Special thanks to Kerry Dennis for being an especially doting beta lately. Here's a present for you! Thanks!
NOTE: read A/N at bottom for optimal chapter enjoyment. Have fun!
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FROM A MOUNTAIN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CABINS
.-.-.-.-.
Hinata had been recruited immediately the next morning for her reputation as the closest thing Neji considered to be family (she was family, but Neji was extremely hostile to any other Hyuuga, and the topic was therefore better off left alone). The poor blushing girl had been hustled in, bearing Tenten's salvaged hair ornaments, shoved into a fluffy white bathrobe and forced upon a pint of ice cream, all the while stumbling and fretting in mortification.
"Hinata-chan," Ino smiled pleasantly, patting the space beside her. She lounged on pile of cushions and pillows the girls had dragged from their rooms (and, admittedly, others'), propped up and arranged in soft piles against Tenten's bed. Tenten herself was belly-down on a pile of pillows, positioned on a hammock she had somehow erected, Sakura half-under and half-beside the hammock on a pile of comforters, under several layers of blankets, cradling her ice-cream in her hands.
"Okay, so everyone's here," Sakura rested her chin on her hand, popping open the lid of her Rocky Road ice-cream carton with the other. "So, Tenten, what's this about? Or is it just gossip time?"
"I heard Temari went back to Sand," Ino grinned smugly. "Bitch's afraid if she stays here she's gonna start a war."
Sakura scrunched up her nose. "Well, good, isn't that what I'm getting married for, to avoid a war?"
Ino shrugged. "Yeah."
"SPEAKING of marriages," Tenten interjected loudly, "I've got a pretty surprise."
She lifted her hand.
Ino and Sakura screamed.
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygooooooooood!" The blonde squealed, darting up and snatching the glittering finger immediately, almost knocking over poor Hinata in her mad frenzy. She lifted a trembling finger and pointed accusingly at her sister.
"Hyuuga Neji."
Tenten immediately slammed her head into her massive fuzzy purple body pillow. "Nrrgheah."
Ino turned triumphantly to Hinata.
"Hyuuga Neji!"
Hinata flushed. "Eh…yeah…"
Sakura sat up, shifting a little to get comfortable.
"…you comprehend, Tenten-san?"
"Sasuke-san, this is most inappropriate of you."
"Ya-ma-na-ka Ten-ten-san, do not forget, please, that I know your secret."
"S-Sasuke-san, I…"
"He doesn't have to know. Now, there must be something you can get for me out of Itachi, isn't there?"
"If this is a promise you intend to keep, Sasuke-san, I agree."
"So what are you going to tell him?" the pink haired girl questioned, cocking her head.
Tenten shrugged, picking up a hair stick from the group and chucking it right back down. "I don't know. He doesn't love me. It's all so sudden, and random, and it's weird. And he doesn't love me, ne, Hinata-chan?"
Hinata blushed into her vanilla ice-cream. "I--I--"
"Yes, see, there!" Tenten wrenched the ring off of her finger, turned onto her back and watched it glitter in the light. "He doesn't. It's not a marriage of love. It's purely political."
Sakura snorted in an extremely unladylike way.
"Every engagement in this room is political, Tenten. I guess the love thing has to grow."
"Yeah," Ino added slowly, "Sakura's getting sold to make an alliance and prevent a war, Hinata's engaged to Naruto to make an alliance and--no offense, sweetie--"
"N-none taken…?"
"--so she's out of the way for Neji and Hanabi. And seriously, Neji's winning, so if you marry Neji, you'll get us another alliance and you'll be queen!"
Sakura smirked. "We'll all be queen. I'll be queen of Honoo if Itachi refuses to marry, Hinata will definitely be queen of Kusa, and Tenten, you can join the club and be queen of Haku. Now, in fact," her smirk grew bigger than the sun, "The only person in this room who won't be queen is Ino."
Ino stuck out her tongue.
"Then I'll rule Mizu and kick y'all's asses. Or maybe I'll go rule Suna."
The attention suddenly shifted to Ino.
"Gaara?" Tenten gasped, "No."
"He's a good chess player," Ino defended with an evil grin, "And face it, I'm going to be needing an escort to all these parties, and he will be needing a pretty thing on his arm, so how much better can it get than the gorgeous la principessa of Mizu?" she flipped her blonde hair and posed, and they all laughed.
With a sigh, Tenten slipped the ring back onto her finger.
"Guys, what am I going to do?"
Sakura cocked her head, plopping another cold spoonful into her mouth, "Say yes," she baited, "There's nothing stopping you."
And Tenten froze.
"Oh, no. I completely forgot. Ino."
