Disclaimer: All the characters in this story belong to the artist Kishimoto Masashi. This story is fiction and an alternate universe to the original. The storyline itself is my original idea and took a long time in creating. I wrote this story for my creative writing class and I changed the names to fit the Naruto universe. So please don't plagiarize my idea. Thanks!!!

Terms (things you might not know):

Futon is the traditional style of Japanese bedding consisted of padded mattress and quilt.

Haori is a short silk jacket that was worn by men which added formality.

Juban is a kimono-shaped robe undergarment worn underneath by both men and women to keep kimono clean, as it was difficult to keep care for them.

The Great House of Uchiha

Her skull cracked loudly when her head slammed against the wooden post at the corner of the room. A deafening ring reverberated in her ears and she felt its pulse traveling from her ear canal to her brain, along all the vital organs and nerves in her body and to the tips of her toes and back out her ears again.

"You stupid woman! All you're good for is breeding and cleaning," her husband's voice slurred out in his drunken haze. "Why did I even marry you in the first place?! You're just useless!"

It became a common experience for her whenever her husband came home after finishing his business outside of the clan. He kicked her until she woke up from her deep sleep. Then he proceeded to toss and slam her with his fist. He stood shakily on his feet as he tripped over the blanket and futon on the tatami floor. He grabbed his previously abandoned vase of sake on the floor and gulped down the rice wine all at once.

As he felt asleep on the futon in a mess of fabric and spilled alcohol, the bottle of white wine slipped from his left hand. She didn't know how long she lain there as scenes in front of her eyes blurred in a mesh of colors. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She was only to be hired by a wealthy clan and serve them until the end of her days.

The Master Itachi was the one she served first in the family. She was a young girl of eight years, beautiful and tender like the shoots of bamboo leaves that budded in the spring. Her eyes were light brown and illuminant in the changing light. The dark haired girl was noticed by one of the clan members and she was traded for money like a young cow on the market. At first, she worked in the laundry room and washed the dingy silk clothes that symbolized status in the clan. But then when she was twelve, the Master Itachi picked her out from the lot of girls to serve him.

Girl servants of the clan were cruel to her after that. Before when they were tolerable, they would leave her to her lonesome self. But when she was the Master's servant, they stomped on the clean laundry she washed, poured salt into the dessert she made for him and purposely punched holes into her Master's clothing.

"Do not worry, Sakura. I will take care of it," the Master always said in assurance to her worries.

And Sakura did not. But as she grew older, her beauty was noticed by the other clan members. Rumors of her good looks spread and many a times, the men of the clan could be seen spying on her. Then all of a sudden, she was chosen as a potential wife to one of the sons of the main household. Forced to train in the arts required to be part of the clan, she had to learn writing calligraphic letters, performing traditional tea ceremony, arranging flowers and the like. Then the unthinkable happened and she was married off to the Young Master Sasuke, instead of Master Itachi. Her husband was the second son of the main family and much different than his older brother.

Five years older, Master Itachi was a young scholar, whose quiet eluded confidence and power that others cannot ignore. He did not fit the stereotyped looks of the men she noticed that came to visit the clan, with his dark silky hair and piercing onyx eyes that stabbed into the senses. He was an elegant and beautiful man. Many servants fawned over him due to his good looks and his status within the clan.

A gentle voice stirred her from her blurry dream, "Sakura."

She cracked her eyes open and stirred slightly. She wanted to stay asleep because sleep meant that she didn't have to see her husband. Sleep meant dreams and not the sad and grim reality that she was faced with.

Loving hands wrapped her body in an embrace and she felt pleasant warmth seeping through the cool silk that met her hot cheek. She smelled old books and hot candles, and tatami mats which dried in the sun.

"Is that you, Master?" Sakura rasped out through her cracked lips.

"Are you all right Sakura?" Her Master worriedly asked her as Sakura struggled to open her eyes to see him. She tried to pull away from him when she realized the inappropriate position they were in. What would her mother in law say when she saw them like that?

"Do not worry Sakura. She is not here," the Master answered in response.

She pulled herself away from his side and lifted into a seating position. The navy blue haori on top of her swooshed and glided against the silky white juban on her body. The sides of her collar parted and red bruises mixed with fading yellows unerringly peeked out from the marble whiteness of her skin .

His eyes narrowed and his hands reached to smooth out and fix her collar. "Did he do this to you? Why did you not say anything?"

Her eyes searched the room and traced its various wooden surfaces to record the changes in her memory. Master Itachi's room was always dust free and many books piled in one corner of his desk. The single candle in the study flickered and wavered and continued its slow descent to the bottom of the ceramic holder.

"It is not my place to speak badly of my husband," Sakura whispered.

The Master ground his teeth and clenched his fist until the veins and tendons popped out against his skin. His usually calm and collected face turned red and his eyebrows crossed in a frown. "Not speak badly?"

His hand waved toward the bruises hidden from view. There was the swollen bump beneath white bandages that rose from her forehead and peaked like an angry volcano. And also her mussed up hair which spilled and looped into knots.

"I'm ashamed to have him as my little brother. No brother of mine would beat a woman until she is black and blue. And leave her bleeding in a dark corner while passing out and meeting the dream maker!"

"Do not be mad, Master Itachi! It is my fault for not satisfying my husband. I have failed as a wife... and as a woman."

