Oh please save me…it's another disclaimer…! No…! Why…?!
NARUTO AND THE CHARACTERS BELONG TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO. (Sadly…)
Anna and Mihana Yuri © ChocoKitten
There. I'm done. Happy?
*~*
I. Was. Beyond. Bored. There was absolutely nothing to do on the carriage since Tenten was sleeping and I didn't want to disturb her. I couldn't look at the window; that would tell enemies and everyone else that I'm in this carriage. Ugh. So bored. I'm going to from boredom…! Hey…now that I think about it, that might not be a bad idea; dying from boredom! If I do die from boredom, then I won't have to marry Uchiha Sasuke! I also wouldn't have to be in an arranged marriage! Yay! But the question is…exactly how am I supposed to die from boredom…?
Tenten stirred beside me. All thoughts that were related to boredom immediately left my mind and were replaced by my worries for my best friend. I glanced down at her and sighed. I have a feeling that her troubles are related to boy troubles. I don't know why. You see, I have this knack of knowing what is going on in someone's mind if I really wanted too. It's as if I'm reading their mind…!
"Ino…?" Tenten mumbled.
"Yeah?"
"Are we…are we almost there yet?" She asked. I swear I heard fear laced into her voice. That's odd, considering the fact that Tenten does not get scared easily.
"I think we have a few more kilometers to go." I responded.
She gasped and shakily pulled her legs up into the curve of her chest and hugged them. My best friend was trembling and she was a pale chalky white instead of her usual tan complexion. Tears were forming in her eyes while she was rocking herself back and forth, trying to calm herself down. She was talking to herself, "No…no…! Not when I finally-!" she shuddered and her tears came forth at full force.
I'll admit it. I was afraid. Frightened. Terrified. Tenten was not the kind of girl that broke down and wept easily. But there she was, right beside me, crying her eyes out.
"…Tenten…?"
She shook her head furiously, obviously not wanting to talk. If that was what she wants, then that's what she'll get. I left her alone for the rest of the trip.
*~*
"We have arrived, Princess Yamanaka," my footman announced.
I looked at him gratefully and replied, "Thank you for informing me."
"You're welcome."
Tenten and I stepped out of my carriage, her face devoid of the tears that she had previously shed.
Yes! No more formala-! No! I forgot that we still needed to meet the Uchihas! No…! My life is cursed…
"Ino?" My brother inquired cautiously.
"Yeah?"
"Good. Just checking if you were still alive or not."
That-! Never mind. I'm not even going to say it. I'm going to ignore it and act as if it never happened. You will chill, Ino-
"Hey Ino, you still alive?"
Screw that. Deidara is so going to die when I ever get the chance to be alone with him…
"Ino, I'm serious this time."
"I'm fine Deidara. I was just thinking." I said back, literally mouthing the words.
He gulped and left me alone. Good choice for him. But that's so not going to save him.
*~*
"Presenting, Princess Yamanaka Ino!"
My brother and Tenten were sent to their chambers to rest and clean up. On the other hand, I was sent to the King's and Queen's throne room to meet my – possible – future mother-in-law, father-in-law-, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and husband. I focused my eyes on the gray stone wall just next to the Queen's head, so I was sort of looking at the King and Queen.
I curtsied, and then rose, waiting for the King or Queen to speak. "Welcome!" The Queen spoke. "I hope you've enjoyed your trip, Princess Ino! I am Queen Mikoto, and my husband here is King Fugaku."
I nodded politely.
She gestured to two extremely handsome men and woman. "This is Uchiha Itachi, my elder son and the heir to the throne, and the woman next to him is Lady Hana, fiancée of Itachi."
I observed Itachi and Hana. Itachi was quite tall, taller than Deidara… That was all I got before Queen Mikoto started speaking again.
"Uchiha Sasuke, your betrothed."
Hmm. It seems as if Sasuke is trying to hold in a scowl – I've seen Deidara do that a lot when he's around Father. He doesn't want to be here. Well, guess what? I don't either.
Queen Mikoto clapped her hands and declared, "Well, now that we all know who is who, why don't we leave Sasuke and Ino alone so they can learn more about each other?" She didn't even wait for an answer and whisked Sasuke and I into another room. She gently pushed us in and just said, "Have fun."
I stared out the window while Sasuke glared at some inanimate object. Since it was obvious that he wasn't going to start a conversation, I decided to give it a try. "Sasuke…?"
"Uchiha." He replied curtly.
