I'm really sorry for updating this late, but I'm currently writing research paper for a competition and I practically moved inside the university library in the past few weeks... luckily spring break is here (yaaaaaaay) so I finally had time to finish this piece :D

Chapter title kindly borrowed from the same song by OneRepublic :)

The following week passed in a blur for Sakura. With her duties at the hospital, dress fittings and whatnot, she was constantly preoccupied, not having even a little alone time for herself. Before all of this, she usually thought over things when she was in bed, too tired to do any work, but not drowsy enough to sleep. But right now, her obligations made her so exhausted, that as soon as her head hit the pillow; she passed out, waking only when her alarm clock shrieked. And boy did she have a lot to think about, like how her attitude should be towards Kakashi.

Her Inner Sakura, an alter ego who would usually represent her true opinion about something, ushered her to beat him up until he was unrecognizable, because he deserved at least this for what he did to her and her country. But then she looked at her engagement ring and her opinion changed. In the Land of Whirlpools, giving such kind of a present to your betrothed wasn't customary. Engagement rings were exchanged between people who genuinely wanted to tie their lives together and not between those who were forced to do so. Instead, what were traded were contracts that held the different obligations of the parties and of course a considerable amount of money as dowry. As far as she knew, the Land of Fire had the same kind of policy. So then why did he give it to her?

Another thing that she didn't understand was that he promised her that she'll have the chance to come back here once in a while, even after their wedding. She was absolutely not prepared for him to have such kind of attitude; it made hating him so much harder. Was this his plan all along? Promising her things that would make her opinion about him change, so that she won't show such resistance? So that it would be easier for him to take her as his? Did Kakashi plan on wooing her completely? Or was this just his way in showing how sorry he was? Was Kakashi a nice person, or the cruelest she has ever met?

The flurry of unanswered questions made Sakura's head hurt. And it was especially annoying, since she had paperwork to do. Groaning, she rested her forehead on the desk.

...

Kakashi fastened the bow tie around his neck, looking himself over in the mirror. He was wearing a white dress shirt with black bow tie and a black tailcoat, black trousers and shoes. His hair was still unruly and he had his mask on, the only elements which remained from his casual attire. He started fidgeting, oh, how much he hated these formal things. But since he hated problems, he didn't have any other way than to choose the lesser evil out of the two. Because, it would be quite scandalous if the king would show up in a shirt and jeans on his engagement ball.

"It's almost time to go." He noted to no one particularly after looking at his pocket watch. Although he usually was late from every appointment, he tried not to be this time. Looking over himself one more time in the mirror, he left the room.

"You are finally here! I was considering on dragging you here personally." Genma glared at him in front of the door that led to the ballroom. He was wearing the formal military uniform, looking particularly smug in them.

"But I'm on time."

"Like hell you are. You are more than half an hour late!" Kakashi dangled his pocket watch in front of his friend's face, trying to prove that he was right. Genma raised a brow. "Your watch does not work." His friend pointed at the clock which was on the wall, showing that he was indeed late.

"Well…the thought is what counts." Kakashi scratched the back of his neck.

"Please explain that to a really furious queen and princess. Kurenai, please tell the others, that we can start." The woman nodded, disappearing behind one of the doors.

Kakashi walked closer to the ballroom's door, preparing to leave.

"By the way, she looks gorgeous." Genma whispered, having a smug look on his face.

The sound of trumps could be heard from the other side of the door.

"Please welcome His Royal Majesty, King Hatake Kakashi of the Land of Fire and Her Royal Highness, Princess Senju Sakura of the Land of Whirlpools." One of the servants boomed, the double winged door in front of Kakashi opening. He stepped out; his gaze fixed forward, his breath caught.

Sakura was in front of him, entering the room through another gate. She had a confident look on her face, head held high. Her hair was held in a bun with an intricate hairclip, which resembled a bloomed branch. The top part of her dress looked like the upper side of a furisode, with the sleeves reaching her knees, while the bottom part was an A-line skirt, its end brushing the floor. The whole dress was painted by hand, having vines and different shaped flowers on it. She looked…astonishing.

