Disclaimer: Naruto is the property and creation of Kishimoto Masashi. I own none of the characters or the places mentioned in this story.

Acknowledgements and Thank you's:

Silverwolf1212
lacusclien4
cassandra
BlueSkyHeaven: Sometimes your busy and sometimes you just don't have the inspiration to write... sigh. I'm kind of forcing myself back into it. But thanks for understanding.
animequeen100: I don't know, I always thought that once Sasuke hit a certain age he would become considerably wanton, even if not exclusively with Sakura. Yes, mine secrets are for me to know and my readers to find out, muhwahahaha!
angel2559: I think details are needed to make the story are advancing, seeing is believing, right?
Princess of drama: WHAT CAN I SAY, I LIKE MAKING PEOPLE WAIT!
Snickerdoodle-sensei: Ugh, I can't wait till chapter seven, that's when this story will pick up, luckily its chapter four, so that means the wait goes on for two more chapters before I can write something not so... dragged out? But thanks, your review made me happy.
catinthehatt007: Suspense... I try to make it suspenseful, I'm not always spot on, but hey. As long as your honest brutality doesn't bruise my ego, I should be okay.
reader713: Sasuke knows nothing real about Sakura, she prefers it that way, anything Sasuke thinks he knows is an assumption, he'll find out more about her as the chapters progress... I feel like I'm promising this will be a long story, I feel dizzy.
Oyuki: You never know, right, lol.
AMH 8D
Some Scribbles: Thank you, I hope I don't disappoint.
frienz4ever
Laura-chan: Not one inside the fic, that was my outside life. Its not only needing to stop and relax, its also needing to shut out the demanding voices, the voices can sometimes make my head feel like it is going to split open. I need quiet sometimes and no pressure. The word Update is not a review, its a nag.
silverymoonfire: Good, I hope this one was worth it too.
Meira Evenstar: You've been with me in every fic, haven't you? Please continue to support me, its like a relief.
animeaddict19: Because I'm a liar. I should never make promises when my life is changing, not the same as when I was in school with no other worries, like jobs and friends and such. I prefer reality to fiction more times in comparisons.
Cheerry-Blossems
TopuchofPixieDust: I wish I could pull away from that, but it was a challenge for another fandom and pairing and I just arranged it for SasuSaku, so its kind of following that B&B storyline.
KanohaKid: I've stated this before, but Neji's role in this story is 99.9 less active than in my other stories. I'm obsessed with SasuSakuNeji pairings... he's almost as attractive as Sasuke himself.
kanna01
Storms-winter: Thank you.
Sakura-Girl 2005
Shy Faery89: I call them openings.
MaloryUchiha2007
MoogleX
Strings of a Puppet: Don't lie, you are an awesome writer. I'm the one who's struggling. I read other people's stories and think, why can't I talk or write like that. It would make me so... anyways, I'm a SasuSaku lover, although nami86 is what keeps me believing that it could happen, well, because I need visuals and the last time Sasuke and Sakura were in the same panel was in the early chapters of Shippuuden... sigh... feel the torture with me.
NorthenLights25: I don't think any of stories has ever ended as another pairing. I might kill someone... you never know, neither do I.
marion/Baby Acustic
ohemg33kellz
Asuraka: Me, too! That and I think Neji is too die for... after Sasuke of course.
Raefire
Spread-My-Wingz-And-Soar: Good, I need that to progress the story.
Mittelan
bobalina: I eat beta's for breakfast. Sometimes I forget what I write and am too lazy to reread or it slips past my notice.
Fire Kitsune
JossyLlama: I don't think so... maybe comforting while slipping them so dangerous pills? I think letting you know what something looks like is essential, so you can picture it too.
Puppet Kisu/sakuraxkisu
ViOlEt-KaT
fleeting thought
SitaJocko: If you haven't read anything more perfect, I could make a few suggestions... honestly, this is D level compared to other fics out there.
missladylaura: Today, doh!
SoccerChick2011: It's okay, deep breaths.
Anonymous: No, thank you.
M i M i xo: It is SasuSaku.
FallenGirl-04: Okay... I try not to abandon stories, but sometimes I need long extensive holidays.
ms.heartbroken
Chibi Strawberry Neko
ChocoMilk
Tenshihana- -Unyield Wish:...um... I guess...
aznangel101
nandomo
cutecrazyice
TheBeastlyKunoichi

Now I find my self alone caught in a cage. Everyone with a friendly face, seems to hide some secret inside.

