Summary: In the imperial capital of Konoha, it was the norm for men to reign supreme while wives and concubines lived in seclusion like elegant flowers inside a locked garden. However, everything changed when one pink-haired medic entered the capital. Ancient Chinese AU SakuraxMulti

Chapter 26: The Hairpin

"Onee-chan, buy me another dango skewer!" came the cute plea from a pair of pink puppy dog eyes. The face was so adorable that even the aunty selling the dango felt herself blush.

Sakura held back a sigh as she once again dug into her coin pouch.

This stupid Kage, not even paying for his own food.

At this rate, she was going to turn bankrupt…

Mental tears ran down her eyes at the thought of having to ask either Madara or Pein for some pocket money.

It all started when Sakura warned him to not address her as her real name and title, since she was after all trying to walk around incognito. She dragged him back to her courtyard and helped him with his disguise. Gone was the Kiri headband and distinctive staff weapon. And instead of his natural white hair, the same powder dye was applied and his hair now matched Sakura's.

Yagura had found the idea really funny and decided to take it a step further, promptly declaring himself to be her 'younger brother' so that his 'onee-chan' would have to take him around town. Of course while paying for everything.

The complete change in attitude really confused the poor princess.

While she was flummoxed on how to act, the Mizukage would drag her around to the many different booths and stalls, looking at this and playing with that. And every time a trinket caught his eye, he would turn around and give puppy dog eyes at Sakura while sweetly asking his 'onee-chan' to buy it for him. To all the people around, it looked like a lovable younger brother that was enjoying his time during the celebratory mood of Konoha in preparation for the Martial Arts Tournament.

And Sakura had no idea on how to act.

In actuality, if Sakura really wanted to be a true older sister, she would have long started lecturing at him to stop reckless spending.

But this 'little brother' of hers was one of the most powerful existences in the world.

As Sakura was trying to think of what to do to calm down the Mizukage, a voice could be heard calling out to her.

"Sakura-chan~!"

The pink-haired princess flinched a little before turning around with a bit of a forced smile, "Hello Deidara-san."

Yagura turned around to see the greeter. It was a blonde-haired man with bangs covering one eye while the rest of the hair was tied in a high half-ponytail. Dressed in maroon robes with a black trim. The one eye that could be seen was of a sky blue. The grin on the handsome face showed that the person seemed very unreliable and fickle.

As Deidara got close to them, he quickly spread his arms out to hug Sakura. With light nimble steps, Sakura dodged the attack.

"Ehh, not fair Sakura-chan! I just wanted a hug!" Deidara gave a pout, but didn't continue chasing. Sakura gave an awkward laugh and didn't look inclined to re-initiate the hug.

"What are you doing here Deidara-san? Shouldn't you be busy at the shop?" Sakura asked. Considering how many visitors were in Konoha at the moment, she was sure that Deidara and Sasori's shop would be packed to the brim with visitors.

"Danna can handle it," Deidara laughed, "More importantly, are you browsing the marketplace? Let's go together! It'll be a date."

As Deidara came closer to Sakura, the sudden presence of a shorter young boy blocked the path. Pink eyes filled with barely veiled disdain stared back at him.

"Don't touch her," Yagura frowned.

Deidara paused and took a close look at the shorter man. He then grinned and patted his head, "Little kids shouldn't butt into adult matter. This older brother will buy you a candied apple and then you should go home – GAH!"

Before he could finish his sentence, Deidara quickly drew back his hand, barely avoiding the kunai that had almost cut off the offending limb.

At a speed faster than most can see, the kunai disappeared into the robes of the Mizukage as he smirked, "Don't touch me or my onee-chan, pervert."

"You want a fight you little brat!"

Sakura sighed as she walked away from the bickering two. The testosterone levels were too high for the poor princess that only wanted a break. As she tuned out the noise of the crowded street, she suddenly heard the clear sounds of beautiful wind chimes.

~Ding ding~

So familiar… Sakura opened her emerald eyes to identify the source.

Sitting in a small area was a tiny booth that seemed almost isolated from the noise and bustle. Hanging were multiple wind chimes and bells out for sale. The table also contained an assortment of flutes and whistles. Behind the booth was a young man with white hair tied in a ponytail and distinctive round spectacles.

Wide green eyes met the black ones covered with a layer of glass.

"Kabuto-nee!" Sakura squeezed through the crowd to get to his booth.

A small grin surfaced on the normally blank face. The black eyes showed a hint of affection, "I was wondering when you would notice me. Are you giving the Mizukage a tour of the city?"

Sakura sighed, not even surprised that Kabuto immediately recognized the incognito Kage, "He invited himself. All I wanted was to relax from the stuffiness of the palace. What are you doing here? These instruments…" Sakura looked suspiciously at the innocuous flute.

"Perfectly normal items," Kabuto grinned, "Trinkets for sale from the Land of Sound. Interested in anything?"

Sakura shook her head, "No thanks. Even now, I cringe when I hear the sound of a flute."

Kabuto gave a small laugh, "You know Orochimaru wouldn't be dumb enough to sell his inventions on a small street market. But you should head back, your companions seemed to have noticed that you're not around."

"Ah!" Sakura turned around. The Mizukage and Deidara were headed in her direction.

"Sorry Kabuto-nee, I should head back," a faint trace of a pout were seen on her pink lips at the thought of reuniting with the two troublemakers.

As she turned around to leave, she was suddenly pulled back by her hand. A pair of warm lips breathed a few words into her ear, "The Sannin are staying at the Lion Inn. Sensei also brought Ice with him."

With wide eyes filled with joy, Sakura turned around to see that Kabuto had sat back down behind the booth, as he gave small wave of goodbye, she also saw him mouth the words, "Be careful around Deidara."

