Chapter 3 - Opportunity
"The greatest victory is that which requires no battle. »
The room was rumbling and fumbling with noise. The heir of the Haruno clan had yet to make an appearance, and the lords were not as discreet and contained as in front of Sakura, undertones of mutiny hanging in the air.
Kakashi and Naruto were struggling to keep the samurais in check since the Uchiha had made an apparition at the entrance of the room, his long hair kept up in a traditional ponytail and in a fine black kimono that was very obviously gifted by the mistress of the estate. He kept silent, his hand on the handle of his katana, next to a rice panel leading to the corridor. Naruto stood boldly by his side, his katana discarded by the entrance of the room with the other lords' – as custom expected it- but striking nonetheless.
Kakashi was in between the two groups, trying desperately to reason with the lords while waiting for the arrival of Sakura. She was late, but one would argue she was making a blatant power stance by making everyone waiting for her.
"Hatake-san, what is the meaning of all this? Is Haruno-dono aware of the presence of this ronin under her roof, hostile and refusing to hand over his katana? This situation is unprecedented and alarming", enquired a tall man as a barely concealed menace.
"Miamize-dono", we understand your concern, but Haruno-dono will soon explain everything, Kakashi replied, raising both hands in front of him.
"No, you understand nothing. If some of my subordinates knew that I stood in the room with the last Uchiha, my influence with the Shogun would be highly jeopardized."
"His clan is cursed, and his members were wiped out and banished from nobility", an other lord spat from across the room.
"Are you all so afraid of Danzo?" Sasuke cut in a looming tone.
Lord Miamize turned to fully glare at the man for a minute.
"You do not dare to speak to me in that manner, ronin, if you wish to outlive the day", he growled.
"He has a point, Naruto claimed. We are assembling here to provide protection to Haruno-dono, and you know, since her father's and brother's … passing, that the estate is on very… unstable terms with the shogun. You allying with us sure sends a message to Danzo."
"A message, for sure," a chunky lord in a crimson kimono argued. "Not a war declaration – and there is a huge statement between these two, and our actions towards Haruno-dono."
They kept on babbling, both sides trying to reason with the other, voices stronger and louder, despite the usual civility required of such highly-ranked aristocrats.
Sakura was standing behind a full body panel for the whole time, quietly listening to the discussion while hiding. A technique her father had taught her – always know what your allies say about you when you are not in the room. She was walking on a tight rope, she knew it. Her choice of bringing Sasuke in was a hasty, foolish one – but it made so much sense to her that she couldn't look away, despite everyone's advice, Naruto and Kakashi aside.
There were things even the two of them didn't know. She was worried she would have to drop the truth very soon, and couldn't allow herself to – Tsunade would be so very disappointed, and she didn't want, for anything in the world, fail her. She clenched her tiny, perfect, powdered fists at the sound of another insult towards the Uchiha, predicting that the lords would not follow her into battle if she asked them to. She knew they were playing a political game, but fewer allies were better than unreliable ones. She needed to make an impression, and quick, or she would loose them all.
She quickly gestured at her servants to set up her arrival, and they slid the door quietly to allow her to take place on the stage on the side of the room. As her maid was adjusting the rice paper panel separating her from the rest of the rumbling room to make only her hands visible, she sat down, and said loud and clear, her pristine voice echoing through the panels for all the lords to hear:
"Let them see me. I want to see the discourteous myself."
Satuski, her head servant, threw her a questioning look, but after a quick indication of the head from her mistress, slid wide open the panel to the platform, leaving her posed for all eyes to see. Kakashi turned first to look at her, Naruto quickly taking place at the bottom of the platform with her advisor. Both men bowed deeply and sat down on cushions reserved to them, exposing them as her most trusted men. Sasuke stood by the door for a minute, before taking a seat next to the corridor, directly facing her. In one swift gesture, he removed his sword from the rope around his waist and put it in front of him on the floor. His hands were on his knees, and despite an official bow, she knew it was the best his proud self could allow himself.
