Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto.

So, this chapter is about 5k words. I wanted to try and make a REALLY beefy one since I literally left things on a cliff-hanger for almost two years. I'm still not able to update as regularly as I'd like yet, but I do have a clear vision for this story and it's absolutely fabulous. I think you guys will really love it.

I appreciate the patience you've given me as life happens the way it wants, but rarely the way you need it to.

Please feel free to leave me a review, I read all of them! :)

"You may rise" the monk said after a few more moments of silence after he'd finished what Sakura assumed was a prayer of some kind.

Sasuke looked over to Sakura as he took her hand to leave the sanctuary. The one thing she scratched her head over was that she and Sasuke hadn't kissed during the ceremony. In her little town, the end of weddings usually had the bride and groom kiss to seal their marriage.

"Sasuke" Sakura said his name to get his attention as he looked at her, "Why didn't we kiss at the end?"

Sasuke let a smirk crawl onto his face as he mischievously looked at her, "You'll see" he taunted.

Sakura just puffed her cheeks out in a slight pout. Despite not kissing Sasuke, she was glad to have him in the carriage alone back to the castle. It was a breath of fresh air compared to the chaperons and solitude she had endured the past two days. It was especially nice to rest her head on his shoulder and meld into the warmth of his body as he wrapped an arm around her, encompassing her in his cloak for warmth.

"We still have several hours to go, are you... feeling ok?" Sasuke asked.

He couldn't help but have his eyes wander to her stomach when he asked the question. Sakura knew exactly what he was getting at as she followed his line of sight.

With a huff she replied, "Yes and no. I'm simply exhuasted, but that also might be because I haven't eaten much today."

"The same for me" Sasuke replied with a small smile.

Exhaustion was to be expected, however Sakura seemed to be taking it in stride, considering her current condition. After arriving at the castle Sasuke immediately helped Sakura out of the carriage as they were ushered into a banquet hall full of cheering guests holding up wine glasses and toasting in their honor. Sasuke nodded and lightly waved to as many as he could acknowledge at one time, however he knew the quickest bypass to all of this was to head strait for the table. The royal banquet table that he was all too familiar with whenever his family had a feast was now one seat longer. The table could easily accommodate more, but there was one more place setting than there normally would be at the table. Sasuke smiled to himself, glad that he could now hide away up here with Sakura, away from pursuers like Karin or from annoyances like Naruto. Itachi held up his wine glass with a playful smirk as he watched Sakura and Sasuke approach the table and take a seat next to Fugaku as he remained in his seat next to Mikoto.

Fugaku stood up as he held his wine glass high, "The feast begins!"

There was a chorus of shouts and cheers once again as everyone made their way towards all the buffet tables. Sasuke could practically smell all the food from here. Lucky for him and Sakura, arrangements were made ahead of time to have the royal family's food plated in advance and brought to them so that they didn't have to walk down to the tables and plate it themselves. Sasuke normally would find this kind of thing frivolous and stupid, however after enduring what he just had, any reprieve away from people and being able to relax just a little was welcomed.

Sakura was perfectly content with munching on her small plate of food while watching all the merriment going on just a short distance from her and Sasuke. However she couldn't help but look around and notice that there was a certain blond accomplice missing. Well, two blond accomplices to be exact.

"Where are Naruto and Ino?" Sakura asked with a quirked brow.

Sasuke had to keep a red tint from making it's way onto his face before answering, "Overseeing our chambers."

"Our chambers?" Sakura was surprised that something like this would happen so suddenly.

Sasuke nodded, "We're both to share chambers in the main hall near my parents, instead of the gender segregated wings of the castle."

"Oh, you don't know?" Itachi snorted with a bemused chuckle, "You two-"

"Itachi" Sasuke growled, quickly cutting his brother off before he could further embarrass his new sister in law.

"Sakura" Mikoto cooed towards the pinkette, "A word?" she asked as she stood and walked over to a secluded alcove near the royal family's feasting table.