Her sister turned and smiled. "What?"
Tenten put her hands on either side of Ino's face, stared into her eyes and said, solemnly, "Uchiha Sasuke. He knows."
Ino's eyes grew wide as the other two girls stared at each other in confusion. "Oh no. Oh no is right. What does he want?"
"Itachi," Tenten sighed. "I can't be engaged to Neji and still get Itachi. Ino, what am I going to do?"
The blonde opened her mouth, but was interrupted but a suddenly serious Hinata.
"Tenten-chan, you are going to say yes to Neji-nii-san, because I think Neji-nii-san loves you."
The three other heads turned to her.
"What? Why?" Tenten demanded, "How can you be so sure?"
"Because," Hinata replied steadily, her eyes lowering to her lap. "I recognize that ring. That ring--it's Neji-nii-san's mother's."
.-.-.-.-.
After a few days of spending her afternoons with Sasuke, Sakura had come to the conclusion that to Sasuke, she was a bit like that constantly yapping puppy in one's room that one can't help but be a little fond of. And, Sakura decided, Sasuke was, at least, fond of her presence. He didn't hate her very existence, which was very exciting.
On Monday, Sasuke had politely accosted her from her room unannounced, making Tenten twittery and nervous and a little frightened. Sakura had escaped the clutches of a Yamanaka Tenten Apocalyptic Breakdown in a cute yellow skirt splashed with large yellow daisies and a crisp, pressed white button-up shirt to match, as well as a light sweater tied around her neck in soft white wool. Sasuke had taken her out of the gates of the castle in an open carriage, into the village where tiny little shops and booths waited to be explored.
"Thank you," she had said every time he purchased for her a trinket that caught her eye. And, once, "Why the sudden voyage?"
"Because," he had replied rather blandly, ordering another package delivered to her rooms, "I have heard plenty from Naruto to understand that this is how courting works."
"You don't need to court me, Sasuke-kun," she had demurred, as she followed him down the street, "We're engaged."
He had simply ended their conversation with a final, "It's the proper thing to do," before sending a flying missive to a local sushi bistro and ushering Sakura into another boutique.
Sakura observed during this trip that Sasuke did not talk much, or even change the expression on his face much. He intimidated most shopkeepers, he didn't care to pay much actual attention to her, and he didn't eat anything but onigiri and tomatoes. But the thought was still there, and Sakura appreciated it as a way of getting to know the man she was going to marry. No doubt Sasuke thought the same way, as he hit her with a barrage of questions about everything and anything, avoiding the topic of family as much as he could.
Her favorite color was (of course) pink, but also green and white.
Her favorite flower was the orchid, but she also had a preference for lilies and primroses.
She liked to sleep in and start her morning with a kick of caffeine and a good long soak in the tub.
She liked ramen (Sasuke commented that this would completely over joy Naruto), beef or miso, and liked to have her meals sent up to Tenten's rooms instead of hers. She loved fruit, and had a bowl of berries and cream with every meal.
She loved her sisters; they were inseparable, and a little more than a bit devious.
No, she was a rather poor fighter, unlike both her siblings she was fragile as a child and never received the training. But she could deliver a pretty sick punch.
Sasuke dropped her off at her door and told her bluntly to be ready at noon tomorrow.
Sakura returned to her rooms that night content and a little weary, only to face a very pissed-off Ino, surrounded by piles of packages from the markets. Sakura had no idea Sasuke had bought her so much. She wondered if he did.
On Tuesday she was up at nine, dressing and primping as much as she could, and met Sasuke in a short red baby doll dress with white piping and lace, black tights and red pumps, her hair curled to perfection and secured with a red bow. He merely cocked an eyebrow and smirked a little, telling her she looked like a cherry. "I was going for tomato," she replied. He only smiled in response.
He took her to the lake, where weeping willows were shivering with the slight breeze. He let her wade in the lake while he waited, turned when she pulled her tights back on, and watched as she climbed one of the willows, sliding down the branch and letting it bend, swinging her feet and laughing.
"This reminds me of a song," she said happily, "It's pretty."
"Sing it," he didn't sound so much like he cared if she did or not. But she obliged him
Snow won't stick to thee, weeping willow
The cold air won't blow open the window
You've made it through the storm this far,
You've done this dear, it won't be hard, well
Snow won't stick to the weeping willows
Summer was painted on our skin, and the secrets hidden in our childish lips
They'd die for a kiss
Fall was always left in your eyes, just a fleck of yellow light
Like the sunrise
Like the twilight
And she looked up to see exactly that.
He said, "You're not bad. Come down."
She did, and discovered a large pink blanket on the ground, a vase with a single orchid, and a picnic basket.