Walking into the room, with the soles of black heeled boots hardly echoing through the room, the figure dressed mostly in black approached the sobbing girl. A hand reached forward and curled long, thin fingers around Sakura's shoulder, almost gently. She gasped and turned, her body recoiling to the unexpected contact. With tears streaming quickly down her cheeks, she took in the face before her, handsome and perfectly sculpted, narrow and longish with an alluring enigma that accompanied his sinuous and willowy body.

The dark eyes set against his handsome and fair face were like onyx stones reflecting the suns light, they were memorizing engendering a feeling that those eyes could see deep within her very soul with that conjecture she immediately thought of her enemy who had left her not too long since this man's sudden arrival. He rose his hand up from her shoulder, in a gesture that seemed to be motioning for her to wait. "Forgive me, I mean you no harm, it's only that I heard sobbing. Are you well?"

Sakura was short of breath, her heart hammering not only in her chest but in her ears too. His voice was soft, with a faint bass that could seduce even the most pretentious of maidens. She lifted her hand to her face and felt the tears there at her cheeks and she wiped at them as if they were dirt from the hearths. "I… I am fine… I would like to be left in peace if you please."

He looked down at her, arching a thin dark brow at her and she wiped her face a little more with the sleeve of her dress. The look she gave him after she lowered her hand was one of patience growing thin; she wanted him out of her sight immediately. He reached out his hand and took a few strands of her strawberry blond locks in-between his two main fingers, examining the extraordinary color; few women had hair of this shade. Sakura lifted her hand from her lap and placed it on this man's hand.

She could not understand why everyone here was so intent on touching her without her permission. She pushed his hand down and scooted back the chair she had been sitting in for some time now and rose to her feet, and still she had to tilt her head back to look up into his perfect imitation of the Otokage's eyes. "You won't leave? Then I will."

She made a move for the exit, but he sidestepped her so that he was back at her front, safeguarding her escape route. She frowned deeply up at him and he stared at her nonchalantly. She tried again to move around the tall and narrow figure of this man, but he blocked her path once more without a word. She resisted the urge to scream in frustration, it took all her willpower, it seemed the Otogakure just loved to play mind games, especially with her.

"You are blocking my path, please move." He quirked a brow and shrugged at her before looking over his shoulder at the exit behind them. He looked back at her with questioning eyes and she nodded as if she understood that he was asking if the door behind him was her 'blocked path'. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh that sounded much like defeat.

"Judging by your hair and your attitude, I assume you are Haruno Sakura, our Otokage's honored guest." Sakura head snapped back up and her eyes narrowed in such a way that it appeared as though she were squinting up at the man, the mere mention of 'honored guest' was enough to make her feel thoroughly insulted. He gave her a curious look and she folded her arms against her stomach.

"My name is Sakura, but no honored guest; I'm his prisoner, subjected to entertain the Otokage's every whim. My freedom is but a mere dream I had a lifetime ago."

"All for another man." the stranger injected and Sakura nodded, lifting her hand to her chest where the ring laid still tied around her neck. This man, whoever he was had no respect for personal boundaries as he lifted his hand to, to cover the large hand over her smaller one. She looked up into his eyes and they conveyed little emotion. "Your heart must ache for a reunion. My name is Sai, by the way."

Sakura parted her lips as if to reply, but she only flexed her fingers under his hand, shifted her hand out from under his and stepped back away from Sai, to put some distance between them. "Well, Sai, like I was saying I would much rather be alone right now, so I'll retire to my chambers."

"I am Sasuke's cousin, but I am considered adversary rather than blood, the same goes for him for me. I consider him my enemy rather than my master." Sakura looked at him curiously, masking the appalled reaction that lie beneath her façade. "It's a long story, but all the same the truth. So you don't have to be suspicious of my presence, I am not his spy."

"It is no concern of mine, whether you are his spy or otherwise, my wishes remain the same." She tried again, this time he let her walk past him and she headed for the door, already opened for her quick escape. Just as she was about to cross the threshold he called out to her with words that made her pause mid-step.

"Who knows how long he'll retain your company. I know my cousin fairly well and I can tell you that the whole land is talking of how they have never seen their Otokage so infatuated with a woman of another land, especially of enemy terrain. Wouldn't you like someone you can confide in who won't report your words to the man who holds your chain?"

