Title: Be There To Love Me

Summary: The first time I saw my husband was on our wedding day. The first time we touched was when his lips met mine in a soulless, cold, life-binding kiss. The first time he spoke to me he told me I annoyed him. The first time I felt alive was when he said he loved me. AU SasuSaku

Disclaimer: Alas, Naruto belongs not to me.

Author's Notes: Keep in mind this is only the prologue, so the AU will be explained in later chapters. May or may not be continued, depending on what kind of awesome reviewers I hook! ;)

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Be There To Love Me

Prologue

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My wedding day was supposed to be happy. I was supposed to be the beautiful bride with a handsome husband to match. I was supposed to be in love. Then why did I feel uglier than I've ever felt before? Why was I trying not to cry when my eyes befell my husband? I shouldn't have felt that way. In fact, I felt guilty for feeling that way. And I felt guilty for feeling guilty, because my heart told me I had every right to feel the way I did. I wasn't happy. I wasn't beautiful. And I most certainly wasn't in love.

My steps were weighted as I made my way toward him. I wanted to scream and run. I wanted to throw my hands in the air and say I'd had it, that I'd rather die than go through with an arranged marriage. The Council was kidding itself when they told me this was for the better and I'd be happy. They were kidding me when they told me I could always say no. I couldn't say no. They knew I didn't have the right. Hell, I knew I didn't have the right. If I refused, death would be my next choice.

And so I kissed him. I kissed him with as little vigor as I could. I tried to convey every bad thought and every hateful feeling I had toward him, his pathetic family, and our Council through that simple touch. I wanted him to know I wouldn't enjoy this and I'd make his life a living hell because of it. I would fight against this until I was ready to drop dead, and maybe I'd even drag him to the afterlife with me!

I looked up with the best look of defiance I could muster and his eyes told me he was feeling exactly the same way.

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Dinner was an extremely dull time for me. I had expected at least some sort of interaction between us, but the only thing my husband had done so far was sip at his tea, nibble at his rice, and stare off into space, elbows on the table and fingers laced together in front of his mouth. Of course, I wasn't much different, but at least my manners were better.

"The rice is excellent." I said after our uncomfortable silence had become too much. It was quite a lame try at starting a conversation, but at least I was talking. "And this sukiyaki is wonderful. I don't think I've ever had anything with such flavor." He unlaced his fingers and for a moment I believed he would speak. He only went back to eating his rice.

I sighed and took another bite of my food. "In my home, our cooks always seemed to add too much of something to our sukiyaki. One of our cooks had an obsession with lemon. Everything I ate had lemon in it. I couldn't taste anything for weeks after he left." I chuckled at the memory. He remained impassive and so I continued. "Of course, I've never eaten anything sour since." I paused. He ate. "I don't suppose you've ever known someone like that?" Another pause. Another bite. I decided to answer my own question. "I've known plenty of people like that. Take my grandmother for instance! No matter what she talked about, she would always find a way to get my father's shortcomings mixed in with the conversation. It was always the same with her. Something like, 'You don't deserve my daughter,' or , 'You call that fish?' I've never heard-"

"You annoy me," he stated simply. Our eyes met for the first time sense dinner had begun. Mine were bright green, reminding people that spring would always come after winter, but his were winter. I looked in them and I doubted if spring really existed.

I averted my gaze back to my plate and shock overcame me. No one had ever said something like that to me. It made me angry. It made me sick. It made me shut up, which I was sure was his goal when I saw him return to his meal like nothing had happened. It also made me feel embarrassed for some reason. So much that my cheeks were heating and I could only stuff more food in my mouth to stop myself from thinking about it, or worse, snapping back at him.

It was another hour, or five minutes, depending if you were on the receiving end of the statement or the one speaking it, before I found my voice, and courage, once again.

"So, your family wasn't at the wedding." I stated, choosing the farthest subject from lemons, grandmothers, and annoyances as I could.

He said nothing.

My eyes lay upon the dark haired man across from me for a moment before coming back to my plate once again. Whoever had come up with the term opposites attract was a true visionary. A twisted, brainless and insane visionary. I looked up once more. He was still silent and ridged, but his gray eyes were on me now.

"I really would love to meet them sometime." I continued, although my inner-self was screaming for me to stop treading on ground I had no right to be on. "I'm sure they're-"

I jumped when his fists slammed against the table, his plate tipping over and crashing to the floor as he stood. He slammed the doors as he exited the dining room. He didn't even give me time to react.

He had just- He had just stormed off like a child! He simply left! How could someone be so infuriating! I was shaking and my vision was beginning to blur and even before the servants had begun to clean their ill-tempered master's place, my salty tears were mixing with the food before me. Why was he acting like such a child? Couldn't he have handled the subject differently? Why was I stuck with him? Why was I the one to deal with him! My simple crying turned to uncontrolled sobbing soon enough. I wanted okaa-chan to put her arm around me and say everything would be fine. I wanted otou-san to cradle me in his arms and say it would pass. But Mom and Dad weren't here. I. Was. Alone.

I couldn't breathe I was sobbing so hard. My mind wouldn't process anything as the days' events rushed in with their full meanings revealed. I pushed my plate to the side, it too went crashing over, and let my forehead sag to the wooden table, arms crossing in front of me to cushion it. It was such an unladylike action, I wouldn't have thought myself possible of it. But that was before I realized this man, this Uchiha Sasuke, was the man I would be forced to live with and for.

Uchiha Sasuke was my husband.

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