Chapter 3: The Revenge

Sakura stirred a little. It was warm, soft and smooth. Where was she? The blinding sunlight roused her from her deep sleep. She yawned and stretched her arms. She looked at her surroudings. She laid her hand on the soft mattress.. And was surprised.

'What am I doing here, lying on that filthy Sasuke's.. bed?' She asked herself. Her eyes widened a little. She looked under the thick blanket. Good, she still has her clothes on. But really, why was she there? She was sure that she slept on the carpeted floor the last night.

"That Sasuke!" She said out loud as is she wanted the whole world to know. "Was he trying to do some dirty tricks with me? I'll show him!"

Sakura stood up and approached the big, white door. She touched its knob and turned it a few times.

'Curses.. It's still locked!' She thought.

After the day she was presented to the Prince, she was 'imprisoned' in that same, dull, big room of Uchiha Sasuke. She never had a chance to get out of there and explore the palace which will be her new 'home'. Never in her entire life had she been so bored.

Sakura tapped the door, soft at first then loud. She continued doing it until her knuckles and palms turned red and ached. She shook her hands.

"Get me out of here!" She screamed, never minding her rudeness. "Let me out, you filthy Sasuke! Stop treating me like a prisoner. Get me out of here or else.." She paused to think of a threat that would somehow scare the Prince even if she knew nothing would work. "I'm going to tear you into pieces! You hear me!"

Sakura continued uttering empty threats while tapping the door harder.

Some servants who passed by Prince Sasuke's room had noticed the girl's loud and destructive voice. Who wouldn't, anyway? Four of them formed a small circle and began to talk about the new girl.

"Such a rude girl!" A maid whispered.

"Her voice is too loud and powerful. I don't think they allow such manners as that here, in the palace." said another.

"She is totally different from the Prince's previous slaves. I wonder why the Prince have not thrown her yet." Another maid whispered.

They turned their head to Prince Sasuke's room. There she goes again with her loud voice. She tapped the door so hard that it would break into pieces anytime. She continued screaming:

"Let me out! I'll show you my wrath, Sasuke!"

The maids looked at each other.

"I wonder why she's acting like that," said the blonde maid.

"Yes. What did the Prince do to her that she woke up so angry?"

Sakura screamed again...

And again...

"I want to know," The blonde said again.

"Know what?" The maids were startled upon hearing Gaara's voice. They knew that they cannot hide the truth... Not from Gaara. The blonde maid explained:

"Th-The girl in the Prince's room.. Sh-She went berserk! Wh-What should we do if the Prince finds out about it?" Actually, she told him a lie but who could fool smart and cunning Gaara?

"It is not good to talk about people when their backs are turned." That was what he said then left the maids.

Sasuke was busy with his classes. He was on his way to his self-defense class when he met his trusted servant in the hallway.

"Prince Sasuke, the girl which you are keeping in your room woke up rather upset morning." Gaara started. "I guess she wants to see the palace. She might be bored in your room. Maybe she wants to explore new places." He hoped that he had not offended the Prince.

Sasuke looked at his servant then sighed.

"You're right." He said. "But I am busy today. Go and show her the whole palace until she is contented. Bring her there first."

Gaara bowed a little.

"Yes, Prince Sasuke." He then went to the Prince's room.

Gaara opened the door using its key and was surprised to see Sakura about to attack him but then she stopped seeing that it wasn't the Prince but his servant.

"Oh.. What do you want?" Sakura asked, quite annoyed.

"I've just received an order from the Prince that I should accompany and show you the whole Uchiha palace." answered Gaara.

Sakura raised an eyebrow then said:

"Really? Oh good, I'm finally going out of this monotonous place even just for a while." then she sighed.

"Change your robe then we shall explore the whole place." said Gaara.

Sakura nodded, this time she had a smile on her lips.

'How could she change her mood so fast?' Gaara asked himself before going out of the room.

Sakura wore a red robe with some cherry blossoms printed on it. As usual, she looked beautiful in it. 'So much for a slave,' Gaara thought.

"Where shall we go first?" Sakura asked with her pretty smile.

"I think this room would interest you." said Gaara. Both stopped in front of a big, polished wooden door. Sakura was thrilled. The palace was beautiful and full of surprises, just like what her friend, who worked in the palace for about three years, said. Gaara opened the door. Sakura's eyes were sparkling in delight.

"A.. Library!" She exclaimed. "H-How did you know that this place would interest me?"

"It was the prince's idea. He told me to bring you here first." He answered.

Sakura entered the enormous room. It was full of books. Never in her life had she seen such a big room. She never thought that she will be able to enter a library.