Sakura nodded and stood to go speak with Mikoto and immediately felt like whatever was going to be said would be awful because Mikoto was already grasping her hands in a comforting manner.

"I know nobody explained this to you dear" Mikoto sighed, "But royal weddings are a bit of a different affair than commoner weddings."

Sakura nodded then relayed her earlier concern, "I noticed. Sasuke and I were never asked to kiss."

"Well" Mikoto sighed, "That's because the kiss is saved for the last part of the ceremony."

"What?" Sakura asked confused.

"When he kisses you, that's the signal that you two are ready to move to your new chambers."

"Oh" Sakura commented rather reluctantly, "Then the feast ends and we retire?"

"Not exactly" Mikoto had a pained smile on her face, "You two are to consummate your marriage with witnesses."

"Witnesses?!" Sakura shrieked as quietly as possible, her outburst being heard by Sasuke and Itachi who were still seated at the table.

Sasuke slapped a hand over his red face in both embarrassment and slight shame at what was expected to come. He felt bad that Sakura was being blind sided through this whole wedding process. No one had taken the time to explain any formalities to her, so she was flying by the seat of her skirt through all of this. Sasuke had witnessed a few royal weddings over in neighboring kingdoms and while he never actually witnessed the chamber ceremony he always saw the bride and groom's embarrassment as they were escorted out by royal clergymen and family with everyone's eyes cast on them in a knowing look.

"I can't believe you didn't tell her" Itachi laughed to his brother before Fugaku silenced him with a harsh look.

"Sakura" Mikoto sighed, "I'm very sorry. I swear they should've done away with this tradition a long time ago, but the monks justify it by saying that it keeps any royal lineage from being called into question if the marriage is proven viable by them witnessing the act of you two joining together. Fugaku and I had to do it and it was hard, but he kept me distracted enough" Mikoto let a slight blush grace her cheeks, "And it's only one time."

"Who's... who's going to watch?" Sakura asked with wild eyes.

"The royal family members, and your parents would've if they were here. The head priest and a small handful of esteemed elders from the temple, and then the bride's closest lady and the groom's closest confidant."

"So... Naruto and Ino?" Sakura confirmed having noticed their absence earlier now knowing what that entailed.

Mikoto nodded solemnly, "I'm very sorry for any trauma this causes you, but please do understand, this is just a part of the process, and you'll never have to do it again."

Sakura just slapped a hand over her face. She wanted to cry so badly from embarrassment but held it together as Mikoto walked her back to the table. Unable to even look at Sasuke, the pinkette just finished her meal and sat quietly with her eyes forward as her mind wandered.

"I think you broke her" Itachi commented as he looked over at Sakura who was still in a daze several minutes later.

Sasuke rolled his eyes before grunting, "She would've been fine if you kept your mouth shut."

"Boys" Mikoto growled at both her sons, "Sasuke why don't you take Sakura and dance?"

Sasuke nodded before reaching his hand out to Sakura's. Their ceremony had already drained them both of energy, but he felt a little rejuvenated after sitting down for some food. Sakura reluctantly took his hand, still avoiding eye contact as he led her down to the floor. People instantly moved out of their way to make room for the couple as the orchestra started to play a much softer song for them to dance to. With his hand resting on her lower back, Sasuke took hold of her other hand and gingerly tried to move her around the dance floor.

"Y'know" he commented with a smirk, "The first time I danced with you was when I pulled you out of that box."

"I remember" Sakura tried to smile even though it came across strained.

"It doesn't feel like it's been that long" he mused as he reached his hand to stroke Sakura's hair before placing it on her lower back again.

"It hasn't" she sighed, "It's only been a few months."

"The best months" Sasuke corrected her as he leaned into her ear to whisper his thoughts more privately, "I've never felt more alive than after you came here."

Sakura's eyes widened a bit at his words before she finally made eye contact with him since she had returned back to his side at the table earlier.

"There we are" Sasuke chuckled, "I was wondering how long it would take you to look at me."

