Chapter 2: Hello there…
My thoughts were jumbled and incoherent as the witch led me to the castle. "What the hell had I gotten myself into? I had only touched his hand! I'd only thought he was kind of hot, it wasn't as if I had fallen in love with him or some crap like that. Urrghh…everything was so messed up!"
"We're here." The crystal clear voice rang out and I snapped back to reality. The witch was staring at me bemusedly and motioned behind her. My eyes traveled to where she was pointing and my eyes widened. A tall, crystalline palace lay in front of the glacial mountains. The entrance was a wide gate with two women standing guard at front.
"Wow…" I murmured my appreciation for its beauty. "Am I staying here?" I asked hesitantly.
Ino nodded, "As will I. I usually reside in that dingy shack but, I have a room in this palace too." She shrugged, "Many gods visit each other's palaces, and it's very common. The Fire God and the God of Knowledge currently reside here too. I think the Goddess of Defense also came by earlier today.
I just stared at her blankly. Fire God, Goddess of what?The blonde witch rolled her eyes and just pulled me along.
We approached the gate and immediately, the two female guards approached us. They wore ice blue kimonos and masks that concealed their appearances. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the masks were animals. I shivered involuntarily at this revelation.
"Lady Ino, we didn't realize you'd be back so soon…" their voices were barely above a whisper and the sound quickly faded.
Ino tossed back her hair with a smug smile, "Well I had to keep Lord Shikamaru in check, didn't I? Plus, Lord Sasuke put me in charge of the banquet…and speaking of him…we ran into a complication." She gestured over at me.
Their heads whipped around to turn in my direction. And I managed a weak smile, "Uhm…hey?" I couldn't see their expressions but their curiosity was almost palpable.
"She's a mortal…" they hissed out venomously. "Mortals are not permitted within Kori no Mizu Palace."
Ino's eyes flashed dangerously and she grabbed my hand to pull up my sleeve. "Look." She commanded. Instantly their eyes fell upon the crescent upon my wrist and one of them breathed in sharply. The stood aside and opened the gates with a firm nod. "Please proceed in Lady Ino, we apologize for our rudeness." They muttered.
I averted my eyes and stepped forward with Ino at my side. She rushed me in and murmured to me, "Sorry about that. There's a bit of a prejudice towards mortals…as you can see. The handmaidens are the worse about it." She informed me apologetically.
"And you? You don't have a problem with me being a mortal?" I ventured.
She shook her head, "Gods, no. Granted humans can be stupid, but so can immortals, right?" With that, she walked ahead of me and continued on approaching the double doors of the palace. I hurried to keep up with her and soon I was inside the palace.
It was almost blinding being inside the palace. Bright chandeliers lit up the foyer and the marble flooring glistened. There was a large spiral staircase which led up to many levels of the palace and I craned my neck upwards to try and see where the floors stopped.
"Stop gawking, will you?" Ino frowned at me impatiently.
"How old are you?" I blurted out without thinking. It had been on my mind for a while and I was curious. She looked around my age, but she was an immortal so I wondered how long she had been around.
"I'm 243 years old. Satisfied?" she glared at me. I gulped and nodded hastily. She turned to the stairs, "Hinata!" she yelled up the staircase.
Almost immediately, a flustered girl came running down the stairs to meet Ino. She was a cute girl around my age (or at least looked like my age) and had long blue hair with a fringe bangs that nearly covered her wide blue eyes. She wore identical ice blue robes to the guards outside the palace but in addition, wore a silver sash round her waist.
She bowed deeply to Ino and then turned to me and bowed just as deep. "Welcome." She chimed out.
Ino pushed her back up, "Oh c'mon Hina-chan you know you don't have to do that crap around me!" she complained. "We're practically sisters aren't we?"
Hinata grew red and gestured to me, "There's somebody else in our presence…"she trailed off, embarrassed.
I made an awkward bow, "I'm Haruno Sakura." I smiled genuinely at the cute girl.
Hinata smiled brightly in return, "Lady Sakura, you are very pretty, indeed." She complimented me. And then her voice lowered. "A-are you a sacrifice?" she whispered out.
I nodded, "Yes, well, I suppose I was to be but…"
"Lord Sasuke does not accept sacrifices." Hinata cut in with a puzzled look. "Your village must be desperate to resort to this…alas, Lord Sasuke has been in a foul mood lately."
Ino waved her hand over us, "Yes but things have changed. Sakura's bound to Sasuke now and he told me to put you in your care."
