I Do Not Own Naruto


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Plotting Roots


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Sakura just stared at Sasuke then with unblinking eyes.

Sure, they had just kissed last night before everything had gone to hell but that… that didn't mean that there was a reason for him to marry her! It wasn't like he loved her or anything!

True, she loved him, she had accepted that pain in the ass truth about herself years ago, it just was at this point. However, this did not mean she expected anything from him in return when he didn't even know about her loving him. Sakura had been keeping that under wraps for years now and only Kakashi and Isobu knew about it. And she didn't expect anything in return, she didn't expect anything from him, and she certainly didn't expect marriage from him, it just wasn't practical for her to expect that from him.

"You'd marry Sakura!?" Naruto gaped then.

"Aa," Sasuke shrugged. It wasn't a yes in the normal human language but in the language of the Uchiha it was a yes, even she knew this as she locked her jaw and tried not to gape at him.

"You would marry me?" she repeated dubiously as she pointed to herself and received a pointed glare from Sasuke then.

"Stop looking stupid," he snapped. She glared back at him then as she folded her arms. Now she wasn't so certain she wanted to marry him, however it appeared her opinion was about to be vetoed either way.

"That's brilliant," Sai decided with a smile which had her freezing on the spot and knowing she was stuck now. "You will marry Ugly and she will have to stay in the village!"

"That may be the stupidest thing you've ever said," Sasuke said flatly which had an inky set of eyes glaring at Sasuke as she dragged her fingers through her short pink hair and listened to Isobu assure her that it would be better for her to marry Sasuke rather than let the Haruno Family drag her away for the boring life of a rich person. She kind of agreed with the Three Tails, but then she was also in love with doing missions, training with Kakashi, Tsunade, hanging out with Ino, Naruto, Sai and Sasuke, penning Gaara and Temari, and kicking ass of anyone who dared to try to come at her, her family, her friends, or her village. She didn't want to leave her life behind.

"Oh, good, you're awake Sakura," Kakashi said and she looked up as the door was opened with Minato, Kakashi, and Itachi walking in which had her tensing a little.

"Please don't send me away!" she pleaded as she got up and hurried straight to Kakashi. Her guardian had her wrapped up in a firm hug then as his chin rested on her head and she stared fearfully at the Fourth Hokage.

"No, but… we have a proposal to keep you here," Minato said softly.

Kakashi hugged her a little tighter as she stared at the Hokage.


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Sasuke had actually been relieved when Sai had suggested Sakura getting married, it was mostly because then he didn't have to bring it up himself. It wasn't that the thought hadn't been entertained by him before, but that had been when he had been a child, and it had been an entertaining daydream before life went to hell.

But even now, he would admit that Sakura was probably the only girl he'd be married to. She was certainly the only girl he tolerated on a long term basis and she was the prettiest girl in the Land of Fire. And that was saying something in his mind as he looked from the trembling pinkette being hugged by her silver guardian to his brother who was standing behind the Hokage then. Nrauto was glaring at his father, and Sai had stood up defiantly. Sasuke was sitting calmly as he assessed his brother at this moment. And all he could see from his brother was that there was obviously a plan here that they didn't know, yet.

"I don't want to go," Sakura mumbled.

"What proposal?" Sasuke asked then cutting her off before she broke down into tears, he didn't want her breaking down if they had a solution to keep her where she belonged.

"Marry Sasuke," Itachi stated flatly which had Sai laughing, Naruto collapsing in a heap of laughter and Sakura just staring dumbly at the council as he hid his smirk in his hand then.

"That was our solution!" Naruto howled from the floor which had the Hokage snickering as well. Sasuke just looked over to the pinkette who smiled slightly but hadn't let go of her guardian and he sighed as he leaned back against his chair and nodded to his brother his consent to this idea. It was highly probable in his future that he'd have eventually chosen Sakura to be his wife, he'd admit that, so speeding things along wasn't the end of his world.

"Sakura?" The Fourth prompted her then and Sakura looked at him then, he nodded to assure her that it was alright and she seemed to sag against Kakashi then.

"Alright, if that's alright with Sasuke," Sakura breathed.

"Good, now that it is official we will have to plan the wedding because we told the Haruno Family that you were getting married by the end of the month.

"WHAT!?" Naruto, himself, Sai and Sakura all roared at the three adults in the room. Now he was scowling at his brother. It wasn't that the marriage was a bad idea, but he was thinking that Sakura and he would need time just to get used to being engaged, and now they were getting married.

"Yes, we also kind of told them this arrangement had been in the works for months," Minato smiled nervously as he scratched the back of his head. Sasuke just rubbed his brow in frustration as he looked up at them again then decided to ask Sakura formally.

"Hatake Sakura, will you marry me?" he asked her coldly and looked over at her.

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Sakura smiled slightly as she nodded. She hadn't removed herself from Kakashi's embrace yet because she just needed the hug, and she was pretty certain that her guardian wanted the hug as well. Isobu was cheering in her as he did a few spins to express his delight at her engagement.

