Sasuke woke up with a knot in his stomach. He'd barely been able to sleep. Unfortunately, he couldn't back out from his duties now. He quickly got dressed, black pants and a navy shirt. As he finished his morning routine, brushing his teeth, straightening his bed, he walked down the corridor to Sakura and Izumi's chambers. For the first time in his young life the hall seemed dark and omonious, like it had been haunted for hundreds of years. He kept his eyes forward, focused on his task. Without a knock or warning, he entered the girl's bedroom and approached her bed. She looked so cute, curled up in a little ball, sleeping peacefully. This was his last chance to calm his nerves. He forced the lump in his throat down, taking a few moments to breathe before his nightmare became reality.
"Sakura. Wake up." His voice was commanding. Much to his surprise, Sakura's eyes popped open as if she weren't sleeping much at all. Without being asked, she got up and turned to make her mattress just as he'd taught her all those years ago. It was crisp and clean, perfect to anyone's standard.
"Are you ready?" He asked her. She gave a hesitant nod. She wasn't completely ready, he knew that without asking a thing. But it wasn't up to her. It was far beyond either of their control. He took her hand and led her out of her bedroom. They were the only two awake, the usual liveliness of the manor was still deathly quiet. Typically in the morning, the two children would hear Sasuke's father discuss the future of the family with Itachi or the be reading the news, the paper crinkling every so often as he turned the page. On these days, Sasuke and Sakura could be sure that Itachi would be with Izumi, be it keeping her company during her morning chores or keeping her locked up somewhere where all anyone could hear were her distant, drowned out screams. His mother would be on a social call with some other highly respected wives, gossiping and bragging about their children and other trivial things.
He led her down into the basement, the only room that she'd not been granted any access to. Sasuke reached out towards the handle, his body tense.
"Sasuke-kun? May I ask a question?" He dropped his shoulders.
"So long as it's just the two of us, you may ask anything you want."
"Have you ever... been down here?"
"Once, yesterday. During my study hours. Itachi and my father took the time to show me what existed down here." She nodded, her question answered. "What else?"
"What do you mean?" She inquired, unsure how he knew she was contemplating another question with his back to her.
"You had another question, didn't you? I heard the wheels turn inside your head." She hesitated before asking.
"Why can I only ask you things when we're alone?" This question, Sasuke did not respond to. He opened the door and escorted her inside. What she found terrified her. The room was pristine, though there were defined areas with tools and toys that she'd never imagined. All she was sure of was that these objects were meant to hurt her. In the center of the room, two metallic cuffs hung down from the high ceiling. As she looked around, Sasuke lead her to them and stood her right underneath them. The two faced one another.
"Your clothes. Take them off." She did as he said, blushing profusely. He raised her arms up, cuffing each of her wrists. Her arms barely reached the cuffs. She was left stretched out, her feet barely grazing the floor. Sasuke took a step back, admiring her petite body. She blushed more.
She was adorable, Sasuke thought. She swung a bit, rocking back and forth against her chains. Sasuke walked up to her, rubbing her stomach. Her skin was warm.
"Let's get started..." He looked around the room, finding a smooth black paddle. Sakura whimpered. Walking around back of her, he smacked her ass once with the paddle. She gasped. He was glad to be behind her at this moment, he wasn't sure if he could face her right now. Not while he caused her pain.
Once again, he brought down the paddle on her ass. Her body jerked.
"You belong to me." He forced the words out. I have to condition her. He'd almost forgotten, the entire point of this endeavor was so she'd truly be his property. "Say it." He hit her again.
"I... I belong to you." She whined. "I belong to you..." He struck her again, insisting she repeat it after her every strike. After 5 times, he stepped back to see what exactly had happened. Her ass glowed red. Sasuke looked around. He looked around once again, finding a whip by a bin. He brought the whip back and stood in front of her, showing it. Her cheeks were streaked already with tears.
"Sasuke-kun... I'm... afraid..." He approached her again, cupping her face in his hand. She leaned her face against his palm, her eyes still brimming with tears.
"There's no need to be scared, Sakura. I promised to take care of you." She nodded, still shaking. He stepped back. He whipped her, listening to her yelp and groan. He kept whipping her, marking her skin with pink lines. She kept crying. Finally, Sasuke could take it no more. He dropped the whip on the ground and quickly removed the cuffs from her, catching her limp body. She trembled, still crying against him. He felt helpless, seeing her in pain filled him with dread.
"I'm sorry, Sakura. How can I help?" He looked at her, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I don't know..." She confessed, looking down in shame. He tipped her chin up.
"That's alright. We're... figuring stuff out." She nodded. He kissed her forehead, staying on the ground with her in his arms.
Over the next 7 days, the two tried endless tactics that suited the two of them. Unfortunately, nothing worked. As Sasuke gagged her Saturday morning, preparing her to try something with water, he stopped. His shoulders slouched. Sakura had never seen him in such a miserable state. She wiggled around, attempting to get him to look at her. She couldn't speak. The gag strained her jaw, she felt the drool drip down her chin. She whined through the gag, desperate for him to look at her.
