Title: to make you happy
Summary: Sakura is forced to marry a Kumo ninja and Sasuke is not happy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Prompt: Sakura has to marry a Kumo ninja to cement an alliance and so they can forgive Sasuke's actions. - anon
Rating: K
Warning(s): None, I think. Or… well, I guess angst.
Comments: Based on the headcanon someone asked me... you can find all my headcanons on tumblr. I'm starting to make drabbles for them.
They wanted her to do what?
"…I beg your pardon?"
Clenching his fist, Sasuke didn't blame her for sounding so disbelieving and appalled. What the fuck kind of sick play was this? What the hell were they thinking—she was sixteen years old!
"Marriage to one of our finest shinobis," the Raikage repeated, mouth in a firm line. "To cement the alliance between Kumo and Konoha."
Naruto, who'd been standing beside him in a quiet, seething rage, finally stepped forward in loud disagreement. "Hang on!" he bellowed. "What the hell kind of request is that!? Forcing Sakura-chan to marry someone from your village—that's not right!"
He's right, he wanted to say. Sakura is her own person, has her own feelings—she's not an object or a slave that you can force to bend at your will! She has rights—you can't force her to do anything, he thought, eyes narrowing dangerously. I won't allow it.
He hadn't even realized he'd moved in front of Sakura, almost as if wanting to hide her, until she touched his shoulder and stepped around him, giving him a sort of reprimanding look.
"That's enough, Naruto," she said with a frown, beckoning him back in his spot. "This is between Raikage-sama and I. I can handle it." Her eyes drifted to Sasuke, and he tensed a bit, taken aback by how conflicted she seemed. "You guys should go. This doesn't concern you."
Exhaling sharply through his nose, Sasuke clenched his teeth, reigning in the anger that he felt towards this completely ridiculous situation. He trusted Sakura, but the whole thing was still completely infuriating.
"Fine," he said, the word coming out smooth and collected as he put to use his expertise in feigning apathy. It wouldn't do any of them any good if he snapped at them now.
Swiftly, he snatched Naruto by the collar and yanked him out of the room, ignoring the cries of protest from the blonde and missing the look of disappointment on his other teammate's face.
.
.
"Insensitive assholes!" Naruto growled, stomping angrily ahead as they exited the building. "What the hell are they thinking!?"
Sasuke made no response, instead choosing to lean against the wall beside the entrance. He sighed long and slow to calm his mildly irritated self, eyes slipping shut in patient waiting.
"Do they even know what the hell they're asking of her?!"
His head tipped forward, lips thinning in a firm line.
"That's not a small restriction—that's huge! Why would they want to take away her right to marry whoever the hell she wants?! Why can't they pick someone else?! Why does it have to be her?!"
She's never gonna accept, his mind tried to tell him. You know her. She's always going to follow her heart best—she will never let them take away such freedom.
"They can't do that! They just—can't!" He sounded as if he was closer, now. "You know what—I'm gonna go ahead and march right up there to tell them how much they don't have the damn—"
Naruto's protests were cut short by the entrance doors slamming open, nearly knocking against Sasuke in the process before he moved out of the way and frowned at the obviously pissed off newcomer. His eyes softened when he spotted pink, but she didn't seem to notice him as she stood there, shaking in rage.
"Sakura-chan!" The blue-eyed man exclaimed, worried and growing angered for a whole other reason. "What did they—"
"Not now, Naruto," she gritted out, sounding awfully like she was trying to hold herself together.
His best friend looked a bit hurt, and Sasuke frowned some more. Sakura wasn't prone to being so tetchy and spiteful. She must have been at her limits.
"Look, I'm sorry but I can't—I need to be alone right now."
He didn't like how she sounded. He didn't like the wavering of her tone and almost hoarse manner of speaking. Wearily, Sasuke slowly approached her in steady, calm strides.
"Sakura-chan…"
There was something in the way Naruto said her name that had her nearly jumping, and before he knew it, Sakura had taken all but two hurried, powered dashes in Sasuke's direction before she all but collided into him, throwing them both off-balance. Sasuke quickly recovered, hands shooting to her shoulders to steady her as well.
He wasn't prepared to see her look up to him with tears in her eyes. He wasn't prepared to see the pain double up as she recognized him. He wasn't prepared to hear her mutter a choked apology before rightfully dashing away, this time, pumping chakra into her legs hard.
He stood there, stunned. Confused.
Why had the sight of him worsened her anguish? Did their situation directly relate to him? If yes, then how?
It's not like Sakura loves me anymore, he thought to himself, frowning. How could she, after all I've done?
.
.
It was a few days of strangely sour moodiness before he coincidentally stumbled upon Ino and Sakura conversing about the whole thing rather animatedly, just behind the Yamanaka's family flower shop.
"You're not seriously considering this are you?" the blonde demanded, putting her hands on her hips and squinting her baby blue eyes at her friend. "It's completely awful."
"Of course I'm not!" Sakura protested, waving her hand at her dismissively. "How could you ask me that? How could you think I would subject myself to something like this?"
