The Tale of How the Sand Siblings' Parents Met

CHAPTER 2. Waxing Crescent

Warning: I'd already said it, but there are some scenes of sexual nature (not lemons, but still) and they start now!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and characters.

The wedding day arrived too soon for the participants' comfort. Karura was on the verge of tears as her older sister, who along with the oldest brother had traveled from Ice to join them for the occasion, applied her makeup, and she was searching for the different escape routes in case she couldn't carry out her duty and decided to run away last minute. Her union to Hiro was unavoidable though. If she was to try escaping, she would only fall pray to the desert's infernal heat and melt to death. Assuming the hundreds of expertly trained spies, trackers, and assassins the Sand village owned didn't retreat her within seconds anyways.

Hiro himself tried to stay cool as he waited for the time to come.

"Feeling any jitters?" his student Baki asked him.

He shook his head. "I feel okay."

"Really? Because your face is red, sensei."

He touched his face and felt heat. Knew he was blushing yet again. He groaned in dismay.

It was over as soon as it started. Karura Kana from the Ice had become Karura of the Wind from the Sand. She smiled throughout the ceremony, and she chastely kissed her new husband in front of everyone. Their first kiss, he thought contently. His bride danced some, she ate some, she socialized some, and at the end of the day when it was time to say good bye to her father, older siblings, family members, friends, and anyone else from the Ice, she cried a lot.

Her husband consoled her, stroking her silky blonde hair and rubbing her back, and the Sand citizens fawned at such a sweet sight. She then retired for the night with two ANBU escorting her to her new house while Hiro gave a speech, thanking all guests for joining them that great evening and encouraging them to keep partying until the Third Kazekage said it was time to stop.

The crowd cheered; he rushed home, marveling at the astonishingly smooth flow in which the night had proceeded. The villagers had been pleased by the spectacle, he had found some enjoyment in the party, and, aside from the tears shed during and after the heartbreaking departure from her family, Karura had looked like she's had a good time herself. Maybe she was willing to play her role as the lovely wife after all.

Boy was he wrong.

"She's safe inside, Lord Hiro," the ANBU men whispered to him from the shadows. He nodded his acknowledgement and they vanished.

He turned to open his door, and discovered it had been completely locked from the inside. It was okay though, he reminded himself. Karura was wrong if she thought door locks could ever stop him. He could kick a hole through the door if he really wanted to, but to his convenience he happened to be a magnet release user. Some focus of his chakra and the door became unlocked.

"Karura?" he walked inside, noticed she wasn't in the living room nor in kitchen. "Karu…?"

The light in his bedroom was on, and the sound of water was coming from the bathroom. She was just getting ready for bed; Hiro took off his formal clothes and changed into a pair of old sweatpants, no shirt. The sweatpants would come loose as it was anyway. He simply didn't want to scare her by presenting himself in underwear.

She got scared anyways when she came out of the bathroom.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, her teal eyes wide in terror as she hugged her silk sleeping ropes tightly around her.

Hiro tore his eyes away from his woman. "This is my room. I sleep here."

"With me?" she asked, genuinely surprised.

"Yes?" he replied, taken aback as well. "This has been my bedroom for a good three years already. Now that you're my wife this is your room as well. The entire house is for you."

"Then I'll go sleep in the living room," she decided, walking towards the door.

Hiro intercepted her path before she could leave the room. "Do not start it already. At least give me a chance."

Her eyes watered in fear and she backed away from him. She felt like a rabbit staring into the eyes of a predatory fox.

"Don't cry," he said gently. "I'm just saying that if we got married we should act like a married couple."

She took a deep, shuddering breath. "No. They told me it was just to save you face in the future, and to ally our villages. They never said anything about me having to really be your wife."

He exhaled audibly. How to explain this? "Our marriage was arranged. I wish we both had been able to marry a person we truly loved… but that isn't the case. So let's be practical. I… I think you're a charming, beautiful woman…. True, I am not in love with you… but I am really attracted to you, and I want to make this thing work. I want to try to make you happy. I want you to try to make me happy as well. And maybe like that we will learn to love each other…. Do you understand…? As arranged as this is, I rather save the drama. It's pointless and a waste of our time and patience."

Her face was blushed a bright pink and she was crying softly. She… she understood the logic, but she didn't know how to handle the change.

"Do you understand, Karura?" he repeated, talking to her in the most soothing voice he could create. "We are married and there's no going back, so let's just act like a married couple. What do you say?" He reached for the side of her face.

