A/N: I just can't give you SasuSaku moments without woefully ruining them with plot, can I?


In the garden bathed in sunlight, Sasuke and Shien sat together almost hip-to-hip on a metal bench. The flowers were doing quite nicely today; all of the recent sunny days had done wonders for the royal family's colorful garden. Beautiful blues, vibrant violets, passionate reds, and cheerful yellows seemed to pop with color like little fireworks.

The air seemed a bit strange today, but if her companion noticed, he wasn't saying anything of it. Instead, he was restless in a different manner. His downcast eyes and grimacing stare at the stone path immediately caught her attention for its un-Sasuke appearance. Instead of his usual cool demeanor he looked visibly stressed - and his fidgeting hands, twisting and balling into loose fists before tapping against his thigh and yet back again - was more than a little concerning.

Once, he snuck a glance at her before quickly looking away. His face was mildly red, but Shien couldn't quite tell if it was a flush of summer heat, or a flush of blood to his cheeks.

She internally sighed. "What could be so important that he would be this visibly unsettled? It's Sasuke. I'd sooner expect this from Naruto."

Instead, she asked him, "Is everything alright?"

Sasuke seemed to startle for half a second at her voice, his eyes widening a fraction for a brief passing moment before he sighed, turning his head to look at her with an exhausted stare.

She returned his gaze, adding softly, "I won't know how to help you unless you tell me."

The prince's shoulders sagged at her words, and this time his cast-away look to the ground was a decidedly guilty one.

"M'sorry," he murmured, sighing heavily and resting his chin atop his interlaced fingers. "Just… marriage."

"Hm? Have they found you a match already?" She asked incredulously.

"They're close," he conceded with a sour frown. "Apparently the elders have not budged on the topic of my coronation unmarried. They claim it's too risky, that I'm just being rebellious."

He shook his head. "Nobody has thought to ask me, the one who has to consent to a marriage I don't want. It's my coronation; I should be able to decide at my age."

"That is ridiculous," she scoffed. "You're almost nineteen. You've been an adult in the eyes of the law for quite some time."

"Yes, but tradition dictates," he mocked, "that the heir be married and, if at all possible, already have a pregnancy. Stuffy old fools."

"Makes me wonder what they'd have said had you turned out gay," Shien jokingly mused.

Sasuke gave her a wounded look. "They surely would have at least given me an unwanted concubine, no matter what my partner or I would say."

She winced. "Yikes."

"Tell me." He dryly replied.

His body seemed to droop all the more, and at this instance Shien was painfully reminded of their youth. They were both still so young, mere teenagers in a vastly adult world. Still many a thing they did not, and could not, understand yet, things that would surely shape the world they inherited.

In this moment, all she could see was the unconscious body of a twelve-year-old boy, already so broken from the unfair world of kings and politics still breaking from witnessing - what he believed to be - the very first death of a friend.

That thought made her want to cry all the more. Her eyes were beginning to itch.

She tried her hardest to shove down her childhood yearnings, tried to suppress the part of her heart that vehemently cling to the belief that she would be the one to save him from his broken spirit.

The thirteen-year-old Sakura cried to her from within. Save him. Please save Sasuke-kun.

The nineteen-year-old Sakura solemnly murmured in reply. His fate is not yours alone to bear. You cannot be the one to heal his heart. The one who can is dead.

Shien swallowed, and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"No matter what happens, I'll be here," she soothed. "Me, and Naruto, and even Hatake-san. And hey, y'know? No matter who you end up marrying, I'll be sure to give her a good, thorough background check."

He weakly chuckled, a low rumbling in his chest that caused her heart to flutter. "And you would need to approve too?"

"Between Naruto and I? Of course." She scoffed, nudging him with her elbow. "I would not dream of approving of someone I know would cause you endless misery."

"And how would you know?" His tone only barely belied his teasing, his eyebrow raising as his breathtaking coal eyes caught hers. Only a hint of a smile was in the slightest curve of his lips.

Her face pinkened, and she looked away with shy muttering. "W- well, at least I should understand you well enough by now…"

Sasuke chuckled once more, and he closed his eyes. "If it would give you confidence, I admit that I would trust your judgement in the end."

Shien's eyes softened as she turned back to look at him. She smiled and nodded.