The room had gone quiet, the lords quickly seating down, and she felt all expecting, astounded eyes weighing on her. And what a display indeed she was! All crimson, gold and white, her long pink tresses lifted up in an intricate coiffure made of gold and jade ornaments framing her petite, white face like ribbons, she was for the first time since she was just a child, exposed to the admirable, demanding and ruthless samurai lords that renewed her pledges to her family. Her crimson and white jūnihitoe was, in a way, her own armor, one she had to bear and tolerate for now. From the quiet gasps, she knew her entrance was a successful one – and the fact that she was feeling a pair of onyx eyes piercing her like raging fire only made her more confident.
"I was told only the bravest answered my call", she started.
She knew all of the men in the room by heart – their faces, riches, lands, current issues and concerns. And now, she knew their stance on what mattered the most to her: Danzo. She would show them what underestimating a woman like her could cost. She was not a mere doll, paintings on a rice panel, a delicacy you could easily go without. She was the only heir of her clan, a strong, young woman with so much more boiling under the surface of her skin she was eager to reveal.
"Yet, I see no one answering this description."
Her head was tilting from one side of the room to another, her golden hairdo ringing like a bird in the heavy air as she was looking at the lords one by one without saying a word. Very few held her look, and she took her time to establish her dominance and power over them. Kakashi and Naruto stood proudly by the platform, silent, their eyes on Sakura like a silent breath. She took great care on letting her jade eyes only idly glide over the strong and tall figure of the last Uchiha. She was in perfect control of her emotions, her face and posture not giving away a single thing as she looked at him. As his eyes remained dreadfully, dangerously jammed with hers, she felt like a scorching fire was slowly burning at the small of her back. She was the perfect face of composure while fighting the shivers running down her spine and her arms, like a floating caress, like a lover's embrace.
She subtly directed her eyes to the next lord a moment too quickly, and couldn't help but see the almost indistinct smirk on Sasuke's thin lips. It was a power play she knew, and he was playing her the same way she was playing the lords. He was teasing – and playful, and this attitude did brought back some memories. She mirrored his concealed smile for an instant, before looking at the whole room. The samurai, after the initial shock of seeing Sakura in all her apparel, started to feel irritated at her scolding them like children. The room was full of whispers and resonances of sliding kimono robes.
"Understand me my lords", she carried on. "I thought you renewed your vows to my Clan's name and swore that you would protect me against what is to come. If any of you doubted of what we were referring to, I will be clearer: Danzo killed my father. Danzo killed my brother."
Kakashi was watching her carefully from the bottom of the platform. He knew her since she was a little girl at his father's estate. But how did the years transformed her in such a woman was still a mystery, despite following her for so long. What did she do, after Sakumo's school was burnt to the ground, the same terrible night all the Uchiha were slaughtered? Sasuke fled on open roads, Naruto went to his new master, and Kakashi enrolled at the service of Sakura's father. But she was hidden away, in the arms of the man she had been promised to. She then disappeared for months, even years, only returning briefly, always kept like a precious secret. Rumours that she was being trained by Tsunade-hime herself on the outside border started to spread, and soon, Sakura did not return at all.
Last time he saw her, she was nineteen years old, standing on her horse near the gates of the estate. In that moment, at dawn, in the same courtyard as the one drenched in rain and mud he saw her ran into last night without a waver, she left alone, with fire in her eyes and without looking back.
She only came back four years later, when her father and brother were held for trial at Danzo's court.
Sakura, on the platform, briefly closed her eyes. When she opened them again, Kakashi recognised the look from that morning that sent shivers down his spine.
"And if he knows anything about me, Danzo is coming to kill me."
Murmurs stopped.
"I need allies that can, when time requires, side with me against Danzo. Now, if this is of your distaste, or if you fear for your people I'd prefer that you maintain a neutral position towards the estate. We will maintain courteous commercial relationships but I will not ask for your men when times come, and neither will you."
She let out a sly smile before continuing.
"If you fear for your life only, I authorize that you withdraw from our agreement. I do not need men that quiver when the enemy is approaching. I only need people I can trust with my eyes closed. And whether you like it or not, Uchiha-san is one of them."
