A/N: Shorter than last, but I hope you enjoy it.


Chapter 38: Bloody Red Blooms, the Carnation's Longing


"Naruto, I need your advice," Sasuke said the next morning as Shien left their room.

"About?" The boy yawned, buttoning up his tunic.

"About Shien," he replied, and when Naruto sighed, he turned around with a confused frown. "What?"

"I swear, you two have some kind of schedule or something," Naruto muttered before rolling his eyes and sitting down. "Look, Sasuke, before you say anything, I highly doubt she'd be too upset if you told her that you're getting married to someone else. She's very understanding and-"

"What? No!" Sasuke sputtered. "I'm not- this isn't- I'm not marrying any girl!" He paused, then added, "Hopefully not yet! Father is supposed to tell me of his decision this week."

"Oh. Well, that's one question down." The blond shrugged. "Go for it. I'm stumped."

"I need... advice with being attracted to two women," Sasuke finally slumped in defeat, looking quite guilty.

Naruto looked surprised for a moment. "You have the hots for a living girl that's not Sakura?!"

"No! I'm still in love with Sakura!" Sasuke yelled. "It's just... I feel like it's unfair to Shien if I keep measuring them against each other. I mean, Sakura is my first love, and Shien is... well, Shien is interesting, but-"

"I get it, you feel like you're betraying her by loving someone who's not... y'know, her. And not dead, I guess." Naruto nodded. "I get it, man. I really do."

"How could you possibly understand how I feel?" Sasuke demanded. "The only girl I've ever loved romantically died before I could even tell her how I felt, and every girl I've ever loved like family has either died or ran away!"

Naruto looked up at him with a frown on his face. "I know how it feels to let the person you love most go. I know how it feels to move on."

"You loved someone?" Sasuke trailed off in surprise. "But... but who?"

"I never wanted to marry her, but... I cared about Hinata." Naruto confessed, messing around with the bottom button on his tunic. "We got really close after Sakura passed. I may not have crushed on her, but I knew how she felt - and it made me feel so awful. When she told me she was betrothed to you, I knew there was nothing I could do but comfort her."

Before Sasuke could speak, Naruto continued. "But with Sakura... I loved her. She was everything to me. I knew how she felt about you, of course, but... but I just kept hoping that one day she would realize that she loved me and would marry me." He scoffed, chuckling. "Guess we know how that turned out."

"I spent so many years of my life knowing that she would never see me as more than a friend, a brother, and I guess that's what made it easier to deal with Hinata. It was the same situation, just reversed." He halfheartedly grinned, looking away with a shake of his head. "It taught me a great deal about patience, and I lost my bitterness at you two. Part of it was realizing that it wasn't her fault for feeling this way, that when you love, you love - and the other was Karin. She gave me a good wake-up call."

"I'm... I'm sorry," Sasuke breathed in disbelief, resting a hand on his shoulder as he sagged to the bed. "I never knew."

"You're a prince, what else could you do?" Naruto asked with a laugh. "But seriously, Sasuke, it's fine. I could never, ever hate you. You're my brother."

"You're my brother," Sasuke replied, giving him a genuine smile. "Still... I am sorry. For Hinata."

"What are you apologizing for?" The blond chastised, elbowing him in the side. "I was never worried about Hinata being your wife. If anything, I trusted her life with you more than anyone else in this world. This isn't your fault."

"But... but what about Shien?" Sasuke asked. "What can I do?"

"For Kami-sama's sake, Sasuke, you already know what you have to do." Naruto groaned, rolling his eyes. "Geez, and people say I'm the dense one. Look, don't do what I did, okay? If you truly love her, then you need to go to her. Tell her. I've seen the way she looks at you. Believe me, she's probably going to accept your feelings. Then you can just walk right up to your dad and tell him you aren't gonna be marrying anyone else but her."

"I'm just... I'm worried that either Mother or Father will get their hearts set on someone and get rid of her." The prince confessed, clenching his fists. "I can't lose another reminder of what I could've had. Not now. Not yet."

