A crash, and her opponent fell into the arena. She closed one eye. Was she really supposed to fight this guy? He didn't even bother to get up. What kind of ninja was that?

If someone had told her she would marry that guy one day, she would only have laughed.

Yet here she was, in a country she wasn't born in, to wed a man from another village.

She peeked into the room and looked at the guest. If they expected her to become like the other women from Konoha, they were wrong. It was difficult, but there was no way she would ever betray her country. She still was a kunoichi from the Sand, and even Shikamaru's wit could not change that. But she would live here in Konoha, being something they would call "permanent ambassador". She hoped it wouldn't involve too much paperwork.

Suddenly her thoughts were cut off, it was time to enter. The door opened. She took a deep breath and stepped forward. Shikamaru already stood at the shrine and she slowly walked towards him. That suit fitted him nicely, he looked actually handsome for once. She felt all the guests gazing at her, and wondered whether there was something wrong with her hair. It wasn't coming undone already, was it? Finally, she reached the altar. She looked at her soon-to-be-husband and smiled. He smirked back, and whispered:

"I didn't know you could look so beautiful."

"Is that an insult?" she asked.

"Not at all," he said silently, and turned to the altar. She did so too, and wondered how she ended up here again. Inwardly, she shrugged. This guy wasn't so bad… She might even love him. Why else would she be here to marry him?

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AN: Didn't update for a loooong time, sorry for that! The SKEP was taking most of my fanfiction time, and school all of my other time. Come to think of it, I have to finish a project for Physics before tomorrow...