The room started to shake with agitation once more. She only had to slightly lift her hand for it to become quiet once more. The will of fire was gone, and she was back to her docile, poised self.
"You have until tomorrow to give me your final answer. Until then, you are my most honoured guests, please enjoy the food and entertainment we have prepared for you."
At her gesture, maids started to flow into the room, carrying rice wine and delicacies, others with kabukis to start playing diverting melodies. Soon the room broke into laughter and chats, and Naruto jumped to join Sakura, yanked by the collar of his kimono by Kakashi at the very last minute. He made him seat at the edge of the platform, while Sakura was formally seated on her cushion, under the stern look of her protocol intendant.
"Sakura-chan, you were great! These lords are always so stuck-up and double-faced; they didn't expect to be put back in place by a woman! And look at you! You are beautiful! Even better than yesterday, 'ttebayo!"
Kakashi threw him a desperate look, while Sasuke was silently approaching.
"How is the daughter of Hyûga-sama? I've heard that you were mandated for months to ensure her protection, and she kept talking to me about you in one of her letters I received this morning", Sakura said with malice.
Naruto grew beetroot red, loosing all his confidence in a matter of seconds.
"Hinata-sama talked about me?!" he shrieked.
"She said that she "will always remember when you took her to the moon". Now, I do hope that it's literal, otherwise it might be very scandalous if people knew what you are doing with the princess you are supposed to protect …"
Her eyes were twinkling at the sight of Naruto going from all colors.
"Actually, Sakura-chan, it's a long story, we were investigating on some very powerful warlords from an ancient clan, and Hinata-chan helped and …"
""-chan", Eh? Now now, my poor Naruto…" she kept going, her smile windening, mirroring Kakashi's.
Even Sasuke was amused to see Naruto, prodigy son of the best war General of a generation, literally contorting himself while incoherently babbling. Sakura let out a pristine laugh, hidden behind her long sleeve, and all of a sudden he could not take her eyes off her. It was like a call, that laugh, nothing the ones he knew so well of her, but more like a tamed glimmer of old times. It was soothing, and the familiarity of that scene brought peace to his heart for a little moment out of time.
Their little reunion was interrupted when Shinzo Akamatsu, one of the more vocal lords from prior Sakura's arrival, approached the young woman by bowing by the platform.
"Haruno-sama, please excuse my interruption. I would love to entertain you in a private audience. We have much to discuss, I believe."
Sakura threw a long look at the man in front over while her three companions took a respectful step back, falling back in a more formal posture. He was very tall, his shoulders broad. His long, black hair were kept in a half-bun at the top of his head, in a traditional way. His fine kimono was not an overly-refined court kimono, but rather a quiet display of his power and influence: black with discreet embroideries of the finest fabric, yet very utilitarian and comfortable. He was around 40 years old, athletic, but his piercing ice-blue eyes carried the wisdom of a thousand years. He was at the head of one of the most influent families of Japan, directly originating from an ancient emperor. Its support had been for many years the main reason of the current influence of the Haruno clan, and he and Sakura's father were old friends – a young Shinzo having trained for years alongside Kizashi, new samurai lord. He was a very fine politician, still close to court and highly-respected.
She closed her eyes briefly in acceptance, throwing a docile smile in his direction.
"Of course my lord. Please, join me in the gardens. Our winter flowers are a delight for the eyes."
"Thank you, my lady. I have no doubt they are."
He threw her one long, indecipherable look that made her shiver, and walked away quietly. She let out a quiet breath, throwing a look at Kakashi, her trusted advisor that understood the importance of this encounter. He was gloomy, and returned her worry with melancholic grey eyes, like ash after a forest fire. Naruto was silent for once, and Sasuke had already walked away when she decided to follow Shinzo Akamatsu in the gardens.
The gardens were covered in a fine mantle of dew, and the air was icy, yet a bright sun was warming the back of the two silhouettes quietly walking in the privacy of the hidden paths. Many trees, used to the continental climate of the estate, still had some leaves hanging, floating in the frosty wind. Delicate hellebores were carefully arranged along the path, with colours ranging from pristine white to soft rose; a true delight for the eyes to see.
