𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | sasuke uchiha

Chapter 32 - Resentment

A few days passed since your return to Konoha, and you and Sasuke made a crucial decision regarding your engagement.

"What do you mean, Sasuke and [Name]?!"

Naruto gulped as he broke the news to his colleagues at lunch one day, all of whom looked completely astonished by his announcement. Sitting together at a barbecue restaurant with Shikamaru, Lee, Ten Ten, Ino, Choji, Sai and Sakura, he had decided that now was a good time to tell them the news.

You two had decided that you preferred it this way, as it also bought you two some more time. Start the rumours now, address them later.

And who better to start them off than Naruto?

"Naruto, you're being absurd," said Ino, rolling her eyes as she continued grilling her meat on the hot plate before her. "Everyone's still trying to recover from the war. Why would these two get engaged all of a sudden?"

"I don't know, ask them yourself," sighed Naruto, slumping in his seat. "Don't shoot the messenger."

"How do you know?"

It came to Naruto as a surprise how gentle Sakura's voice was. While initially, she had yelled at him, she now looked more cooled down, albeit still very shaken.

"Huh? Oh, they let it slip while I slept over with them," said the Uzumaki, who had rehearsed his story very well. "I went over when [Name] first got back from the mission, and Sasuke was there with her. It was kind of awkward at first- I mean, he has tried to kill me before- but everything was fine."

"What were they like?" asked Choji curiously, still going earnestly at his food. "I mean... you've got to be one special girl if you manage to charm Sasuke into marriage."

"I wouldn't say charm per se, but I can't really judge their relationship myself. I don't know what they're like when they're alone, so I can't really jump to conclusions," shrugged Naruto, who was thankful that Sakura hadn't knocked him out for being the bearer of bad news. 

Ino huffed and turned her nose in the air, completely over the news.

"Congratulations to them. Can we eat in peace now?"

As the others clambered to grill their selection of meats, Naruto noticed just how much the news had shattered Sakura. Her eyes were glazed over as she stared at her plate before her, the loss on her face palpable to anyone.

"Hey, Sakura. Are you okay?"

At the mention of her name, the Haruno shot out of her seat.

"Sorry, bathroom." As she turned away, Naruto saw a tear fall down her cheek. It went unnoticed by the others, who sat and conversed away about their lives so far. 

The Uzumaki had never seen Sakura so devastated like this before. As he watched her disappear into the restaurant bathroom, he couldn't help but feel a little resentment towards Sasuke. Not only was he using you for his own seemingly selfish reasons, he was hurting Sakura in the process.

Whether your engagement was real or not, Naruto had no idea.

But he did care about the people it was affecting. If you and Sasuke found that you genuinely wanted to be together, then good on you two. If it meant was Sasuke happy, eventually, it would make Sakura happy. Life would go on.

However, if worst came to worst and you had to marry the Uchiha solely for the purpose of maintaining both of your reputations, Naruto wouldn't be able to forgive him for making you or Sakura go through all of that.

Come on, Yuki, thought Naruto bitterly, knowing the source of all this drama. Back off!