Sakura kept her back to Sai and she lowered her head in qualm. She thought of Ino who looked upon Sasuke as a deity, worshipped him in a way a woman in love would worship the object of her affection. Would Ino betray her… there was hardly room in her heart for that kind of doubt. Ino, after all, was a citizen of Otogakure. Sakura turned around slowly and found herself toe-to-toe with Sai. "And you, if he views you as his enemy, why are you here in these lands?"

"The answer is simple of course… Sasuke always keeps his promises when concerning the Clan. A promise to make sure that no harm might befall on me as long as he had the means to prevent it." Sakura held out her hands slowly to Sai in gesture of trust and he looked down at her empty, open, palms. "I take it then that you accept my friendship?" Sakura nodded her head and then looked up at him with a solemn expression.

He slid his hands into hers, by means of acceptance and he smirked, in a way that reminded her of Sasuke. She never saw this day happening so quickly, that she would willingly befriend anyone she considered an enemy. She tugged her hands gently and Sai unclasped her hands allowing Sakura to back out. "Excuse me."

"Wait; please join me for a stroll." She shook her head and touched her palm to her cheek and he watched her, making no move to touch her again. She blinked her eyes a few times, feeling restless and he spoke to her, words that made her heart twist painfully. "If you don't want to be here forever, you should think of the means to escape…"

"Goodnight." She said to him, even with the yellow hue of the sun pouring in through the glass windows indicating that it was still the early hours of the day. He let her go without another word and she walked out where a guard was waiting patiently for her. Sakura looked at the sword at his hip and then towards the long corridor that lead down to the flight of stairs she would take to retire to her room for the remainder of the day.

The guard walked behind her, which had become routine for her, his heels and hers clicking against the stone of the floor. The air was cold just as it had been when she first entered these walls and it was so void of people that Sakura wondered about the court life. Konohagakure was so completely different from Otogakure.

She lived at the manor with Neji, but because of his rank and title, they were often at the palace even though their engagement was only a few weeks old. Life at the Hokage's residence bustled in every hall with loud chatter and laughing, there was always a commotion and filled with so much color. Here, everything was gray and serious, more than any place should be.

It was as if their was a constant rain cloud over this whole land, even outside, life seemed to be a fairy tale told to the children only and she couldn't even remember the last child she saw. The only place that seemed to hold any hint of life was the inner sanctum of the gardens. She could sit out there for long periods and actually feel some peace; it was the only place she could remember what it was like to be free…

She paused in her step, the guard behind her faltering in his own at her sudden standstill. He recovered his footing and looked at the profile of her face. Sakura could see at the other end of the hall a woman with long hair and strangely colored eyes that were identical in color with the petite woman's hair, a color that was neither black nor brown.

The woman was looking back at Sakura, dressed in a white bodice and gold embroidered vest with tan trousers and knee-high boots. She looked as though she preparing for a ride out in the woods, but Sakura found that hard to believe, anyone with enough sense would not be out for a ride whilst their country was at war. However, as the telling went, Otogakure women were nothing like Konohagakure women who did not take up arms in times of war as emissaries, women of Konohagakure trained in military combat as means to protect themselves and their loved ones if the occasion called for such means.

This woman's eyes were almost as piercing as Sasuke's or Sai's, but the look radiating from those strange eyes were of intense aversion, if Sakura wasn't who she was in this land she would find it rather odd for woman she never met and only now just crossed paths with to show such detestation in her eyes. Sakura could see how stiff the woman's body was, tense and supercilious.

Sakura watched her for a moment longer then began walking again. The guard followed close behind her as he did on many accounts since his Otokage assigned him to guard her way of passage. Sakura's gaze lifted to the woman one last time as she took the turn that led to her chambers. "You there," The woman called out brusquely, "Stop!" Sakura slowed to a halt and then turned her head to the left so that her peripheral vision took in the woman making her way towards Sakura.

Sakura waited until the woman was only a couple of feet behind her, her fingers digging into the skirt of the dress that caused her skin to itch. She was in no mood to talk, to anyone here, not even Ino after Sai convinced her that she might just relay every conversation the two had to the man she fawned over so gallingly. The other reason being that this dress was the last thing she wanted to wear and was rather impatient to tear it off as quickly as she could.

Sakura relaxed her fingers from their tight hold into the fabric of her skirts and she turned so that she could face the woman directly. "Are you addressing me?" Sakura wondered, adding a soft tone to her voice to make herself seem as though she were docile. The woman seemed to be observing her thoroughly with just her eyes as though with those eyes that reminded Sakura of the shine of wild animals could reveal not only her weakness, but her strengths as well.