'If only Prince Sasuke could see her now... See her beautiful smile.' Gaara mused.

Sakura ran and searched for the books she wanted to read. Everything was in there.

"I love here! I wish Sasuke would just 'imprison' me here!" Sakura exclaimed.

"But there's more." said Gaara.

Sakura turned to look at him. "Huh? What?"

"I'm going to show you his favorite place." Gaara answered. "I also like it."

Sakura doesn't really care about Sasuke-- what his likes and dislikes were. Everything about him. She hated him, of course. But she was curious why Gaara also wanted that same place.

"Come with me. I'll show you." Gaara said.

Sakura nodded a little before following him outside the library.

Gaara told her what the rooms they passed were. That is the dinning room, kitchen, the meeting room, the bathing place of the Prince and so on. They finally reached the palace's garden-- Sasuke and Gaara's favorite place.

"No wonder you like it here." Sakura said. She inhaled the sweet and refreshing scent of the garden. The place was beautiful, indeed. It was full of pretty flowers and colorful butterflies. "This is a nice spot to think, to read or just to relax." She continued. She sat on a bench under a cherry blossom tree.

"Indeed, it is." Gaara said. He sat beside her.

There was a long silence. Sakura spotted someone. A blonde haired boy around her age who was watering the plants. The boy saw her. He glanced to his left and right side, checking if someone was watching him, then approached the two.

"Hi!" The blonde boy greeted.

Sakura had a closer look on him. He has the most beautiful cerulean eyes she had ever seen. He looked great with his tan skin. He has spiky blonde hair and whisker-like scars on his cheeks.

"Who is he?" Sakura asked the Prince's servant.

"Uzumaki Naruto, the gardener."

"Hey, that's not a nice way to introduce me to that.. Erm.. Lovely lady beside you!" The boy named Naruto said, his finger pointing at Gaara.

"Uhm.. Hi.." Sakura said. She wasn't really flattered with Naruto's words. At first she thought that he was a great, nice, smart guy but when she heard him speak, she had an impression that he is well.. Stupid.

"Hi! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I work here in that good-for-nothing Uchiha Sasuke's garden. I'm happy to see you!" Naruto introduced himself.

'So, he doesn't like that Sasuke either.' Sakura thought. 'Great. Just great.'

"Oh.. Uhm.. I'm Haruno Sakura." She said with a pleasant smile. Naruto looked at her as if waiting for her to say more.

"She is the Prince's slave." Gaara said.

"Oh.. A new slave? She's probably the prettiest." Naruto said. He stretched his arm in an attempt to touch her face.

"You know the rules, Uzumaki." Gaara suddenly said, looking directly at Naruto's sapphire orbs.

His hand retreated and all of a sudden his face turned sad.

"I.. understand. I am not allowed to touch anything or anyone owned by Sasuke." Naruto recited that rule.

"Why is it like that?" Sakura asked Gaara. The red haired servant looked at her then to the grassy ground.

"That is the rule. We can do nothing about it. We must comply as the Uchiha family's servants." He looked back at Sakura. "You too must follow the Prince's orders. You would not want to experience his anger."

"Oh, really? I wouldn't want to follow him. I don't care whatever he'll do to me." She with a small smirk. "Because I'm not afraid of him."

"Wow! I like you more, Sakura-chan! You're brave!" Naruto praised her.

Sakura flashed him a weak smile.

"Erm.. Nice meeting you again, Naruto." She told him.

"We better get going now. It's almost dinner time and you must eat now." Gaara said, refering to Sakura.

Sakura sighed and with the thought, 'Back in that hell again.'

"See you tomorrow, Sakura-chan!" Naruto loudly said as he watched the two leave.

Sakura entered Sasuke's room and was surprised to see the Prince holding a tray of food which, she assumed, was for her because Princes and Princesses doesn't normally eat in their rooms.

Now it was time to interrogate Sasuke.

"Why am I on your bed when I woke up this morning? What did you do to me? Why are you holding that tray? You are not supposed to feed me!" Sakura continued firing him with questions but then the Prince cut her saying:

"Who told you that I'm going to feed you? And you were crying that night, I assumed your wrists and back were aching." He put the tray on a table nearby. Sakura moved closer to him.

"You.. Heard me.. Cry?" She asked, this time in a soft voice.

"I already told you. Yes, I did." The Prince answered. "And I found it so annoying so when you ceased crying, I carried you and let you sleep on my bed."

"I don't believe you." Sakura said, raising her voice. "But still.. Thank you." She softly said.

She can't believe she said that. She hated the Prince so much. She had a girl friend who became Sasuke's servant and that friend of hers told her that the Prince was such a terrible, cold-hearted, human ice cube. She instilled in her mind that she mustn't believe anything beautiful the Prince would say, that is if he would ever say such things.

