𝐁𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧... | 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 | 𝐒𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐮

9

———————————————————
. . .

"Pardon?" Sakura mutters sheepishly under her breath, her emerald eyes widening. She heard him clearly, but she wanted him to repeat himself in case she was imagining things.

"You're going to be my future wife." Sasuke repeats himself with that same monotone and cold voice of his. Sakura stood there for a moment longer, looking puzzled as ever—until a wave of joy washed over her. Her body straightens up, and a smile of glee is immediately formed on her pretty face.

"Mm!" She wanted to say words—express her feelings aloud—but, of course, she had to remain as professional and composed as ever. Instead, she stood there with a smug look on her face. Ino, on her side, however, scowled. She's clearly in a bad mood after not being picked as Sasuke's assigned wife. For obvious reasons, she had to keep her angry and envious emotions in check. She needed to suppress it to a low level.

"We are done here." Sasuke says dismissively as he now turns away and walks off. The three princesses stood there and bowed until the prince himself left the large hall. Naruto stood by Neji, clearly daydreaming, before Neji cleared his throat, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Ah.." Naruto frantically turns his head in search of Sasuke, and Neji simply raises his hand and points to where Sasuke left. Naruto looks to where he points and hurriedly walks off to follow after him. Neji now inspects the three princesses, specifically Hinaya Hyuga.

"You two may leave." Neji mutters towards both Ino and Hinata, and they both nod. Hinata smiles, but Ino only gives a grumpy look.

"It's wonderful seeing you in my presence again, Neji." Hinata says it in that quiet and shy voice of hers. As Neji guides the two towards the exit, he speaks in response to what she said.

"I can say the same, your highness." Now that Neji has finally led the two out of the palace, he says his farewell before heading back into the building. Soon after he does this, Gaara comes by with his gaze lingering on the pocket watch in his gloved hand.

"You came back early." Neji says in a surprised tone, clearly not expecting Gaara to be back so quickly after his long travel. Gaara lifts his gaze to look towards the voice that spoke before him.

"It was peaceful and safe travel." Is all Gaara needed to say as an explanation for how the travel was so swift and fast? They both walk quietly together—back to the hall where Sakura still stands. Neji explained to Gaara about the current information about Sasuke taking Sakura as his future wife, and Gaara just stays silent—processing the whole thing.

"I see." Gaara removed his hand from his own chin once they arrived at the entrance of the large hall. Sakura stood there calmly with her hands behind her back. Her eyes flicker to the side to gaze upon whatever stood besides her or in front of her. There isn't much to look at in such an empty and spacious room.

Hearing the footsteps of both Neji and Gaara, her head swiftly turns to check on who the people are. She waits for them to reach her range, and once they do, she speaks.

"So," she starts off with just that, pausing for dramatic effect as she now straightens her posture and fixes her pink hair.

"When will this ball be, hm? The celebration ball, that is." Sakura questions them. She was just informed about the ball that will be held in a few days as a celebration for Sasuke's new wife and the upcoming wedding. Neji rubs at his throat, now speaking in that calm yet dead tone of his.

"The ball will be held next week. Before then, we will give you a walk around this whole palace—make you comfortable with the new environment." Neji informs her while Gaara just stands there quietly besides him.

"Mhm.." Sakura hums lightly at Neji's answer. She's excited for the ball because she picked out just the right outfit for it—the same outfit in which she will dance gracefully in Sasuke's arms. Her mind begins to wander, now daydreaming about the lovely scenario of her and Sasuke taking the spotlight in the ballroom, dancing slowly and elegantly under the bright, golden lights.

"Alright then. Let's start the tour now! We don't have all day!" Sakura says in a cheerful voice, now walking away with a clear show of joy in her stride.


— NARUTO'S POV —

"That damn idiot. Curse him for putting me in such a place!" I stood by the door, watching Prince Sasuke have his tantrum in his room. This is so... damn odd. I've never once seen the prince himself have a tantrum like this before. He's stomping around, mumbling things to himself, and even messing up the bed that I worked very hard to clean and tidy. If I could, I'd shed a tear on the spot—but I have to keep professional.

"Mm.." There's not much I could do at this very moment besides observe and let the whole thing occur. I could calm him down, but how could I even do that? I don't think I can—it's only my first or second day as his assistant, and all I know about him is that he likes rice balls for breakfast. Just how long will he stay frustrated? Moments after I thought about that question, he swiftly turned his head and faced me with a snarl forming on his face.

"You..." He raises his hand and points his finger directly at me. He curls it and beckons me to walk over towards him.

"Come here."

The words spiralled through my head. The demand itself made my heart drop, and my knees weakened out of fear. But,... I can't show that. Not ever.

Without even realising it, my expression took on a more serious look. My eyes are narrow, and my eyebrows are a bit knit together—a look similar to Sasuke's. I, surprisingly, calmly walked towards where Sasuke was and stood there with my hands clenched at my sides. My chin is high, making it look as if I'm trying to be intimidating. Sasuke's eye twitched, and before I knew it, he raised his hand and gripped at my blond hair.

"Don't look at me like that, peasant."

————— END OF CHAPTER —————