"I can't do this, Sakura. I'm sorry. I can't continue hurting you like this." He removed her gag, allowing her to once again catch her breath.
"Why? What's wrong? Am I being bad?" He shook his head.
"No." He sighed. "I explained this already, didn't I? I'm supposed to dehumanize you. I... I'm supposed to turn you into a slave. But I can't do that. I don't want you to act like Izumi." Sakura couldn't help but smile. Sasuke didn't, it left her baffled. "If I don't though, my father will send you back and we'll not be allowed to be together anymore."
Her face dropped. She didn't know that, she couldn't imagine life without Sasuke. Her childhood felt like nothing more than a distant memory, spending her days on the street or cowering in a tiny house felt like a lifetime ago. She didn't want to leave.
"T-Then we have to do this! I don't wanna leave!" She protested.
"I know! But... dammit, Sakura. I can't do it. Hurting you is killing me."
"But... I'll be taken away. I don't want to leave you."
"I don't want you to leave either. I don't know what to do." He took her down, pressing a kiss to her lips. "I.. I'll be back. Wait here." He walked out of the room, leaving Sakura on her own. Not wanting anyone to intrude, he locked her in the basement and kept the key on his person. Sasuke walked into his father's office, finding his brother sitting across from his dad.
"Ah, Sasuke. I'm glad you came in. Your brother's just about to be introduced to his potential brides." The young adolescent raised an eyebrow.
"Father, I don't think Sasuke's studies have gotten that far yet."
"I see. Well, come along and I'll explain it to you. Itachi and I are going to the foyer to greet the women." Sasuke nodded, following along. He was truly perplexed, wasn't Itachi's heart bound to Izumi? He'd chosen her as a child and his mother had explained to him that they loved one another. Knowing now how he felt for Sakura, he couldn't fathom why his brother would be choosing a bride that wasn't Izumi. He and his father stood back against the wall, watching Itachi. He greeted women one by one, each dressed in elegant gowns and the finest jewelry the boy had ever seen. Some of them he recognized from parties his family hosted or attended, others he didn't recall seeing once in his life. To each girl, Itachi took her hand and gave a slight bow, kissing her courteously. He greeted her with a well-rehearsed "I'm delighted to meet you", to which the girl replied "the privilege is mine."
"Father, I don't understand. I thought Itachi had already committed himself to Izumi." His father let out an amused chuckle.
"Oh no son. Izumi, she has sworn herself to serve your brother. But she's nothing more than that. You and your brother are to marry women of value, who can better the family. How could a woman who comes from such slums as Izumi once did better our family at all? She has no prestige. No honor or wealth." Sasuke furrowed his brow, still confused. Itachi greeted the last girl who entered then made his way to the front of the room and up onto a step stool, making him tall enough to look over the young girls. The girls mingled with one another, mostly raving about how they'd hope Itachi would chose her as his bride. He cleared his throat and the chatter stopped. Sasuke looked up at his brother.
"It is an honor to have each and every one of you in my home, you're all beautiful and I hope your reputations prove to precede yourselves tonight. I look forward to getting to know each one of you and by the end of this gathering, I will have selected my bride. Thank you one and all for coming and offering to join our families." The girls applauded. Sasuke stayed against the wall, watching his brother expertly swoon each and every girl at the party, listening to them rave about their endless accomplishments, wealth and family standings.
"I still don't understand." He said a few hours later. He held a plate of mini quiches, hunger having bested him. "Father, Mother told me when I was young that Itachi and Izumi loved one another."
"And they do. But Sasuke, Izumi is nothing more to Itachi than property. He loves her just as a boy loves his dog." The boy felt his world crash around him at that. He'd always known that Izumi and Sakura were beneath his family, they were poor and uneducated girls who only knew how to serve. But he always assumed his family appreciated them, respected their work and devotion. But he'd been wrong. His family saw them as trained animals, that he knew for sure now. Breaking them, molding them, it was all for the simple purpose of dehumanization. He never gave the word much thought before now, he'd heard it so often it never impacted him. He noticed Izumi, standing in the corner opposite of where his father and he stood during the greetings. She wore a raggedy red dress with no shoes, her hair unkempt and a gentle, pleasant expression on her face. Typically, this would not phase him. But along with her attire, she donned a metallic collar around her neck with a chain that lead down to the floor, attached to a metal loop. She wasn't here to serve, she was here to be presented to the other girls.
"Father, after Itachi chooses his bride, what will become of Izumi?"
"She'll spend out the rest of her days in a brothel, of course. Her sexual experience and talents shouldn't go to waste. Your brother will still get 75 percent of her earnings at the house, however. That's just business." Sasuke set the plate down, his mind racing a mile a minute.
"Excuse me, Father. I've left Sakura tied up. I should see how she is." His father nodded, allowing the boy to leave. He calmly exited the party. Once away, he broke into a full sprint towards the basement door. The horrors he'd just learned, he didn't want any of it to happen to Sakura. He was petrified, trapped in an endless cycle where wealth and status was all that mattered. He stopped in front of the door and froze. Sakura was bound to ask questions, but how would he answer?