Sakura had a heavy crimson mantle thrown over her shoulders covering her robes to keep her warm, and, despite the fact that she was not sensitive to the cold in any way, she was glad for the extra cover of her shaking hands. Shinzo was by her side, with a fur-lined cape over his kimono, looking even more regal and imposing as earlier. The protection of the platform gone, their height difference was painfully obvious regardless of the delicate, ten centimetre lacquered sandals Sakura was wearing, making her steps painfully slow. Shizo did not mind, and fell into pace with her with no effort.
The conversation, despite her worries, had been very pleasant so far. Shinzo was a very likeable conversation partner, and even made her laugh quietly several times. He had a very large knowledge of flowers – she briefly remembered him being very close to the Yamanaka clan, back when they were not officially sided with Tsunade-hime and expelled from court alongside their sibling clans Akimichi and Nara.
They stopped in front of a flowering shrub of daphnes, delicate flowers blooming in a radiant pink. He took one in the palm of his hand with delicate attention, as if he was holding a little bird, and Sakura noticed without surprise that his hands were covered in pale scars – the hands of a warrior.
"These flowers are my favourite. Blooming before spring arrives, yet with such frail appearance. A beauty, with the heart of a warrior."
"They are my favourite in these gardens as well", Sakura mirrored with a compliant smile.
Still holding the flowers, Shinzo turned slightly to Sakura.
"Your father raised you very well. He would be proud to see you like this, fighting to keep this estate alive. I still remember him as if he passed yesterday. He was a great mentor and a dear friend. I miss him terribly."
Sakura looked at Shinzo for an instant, sweet green meeting sharp blue, before turning away, her gaze fixated on the flowers. She brought her pristine hands to the inside of her cape, pure white against blood crimson, to hold it tighter around her small figure in an instinctive gesture of comfort.
"And so do I. I was not supposed to be ever made heir of the estate, yet here I am, with a price on my head and the duties of a ruler. I wish he was still here, for guidance."
"You have some people around you you can trust, my lady. Hatake-san is truly devoted to you; and my clan has been your trusted ally for years now."
"Yet I hear that you do not trust my decisions? Pardon my bluntness my lord, but I thought you amongst all would've stood by my side."
Shinzo's look became worried, and piercing.
"Haruno-sama, you have to understand what perilous situation you are in. Sending this kind of message to Danzo could plunge us all into Civil War, and despite our true respect for your father's name, very few would follow his daughter into a bloody battle against their own shogun."
"What are you suggesting I should do then, Akamatsu-sama?" She replied in a clicked voice.
She turned to face him, her jade eyes shining with fear and anger and everything else she could not hide. She was 25, pushed into this political game she did not wish to pursue, surrounded from all sides, and tied up so tightly she did not see any issue out of the trap closing onto her. Shinzo let go of the flowers and gazed at her the way you admire a masterpiece. She didn't feel troubled by it at first, as his presence grew soothing. He was strong, powerful, and obviously trying to help in his own way. However, she perceived a shift in his eyes, like a dangerous slope, a shortfall of control. His large hand slowly approached her powdered face to graze at her cheek from the back of his fingers. He barely touched her, yet it was as if electricity had cursed through her body. She flinched just enough to made him stop, as she felt her heart pounding in her chest. Her crimson bow holding her hair at the small of her back jumped slightly as she inched backwards.
Shinzo let his hand slowly fall at his side, not flustered at all by the situation. He allowed a small, reassuring smile to grow on his lips before bowing faintly, as an excuse. He carried on, his gaze returning to the flowers in front of them.
"Lay low, show your respect to Danzo and proclaim your upmost devotion to his regime. Ask the Uchiha and the Uzumaki to go away, and pray for him to underestimate you and for his wrath to be appeased."
"Or?..."
"… Or ally with the most powerful clan of the land in such a display of wealth and power that he will not ever attempt to lay a hand on you."
Sakura was slowly understanding where he was getting at.
"We already are allies."
