Title: prisoner of marriage

Author: acromatic princess

Chapter title: the beginning of the end

Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto, or any songs or quotes I put in here.

Summary: After only two weeks of being Itachi's wife, one thing became increasingly clear to me...I had married the wrong brother.

Setting: Alternate universe-ish. They're still ninja and have Sound and Konoha and everything, just have different lives.

Notes: I honestly couldn't think of a better title, so if anyone has anything better, please tell me. And feel free to give any input or ideas on what should happen in this story, and any mistakes I made, feel free to point those out too. I won't be offended, I promise.

Chapter 1

she didn't choose this role, but she'll play it and make it sincere

-'Time to Dance' by Panic! At The Disco

I fought. Oh yeah, you better believe that I fought. I—on multiple occasions—ran away, bit guards, dyed my hair blue—I even threw tantrums, screaming and beating fists on the floor and everything.

But did that stop them from making me marry him? Nope. They forced me—and I mean forced. I believe one time they even had to tie my hands together—into that wedding dress and put me before those gorgeous oak doors. There were guards at every possible escape route, and I considered myself a pretty good fighter, but I doubted even I could take down 20 six foot, 200-pound men.

And so I gave up.

The first time I got a glimpse of my soon-to-be husband was that day. Right as they opened those doors. I checked him out the whole time I was walking down the aisle.

He was handsome, oh yeah, he was handsome. Long black hair tied back at the nape, and equally black eyes. Long eyelashes too, the kind that all girls wanted and pined for.

Yes, he was handsome, but I hated him. And it wasn't just because it was a forced marriage, there was something…something evil about him. He hid it pretty well behind the charming smile he gave me, but I could see it in his eyes.

And I was afraid.

So I'd like to say that the reason I said 'I do' was because I suddenly saw the light and realized that I needed to sacrifice myself for my country—but I can't.

Because the real reason I said those dreaded two words wasn't any act of heroism or martyrdom, it was because I knew, I knew, he would kill me if I said no.

I'd like to say I said it because I wanted to save my country, but really, I wanted to save myself.

Some heroine I am.

--

His name was Itachi Uchiha.

He was 6-foot and 22 years old. Birthday on June 9. Truth be told, I hadn't looked at his files until the hour before the wedding. I hadn't wanted to accept the fact that this was the man I would be marrying.

He was powerful, too, I had learned. Itachi was the first son of the king of Sound—his country—and at 17, had become the head of the military.

This was no small feat.

We danced our first dance at the wedding reception, and I took that time to size him up. He had weapons hidden in 19 different places—a bit extreme, maybe, but not abnormal for a ninja—and great chakra levels. I could practically feel the power emanating off of him.

We didn't talk as we danced, though he was very polite. He didn't touch me in any unnecessary places and twirled and dipped me with absolute grace. On the outside, he was the perfect man, ninja, and husband.

So why did I fear him so much?

After that first dance, we didn't dance again. The whole rest of the night I kept getting claimed by more and more men. I didn't know any of them, but that made sense; we were in Sound, after all. And I was glad for any excuse to be away from him.

The wedding night is what scared me the most. I delayed leaving with Itachi for as long as I could, but I knew the time would have to come sooner or later. And when he held out his arm to me, I'm proud to say I didn't shrink back, but took it and walked with him out the big double doors of the church while people through rice at us.

It was silent in the limo ride, too. I awkwardly sat across from him until we pulled up to his house.

When I say house, though, I mean castle. A huge castle. With turrets and gargoyles and everything. I allowed myself 5 seconds worth of staring before following Itachi into the castle.

I was worried the whole walk—which lasted for about forever—to his rooms. I bit my lip, chewed on my fingernails, and broke out in a cold sweat.

My worrying turned out to be in vain, though, because it turned out we had separate rooms.

Which meant I didn't have to sleep with him.

He showed me to a seemingly random door, bowed, said, "This is your room. My room is right next door," and went into the room to the right of mine. It was a considerable length down the hall, which made me very much relieved.

I went into my room and immediately fell onto the—my, have to remember my—bed, wedding dress and all. I didn't even bother to turn on the lights.

And after briefly congratulating myself on not having cried the whole night, I fell into a deep sleep.

The morning after this night was when my story really began.

--

I woke up to birds singing and light shining in through the window. It was a beautiful day, with a clear sky and white, fluffy clouds. The grass—or, as much of it as I could see from my window—was bright green and the flowers were vibrant colors.

No, seriously.

After a couple confused minutes of me wondering where I was, then remembering I was now married, I realized I was still in my wedding dress. That no maids had come to change me into night clothes gave me a strange sense of comfort. I liked that I had been left alone for the whole night.