"Like I said before, when you love, you love. Sometimes, there's just no rhyme or reason to it. Love is hardly wrong unless you go off the deep end with it." The pointed look he was giving made Sasuke bow his head in shame. "Take it easy for a while, Sasuke. All we have to do is lay off the rebels until your coronation, and then you can do whatever you want. At least the king promised to stay and guide you for your first six months as ruler."

"Yeah, what luck," the Uchiha scoffed. "At least the uneasiness about my marriage situation will be over soon. For our sakes, I hope he never intends to marry me off at all."


"Tsunade," Noh began as she entered the tent, catching the attention of both Tsunade and Hinata, looking to be in the middle of a discussion. She held up a note. "Another note from the palace. We need to set a date, and soon. If the king intends to coronate Prince Sasuke on his birthday, we need to act."

"Yes, yes, I already know that." Tsunade nodded, pacing about the space. "We'll need to attack early. Security will be brimming for the few days before and during the ceremony, so perhaps we should go earlier. There has to be a sweet spot window."

"If I may," Hinata piped up from where she was seated. "I recall that in the week before the wedding, perhaps the twenty-eighth or so I noticed little security around. When I asked around, the answer I got was that they were off doing little errands."

"Three to four days before the ceremony, then?" Noh pondered. "That might work. Plus, if all goes worse than planned, we can just call in backup. We won't have to rush."

"Perfect. We'll have to attack on the twentieth, then." Tsunade nodded firmly, grinning over at Noh. "Let Kakashi know."

"At once, my lady," The brunette bowed and hurried off.

Hinata fidgeted nervously, watching as Tsunade sat back down. "Are you certain that gives us enough time to train up and assemble a formidable army?"

"No worries when we've got Konoha elite on our side." Tsunade smiled proudly. "Without Hatake and Gai, I don't know where we'd get the extra boost. They're both very influential among their ranks, I've seen. The Akatsuki are on standby, just awaiting orders. Plus, if we need backup, we've got the group in Morino. So far, we've got all of our ducks in a row."

"And..." Hinata pressed, "... you're sure we can succeed?"

"With Sakura as our mole, without a doubt." Her chest puffed out in pride. "She knows the mission better than anyone else would. She's got the skills. She will not fail me."


Noh delivered the message to Kakashi, who was overseeing a small group of defected soldiers. "Iris-sama has set the invasion date for the twentieth."

"Ah, three days before the coronation?" His visible eye crinkled, as if he were smiling. "A bit of a crunch, but I think we can do it. Isn't that right, men?"

"Sir yes sir!" His squad cried, saluting both of them.

Noh frowned as she looked around. "Where's Gai?"

"He's back at base, filling in for me," Kakashi replied. "We've been taking turns going back to serve."

She smiled softly up at him, leaning against his arm. "It must be so good to have such a good friend with you like this. I'm glad you defected, Kakashi."

He looked over at her, debating on whether he should say something. "Should I confess my true feelings?"

When her bright, brown eyes locked on his black one, he shook it off, instead replying, "You know I would never betray you. Whether at war or at peace, I will always be at your side."

Her heart skipped a beat when he brushed a lock of hair out of her face. She looked away until she realized one of the older recruits was running up with a message.

"Cypress-sama, a message from the faction at Morino." The recruit spoke clearly, her green eyes sharp. "They are in need of more food and medical supplies. Should we arrange for them to join us here soon?"

Noh bit her bottom lip in thought for a few moments. At last, she answered, "No, send a group with the needed supplies. We need them as backup in case something goes wrong."

"Of course, ma'am." The soldier saluted her and nodded firmly to Kakashi. "Keep up the good work here, Hatake."

"Hai hai, Beru-san." He rose his hand to her.


A/N: Alas, poor Kakashi. He can never really tell Rin what's goin' on.

Please tell me what you thought! See you next week!