Well. Somebody evidently has something up his bottom. I snorted. Fine. Let him be that way.
"Okay. Uchiha. I don't want to be here, and I'm pretty sure you feel the same. So can we just make truce?"
His head snapped up so his slightly surprised eyes could meet mine. "You don't want to be here?"
I crossed my arms and scoffed. "Why would I want to?"
"Nothing…it's just that most girls would kill to be in your position right now."
"To tell the truth, I was that kind of girl until I met Tenten."
He nodded and left the subject of my best friend alone.
"So," I pleaded. "Can we please have truce? Just tolerate each other's existence? Jus-"
"It's not going to work."
I tilted my head. "What do you mean, Uchiha?"
"There's no way out of this arranged marriage."
"How do you know?"
"Because I know my mother, and she'll do anything to get us together."
"Tenten thought of a way…"
"Is it going to work?"
"Tenten thought of it! It's got to work! Besides, she wouldn't give me false hope like that!" I defended.
"Hn. Then let's here it."
"According to her, all we have to do is fall in love with somebody else with great power, and our parents will break this off. It's sort of a win-win situation. Our parents get the power, and we get our happiness and love."
"It's not going to work."
He did not just disagree with Tenten's plan. "Why?"
"Because I know, alright?" Uchiha sounded ticked off and a little desperate. "Just leave it alone, okay?"
"…Fine. But we get truce okay?"
"Sure."
"And maybe even friends one day, right?"
"Maybe."
*~*
"Tenten!" I wailed in distress.
"Yes?"
"He said your plan isn't going to work!"
"Why?"
"I don't know! I just asked him 'why' too, but he wanted me to leave the topic alone! What am I going to do now?!"
I don't think Tenten even heard my last exclamation. It is official. My life is pathetic.
"Ino…?" Erase what I said earlier. My life isn't pathetic, but it's pretty close. "Do you think Sasuke fell in love with another girl but his parents refused the proposal?"
"Never actually thought of that…it might've been the case. That would also explain why he didn't want to discuss the 'why'!" I realized.
Tenten smiled. Then she said, "My idea could work. I do believe that your father really cares for your happiness, Ino, so I doubt that he would turn down your wish to marry the person you love if he has power."
I knew Father has always cared about my happiness, but I've definitely had my doubts.
A servant knocked on the door and Tenten went to open it. "Is Princess Yamanaka in her room? I have a message for her."
"She is, but she is resting, so you may tell me the message and I will relay it to her." Tenten replied.
"There will be a ball tomorrow evening, and all the guests are asked to attend. Princess Yamanaka may bring a friend along if she wishes."
"Thank you. You are now dismissed."
Tenten walked over to me. "According to a messenger, there's going to be a ball tomorrow. You can bring an extra guest if you want to."
My eyes shone bright with excitement. "Really? That's great! When do we go select our dresses?"
"Hold on right there, missy." Tenten commanded. "What do you mean by 'we'?"
"Exactly what I meant, Tenten! You'll be the one that I'll be bringing to the ball tomorrow!"
She paled. "Are you sure Ino?"
"What do you mean, Tenten? You're my best friend; of course you're coming with me!"
"But what if the Uchiha's don't want a servant dancing with the nobles and royals? I'll be a disgrace to you, Ino!"
I waved it off, "Nonsense, Tenten, absolute nonsense! You will come with me whether you like it or not! Besides, I want you to come. I need someone to chat with when I'm not being passed on from this dance partner to the next."
I knew Tenten's resolve was weakening. Tenten sighed before murmuring a soft, "Okay. I'll go."
I hugged her, showing her how grateful I was. "I so owe you one."
She only hugged me back.
I pulled away after a few minutes and asked, "Hey, do you want to meet up with the other 'noble' girls in a few minutes?"
Tenten tensed. "No guys, right?"
Ah. So it is a guy problem. "No guys. We can meet them later if you want."
"Okay then."
"But before we do that…"
Tenten gazed at me, waiting for me to finish. "What?"
"I have to change!"
"…Seriously Ino?"
"Hey! You and Deidara tell me that way too much! Besides, this dress feels stuffy!"
"Never said that I wasn't going to allow you to switch dresses, Ino." Tenten pointed out amusedly.
"You meanie…!" I pouted.
She laughed.
*~*
I had called for a messenger to tell all the rest of the ladies to meet in one of the Uchiha's many libraries. The messenger came back to tell me that everybody would be there in ten minutes.