Hinata blushed a deep red, "I would be honored to care for the Bride of the Water God."
I held up my hands defensively, "Hold it. Wait up. I never agreed to this bride stuff." I protested.
Hinata looked even more confused, "But the fates have ordained that you and Lord Sasuke be tied together."
I shook my head, "I don't even know him!" I growled out. "I just met him, regardless of what the fates freaking 'ordain'."
Ino cut in with another sharp glare at me, "Sakura, you're stuck here. So at least go along with this. We'll provide you a food and shelter, we're not planning to dice you up and eat you so relax, mmkay? You're lucky that you even bonded! Hinata over here is having troubles bonding to the man she lov-MMPH!"
Hinata clasped a hand over Ino's mouth, "Forget what she said." She smiled weakly. "She didn't say anything!" She let out another weak laugh and pulled me by the arm, "Here I'll show you to your rooms, alright?"
She pulled me up the plush carpeted stairs and went along so fast that we were up the stairs in a matter of minutes. She started walking briskly but turned to me, "I didn't properly introduce myself. I'm Hinata Hyuuga, head handmaiden at Kori no Mizu Palace. I'm in charge of taking care of all that goes around here. Visitors are my specialty."
I nodded, "Do you think you could clear up all this' bonding' nonsense for me?" I wondered.
She shook her head and laughed, "Unfortunately I'm not an expert in that, you'll have to ask Ino about that later…Oh!" she stopped all of a sudden and I looked up to see why she had paused. A handsome golden haired man was approaching us with a bright smile. He had bright blue eyes and a strong jaw line, he wasn't as handsome was Sasuke was, but he had a lighter attitude about him unlike Sasuke's dark and mysterious aura.
Hinata just about dropped to the floor in a curtsy, "Ah! Taiyo no Kami! I-I wasn't aware that you were about…I apologize that I wasn't-" Her face was all red and flustered once more and I felt embarrassed just watching her reaction.
He let out a grin, "Hinata-chan! It's fine! I was just going out for a quick breather…by the way who is this lady?"
"Th-That is Lady Sakura…she is Sasuke's erm-bride…"
Naruto's eyes widened, "BRIDE?" he gasped out. "Bride?" he repeated. Hinata nodded again. "You're kidding me…" he muttered, "That heartless bastard finally bonded to somebody, and a mortal no less."
I was getting tired with people referring to me as that cocky jerk's bride. "Haruno Sakura, at your service." I curtsied and nearly fell over in the process. My kimono was still a bit damp and clung to my skin.
He smiled brightly and nodded in acknowledgement, "Naruto Uzumaki a.k.a. the hottest god around 'cause I'm the Fire God!" he laughed at his own cheesy joke and I winced at his attempt at humor.
An awkward silence ensued and then Naruto spoke, "Well uh-I'll just let you guys go on. I'll –uh see you around." He winked at me and then turned brushing against Hinata.
It had happened quickly and if I had blinked I would have missed it but I saw it. Naruto had slipped a note inside of Hinata's hand as he walked away. And that piqued my interest right away. What had that been all about? I smirked as I saw Hinata tried to act nonchalant but she was practically hyperventilating at the moment.
"I-I'll show you to your room." She stuttered and then moved along. I nodded and followed her, still curious about the nature of Naruto and Hinata's relationship. She pulled out a key and went to a room at the end of a hallway and inserted the key in and swung the door open. I was about to walk in but noticed that she still lingered outside. She noticed my hesitation, "Oh! I'm not permitted to be inside of guest's quarters. So you just make yourself comfortable and if you need anything just call for me." She gently pushed me inside and then closed the door, leaving me all alone inside the big room.
Not that I minded. I was enjoying the peace and quiet after being transported into some crazy world. I swiveled around and sure enough my room was grand enough for a goddess, which was probably the point. It wasn't meant for a mortal. Ugh…that reminded me how out of place I felt right now. I felt so freaking home sick it wasn't even funny. I wanted the familiar hut not silk sheets. I wanted to be in the fields right now and be able to just run around. No way was I going to be able to do that here.
Beyond frustrated, I collapsed on the sheets, if I was already homesick, I was going to be screwed. I knew deep down, that I was going to be stuck here for a VERY long time. And I had to deal with it. I took in a deep breath and pumped my fist in the air, "CHAA!" I yelled out loud.
"Am I interrupting something?" a voice enquired.
"OH MY G—"I put my hand over my mouth to avoid having Hinata come running over. I tried to regain my breath and turned around where the voice had spoken. Breathe, Sakura. Breathe.
