"Lady Sakura, Ryota has woken up."

Without a word, I placed the embroidery that I had been working on for most of the afternoon onto the table. I briskly proceeded towards the direction of the nursery with both Moegi and Momoko trailing behind.

"My Lady, you look pale. Are you feeling well?"

Moegi looked at me with concerned eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a little tired."

I casually waved my hand and gave hers a reassuring squeeze.

A year has passed by and there were some changes made to the Hyuuga household. Primarily, was the fact that Neji's parents were now staying at the Main House temporarily, under the care of Hiashi Hyuuga. After the wedding, they decided that it was a good way to help me get settled with the duties and responsibilities of being the new Lady of the house. Neji was more than eager to agree to this arrangement, mostly because it provided the perfect opportunity for him to tie me down to this place and delay my request of returning to the Haruno palace.

The incident of that fateful night was never mentioned again between us, leaving everyone else oblivious to the dark truth. Our relationship remained cold ever since then, mostly on my part. Although there was some effort on his end to pretend as though things were the way it was before, it was to no avail. Eventually, he stopped trying altogether. Sharing the same bed with him was an unsettling experience each night, the feel of his skin against mine was wrong. It took everything I had to not reject his touch and tolerate the duties that I had to perform as his wife.

Although the mere thought of it was enough to send a wave of repulsion into my system, I was thankful for the one good thing that came from enduring the bitterness that had happened to me for the past year.

Ryota.

My son was the only thing that was keeping me from breaking point. Without him, I would have been left as a ghost of my former self, with my life slowly withering away. A large part of me had died the night when Sasuke was lost to me. But now, holding Ryota and feeling his weight on my arms had managed to steer me back to reality and gave me a newfound reason to live.

If I could no longer live for myself, I would continue living for my son. He is my flesh and blood. I would do everything in my power to protect him from the evils that exist all around us and raise him just like how my mother did with Sasuke and I, full of love. His father's blood may run through his veins, but he is not his father. I will make sure of that.

Just like his namesake, he is my physical reminder of why life is once again worth living. I have to remain strong for him and also for the future of the Haruno clan.

I slipped my kimono off my right shoulder and positioned Ryota in a way which was convenient for feeding. Once he managed to find the spot he was looking for and suckled, he fell into a steady rhythm and I relaxed into the process. Unknowingly, my eyelids were starting to droop and I tried to fight the sleepiness because there were still various household tasks which needed to be done. I glanced upon my son and saw that he was still feeding but he had his eyes closed.

"Mama is tired too…"

I whispered to him as I lovingly stroked his soft cheeks with my fingers. He made a small cooing sound and fisted his left hand even tighter into the fabric of my clothing.

Moegi and Momoko who were both standing behind me giggled and cooed over the little boy and offered to rock him to sleep once he was done.

"He is a really beautiful baby," Momoko said.

"He has your green eyes." Moegi added, as she lightly stroked his forehead.

I hummed in response and tilted my head back against the chair to catch a short nap as the girls continued fawning over the baby. Once I felt that Ryota was done, I shifted my kimono back in position and carried him over to his sleeping cot. I was in the midst of tucking him in when I heard a voice at the door.

"Girls, leave us."

I kept my back to him and continued with tucking Ryota in. I heard the girls hurriedly leaving the room and shut the door behind them. In a few long strides, he was now standing behind me and peering over my shoulder to look at the sleeping child.

"Have you fed him?"

He was directly behind me and I could feel his warm breath brushing against the back of my ear as he spoke. I knew it was intentional, but I was not about to make him think that he still had an effect on me because it really did not. I remained unperturbed and casually moved away from him, choosing to lean my back against the wooden partition. I folded my arms for added effect, cold and unrelenting.

I heard him exhale a low breath, probably controlling his annoyance at my show of hostility. If only there was not a sleeping child in the room, he would already have yelled at me and landed a slap to my face. Although he rarely raised his hand at me, it did happen once.

It happened in the first few weeks of marriage, when I had refused to share the same bed with him for one night because I was still deeply affected by the truth and could not bring myself to perform my duty as his wife. He got really mad and slapped me hard. He then locked me up in the bed room for a whole day and instructed the maids to not send food or drink. At that point of time, I could not care less because I was ready to die if it meant leaving this hell hole. When he finally unlocked the door to check on me, he got a fright because I was unable to rouse from my sleep and that I had a weak pulse. Ever since then, he no longer did anything similar anymore. He left me to my own devices but put me under constant watch by the guards, should I ever attempt to escape.