She said, "Thank you."
She noticed he did not eat, only watched her and the ripples on the lake, flipping stones into the water. He did not say anything, just waited until she popped the last strawberry into her mouth. He handed her the red shoes, and led her to a clearing where two horses waited: one black stallion, one pure white mare. When she confessed she had never been on a horse, he rolled his eyes, hoisted her on top of the gentle mare (she screamed) and taught her slowly.
They raced back to the castle, and almost knocked Shikamaru out of a tree as they flew across the hills. He won.
On Wednesday, Sasuke arrived much later than usual. "Change," he said when he saw her blue cotton dress, "We're going out."
She took one look at his suit and sweater, understood this, and returned in a deep violet chiffon dress with white silk gloves, pinning her hair up with a few hair pins and a large blue flower. He waited as she wrestled with Tenten's shoe closet, emerging with a pair of glittering violet strappy sandals, and then they were off.
He said, "I know who sang your willow song."
He took her to a box in an auditorium. They sat and watched and listened as the singer took them through many melodies, some upbeat, some gentle, some jazzy. And then at the end the girl on the stage looked right at Sakura, and she sang, "Snow won't stick to thee, weeping willow," and Sakura smiled right back and sang it with her.
Sasuke purchased her several of the singer's recordings. She was surprised when they did not return to the castle when they left the building, but got back into the carriage and rode in a different direction.
"You like music," he told her.
"Yes," she replied.
They arrived at the entrance of a massive opera house. Sakura could only gape at the golden statues, the marble floors, the elegant winding staircase, the red velvet curtains. Sasuke took her to another box, larger, more elegant, and he ordered two glasses of champagne and some dinner. Halfway through the meal, the show began, and Sakura could not for the life of her finish her dinner from giggling and laughing at the character's antics, and staring in awe at the lead female, whose voice soared octaves above what Sakura believed the human voice could deliver.
"I wish I could sing like that," Sakura said wistfully as they left Candide.
Sasuke said nothing and took her home.
On Thursday Sasuke sent the book Candide: ou l'Optimiste up to her room at nine in the morning. She woke with it on her bedside table, and immediately nestled up with it on the balcony with her morning coffee. A little note in the cover jacket told Sakura that Sasuke had to go visit his duchy and would be back later that day, and that he had left the book with instructions to sent it to her. Another note told her to inform Tenten that Itachi had been discovered at his duchy, and she could cease to worry about his previously unknown whereabouts. Sakura sincerely doubted Tenten had paid his disappearance a thought, but went and tucked the second note into the sleeping girl's dressing gown anyways.
At eleven, Gaara showed up (to Sakura's complete shock) and asked for Ino, who appeared immediately in a short shapeless cream-colored sequined, frock, and looked gorgeous in it. She ushered Gaara to wait outside, before twisting her long hair up into a big golden bun and tying it in place with a big drooping beige bow. She left in Sakura's beige boots and waved goodbye before disappearing from sight.
Sakura decided that whole situation was too weird to think about and went back to her book.
At two Neji appeared and let himself in. He looked at her, curled up in the swinging chair in her dressing gown and bunny slippers, and disappeared into Tenten's quarters. He came back out two seconds later, demanded she go wake her sister, and sat himself down on the chair beside her. Sakura obliged him willingly, and Tenten was up within fifteen minutes, completely mortified at Neji's presence on her balcony. She put on a lilac dress in silk and lawn, and Sakura helped her curl and put up her hair with a purple comb.
"Is he expecting an answer?" she asked her worriedly. Sakura shrugged.
"He doesn't look like he's expecting anything."
"Okay," Tenten breathed, brushing on a light gloss, "Okay. Thanks, Sakura."
"No pro," the pink-haired girl replied and retreated back to read. At Neji's questioning stare she added, "She's coming, she's coming."
Tenten came. Neji bowed. They went.
Well, Sakura thought, that was at least a lot less weird and unnatural than the Ino and Gaara thing.
So she kept reading.
At dinner, Ino and Tenten had still not returned, and Sakura was about to call for her meal to be sent up when Sasuke arrived, bearing food and cake.
"Hey," he said, then, "You are not decent" when Sakura jumped and stood up.
She shrugged. "You didn't give me time to go and get pretty for you," she replied. "What's that?"
He shrugged. "Food."
She glared up at him. "Fine," she grabbed the boxes from his arms, "I'll just have to find out myself."
In the first and biggest box were several plates. She took them out and placed them on the nearby table slowly. There was grilled salmon steak, baked potato wedges and a green salad on each plate, plus smaller plates full of sushi, ginger, marzipan fruit and pickled radish.
