Chapter One: From the Cradle Bars Comes a Beckoning Voice

Sakura had never gotten much attention from anyone besides Father Damien, but now, a whole banquet hall's worth of eyes set on her. She trembled. Oh, Hail Mary, Full of Grace...

The Father's hand touched her back and she began walking forward towards Lord Hatake. She looked up at the man's face, or, at least what she could see. All of it, save for the right eye, was covered by a dark green mask. The eyes surveyed her gravely. Sakura bowed to him before to turning to gaze upon the man who would be her husband.

She gasped. The man before her was horrifying. He had a handsome face, black hair, and red, penetrating eyes. He was outfitted richly, and on his head was a golden crown. He was beautiful. But she was horrified. He looked at her like a piece of meat, and he had an aura of cruelty and seduction. He was everything Sakura imagined the devil to be. He was Satan. She almost fainted in shock, but kept her mouth shut.

To distract herself from her horror, she turned her attention to the Good Father and Lord Hatake.

"Your Highness, and Damien-dono, we welcome you to the Land of Fire. I am Lord Hatake Kakashi, and this is your betrothed, our King."

King of the Land of Fire. How appropriate. She seethed with loathing.

"Lord Uchiha Itachi, King of Fire..."

And Prince of Darkness...

"And his younger Brother, Lord Uchiha Sasuke, Prince of Fire..."

And Prince of Peace!

That was what Sakura felt as she looked upon the Prince. He was beautiful. A total opposite of his brother's image in a blue robe, a silver crown on his head. He looked much like his brother, true, but... He looked so solem, like he cared for none of this. He had black eyes that drew you toward him, and by the way he held himself, Sakura could tell he was not used to fancy dress. But he was beautiful and lovely and... perfect.

Sakura felt herself grow hot and blush. She looked away, feeling humbled. Her insides jumped with nerves, she felt as thought she was witnessing the final battle between Satan and the Lord. She could not help but look back up at Sasuke shyly.

He caught her gaze this time, and held it. Electricity seemed to spark between them as his eyes smiled in contact with hers. He took her in with increasing warmth. Sakura just stared at him, feeling as if she were floating.

But Itachi's voice broke her out of it, and both their attentions were directed at him. He had a calm, deep voice that made Sakura hate him all the more. But luckily, the betrothal ceremony did not take long.

As Sakura gazed upon the figures Father Damien had put up in the living room hours later, she asked for guidance from her Lord and Lady. They answered with images of the Prince's face. Sakura pouted and begged for less distraction and more answers to her questions. But it was no use. Oh, well, if it was their will, she must overcome this herself.

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Sasuke held the girl's eyes in his. She was smitten, it seemed. Shit. That could prove to be a problem. He did not need Itachi's jealousy. But he must say, she would make a pretty corpse. She was, after all,a pretty creature tonight in her pink formal kimono that so matched her hair.

Wait. What?

He was distracted. Not good. Concentrate. Yes, a problem, Itachi no doubt saw the ardor so clearly written on her pale features. Of course, a normal, dissmissive look would look like love compared to the look of pure hatred she gave Itachi. Sasuke smirked, looks like they had something in common.

But that was not important. What was important now was his revenge. Yes, of course. Itachi would pay, oh how he would pay. Sasuke could just see the corpse now, lying on it's back, its dead red eyes still wearing the look of shock from Sasuke's blow as blood spouted from his stomach...

Unfortunately, the image ended after a few seconds. Shit. When was the last time he saw a cherry blossom tree? It had been a year, at least...

But that did not matter. Come on, concentrate.. Itachi... Revenge... He was speaking now. But Sasuke wasn't really listening. But his stomach clenched as he saw Itachi kiss the Princess's hand. But it was softened slightly when he saw how cold she was being. When it was his turn to greet her, he bowed before kissing her fingers and catching her eyes. "My Lady," he said. Could he have said anything as bland? No. But whatever, it did not matter what she thought. All he knew was that he had been in these heavy silk robes for far too long and was feeling uncomfortably hot. Damn Haku, and his flambouyant 'fashion sense'...

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Sakura awoke early and said her prayers. She opened her drawers, found what she was looking for and put it on. She grabbed her rosary, and left a note on her pillow.

She trekked up the hill, clutching a stitch in her side and sat down in the grass. The dew soaked through her clothing and a she began to shiver. It was with trembling fingers she took out her rosary to pray, but footsteps interrupted her and she ran and hid. No one could find her here, especially not with her rosary. She crouched down under a bush and prayed not to be found. Our Father, Who Art In Heaven...

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Sasuke felt a breeze brush his skin and he shivered. He relaxed and sat down upon his usual rock, but then, he felt it. Someone was there. He strode over to a brush and pushed it aside. His jaw dropped and he stumbled back.

