The drive to the Haruno residence was silent but filled with tension thick enough to suffocate anyone. Sakura stared at her father in the dark car, question after question running through her mind, sitting on the tip of her tongue but her voice seemed to have gone mute. She swallowed each question down, biding her time when she would bombard her father with all her accusations. The car pulled up on the driveway and everyone made their way into the large estate.
They all filed out the car and into the house quietly and walked into the kitchen, where Kizashi helped himself to a large helping of whiskey. He took a large sip of the drink, letting it burn the back of his throat before he turned to face his daughter and wife. He opened his mouth to speak, but Sakura cut him off.
"You need to explain yourself, now!" she demanded, her arms by her side, her hands balled in angry fists.
Kizashi raised an eyebrow at her and laughed lightly, "you sure do have your mother's temper," he took another sip of the liquid.
"This is not a joke, dad. Why has my future been stolen from under me? Why am I being told that I am going to be marrying a total stranger, someone I probably would never choose for myself!" She shouted.
"I did what was right for the family," Kizashi replied calmly as he raised the glass to his lips.
"For the family?" Sakura scoffed, "more like what is best for you."
"We all must make sacrifices in life Sak-
"I AM THE ONLY ONE MAKING ANY SACRIFICES HERE!" Sakura roared out, "you get to sit there looking pretty while I lose my life, my hopes, dreams, everything!"
"Don't you think you're being a bit dramatic?" Kizashi threw at her, "I made the choice that I knew would benefit the family and the business."
"I told you already, I want nothing to do with the family business, I told you I never sought any part in it, I wanted to be a doctor, something I have trained for, worked hard for, given my all to, only for you to drag me into something that has nothing to do with me!"
Kizashi slammed the empty tumbler onto the bar top, making the bottles and tumblers quake. "You will watch your tongue around me!" he seethed as he walked up to Sakura, his eyes burning with anger, "I have indulged in you for far too long, let you have free rein all your life, given you far too much space, but now you will do as I say!" He narrowed his eyes at her, his tone making it clear that the discussion was done, "I get to call all the shots from now on, and when I say jump, all you say is how high."
"You have no right to speak to her like that!" Mebuki shouted, she walked over to Sakura and placed her arm around her shaking form, "we always agreed that Sakura was the master of her own future, her fate, not us. You have robbed her of every-
"I am not talking about this anymore!" Kizashi roared, his words echoing around the room, "the decision is made and you will see this wedding through and you will live with your husband once you are wed!"
Sakura's eyes widened at his words, "what? No, I will be staying in my own house, not with a stranger."
Kizashi scoffed at her, "your belongings have already been moved out of your house and into Uchiha's."
"When?" Sakura breathed out, fear gripping her.
"During the engagement, Sarutobi made sure that there would be no issues with this arrangement. He got some of his people to pack your stuff up and drop it off at Itachi's, where you will be living. Your house is no longer yours; you will find a large sum of money in your account from the sale of your house."
Sakura clenched her jaw tightly, before shouting, "you cannot do this! That is my house to decide what I do with, not you or anybody!"
"It's already done," he told her as he turned away from Sakura and Mebuki and helped himself to another glass of whiskey, "your wedding dress will be delivered here tomorrow."
"Who chose her dress?" Mebuki ordered angrily.
"I had Mira chose it for Sakura, she has assured me that it will be a perfect fit. The woman has good taste," Kizashi said as if it was a known fact.
Mebuki seethed at his words, she opened her mouth to say something but Sakura stopped her. "There is no need to argue over a dress mother," Sakura glared at her father, "father dearest has robbed me of my life, what is a dress to him, plus I am sure that Mira," she spat out the name, "has chosen the best dress because father here asked her specifically to find one." She narrowed her gaze at her father and pulled out of her mother's grasp and stormed toward her old bedroom and slammed the door shut. She ripped off the black dress that she had thought was a gift from her father, kicked off the shoes and tore off the accessories and threw them down, letting them scatter across the floor. Her eyes fell on the ring, the symbol of her life sentence, she tried to twist it off, but it seemed stuck. "Great!" Sakura yelled into the empty room. The tears she had held back rolled down her face, she wiped away at them angrily and went through her nightly routine, before throwing herself on the bed, buried her head in the pillow and screamed out her frustrations.
