Sweet and Low

Hold me down, sweet and low, little girl
Hold me down and I'll carry you home

In her simple maid's dress, Tenten wove through the throng of people crowding the ballroom, seeking a better view of the dais. She had arrived in this small but highly powerful and influential country little more than a week ago, and now for the first time she would get to see her possible target up-close.

There she was, upon her throne. Haruno Sakura, the newly crowned girl-queen. Pretty as a picture, she sat with perfect posture, her pastel pink skirts fanning around her ankles elegantly. Her hair, the same color as her gown, was pinned up, with only a few strands left loose to frame her face. A glittering crown rested atop her head.

She looked delicate and feminine, and it made Tenten suspect that what her employers thought was correct: the girl was a puppet, a doll to sit on the throne and smile while people in the shadows wielded the real power. And yet there was something in her green eyes, a calm, assessing intelligence that made Tenten hesitate every so slightly.

There might just be more to her than a pretty face.

Movement near the throne caught her eye. A young man in uniform had taken up position near the queen, his stance protective and alert. Tenten recognized him immediately: Uchiha Sasuke, younger brother of Uchiha Itachi, the Duke of Konoha, and captain of the elite force that was the Queen's Personal Guard.

As handsome as they say, Tenten noticed clinically. She found the Uchiha family to be quite interesting; their line was far more ancient than that of the royal family, the Haruno, their blood much bluer. It was said that the Haruno family only came to power with the aid of the Uchiha, and that, if the Uchiha ever chose to, they could snatch the throne away easily. It was also said the Uchiha remained as nobles because they preferred the rule from the shadows.

She studied the two for a moment, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke, watching as they exchanged soft words, their heads angled in such a way that their lips couldn't be read. They didn't touch, and throughout the conversation they both maintained fairly neutral expressions, but Tenten could discern that they were very close.

She drummed her fingers against her hip absently. She had been sent to the Land of Fire to observe the girl-queen and await further instructions as to whether she should kill the young monarch or find a way to use her.

Tenten made a mental note that whatever her orders turned out to be, it would probably be Uchiha Sasuke that would stand in her way.

~x~

Sakura sighed as she removed the crown from her head, setting it aside as she pulled at her hair, allowing it to cascade down her back. Her coronation had been less than two weeks ago, and it was still difficult for her to get used to the weight of the crown perched atop her head.

She froze when she heard the door to her private chambers open and close quietly, but instantly relaxed when she heard the most familiar of voices. "Sakura."

A small smile on her lips, she turned to him. "Sasuke." As always, she felt a compulsion to run to him, but she quelled it. She watched as he slowly drew nearer to her with his panther-grace. Gods, he was just so beautiful. A lock of his raven hair fell forward to partially obscure his equally dark eyes, and she wanted so desperately to brush it away.

She clasped her hands and waited. Sasuke was like a bird, in some ways; chasing after him didn't work. She had to stand still and allow him to come to her. And when he did, it was the most amazing thing.

He stopped a little more than a foot from her. "You're okay?" he asked, his voice low and smooth and compelling.

Sakura knew what he was asking. The reason that she was queen was because her father had died in a riding accident three weeks ago. Her mother, the former queen, wasted away in the palace infirmary; she had always been sickly and fragile, and the tragic death of her husband had pushed her over the edge, leaving her too ill to rule the country in his stead—to even get out of bed.

With Sasuke, she couldn't lie. "No. I don't know. More or less. I just…" she shook her head. Her polished eloquence and regality faded around Sasuke, her closest friend, her maybe-lover.

Around him, she was not a queen, just a girl.

He nodded, possibly understanding or maybe just accepting, but it didn't matter, because in his eyes she saw an affirmation to a question she hadn't vocally asked, a go-ahead that allowed her to do what she ached to do.

She closed the space between them, winding her arms around his neck and kissing him softly, tenderly. After a moment one of his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer, and the other played with the ends of her hair.

It was new for them, this kissing thing. Sakura had known him her entire life, but only a few months ago had she mustered the nerve to kiss him—and it was always her that instigated it, but after the first time she waited for him to express his permission. Sasuke was a very private, introverted person, and Sakura respected that.

She didn't notice that he had been maneuvering them until she found her back pressed against the wall, and Sasuke used his newfound leverage to deepen the kiss. Sakura cracked her eyes open so that she could see his punishingly lovely face—the face of an angel.

Mine. He's mine. She wanted to believe it, even almost did.

And she felt them on her tongue, the words she shouldn't say. I love you. I love you. Oh, gods, how I love you.

The words she wasn't allowed to say.

...Well. Wassup, people? This is just the prologue to a story that I may or may not continue - I just wanna see if I can maybe get into the mood for writing SasuSaku again. To my complete surprise, the latest manga chapter was actually pretty good. And because I just said that, the next chapter will be complete crap. 'Cause that's how my life goes.

If I do continue this story, whatever questions you have about the plot will probably be answered later on. I'm just telling you now, I shamelessly screwed with the universe on this one. Kinda Renaissance-ish but with a healthy dose of Oriental flavoring? And yes, I do realize how absurd that is. -is shot- Anywho, the title and the lyrics at the top are from Augustana's song "Sweet and Low." -rocks out-

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.