Complicated Candidates

Disclaimer: I wish.

Sakura dreaded returning home. Sure it was luxurious, breath taking, had places where she could unwind, and it's a mansion anyone would kill to have. However it wasn't the house she was dreading, but the people she lived with. Her fiancé candidates, that wouldn't take no for an answer, would be anxiously awaiting her return.

Why did my grandma have to pick fourteen accursed betroths? Why did she have to choose any at all? I know she didn't approve of Dad, but Mom might not have married him if Grandma hadn't tried to rule her life! Why is her solution to do the exact same thing with me only with more men? Damn it! Sakura continued the internal tirade as she made her way home in her kick ass, super charged mini cooper. Oh yes she loved her car. It and that mansion's garden were the reasons she didn't want to lose her inheritance.

However that would mean either staying single forever, or marrying one of those men. She hated difficult decisions. She also hated that the ride to her place was always so short. Sakura was home.

As she dragged her feet to the door, she could already hear Akamaru howling a welcome. His owner, Kiba Inuzuka, had trained him to do that so he would always be aware of Sakura's arrival no matter where he was. Each fiancé candidate had a special gift, and for Kiba it was his five superior senses and instincts.

After all, Koharu Sarutobi aka Grandma would never settle for anything less than the best for her family. In her opinion, she had picked out men who were irresistible to women kind. In most cases they were. Sakura was simply an exception to the rule.

Sakura was about to put her keys in the lock when the door was nearly ripped off its hinges by the over exuberant Naruto Uzumaki. His gift was his charisma. He could change people though he was unaware of this.

Something Kiba didn't realize when he trained Akamaru to welcome Sakura was that the other men would hear it clearly as well. It was rather interesting that the men had been as reluctant as Sakura about an arranged marriage at first. The moment they saw Sakura however, most of them took an instantaneous liking to her. The rest fell for her as they got to know her. She was simply too beautiful, too smart, too kind-hearted, too passionate, too everything they found attractive in a woman for them to resist.

"Sakura-chan, you're home!" Naruto practically screamed. As he was about to take her in a bear hug he was punched out of the way by none other than Shisui Uchiha. Shisui's specialty was speed so it was amazing that he wasn't the one at the door. He must have just woken up. Sakura mused as she was taken into an embrace by said man. Shisui did not like being woken up by anyone other than Sakura. To wake up and see the woman you love about to be embraced by another man would make anyone's blood boil. Multiply that feeling by ten and you have an Uchiha.

"I missed you, baby. Can I get a kiss hello?" Shisui requested/demanded, momentarily distracted from his rage. As Shisui moved to do just that he was taken roughly by the collar by one of his cousins, Itachi Uchiha. Shisui was so furious at being taken from his love that he made the mistake of looking into Itachi's eyes. Itachi's special ability was hypnotism. As quickly as he had grabbed his cousin he let go with a look of pure disgust.

As Shisui immediately grabbed a bird statue Deidara had sculpted, as Sakura was once again immersed in regret that she had torn best friends apart. Itachi would have never used his abilities on his cousin had she not come along. She often felt this because most of the guys after her affections have best-friends-turned-rivals.

Itachi instantly noticed that something troubled his beloved. Knowing her, it's about us using our abilities on each other. She still hasn't realized that it was our feelings and our decisions that make us compete for her affections. Whatever we decide to do is not her fault! Itachi thought.

He had learned from watching the others one way to make her forget her guilt. It would cost him, but so long as it removed that troubled look from her face, it was well worth it. With those thoughts in mind, he tilted her head towards his and slowly moved to kiss her. Before he could move a centimeter he was tackled to the ground. This surprised him. He had been expecting Sakura to retaliate with a powerful punch, most likely to his face. Now if Sakura had decided to tackle him to the ground instead, you would not find him complaining. However it was not his lovely blossom who had pinned him. It was his violent and foolish little brother, Sasuke Uchiha. His gift was being able to copy others movements perfectly just by watching and he could retain the information for later use.

"You do realize you are looking in a hypnotist's eyes, don't you?" Itachi inquired in a bored tone. The youngest Uchiha was infuriated one moment and asleep the next. Itachi quickly rolled Sasuke off himself and was about to return to his precious flower when the rest of the males arrived.

Kiba was first to appear at the top of the stairs. Hidan could be heard yelling threats after him. Deidara tried to run out of the kitchen to Sakura first, but was restrained by Sasori and Gaara who each held a sandwich in one hand and one of Deidara's arms in the other. Sai came out from the library where he had been absorbed in a book. Pein and Shikamaru came from the hallway that led to the bedrooms. They had probably just woken up. Kimimaro came from the living room with a book on sword play tucked safely under his arm. Neji came out from one of the offices and did the same thing as everyone else and started making his way towards the pink haired doctor.