"You brought me dinner?"
He shrugged.
With a grin, she launched herself and caught him around the neck. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"
"Hn," he said, but lifted a hand and rubbed her hair a little.
"Come eat with me," she said, grabbing his sleeve and dragging it. He complied, and she didn't think he had eaten at the duchy at all, because he was actually consuming something other than tomatoes.
"Open the other ones," he said when they were done.
Sakura opened the second biggest box, which contained a large cake with sugary white icing and decorative flowers in pink and red. She turned and looked at Sasuke. He shrugged.
"Ino says you like sweet things."
She smiled. "Thanks."
He turned his head and nodded at the last box.
Sakura, imagining some sweet or another, opened the small case.
Inside was a small jeweled box. It was made of thin marble plates, coated with tiny glittering jewels and pearls, edged in silver, the handle in the shape of an arch of flowers. A bit of lining peaked through, revealing baby blue velvet. Cautiously, Sakura lifted the lid, and almost fainted.
Inside lay an array of pearl necklaces, jeweled brooches, shimmering silver and gold chains, pendants, long hanging necklaces, glittering earrings and shining chokers all in a dazzling pile.
"Oh," she managed, "oh."
Sasuke looked a little uncomfortable. "I commissioned it for Ino when we were engaged," he said slowly, "I wasn't going to gift it to you, but…"
Sakura didn't really care what the 'but' was. She reached over with one hand and put it on top of his.
"Thank you," she said again.
Sasuke shrugged and mussed up the top of her hair. "Welcome."
After a few more moments of staring into the box, Sasuke stood and called Ayame to clean up, before moving to leave. Sakura hesitantly followed, handing the jeweled box to her lady's maid.
"See you tomorrow," he said.
She smiled and nodded. He paused, patted her cheek a little awkwardly, and disappeared.
.-.-.-.-.
He didn't show up the next day.
Or the next.
So you could say Sakura was a little worried. Unless Sasuke vanished to his duchy like his brother did, Sakura was pretty sure something was very wrong.
But she was not one to pry.
She spent her week with Ino when Gaara went back to Suna to retrieve Temari. They gossiped a lot, laughed about the possible retributions of Shikamaru's return to Mizu, painted their nails (to the horror of Takuda's manicurist) and listened to the recordings that Sasuke had bought Sakura. Sometimes, when Tenten popped back in from a date with Neji, the two younger girls would demand she judge a sing-off on the songs they had learned. To Sakura's chagrin, Ino always, always won.
Four days after Sasuke's disappearance, Ino's clothes arrived, and they spend the day organizing, packing and reorganizing their shared closet. Sakura's new clothes held all the drawers, shelves, cabinets and hangers on her side of the walk-in closet, but Ino's half was decidedly more impressive. She hung her everyday clothes on hangers on the wooden pole, her more wrinkle-affected gowns beside them, and piled more on the shelves on top, with her underclothes and things in her drawers. And still, underneath the hems of the hung-up dresses, several of Ino's large chests sat open and spilling clothes and jewels. Ino just smiled apologetically at Sakura's look of horror and kept at her organizing.
They liked to sit on the hammock and swing on the balcony, looking through the openings in the marble rail to the people below, occasionally shouting a "yoo-hoo!" down to some passing person and sometimes naughtily throw some trash. The latter always earned suspicious glances from the royal gardeners.
Ino always had sweet drinks and rich food sent up regularly. Together with their lounging a weight concern appeared.
"We're going to get fat, you know," Sakura said one time, nibbling a crackling.
"Yes," Ino agreed, "We won't fit in our evening gowns."
"Well," Sakura grinned. "That's what we have Takuda-san for."
They had smiled at each other, and kept on enjoying their lazy, boy-less days.
A week after Sasuke vanished, Ino sat on the hammock and sketched Sakura with a piece of charcoal. As her hand whipped rapidly across the page, she hummed, and sang.
We wait for the bus that's going to nowhere
In my plaid dress and burgundy shoes
In your red lipstick and lilac kerchief, you're the most pretty lady in the room, sun.
The bus driver smiles, a dime and a nickel
We climb on our seats, the vinyl is cold
Michelle ma Belle, the song that you loved then, you hold my hand and sing to yourself
Sun, sun
Sun, sun, sun, sun, sun, sun…
"What is that?" Sakura asked.
"Hm?" Ino looked up. "Don't move. It's my mother's favorite song. It was very popular a while ago, when she married my father. I think they played it at their wedding." With one final flourish Ino finished.
"There," she smiled, "Done."
Before Sakura could reach forward and examine her own portrait, Tenten burst into the room, her long green skirt billowing.
