.
Once again, Sakura snorted inwardly. Her eyes burned with even more rage as she hissed out, "I have nothing to say the killer of my first dragon."
Since Sasuke was standing above her and her gaze was dead set on his father, Sakura did not see the shocked expression on his face. She would never get to see that expression, actually, because he managed to recompose himself after a few moments. However, the realization of her being the young girl who fell over a cliff during his childhood made a large impression in his mind and he listened to the rest of the conversation in a daze. This, Sakura noticed by his body going rigid and his hold on her hair loosening ever so slightly.
Fugaku was silent at her vehement statement. Choosing to think before uttering his next words, he pondered on what he could say to ease the girl's hatred. After a while, he settled for rubbing his chin in thought and saying in a gentler tone, "Well, I must offer my most sincere apologies, Sakura-san." He paused, debating on what to say next while schooling his face to one of utmost rue on his part. "In fact, to show you how truly sorry I am, I would like to make you an offer you might want to accept."
Sakura stayed silent rebelliously, not backing down but letting a slightly curious expression peaking through her face.
"I most earnestly wish you to be treated as an honored guest here, but I'm afraid the Council won't let me do so until they are satisfied that you will cause them no harm."
This explanation sounded earnest enough to Sakura, but she could not bring herself to fully trust the man. So, she went with the flow and started her own act, as well.
"Well that's a shame," she said in a regretful voice. "I would have readily forgiven you in return for my freedom."
"However," the king continued, rearing his head back and looking down upon her, "I have recently found a solution to this problem."
Sakura's eyebrows fully perked at this announcement. "And what might that solution be?" she inquired in a slightly friendlier voice.
"It is a seal," he started explaining," that Sasuke will put on you. It will allow him to keep track of you without having to tag along everywhere you go. It does not do much else, but it will give the Council the peace of mind they need."
Sakura thought this over and did not see anything wrong with the plan. She had never been taught anything concerning seals before, but she weighed the pros and cons of the offer. She would be free to roam the castle, possibly looking for a way to escape or finding some valuable information that the Hyuuga Kingdom can use in the future to win the war. However, the fact of the matter was that she did not know how seals worked, and it would be a huge risk to let Sasuke perform a single jutsu on her.
Still, thinking back on the prophecy, she made up her mind. She would take up this offer and use it to her advantage, escaping before the Uchihas forced her to marry Sasuke (which is the only possible idea she could conjure on why she would ever marry the prick in the future). Along with a successful escape, she would bring over some valuable information and parade into the Hyuuga Kingdom as a hero on the back of Kaoru.
So, she opened her big fat mouth to say…
"I'll take the seal."
"I won't do it."
Fugaku sighed in dismay and proceeded to call in the guards after some thought. The armored men rushed in, their suits of metal too constricting to really make them efficient as the trained ANBU they were.
"Bring him in," he ordered firmly, his face hardening in resolve as they stared disapprovingly at his youngest son.
Sasuke's face was confused when the guards hastily jogged outside and pulled in what looked to be a struggling Shikamaru. In alarm, the prince questioned his reason on being dragged into the room.
The pineapple-head answered with a look of terror on his face, "Sasuke! Your old man is crazy! Don't believe a thing he-… mmph!" He was promptly gagged and kicked behind the knees to kneel, much like what had happened to Sakura just moments ago. However, said person was not present in the room to relish the joy of having someone suffer the same fate she had. Instead, she was taken to another room to prepare for the seal immediately.
At first, Sasuke did not react; he chose to assess the situation in a horrified rush of adrenaline and calculated his next move in cold blood. So it had already come down to this: his own father threatening him with the life of one of his comrades in order to control an unwilling Dragon Rider. He had no time to curse a certain someone a thousand times over as he quickly faced his father with a decision in mind.
Needless to say, the guards were shocked to have missed Sasuke rushing for his own father with a small knife in hand. His sheer speed… graceful agility… terrifyingly crimson eyes… choking charisma…
It was no wonder his powers were desired by him.
Review Replies:
NorthernLights25: Yesh, I am indeed back. XD Thank you for always reviewing, and I hope I did not disappoint this time! :D And congratulations! You were the first reviewer for my last chapter. XD
Kurai Raiku-Kurai Kisaki: I think I spent more time typing your username than your review reply, but thank you for your review! :)
ahzheejhei: Lol, yesh, I am back with another chapter. XD And more than critiquing, I need someone to beta my chapters, but I don't think I'll look for one at the moment. :) I don't want to be left hanging after finally returning, so I think I'll just beta myself. Thank you for the offer, though! It was really much appreciated. Though I'd love it even more if you critiqued in your reviews, of course. ;) Thanks!
Kaydreams: Okay, so I'll explained what happened in the last chapter, in case you don't get it after reading this chapter as well. There were TWO dragons on the scene. One was Sakura's after Sasuke summoned it with the whistle. The second was Gaara's, which is what I wrote in this chapter. Sasuke did not recognize Gaara's dragon. Hope that cleared things up! And thank you for your review! :)
TeenageCrisis: Good point on Kaoru resembling an Uchiha! You'll see why in the future chapters. ;) As well as the answer to your question! :D Itachi and Sakura… will meet. But that's all I'm saying, so you can go wild with your imagination right now before I get to that part. XD Thank you for keeping an eye out for this story, and thanks for your review! :)
StenoBlocked: Thank you so much! I'm so happy I managed to catch your attention with my story! And the "Inheritance Trilogy"? Is that on fanfiction as well? Sorry, I am not aware of it. XD But thank you for your compliments, and I very much appreciated your review! :)
Shinobi of life: Lol, thank you for your loyalty. And as for who's gonna die in the future, let's put it this way! EVERYONE dies sooner or later. Hope that makes you feel better, because really, that was the purpose. XD And LOL, I saw the Abriged Series! :D It was hilarious, although I could seriously live without them hating on Sakura. But yeah, whatever. They were made by a bunch of guys, so you can't really expect anything but their brilliant humor. Thanks for your review! Mission: Completed, Dattebayo!
siny: I have to say that you really were dead-on with the points I wanted to make with my last chapter. First, I appreciate you taking my advice to heart and rereading the previous chapters to refresh your memories. :) Second, I worked really hard trying to keep Hinata in character and not make it a total lame and sappy drama scene, which is why I'm happy you pointed that out. XD And third, the dragon came from Suna, as you may have already noticed after reading this chapter. Thank you for your review! It was exactly what I was looking for!