"I am not taking about a military alliance, Haruno-sama, and I think you grasp exactly what I am implying here", he said knowingly.
She took a time to breathe, peeling her look away from his clever ways and his cerulean eyes, to turn once again on the daphnes.
"I … will need some time to consult with my advisors", she finally replied.
"Of course."
"May I know why you are offering me this now?"
"I could argue that I am repaying the life-long debt I owe to your father. However, I think that we could find together everything we have been looking for: peace, protection, power, and a future. You became a strong woman, I can feel it. I hadn't see you in years, but your display of wit earlier was truly impressive. We could become the most powerful couple in the whole realm."
He paused, before adding enigmatically:
"Even more than Danzo himself. It would take time, and influence…"
"… But we could take him out, piece by piece", she concluded.
They both remained silent, like newfound partners, bound by their secret.
"You would?..."
"You are not the only one regretting Tsunade-dono reign. She was a good ruler. Many of us however, can not bear an open war. We are barely at peace, and it is precious."
Sakura kept silent, her mind racing. The offer was good, so good she was almost considering it. She was staring at the daphnes in front of her to hide her distress. Did Shinzo knew?... He seemed to be extremely perceptive, but she would've known if any information about her missions under Tsunade leaked to the mainland. The Akamatu's power however, should not be underestimated. Before she could answer him, Shinzo bowed deeply.
"I will take my leave and let you consider my proposition, my lady."
She acknowledged him with a small nod and accompanying smile. She followed his silhouette until he was out of sight, and, when the sliding door of the wooden pathway closed, she knew she was alone. She let out a long sigh and unclasped her mantle that kept her too warm, enjoying the shivers of her skin as the wind slipped in the folds of the heavy material of her ceremonial dress.
Her mind was still racing with the lord's proposition when she heard featherlike steps coming next to her. She breathed in, and all of a sudden the cold, sharp air smelled of burning wood, dust, soap and crushed berries. She knew that smell, the one of a man on the road, a warrior and a prince. His hand reached at the daphnes and snapped a little branch off right next to her.
"You heard?" she asked without looking.
"It is a good offer."
She abruptly turned to face the man beside her. He was looking at her with a clever smile hung to his lips, one she knew, hated, and adored. Her lips were pursed of everything she could not say but longed to, and he returned her look with the intensity of a man facing burning fire. They were standing in silence, the air heavy with unspoken certainties and missed opportunities. She felt a pull towards him, like her body craved his, with a strength stronger than the will of men and the course of the earth. The pull towards each other was like gravity, undeniable, unavoidable, unstoppable.
Sasuke looked at Sakura with raw hunger. She could see something, like a painful desire, a yearning that grew over the years. He did not move, however, and as she thought she was about to stop breathing from the intensity of his onyx eyes, he carried on.
"I did not say, however, that you should accept it."
His words were slow and carefully measured, and Sakura saw that somewhere behind the dust and the loneliness, the blood and the hate, the man and the warrior, there was a flicker for hope, for something. That spark, however, disappeared as soon as he looked down in his hands, rubbing the leaves of the daphnes branch he took earlier.
"I know why these are your favourite", he said after a minute.
She couldn't calm the erratic beatings of her heart, and part of her did not wish to. They were alone, and he was standing here, ravenous and open, deprived and exposed, and she could not stand the way he was playing at every string of her soul.
"Try me", she said in a trembling voice, keeping her jade orbs focused on the tip of his pale fingers.
He leaned in, and detached every syllable as if it was painful to stand so close.
"The daphnes …"
His hand shoot up in her hair – she didn't budge.
"… are a crucial ingredient for your favourite poison."
In a breath, he detached from her and left her there, trembling with every bone in her body, craving for a touch, for the graze of his fingers, burned in all the places he did not reach for.
He was far away when Satsuki arrived at her mistress' side still clutching for lucidity.
In her hair, a single daphne flower, the exact shade of her hair, was floating in her tresses like an unspoken request.
"Remember."
Oh hello there. Thank you so, so much for the reviews. I feel so supported for a first story ! You are the best.
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