She panicked, and in her fright she tried to push him out of her way. What had her father been thinking marrying her off to a complete stranger? She didn't want to spend the rest of her life next to this man! She wanted to escape! She had to!

Hiro barely even budged from his spot as she tried to get past him. The situation was almost impossible for him to tolerate; the woman he had married was just like a little girl!

But she was gorgeous, so he would try a different approach.

"Stop that," he commanded ruthlessly. He grabbed her by the wrists tightly, ending her futile fight. "You are my wife, and you will do as I say."

"Let go of me!" she begged, crying openly. "You're hurting me!"

He pushed her unto the bed and got on top of her, his body pressing hers hard against the mattress and a knee in between her legs, spreading them open. Karura screamed and did her best to get away, but he was a shinobi. He was too strong. He kissed her hard on the lips against her will and then trailed down to her neck, tugging at the delicate skin roughly.

"Please stop!" she screamed, but Hiro caressed her clothed breasts and licked at the valley in between, purring about how beautiful she was.

She writhed even more as she struggled farther, and uselessly, against him. "You're a pig!" she yelled at him. "Leave me the hell alone!"

Her attacker smiled against her skin. "What did you say?" he looked up lazily.

She yelled in rage and disgust once again. He seemed to be having fun. She couldn't stand it.

"You called me a pig didn't you?" he asked nonchalantly.

She grimaced and kept on fighting; to her surprise, Hiro stood up voluntarily.

He was smirking, and he looked dangerous. "A real pig would have fucked you the minute he walked into the house. You're a fine woman, Karura, and as much as I want to just go ahead and do you, I'm quite the gentleman."

She gathered her ragged self into a ball, frightened at his words but relieved he'd, at least temporarily, stopped the assault. He was like a predator, and she was his dinner.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," Hiro continued, not sounding the least sorry. "I just want you to understand that you're a lucky girl, despite everything that has happened this past month. You could have ended up with a real pig, but instead you ended up with someone slightly more gentle and civilized. I don't want you to ruin it. Don't make me lose my patience."

She nodded quickly, staring at him widely with those big, teal eyes of hers.

He exhaled noisily, glad the situation was finally under his control, albeit feeling a bit ashamed about having to sink so low. "Are you okay?" he asked more calmly.

She nodded quickly again; wiping tears and sweat from her face. "I'm… I'm… I just—I really thought th-that you were going to force yourself on me-e."

Part of him had wanted to. When being the nice, understanding and compromising type of guy had failed to get her to cooperate with him, the famous good cop bad cop type of trick had come in handy. He was happy to have some of her obedience now, but he had ultimately been dying to deflower the beautiful girl for weeks already. He felt frustrated, and the stunt, the mere idea of making her his, had aroused him more than he was proud to admit. Lucky for the girl, he had self control.

"It's our wedding night. Most would say that I should have just gone ahead and raped you," he told her, more darkly than he intended. "And make no mistake: I do want you. But I understand that tonight you are anxious, and I respect you so I'll back off."

"Thank you…" she said under her breath, a tiny smile gracing her otherwise miserable face.

He felt utter pity for the girl, but added, "I am still expecting you to give yourself to me very soon."

She closed her eyes and nodded, hugging herself tighter. For the time being she was okay, and she was exhausted.

"Let's go to sleep," he sighed. "What side of the bed do you want?"

"The side by the window." She crawled to the spot.

Hiro lay down beside her, keeping a foot in distance. She was still curled into a ball, and looking away from him. He covered himself with the blanket and turned his back on her. She wouldn't be his yet… it really annoyed him.

"It's cold, Karura," he snapped at her. "At least cover yourself."

"But Sand is a very hot place…" she explained quietly. "This isn't cold compared to what I'm used to…."

"Oh." That shut him up.

She sounded so depressed, as if trying to not start crying again. "Tell you what," he whispered in the darkness. "If you're good, I promise we will visit your village one day."

Penetrating silence ensued. "You promise?"

"I promise," he promised.

Hiro woke up at nine in the morning— the alcohol from the day before had him feeling sluggish. He looked at his brand new wife, spread across the bed, sleeping peacefully. Her golden hair, her soft curves, her long legs and the prospect of what lay at the point in which they connected, they were all so enticing. He forced himself out of bed and into the kitchen, afraid of jumping on her and eating her up if his animalistic instincts got the better of him.

