Work Text:
“I’m planning on getting married.”
Silence falls at the dinner table, blowing at the couple’s faces like the floating steam of cooked meal served on the table.
Sakura knows she is being crazy but she can’t drag this for too long or else someone else might beat her to it.
Kizashi coughs into his cup of herbal tea. “Who… is it?”
Her mother interrupts her with an excited gasp. “Are you serious? Her? But we are-”
“ Her?! ”
Both women turn their heads to meet the madly coughing man slamming his cup on the table and tap his chest with a fist repeatedly to ease the cough.
Ah.
He doesn’t know, both of them muse as they each eat a spoonful of warm rice.
Wait.
“You know?”
“I am your mother, Sakura. I know everything,” Mebuki says gleefully at the sight of her daughter’s eyes widening with a mouthful of rice in her slightly parted lips.
Sakura nods carefully; realising her mother might have found the stash of Naruto’s Icha Icha Paradise fanfictions in between her medical books, Sasuke’s book of hilariously drawn murder plots - to make their idiot blonde teammate understand their mission strategies - and… oh no
Before her hairline claims her thin eyebrows, her father faintly asks with his left hand still laying on his chest, “Am I missing something here?”
Right.
Sakura never really came out to her parents. She thought they already got the hint when she always hangs out with the girls of Konoha 11. She should have done it like a normal person (she is very normal, thank you very much!).
“I like girls, dad,” she announces cheerfully after swallowing the food in her mouth. She almost giggles at the sight of her father’s world crashing down him.
But the mirth sinks back into her chest as a dark thought pushes it aside and creeps its way up to her throat.
What if he doesn’t approve it? What if I make him sad? Or angry? What will I do?
A train of gut wrenching thoughts runs across her throbbing head too quickly for her to rebut it with her reasoning. Her heart beats against her ribcage. Her insides start to chill and jitter. Her stomach feels acidic - even with two bowls of rice filling it.
It is embarrassing - to think that a kunoichi who punched a goddess, a high-in-demand medic nin of all nations, one of Konoha’s top tacticians is afraid of her father’s judgement.
Her father who have never discriminated Ino for kissing her or Naruto for being the host of the Kyuubi who wrecked havoc in their village twice. Heck! He welcomed Sasuke to their cozy little civilian home when he is aware of the Uchiha’s former status as a S-rank criminal.
“So, I’m still stuck as the only man in this house? It must be a curse. A beautiful curse.” He throws his head back and laughs. He wipes away a tear and adds “See what I did there?” and “Beautiful - like the beautiful women gracing my life” in between his titters.
Who was she kidding. He’s the best dad she could ever ask for.
Despite the sudden explosion of jubilance in her cramped stomach, she couldn’t stop the long-suffering sigh from escaping her lowering lips.
Yup. That’s my dad alright. Lovely - and full of stupid dad jokes.
“Who is it?”
Both her parents look at her with holding breaths.
Sakura blushes and gives them her brightest smile that could beat Naruto’s million megawatt grin.
“It’s - “
x x x x x
Kiba playfully nudges Naruto’s left shoulder, “Finally making a move?”
Mid-slurp, Naruto turns to face Kiba’s shit eating grin with an innocently curious glance before shoving the rest of the noodles into his mouth.
“Whabameen?”
Kiba stares at the blonde - who is currently spotting puffy chipmunk cheeks - with a “Are you serious?” frown pulling at his lips.
“Instead of officializing your relationship, you straight away asked her for marriage. That’s a huuuuge leap, man”
Shino hums in agreement at his left, still focused on his own bowl of ramen.
“Very impatient aren’t we?” Kiba wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.
Naruto downs the remaining soup from his ramen bowl, orders another and replies with a confused glare. “What the hell are you blabbering about, Kiba?”
Naruto pauses, his face scrunches up even further. He is confused. He was planning to ask Sakura to be his girlfriend until she made it very clear that she likes someone else. There’s no way he can ask her to marry him after that. She might really punt him to the moon, together with Sasuke - just for the sake of it - to hammer it into his head that she is not interested in him romantically.
“You asked Hiashi-sama to let you marry Hinata”, Shino patiently tells the blonde who currently - with a twisted expression on his face - is stirring his fourth steaming bowl of ramen.
Naruto’s mind reels at the news.
“What? I didn’t! She’s my friend!” His voice rising in decibels.
“Oh”
“What ‘ oh ’?”
The Inuzuka ignores the whiskers-marked man and replays the news he heard this morning. Something isn’t adding up, he stares at his half eaten ramen, a slice of pork in between his half-raised chopsticks.
Naruto slurps the last drops of his fourth bowl clean, orders a fifth and laughs.
“It must be -”
x x x x x
“Haruno Sakura”, the Hyuuga clan leader regards the pink-haired woman - with a small chest in front of her - sitting across him.
His pale eyes lingers at the oddly familiar chest before raising up to meet the hard green eyes of the kunoichi.
“You asked for my presence for a non-political matter.” He slowly drags his words, his mind already caught on her intention.
Sakura remains solemn, her back straight like her current aim.
“I am here to ask for your blessing to take your daughter, Hyuuga Hinata, as my wedded wife.”
The air in the room stills as the witnesses of her proposal go wide-eyed. She could almost hear Tokuma stifle his snort. She knows what they are thinking: two women entering a marital agreement. That’s ‘nonsense’.