Sakura scowled at him playfully before lightly punching his arm jokingly. The two of them were nearing the end of the song when Sasuke had to resist the urge to kiss her. He knew once he did it was over. The monks were all lined around the ballroom intently staring at the two of them, waiting for the signal. Unfortunately, because of his and Sakura's emotionally and already physically intimate relationship, kissing her felt like second nature. The last thing he wanted to do was trigger the ceremony on accident and make things even worse.

"Don't" Sakura noticed him leaning down to rest their foreheads together, "I... I'm not ready yet."

"I know" Sasuke let out a deep breath he'd been holding, "But at some point tonight I have to."

"I know" Sakura could feel her anxiety well up in her chest again, "But just not yet."

Sasuke pulled Sakura into a hug instead as the two of them had stopped dancing and instead embraced each other. There were a few echoes of giggling, ooh's, and ahh's heard around the ballroom at the not often seen display of affection. All around it was very obvious to everyone that this wedding was by no means political. Many of the nobles were surprised that Fugaku hadn't tried to marry him with a neighboring kingdom's daughter, like Temari from Suna. Many had half expected such a political move on his part, especially where Sasuke was concerned. Whoever were to marry Sasuke would become a future ruler, a role of high significance usually reserved for those who were born into such families.

Fugaku had tried to justify his decision by saying Sakura was a daughter of the people, and there was no better political move than reaffirming his connection to his own people. Most knew that was created to cover-up the scandal of how she ended up in the palace in the first place (because of Madara's malice and scheming), and then how she had unexpectedly captured the prince's rapturous affection that no woman had ever come close to.

"I need some fresh air" Sakura sighed as she parted from Sasuke, "I'll return in a few minutes."

Sasuke nodded, giving Sakura her space. Normally he would be escorting her everywhere until it was time to go to their chambers, but he knew that she was feeling queasy from both the growing life inside of her, as well as the pressures and obligations this wedding held for her. It was best to give her the space she needed.

"Yo" Kakashi had approached Sasuke once he saw the pinkette saunter off, "Congratulations" he offered, "To you and General Haruno both."

"Thanks" Sasuke replied casually, "She's a little anxious, but that's to be expected."

"I see" Kakashi let an eye squinting smile work its way onto his features, "Is she going to be well enough to attend the meetings in a few days?"

"She should be fine" Sasuke lied.

He wasn't exactly sure if he was lying, but he knew that with her current situation, it was up in the air whether she'd be ok or if she'd be hunched over a bucket puking her brains out.

"Tsunade really is a miracle worker, isn't she?" Kakashi added, "Sakura looked amazing, even despite everything she's recently been through."

"Hn..." Sasuke grunted as he looked at the back of the pinkette's hair, lost in thought until she had disappeared out onto the outdoor balcony, just out of sight.

Sasuke was soon swarmed by other well-wishers who had lined up to congratulate him officially. They were hoping to speak to the lady of the hour as well, but Sasuke excused her absence onto the balcony as "excited nerves" to put it lightly.

"Can you believe her?" Karin asked two courtesan girls standing next to her, "I've been here, loyal for years, and she just had to come in and steal everything out from under me in a matter of months."

The other girls sympathetically nodded and tried to pat her on the shoulder. Despite her bitterness, Karin had eyes like a hawk, and spotted a piece of paper on the floor nearby with Sasuke's wax seal on it. It was just peaking out from under the corner of a drink-table's cloth cover. She scurried over and picked the note up as her eyes widened. Despite the words shattering her heart and any hope she had left, she swallowed her tears in favor of anger and indignation.

Sakura was outside on the balcony and was about to head back inside once she could muster the courage. After a brief moment of wondering how to find that courage, she remembered that she'd tucked Sasuke's note into her dress that morning. However upon searching where she'd left it, she had found it was missing. Trying to quell the rising panic constricting her throat, she quickly searched in other places of her dress it might have migrated to, but to no avail. She turned around to scurry into the banquet hall only to see a mad-hornet faced Karin charging towards her "Infidel!" she cried, "You're just a used sow's ear being passed off as a pearl!"