Her gaze didn't falter even a bit as they walked closer to each other. Sakura raising her right hand delicately, so he could hold it. They started walking down on the marble stairs, which led to the dance floor. Sakura had to be really careful not to stumble and fall down, the long dress making it especially hard for her to see where she was stepping.

"It's so nice of you to show up." Sakura muttered, barely audibly.

"Ah, you see, my watch didn't work properly."

"Of course." Her voice didn't hold even a bit of sympathy.

It was only when they were at the bottom of the stairs did Sakura observe her surroundings. People stood around the dance floor, there was so many of them, that they looked like a mass of black and each and every color of the rainbow. She was sure that there were only a handful of people whom she actually knew, the majority of the guests being diplomats from the Land of Fire and other nobles. She felt uncomfortable, the thought that most of them wouldn't even know her name, had it not been for the invitation cards aggravated her. And to think that there will be even more of these people on their wedding…

They stopped in the middle, Kakashi letting go of her hand. He walked a few steps ahead of her, asking her for a dance with a bow. She curtseyed, putting her hand in his larger one once again. Kakashi rested his left hand on the small of her back, while his fiancée put her hand on his shoulder blade. They felt everyone's gaze on themselves, their silence becoming suffocating. Slowly, the orchestra started playing, the melody filling the enormous ballroom.

The two of them moved to the music in an elegant waltz. Kakashi guided Sakura around the dance floor with such ease that it surprised her, she thought that he'll be clumsy and step on her feet or something. She hated dancing ever since she started living in the royal palace. The monthly organized balls aggravated her, because she always had to attend and act nicely towards people who had low opinions of her. The worst part was that each and every snotty noble brat asked her to dance, and she had to accept their request. Either that or suffer from Tsunade's wrath, as it would be considered downright rude for the princess to refuse someone. Even if the majority of them couldn't dance. Their palms were sweaty, couldn't lead her properly, stepped on her toes and their hands sometimes wandered far too close to her bottom. Yes, her experience with dance partners was awful to say the least.

Though it was hard for her to admit it, she was pleasantly surprised by Kakashi. She was dreading this exact moment since morning, her toes already hurting from the mere thought of the opening dance. She didn't think that Kakashi could dance, since he was far too laid back to be able to. His posture was anything but lazy and he held her firmly against him, he made her feel delicate and not like a piece of meat that had to be flung from one side of the room to the other. This was pleasant.

She looked up at her dance partner, jade meeting onyx; his gaze was fixed on her, eyes boring into hers. A small shiver went down her spine, thanks to Kakashi's intent look. She started wondering about what kind of expression he had on his face, since the mask was obscuring most of his features. It really annoyed her to no extent. She heard anecdotes about why he wore that piece of fabric so persistently. Some said that he had jagged teeth, with which he ripped out his victim's throat and he never bothered to brush his teeth, so the remnants of blood and tissue always covered them. Sakura refused to believe this particular rumor; it was downright outrageous and was obviously drenched with the animosity of her people towards him. Her theory was more believable in her opinion: he had some kind of physical deformity which he wanted to hide in order to save his dignity in front of others. Besides, he wasn't a prince charming kind of guy, so it completely made sense that he wasn't alluring.

"You are awfully quiet." Kakashi stated.

"Oh…does it bother you?" Sakura raised a brow.

"Not really, at least I'm not verbally abused by you." His lone eye crinkled happily, earning a snort from his dance partner.

"You know, I could accidentally step on your toes with my heels right now." She fluttered her lashes at him lovingly.

"Ah, you always threaten me." The man's dramatic sigh made her roll her eyes.

Their dance was slowly coming to a close, making Sakura relieved but anxious at the same time. She wished that the dance wouldn't end, not because of her partner, but because she'll have to talk to the herd of guests about things she could care less about.

"You look particularly stunning tonight." Kakashi murmured, bending her backwards as the music started to fade away. The pinkette felt her cheeks burning, something that did not stop even after they left the dance floor.

I know that it ends really abruptly, but the chapter would've been far too long if I had left the remaining parts in.

Thank you really much for reading!