Chapter Text
They were on a simple B-rank to Wind Country, catching a few bandits who’d stolen a diplomatic contract from an emissary of the Water daimyo and taking it to Suna, where the emissary was recovering from his injuries in whatever plush accommodation such important guests received.
Really, the only reason she, Naruto, and Sasuke had been sent together was because Obito (now settled into his role as Lord Fifth) thought it would be fun for them to have a little reunion trip before Naruto had to throw himself headfirst into his new role as the Hokage’s assistant.
The bandits had been shinobi playing at civilians, though, probably expecting one of the villages involved to send a group of fresh chuunin for easy disposal.
They paid dearly for their mistake when three of the most powerful nin in the Five Great Nations tracked them down.
It was so laughably easy, the way in which they handled the rogues. None of them proved to be much of a challenge at all, and it seemed the two shinobi were dead at their feet before any real fun could be had.
Sakura was still high off the adrenaline of a fight she hadn’t gotten to fully enjoy because of its brevity. So, standing there splattered in blood with her hair thoroughly windswept, she made a rash proposal as she turned to look at Sasuke.
“Let’s get married tonight. Temari can officiate once we get to her office.” Suna was only half a day away
Sasuke looked at her like she’d hung the moon as he answered her spur-of-the-moment suggestion.
“Okay.”
“Hey- Hey!” Naruto’s voice cut through the silent staring contest that had erupted between the couple, and both Sakura and Sasuke turned to face him.
“What about all your big plans, bastard? I thought you wanted-”
“We can have a ceremony in Konoha after the mission.” He paused, then looked over to Sakura again. “If you want to.”
“Whipped.”
Sakura snorted as her fiance smacked Naruto on the back of his head, drawing a loud protest from the blond.
“Let’s just get the scroll and get to Suna.” Sakura stopped her efforts in going through the various pockets and pouches on the first dead man to level a mischievous look at Naruto. “Besides, don’t you want to see your boyfriend?”
“Hey, you and the bastard get to see each other all the time! Gaara still has to get his paperwork approved to transfer to Konoha!” The red creeping up the back of his neck was adorable, but Sakura let it drop, not wanting to tease him so much that he got genuinely upset. After all, she knew just how tough it was to live without Sasuke.
She’d been allowed to go off and train under Gaara’s old genin teacher for two years, and it had been rough, even though Sasuke had managed to conveniently land more than a handful of missions to Suna during that time, including one on her sixteenth birthday where they’d lost their virginities to each other. Sakura could always tell when Sasori-sensei remembered that particular day, because a look of pure disgust washed over his features that only happened when people mentioned intimacy.
In hindsight, she probably should have remembered to activate a silencing seal or two, considering Sasori-sensei’s room had been right next to hers.
The person who missed her most of all, however, had been her chubby-cheeked little brother, Sakumo. Not even near-daily playdates with Rin-shishou’s daughter, Kasumi, had been enough to fill the Sakura-shaped hole in his heart.
Speaking of her brother, she wasn’t going to make it back in time for his sixth birthday if they didn’t get a move on.
Dangling the prospect of marriage in front of Sasuke, and of Gaara in front of Naruto, lit a fire under their feet, and the two had no trouble keeping up with the quick pace she set across the desert.
Sakura tried to calm her racing heart as they checked in with the gate guards, thankful for the chance to really think over her rash suggestion.
She couldn’t regret it, though. Nor would she take it back.
Marrying Sasuke had been over thirteen years in the making, ever since they met each other on their first day at the Academy when they were six. Even if she wasn’t going to be Uchiha Sakura like she’d originally daydreamed about, he would be Hatake Sasuke, and that was fine with her.
When that decision was reached a few months ago, Uncle Fugaku bought her dango every day for a week because it had infuriated the clan elders so badly. Putting them in their place had been the highlight of her future father-in-law’s year.
From every interaction Sakura had ever had with those crusty old windbags, she couldn’t blame him in the slightest.
The time since then had been spent with Sasuke’s family and her own gutting and remodeling a house in Hatake clan grounds, right across from where she currently lived with her parents and Sakumo. It was hard work, but well worth it, and now the house stood ready for the newlyweds when they were supposed to marry in November.
So really, it wasn’t like bumping the timeline up a little bit would hurt anything. Besides, they were ready.
Even if Temari asked them if they were really sure when Sakura requested the favor. She didn’t put up any real protest, though she made them wait until her brothers and Sasori-sensei could be summoned.
Sakura was glad some of her friends and her old mentor would get to participate, but she knew Temari had partially made them attend to watch them all squirm. Between Gaara’s shyness with expressing his love for Naruto openly, Kankuro’s string of bad luck dealings in love, and Sasori-sensei’s repulsion of all things romantic, the mission was more than accomplished.
So they were married.
Naruto, with all his fancy storage seal, carted their marriage certificate back home to Konoha for them. He had a few other important documents to bring back to Obito, tucked neatly away until they were standing before Lord Fifth and giving their verbal report two days later.
Naruto was all but vibrating as Sakura finished her assessment, waiting not-so-patiently to be able to speak his piece.
“Yes, Naru-” Obito didn’t even get to finish before Naruto unsealed the stored papers and shoved them at the Hokage.
“Gaara got the council’s approval! He can come to Konoha!”
“How did he manage that?” Obito asked as he began shuffling through the mess. “They wouldn’t dare part with their jinchuuriki so easily.”
“They got a new one! You remember Fuu, from Taki? She and Temari are getting really serious, and she just kinda packed up and left Taki and moved to Suna.”
“I’m sure there’s more to whatever agreement the elders in Suna have for Gaa-”
Sakura didn’t notice which scroll Obito was reading until it was too late, and she found both herself and her new husband being the focus of the Hokage’s scrutiny.
“You two eloped?!”