This caught much unwanted attention, but thankfully, Itachi had noticed the angry Karin, as well as the familiar parchment paper she had managed to find crumpled in her hand. After rushing up to the two girls to try and stop whatever cat-fight could ensue at the most important event of the decade, Itachi quickly ripped the parchment out of Karin's hand to confirm his suspicions. Once he saw his brother's handwriting he knew this note could not exist anymore.

"My what an interesting-" Itachi pretended to stumble from Karin's blows, though it was clear she was beating on a brick wall, and wafted the note over a nearby candelabra where the paper caught fire before he dropped it to the stone floor where it turned to ashes. "Whoops~" Itachi chuckled, knowing exactly what he had done.

Karin could tell the act was deliberate too. She had made a mistake trying to make a scene in front of Sakura before taking the note to the religious authorities or Fugaku himself. Now her only piece of solid evidence had turned to ash, but her memory was sharp, and she would not be silenced. A few of the observing monks had witnessed the encounter, and an elder had made his way over to them.

"My children, what is this quarrel?" He tried to ask in a calm tone.

"Her!" Karin seethed, "She slept with the prince before her vows, and now she even carries his child on their wedding day!"

Itachi had to clench his teeth to keep his face stoic in this situation. Any twitch in expression could doom both his brother and his now sister-in-law. Their marriage would be annulled, Sakura would be paraded down the street in naked in a cow's yolk as a whore while people threw rotten vegetables and excrement at her until she was outside the city gates, where she would be left to find her own way to anywhere else but here. The penalties were too steep in many's opinion, but the law was the law, and the king only had so much power to change tradition without rattling too many chains in his court.

"Oh? And how do you know this?" The elder inquired about Karin's assertion.

"The letter" Karin sobbed, "There was a letter he wrote about it, but he burned it to ash!" Karin said the last part, pointing her finger at Itachi.

"Excuse me" the queen suddenly entered the conversation, wanting to end this farce as quickly as possible due to the guests having all stopped to watch and even the quartet had stopped playing music, "Please remember your place Lady Hebi. You were invited as a guest, need I remind you who you are pointing fingers at and also who you are accusing of such things."

"These are quite hefty accusations" the monk scratched his chin, "Not something we take lightly Miss Karin."

Karin nodded her head in confidence, thinking she will ultimately get the last laugh. "Their bedchambers, inspect the sheets when they're done, I promise you there won't be any blood."

"Those are bold words" the monk deadpanned, "And what shall we do if your claims prove false Mrs. Hebi? It would be quite distressing to allow people to raise such notions so casually in the future."

"Strip her of her title and send her home" Itachi interjected. "Anyone who dares to speak so boldly without true cause or evidence should not be welcome here."

Sasuke had now made his way over from across the banquet hall to witness the distressing scene and was able to read the situation perfectly off of his mother and brother's face. Karin knew something she shouldn't, and now he and Sakura were compromised.

"That sounds agreeable" the monk bowed, "Should the future queen prove herself impure, she will be banished. Should Karin's claim prove false, she shall be banished. The scales are set evenly, may they reveal the truth."

Itachi and Mebuki bowed as the monk left. Sasuke felt a sudden lump in his throat, before remembering that he had counted on this happening. He had already knew what would happen should Sakura not be able to prove her virginity, and had planned accordingly. Sakura had been put through enough, he wasn't about to lose her over some stupid bedding ceremony not proving she was a virgin when that was the least important thing. Sasuke quickly pulled Sakura to the side to speak privately on the matter.

"Listen" he told her as he quickly whipped around to face her, making sure no one could overhear their conversation, "I know you're not ready, nor will you ever be for this kind of thing. But I need you to do your best to imitate our first night together. Make it seem like it hurts when I enter you, and don't be alarmed by anything I do. It will all make sense when it's over, I promise."

Sasuke rested his forehead against hers, trying to ignore the intent stares of the monks and on-lookers to see if he would kiss her yet. "To hell with all of this" he growled as he gripped the back of her neck and smashed her mouth against his in whirlwind of a rough kiss, nearly bruising her lips.

