Hey everyone!

I've been behind on updating - pretty much everything, honestly - but I finally present to you this new chapter. I'm sure some of you will be disappointed that it's short, but I couldn't draw it out any longer without being repetitive. We've had very little action and a lot of inner monologues, so I'm finally picking up the pace with the action.

Just so everyone knows, I am now currently aware of how this story is going to end. It should be completed within the next five to ten chapters - ten chapters if I have a new plot twist somewhere in there, but think more on the end of five to seven. I could be entirely wrong - I tend to be when it comes to estimating lengths of stories. But I do know that this will be ending soon.

With Why the Caged Bird Sings out of the way, or Entropy, whichever is finished first, I will embark on the highly anticipated debut of Modus Operandi, which will be edited and revamped for the final time. Keep an eye out!

13

-The Needs of the Few-

When the shower continued running for over an hour, Madara decided that Sakura had had enough time to herself. He knew she wasn't stupid enough to attempt suicide, but a part of him was somewhat apprehensive of the prospect. So, without further thought into the matter, he strode into the bathroom—good girl, she had left it unlocked—and opened the shower door.

Sakura, to his surprise, was asleep, despite the fact that the water was no longer hot. However, it was not entirely frigid, which was probably why she had not awakened yet.

He easily turned off the spray and lifted her small form, reveling in how well she fit against his body and giving no care to the way his long sleeves and the front of his shirt were being soaked. She stirred, probably at the cold from being removed from the jets of water. He couldn't deny that he hardened at the way her nipples pebbled in response to the change in temperature, and he was very much reminded of how he had not been satisfied earlier. However, after his conversation with her, he was aware that he could not have her again until she had signed the contract and accepted his marriage proposal. While he had put a lot of thought and gone to many precautions to ensure that she could not manage to weasel out of his trap—oh, and what a wonderful trap it was—he knew of Sakura's intelligence and determination. He had given her a time limit, and he would not make it any harder for her to accept within that time limit. It was the little bit of mercy he was willing to show her.

Soon emerald green eyes were fluttering open. She blinked groggily at him for a moment before realizing that he was holding her naked form. She screeched and attempted to remove herself from his grip.

Madara controlled her fall and helped her stand on her own. She was paralyzed, covering herself as best she could, staring at him like a deer in the headlights.

"You fell asleep in the shower," he explained. "I wasn't going to simply leave you there."

Sakura was wary, but logic forced her to accept that explanation, and she quickly fumbled for a towel. When he didn't leave for her to dress, she asked quietly, "Could you…give me some privacy?" Her voice was at a low volume and soft, but there was still a hard edge to it. Inwardly, he chuckled at her attitude, and he left the bathroom.

She took a rather long time getting dressed and he decided that she probably knew he was waiting outside for her. He wouldn't tell her that that brat Sasuke had come by—no, that would only give her hope. Better to leave her thinking that she was alone, that she had been forgotten. They were playing by his rules, and even though Sakura was clever, he had constructed something that was impossible to get out of when faced with his sheer influence and power. And now, even if she resisted his proposal, she wouldn't even be able to be with Sasuke. After their conversation earlier, he was glad he had served the papers to Kisuke on Thursday. It was something not even Ume knew about—this was clan business and Ume was certainly not an Uchiha.

Absently, he wondered if he should have served the papers before making his move on Sakura. She would have been heartbroken, an easy target. She would have been susceptible to his machinations and he wouldn't have had to deal with her resentment.

He certainly wouldn't have had to take her by force.

Madara had to acknowledge that perhaps, in his need to get her away from Sasuke, he had made a mistake. He had moved too fast and should have exercised more patience. Things would certainly be easier long term if he had waited just a little longer.

But then he remembered how it felt to know that Sakura was with Sasuke, that not only was she not his, but was someone else's. Even now that she was all but his, anyway, the memory of the feeling grated on him.

He decided that he did not regret his decisions after all, regardless of whether they had been hasty. If he had waited, Sakura might have slept with Sasuke. There would have been three more days of knowing that she had been claimed, three days in which she could have given herself to someone. One of the things that he prized about Sakura was the fact that she was a virgin—that he would be her first, her only. That was desperately important to him.

Finally, she came out of the bathroom, wearing his borrowed clothes again. It sent a surge of male satisfaction through him, seeing her in the baggy shirt and rolled-up sweatpants.

She paused when she saw him. There was a moment of hesitation before she said, "I'm hungry."

It was probably an attempt to divert his attention from any other activities he might be interested in. Nonetheless, she had barely eaten anything for breakfast and as it was already almost two o'clock in the afternoon, he wasn't surprised.

"Very well. I will make you something."

There was a flash of suspicion in her eyes. "I can cook."

He couldn't help but smirk at her wariness. "As you wish."