J.a.M.i.16: First of all, I would like to thank you for your review! :D I really appreciated it. And as for your questions, I hope they were all answered with this new chapter…? Actually, I did not really understand your first question. What do you mean by Ino cheating? As far as I know, they weren't really playing a game of any sort… And all's fair in love and war… o.O;; That questioned had me scratching my head a little.
Sakura Angel 4eva: Hope I did not disappoint this time! Thank you for your review!
missyserena214: Lol, I know. Thank you for your review, and stick around to read more! :D
ToraHimeSama: Omg, thank you for your compliment! Other authors should really take that as an insult, though. I mean, where have all the good writers gone? Why is fanfiction so polluted with stupid stories with bad grammer? It annoys me to heck, but I guess that's fanfiction for ya. Still, I'm sure you'll find more stories that are way better than mine. Should I recommend some of my favorites? And thanks for thinking Kakashi's statement was funny. I was trying for humor there but was not sure if I made it. XD Anyways, thanks for your review!
TigerLilyette: Lol. Thanks for your review! I'm trying my best. XD As for Sakura, we'll all see in the future. ;)
Heather-chan: Lol, thankkies! I try my best on the plot. And yesh, I feel pretty sorry for the two girls, too, but don't worry! Fluff is on the way! :D
Theblackroseofkonoha: Lol, thanks! I love it, too! :P Appreciate the review! :D
shreaded wings: I know; it's been too long, hasn't it? And as for Sakura and Ino, I'll try my best. They were destined to be friends, no matter what people think! :D
AngelOfDarkness1005: Thank. you. VERY MUCH! Lol. I wanted to give Ino a dragon as well, but plot won't let me. :( And you might not remember it, but I DID mention Gaara having a dragon (in the very first chapters of this story). Anyways, thank you for your review!
Green Apples Are Nice: Lol, thank you! And don't feel sorry for Sakura; she's headed for a much better place now. (cough, FLUFFLAND, cough) Thanks for your review!
hushhushyou: YESH, I DECIDED TO UPDATE. DO YOU HAB A PROBLEM WIT DAT? Lol. As for the freaking out, that's what MY mom would sound like if I ever really disappeared. XD And yes, I am alive and not suffering for some grave accident or something. And thank you for really encouraging me! I SWEAR, the last chapter was crappy. Too much corniness… Eck… But if it managed to rock your sox, I'm satisfied. :) And I KNOW! Even I had to reread my story to remember where I was going with it, and that is NOT good. And no matter how much you like my story, I'd hate for you to have to read it like, a thousand time without sleeping. No story is worth your health, you know? Lol. And yesh, I KNOW you love my story. (Woah. Sounded conceited there a bit…) And truthfully, I'm hoping you remember the questions you had, because they really inspire me and help me along with my plot. XD And as for the arrow, it was shot by a horrible, terrified young soldier you will never hear about again because he died in the battle that followed his accidental arrow. Like, you know, in Lord of the Rings? Anyways, I am really looking forward to your next review. I'm sure it's because you were lacking sleep, but you sounded less excited than your other reviews. XD Wouldn't want you to get sick now, would we? And as for that last CAP statement, I will concede (just this once) and say I am a great authoress, just because I want to rub it in one of my friends' face. Thank you for your review, like always, and I hope you're having a good summer, too!
chaosonyxangel: Yesh, I AM BACK! And like before, you really addressed my most troublesome worry! Thank you for understanding so well that it was really hard to write the emotional scene! I swear, I was practically SCREAMING that phrases when I was getting ready to FINALLY update. YOU WERE REALLY CRYING? Omg, I LOVE YOU! o.O;; And lol. I'm sure writing is something you get better at with practice. I'll be sure to check out your story later on! :D And lol, thank you for bothering to write such a long review all the time. (Even though this is only your second review. XD) And as for the cookies… YOU STOLE THEM FROM THE COOKIE JAR! (Points madly.) Tsk, tsk, Gaara will be disappointed. And lol, I'm so happy I have such a large influence over your emotions with my story. (Hopefully, I can use it later to TAKE OVER THE WORLD! 'insert evil laughter here' SASUSAKU FTW!) As for NaruHina, don't worry! It will all work out in the end! And I swear, I'm gonna send you to a mental institution if you keep banging your head against the wall like that! Writer's block can only be overcome with determination and inspiration! So go forth and conquer the world! That way, you will have all the inspiration in the world! Lol. CONQUER THEM BECAUSE THEY TRUSTED YOU TO SAVE THEM!
SpillietehInkie: Lol, I'm glad you're not mad. And as for updating, I'd say every author is guilty of procrastinating at least once, no? It's good for you that you did not suffer that much from losing your flashdrive. :) Hope you got the review reply I sent before, too. :) BTW, what's happening with that? And as for rereading everything, I should be the one to apologize! It's my fault that you forgot everything in the long absence I took from fanfiction. Lol, thank you for supporting my story so much! And thank you for your review! It really made my day. ;)