"I just wanted to see the woman who came into enemy territory and lived to tell the tale. It's as though you came to our country during a war between our lands to live a new life of luxury." Sakura's mouth tightened as the woman looked her over again, from the bottom of her skirts to the top of her shoulders where the gown ceased height.

"I hardly call this a life of luxury when I must walk around with a keeper from one place to the other and with no rights to step outside the palace walls." Sakura tried her best to keep her composure and not turned her back on the woman and retreat to her rooms.

"Well, you do look fragile, maybe Sasuke-kun is afraid you'll break." Sakura closed her eyes and rolled her shoulders carelessly before opening her eyes again to see the woman's stern facial expression. "I'm not exactly sure what he wants with you anyhow, you're little more than a child."

"Perhaps," Sakura said, biting down against her teeth, "he grows tired of the women of his court." Sakura's patience was begging to wear thin with each word she exchanged with this strange woman. The woman bought her hand up and back and a loud, resounding thwack filled the air.

Sakura lifted her hand to her cheek and it stung with even the most tentative of touches. Sakura lifted her head with tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. She held her chin high even in the face of the livid woman. Her right cheek was now an angry red that would not heal easily, this woman had put all her strength behind the blow and somehow it was more than Sakura imagined any woman possessing.

The guard stared between the two women, just observing their childlike behavior before stepping in. "Karin-san, that's enough, any more visible damage to this woman and it'll be me who'll answer to Sasuke-dono." The woman, Karin, sniffed and shook her hand and wiped her fingers against her trousers as though she had touched something vile.

"Get this little bitch out of my sight before I do something far worse to her." Sakura narrowed her eyes at Karin, her hand curling into a tight fist. The guard stepped in front of Sakura and gestured with a quick lift of his chin. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him and relaxed her fingers, allowing her hand to become just a regular hand once more.

"That was quite unladylike Karin-san." Karin and the guard spun around and Sakura's gaze followed the voice to see Sai approaching the three, a little smile tugged at the corner of Sakura's lips involuntarily. He looked to his left and then his right with just his eyes before he looked at Sakura, taking her in as though she was the only one standing there.

"I will not allow some child to talk down to me." Karin said as Sai walked closer to Sakura. He lifted his hand to her face and she flinched. He drew his hand back and shook his head slowly then tried again. This time she closed her eyes and let his fingers trace over the red hue that spread over her injured cheek.

"I suppose then you are ancient then, she's only in her twenties, more or less." Sai said in a stern voice as his fingers slid away from Sakura's cheek. "I'll escort Haruno-chan back to her chambers; you're dismissed for the day." Sai said without even a tiny glance at the guard as his hand slid behind Sakura's waist to turn her away from the two. Sakura followed his footing, looking back at Karin who stared at them.

"Sai-sama, I can-"

"Sure you can, don't worry, I'll vouch for your absence." He led Sakura away from the two and down the hall until they reached her quarters, without a word between the two from the journey to the destination. Sai opened the door to Sakura's room. He brought her over to the bed, sat her down, and stood over her, lifting her chin up and tilting her head back.

"I wonder what it is you said to receive such a nasty mark." Sakura closed her eyes as he turned from her and lifted the pitcher at her bedside table and the liquid poured into another container. She felt a damp cold cloth press against her cheek, she opened her eyes, and Sai smiled at her. "You're incorrigible."

"What makes you think I said anything?" Sakura asked, tears choking her voice. She lifted her hand and pressed it against the cloth. Sai shrugged and pulled his hand back and walked over to the window and stopped, letting his fingers trace the gilt frame behind the lace curtains.

"Karin finds pleasure in provoking others, but she herself can not handle a counterattack without reacting violently. Maybe it's her precipitous temper that entices my gallivanting cousin to keep her in his bed and perhaps as well as the reason to why she stuck you."

"How long were you watching?" He turned away from the window and back to her, her back facing him, her head turned a little so that she could see him from the corner of her eye and he got a good view of her profile He came back and stood in front of her.

"Well, I was around just long enough to hear you hint that our dear Karin, an exceptional warrior, an undesirable concubine." Sakura lowered her eyes; she could not help but feel ashamed that she let that woman push her to be so rude; it just was not in Sakura's nature to be so vocally criticizing. Sakura's upbringing was in a highly sophisticated family, not on the streets.