I blinked as I took in the person before me. A young man, perhaps a bit older than me sat languidly on my window sill with a lazy expression. He had long black hair tied back in a ponytail and wore gray robes with a single scarlet sash round his waist. He held up a hand, "Oi. How can so much noise come out of a little mortal?" he groaned irritably.
I twitched as I heard that word again, mortal. Did gods and goddesses have some kind of sixth sense to sniff out humans? I glared at him with equal irritation, "What are you doing here?" I hissed out. "How did you even get in?"
He rolled his eyes, "I'm a god. That kind of allows me to do anything." He drawled. "Besides," he shrugged, "I just wanted to see what the whole palace has been buzzing about. The new Bride of the Water God. " His black eyes focused on me and I felt immediately uncomfortable.
He dropped down onto the floor with grace and extended a hand, "Shikamaru Naara, I'm the God of Knowledge or Chie no Kami" He pointed to his head. I just stared blankly at him while he stared back at me expectantly.
"What?" I blinked, "Am I supposed to curtsy or something?"
He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple, "Apparently you have a lot to learn around here." He muttered. "Guess I'll take it upon myself and help the needy mortal. It's something to lift the boredom." He rubbed his hands together.
"Hey!" I protested. "I'm not needy. You make me sound like I'm flailing around like a dry fish!"
He nodded, "Exactly. You are. So let me answer your questions. You don't object to that do you? "
I was about to retort back but faltered. He was right. I did need some questions answering. So I nodded and relaxed back on the bed, "Alright." I paused momentarily, "What is bonding? And how come it happened to me?"
Shikamaru nodded again in thought, "Bonding is a natural process in the supernatural world. It helps decide who we mate with and such. Bonding is process of fate that tells us who is our…well for lack of a better word….soul mate." he made a face at the corny word. "Anyways, bonding only happens to two specific people. From the moment you arrived here, fate decided you be bonded to Sasuke. So if you had touched my hand, nothing would have happened. Another thing, bonding can happen whenever to the couple. It could happen when you first meet, like you and Sasuke. Or it can happen after marriage, after your first kiss, or after you have sex. It's spontaneous, really. Get it?" He asked with a raise of an eyebrow.
I nodded, "Yeah, but—what does bonding do to the people who are bound together?" I was still very confused.
"Well it makes you more attuned to each other's presence. It's like a sixth sense but only with your partner. You are more sensitive to their emotions, their thoughts and the pain that they feel. Bonding connects the mind together. However, because you and Sasuke just met, the bond isn't as strong as say a couple that has been bonded for decades."
I absorbed all this information greedily. But then, another thought occurred to me, "I-Isn't it bad though? For him to bond to a mortal?" I asked tentatively. Ino had stated that there was prejudice against mortals…
He frowned, "Yes well. Mortals aren't always welcome in Kyuketsuki, that's the name of the supernatural world, if you were wondering. You see, mortals have a bad name around here. It's frowned upon to be bonded to a mortal or to even befriend one. That's why Sasuke might have been eager to get you out of here." He stated simply.
My pride stung for a little bit, "Well," I bit back, "I'm not exactly happy to be here either. Lady Ino said I could be home in a few days."
He chuckled and shook his head. "Nope."
I frowned, "What do you mean, 'nope'?" my voice rising anxiously.
"I mean, that since you two bonded, that changes everything. He can't send you back. Once you bond, you're stuck in Kyuketsuki."
"Permanently?" I squeaked out.
"Pretty much." He nodded.
My heart nearly gave way and I collapsed back on the pillows. Here? Forever? Oh god, I didn't even want to think about that. I began to pray fervently but then realized that the gods were the reason I was stuck in this damned mess and immediately stopped. I hit myself on the forehead while Shikamaru continued to look at me weird.
"Mortals…" he muttered quietly to himself.
Oh god, oh God, oh God….
A soft knock then came at the door breaking into my hyperventilation. Shikamaru looked at the door and turned back to me, "It's Hinata-san." He informed me and sure enough her voice chimed through the door.
"Lady Sakura, Lord Sasuke is now ready to see you!" she announced so cheerily you would've thought it would have been good news.
I really was royally screwed…
A/N: Chapter 2! Don't worry if you thought that was short, my chapters are usually longer but this is just an exception :) Regardless, hope you enjoyed it!
Thank you to ALL you story alerted, favorited, and especially reviewed. It means A LOT. Like, A LOT A LOT. Chapter 3 will be up in a maybe a week or so, so look forward to it!
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