"Eat your food before it gets cold." That was what Sasuke said before he left her.

Sakura stared at the food on the tray. There was a main dish but she didn't know what it was. Grape juice and a strawberry cake.

Her mind had just hatched an idea. She smirked.

Sakura woke up the next morning with a smile on her face (She slept on the floor). Gaara went in the Prince's room as soon as she was dressed with the proper robe.

"The Prince wants to see you." He said to her.

'He already found out,' She smirked inwardly.

"I don't know if it is to punish you but I think it's best for you to go. Did you disobey the Prince's orders? I told you that you wouldn't want to face his wrath." Gaara continued.

Sakura shook her head.

Gaara sighed. He didn't believe the girl.

"Do you still remember the Prince's bathing room? He wants you in there immediately."

Sakura swallowed the lump that was blocking her throat. She felt afraid all of a sudden. She must have not done it. Now what would the Prince make her do? Clean the whole bathroom? Her heart was beating fast. She opened the big, white door.

It was foggy inside the bathroom. It was probably because of the water. She walked more until she saw the Prince whose lower half of the body was soaked in the steamy water. His back was facing her. She could only see his hair.

"Wh-What do you want, S-Sasuke?" She asked. Her voice was shaking and she couldn't pretend that she was fine and not afraid.

"Come closer." Sasuke said without looking at her.

Sakura's legs moved even if she doesn't want them to. It must have been because of her fear.

This time Sasuke turned around to face her. She stopped.

"I was planning of wearing my favorite navy blue robe but when I woke up this morning, I found it in my closet full of pink cake icing." Sasuke said.

Sakura couldn't laugh. He sounded so serious and she thought that it wasn't a laughing matter.

"I.. I.." She tried to say but no more words came out.

Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck as if it was in pain.

"You see, I also woke up this morning with a terrible backache." The Prince said. "I called you to massage my back."

"What!" She exclaimed. "There's no way I'm going to do that. No.. Not here." There was a faint color of pink on her cheeks.

"I am ordering you to do it. You should not question the orders of your master." He said. He held a bottle of scented oil.

Sakura remembered what Gaara told her. She wouldn't want to face Sasuke's anger. She felt more scared than ever.

"Don't keep me waiting." Sasuke said.

Sakura nodded a little. She walked towards him but stopped when Sasuke spoke again.

"Are you going to contaminate the water with your dirty robe?"

It was clear to her that he wanted her to remove her clothes. She blushed more.

"Y-You pervert!" That was all she managed to say.

"I've had a lot of slaves with more beautiful body than yours. Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything to you. I just want you to massage my back." Sasuke explained.

"H-How can I be so sure?" Sakura asked the Prince.

"I would give your freedom back if I fail to comply with my deal."

Sakura thought about it for quite a while. She pulled the end of the ribbon that was holding her robe together. Sasuke watched as her light blue robe slowly slipped down her body. Sakura felt uncomfortable with him staring at her. She reluctantly removed her inner clothings until nothing was left.

Sakura's legs were shaking as she walked a little more until she reached the pool-like bathing tub of the Prince.

Sasuke faced the edge of the enormous bath tub and leaned his chest against it. He gave her the scented oil.

Sakura was blushing a lot. She put a little amount of oil on her palm then gently rubbed it on the Prince's back.

'I didn't know that Sasuke possesses such a beautiful body. Oh Sakura, stop those stupid thoughts! Stop those thoughts about his gorgeous, sexy, seducing, enticing body. Argh! You aren't supposed to think about that!' She scolded herself. She closed her eyes tightly yet she still felt his tensed muscles slowly relax as she massaged his back.

Sakura heard him sigh deeply. He slowly closed his eyes and sighed more in relief. She blushed more and more.

'Doesn't he have any idea that he's torturing me with his.. his seducing sighs?' Sakurathought. She was so lost in thoughts that something caused her to lose her balance. And she ended leaning on Sasuke's back.

It was something unexplicable, an unknown feeling. It was nothing like he had felt before. Totally different. Was that the inevitable effect of his punishment, his revenge on her?

Sakura immediately stood back. Sasuke faced her.

"What did you do? You spilled all the oil in the water." He said, pointing at the now empty bottle.

"Look.. I.. I'm really s-sorry." She apologized. The water felt so oily and the tiled floor so slippery. She tried to walk but then she slipped again and her body fell on his, only this time her lips met his.

I don't like this chapter. My mind isn't working right now so I came up with that idea. Thanks for all the reviews! Please review again and thank you for reading my fic!