"I was wrong to say such things… it's not my place to find fault with a person I've never met before."

Sai looked down at her disconcerted features and lowered himself to the floor. He looked up to her face, then reached out and brushed some of her hair from her shoulder to the side, giving her a faint smile. "Well, it's not like she isn't, she's not his wife after all. Though I have to say, her visits to his quarters have lessened considerably since you joined our happy accommodation."

Sakura looked into his dark eyes then she watched that faint little smile curving his lips that did not fit his face correctly. "Are you saying he's looking for a wife in me?"

Sai shrugged his shoulders and rested his hands on the top of his thighs to push himself off the floor. He towered above her so that she had to lift her head and gaze to meet his eyes again. "I don't know what he's looking for or what he wants with you, if it had been me in his place… let's just say, my heart or whatever it was that motivated him to accepting your exchange of one life for another wouldn't be so easily swayed."

He said those words casually, the smile falling away, replaced with a stony expression. He turned his back on her and moved his way toward the door. Sakura's eyes widened an inch as if she came to an important conclusion. This man… everything about him… he revealed to her false truths of himself and hid behind a caring façade. Sakura tightened her hands around the skirt of her dress… feeling so foolish, she let him trick her.

"You're not my friend." He laughed. A sharp, short burst as he turned his back on her.

"You're right… you're my tool. I have uses for you; fate is on my side for the first time since they left me in this dismal country. The only sounds here are the ones of turmoil and pain." He reached the door and pulled it open. "But think on this, as long as you're beneficial to my needs, I'll always be there to get you out of any predicament. I would think that would be some kind of friendship." He looked back at her, his face still void of any expression.

"More like… more like a partnership I have to unwillingly go along with." She lifted her hand back to her cheek with the cloth, dabbing at the ache. He nodded at her, looking thoughtful for a moment before opening his mouth to speak again.

"Symbionts, yes, I think that is a better term." He stepped out and closed the door behind him, leaving Sakura to nurse her bruised cheek. Just as Sakura was placing the cloth down on the bedside table and untying the back of the dress she had been anxiously waiting to remove, the door opened. Sakura began to quickly lace the dress once more as Ino appeared in front of her, closing the door behind her.

In both arms, the blonde woman carefully balancing a tray filled with two plates of dessert and a glass pitcher filled with wine. "Are you hungry?" Ino asked, smiling as she walked over to the foot of the bed, setting the tray down. Sakura shook her head, explaining that she already ate with Otokage before his departure. Ino stared at her, looking over the dress. "You look really nice." Sakura smiled again and bowed her head. "Well, I'll just leave these blancmange her if you change your mind."

Sakura stood up and walked over to the door, pressed her back against it, looking at the woman that she no longer felt she could trust. "Ino-" Ino interrupted her by gasping loudly. She reached out and touched her sore cheek gingerly with light fingertips. Sakura winced and Ino gave out a sympathetic laugh, pulling her hand away and looking about her as if there was something more she could do for Sakura's bright red cheek. Her hands smoothed against her dress and into the hidden pockets of her skirt.

"Oh, what happened to your face Sakura-chan?" She asked pulling out a little phial of green glass closed off with a wooden cork. Removing the cork, she stuck her finger in the top and came away with some red salve on her fingers. Sakura closed one eye as she pressed the wet substance against her cheek. A cooling effect took place and Sakura winced again lightly while Ino worked it in until it was no longer any color to the ointment.

"I ran into a hand." Sakura embellished as Ino recapped the phial and tucked it back into the hidden pockets of her skirt. Ino looked at her with disbelief and then started to laugh. Sakura hated this; Ino was the only one she could really tell things. Without saying whatever she did not feel like saying. She did not feel like a prisoner with Ino, the way she did with the Otokage, Sai, or anyone else in this dreadful place.

"Well, you must have been running hard and the hand must have been like stone." Ino laughed and went over and picked up the cloth and dunked into the water as Sai had done earlier. She gestured for Sakura to sit back on the bed and she pressed the wet cloth to her cheek. "Just hold that there." Ino instructed, like the perfect physician.

"Well… I was actually standing perfectly still and… the hand was made of flesh and muscle… um… some woman with bright red hair with matching eyes." Ino's own eyes widen before she sat on the bed next to Sakura, smoothing out her skirt. Sakura laughed, noticing as she did that her cheek did not sting as much as it had moments before Ino applied the unguent. She pressed the cloth a little closer to her cheek and Ino looked outright amazed.

