[royal AU]

"She's next in line for the throne..." 

"It's true that the king has no sons, but must the parliament truly come to this? Can the kingdom really survive under the rule of a woman--" 

"Silence!" 

The room silenced to a hushed whisper as the king cleared his throat. 

"My daughter is fit for the throne." He spoke with hesitation in his voice, "she may rule." 

"But..." Another member of the parliament cleared their throat, "you know... The chief advisor of your majesty has a fine, young man to rule on her behalf. With a man by her side to help her rule, don't you suppose the kingdom will only strive?" 

The king blinked a few times and sighed, "you may be right..." He paused and turned to his right-hand man, "Minato Namikaze." 

The named man lifted his head, "your majesty?" 

"Your son?" 

"I would say he's..." Minato chuckled, "I don't know how to put it... If he's really fit to be king..." 

"Well." The king laughed, "I'm sure he would make a fine husband for my precious blossom!" 

______________________

"Wait!! Princesses aren't supposed to run!!" 

"Hell, if someone calls me that one more time... Naruto, you're such an ass!!" 

"I-I'm sorry, your H-Highness Lady Sakur--" 

"What did we say?!" 

"Ah, Sakura." 

The pink-haired girl stopped in her tracks, turned to the boy, and burst out laughing, "race you back to the castle?" 

"Oh yeah!" 

The two took off in a cloud of dust towards the small kingdom known only as Konoha. 

"So..." Naruto glanced at his friend, "the meeting our dads are in, today..." 

"Yeah..." Sakura sighed, "I could care less about what they do. I don't want to rule, it sounds like such a hassle while I could just have someone else rule for me." 

"True, but you realize how totally badass it'd be?" 

"I can tell everyone what to do, yeah, sure, but that's not all there is to it, y'know." They continued on until a glint of red, white, and black caught their eyes and Sakura yanked Naruto behind a building, "shoot... Hide." 

"What?" Naruto peeked around the corner and sighed, "oh. It's them again..." 

"Why do they keep coming?" Sakura peeked over his shoulder and shivered, "every time I see them, it almost makes me sick to my stomach..." 

The Uchiha. My father told me they were used to be one of the strongest denominations in Konoha, but they turned on the kingdom, rebelled, and disappeared. Twenty years later, they come out of hiding and armies of them come to Konoha to request for one of their own to take the throne. Every day, this ritual is repeated over and over until the king agrees to their terms. So far? No Uchiha has set their butt on that hypothetical throne. And no Uchiha will ever do that as long as my father, King Kizashi Haruno, is in rule. The only Uchiha that's gotten the closest to the king is Itachi Uchiha, the only Uchiha to be trusted of the bunch, since he is, of course, my body-guard under the close supervision of the kingdom's elite marshall, Kakashi Hatake.

"Think they're gone?" 

"Hope so." 

Sakura and Naruto cautiously made their way out towards the palace and casually walked into the foyer. 

"Ah, Naruto, Sakura! Perfect timing!" Minato turned to the two teens, "we were just talking about the two of you." 

Naruto looked around, "oh? The meeting's over already?" 

"It is." Kizashi looked at the boy, "and we have some important things to discuss with the two of you." 

"The two of us?" 

"Yeah." he cleared his throat, "Sakura, you're my only child, but the Parliament can't allow you to rule, Sakura. At least... Not on your own." 

"Okay, I don't want to rule, for starters..." Sakura crossed her arms, "second of all, I'm thoroughly offended that those geezers don't trust that I'm smart enough to rule a kingdom. It's just like... Taking care of a cat, right?" 

Naruto snickered, "she's hopeless." 

"That's why." Minato set his hands on the two's shoulders, "you'll be there to help her." 

Sakura rose a brow, "what? What are you talking about?" 

Kizashi laughed, "isn't it obvious? You two are getting married!" 

Naruto and Sakura stared at each other in horror, "m-married?!" 

"Well, what better way? Since you two are already so close." Kizashi shrugged, "it'll work out perfectly!" 

Sakura blushed and waved her hands defensively in front of her, "l-listen, I appreciate the help, but don't you think I can find my own husband on my own? Besides, marriage is really cutting it close, here, I'm only eighteen..." 

"Ah..." Naruto added, "I'm not even eighteen yet..." 

"It's fine..." Kizashi waved them off, "you kids'll be fine." 

"Naruto, let's go home." Minato headed toward the front door, "it's getting late, and you've got work early tomorrow morning." 

"There's no way you're going to make me marry her!" Naruto yelled as he followed his father out, "she doesn't even want to marry me!" 

Sakura watched as the door shut behind the two blonde men before she crossed her arms and looked sternly at her own father, "dad. What the heck are you trying to do, here?!" 

"Eh?" He blinked confusedly, "I thought you'd be happy." 

"I'm furious!" Sakura clenched her fists, "Naruto's a friend! I don't have any intentions of marrying him!" 

"Why, Sakura? Do you have any intentions of marrying anyone else?" 

She looked down at the floor and pursed her lips, "n-no..." 

"What was that?"

"What was what?" 

"That hesitation." 

"Th-there was no hesitation!" 

"Then why are you stuttering?"

"I always stutter--" 

"Okay, what's going on, Sakura? Do you have a crush on--" 

"No!" 

Kizashi looked at his daughter, sighed, and patted her head before turning and chuckling softly to himself, "I'll let you think about it, Kiddo. I really hope you can go through with this plan. It'll do the whole kingdom some good." 

Sakura slowly made her way up to her room as the events of that day ran through her head. 

"Sakura?" 

She stopped in place and waited as a pair of arms wrapped tightly around her, "can I help you?" 

"I heard everything." 

"Please don't be mad." 

"I'm not. I'm just concerned for you." 

"And I appreciate it." Sakura patted the shoulders of the dark-haired man and took a few steps toward her room, "but please, don't worry about it." 

"It's only my job to worry about you, Sakura." 

"It's your job to protect me as my bodyguard." 

"But also... As someone who cares for you." 

"I know." Sakura turned on her heel, hugged him, and left a kiss on his cheek, "don't worry, Itachi. No matter how this ends, I'll just be happy that you're always here by my side." 

The bodyguard looked at her, smiled, and nodded, "yeah. You know I'll always stay with you." 

Sakura stood silently, smiling at him, before reaching up to kiss him. Before her lips could reach his, he held his hand up to block her and pushed her back a millimeter. 

"I want your first to be special." 

"You can't hold back forever." 

"I know, but if it's you, then I want you to be completely pure until your wedding. If it's not for my sake, then it's for that lucky husband-to-be of yours..." 

Sakura smiled up at him sadly, nodded as she turned back towards her room, and shut the door behind her. 

________________________

"Did you hear?" 

"From...?" 

"I spoke with Itachi this evening. Apparently, since Kizashi's only child is a girl, they're having Sakura marry early before she takes up the throne." 

"... Oh really?" 

"So... Our plans to have Itachi marry Sakura will most likely fail." 

"And what will you do about that, father?"

"Well, my son, we have multiple options to choose from. We can eliminate this Naruto Uzumaki, to whom she's currently betrothed, or..." 

"Or?" 

The Uchiha turned to his youngest son and smiled slyly, "we just need our back-up. Put on your best suit, Sasuke. You're going to get married."

~~~ 

Random Fan of the Day: MasterShippess

Written by xX_Fang_Xx