I RETURN. :3 Here be the next and hope the wait was worth it.

The composition this chapter is named for was actually based upon a tragic love story from China where an emperor was forced to choose between political duty and the wife he loved so much - and of course, it ends with grief and sorrow. Tales in the east brimmed with intrigue, romance, drama, tragedy...all bitter or bittersweet.

I have taken the title of the story purely for poetic reasons. It could also refer to anything but this tearjerking tale it comes from.

Chapter Three

World of Flowers and Frill

How - how DARE this man-child tell her she was uptight and frigid?!

Why and how did he rile up such strong emotions in her, even causing her cheeks to flush as she felt?

Sadako was still feeling it after three nights which passed since then. Thank the gods nothing got back to her father, but she didn't have it in herself to tell Tobi when she saw him again. These things were something to discuss among women, and Moegi would hardly be much help as she would just fall off her knees as she was prone to do.

"I don't want to do anything you don't like" - true to his word, Prince Naruto didn't even touch her without her permission, just as his face never made full contact with hers when he purposefully made her heart beat and the blood rush to her face. But his passionate speech didn't stop there.

"When I saw you again that night of the bonfire dance, I saw nothing but you and those hydrangeas I know you love so much, so I sent you two - one for you, and one for me. Your beauty on that stage that night enflamed me and made me long to get away from everyone else; it took me unawares at that moment, and I couldn't control it. It's just made me all the more fired up about our wedding day in the harvest...and to see you standing amid the maple leaves..."

In the nights to follow, she tossed and turned on her sleeping mat, waking up during the early hours of the morning to swelter in her most sensitive, sacred body parts. Knowing the vulgar gossip of the lechers - Itachi's words coming back to her ears - as well as the tiresome but excitable tales from the ladies, the princess had no choice but to come to this conclusion even if it scared her. Running from it only made it come back with a vengeance.

"He says he desires me, that he looks forward to spending the rest of his life with me," she whispered aloud to no one in particular, laying on her back and staring out the window where the moon was covered by mist, "and he's done nothing but respect me, unlike when he was a bratty boy." She hadn't spent much time with him other than those poems and correspondences, sending her the flowers he knew she loved, but it was enough to tell her he indeed was changing. He was doing what any man of the imperial court would do. Perhaps he was right in that she was being too stubborn for her own good...

The rain poured with a vengeance when she waited once more on the next night to follow, being in just her white sleeping robe and combing her hair when she heard the thudding sounds outside the curtain of her rooms. Turning around, assuming it could be Moegi or any of the other ladies asking her if she required anything else for the night, Sadako heard herself gasp when she beheld the grand sight in fiery colors, the black hat atop shocking yellow-gold hair, and of course blue eyes which shone brightly in the light from the candle and lantern in her room. He sat right outside the screen, intently beholding her and keeping her in place like prey.

Her betrothed came all the way out in the rain, without even a warning, but he did swear he'd return next time.

He caught her when she was most vulnerable, and she was partly angry at herself for letting this happen.

And yet...it excited her without an explanation and beyond her control. Women craved the thrill, she'd heard, and maybe this was what it felt like.

"Promised I'd be back, didn't I?" Sadako turned her back to him, refusing to answer. He chuckled. "Still playing hard to get, eh?"

She wouldn't answer him, but her heart disagreed with her silence. Just as her body reacted against her control. What can't be manipulated lives within the heart. She then heard rustling, the sound very familiar, and it made her jerk her head back in his direction. He'd lifted the curtain just to show her his face, and she slid backward in shock at his intrusion.

"Forgive me, my lady. Or should I call you by your name, since we're -"

Sadako didn't want to hear that again, him reminding her they were meant to be. "Why would I give you permission to call me by my name?" she demanded, standing up so quickly that she stumbled on her feet and came close to falling to the floor -

- only to be captured by a pair of strong arms within shimmering, fiery orange and gold. And her black eyes latched onto blue ones when she looked up as she was held in the captivity of the prince's embrace. The fire from her core traveled throughout the rest of her body. She could hear her own heart betraying her in her ears, and he seemed to notice as he leaned in to hear himself. He laughed a little. "That tells me everything. You know you want us like this, but you still are fighting it. I felt that way once, too. I suppose it comes with being destined for something that you have no say in. Unlike you, I intend to make the best of things." He snickered. "Oh, wait, you do that, but in a way that is frowned upon. If you want, we can do that anytime we want - after tonight, of course."