After a few moments the monks started to clear a small path out of the banquet hall to the main exit, the royal family were now all standing and lining up by the door with their lanterns, the head priest and elders were also carrying their own lanterns and lined up as well. Sakura was so caught up in the emotion of the kiss, that when she witnessed the spectacle, her heart had leapt out of her throat in fear when she realized what that kiss meant.

"S...Sasuke, I..." Sasuke didn't let her complete her thought as he roughly kissed her again, pulled her waist against his, then led her down the cleared path lined with monks who were smiling and bowing as they passed on their way out of the banquet hall.

Raucous, drunken cheers erupted from the many banquet tables of nobles as people toasted and jeered at the couple who were on their way to consummate their official marriage. Sakura was covering her face with one hand, the other still gripped by her husband. The procession of lantern holding royals and monks wound their ways through the dark corridors to the special chamber that Sasuke and Sakura would now call their home. Sasuke's room in the boy's wing and Sakura's room in the girl's wing of the palace would both be abandoned as they now resided in the main complex with the other married couples of the palace, mainly their residence was close-by to his parents'.

Naruto and Ino had overseen it's construction and fabrication during the banquet in lieu of drinking and dancing themselves stupid. However, they would join the banquet as soon as this matter of business was over with. As the procession entered the room, Naruto and Ino held the doors open for them. After they had all entered and Sakura was looking at them all awkwardly looking back at her, the eldest monk broke the silence.

"The couple will now disrobe" he softly spoke.

"What!" Sakura shrieked.

Itachi knew it was an inappropriate time to laugh, but he couldn't help the snort that escaped his lips. Sakura knew what was expected of her, but she didn't know she had to strip butt naked in front of everyone to do it.

"No... not what you're thinking" Sasuke tried to correct her and ease her nerves.

Ino and Naruto each stepped toward the bride and groom holding out what look like a nightshirt.

"You wear this to stay mostly covered" Ino tried to whisper reassuringly, "Just go into that side room over there and change."

Sasuke and Sakura, since they were wed, headed to the room together to disrobe and change. It took a fair amount of self restraint for Sasuke to not just consummate their marriage in the closet. They both emerged wearing the long night shirts, and not knowing what to do, Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hand, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. She had fought tooth and nail in an arena with the deadliest opponents, but this was a challenge she wasn't sure she was up for.

"Just follow me lead" Sasuke tried to assuage some of her anxieties, but slowly led her over to the bed, pulling the comforter and quilting back, then he lifted her onto the mattress so she was laying on her back. Sakura was clutching the fabric of her night shirt and pulling it down, trying to keep from flashing the entire entourage in their bedroom.

Sasuke's position was even more awkward as he had to lift his night shirt to expose himself enough to enter Sakura, and that basically exposed his butt-cheeks entirely. Not something he ever wanted to particularly show his family or his friends. However, he knew that this position left Sakura the least exposure to the others, and saved her some extra embarrassment, even if it made his more. After lining himself up with her, he hunched over her, planting kisses down her neck and her jaw.

"Make her watch too" Itachi grunted as the monks dragged in Karin with her hands bound behind her back, "Something tells me her accusations had to do with a jealousy complex. She needs to know what is and isn't hers." Karin was haphazardly tossed onto her knees on the floor near Ino, immediately making the hair and Sakura's neck stand up.

"Look at me" Sasuke whispered with hot breath in Sakura's ear, "Only me."

Sakura clenched her eyes shut as she grabbed onto Sasuke's shoulders. There was no doubt in her mind that she was aroused, but she was panicked, having so many sets of eyes on them in their most intimate and vulnerable state.

"I won't do anything crazy... this will all be over soon." Sasuke whispered in her ear again, continuing to plant gentle kisses to relax the pinkette as much as possible for the next part of the process.