"Alright, a month?" Sasuke said as he returned his attention to Itachi and Minato.

"Yes, they will be in attendance but the word around the village will be that this is the awaited wedding of Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Sakura," Minato elaborated.

"I have to tell Ino," Sakura mumbled then as she stiffened against Kakashi. Her best girl friend would murder her if she found out about this from someone else. Kakashi let her pull away from him as she darted into her room and yanked on her spare clothes.

"You'll need a ring too," she heard Itachi tell Sasuke as she darted out of the house with Sai on her heels. She had a feeling she wasn't going to be left alone until she was married to Sasuke officially.

"Beautiful will be very happy for you," Sai declared as they ran for the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

"I hope so," she decided. She wasn't too certain about whether or not Ino was or wasn't going to be pleased about her engagement to Sasuke. However, there was the other matter of the Yamanaka Flower Shop being the best flower shop in the Leaf and that was where she was going to have to place her wedding flower orders. It was better to tell Ino now rather than have Ino discover it from someone else. Rounding the corner she saw Ino and Kiba arguing and then Ino threw the flowers at him as he and his dog ran off.

"STUPID CHEATER!" Ino roared after them. Perhaps this wasn't the best time to tell Ino about her engagement…

Too late, she had to tell Ino before it was village gossip or she'd forever be on her friend's shit list.

"Hey Ino," Sakura called out as her blonde friend whirled around.

"All guys are stupid Sakura!" Ino declared dramatically as they walked into the Yamanaka Flower Shop. Sai stopped and stood at the doors as they shut.

"Um, before you hear it from someone else there's something I have to tell you," Sakura said gently.

"I mean honestly Tamaki! She's the cat girl!" Ino huffed out indignantly.

"Ino!" Sakura snapped.

"What!?"

"we'll rant about Kiba in a minute and male idiocity too, I have something to tell you though before someone else tells you!" Sakura snapped. That got Ino's full attention then.

"Oh, are you going to tell me about the other pinkettes and how you're related!?" Ino said giddily.

"Yes? But first, I'm engaged," Sakura announced uncertainly.

"You are! To who!? The pink hottie!?"

"Sasuke," Sakura answered as she tried not to cringe remembering the pinkette boy's face.

"WHAT!? Forget Kiba, this is bigger, come on, tell me all about this!" Ino said as Sakura found herself being herded up the stairs with Ino to the Yamanaka living quarters.


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Sasuke was walking home with Itachi in silence. They had hashed out the important details for this marriage, the date, the time, and he had been forwarned that this was to be a large formal event in which the entire village would be in attendance which had him a little nervous.

Sure he had been certain of their ANBU friends coming, the dobe had self-appointed himself as the best man (which made Sasuke nervous), the important shinobi clans would obviously attend; the Hyūga would be greatly offended not to be at this wedding, Kisame would attend, along with their few Suna friends according the Hokage, and a few other allies.

Obviously Kakashi would be walking Sakura down the aisle; apparently Kakashi had had to fight for that right with Haruno Kizashi. Sasuke knew Sakura would have Ino as her maid of honor, that was a given. Sai would have to attend, he'd know Sakura would demand it, and obviously Yamato too. Then there was his brother coming along with the pregnant Izumi (who'd no doubt be excited about the wedding for some odd reason according to Itachi), and their son Isamu.

Over all, what he had thought to be a small event had quickly snowballed into a huge pomp and circumstance with the Hokage taking the lead on this. Sasuke had a headache and he'd only been sitting there listening to Sakura's and his' wedding be planned out for him.

The most confusing part was that this was going to be said to have been arranged for years, which confused him because it was only recently that he had started noticing the pinkette as something other than his best friend.

"I have something for you Itachi said softly once they were on the Uchiha compound's haunting, silent, huge grounds.

"Hn?" Sasuke lifted his brow and followed his older brother to the main house's attic. Itachi began looking through a few crates of their parents' surviving things, and he just looked around aimlessly.

Finally his brother stood up and walked over to him.

"She's a healer, and a kunoichi, I doubt she'd want a ring, but," Itachi started and Sasuke looked down at the small box in his brother's hand. "Our mother wore this ring on a necklace and carried it around with her everywhere," Itachi explained as he revealed a small, slim, simple ring.

Sasuke carefully lifted it out of the box and noticed it was embedded with rubies and a few clear diamonds. It was a simple design too as he examined the simple ring in his fingers.

"She wanted you to have it, and father meant to give it to you when you were older, now I'm giving it to you," Itachi explained softly. Sasuke's eyes flicked up to his brother then as he nodded his thanks and slipped the ring back into the box.

"Mom would have liked Sakura a lot, she'd have loved her and you when you were toddlers though, I think she'd have found it amusing," Itachi mused.

"Hn," he managed to grunt as he slipped the box in his pocket and they walked back down to the house.

"Hey guys! We were just getting ready for the day! You two didn't come home last night, did you have a good time at the festival?" Izumi asked as she bustled around the kitchen and Isamu played with his tomatoes.


That's all for now folks!

Enjoy Blooming in Darkness! =)