"I want you to be happy. You are my friend," she confessed with a squeeze of his shoulder. "A— a really good friend."

Sasuke's eyes opened, and the two teenagers made eye-contact once more.

For several breathless moments, Sakura was able to read him. Every subtle, deliberate emotion flickering through the eyes she spent much of her childhood admiring, the eyes that blessed - and haunted - her dreams. Relief, surprise, fondness. It made her feel like a preteen again, squeezing his hand and shyly meeting his gaze among the lilies after a playful romp between the three children.

Perhaps Tsunade was right; you never truly forget your first love. And in Sakura's case, it was one that would take more than a lifetime to forget.

...Not that she wanted to forget.

This moment was perfect. Sasuke's face had lost its aloof façade, and everything about his expression was soft. "Just the way I remember him."

Slowly, she felt herself gravitate towards him. Her lashes fluttered as they neared one another, his eyes darting between her own and her parted lips.

"This is wrong," she vaguely recognized. "Sasuke is not mine. I could never even dream to ascend to his level."

Yet the selfish part of her continued to insist. "Do it. You've dreamt of this moment for so long. Take this opportunity; you don't know when it will arise again, before he's formally engaged."

A few centimeters were between them yet. Sasuke's breath, warm and almost spicy, fanned across her own lips, and she unconsciously licked them.

"Shien," he whispered, his eyes half-lidded.

"Yeah?" She breathed, a scant whisper too afraid to ruin the intimacy between them.

"I…" he murmured, his eyes nearly shut as the tip of his nose brushed against hers. "I think I l—"

Shouting from the other side of the garden wall made them pause, their eyes going wide in confusion as they turned to stare.

Sasuke's eyes bled to red, and not a second later he raised his forearm to shield against a kunai knife shooting over and into the garden.

"Wh- what's going on?" She questioned, staring in shock as Sasuke picked up the knife and sneered at its edge.

"Poison," he grumbled, casting a sharp glance at the wall. Standing, he announced, "We need to go."

He grabbed her hand so quickly she startled, and as he swept her away she turned to grimly listen to the shouting, only louder from mere moments ago.

"HEY HEY! HO HO! ROYAL FAMILY'S GOT TO GO!" They were chanting angrily. "HEY HEY! HO HO! UCHIHA TYRANTS GOT TO GO!"

The voices of the civilians made her stomach churn.

As they met the king and queen in the hall, Mikoto's concerned eyes turned to her son. "Are you alright? Did they injure you?"

"Not a scratch," he assured. "What's the situation?"

"The protests have stayed in the city, mostly," Fugaku explained. "Somehow a group of noisier rioters managed to gain access to the rear garden wall. The guards will be taking care of them shortly."

Shien took a sharp intake of breath. Sasuke's brow furrowed.

"Nothing to worry about," Mikoto was quick to soothe, gently reaching for the girl's shoulder. She smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Until the threat is taken care of, please hide in your rooms. I think Naruto's already been notified."

"But—"

"Understood," Sasuke spoke over her as if she'd never raised her voice at all. "You'll tell us when the threat has passed?"

"Of course." Fugaku nodded almost invisibly, the movement slight enough to be only barely detectable.

All Shien could do was look on helplessly as Sasuke tugged her on. Fugaku's grim face and Mikoto's pleasant façade disappeared when they hurried around the corner and clambered up the stairs.

The walls were vibrating slightly now, short explosions seen from the glass windows. Shien gasped quietly as another lit up the early evening with bursts of orange and thick black smoke oozed eerily into the sky behind them.

"Don't look," Sasuke ordered, catching her attention again. His own face was dark in the glass.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called from his open doorway. He beckoned them in with a sorrowful countenance, giving her a quiet nod.

"I'd have chosen your room, but I didn't get the chance to ask." The blond was a bit sheepish as he explained, shutting and bolting the door behind them all.

Shien barely had enough emotional strength to murmur in reply, "I wouldn't have minded."

Naruto sighed then, taking her into his warm arms. His embrace was tight, familiar, soothing as Sasuke quietly walked to the window and watched as soldiers rushed to the rioters.

Another explosion shook the building again, sending scores of people flying back from the force, and Shien numbly registered tears rolling down her cheeks.


A/N: Ah, one of a few near-misses between these two. Don't worry yet, you'll get your kiss eventually.

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