I Do Not Own Naruto
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Uncertainty & Inevitability
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With the official parts of this arranged marriage organized for him and Sakura Sasuke found it wasn't as bad as it could be.
True he was going to be married next week but the actual terms and arrangement of the marriage wasn't that bad.
He and Sakura had to live together; they practically did already according to Kakashi, who had seemed a bit reluctant to let Sakura move just across the wall. Sakura had promised to visit daily, and Sasuke had absolutely no intentions of stopping her when he too turned to Kakashi for advice for almost everything.
They had to have a baby or be expecting within two years; he didn't particularly like that idea because they were only eighteen; almost nineteen, but he knew there were fates in arranged marriages than deadlines for children. But he was fine with it so long as Sakura was, and since her talk with Kushina she had relaxed a bit.
Sakura would have to visit with the Haruno family once a season, for a day, and that was something no negotiable according to Minato; who had apparently tried to rebut the offer according to Itachi. Sasuke didn't know why Sakura didn't like the Haruno family; well, specifically Haruno Haruki, but he had assured her she would never go alone to those meetings. Kakashi had even volunteered to come with them.
And the final condition was one that was still being negotiated but until it was something to worry about he had insisted Sakura not worry about it either. The Haruno family wanted to meet whatever children Sakura and he had, and that had sent Sakura in a near fit when the Hokage had brought it up after her talk with Kushina. If Sasuke had happened to grab her and Minato didn't happen to be the Yellow Flash, he had no doubts that she'd have blasted the Hokage to Suna and back for kicks. Sakura was dangerous that way.
What she didn't know was he had also negotiated for them to keep their shinobi lives.
The Haruno family had apparently been trying to talk Minato into retiring Sakura off of shinobi life, but he, Kakashi, and Tsunade had all intervened before the Hokage could have a say. Kakashi had argued that never had a Hatake not been a shinobi of the ANBU ranks, and Sakura would be no exception because she was his daughter. Sasuke had stated for a fact that Sakura needed an outlet for her temper, and that was part of why she was a great kunoichi. And then Tsunade had stated flatly, she refused to have the only other person to ever unlock the Strength of a Hundred sitting on her ass to appease some stuffy, uppity family with no sense of priorities.
So, Sakura was staying a kunoichi of the Leaf, a medic, and a jonin of Kakashi's ANBU unite.
Sasuke didn't mind this so much because he got to keep his job either way, he was actually, kind of, irreplaceable in the ANBU units for the missions he ran. Both he and Sai were assassins for the most challenging of targets and they were highly qualified, very dangerous, and some of the most elite shinobi of their age. So, he was irreplaceable when one looked at his skill set and the missions he really took.
And with all that hashed out, Sasuke found himself to be at peace afterwards and actually alright with this arrangement.
Was he thrilled about being married to Hatake Sakura…?
Not right now, but his marrying Sakura seemed like more of an inevitiablity than a burden. Something in him seemed fixated on her, and had been since he had seen her as a toddler.
He had distinct memories as a child always looking into a crowd and zeroing in on the pinkette. There was also a level of instinctive knowing where she was at all times which had baffled Kisame and Kakashi on one of her first jinchūriki outbursts because he'd been on the other side of the village with Naruto. And when he couldn't find her or didn't know where she was, he knew he got extremely agitated and would start actually looking for her.
But all this had been his normal since he had been a toddler.
It was part of the reason he didn't really mind marrying Hatake Sakura.
The other part of the reason was she was really the only girl he tolerated on a regular basis, and he actually liked her company. Always had and probably always would.
So he was fine with this arrangement when he thought about it.
However, today, he was not fine with getting married as he sat there listening to the dobe and ink freak talking about throwing him a bachelor party. Sasuke could only see disaster coming with those two planning the party. Neither were particularly… socially graceful?... and while he wasn't one to talk, he was not being dragged to some brothel or bar for their amusement a week before his wedding.
Kakashi would murder him if he caught him, and Sasuke did not particularly want his father-in-law-to-be, to want him dead before he had even married Sakura.
"No," Sasuke said slicing through all conversation they were having.
"AH! But Gaara's coming, and Shikamaru knows where the good sake is, and Chōji has the best food spot, even Kiba and Shino wanna come!" the dobe whined.
Sasuke felt the corner of his eye twitch then as he glowered at the two morons at the table. It appeared the bachelor party was already planned for him, and he wasn't happy with this thought as he just conceded and let them roll with their plans. He made a mental note to tell Kakashi beforehand and hope he wasn't chidori'd to death by his father-in-law-to-be.
Besides, Sasuke sincerely doubted that these two idiots were going to be able to a complete disaster or something, there was hopes if other people were there he could just slip away.
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Sakura found that she was a little nervous about her impending wedding, but not terribly so.
Marrying Sasuke….