Yes - his second daughter flirted with a few girls of her age but those were just young and curious infatuation.
But this.. this is -
“Are you aware of what you are asking for? Marriage! A -”
“Yes, a marriage between two women.” She stops herself from rolling her eyes. She, a woman, is asking for their blessings to marry their clan heir, also a woman. How is that hard to understand?
She knows the Hyuuga clan leader is having the same thoughts as the rest in the room. There is no way the general public will accept same-sex marriage - or that is what the Hyuuga clan thinks. The clan still remains being stern and old-fashioned in most aspects.
She almost chuckles in amusement.
The village, however, will accept it with open arms and even throw a full-scaled festive celebration for the wedding. Tsunade-shishou and Naruto will make sure of it.
Hiashi is aware of the budding relationship between the Haruno and his first daughter. He knows she will marry Hinata anyway. He realises the potential advantages the Hyuuga clan will gain from this alliance with the Hokage candidate and one of the top administrators of the hospital. Plenty.
He has nothing to lose here. He is planning on passing the heiress status to his second born. He has an inkling foresight - Hinata might have the favour of the council to keep her title.
She is stronger now. But not adequate in a Hyuuga-way. She seems more open-minded - ever since the first Chuunin exam she entered and after mingling with the civilian sitting in front of him. In his eyes, she is not strong enough to shoulder the responsibilities of a Hyuuga clan leadership.
He had caught her pouring over the Caged Bird Cursed seal when they were not looking. She spends more time with the current seal master (who is also the Jinchuuriki) and the clanless weapon master.
Hinata wants to abolish the practices of the cursed seal. It was a woeful notion he once had after losing his twin brother. He buried it deep in the volts of his mind and refused to address it ever again.
She might succeed - with the right boost and proper back up.
With the right boost….
His gaze is still locked on the potential courter for Hinata. She sits in the room heavy under the scrutinizing gazes of the Byakugan with confidence and ease - like she has already came out of this meeting victoriously and started planning out her marriage.
At least, he appreciates her respectful gesture to formally seek approval from him.
The small box that sits quietly in front of the Haruno almost causes his eyebrows to rise in curiosity. The wood structure of the box has miniscule fragment of chakra akin to the chakra living within the gigantic trees of the Shodai that surrounds Konoha and littered across the fire country.
Reading the calculative gaze of Hiashi’s Byakugan, Sakura relaxes - knowing she is already close to getting his blessings, judging from his lack of protest.
“The Haruno clan used to be a small mercenary group under Senju’s liege.”
Noticing his silence, she continues, “I have decided to indulge in the traditional practices of marriage.”
Or, she decided to not simply whisk away their clan heir and spare them from her straight-forward approach of matters - and cause possible heart attacks.
So, a formal courting. The chakra of clan members in the room simmer to faint flickers of annoyance.
What a bunch of straight-laced old fogies..
She almost smirks when Hiashi sends a messenger to get Hinata to the room and opens the wooden box to reveal a cherry blossom shaped jewel pendant with a gold chain (she decided to replace the old silver chain with a gold chain).
One of the five petals was a rubellite induced with a mixture of different chakra natures coursing through a condensed seal - which is invisible to the naked eye except for the Byakugan.
Hiashi, who was about to question her, gets interrupted by the door sliding open, revealing a fumbling messenger and a slightly out of breath Hinata.
Hinata’s pale eyes momentarily accesses her smiling girlfriend before turning to her father with a polite “You asked for me, father?”
He nods and looks pointedly at the currently opened chest sitting in front of Sakura.
Her eyes widen as she glances back at the chest and Sakura - who grins adorably when she catches the pinkette’s gaze. Realising why her presence was required immediately , she slowly steps across the room towards Sakura with a hand over her trembling lips.
“It’s my family’s heirloom,” Sakura softly tells her as Hinata lowers herself beside her lover, still facing the pinkette.
Hinata takes the small chest into her hands, faint chakra soothing against her post-mission calloused palms.
She gently lifts the necklace off the velvet headrest. Her eyes shines with marvel at the sight of the lustrous cherry blossom shaped pendant.
“You didn’t have to, Sakura-chan,” her voice barely a whisper, visibly touched by the Sakura’s respectful gesture.
“Trust me. I was actually planning to jump straight to the explosive marriage proposal, put a ring on your pretty finger and carry you bridal style to whichever honeymoon spot you want,” Sakura mutters under her breath, barely able to keep her excitement from showing.
Hinata giggles as a snort is heard across the room - must be her cousin, Tokuma.
She looks at her father before accepting Sakura’s proposal with a teary-eyed smile.
Sakura wouldn’t be lying if she said she fell in love again at the sight of her fiance enveloping her in her usual heart-warming smile paired with the soft blush dusting her cute cheeks. She stops herself from making a loud enamoured confession rivalling Lee’s poetic exclamations and turns to Hiashi for his blessings.
He gives it to her with a surrendering sigh and watches his soon to be daughter-in-law tackle Hinata into a hug before helping her put on the necklace and plant an affectionate kiss on his daughter’s tear stained cheeks - and a full kiss to rile up his clansmen. He can feel the future stacking up a plateful of dreading news together with the upcoming feasts.
x x x x x
And much to his dismay and everyone’s amusement, Hinata takes Sakura’s last name. He can still hear the Slug Princess laughing over her cup of sake - for years.