Sasuke gave a sideways glance to a clearly flustered Naruto who vigorously nodded, careful to make sure no one was looking at him when he did so. Sasuke knew that meant he had followed the instructions that he'd given him to hide a certain object within the bedding. Sasuke reached up under Sakura's head, and like a true charlatan, smuggled a small vial out of the pillow case and into his night-shirt sleeve. When he lowered his hand to check Sakura's wetness, he also carefully opened the vial and dripped the contents onto the bed-sheet just below her.

"Show them you've only ever been mine" Sasuke growled breathily in her ear as he re-hid the vial back into the pillowcase and lurched forward, plunging himself into her.

Sakura made a shrill moan as she arched her back and allowed Sasuke to penetrate even further still. She had assumed that as soon as they saw Sasuke enter her, they would leave, knowing that the deed had technically been done. When Sasuke continued to thrust in and out of her and she could still see their faces out of her peripheral vision, Sasuke was able to read her like a book as he tried to tell her under his breath, "I have to finish."

"You're all lunatics" Sakura whimpered as Sasuke leaned down to tower over her and continue his thrusting.

Sasuke felt a small sense of guilt at this, but the fact that he knew his family was watching was making it difficult for him to finish, and he knew that if he didn't Itachi would eat him alive with jokes about being impotent, and it would cause a whole slew of other problems. Inwardly begging Sakura for forgiveness, he turned her sideways so she was facing the wall, away from the spectators, and lifted her leg over his shoulder and thrust into her from a kneeling position. Sakura cried out in embarrassment at her own exposure and euphoria from the penetration.

Sasuke's family looked a little shocked at the somewhat excessive positioning, and Karin had been in tears since the first thrust. Ino and Naruto were trying to look around the room out of respect but could easily tell what was happening out of their periphery and occasional glances.

It only took one more minute before Sasuke had finished and let out a loud groan as he unloaded himself inside of her. He took a moment to catch his breath before moving her leg down and adjusting their position so Sakura could re-cover herself and he used a bed-stand vanity to face away and wash himself off. Sakura crawled away frightened when the monks approached the bed to examine where they had conjoined.

"She is pure" the monk commented upon seeing the blood on the bed-sheets intertwined with Sasuke's seed, "Your claim was false, Karin."

Karin was sobbing as she was led out of the chambers and presumably on her way out of the palace and the city for good. Itachi wiped a hand over his face in relief as did Ino. Half of that entourage knew the that Karin was speaking the truth, but they were hoping that it wouldn't be discovered due to the loud red-headed zealot. Everyone quietly bowed and then left the room, closing the door behind them.

Sasuke sighed and collapsed onto the floor, leaning his back against the bed. He was tired, and embarrassed. There was no way he was going back to the banquet hall now. Sakura had crumpled up into the fetal position on their bed as she tried to even her breathing. She was having a borderline panic attack that whole time.

"I don't know how you do it" she finally broke the silence, "The way royals do things is so strange, I don't know how you manage to do all of this."

Sasuke crawled up on the bed, careful to avoid the chicken blood and semen he had deposited on the sheets. After curling up behind Sakura, he stroked her hair as he said, "I'd go through much worse to stay with you."

Sakura wiggled a little to curl up closer to him, they took a moment's reprieve before the chamber maids had knocked on their door to change out the sheets, in case they wanted "clean" ones. Sasuke nodded as he led Sakura off the bed in their night shirts to their new bathroom. It was twice the size of Sakura's old bathroom that was generously sized. Their was a large stone tub over a wood-fire that was heading it. It was lined with flowers and candles.

"Ino..." Sakura sighed as she made her way over to the shower first to quickly dump so water over her body and wash her privates off, then walked into the tub.

Sasuke had to hold back a laugh as he joined her in the large tub, but Sakura scowled at him with the unspoken question of what it was he was laughing at.

"You might want to wash your makeup off" he reminded her as it streamed down her face.

"Ack!" She shrieked as she reached for a wash cloth to scrub the stuff away. She never wore it anyway, so she had forgotten it was even there.

A/N: Please leave a review! Again, I'm so sorry this took so long, but I do have a clear plot line and plan to finish out this AWESOME story!