It was a stupid childish dream of hers' that was coming true and it kind of made her happy. A little nervous because she didn't want Sasuke to grow to hate her and resent her for marrying him but she didn't know how to soot that particular fear of hers'. Only time would sooth that one, she guessed.
"Hey kid," Kakashi's voice had her looking over her shoulder to her guardian then and blinking as she looked at her perch and then him.
"Hey," she replied and Kakashi joined her in the tree a second later.
"Are you alright with this?" he asked her then.
"A little late to be backing out isn't it?" she giggled as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and trembled a little.
"Never too late, I'll get the running shoes and the bag," he assured her solemnly which had her leaning against him in relief as she shut her eyes and steeled herself.
"I'm just… I'm nervous," she admitted to her guardian as his hand stroked her hair.
"It's good to be nervous before a wedding, it's a very large commitment," Kakashi assured her.
"Larger than becoming a jinchūriki or shinobi?" she muttered.
"Yes," he murmured against her head and she felt herself sag against her guardian. Only Kakashi knew about how she felt about Sasuke, and though they didn't talk about it too often she knew he wasn't entirely… thrilled, about her loving the Uchiha. It wasn't because he didn't like Sasuke, it was really the opposite. But for some reason or other Kakashi didn't seem to like Sasuke, and once when she had pried it out of his drunk self on the anniversary of Rin's death, he had admitted that Sasuke was too much like him and wouldn't appreciate her as a person until it was too late.
Sakura had been touched by Kakashi's words but she had also been a little put out by how hard he was on himself for something that happened fifteen years ago. It was alright for him to ignore a girl's crush, it wasn't a bad thing, it was just sad that he hadn't figured out he had reciprocated the crush until she was dead. But Sakura had never pressed him on this because he would go into his 'dark, gloomy' place and she'd have to drag his ass out of that funk. And when she had been a child it had been simple to do, because Kakashi had needed her, but now that she was older it was harder to pull him from the darkness which would consume him because she had grown up fiercely independent in many ways.
"do you think Sasuke will hate me for this?" she whispered the secret fear then and he hugged her a little tighter.
"If he does I'll kill him and dispose of the body for you," Kakashi lazily assured her which had her smiling a little and closing her eyes. It was so strange, but in a way she was relieved he had said that as she clung to her guardian. Her family. Her best friend. And her father figure.
Sakura didn't know when she fell asleep, all she knew was that she woke around midnight to her window rattling open and Sasuke's filling the window as he looked at her.
"What are you doing here?" she mumbled with a yawn and rubbed her eyes of their sleep.
"Couldn't sleep," he admitted softly as he slipped soundlessly into her room and shut the window before making himself at home in her tiny bed. This had been an arrangement since they had been about four years old and Sasuke had figured out that the back wall of the Uchiha compound and the Hatake house lined up. She was fine with it as she scooted into the wall, his heavier arm wrapped around her back and she snuggled into his chest.
"Are you nervous about the wedding?" she whispered.
"No," he replied quietly. And if she hadn't been listening for the next bit she knew she'd have missed it. "The marriage, yes."
"Why the marriage?" she hissed in the darkness of her room.
"The wedding is a party, marriage is the rest of our lives," he pointed out flatly which had her nodding then in understanding and trying to snuggle closer to him. Uchiha Sasuke was her best friend, he was her first friend, and he was easily one of her truest friends. He had never rebuffed her when she had become a jinchūriki, and he had never shunned her for being adopted, and he had always been there for her when it mattered.
They fought, they laughed, they had argued and shouted at one another, they had trained together, and saved one another.
And what he didn't know was somewhere between three and eighteen she had fallen so deeply, irrevocably, and helplessly in love with him that she was terrified of this falling apart. His breathing evened and she could feel his breath ruffling her hair, and his heart slowed. She sighed as she pressed herself closer to him and held onto him a little tighter as she inhaled the unique scent of Sasuke which she knew so well she could probably track it.
"I'm scared of the marriage too," she whispered in the darkness. She peeked to make certain that he was asleep for what else she wanted to say and get off her chest.
"I'm scared you'll come to hate me, and I love you so much that the idea of you hating me hurts me. And I don't mean the love of a friend," she whispered into his chest. "I mean true love, stupid, I know, but I love you Uchiha Sasuke. And it scares me that I love you."
There was no response from him and she relaxed as sleep over came her.
However after a long moment of peace she felt his arm tighten around her as he pulled her closer, but she was too sleepy to notice he was wide awake.
YAY! I'm Not Dead!
Did You Miss Me!? Probably not, you guys probably just missed the updates... *sigh* =|
Oh Well! =) Enjoy my week of writing with no internet for updates! I have written over 100,000 words for fanfiction so I hope you enjoy the chapters of all my stories!
For Guests who are confused for the huge jump to the end I posted six new chapters today.
For those of you who's emails I have spammed with updates... sorry, I had a lot of stuff to post!
That's all for now folks!
Enjoy Blooming in Darkness! =)