"Do you hear how you speak? What happened to the young Sakura that I knew? The spirited young woman that never failed to pull herself up from the ground with her head up high. No matter how tough life got, she would never be beaten without a fight."

"Things have changed Master. You have changed and so have I. We all have our roles to play in life. It is my duty to serve and obey my husband and his family. And you have your duties to your clan and your wife."

An invisible weight descended upon them and an oppressive force sealed their lips from any more words. Sakura looked away from the dark pools of black that mirrored herself in it and glared harshly upon her rough and skinny hands. They were cold, clammy and shook briefly in the aftermath of her unworded fear. She folded her hands together to stop her body from betraying her. Instead, the soft and larger hands of her Master grasped hers in his warm hold. And a part of her heart relaxed and peace permeated her senses. She marveled at the differences between the two of them.

"Do not worry, Sakura. I will take care of it."

Padded footsteps tapped gently against the wooden floor hallways, which connected to all the other rooms. It was terrible news, terrible indeed. The wife of the Young Master Sasuke was having an affair with Master Itachi. The young servant girl shuffled as quickly as she could to find the Young Master. Her heart pounded in her chest as she quickly navigated to the other end of the hall, not knowing what to expect when she found him.

"Young Master! Young Master Sasuke! Please wake up," the servant called.

"What is it?" Young Master grumbled and stirred from his place on the floors.

"Something terrible is happening. Mistress Sakura is cheating with the Master."

"What?! I knew it! I knew that she was no use. That good for nothing twit. I gave her food and shelter and what does she give me? Ungrateful wretch!"

"What should I do now Young Master?"

"Rouse the clan elders! We go to court!"

Master Itachi and young Sakura knelt side by side under the glaring spotlight of the elders. His head was held up high with dignity, while hers was downcast with her eyes trained on the floor. Many of the other clan members stood looking interested in the situation, some were still drowsy with sleep and yet others looked annoyed by the circumstance. The clan elders, made up of three mother matron figures, sat in front of the knee high table, seeping green tea quietly from their white ceramic cups.

The one who sat on the right side of the table began, "What do you two have to say for yourself?"

"Nothing. We have done nothing. Besides, we do not know what it is that we are accused of," Master Itachi calmly replied.

"Adultery."

"Adultery? Do you have evidence?"

"The young servant girl saw the two of you in deep embrace."

"The new servant? She knows not of what she speaks."

"Really? Then what of the accusation from your brother?"

"What he said means nothing. A man who beats his wife as a pastime is no honorable man at all."

At Master Itachi's declaration, a low whispering began amongst the bystanders. They all speculated if what he said had truth to it. It was not a declaration to be made without support and facts.

Young Master Sasuke parted the crowd around him and stepped forward into the center of the room. With his eyes focused pointedly on Sakura, he stuck his finger at her and voiced his rebuttal loudly, "I may beat my wife, but that is only because she is a lying whore who would sleep with any man. Even my own brother!"

The volume of the room went up in excitement. The clan members who were not listening before were now concentrating on the words of the players with utmost care.

The elder who sat on the left commanded, "Silence," to no effect.

"Can no one understand? Look at his wife," At these words, Master Itachi revealed the bruises hidden from view by Sakura's high collared kimono. The red splotches on her pale skin were ugly and marred, already turning purple from the punches and kicks her husband gave. "Would any man with honor violate his wife? Women are our treasure, they are meant to be protected and cherished."

"Then how do you explain the wretch in your room? In your embrace nonetheless?" Young Master Sasuke sneered in reply to his brother's accusation.

"Her wounds needed healing. Blood was flowing profusely from her head," Master Itachi replied straightforwardly.

The last elder, silent throughout the entire debate, raised her hand and the room slipped into stillness. She placed her ceramic cup down on the table and asked him, "Where was the husband in all this?"

Master Itachi gave one long look at the brother he had considered more important than himself. His dark pierce shot straight into Young Master Sasuke's heart and caused guilt to stir.

"On the floor, asleep with his wine bottle by his side."

A ripple of shock went throughout the room and the other clan members stood looking accusingly at Young Master Sasuke. It was an extreme offense in the clan to succumb to drink and violently raged against any clan members or outsiders. To do so, was to go against all the conduct and rules that were established since the founding of the Great House of Uchiha.

"I see," the Elder spoke after the noise of the room died down. "There is no easy way to do this. I must cast the girl out for the sake of the clan. No rumor must spread of this night. The girl has brought nothing, but trouble since she came."

With that, the court dismissed and ended. The loud excitement died down, with only the sound of wooden slippers crunching against gravel remaining. Sakura was quickly escorted out the back gate like the first day she came. Several servants followed her to see to her actual removal and Master Itachi walked with her until the edge of the clan's property.

They paused in front of the wooden doors marked as the servants' entrance in the back garden and an overwhelming flow of sadness filled both Master Itachi and Sakura's hearts. Cicadas called in the distance and the pond gurgled, pouring over the rocks in a lazy drawl. The air was stifled and bamboo trees stood as witnesses to their affair.

Master Itachi gazed pleadingly at Sakura with his piercing dark eyes. His hand reached across the distance between them and he patted her gently on her arm. Her eyes busied with absorbing his features and presence into her memories. A tranquil understanding passed between them, an unuttered message that this was the end.

"Thank you," Sakura smiled. "It is as I wished. The end is just a new beginning," she reassured him and left without a look back.