Hidan's ability could only be described as freaky. He could only die from three things. He could die of old age, being incinerated, or being eaten and digested. His ability ran in the family, but his father died from a being eaten by lions on his excursion to Africa. That was when he and his mother found the third way for him to die. Otherwise he could be stabbed, shot, drowned, or any other way to be killed you can think of and he would jump right back up. He also never got sick. He was a medical mystery. Grandma Koharu chose Hidan in the hopes that he would become Sakura's shield. Hidan agreed because the woman played a big part in helping his mom and him out with money ever since his father died.

Deidara, Sasori, and Sai all had the same specialty: art. Deidara made his sculptures so that they exploded into the most beautiful fireworks you've ever seen. Sasori did gorgeous wood work that made him a famous entrepreneur, making everything from marionettes to furniture. People paid through the roof to get their hands on Sasori's work and to see Deidara's, but Sai had the most amazing ability of the three. He literally gave life to his drawings and paintings. No one had known this except for Grandma, but after she died Sai decided to show Sakura his gift.

Gaara also had a rather supernatural gift. He could manipulate sand with his mind. Growing up in the desert, Gaara was often called a "freak" or "monster". This pushed Gaara into becoming violent. The sand he had used to entertain himself became his weapon, a weapon no one could use against him. He was stopped when a prankster/outcast first befriended him, and later knocked some sense into him when words alone weren't enough. The prankster's name was Naruto.

Shikamaru is a genius. His IQ was over 200. Needless to say it was even higher than Sakura's, though she holds her own pretty well. He was gifted in physical as well as mental subjects. He could do just about anything, but often chose to cloud watch, sleep, or play shogi. Grandma had found out about his keen intellect through one shogi match and bribed him to become Sakura's betroth.

Pein was an inventor. He was famous for inventing scan jamming debit and credit cards, complete with remote control. How it works is there is a microchip in the debit cards. Press "on" on the remote and the microchip flashes to let you know it activated. Once active the tiny machine will jam anything trying to scan your information. Press "off" when you wish to purchase something and "on" when you're done. This way the people who use special handheld scanners to steal information are left powerless to take your money. That was Pein's biggest invention, and the one that made him rich. There was no one who didn't know his name so it was easy for Grandma to find him. Sakura still doesn't know how Grandma managed to manipulate him into a betrothal agreement though.

Kimimaro is a sword specialist. He would rather make swords than use them, but he practices everyday and carries a short sword just in case. No one has ever beaten him with a sword. He was offered the finest tools and materials for sword making as well as a place to use them in exchange for becoming Sakura's betroth. It was rather amusing to him that he had tied himself to her, not knowing anything about his fiancé, in exchange for a dream come true. She started out as the price to pay, but now she is his dream.

Neji was a businessman without equal. Originally it was his cousin, Hinata, who was going to take over the company, but she had neither the heart nor mind of a business woman. Her sister wasn't educated in business and doing so would have taken too long for their father's liking so Neji who had been raised to help Hinata with the company was made the heir instead. It was the best decision they could have made. Neji crushed any competitors of Hyuuga Corporations and manipulated the useful companies like puppets on a string. Yes, Neji was ruthless when it came to anything but his friends and Sakura. The only company that could actually compete with Neji's was the Uchiha Corporations.

Neji was outraged at the idea of marrying a girl he had never seen, but was forced into the agreement by his father and uncle. His uncle felt that another opportunity to gain the Sarutobi's support would never arise again. His father just wanted grandkids.

Deidara managed to get free from his captors and rushed Sakura. He was taken down by Hidan who attempted to strangle him saying things like "So you thought you could get ahead with my woman, huh?" We all know there were a few cuss words thrown in there so it was only natural for the other men to become enraged at hearing Hidan's curse filled claim on their woman. Most of the men decided to join the brawl. Even Sai and Kimimaro who were slightly more opposed to fighting went to get in a few punches.

That's when one male who went unnoticed by the others snuck behind Sakura and put a hand over her mouth and grabbed her wrists in a gentle but firm hold. Sakura mind instantly screamed RAPE! However this is Sakura we're talking about. She wasn't going down without a fight. She was just about to kick him in the family jewels when he spoke.

"Relax Sakura. It's me."

Wait. Shouldn't he be with the other guys in an all out fight? Just when I thought I could actually start to predict their movements it turns out HE'S the one trying to rape me? Why do these fiancé candidates have to be so complicated?

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this out. I know I haven't been updating as quickly as my lovely reviewers would like. I DO HAVE A REASON! It's been raining where I am and rain + chronic pain = worse pain. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, I have the chronic pain in the equation. The pain is very concentrated in my hands and all my joints. However I can type and as long as I can do that I'm happy. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review if you have comments, constructive criticism, and/or requests. I will do everything I can to make the story as enjoyable as possible. Thank you!