"You're telling me Karin… she slapped you, what did you do?"

"Nothing really, she started it, of course. Sai says she slapped me because I suggested that the Otokage might view the women here as tiresome…" Ino looked away then. "I didn't mean you… It is just… Sai says I was hinting that she graced his bed so much that she no longer held any interest to him. He practically said she was indeed his household whore."

Ino smiled wryly then looked back at Sakura. "You know women have come and gone from this place like the changing of the seasons, one after the other of women with flawless features and petite figures. I have known the Otokage since we were old enough to walk and yet not once has he looked at me with that glint in his eyes. I am not a woman of high stature, I clean and I offer my services. I wish and I hope that someday I might have the privilege to share his bed as this other women have, I would even be honored if he took me into his embrace for one night only."

Sakura looked aghast, how could anyone say something like that? "Don't you want to be loved Ino? Would you not rather someone wanting the privilege to kiss you? I know what I am saying Ino, listen, do you see this ring? I told you it belonged to the man who was to be my husband, he loves me and only me, he does not have other lovers in his bed nor does he take from me without offering his own contributions. Do you not want a man who wants to love only you? Its sad to view yourself worthy only if someone else views you worthy."

Ino laughed and held her hands to her heart. The laugh was long, but Sakura could hear the ache in it. This was not a joyous laugh; this laugh sounded wounded and lost to hope. "I want that from him and him alone. I guess this must be love, because it hurts so much, to hear the way his voice changes when I mention you, the way his face changes… Sasuke-sama changes when he talks about or even hears about you, Sakura-chan."

"Ino… he isn't in love with me and I am not in love with him. I love Neji-kun, right here." she pressed her free hand to her heart. "If he becomes a man you never thought you'd see when I'm the subject, it's only because…" Sakura tried to look for the right word that would not offend Ino of his name. "It's only because I'm different from the women around here. I come from a different country. It is like when you see peacocks with those bright vivid colors for so long and then one day, you see a white one, pure white like the snow. That is all I am to him. I'm a white peacock."

Ino laughed again, only this time there was humor behind it and she was laughing at Sakura. She was laughing so hard that her hands came up to cover her mouth as she bent over her knees from where she sat. Sakura turned her head. She was trying to make Ino feel better and in an ironic turnabout, she did indeed cheer her up. Sakura sighed and reached for the blancmange that Ino brought in with the wine on the tray. "I'm sorry, Sakura… it's just… you're a white peacock?"

"Metaphorically," Sakura said, as she took a bite of the dessert. "Anyway, you shouldn't be so desperate; I think men find it unappealing." Ino looked at her with a look of defense and Sakura shrugged her shoulders, she did not know the whole story between the Otokage and Ino and she really did not want to play some kind of guessing game about the relations between the important persons living in this realm.

"Look, you may have heard me say some things that sound desperate, but it's not like I say these things to Sasuke-sama."

"Maybe not, but there is body language and maybe you're just radiating a desperate persona." Ino looked mad for a second and Sakura found herself apologizing. Ino shrugged and sat up. "I really am sorry. I am just… sick… I am tired and sick of being here in a place I clearly do not belong. I'm a human, not a horse…"

"No, you're a white peacock."

"You're forgiving me." Ino nodded and sighed. "Thank you. I am not proud of myself for my manner. I suppose I deserved that slap." Sakura said, lifting her hand a little higher, clutching the cloth. Ino shook her head and Sakura quirked an eyebrow.

"Karin's a miserable wretch; the only person she thinks about is herself and how to get what she wants. I think she tricked Sasuke-sama into bedding her." Sakura shrugged, she found it hard to believe that Karin could continue to trick someone into his bed. If anything, the Otokage was willing, even if it was to satisfy his own personal needs. "Anyway, I have things to do around this place. I hope Sasuke-sama comes back unharmed."

Sakura watched Ino leave her room, quietly hoping something did happen to the Otokage, and then maybe she really could get away. Standing up and setting aside the empty dish Sakura went to the window seat and sat down. Drawing back the lace of the curtains she looked up at the sky, a flock of several birds of mostly white feathers soared across it, like white caps on a wide ocean. She thought how free they truly were, able to outstretch their wings, ascend from the ground that she found herself bound to and migrate anywhere they pleased.