The Princess Haruno Sakura crouched at his feet, trembling with her eyes wide in horror, but not seeing him. She scrambled up and with her eyes averted humbly. "Please sir, speak of this to no one, and I shall leave."

"My Lady," said Sasuke in exactly the same tone he had used the night before to greet her.

She stood up and looked him right in the eye. "Lord Uchiha! I beg of you, in the name of the bonds of family we shallshare after the nuptuals, please do not speak of this to anyone, especially not your brother!"

Sasuke smiled. "I will do so, My Lady, but you must tell me why you're here."

The disgruntled princess straightened up. "Why should that matter to you?" In the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw her slip something into her robes. So, the Princess was a bit of a livewire. And she had a secret.

He smirked and pushed her up against a tree. She looked at him with intense fear. Sasuke ignored this and started feeling around her hips.

"Lord Uchiha, do not do this. Someone will discover your deed and you will have to face the consequences. You are abo-"

"I'm not trying to rape you, so calm down," Sasuke snapped, finally getting what he was looking for and extracting it from her robe.

He stared at the thing in his hand, shocked. It was a string of christian prayer beads, a rosary. What ever Sasuke thought he would find, it was definitely not this. He took a closer look. There was no doubt about it.

He looked at the Princess, she looked back determindly.

"You're a christian?"

He burst out laughing. He couldn't help it, it was hilarious.. But as he met her eye, he shut up. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I really don't care, it's just- now I get the priest! But don't worry, I just came up here to watch the sunrise. Feel free to stay as long as you want. In fact, join me. After all, isn't your Virgin Mother Mary the 'Morning Star?'"

Sakura just looked at him blankly. "You are well-informed. Very well, I shall stayand I thank you for your kindness."

"Do not mention it."

"Well," she said, her lip curling as she sat back down on the grass, "I really can't, can I?"

Sasuke sat next to her and fixed his eyes on the east. "Good point."

She was clever. He could appreciate that. He didn't, he really had no wish to appreciate the woman at all, accept now for the debt she now owed him. But he could appreciate her cleverness, if he had reason to.

The sun rose slowly. And for the first time ever, Sasuke looked away. He looked at Sakura instead. She watched the sunrise with calm adoration. She was like that, he realized, calm. Sasuke could not help but wonder what it would take for her to break through her reserved manner into a total lack of self-control. What could really cause her to make a display of the utter passionhe suspected to dwell insideher? No, that did not matter, she was just a distraction who owed him a service. What he should be concentrating on, if it had to involve her, would be what he would have her do to pay that debt. He looked back at the sunrise, satisfied.

He could definitely use this to his advantage. He could make her be his spy, or use her to get closer to Itachi or have her as bait. She probably would not mind, considering the way she seemed to hate Itachi. But then again, it didn't matter whether it did or not. Her feelings were of no consequence. But what about her life did he really have to kill her. Did it really matter?

He was being distracted. He needed to get away. He rose. "Well, this is where I leave you."

Sakura nodded, still enraptured by the glorious sunrise. Sasuke walked away, but found himself stopping a little ways off. He turned and looked back. He watched Sakura watch the sunrise, feeling a bit happy. Nice to know some one loved the sunrise just as much as he did. It was then he realized that the sun was casting red rays. It was the rare thing Sasuke usually never could tear his eyes from, because it reminded him of what he was going to do to his brother. Sakura seemed just as absorbed in it. Well, she liked red sunrises too. Another thing they shared. Sasuke knew this mattered. Oh yes, this girl could definitely be used to his advantage. Something flew into his face. he peeled it off and looked at it. It was a Sakura petal, half of it pink, half of it red.

Sasuke smirked, and looked in his other hand. Bound around his wrist was her rosary.She was too perfect. But the circumstance broke all boundaries at perfection. How lovely her hair looked, all messy, flowing in the wind. No one would destroy that, no one. For asplit second, Sasuke regretted his life's mission.

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As Sakura watched the sky, she felt an intense happiness. An orange sunrise dipped over the mountains, making them cast their great blue shadows over the entire landscape. A soft, pretty blue, like Sasuke's robes the night before. She smiled. The color of ice.

Ironic, considering how warm and happy she felt. The sun casting a warm glare over her, filling her with comfort, while Sasuke's color took up her entire plane of vision. She understood. The signs were there, and she saw them. No, she could not marry Itachi, God was telling her to marry Sasuke. She could not be more pleased with the divine mandate. She could not help it, she loved him.

A wind blew, whistling through the trees. Sakura could not help but be reminded of Sasuke's laugh. His smile, his eyes...

Oh! If Father Damien could hear her thoughts! He would scold her, no doubt. No, she did not want to anger him... But still...

