SasuSaku OneShots

🌸My Queen - Part 4🌸

[royal AU, fluff]

"Well, well, well... Looks like you're back."

"Yeah? So what?" Sakura huffed and plopped onto the grass below the tree the same time the next day, "I can leave any time I want." 

"Go ahead."

Silence.

"I knew you wouldn't. Something about the thrill of the mystery, yes?"

"Sure, you can say it that way, I guess."

The voice in the tree chuckled softly, "so let me tell you a little bit about myself. I'm just an ordinary Duke born somewhere not too far from the prosperous Kingdom of Konoha. I don't really have much royal lineage, but our families go far back."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes." The snood voice cleared his throat, "you see, my father and his father ruled over acres and acres of land. On top of that, they own plantations and vineyards of some of the kingdom's most needed resources."

"So in other words, you're wealthy."

"You're gorgeous and you're smart."

"Listen, I don't need to be harassed by a tree."

"Hey, hey, may I remind you I'm a real human being."

"Yeah..." Sakura stood up, "I have to go. Minato is introducing me to the men who signed up to court me."

"That sounds like fun."

"Well, it's a lot more fun than talking to you, that's for sure."

"Okay, that kinda hurt."

Sakura smirked, "I'll come back tomorrow." She waved up into the tree before running back into the palace.

"Sakura. Where've you been?" Minato lowered his voice the moment she stepped into the crowded conference room, "we've been waiting here for half an hour."

"Sorry, lost track of time." She looked around sheepishly, "so, uh, hi?"

_______________________

"That's humiliating."

"Then after that, they kinda just sat there staring at me and silently judging me." Sakura groaned into her hands the following day, "I just stayed in my room the rest of the day."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"You don't understand..."

"I do, actually. I'm expected to be the top of my family, so whenever I make a mistake, I get chastised and rejected for it, and it lasts a good few weeks."

"Yeah, but this is different. This is the entire kingdom watching..."

The garden was silent for a moment before a basket dropped from out of the tree next to Sakura, "if you were in your room the rest of the day, you probably missed dinner and you're starving. It might not be like your super rich sirloin steak, but it's something."

She peeked into the basket and found three sandwiches and some fresh fruit, "ha! This is probably better than what I always eat. It's the same every day, so change is good. Thanks, Tree Man!"

"'Tree Man'?"

She looked up into the tree, "I don't really know who you are, but I really like coming out here to talk to you. It puts me at ease. You're like a friend I've known for a long time."

"Yeah. I mean, to me, you're a friend I've known for a long time. You just didn't know I existed."

She chuckled, "yeah, sorry I couldn't remember you..."