"I think I know why Sasuke's been gone," the brunette said slowly.
Heads whipped up immediately.
"What? Why?"
"Itachi's back," Tenten said, scooping up a pile of papers and books from a rocking chair and dumping it on the group, "He sent a missive last Friday morning, Naruto just told. God knows what Sasuke's been doing, but I'm pretty sure you won't be seeing him for a while. And," Tenten grimaced as she pulled off a heel, "Itachi brought something with him. Someone, rather."
"Who?" Ino inquired.
"You'll have to see it to believe it," Tenten grinned. The grin turned into a frown as she took in their undressed states. Both girls wore only a sleeping shift. "Get dressed," Tenten sighed with a sniff. "And come down with me."
.-.-.-.-.
The main hall looked exactly as the day Sakura and Tenten arrived. The world's nobility once again lined the walls, but this time, it was not Sakura walking down the marble hall, but Itachi, and whoever he brought with him. Whispers were floating up and down the length of the hall, curious nobles trying to discover the identity of Itachi's guest.
Sakura spotted Naruto and Hinata beside the King, and moved to stand beside him. Now I understand this dress, Sakura thought. She had been forced into a white empire-waisted silk ensemble, with off-the-shoulder fluttering satin sleeves and a large silk bow under her breasts. A pair of white satin wrist gloves was on her hands, and her hair was viciously curled.
Tenten had changed into a champagne colored dress, sleeveless, tight from chest to knee, then flowing out in a satin puff. She had managed to twist her hair from hairline to nape of neck, and tied it there with a large yellow bow. Ino was wearing midnight blue, also strapless, the skirt of which wrapped around and around itself in a curious weave.
Sakura nudged Naruto. "What's going on?" Naruto shifted uncomfortably in his yellow kimono. "It's Itachi," he whispered discreetly, as Tenten moved to stand beside Neji. "He brought a girl." The last word came out almost in awe. "He never brings a girl back."
Sakura strained to see, but failed. "Where's Sasuke?" she prodded. Naruto shrugged, looking up to the faces of Fugaku and Mikoto. "They don't look pleased he's not here," she whispered. Naruto nodded, and motioned for her to be quiet. The doors at the end of the hall opened, and the entire hall silenced.
Tenten slipped in quietly between Sakura and Ino. The three exchanged glances, before Tenten whispered, "I said yes--"
Ino almost squealed, but her sister clapped a hand over her mouth.
"--which means, we've got a bit of a problem."
Before Ino could reply, Itachi came into view and Sakura poked her companions to shut them up.
"Look," she whispered. "Who is that?"
A tall, thin girl was escorted by Itachi. She was pale, with big brown eyes, a straight nose and a small, pert mouth, wearing a rather curt smile. Her hair was split on the far right side of her head, her bangs neatly swept along that line, the rest of her hair pulled into an ovular updo on the top of her head, embedded with two glistening, jeweled flowers. A long, brown ponytail was secured with a gold bow at the nape of her neck and flowed to her waist.
She wore a light gold dress, with a square neck and thick straps, and an empire waist. Above the golden ribbon that sequestered the upper section of the gown were gold satin flowers with jeweled centers, covering the entirety of her chest and shoulders, the skirt being simply gold with an overlay of the same glittering satin as the small flowers. Across her elbows was draped a dark, mead-colored shawl.
"It's the daughter of the Margrave of Chihana, Lady Kiama," Naruto whispered, "It's this big chunk of ranch land near Itachi's duchy."
"What do you call her?" Sakura whispered, "A margravette?"
Naruto grinned and turned away.
"Hey," Ino poked Tenten, her eyes darting from her sister to Lady Kiama, "Doesn't she look a little bit like--?"
"A lot like," Sakura interjected.
"Yeah," Tenten replied, smoothing down the front of her dress, "We've got a big problem."
.-.-.-.-.
As I think some have noticed that the title has nothing to do with the chapter. But since everyone seems so happy for the updates, I thought they might like to know the title of the song that inspired the sudden boost in writing. So here it is, From a Mountain in the Middle of the Cabins by Panic at the Disco (they dropped the "!"!)
SONGS ARE:
Weeping Willow by The Hush Sound
Burgundy Shoes by Patti Griffin
They're both really gorgeous songs, listening to them while reading and writing these chapters inspired my imagination, so I suggest you do too. Personally Weeping Willow is not my favorite Hush Sound piece, but it fit the moment. Sort of.
As always, review please!
NOTE
FF seems to be replicating parts of the original text by itself. I don't know why it does that, but if anyone notices any duplications, please let my know so I can delete it. Thanks!