Her thoughts were chaste, weren't they? She could not help her own feelings. After all, Love was a miracle, God's miracle. Surely the Jesuit could not find fault in that! But still, he would not be pleased. After all, she had been sent to marry Itachi, but...

Well, it was probably more humble to marry a younger son, anyways. But did Sasuke feel the same? He had to, why else would he keep her secret? She would repay him for his silence by being his devoted wife and bear his children. It was God's will.

She should still pray about it, just in case. The Blessed Virgin will know what to do. Hail Mary, Full of Grace...

After she was done, she skipped back home happily, finally feeling as though God had told her of his purpose for her.

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Foolish little brother...

What he had just witnessed was probably the most monumental occurance Itachi had come across since he had made his first kill.

Oh, this was too, too perfect. No, perfect did not do justice to describe how much relish Itachi took in this. Good thing too, life had become so tedious. But Itachi's clever, calculating mind now had something of enough caliber to entertain him.

The Princess, so foolish, so naive, so pious, so innocent, so trusting, so gullible, so reserved, so pretty. How much fun it would be to break her. And on top of that, he could finally finish what he started years ago.

And Sasuke! So foolish, so proud, so determined, so angry, so kind-hearted despite what he had convinced himself. He...he... Itachi could not even control the laughter echoing in his mind to complete the thought. What a perfect mix the two made.

Although, Itachi was shocked that Sasuke could be this foolish. Who was he kidding, other than himself? Sasuke did not have enough evil and callousness in his heart to go through with what he was undoubtedly planning. Especially since... since...

He knew his brother like the back of his hand. Better, even. The back of his hand did not really interest him in the least. It was merely his own flesh. But Sasuke was his primary interest. Mostly because he knew him oh so well...

Itachi always knew everything that dwelled in a person's mind and heart, he was that way, he just knew. But there was no one he knew better than his brother. No one he was more intrigued with. Itachi could see a person's flaws and manipulate a person into utter madness and desolation with a mere look. They were all pigs anyways. Besides, it was fun to see their tears and count their moans. But his brother was different.

Sasuke was, in Itachi's opinion, the heart and soul of perfection. An enchantment. A beautiful seduction. Incomparable in beauty and intelligence. And, before the massacre, in innocence and love. The only one who had the courage to stand up against him. The only one to see through him. A beam of sunshine to everything to everyone the diamond of humanity and a living God.

The ultimate challenge.

It was Itachi's mission in life to break his brother, to shatter him into a million pieces. Watch him squirm and suffer, to finally wallow in defeat and lack of hope. He wanted that diamond to diminish until it was a delicate piece of grimy glass that he could control. He wanted Sasuke to lose it all, everything. To turn him into a soulless organism gripped by madness. He wanted everything good about him gone. He wanted to see his brother mute and undone, submitting to Itachi's every whim, falling asleep every night to the sound of his own screams. He wanted him to become less than a shadow of a human being.

Itachi had of course, not accomplished that at all. He still, after thirteen years of work, had not done this. But that was not to say he had not made progress. Killing their entire family had caused Sasuke to conceal his good heart and set his mind on revenge. Of course, this caused him to lose that sweet, optimistic mannereveryone had known him for when he was a child. But the heart and soul, that love, was still inside him. Itachi knew that. But the new persona his brother had taken on alienated a lot of people and strengthened Sasuke's vulnerability. It had been a great achievement. ButItachi still was not even half done. But now...

It seemed he finally had the key to his brother's downfall. The Princess was so much like Sasuke it was ridiculous. She had that same perfection and purity that Itachi so wanted to destroy. She had opened a new door for him. She had, for a little while, pushed Sasuke to reveal his beauty of spirit in true form. Never had that happened with anyone. She distracted and enraptured his brother. He was in love with her. And he did not even know it! The best part was, the feelings were mutual. The pretty little princess loved his brother. They were a perfect match, so much like each other and so in love.

It was the perfect method to destroy the boy, as well as the little princess. So much fun to toy with them, their emotions and circumstances. So much fun and so easy. They were the tickets to each other's destruction, and Itachi was their train. They would fall and shatter. Oh, how they would shatter, into millions of pretty little pieces.

Itachi smiled. He would wait and watch for a little while, let Sasuke start to screw things up before he struck. But for now, he would play with the princess. Such a fun game it all was. Especially since held all the cards.

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AN: Weird huh? Well, yeah. But worry, things get weirder. Hope you liked the chapter. It's the longest one I've ever written, and I think it's perfect. Once again: I'm not a religious pornographer, I just thought the whole catholic thing would be a good twist. And I was right, wasn't I? Please send me many reviews and read my other stories, Tainted Angel and Heart Shaped Box. Please review everyone.