Of course, since I was still in my wedding dress, I hoped that they had brought in all of my clothes. Getting up and opening a door into my dresser, I was relieved to see that they had. I grabbed some of my everyday clothes—I hoped that they would still be appropriate now that I was a wife—took a shower, and headed out to see what was expected of me.

Since no one had come to wake me up, I figured no one really cared what I did. So I picked a random direction to walk and went for it.

It was probably an act of the gods that the first room I came to was the breakfast hall.

"Hey, you're the new princess, right?"

I turned to see a girl of about my age—maybe a little older—with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was smiling.

"Hello," the girl said, holding out a hand "I'm Ino."

"Hello," I said warily, shaking her offered hand, "I'm Sakura. And I'm not a princess."

Ino looked surprised, "You're not? Well, you are now." She shrugged, "Itachi's the eldest prince, and since you married him, you're now Sakura Uchiha, Sound's newest princess."

I shuddered. Ino noticed and raised her eyebrows, "What's wrong?"

"Sorry, it's just…" I shook my head, trying to shake off the unfamiliarity of everything. "I haven't gotten used to it. The whole, Sakura Uchiha and everything."

Ino nodded sympathetically, "I understand. Arranged marriages." She shook her head in disgust, "They ruin lives for people everywhere. I don't understand why people still let them happen."

I shrugged, "Well, I guess it had to be done. Konoha and Sound were in trouble if there wasn't an alliance marriage." I sighed, "I'm just glad to be serving my country."

"Bullshit." Ino said. I raised my eyebrows, "Excuse me?"

"I've heard about you," Ino said, smirking. "You fought tooth-and-nail to get out of this marriage. I heard you even destroyed a whole room in the Hokage Tower in Konoha." Surprisingly, Ino looked impressed.

I was surprised that she had heard about any of this, "Really? They actually told?" I rolled my eyes, "I would've thought that they would be too embarrassed that their princess was such a brat to say anything."

Ino's eyebrows furrowed in conclusion, "I thought you said that you weren't a princess."

I sighed, "I wasn't. I was the Hokage's daughter, which is basically the same thing, though." Which reminded me, I needed to not write back to any of my father's letters. Stupid bastard who made me marry some random guy… "But whatever. Are we going to get something to eat?"

Ino raised her eyebrows, "It's like your whole demeanor changed now that you know I know you're not a good little princess." She grinned, "I'm glad. Maybe things will actually liven up around here." She started to walk towards the table filled with all different kinds of breakfast foods, "So how do you feel about Itachi?"

I was silent, contemplating whether or not to say what I really thought. It probably wasn't the best idea to diss the prince to one of his subjects… Ino noticed my discomfort—she seemed to be very intuitive—and offered, "I don't really like the guy, honestly."

This decided it for me. "He scares me," I said, loading my plate full of sausages and bacon and eggs, "I don't know what it is about him, but…I'm very afraid of him."

Ino nodded, loading her plate with enormous amounts of food. I looked at her, raising my eyebrows. "What? I like to eat," she said defensively. "And I agree with you. He may be handsome and all, but…there's something not right about him. He and his brother are so alike, and yet total opposites."

We started walking to one of the tables, and I looked at Ino confusedly, "He has a brother?"

Ino looked at me, and I could tell she was surprised. Well, why shouldn't she be? You would think I would know that my own husband had a brother. "Yeah, a younger one. His name is Sasuke." I sat down at the end of the long table and she sat down across from me, "He's 17, so he's a little younger than you."

I popped a sausage into my mouth, "No, I'm 17 too." Briefly, I wondered if maybe I was supposed to have better manners—I had heard talking with your mouth full wasn't the most polite thing—but then I realized that I just didn't really care.

Ino tapped her fork to her mouth thoughtfully, "Hmm, well maybe you should've gotten married to him instead." She tore off a piece of toast and started to chew it with her mouth open. I decided that my manners were just fine. "He certainly would've been a better choice."

I raised my eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

Ino put another piece of toast in her mouth, "Well, maybe it's just because I'm friends with him—well, sort of friends anyways—but Sasuke is certainly a lot less…scary. A lot of people think he is, but once you get to know him, you realize he's not." Her eyes lit up at something behind me, "Oh, there he is now. Hey, Sasuke! Come eat with us!" I turned around…and gasped.

Walking into the breakfast hall was probably the most beautiful boy I had ever seen. He had jet-black hair that stuck up in the back—on anyone else, it would've looked horrible, but on him, it worked—and dark eyes. He was wearing tight-fitting clothes and I could see that he had a nice, big…arm. I told myself I was only looking at his arms—which bulged with muscles—and his six-pack abs and not anything more…southerly.