I slipped out of the sky blue dress that I had on and put on one of my favorites – a simple lilac purple dress. It was nothing fancy – just light purple silk that hugged my body and fell to my feet. Simple but beautiful; the way I like things.
*~*
The palace is huge compared to mine.
"Uh…" I poked Tenten. "Do you know where we are?"
"Hmm…let me think…we're in the universe, in the Milky Way galaxy, in the solar system, on Earth, in Konoha, in the Uchiha Castle, and in one of the hallways of the Uchiha Castle. Am I right?"
"Meanie…! You know I didn't mean it like that…!" I whined pitifully.
"Oh…? What did you mean then?"
I opened my mouth to retort but I was cut off by a guy's voice. "Are you ladies lost?"
Tenten and I stiffened before turning around.
I exhaled in relief, "Oh, it's just you, Kiba."
Kiba's faked hurt face, gasping, "Just me, Ino? Just me? What do I mean to you…?!"
"You idiot…" I grumbled under my breath. "YOU SCARED TENTEN AND ME HALF TO DEATH…!"
Kiba pumped his fist into the air, "Yes! Goal achieved!"
I glared at him.
He glared at me back until he shifted his gaze onto Tenten. "Ah, so you're Ino's best friend, Tenten, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Ignore him." I whispered into Tenten's ear, "He's the kind that chases after pretty girls, you know?"
"Hey!" Kiba protested, "I heard that!"
I rolled my eyes. "You know it's true, dog-boy."
"Hey! Just because my best friend is Akamaru doesn't make me dog-boy!"
"Kiba, it does."
"But why…?"
Tenten walked up to him and thwomped him on the head, which resulted in me giggling into my hand. "Inuzuka Kiba. Just show us the where the main library is! That's all!" Tenten demanded. Goodness. Tenten can be one scary woman when she wants to be…
Kiba obviously agrees with me because he answered in a meek voice, "Fine, fine. Geez. All I wanted was to scare the heck out of Ino…"
My turn to thwomp him on the head!
"Ow…what the heck was that for?!" Kiba complained.
"According to you, it was for 'scaring the heck out of me'. Now get going!"
"Sheesh." Kiba grumbled. "You guys are even worse then Yuri…"
A puzzle expression replaced Tenten's once extremely frightening features, "Yuri…who's that?" On the other hand, I squealed quite loudly, "Yuri?! She's here too? Really? Then that gives me the chance to get-"
Kiba growled, "You. Are. Not. Going. Through. Your. Matchmaking. Phase. And. Try. To. Get. Mihana. And. I. Together."
I shot Tenten an apologetic look that said, 'I'll explain when we get there' before turning towards Kiba and pouted. "Why are you and Yuri still on a last name basis…? You've known her since…like, forever! The same goes for her!"
"Yeah, and I've hated her since forever too."
"Kiba…!"
"Just shut your trap while I lead you two to the main library."
Meanie.
*~*
Kiba gestured to a grand oak door looming in front of us. "There's the main library. I hope you have fu-"
Somebody with super-human strength slammed the door open; yeah, it was Haruno Sakura.
"Inuzuka Kiba."
Kiba whirled around before glaring at the person who just spoke. "What the hell do you want?!"
"Kiba!" Hana's scold echoed through the library, "What did I tell you about swearing?"
Kiba, being Kiba, ignored his older sister and repeated his question, word for word.
Yuri, the girl he was glaring at, glared back. "You know what I want, Kiba? I want to get out of this room and my life!"
I looked behind me to see Tenten staring at them. Right. She doesn't know the full story about their relationship…
"You want to me explain?" I asked her in a light whisper.
"No, it's fine. I've got this all figured out. I think." she responded. "Hana and Kiba are siblings, Hana being the older sister. Yuri and Kiba hate each other, although I don't know why. The girl who slammed the door open is Haruno Sakura; it's sort of hard to not notice her hair. Hyuuga Hinata and Sabaku Temari should be in the library waiting for us with Inuzuka Hana."
I grinned, "You got the girls all figured out, Tenten!"
She smiled back and then used her hand to point at the two royals arguing. "Either we drag Yuri into the room and lock Kiba out, or we can wait for them to finish their argument."
Sakura overheard us and replied, "Wait for them?! Do you want to put the Uchiha Castle at risk of destruction?!"
"It's that bad?" Tenten questioned.
I nodded simultaneously with Sakura, "Mhm. It's gets that bad."
Tenten shrugged weakly. "Then I guess it's back to Plan A?"
"Uh huh." I confirmed.
We conversed for a few seconds before getting into our places.
