MATURE/POTENTIALLY TRIGGERING CONTENT WARNING!

"Daddy, please!" Haruka begged Kizashi Haruno with her big blue eyes watering dramatically.

Sakura watched from the bed, unable to escape the room in her exhausted state. Her sister, who'd been wholly and completely against marrying the prince, was now enamored by him and desperate to take Sakura's place at his side. 'She thinks there's no danger since I'm not dead yet,' the pinkette mused while avoiding her younger brother's unyielding stare.

Kizashi sighed, turning his gaze onto his eldest offspring and lowering his voice so no one in the hallway would be able to eavesdrop, "Tell the prince you'd like to break off the engagement so your sister can have him."

For the first time in a long time, anger boiled in Sakura's chest. She sputtered, "What?!"

"Has living with the prince dulled your mind, Trash? Daddy said it, so you have to listen, or else!" Haruka bit, crossing her arms stubbornly.

Hihara continued to stare at his older sister, who was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, "Does he know of your illegitimacy?"

Sakura closed her eyes and tried to keep herself from trembling in fear, "Thank you for visiting me, but I'd like to be alone now."

"Who do you think you are!" Haruka shrieked, stomping toward the bed.

Kizashi shushed her, "Quiet!" He looked down at the pinkette in poorly masked disgust but surprised her by nodding toward the door, "Let's allow her to rest. Perhaps Sakura will have a clearer head in the morning."

Both of Sakura's siblings hesitated to leave, though they eventually obeyed their father's orders. Once alone, Sakura stumbled out of bed to take a bath, shooing Konan and telling her she'd like to be alone for the evening. When she was done, she stared at her reflection with a frown. Her pale skin was even more devoid of color than usual. On the side of her neck and on her ribcage lay fresh scars from her most recent injuries, but they were healed.

'I'm lucky to be alive. Those healing potions must've been potent.' If the Uchihas knew of her relationship with her family, she'd likely be dead now because they never would've wasted such precious supplies on her.

Sakura pulled on a comfortable nightgown and trudged back out into the bedroom to crawl under the freshly changed covers. 'I'm still so tired…. I suppose almost bleeding out really takes a toll on somoeone.'

As she lay on her side and waited for sleep to come, she stared at the empty side of the bed and wondered when Akuma would come. It was well past sunset, and the others had left, so it was only a matter of time before he'd show up and half-heartedly mock her weak disposition.

A tiny smile tugged at her lips as she lost consciousness. Her dying wish had come true. She'd gotten to see Sasuke again.

Since Sakura had grown accustomed to Akuma's nocturnal behavior, she stirred when the door to her bedroom opened and closed in the middle of the night. Her eyes crept open to see a male figure approaching, and she waited for him to say something. When a familiar voice, though hushed, met her ears, the woman's eyes widened, and the sleep left her system instantly, "You've changed."

"Brother…." She breathed, sitting up as he approached and sat on the edge of the bed, dark green eyes studying her carefully.

He frowned, "Don't call me that."

'I forgot. He sees me as too disgusting to be a part of his family,' she lowered her head submissively, an apology soft on her lips because she was in no condition to argue.

"You look different," Hihara said, reaching to finger a long strand of her hair. His voice became quieter, "You smell different, too."

Sakura's lips formed a thin line as she tried not to cry, 'I'm sure he's angry that I've been eating and living well with the prince. I was ordered to be killed, after all. He's probably here to punish me.' She was ready to be beaten like she always was back at home. She survived then, and she'd survive it again. So, she waited for it to happen.

It didn't.

"The prince seems to care for you," Hihara mused, eyes lifting from her hair to her face and hardening, "What did you do to make him fall for you?"

"W-We're not-!" Sakura tried to explain the agreement between her and Sasuke but closed her mouth quickly when she realized she couldn't tell the prince's secret.

As she thought about the man, her mood soured more than it already had because she came to a realization, 'He only tried so hard to save me because of our plans. He doesn't care enough about me yet. We agreed to wait until after the wedding to seriously try and break the curse.' Tears welled in her eyes as she gave up explaining, 'After that, I'll be killed and he'll move on with his life. Will he remember me when I'm gone? Will he ever think about a sad excuse for a sacrifice like me or will he forget everything once Akuma's back in purgatory?'

Sakura was plucked from her thoughts by Hihara, who suddenly pressed his lips to hers. A surprised sound became muffled between them as she shoved at his chest until he pulled back. Breathing heavily, the pinkette brought a hand to her lips, "What are you doing!"

A chill ran down her spine when a dark emotion flooded her brother's irises.

He began to wrestle her down to the bed, easily overpowering her weak attempts to escape, "Show me how you charmed the prince, Trash."

Sakura had no clue what the redheaded man was trying to do, but she sobbed and begged him to let her go as he unclothed her and himself. When she felt something touch between her legs, a primal sort of terror took over, and she tried to scream for help. Hihara's hand slapped over her mouth, cutting off the sound before it could reach the air. Shaking tremendously, she tried to fight his hands as he balled up her underwear and stuffed it into her mouth so he wouldn't have to keep his palm there.

Tears flooded her vision as he roughly touched her body wherever he pleased, making the image distorted and warped in a traumatizing way. Moments later, a mind-boggling pain ripped through the woman's core, her distressed cries unable to reach even the hallway outside.

