Beginning | YOSHINO
I met Shikaku Nara when I was six. He was eight. I remembered because he was the first boy who gave me a flower - a lavender rose given to him by his parents for him to give to me.
We became engaged at sixteen. I was not surprised. But no amount of knowledge could have dampened the unfairness, the betrayal, the injustice of my circumstance. That I must marry a man - not just another man but a Nara - not another Nara but the ''future'' of the clan, because of duty, of tradition, of blood. Oh, of course, they were nice about it, covering the order as a question, giving me time until my 21st birthday to say 'no'.
I had until then to save money and leave. I had until then until my intended encounters another woman he would fall passionately in love with and eloped with. Or until then for my intended to fall in battle.
He 'cheated' on me multiple times - this I knew. It, of course, didn't bother me as much. I just hated thinking having someone else's left overs.
But we were at war. The peace in my team was hanging by a thread, and I had dreams…dreams I would never catch. The more he fooled around with other women, the more chances he finds another.
A scandal spread like wildfire when I was seventeen. He was nineteen. Four years before the date where we finalize our marriage. I was a chunin. He was jounin and he apparently had an affair with some low-ranked noble from the Land of Snow.
I was supposed to be ecstatic.
But my mother and father had just fallen in battle together, not even a month ago. My grandmother was in added misery and my brothers in battle were growing even more distant and angry at each other. I was still too weak to stand on my own.
I made a deal with him. We held hands for the first time in memory. I only had to look at my intended's parents in the eyes without seeing them. To smile and say: ''it was to be expected of a man. The engagement remains if my intended is willing.''
In exchange, he'll give me access to our clan's most private archives. I will have power.
I found him everywhere after that.
And like a fool, I married him.
A/N: I really shouldn't but the idea won't just leave me. Rating may rise up to M later. I do not own anything here except for the new plot-lines or plot-holes. It will likely not be accurate to the original's story. But a fanfiction is a fan fiction. Hope you all have a nice day or evening.
With love,
Dear author