Ino frowned, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I'm not saying you would but… Sakura, you're loyal to your bones. You have a knack for sacrificing your own well-being and happiness for someone else to have theirs." Her lips pursed a little, eyes softening in worry. "Considering giving up your own freedom to marry the one you love so two entire villages could live forever in peace kinda sounds like something you would do."
Sasuke wasn't sure why, but hearing Sakura's best friend speak so surely made his jaw tighten.
It's because you know she's right, a little voice whispered in his mind. Because you know that it does sound an awful lot like her.
"I'm not a martyr," Sakura muttered, looking uncomfortable. "I'm just—not."
Ino's features softened again. "No, you're not," she said, touching the pink haired medic's shoulder. "Not yet, anyway."
The affirmation and sadness in the usually sassy blonde's tone made his fists clench. He didn't quite understand why knowing Ino believed Sakura would end up caving and sacrificing herself for a forever-lasting peace made him so angry.
.
.
.
It happened three months and a half later. She told them the news on one of their usual team outings.
There was outrage from the other two, with strong objections and overlapping rants, while Sasuke simply sat there, staring blankly at his meal. It was only when Sakura softly tried to ask him if he was okay that he recoiled and stood, looking down at her with narrowed eyes before he promptly walked away without a word.
He convinced himself he was bothered because she was letting herself be manipulated into something she clearly expressed she didn't want—and not because he felt betrayed.
.
.
.
They started speaking less after that. Conversations growing more clipped, and lasting shorter. Subjects getting more and more impersonal.
Sakura was confused, he could see that so clearly. She didn't understand what was happening between them, didn't understand why he was being so snappy and curt, and why sometimes he'd look at her like he was disappointed in her.
Frankly, he didn't really understand either.
He was just so angry at her. At the Kages. At Tsunade. Everything about this situation bothered him—but her ever growing comfort and semi-excitement about meeting potential future husbands was probably the last straw for him.
But why? Why did the possibility of Sakura being potentially happy with the outcome, of possibly finding a match she could fall in love with, make him so disgruntled and unnerved? If Sakura could be happy in the end, and unite two villages together in the process, then why did it feel so wrong to him?
It was frustrating how much this perturbed him, and how much it threw their bond out of balance. How his lack of approval and ever-growing almost vindictive treatment of her created a thick, hurtful tension between them.
Sasuke wouldn't know it yet, but he was incriminating her. For bringing this onto herself, for following her duties instead of her heart.
For giving up on her dream.
.
.
.
"You're angry with her."
Pausing in the sharpening of his chokuto, Sasuke raised his hair to look at the blonde standing at the other side of the room.
Lips tightening, he said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Naruto snarled. "Don't you bullshit me, you bastard. Why are you blaming her?!" He took a few steps and gritted his teeth, chin tilting down. He was upset. "You don't know how hard this is on her. Why do you think Kakashi and I are still fighting for her freedom?"
Onyx eyes narrowed in a cold stare.
"She's searching for suitors—has been for the last three years. Tell me again how torn she is about this," he said, sounding detached and completely unsympathetic.
A low growl ripped out from his best friend's throat, and he snapped, "What, so you're punishing her for trying to find a nice, decent guy to spend the rest of her life with in case she can't get out of this?!"
Sasuke stiffened, and his mouth parted to say something, only to slip back shut as he looked away and frowned.
Naruto sighed, slow and deep. Sitting down next to him, he said, "You really don't get what this is about, do you?"
He received an impatient, annoyed glance in return. "They've made it pretty clear it's for an Alliance between Kumo and Konoha," Sasuke smoothly replied, resuming his task. "That's all there is to it."
Shaking his head sadly, Naruto simply responded. "No, teme. That's not all there is to it."
He left before Sasuke could say anything.
.
.
.
It was a few days before Sasuke resolved to confront her for the first time—to finally let go of his anger and seek to understand her choice. Naruto's words replayed in his mind senselessly, nagging at him to find out what was truly going on.
What could possibly be the Raikage's true motive behind this? What could possibly be his true aim? What didn't he know about the arrangement? What could possibly explain everything—even her willingness to pull through?
Raising a hand to the door of Sakura's home, Sasuke prepared to knock.
But the sound of muffled voices halted him.
"Are you… Sakura, are you sure about this?" he heard someone—he was fairly sure it was Ino—ask, sounding unsure and fairly apprehensive.
Frowning, he retreated to himself, eyes trained on the dark wooden entrance as he strained to hear the words.
"—es I'm sure, Ino. He's a good guy."
"Good guy or not—I hear he hates Konoha. He doesn't exactly sound like the most reliable guy to entrust an alliance deal."
"Shi loves his village," Sakura defended. "Just like I love mine. And he—well, he—" She went quiet, all of a sudden, as if embarrassed. Shyly, she went on, "He… likes me. He's serious and a bit reserved but he—he's sweet. And he knows what he wants and god, he understands the difficulties of being a medic. I mean, do you know how rare that is? To find a guy who doesn't complain about the overly long hours of doctors and nurses and medic nins? To find one who gets that we love what we do? That we're fine with getting such long shifts if that means we get to save people?"