"Oh, you were still a virgin," Hihara seemed genuinely surprised as he looked between their bodies, where something was pushing into her that she couldn't see through her tears and hysteria. He chuckled moments later, dark green eyes alight with amusement, "That prince won't want you now that you're all used up. He'll call you disgusting. No one wants to marry a whore."

'A whore…? What does that even mean? What is he doing to me? It hurts!'

The night was long and painful. Hihara didn't leave Sakura's room until it was almost sunrise. He thoroughly warned her to clean herself up and not to tell anyone what'd happened because it'd ruin both the Haruno and Uchiha names if word got out that siblings had slept together and the prince was engaged to someone involved. He explained all about sex and what a whore was, so by the time the sun rose, Sakura was barely a shell of who she was the day before.

As she frantically scrubbed the bloodied sheets in the bathtub, tears fell silently into the red bath water. 'I understand all of the things Akuma said to me about making me his, now.' Her chest tightened as she deemed the cleaning finished and began ringing the water out of it, 'But Hihara stole me away. He made me his with no regard for anyone else.'

She tossed the bedding into the hamper near the door before emptying the tub and refilling it with clean water to clean herself this time, 'He ruined everything. I can't even help Sasuke now because if he finds out what happened, he'll be too disgusted to ever care for me, and I know I can't lie to him when the time comes because there will be no blood.'

Konan arrived near the end of the bath, making no comment about the soft pink tint of the water from the dried blood that'd been on Sakura's body. She wordlessly helped her get dressed. When Sakura exited the bathroom, the bedding had been replaced with fresh sheets and blankets. The pinkette glanced at her maid, 'Does she know what happened? Will she tell anyone?'

"Would you like to have breakfast in bed today or do you feel well enough to join everyone in the dining hall?" The serious woman asked, betraying no emotion with her orange eyes.

Tears stung Sakura's eyes as she shook her head, inching toward the door, "I-I'm not hungry." The woman nodded, bowing before heading toward the door. "Oh, um," Sakura stopped her. When the maid looked her way again, she averted her gaze, "I don't want any visitors today, okay?"

"...No one?" Konan asked, obviously wanting to clarify if she meant even the royal family.

"No one."

Sakura slept for a very long time, waking up sporadically because of the pain between her legs. A few maids checked on her, trying to offer food or tea, only to be turned away. Two entire days passed that she'd secluded herself in her room before her wishes to be left alone were finally denied. The king entered the room, the one person she could not turn away regardless of reason.

The man sat at the tea table, gesturing for her to join him. Left with no other choice, the pinkette obeyed, gingerly sipping the hot tea placed before her. He studied her carefully, dark eyes calculating. She could feel his gaze on her as she avoided it, feeling sick to her stomach with self-disgust and fear that Hihara would reappear and hurt her again.

"If something is bothering you, Niece, please tell your uncle about it," the man offered a friendly smile when Sakura dared glance up, "Are you scared of being kidnapped again?"

She absently shook her head in denial, returning her gaze downward, "I'm simply feeling unwell, Your Highness. Please forgive me."

'I want to be alone. I don't want anyone to look at me. I feel like everyone can tell how gross I am.'

"...Did something terrible happen to you?" Madara asked after a very long moment of silence. This time, his voice was quiet.

This time, Sakura couldn't bring herself to respond; she simply remained quiet and still, too afraid and unsure to do anything.

"Lady Sakura-" "N-Nothing happened. I'm fine," she quickly interrupted the king because she realized he'd probably have her beheaded for tricking their family into believing she was pure.

Another long silence occurred before the man sighed, "Very well. If you insist, then I can no longer keep my nephew at bay. As your fiance, he has a right to verify your well-being with his own eyes."

Soon after the king left, Sasuke arrived. Sakura was in bed again and kept her back turned to him because she wasn't yet ready to look him in the eye, not after everything he'd done for her. He sat in a chair at her bedside, not saying anything for so long that she was tempted to turn and verify he was still there.

Eventually, he spoke, "Lady Sakura, I'm sorry. You were put in such a dangerous situation. You must hate me for it."

Sakura's throat tightened as she tried not to burst into sobs. She wanted to speak but knew she couldn't lest he realize her state of mind and demand answers. So, she mentally responded to him, hoping somehow he'd understand with just that, 'The only person to blame here is me, for being foolish enough to think that someone like me could be of use to someone like you.'

As she thought that, she recalled her sister and father's words the other day when she'd first woken up. The woman squeezed her eyes closed, a few tears managing to overflow to drip onto the pillow. 'I'll have to end the engagement and pray he's able to find someone else to break the curse. Haruka will never do it because she cares too much about herself and too little for others.' Sakura changed her mind as she continued reeling, 'But if I end the engagement, she's the next candidate. She'll never choose to disappear, so she'll return home, and she'll definitely tell everyone about the prince's curse.'

This time, the woman couldn't stop herself from crying, and her shoulders shook as she shrank further under the covers and hoped Sasuke wouldn't pry, 'She'll get him killed if she tells the wrong crowd of people. They'll hunt him as though he's a monster. I can't let that happen.'

"I'll leave so you can rest," Sasuke spoke softly, obviously misunderstanding her tears, "Please accept your meals from now on. As soon as you're well enough, we can return to the Winterlands."

Then, the prince was gone.