He cooked breakfast, the fanciest thing he could do. Fancy-looking omelets. Karura was the daughter of a politician, so she was probably used to only eating high-quality foods for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. He was used to eating common meals or whatever he could get his hands on. In a past mission, his entire squad had been forced to eat burnt rat. Now that his wife was a rich girl, however, he needed all his dishes to look pretty and ornate. He was afraid otherwise Karura would decide to starve to death.

She woke up to an interesting smell coming from the kitchen. It was food, her rumbling stomach told her. She went into the bathroom to wash herself and change, and then she left the confines of her new bedroom, not quite prepared to face the man she now had to recognize as husband.

He was so average, she observed from the foot of the kitchen. He had dark hair, dark eyes, a bored looking expression. He was handsome though, she gave him that much, but that didn't merit him her affections. He was a cruel stranger.

"Hey, are you hungry?" he turned to look at her. She didn't answer, but her stomach grumbled loudly. "Come. Sit with me. I was just about to start eating."

She observed him as he served her what looked like an omelet and poured her a cup of orange juice, all the while being intimidatingly quiet. "You cook?" she asked, unnerved by the silence.

"Yeah. Just basics. I lived alone so I had to feed myself. Come sit." He pulled out a chair for her.

She sat down tensely. "I can't feed you… because I don't know how to cook…. Servants always made my food…."

"I figured that much so don't worry." He sat in his own chair and took a bite of his omelet. "When I'm kazekage," he said after swallowing, "You'll have servants. It will be a while until then but… I promise you won't have to cook as long as I'm around."

She nodded, taking a bite of her food. For something that looked so unprofessionally made, it wasn't half bad. She ate quietly, wondering for how long she would be eating commoners' meals like that, and what she would do when she became hungry and… her husband… wasn't around.

"What are you thinking?" he asked her after a few minutes of silence.

"That you're a ninja," she admitted. "So I should learn to cook."

"Huh?"

"You'll be gone from time to time, no?" she asked anxiously. "My little brother is a ninja, too, and sometimes when he would go on missions he'd be gone for days.

"Yes, I'll be gone sometimes," he admitted, and then added rather randomly, "Do you want to go to the market?"

"Th-the market?"

"Yes. I can show you around Sand. We can pick up groceries, and we can buy you some clothes." She said nothing, so he added, "That or we can just stay here today all day together."

Her head snapped up and she agreed to go.

"Did you have fun?" Hiro asked Karura. It was almost six in the afternoon when they reentered their house, and the flushed-cheeked Karura looked more alive than she ever had since he'd met her around a month ago.

"Yes," she giggled. "The Sand is beautiful. It's so hot though."

She had complained about the heat every thirty minutes. "You'll get used to it."

"I don't think so. You claim nights are cold, but they are just fresh enough to me."

"The desert is cold at night," he said. "You'll catch a cold."

"You'll freeze to death when we go to my village."

When they went to her village. He had promised. "What did you buy at the clothes store?" he asked, wanting to change topic.

"I got some dresses!" she told him excitedly. "And scarves! A lot of the Sand people wear them. I don't understand why since it's so hot, but I guess I should try to fit in." She shrugged, pulling out some of the clothes from her bags

"Well, for starters, the desert is chilly in the early morning and nights, even if that is meaningless to you. That's what the thick scarves are for. Then there's the issue of sandstorms. The thinner scarves are used for protection against the sand."

"I see," she mumbled, admiring a maroon gown.

"What else did you buy?" he asked her.

"New sleepwear and jewelry and hair accessories and," she looked at him in the eye, "Weren't you paying any attention?"

He grimaced, feeling his face get warm. "I'm not into shopping, so not really. But I was enjoying your company the whole time." He picked up the grocery bags and took them to the kitchen. "I was glad to see you happy."

He was a kind man; she smiled half-heartedly. "Today was more fun than I thought it'd be…. I need to go take a shower now."

He opened his mouth to ask if he could join her, but decided for pursing his lips instead. He already knew what she would say.

The Sand village was a very hot place. Karura was torn between wanting to wear as few clothes as possible in order to keep cool and wanting to wear as many concealing clothes as possible in order to keep Hiro from ogling at her. She'd noticed that sometimes his dark eyes would hover over her breasts, and she was not mentally prepared to be fondled by him.

She finished her cold bath once all sweat and sand particles had been meticulously scrubbed off and her golden hair smelled of sunlight, but as soon as she dried the water drops off her skin, she felt the desert heat cling at her once again. To hell with being afraid of Hiro. She put on her new pair of sleeping shorts and a matching, light shirt.