Sasuke swallowed tightly, a sort of tightness forming in his chest. It was hard to believe that she was the most hurt in this situation when she sounded so happy and pleased.
"Alright, but Forehead—"
"He gets me, Ino. Shi gets me. He gets what it's like to be a medic and he gets what it's like to have to deal with people trying to tell you to rest while you just want to work, and he loves it too and—"
"So he gets your line of work, Sakura, but how does he get you? I'm only hearing about how you two relate to being medics—but I'm a medic too! I get that, too! What I want to know is if he understands the kind of person you are. If he understands you giving up everything, if he knows your story and respects it. Does he know you loved Sasuke, the criminal he hates, who almost killed his Kage, and the Guardian of the village he loves so much? Do you think he'd be able to sympathize with that?"
There was silence, and Sasuke frowned. There was truth to that, he knew. If this man hated him, then he probably wouldn't be prone to respecting her for loving him.
"I—yes. I think he would. He's sweet, and he's mature. If I explained to him—he would get it. He's a good guy, Ino. He's my best choice. I know with him that I… I could be happy. And maybe I could fall in love."
"But what about him, Sakura? What about your feelings? What about wanting to be with the person you've loved since you were twelve? Will you love him like you loved him?"
Suddenly, his breath cut short. Did that mean she still—
"I will never love anyone as much as I love Sasuke-kun. He will always, always be the man that I love most. He will always hold my heart." She took a breath, and sounded a little shaky. "But lately, all I ever seem to do is annoy Sasuke-kun and make him angry." She paused, before continuing, softly, "He's never gonna love me, Ino. You and I both know that. For Sasuke-kun I—I only ever wanted him to be happy. And I—"
His fist tightened, eyes shutting tight.
"—I don't make him happy."
.
.
.
"Take care of yourself! And don't forget about the flowers, tomorrow, okay? I've been waiting for the new batch to come along for nearly a month, now!"
It was the bright smile on her lips, as she bid her goodbyes to the blonde, that prompted him to call out her name.
"Sakura."
Her head jerked to the side, eyes widening in surprise and hand jumping to her chest to calm her pounding heart. "Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed. "Don't scare me like that!"
Pushing himself away from the outside wall of her home, he approached her, looking all too serious and unhappy. There was a flicker of something in his eyes that she couldn't quite pinpoint, but made her falter.
She opened her mouth to say something, but he beat her to it.
"I always thought you were the type who'd want to marry for love."
She blinked twice, almost recoiling. "Wha—"
"I never thought you'd choose your duties and loyalty over your own heart." He huffed a breath, then, shaking his head. "It's like you have no respect for yourself."
Her eyes narrowed then, almost dangerously. "Did you just imply that I'm a goddamn pupp—"
"There are others that could have been chosen," Sasuke groused, crossing his arms in front of his chest unhappily. "Others that weren't already in love with someone else." His nose flared at the sight of her widening eyes and gaping mouth, angry features washing away. "Why can't you ever think about your own happiness, for once? Why can't you ever pursue your heart and desires just this—"
"I'm doing this for you!" Sakura shouted back, tears blurring her gaze. "This wasnt—this wasn't a choice, damnit! It was the only way to ensure that you wouldn't get hurt, the only way they would forgive you! They wanted me to do it because I was the best—I was the most loyal they'd seen! I was your teammate and I'm the one in love with you so of course I—I would be—"
She choked on a sob, then, putting a hand at her mouth to try and stop herself from breaking down. She didn't see the way his hands fisted, didn't see how he wrenched his head away and grimaced. Didn't see him finally understand.
"It was the only way to make sure you would be happy," she whimpered, hiccuping softly. "To make sure everyone would be happy."
Everyone but you, Sasuke's mind whispered to him. He swallowed tightly, looking away. Always everyone but you, Sakura.
It was silent.
Then, "Don't do it."
She tensed, looking up at him and gasping as he flash stepped in front of her and caged her against the wall, leaving no room to run away. His breath puffed against her face, making her acutely aware of the dampness of her cheeks. She cursed herself for losing her cool like she always did, in front of him.
"If you marry that guy, Sakura…" He started, catching her attention as he lifted his eyes at her, endless black pools staring fiercely into glassy emerald green. "…I won't be happy."
Sakura's heart skipped a beat, and she swallowed tightly, a shudder running through her body as one hand grasped her hip, pushing her until she was all but flattened against the bricks. His stare grew more intense. More heated.
"I could never be happy, if you did." His thumb brushed against the material of her shirt, making her breath hitch. "You're not going to marry him. Not as long as you love me." His lips thinned. "I won't allow it."
The weight of his words, and the real meaning behind them, left her breathless.
A/N: AND THEN THEY MADE OUT. lmao.
I, uh, didn't really know how to end this. Clearly. Hope you still enjoyed…?