𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | sasuke uchiha

Chapter 27 - Home

"Oh look who it is. The happy, engaged couple."

That was the first thing you heard as soon as you and Sasuke stepped into Tsunade's office, where she sat behind her desk looking thoroughly unimpressed. Beside her, Shizune stood with Tonton in her hands, looking down at a piece of paper before the Hokage.

"Shizune, give us a few minutes," instructed the busty Hokage, to which Shizune deftly obliged. You glanced at Sasuke nervously out of the corner of your eye; you had hoped that you had thrown off whoever was following you, but at this moment it seemed highly unlikely.

As soon as Shizune had shut the office door behind her, Tsunade beckoned for you both to sit.

"Explain."

"What are you..." Sighing because you knew it would be futile to lie to the Hokage, you instead asked, "How did you find out?"

Clearing her throat, Tsunade snatched up the paper in front of her and began reading it out loud.

"Dearest Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village," she began, making you sink into your seat. "We would like to thank you for the assistance of the fine shinobi you sent us. They were superb in their mission, and we commend them both for their bravery. However, it is with sadness that we unfortunately had to end the engagement between Crown Princess Yuki and Crown Prince Akihiro, resulting in our daughter's great grief.

"While we proposed the idea of a marriage between Crown Princess Yuki and Sasuke Uchiha, we were abruptly informed that he and his comrade [Name] [Surname] were already engaged to be wed. While we are happy for the couple, we would please ask that next time such important information be relayed to us beforehand. As such, we are looking forward to updates regarding the couple, and Crown Princess Yuki herself would be overjoyed if she were to receive the honour of an invitation to the pair's wedding. We will keep in touch until the day arrives. Thank you once again for your help. Sincerely, the King and Queen."

You blinked as Tsunade finished reading out the letter, still too starstruck to process what she had just said.

"Um... what?" You looked over at Sasuke and saw that he too was just as shellshocked as you were. You knew Yuki wanted Sasuke, but not to this extent.

"Oh, come on!" You groaned and hung your head in your hands, incapable of stringing together an understandable sentence. "Seriously?! There are millions of other guys she could have! Why does she want Sasuke?!"

"Thanks to you two, not only did you make it look like we purposely withheld information from our clients, but now we have to answer to this too!" snapped Tsunade, slamming her fist onto the desk. You winced as you saw it crack at the impact, and wondered how on earth it withstood her strength.

"I couldn't have just said no!" retorted Sasuke. "Yuki would never take no as an answer!"

"So pretending that you and [Name] are engaged sounded like a better idea!?"

"Yes."

All three of you sighed and hung your heads, aware of the current predicament.

"If they find out you lied, that's another international scandal on your hands, Sasuke," warned Tsunade, massaging her temples. "And don't think that you'll get off so easily either, [Name]. You're just as equally guilty for going along with it."

"Damn it, why couldn't she just let it go?!" you whined, clutching your head in your hands as you realised the consequences of your actions.

"Because she didn't buy the fact that we were actually engaged," scoffed Sasuke, crossing his arms. "I wouldn't have bought it, either. Why on earth would I marry you?"

"I can ask the same thing, Uchiha," you scowled, looking towards the Hokage for advice. "What do we do, Hokage-sama?"

"We? This is an issue between you now," said Tsunade with a small laugh. "Have fun planning your wedding, lovebirds!"

"What if we say we called off our engagement?!" argued Sasuke, getting out of his seat. "Couples fall out of love all the time! We won't be anything special!"

"Right, because calling off our engagement just after we leave the Land of Ice isn't fishy at all," you said sarcastically, rolling your eyes.

"Who said we'd be calling it off right away? A couple of months would suffice, right?"

"And who's to say that in a couple of months, Yuki won't be sending down messengers demanding you to return to the Land of Ice?" you countered. "She won't say no!"

"But I don't have to say yes!"

"Alright you two, listen up. You're going to stay engaged- engaged- for as long as it takes! They can pressure you two to get married all they want, but I suggest you two just delay it for as long as possible. Until this princess has completely moved on from Sasuke, neither of you are in the clear."

"How long is this going to take?" you muttered, leaning back in your seat and hanging your head. "A couple of months at the most, right?"

"While I'm sure that they wouldn't have anyone trailing your movements in the village, I suggest that you two keep up this facade anyway," said Tsunade pointedly. "It'll teach you two a lesson about lying as well! You reap what you sow! And since you're engaged now... act like it! It would be ideal if we could avoid a wedding altogether... unless, of course, that's what you both want."

You threw your hands up into the air in defeat, sick of this engagement talk.

"Great! Thanks a lot, Sasuke!"

"You should be flattered we're engaged," sneered the Uchiha, riling you up.

"What if I want to date someone else?! What am I meant to tell them?"

"You tell them you're engaged."

"Well, glad to know everything's sorted," said Tsunade with an air of finality. "I wish you two nothing but a happy future together. Now, where's the cheque?"