XXX
Fugaku laughed joyously as he drank heavily, "did you see Haruno's face when his daughter questioned him?"
After the engagement, the Uchiha's had made their way back to the family estate. Itachi's mother and brother, Sasuke, were sat in the living room, watching Fugaku laugh and drink, while Itachi stood to one side.
"He clearly did not train her well enough to know when to speak," Fugaku laughed, "how surprised she was at the news!"
"She wasn't the only one though, was she?" Itachi corrected, his hands in his pockets, "you forgot to mention to me that you were selling me off to save your ego?"
Fugaku's laughter died instantly, he turned his cold, hard eyes onto his eldest son, the boy who never seemed to respect him, revere him. His nostrils flared at his son's words, "I was not saving my ego," he spat out, "I was saving our name, our business, the thing I built from the ground up."
Itachi scoffed at his words, "you built? You were handed the company on a silver platter; you just added a few things!"
"Watch your words boy!" Fugaku shouted, his words reverberating through the room.
Everyone's eyes were cast upon the two men, watching the tension that brewed between them whenever they were together.
"Or what father?" Itachi challenged, "it's not like you are going to strip me of my future, oh wait, you already have."
Fugaku threw down his glass, letting it splinter into many pieces all over the floor and stomped over to his son. He grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled, "you seem to forget who you speak to, maybe you need a reminder," Fugaku seethed.
"I have already proved to you before, I can take you on father," Itachi said as he pushed away from his father's grasp and straightened his jacket.
"That will not stop me from throwing you on your backside and teach you a lesson," Fugaku warned him.
"Sure," Itachi replied carelessly, "while you are at it, find yourself another groom for this wedding you have opted me into."
Fugaku laughed at his son, "there is no way out of this for you boy. You will be wed in four days and you will do it with a smile on your face. And if you think of not attending, know this boy, you will be dragged there screaming and shouting."
Itachi clenched his jaw at his father's words.
"Oh, I forgot to mention, the old man sent for his people to move your betrothed belongings into your house," Fugaku smirked wikedly at Itachi.
"They do not have access to my place," Itachi pointed out.
Fugaku chuckled darkly, "I gave them the key to your place."
"Obviously you did," Itachi groaned out, "is there anything else you want to take away from me while you are at it?"
"I could strip you of your job in a click of a finger," Fugaku said clicking his fingers together to make his point.
"Go ahead," Itachi shrugged, "I never wanted your job in the first place."
Fugaku scowled and bared his teeth at Itachi, "then it's a good thing you get to keep the job."
"Lucky me," Itachi answered back sarcastically. He turned away from his father and walked to the front door, his father's words following him out.
"Remember boy, you will be attending the wedding in four days, even if you have to be dragged there."
Itachi slammed the door shut behind him, got into his car and drove home as fast as he could, to get away from his father, from the hell he had once called home. He parked in his driveway, got out. When he went to unlock the front door, he found it already unlocked. He clenched his jaw tightly and pushed open the door and found several items that were not there when he left earlier. He shut the door behind him and looked around. Trinkets, ornaments, photographs, and souvenirs were scattered around his living room. He picked up a frame and looked at the picture, the pink haired woman, his wife to be stared back at him, laughing happily. His hand clenched around the frame, his knuckles turning white. His home was the one place he had full control, seeing as he never had control over his life, being forced to live in the shadow of his father. Seeing his house filled with things that took away the control he had worked so hard for made his blood boil, his anger filling him, consuming him. He slammed the frame down hard, not caring whether the glass shattered, hiding the woman's face from him. He did this to the rest of the frames he found, not wanting to be reminded of his stolen future.
He walked to his room and opened the wardrobe to grab a change of clothes, but he was greeted by dresses, suits, clothes in large bags, purses, shoes, and several other items. His jaw clenched tighter at the sight, his blood pumping loudly in his ears, beating to the drum of his anger. He wanted to grab the clothes, tear them apart and throw them out, but before he could act on his impulses, he slammed the wardrobe and stormed into the bathroom, started the shower running and stripped out of his suit. He stood under the hot spray, letting the water scald him, hoping that it would erase the past few hours of his life.