Madara stood from his seat on the bed and walked out of the room towards the kitchen, Sakura following hesitantly behind him. When they reached the large, almost industrial-sized kitchen, Sakura paused and looked around in awe.

It was a kitchen built almost like one in a restaurant. There were six large burners on a stove on the island in the middle of the kitchen, an enormous refrigerator and freezer combination, and an oven and microwave on built into the wall opposite the sink and dishwasher. Everything was stainless steel and the counters were made of pink granite. It was easy to get around, but her lack of familiarity with it would make it difficult to navigate.

For a moment she didn't seem to know where to start, but then she approached the refrigerator. Inside was plenty of basic food—eggs, fresh fish, vegetables, fruits, and so on. He watched her inspect everything before she pulled out the tuna, rice vinegar, and cucumber, and set it on the nearest counter. She then started the rice cooker before going about preparing the tuna.

She worked quickly and efficiently, and within thirty minutes she had cooked a meal for herself. He noticed that she had made the bare minimum and nothing for him, but when he met with Kisuke it had been over lunch, so he would let that slight go unpunished. She would be cooking for him plenty in the future.

Sakura made her way to the dining room, set down her plate of food, and began to eat. Madara sat across from her and watched her eat. She ate slowly, occasionally glancing at him nervously.

Finally, he broke the silence. "Have you come to a decision yet? There isn't much time left."

Freezing like a deer in the headlights, Sakura stared at him.

It was true. There wasn't much time left.

And now her only hope, Sasuke, was out of the picture. She didn't know too much about clan politics, but she knew enough from the time spent with Sasuke. If he declined Madara's arranged marriage, especially when Sakura doubted it was being laid down as just an option—because Madara didn't propose options, he crafted traps that were impossible to escape from—Sasuke would sacrifice much more than she thought she was worth. It wouldn't just affect Sasuke, it would affect his entire family's standing within the clan.

That was one of the things she had taken into account in the shower, just before drifting off to sleep.

She couldn't do that to Sasuke. But then, really, what was she fighting against? Sasuke already thought that she had cheated on him and had apparently not done anything to help her. She imagined that she had been in the shower quite a while if Madara had come to check on her, only to find her asleep. But still, while she knew that Madara would never tell her if Sasuke had come to the house while she was asleep, she didn't have any hard proof to the opposite. Unfortunately, his word was the only one she had to go off, even if he lied to her.

Which she knew that he would if it would benefit him. Sakura was starting to wonder what she could trust and what she couldn't. The line wasn't nearly as clear as it had been one week ago.

How could she marry someone that she couldn't even trust?

Sakura stared down at her food, her appetite no longer present despite how little she had eaten so far. She hated Madara; he had forced her into this farce of a marriage proposal, had raped her twice, and had actively gone to lengths to take Sasuke away from her. It wasn't fair, not at all, and Sakura wished that this life lesson was one that she didn't have to learn from. However, too much was at stake.

Her otou-san's future safety and comfort. If Sasuke was willing to work with her, then Sasuke and his family's future was at risk. Her schooling was at risk. Her future was at risk, no matter how unimportant it felt in the face of everyone else's problems.

All those problems stemmed from Madara's obsession with her, and she was the only one who could fix this mess. She only had to say one word to make it all go away, to make everything better.

Sasuke wasn't going to give up his family's honor for a potential—potential—marriage. It wasn't like they were engaged and about to tie the knot. No, they were barely budding in their romance, and they were so young, too. If Sasuke threw his family's honor away for something so feeble, it was entirely possible, or perhaps certain, that five, ten, twenty years down the line he would regret it. For all she knew, his family would disown him to save themselves. Fugaku seemed like that kind of man.

And still, she doubted that Madara would give up that easily.

She closed her eyes and realized that she would have to sacrifice herself for the people she loved. That was the only way out of this mess. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

The word was on the tip of her tongue, but her mouth felt too dry, her tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth. This was it; this was the end of her life as she knew it. She would be entering a new chapter, and she could only hope that it wouldn't be as terrible as she thought it would be. Perhaps…perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.

Feeling like she was going to choke on the words if she kept them in any longer, Sakura took a deep breath and said,

"I accept your proposal."

I truly feel for all of you who thought Sakura was going to pull a badass turn-around on Madara and totally one-up him, but I'm afraid his trap was as perfect as he's been saying this whole time. But SasuSaku is not entirely out of the picture yet - you'll see what I mean soon enough. Just stick around, okay?

If you have any questions, comments, or just in general want to rant and rave at me for the cliffhanger, there's the shiny little review box waiting for you at the bottom of the screen. :) Please review! Reviews breed more chapters (and sometimes inspire me for new plot twists).

Now, I"m off to work on the newest Madara-sensei! chapter. If you follow that fic, stay tuned, because I'm hoping to update it soon!

Cheers!