Chapter 11 - chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto!

Sakura nodded as she buried her face farther into his chest. Sasuke pulled her back and made her look him in the face. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He leaned his face closer to hers, and she tilted her head up as he gently placed his lips on hers for a few seconds. He pulled away, and Sakura looked startled.

“I’m sorry, Sakura, I shouldn’t have-” Sasuke started but was cut off by Sakura placing her lips against his lightly.

“Don’t be sorry, Sasuke.” Sakura said as she hugged him tight. “I-I thought that you hated me. All this time, I’ve loved you, and I thought that you just hated me.”

“Sakura, I’m so sorry. It’s just, I didn’t want anyone to harm you.” Sasuke said as he rested his chin on the top of her head.

“Why would anyone harm me?” Sakura asked.

“Sakura, you have to remember,” Sasuke said, “my brother is still out there. He killed my entire clan. Who knows what he would do to get to me.”

“So all this time, you really did like me?” Sakura asked, a warm feeling filling up her heart.

“No, Sakura,” Sasuke said, and Sakura looked up at him, startled once again, her heart filling with a cold, empty hole, only to be warmed right back up again. “I haven’t liked you, I’ve loved you.”

“Why are you telling me this now?” Sakura asked him.

“Because, you need to know I’m here for you. I’d do anything to help you. And I understand what you have to do tomorrow.” Sasuke said. “You have to accept the proposal, or we could all die at the hands of the prince. He knows that my ancestor liked your ancestor. The only reason he won’t kill me tomorrow is so that he can still marry you and keep the alliance between your kingdoms.”

“Thank you, Sasuke.” Sakura whispered. “You have no idea how much this means to me. I knew that you, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei will be there for me, but knowing that you’re here, and that you understand what I’m doing and why, it just helps so much.” Silent tears began to flow from her eyes as she squeezed them shut.

“Come on, Princess, you need to get some sleep.” Sasuke said as he laid her down on the couch.

“Sasuke?” Sakura asked her friends retreating back.

“Yea?” He asked back.

“I’m sorry that I got you guys into this mess.” She said.

”Don’t be.” Sasuke replied as he climbed out the window, concentrating the flow of chakra to his feet so that he could walk down the side of the castle, unnoticed by all those who slumbered. Well, unnoticed by everyone except a silver haired man who just happened to be walking around the grounds, and just happened to be under the window at that exact moment. He smiled to himself as he continued his walk.

The next day, Sakura woke up to Ino standing over her. “You fell asleep reading again?” Her friend inquired. “What are we going to do with you?” Ino shook her head.

“I’m not sure.” Sakura said with a small smile.

“Well, you’d better go and get yourself changed into a new dress. That monster of yours is going to be here any minute now.” Ino said mockingly.

“Don’t let him hear you say that, Ino. He may just kill you.” Sakura said. She trusted Ino with her life, as did her ancestor, but there was no way she was telling this girl what she had over heard last night. The least that could happen was a little teasing, the most, well, that would be death. And not just her. Sakura felt sure that both Ino and Sasuke would die at the hands of the prince of he found out about last night because Ino had accidentally let her mouth slip. It could happen to anyone. So Sakura got up and walked to her bed chambers, pulling out a golden yellow dress that had a gold braid trim around the waist and at the ends of the sleeves, as well as under her bosom. She quickly pulled on the ensemble, and went into the sitting room, where Ino was waiting.

“You look really great, Sakura.” Ino said. And then with a scowl she added, “I just wish you were getting all dressed up for Sasuke and not Gaara.” Sakura almost sighed, but she caught herself. If only her friend knew how true that statement was. Sure, Sakura had taken only a couple of minutes to find the dress she was wearing, but when she had gone through the clothes a couple of days ago, she had deemed it as one of the princess’ prettiest gowns. And since Sasuke was accompanying them today, Sakura wanted to look her best.

“Thanks, Ino.” Sakura said with a sad smile.

“Well, I’m going to go fetch something for you to eat. You don’t need to go into the dining hall this morning.” Ino said as she scrunched up her nose. The thought of the drunks from last night who could very well still be lying on the floor struck her as awful, and the princess just didn’t need to be around that.

When Ino had left, Sakura quickly pulled out the diary from the hiding place in the wall she had found. There was a gap that was just the right size for the diary to fit into without being noticed. She scanned the princess’ entry for the day, and found it disturbingly vague.

Gaara proposed today. I accepted. Under the conditions, I dared not refuse. Our walk went fairly well, for walking with one such as him. I was glad to see that Sasuke was unharmed. Kiba seems to be fairing well, he is as happy as ever tending to the dogs. I must go now, time lies thin.

This was the shortest entry in the entire book, summing up not even a quarter of the page. Someone must have been pressing the Princess so that she could not go into farther detail. She sighed. This meant that she would not be left alone tonight. And she hoped the company she received wasn’t Gaara. Though she most feared the fact that it was people bugging her about the up coming wedding.

‘This is going to be such fun.’ Sakura thought, which was draped with a certain sarcasm. She very well knew that this wasn’t going to be fun at all.

A/N: ok, so way, way OOC Sasuke there, but I warned you guys! Also, sorry for the short chapter, but if I wrote it any farther I wouldn’t have anywhere to cut of for the next chapter. Please review!

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