I turned back to Ino, a little out of breath, "That's Sasuke?"

Ino nodded, still looking at Sasuke, "Don't worry. Most girls faint when they first see him. There's just something about him…" Her gaze swiveled back to me, "Of course, Itachi usually gets the same reaction."

My eyebrows were scrunched, "Really? I mean, I thought he was handsome, but I guess…he's just not my type."

Ino's eyebrows were raised, "Well, honey, he's your husband, so you're gonna have to get used to—hey Sasuke! What's up?"

Sasuke sat down next to me, and I struggled not to look at him. He was holding a plate of food, "I would've thought it would be obvious that I am eating."

Ino looked down at his breakfast, as if she had just realized it was there, "Oh…right. Got it. By the way, this is Sakura. Itachi's wife."

Sasuke's gaze slid to me, and now I couldn't help but look at him. The second glance was easier, I thought. I didn't even blush. "Hello. I'm…Sakura."

He nodded at me, "How do you do." His gaze locked with mine, and I could tell he was curious about me, but then he started to eat as if I wasn't even there.

I picked up my fork and started eating again, a little dazed. Ino grinned at me knowingly. And then, I swear, the floor started to shake.

"WHERE'S THE BASTARD? WHERE IS HE?"

Sasuke's calm demeanor dropped, and I could tell his whole body was tensing up. He sighed, and without turning around said, "What do you want, idiot?"

I felt a wind brush my side and an orange blur went by and sat next to Ino. It was a boy, and he seemed to be very angry.

"Sasuke…" He dragged the last syllable of his name out, "Why weren't you at our morning practice? I waited for an hour!"

Sasuke sipped his tea, though I could see that the veins in his hand were practically popping out, "I had more important things to do."

The blonde slammed his hands against the table, making all of the plates and food rise up, "YOU HAD MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO D—oh, who are you?" He was now looking at me.

I noticed that he had very bright, very blue eyes and was actually quite handsome, "I'm Sakura?"

He reached over the table, knocking over Sasuke's tea—Sasuke sighed loudly—and shook my hand, "I'm Naruto! It's nice to meet you!"

Ino, who seemed to have been observing everything with a sort of detached interest put in, "She's Itachi's wife."

Naruto stopped shaking my head, and looked at me with unreserved awe, "How brave."

I nodded hesitantly, "Right. So, um, what?"

Ino started eating again, "Don't worry, they do this all the time." She took a sip of her coffee, "They're best friends."

I looked back and forth between the two, "Really."

Naruto thumped his chest proudly, "Yep! Me and the bastard over here have been best friends for ages!" Sasuke didn't say anything, which I took to mean that he agreed.

I nodded, "I see." I didn't really understand how two such blatantly different people could be best friends, but I could see that somehow they were, so I decided just to accept it.

Naruto took a piece of bacon from Sasuke's plate, chewing messily, "So, Sakura. Tell us about yourself. Are you a ninja?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm a medic nin." Everyone looked surprised at this. Even Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

Naruto was nodding appreciatively, "A medic nin, huh? We don't have too many of those around here. I wouldn't have expected a princess to be a ninja, either." His eyes lit up, "You should practice with us at the training field some time!"

I smiled at him. Naruto may have been overly loud, but there was something about him that made me unable to not like him, "That would be awesome."

"Great!" he said, his mouth full of food he had taken from Sasuke's plate, "Everyone will be so happy to meet you!"

Ino stood up, picking up her empty plate, "Well, I'm done here, so I'm gonna go now." She looked at me, "How about you, Sakura? Do you need someone to show you around?"

I nodded, standing up, "Yeah, that would be really helpful."

Ino smiled, "Cool. Well, see you later, guys." We started to walk away, and I looked back to see the two boys were already in some heated debate. Well, Naruto was heatedly debating while Sasuke through in an insult every now and then. His few words seemed to be winning over Naruto's. I agreed with Ino, at first he did seem a bit intimidating, but…I thought that he was actually a pretty nice guy.

I turned back to Ino and she was watching me thoughtfully. "What?" I asked. She shook her head, "It's nothing, it's just…" She looked me in the eye, "Don't let it happen. It can't work, you know it can't."

I raised my eyebrows, "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

She looked at me pityingly, "You will, though." Her face went back to its normal expression, "Okay, so over here is the weapons room…"

At that time, I really didn't know what she was talking about. At that time, I was still blissfully unaware of the thing—or rather, the person—that would tear my life apart…