"Uh, Yuri…?" I asked timidly. It was never a brilliant idea to ask Yuri a question when she's in the middle of a spat with Kiba. She gets all angry with you and then it's the destruction of the world. I'm serious.
She shifted her ultimate-death-glare onto me, "What do you want…?"
I gulped, "Um, the best friend of mine that you've been dying to meet is waiting in the library to meet you…"
Her death glare was replaced by a excitement. "Really?! She's in there? Can I go in? Please, please, please…!"
I glanced at Sakura you rolled her eyes at me. Yuri…
Staring at Yuri as if she was an idiot, I said, "Of course you can come! Besides, it's not as if this is my castle…!"
"YES!" Yuri was about to waltz into the library when she remembered her spat with Kiba. She turned around and gave him a hard hit in the head, grinning happily.
Kiba held his head in pain. "Ow…what in the world was that for…?! I already got thwomped by Tenten and Ino! Now you do it to-"
SLAM.
"You darn-"
"Mission accomplished!" Sakura stated cheerfully before she sat down in one of the chairs.
*~*
We were now all seated in a rectangle of two sofas and two armchairs. Hana decided to sit in an armchair all by herself, just like Temari. Hinata and Sakura sat on the same couch, while Tenten, Yuri and I claimed the other.
After we were all seated comfortably, I declared, "Introductions first!"
Temari snorted, "Obviously."
I stuck my tongue out at her in a very childish way.
She rolled her eyes.
While we were doing this, Hana spoke first. "Well, I'm pretty sure you guys all know that I'm the older sister of my idiot of a brother, Inuzuka Kiba, and the fiancée of Uchiha Itachi. I love animals, especially dogs; I have three of them. Well, that's all I'm telling you. If you want to know more, then you'll have to spend more time with me!"
Yuri stuck out her bottom lip; "You're ruining this for Tenten…!"
Tenten just laughed, "It's fine. Besides, I have a feeling that we'll be spending lots of time together away from those men of yours!"
"I protest." Yuri, Sakura, and I said at the same time. "We don't have men…!"
Temari tapped her chin. "True, considering the fact that you don't want to marry Uchiha Sasuke. Yeah, we know you don't have a man yet, Sakura. On the other hand…" Temari's lips curled into a mischievous smile, "Yuri has Kiba…"
"I DO NOT!" Yuri exclaimed in defense, "I UTTERLY LOATHE HIM!"
The rest of us laughed at Yuri's outburst. When we finally calmed down, Hinata come up with a suggestion, "How about we go to one of our rooms and talk? We'll have more privacy and we wont disturb as many people." She gestured to the scholars and the people who had come to enjoy their afternoon in the library to read shooting dirty looks at us even though we were of a high social status.
"Typical Hinata." Yuri said. "Always thinking about the wellbeing of others."
"Well," I started, "if we're going to be in somebody's room, then whose shall we go to?"
"How about Hana's room? Being Uchiha Itachi's – the heir to the throne – fiancée, her room should have high quality security, right?" Sakura asked.
Hana flushed a bright red before stuttering, "U-m, you se-ee, uh, we-ll…"
"Just spit it out already, Hana!" Temari snapped just loud enough for us to hear her.
Hana quickly shook her head before turning toward Yuri and said something softly. Yuri's emerald eyes widened in shock and put her hand over her mouth as she gasped.
Yuri faced us and said in a steady voice, "Hana shares a room with Itachi for-"
"…What…?" I questioned.
Yuri answered, "Er, yeah…Hana is better protected with Itachi by her side – he is so skilled as a swordsman! – and Queen Mikoto said that it was to get 'Hana and Itachi comfortable for their married life'."
"Okay, then." Tenten said. "Hana's room is crossed off."
"Well, Ino is Uchiha Sasuke's fiancée, so how about her-"
"No, that wouldn't work. You guys know Deidara. He'll bust in there anytime he wants to and who knows what he'll do." I stated.
Tenten nodded in understanding. "Ino's room is unavailable. Next?"
"My room." Temari said. "I'm a princess from the Land of the Sand, so privacy would be the next best there."
Yuri asked, "You sure your brothers won't barge in?"
"Positive."
"Yeah, they shouldn't because I'm pretty sure that the guys are also having a 'reunion'." Hana explained.
"Oh, that's good then." Hinata murmured softly.
"How about we get going?" Sakura proposed.
"The best idea you've come up with today, Sakura!" I exclaimed.
"…Hey!"
We laughed.