"Good, you're out of the shower," Hiro said when he heard her light footsteps enter the kitchen. "I was thinking that we should—Karura?"

"W-what?" she asked, feeling self-conscious as he was looking her up and down with his mouth slightly ajar.

"You're—you're too exposed!" He turned away, blushing. "Here in Sand, ladies shouldn't be dressed like that when they are out of bed. It's indecent, and only the female ninja are given the freedom to be remotely revealing!"

"But I didn't know this," she said in her defense. She'd actually been sleeping in her underwear when staying with Yashamaru and her father before the wedding. At least now she was clothed.

"Well, now you know so go change," Hiro ordered her.

"But… you saw me yesterday in my sleeping robe…" Karura noted shyly. True, the robe wasn't as revealing as her current outfit, but they were both sleepwear so what was the difference?

"It's different because we were in the bedroom," he explained, as if it was obvious.

"But… but it's not like anyone other than you is seeing me now."

"That's true but still you shouldn't be dressed like that," he insisted.

"But it's hot." She pouted.

The hot thing again. "I... I guess you can wear that for now, while you get used to Sand's climate," he gave in reluctantly. "But only when it's already evening, understood?"

"Yes, sir," she nodded quite happily.

Hiro shook his head. His wife was so immature… but she was so hot and he'd be lying if his perverted side wasn't enjoying the view. Was she teasing him?

"I was thinking that we should cook dinner together," he said, wanting to move his thoughts to his upper head. "You should learn, for those days when I'm gone."

She was afraid of the prospect, but agreed nevertheless.

"Hiro- Hiro- Hiro, stop… Please stop…!" Karura was pushing against her husband's chest, trying to get him off of her.

"I want to keep going…" he said in between heavy breaths. He was devouring her neck, playing with her fleshy breasts, loving her.

"I'm not ready," she moaned out. "Please stop…."

"When will you be then?" his hand trailed down her body until he reached the spot he'd been yearning for what felt like ages.

She yelped in surprise and wiggled around, trying to loose him. "I don't know, but stop…!"

"Stop fighting," he smirked against her chest. "Your body wants me."

"It does not!" She accidentally let out a tortured moan at the intrusion of his fingers.

"You're so wet, and we haven't even started."

She was angry that her body betrayed her. The couple had just finished cooking dinner and Hiro asked her for a kiss. She obliged, reminding herself that he was being a gentleman— how could she have known?— but as the innocent kiss deepened and turned passionate things got out of her control. He picked her up, her legs wrapped around his waist so that she could feel his hardness pressed against her crotch, and took her to their bedroom. That's when she began supplicating that they ought to stop, but in his excitement Hiro hushed her and removed her shirt, tortured her with unwanted pleasures.

And then just like that he got up and went inside the bathroom.

"H-H-Hiro?" Karura called out in shock, replacing her shirt.

He came back to the bedroom ten minutes later, a silly grin plastered on his face.

"Hiro?"

"I'm going to shower." He got his clothes and locked himself back in the bathroom.

She went to the kitchen and served herself some of the food she'd helped prepare, but she didn't feel much hunger after the sexual scene. With nothing else to do, she decided it was time to sleep. But to her utter embarrassment, she realized there was an aching burning sensation in between her legs, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Even with her small sleeping clothes, she suffered for hours that night: it was hotter inside her than it was in the desert.

It had become Hiro's routine. After a whole day of being fun and kind, every night he would touch her in places and make her squirm in pleasure, only to stop before she obtained release, using the pretense that she was asking him to stop to explain his decisions. Although it tortured him as well, five minutes in the restroom with his hand fixed him up. She on the other hand was a rich girl, a completely snobby lady that would never 'sink' so low as to help herself. But from Hiro's past experiences with female ninja, women enjoyed sex as much as men. Karura would be begging him to take her once she became frustrated enough, and taking her by force wouldn't be necessary. He was from the family of the Wind after all, future kazekage, and it was a low thing to resort to rape a woman.

She was slowly but surely breaking down. As much as she hated him and his touch, the feelings he created were ecstasy. She abhorred his cursed routine, detested the way every night she was getting louder and louder, and she had to keep reminding herself that just because he could bring her to heaven if he wanted to, it did not mean he was not an enemy. He was, and he was therefore unlovable. She hated how she had to force herself to keep that in mind.

Thanks for reading and any review/comment/flame you might leave ^-^ And I'll update for this in 3 or 4 weeks.