She did not like the Otokage; this was her single thought of him as she pressed her fingers to the glass of the windows, her eyes reflecting her longing to be outside the walls that detained her from her homeland. She did this for love, sacrificing her freedom… she would never wonder if it was the right thing to do, but she did wonder if Neji would return the favor.

"I have your ring, Neji-kun… don't you want it? You said you would return for it, why aren't you here!" She slapped her hand against the window, bowing her head enough so that the loose strands of her hair fell against her cheeks. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, pressing her upper lip securely against her bottom. She promised herself she would not cry and she had broken that promise, she would not break it again.

She had to be strong here where people were all dying to see her shatter in a thousand pieces of weakness. She lifted her hands to the side of her face and she shook her head as if it would bring her back to her strong, self-assured, fierce and willing-to-fight persona. She found her hand sliding down the span of her throat and pressing against the solid, cool metal of the ring. "You promised," she whispered to herself.

Sakura squeezed the ring until it formed a circular indentation on her the surface of her palm, releasing the ring she inhaled deeply as it bumped back against her chest. She stood up and walked away from the window after closing the lace back around the frame. She stood in the center of the room and peeled off the dress after working the laces that held it taut to her body.

When she stood in nothing but her slip she reached for the dress, bundled it into her arms and carried it to the bed. She lifted the extra duvets and placed them on the bed so that she could open the Hepplewhite cedar chest. She stuffed the dress in carelessly and shut the top, replacing the duvets covers before walking around the bed, towards the side of the mattress to turn down the blankets.

Climbing onto the plush cushion, she drew the covers back onto her, up to her nose as though trying to hide away from the world. She no longer wanted this deal; she wished she could have found another way to give Neji his freedom. What was the point of all this, why her? Sai made her think back on his words… what was the Otokage thinking he would gain in making this bargain with her anyhow?

It could not be that he wished for a spouse, he already assumed her married and she bit her tongue every time, not wanting to correct him that Neji was only her betrothed, it was not any of his concern anyhow. I do not care whom it is anymore, Sakura thought to herself, just someone… anyone… take me far from this place. I would give anything to go home… she thought of her mother and father then, anyone who might miss her these past few days far from her home. Where was anyone who cared, could they all do nothing but weep, or did they forget they had a daughter… a niece… a lover?

Sakura closed her eyes and let sleep claim her, she need not leave the sanctuary of this room, the Otokage was gone, she needn't find herself required to play dress-up or entertain the whims of a man she did not care for in any way. She felt her hope diminishing in her heart like a fire without kindling. Clutching the ring in her restless sleep, she was beginning to doubt Neji's promise; her dreams only filled with abandon.

In this world filled of deceptive inhabitants, who would be the one to rescue her from the hell of Otogakure? Who would break her verbal commitment with the Otokage? This could not be her fate… this could not forever be her home. She would not allow it!

A/N: So, I've bet you've all been wondering where I've been. Well, all that matters is that I'm back, right? Right! I've missed you guys, but even more I've missed writing, so maybe you've noticed I've updated Marionette, well, I had to force myself to get back into it… I was getting lonely, you know.

So a lot has changed while I've been away, for instance… I have a new job and a new object of my affections and in saying such… my muse has come back to me with open arms and forgiveness… Don't tell her, but I don't know what I did wrong, please note that my muse is not a real physical being. I just know my muse is female.

I have accepted Within Temptation, because I was a fan of Nightwish only, but listen to See Who I Am and you try too to not crossover, ha! Skillet has one amazing song… so my muse is twice as strong as she was before, luckily I don't have to picture her with man muscles… yuck!

Furthermore, I bet you're all happy I finally updated this, and no worries, I won't be starting any new projects until Threads of Desire or TOD as I've dubbed it, is complete… I don't know how long that will be is the only downside, I have so many wonderful ideas that I've already started on… wah!

Anyways. I hope you guys enjoyed the story and I've decided that I hate proof reading, but I'll decline Beta's because I want to surprise everyone, I even occasionally surprise myself, but still going back and correcting any mistakes is tedious… and I tend to wander off when the times comes… I can't listen to music or play my video games or watch TV, my focus has to be strictly on rereading or else I won't work on the editing and you guys won't see another chapter. I've gotten so bad.

Last, but not least… if I've forgotten anyone is the Acknowledgements and Thank you's it's because you didn't put your review in the chapter preceding this one, sorry.