In short, I lived like a prisoner in the household that I was currently in charge of.

Ironic, isn't it?

However, when he found out that I was pregnant with Ryota, he allowed my request to have my own room as I prepared for the baby's arrival. We did not share the same bed during the whole term of my pregnancy but he dropped by my room daily to check up on my progress. I also noticed that he minimized the amount of time he had to spend away on official business and invited the other clan leaders over instead, to hold any political meetings.

Now that Ryota was born, my stance with Neji was that I no longer allowed myself to rile over his presence. At present, I practised indifference with him. As much as I hate to say it, Ryota is as much his son as he is mine. The child needs to know his father, but not what his father is.

A murderer.

"You have done well, Sakura," he spoke while running his fingers through Ryota's hair. "Our son is perfect."

"Don't flatter yourself," I said with a curt tone. "I didn't do it for you."

He tore his gaze away from the baby and looked in my direction, assessing the nature of my response. I saw a small smirk forming on his face as he advanced towards me.

"You are my wife. It is your duty to produce my heir."

He was standing directly in front of me, using his full height to full advantage. Fortunately, I did not flinched.

"It's because of Ryota that I am still standing here," I said with some degree of spite. "If you see his birth as my duty, then I see it as my own selfish decision to give myself one last reason to live."

I kept my gaze fixed on his as I uttered each and every word. I was not about to back down and give him the satisfaction. If he won't let me go, the very least I could do was to assert my sense of dignity and hold my ground.

Before either of us could say anything more, he slammed his fist against the wooden partition that I was leaning on, the full length of his arm stretched right beside me. His fist rested a mere few inches beside my face.

If there was something about him that never left me, it would be his ability to instil fear in me no matter how hard I try to overcome or mask it.

Once you've tasted fear like that, you will never forget how it felt.

"Well… I'm sorry I am not up to your standards, my love."

He released his hand and made his way to the door. Before he left, he peered over his shoulder and said, "I shall see you in our chambers tonight."

"But the baby-"

"Ah, ah Sakura." He shook his head. "You said until the baby arrived. A deal is a deal. Besides, what's the point of me hiring a nursemaid huh?"

He laughed sarcastically and exited the room, leaving me rooted to the spot. Lost in my own thoughts, which was full of suppressed anger and defeat.

That night, I took my time feeding Ryota before I headed to the main chamber to retire. Intentionally, prolonging the moments it took for me to once again share his bed. Once Ryota was full and sound asleep, the nursemaid was quick to usher me out of the nursery. My guess was that Neji must have played a part in this, knowing full well that I would try to weasel my way out of the situation.

Acknowledging that I had no more cards up my sleeve, I made the slow and bitter walk back to my marriage chamber. Upon entering, I saw him sitting at his work desk, looking over some documents under the poor light of the dying candle. In a normal situation, he was the perfect image of a hardworking lord and husband who was working hard to provide the best for his family and the people. However, deep down, I knew that this was far from the truth although it was partially correct. In these months which he took over as the ruler of the Branch house, he was proved to be a very capable and competent leader. The trading sector was doing significantly well and social unrest was at an all-time low. Thus, he must be doing something right. However, despite his many outstanding qualities, it was not enough for me to overlook his part in my father's death.

It will never be enough.

"You're late, I was waiting for you," he commented, while putting away the stack of paperwork neatly.

I closed the door behind me and climbed onto the bed, not bothering to answer him. If he was tired, he could just go ahead and sleep. It's not like as if I shared the same sentiments as him when it came to spending the night.

Soon, I felt his weight on the mattress as he slid under the covers. I kept my back towards him, making my reluctance clear. Surprisingly, he maintained his distance away from me and we remained that way for quite a while. By this time, the pressing need to sleep was starting to overcome my senses and a few seconds later, my eyelids grew heavy. Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, I could feel a slight pressure on my waist and at the back of my mind, I knew that Neji had placed his hand there. But at that point of time, I was too tired to do anything and in the end, sleep won.

In any case, I would still live to fight another day.

Authors Note:

Hey there.
I really appreciate all the support that my regular readers have been giving me.
I know the ending to Tether may not be up to some of the readers' liking. But, I would like to remain true to my original draft.
In any case, thank you for sticking around and waiting patiently for the sequel to Tether'.
On a more important note, I am currently full swing into my final year in school. So, I might not be able to update as fast as before.
I hope you guys/girls would understand.

Cheers!

On a side note, Ryota = "stout" , "strong"
:)