With his shower over, he walked into his kitchen, grabbed a glass and a bottle of whiskey, and poured himself a large helping. He stewed over the events of the night, his engagement, his wedding, his father, his stolen future. Each thought caused his grip on his glass to tighten, his control on his life diminishing with each thought, he knocked back the contents, ignoring the burn in the back of his throat and helped himself to another glass, followed by another.
Only when his mind started to feel fuzzy did he stop. He stumbled towards his room and let himself fall on his bed and allowed drunken sleep to take over.
XXX
Sakura woke early, changed her clothes, and snuck out of her childhood bedroom. Quietly, she made her way downstairs, grabbed a set of car keys and made her way out of the house. The sun had begun to ascend, chasing away the darkness, slowly bathing the world in light. She pulled her jacket closer to her body, keeping away the chill of the early morning, she pressed the key fob and walked to the car that beeped as it unlocked, the family SUV. She opened the door and got in, placing the key in the ignition and started the car and drove to her house.
She got out of the car, pulled out her keys as she walked to the front door, where she found a notice pinned.
House sold by owner.
Sakura clenched her jaw, struggling to control the emotions running through her, consuming her. She grabbed the front door key and shoved it into the lock, but as she turned it, nothing happened. She tried all the other keys, but the same thing happened, the door would not open. She screamed out her frustrations, slammed her hand against the door, pulled out her keys from the lock and stomped her way to the car.
She slammed her hands several times against the steering wheel, screaming with each hit as angry tears welled on her lower lids, threatening to fall over. She sat back in the seat and sighed heavily and wiped at her eyes furiously. Her eyes fell on the building that was once her home, her sanctuary but now it was nothing but a brick box. She thought about driving to Ino's house, but she did not want to bother the blonde with her miserable life, last night was more than enough. She turned on the ignition and drove back to her parents' house. She parked the car, and stormed her way back into her prison.
Kizashi was stood in the kitchen, a mug in his hand, he watched as Sakura stomped into the kitchen, avoiding his gaze, ignoring his presence as she grabbed a mug and placed it under the coffee machine and pressed buttons to prepare her drink. He sighed to himself, his words from the previous night haunting him. He bit back at the guilt and sipped his hot tea. "How are you doing Sakura?" he asked around his mug.
"Don't pretend that you care suddenly," Sakura shot at him, still not meeting his gaze, she grabbed the sugar pot and added several heaped teaspoons into her drink and stirred.
Kizashi sighed heavily, "Sakura, I did what needed to be done, what was right for the family, you will understand that one day."
"Seriously?!" Sakura shouted, slamming her drink onto the counter, some of it slopping out onto the counter. "This has nothing to do with family, but everything to do with you, your business, your desires!"
Kizashi placed his mug down and looked at Sakura, his eyes hardening at her words, "I do not need to explain myself or my actions to you or anyone. You will do as I have said and there will be no excuses."
Sakura stared at him, "you made that clear last night." She grabbed her mug and walked to her room. She slammed the door again, sat on the bed and drank her coffee, not caring that it scalded her mouth. She grabbed her phone and found messages from Ino, all asking if she was okay, whether she needed anything. Sakura typed out her reply.
Can you find me a way out of this marriage? If not, then no, there is nothing you or anyone can do to help me.
She finished her drink, threw her phone onto the bed, and walked into the bathroom where she ran herself a hot bath and soaked in it. She thought about her life, how for the last few years, everything had gone according to her plan, she had finished her education, trained hard under the best doctors, worked in the best hospitals, and made a name for herself. She cupped water in her hand and watched as it dripped out, falling back down, leaving her hand empty, she clenched her jaw, her life felt like the water, slipping away from her control, flowing in someone else's current.
She stayed in the bath until the water turned cold and chilled her skin. She got out, dressed and spent the remainder of the day in her room, refusing to go down and speak to anyone.