As she walked back towards the two men, her thoughts were muddled. She was excited to know that her Shishou was here, but she was also confused at Kabuto's last words.

Once she reached them, she decided to clear up the situation, "Deidara-san, I promised to accompany my younger brother today, you should go back to the shop. I'm sure Sasori-san is very busy and needs all the help he can get."

Deidara responded with a cute pout, "Aww, but I want to be with Sakura-chan!"

However, before he could continue, his head was suddenly pulled back with a jerk.

Holding onto the ponytail was a redheaded young man with an angry frown on his face. "You'd better give me a good reason why it's taking you so long to buy lunch or I'll turn you into a puppet." Amber eyes glinted ominously at the blonde who was suddenly breaking out in cold sweat.

"Danna!"

Sasori looked at Deidara's companions and gave Sakura a polite nod before turning his eyes towards Yagura. Amber eyes widened imperceptibly before turning blank again.

"We're leaving," Sasori said before dragging Deidara along by his ponytail.

"Ow! Danna! Can you let go of my hair? It's very precious to me. OW!"

Sakura gave a sigh of relief as the offending blonde was gone. She turned towards the Kage, who now was holding a stick of cotton candy.

"We should head back now," Sakura said politely. It was getting late and the palace was having a dinner banquet that both of them needed to attend.

Yagura gave an impish smile, "Sure thing Onee-chan!"

After returning to the courtyard and changing back into their former appearances, Sakura politely walked with the Mizukage to the exit.

Curtsying gracefully, Sakura dropped the facade and once again treated Yagura with the status he had, "This princess will send you off here, Mizukage-sama."

Before she could get up, she felt her head being lifted and her forehead hitting something hard, "Ah!" Opening her eyes, green orbs widened at the sudden proximity towards a pair of amused pink ones. Yagura had pressed their foreheads together such that their face was only an inch apart. Gone was the innocent smile of the 'little brother' and replaced was the smirk of absolute confidence of the ruler of the Land of Water.

Time seemed to stop as Sakura felt heat rising to her cheeks at the close proximity to the Mizukage. Even though she has spent many hours with him, it was only now that she got a closer look at his face. The pale pink eyes were mysterious and her eyes traced a faint scar that went down from his left eye to the bottom of his cheek.

"I had a fun time, little girl." Sakura's face gradually reddened as she could feel the warmth of his breath at those words. Their lips were inches apart and Sakura had a sudden fear that this ruler might decide to copy the actions of another emperor when she suddenly felt a stab into her hair as Yagura let go of her head before turning around.

"Consider that a gift for your time… You should wear it tonight. And if you ever get tired of this dumb land full of trees, my offer still stands." And with those words, the Mizukage left.

Being stunned silly, Sakura stood there for a second. By the time she got her bearings together, she quickly raced back into her room, covering her red face – whether it was due to anger or embarrassment – while her servants that were giving her increasingly odd looks. When she was safely inside her bedroom with only Tenten, Sakura reached and pulled the offending object that the Mizukage had placed into her hair.

It was a beautiful golden hairpin with a chained string of pearls of increasing size. Each pearl was flawless and pure white. One glance and it was obvious that the piece of jewelry was incredibly expensive. Considering how pearls were the most valuable commodity that the Land of Water traded in, the hairpiece was valuable to the point that it could even buy a small country.

"Sakura-san…" Tenten hesitated, "What offer did the Mizukage mean?"

The confused princess stared back at her equally confused maid.

"Offer…"

With a sudden thought, Sakura felt the blood rushing back into her face, "Don't tell me… That marriage proposal? Wasn't it supposed to be a joke?!"

…

Yagura felt particularly happy as he walked back towards his compound. He could only imagine the current look on the Konoha princess's face. If she wore the hairpin to the banquet tonight, he would get a crack out of seeing the faces of the different nobles that were pining after that pink-haired princess.

"Mizukage-sama… Where did you run off to?" A tall, slender woman with green eyes and ankle-length auburn hair greeted Yagura.

Mei Terumi, one of Yagura's trusted subordinates and Prime Minister of the Land of Water, studied Yagura's face and concluded that the Mizukage was in a mysteriously good mood after his little disappearing act during the tea party.

"Nothing much, just adding my chip into the fun little game that seems to be going on." Yagura walked into the complex where the maids were holding onto the Kage robes for Yagura to wear to the dinner.

Yagura twirled the hat around before giving Mei a cheeky grin, "I've decided to pursue that princess everyone is talking about. Seeing the Uchiha's tick is completely worth the pearls that I gave her."

"Pearls?" Mei's eyes widened, "Don't tell me you gave away the Pearls of Mist! That's one of the treasures of our country!"

"So what?" Yagura gave an unconcerned glance at the shocked woman, "The treasures of the country are mine in the first place. Ao told me that at this rate, you'll never get a husband."

The shock at the Mizukage's actions quickly turned into anger as Mei turned towards her fellow coworker with flames in her eyes. A strict middle aged man with blue hair and one eye covered with a patch looked warily at the sudden female devil that turned towards him. Even though he was the Mizukage's bodyguard, Ao knew that he could easily lose towards an angry Mei.

"The Mizukage was obviously kidding, I never said anything along those lines." Ao tried to reason, as he slowly backed away, "Right Mizukage-sama?"

Yagura just chuckled as he watched his bodyguard get cornered, "I wish you the best, Ao."

Hello my lovely readers~

The reviews made me super happy and I tried my best to churn out this chapter! I know Yagura isn't a common pairing with Sakura but I feel like it's a breath of fresh air to include new characters instead of the usual mix. I hope you guys enjoy him as much as everyone enjoyed Shi! I know some people hated Shi but that made me all the happier! It's best if the different suitors have very distinct personalities and I'll try my best so that people have their own ships to support. Viva la reverse harem!

Best,

WhiteMint