Sadako couldn't believe what she was hearing. The man she was going to marry was just now telling her he would support whatever she was doing away from everyone's eyes, though she feared his response to her secret childhood friendship with a man who taught her a lot of things that ladies didn't engage in. She had no willpower to speak; Naruto rendered her at a loss for words, and she needed to regain the upper hand. "Everything is too good to be true," she breathed, voice a hush to her ears.

She lost what was left of the thread of control at that moment.

"If that's the case..." Naruto's features softened into a concerned frown, and then he shocked her by DARING to bring a hand over to where her heart pounded fast with the rhythm of the heavy rain still pouring outside the doorway. The beat picked up to the point it exploded into a single fierce burst.

"Oh -!"

Was it me or him?

The question began as soon as their lips connected, but no answer would be granted. The second the contact was made, everything else became meaningless except basic human needs frowned upon when spoken of. Not even men and women could chatter about it with each other; it was a horror to behold.

"Too good to be true?" Naruto husked when they finally parted to breathe. His lips were swollen and almost red as pomegranate seeds. "You took the words out of my mouth, Princess. I can see the fire of the candlelights in your eyes." His hand was still resting over her heart which continued to beat harder and harder, and he slowly slipped it beneath the layer of her garment.

Sadako couldn't speak, because she was torn between ending this moment and just letting it continue.

The earth's fire in her blood erupting within her breasts and below her stomach, and beneath his hand, made the choice for her, which he could sense with the instincts of an animal.

~o~

He wasn't lying when he said he could see the candlelight in her eyes as he told her he was in love with her, not just lust that was strong with youth.

Hell, he didn't want to wait any longer. Via custom, they would spend three nights together and finally become man and wife, but he lost patience. Wasn't like they weren't contracted anyway.

Sadako was a wild thing, and their first night showed that. The storm that raged into the night must have silenced all outside noises and sleeping residents of the Uchiha House. She threw her head back when he ravished her throat and shoulders, drowning out whatever protests she had left. Her hair...oh, her marvelous hair was Tsukuyomi's blanket while the pearl known as the moon shone brighter than the stars. It was as soft as the finest silk of any kimono, shimmering as water. Her skin was fair as cherry blossoms, though more creamy than pink, her lips being dark as the hearts of those flowers.

Her scent - the incense was subtle and herbal. Enticing and empowering in itself.

Naruto wanted more.

They retreated into her rooms, disappearing behind the wisteria screens surrounding her sleeping area and writing desk. All the while, sashes were undone, and layers upon layers of robes were discarded, but she had less compared to him. In no time did he have her naked and groaned at the air washing over his own body. He growled in his throat as he beheld her breasts, small enough to fit in both of his hands and full as the moon and sun, peaks hard as pebbles and dark as buds before blooming. He wouldn't look further because it was already too much for him to bear.

"I have no interest in an unrequited burning love in the months to come - or in the years of our marriage." Naruto was undressing himself and letting the garments fall to the floor with each step, just as she backed away from him. He avoided looking at her again because the sweetness was worth the build-up, and when he was finally as naked as she was, he lost control as soon as he saw one arm horizontally covering up the centers of her breasts and the other went to hide what was between her legs. Her majestically long hair fell to the floor behind her, framing her goddess form. Her chin lifted in defiance as she continued to attempt to preserve her dignity in his presence.

Silly little kitten.

That was exactly what she was: a cute little kitty who fought back with her teeth and claws, not giving serious injuries.

He took her into his arms, wrapping them around her even as she kept her hands over her intimate parts. She softened only when he melded his lips with hers, her skin beneath his hands, and her moans and sighs, softly protesting but not physically fighting him again telling him everything he needed to know.

After tonight, he intended to come and see her every night or as often as he would, unable to wait until they were married. He would keep sending more passionate poems of love and visit under the cover of night.

Episode 6 of "Genji Monogatari Sennenki" played a major role in the consummation of Naruto and Sadako, though they're still strangers in a way because they fully don't know each other as people. Review. :$