Chapter 3

The next few days flew by in a blur and I felt uncomfortable for almost all of it. Mikoto barely let me out of her sight and when she did one of the other Uchihas would be present, Madara being the most often.

The only time I had alone was at night when I would sit by the window and stare out at all of Konoha. The town looked so small from way up there. It was no wonder the Uchihas paid no mind to it.

I'd been given the grand tour of the palace once lunch was finished, minus a few rooms of course. My bedroom was the only one located on the third floor, not to mention the only room on the entire floor that was occupied.

Every one of the Uchihas were on the long and winding second floor: the two younger brothers on one side of the castle, Madara located in the middle, and the King and Queen at the far end. The stairwell was located right next to Madara's room. There was another room near his, but Mikoto had skipped over it and I was too nervous to ask her about it. I suspected it belonged to the sixth family member that was in the giant portrait above the fireplace. Would I meet him during my residency?

The twin princes were to be my main focus, which was odd because I never saw any other maids or butlers. Did the royal family really clean after themselves or was there someone I wasn't aware of?

Sai and Sasuke were just as different as Ino and I. Sai was bland, or pretended to be, but at least he was polite when he addressed me. He often attempted to converse with me while I cleaned his room. I replied to him when obligated, but ultimately felt awkward around him. He always asked questions about me, yet never offered any information on himself. I suppose that's to be expected since he's a prince and I'm a servant. I should feel privileged to even be in his presence, even if in reality I feel quite the opposite.

Sasuke wasn't as cruel as I'd initially thought, but everytime I met his gaze a shock of fear ran down my spine. Regardless of that fact, I preferred his presence above anyone else's because he left me alone. Even if the air was tense when I cleaned his room, he didn't force me to talk so I didn't have to try as hard to pretend to be someone I'm not.

The thing that I longed for the most wasn't to see my family, even though I missed Ino dearly. No, the thing I wished for was simply to be alone.

Mikoto was a generous host who showed me only kindness, but the woman never stopped talking. She must've been telling the truth when she'd mentioned wanting feminine companionship. It was as though she had years of pent up stories to share. I'd learned more things about her children from her than from them.

Both were apparent playboys, but kept their sexual practices very private to the point that I hadn't even noticed a single woman come in or out of the palace despite Mikoto's promise that there had been a couple in the few days I'd been here. This also didn't surprise me. They were royalty, and attractive royalty at that. Ino would definitely jump at the chance to bed either of them.

It had taken me a full day before I'd come to the realization that guards didn't come inside the palace unless one of the Uchihas sent for them. I could see them patrolling the courtyard from my window, but none entered the building. It almost seemed as though they wanted to be sure the Uchiha's didn't leave, but I was sure that wasn't the case. Each of the royals, except maybe Mikoto, disappeared for hours at a time so they had to be leaving the castle at some point.

The light from the candle on my bedside table suddenly went out when a strong gust of wind blew in from the window. I wrapped my arms around my knees and stared up at the dark sky. The castle seemed more alive during the night than day. I was always the first to retire to my room.

Mikoto told me that tomorrow would be my first day without her there to guide me. With nothing to do except garden once my orders for the day were finished, I often just sat here in the window and looked outside, not allowed outside alone.

When I first realized the latch on it wasn't welded shut, I briefly wondered if they hadn't worried about me either falling or jumping to my death, but quickly realized that it probably wouldn't affect them all that much. They'd most likely be annoyed by the mess, but that's all. I glanced around at my room.

My room was easily the least flashy that I'd been in throughout the castle, but it was still nicer than anything I'd ever had, or will likely ever have. My bed had black silk sheets and down pillows.

Many pieces of empty furniture decorated the room because I didn't have any personal belongings to fill them. I only had a few dresses that Mikoto had given me to use along with some new undergarments that she had an unlucky guard go into town to pick up. Every piece of clothing was black. I felt as though the undergarments were borderline lingerie and much too mature for someone of my age and stature. Necessity forced me to wear them regardless.

There was suddenly a knock on my door and my eyes shot over to it. That had never happened. I soothed my sleeveless black nightgown down as I tiptoed over to crack the door open only to be surprised by Madara's smiling face.

He raised a hand in greeting. I opened my door just slightly more so he could see my bow, "What can I do for you, sir?"

My face was a little warm at the fact that he was seeing me in the slightly revealing gown, but he simply gave a quiet chuckle before reaching out to grab each of my hands gently, "Please, Miss Haruno, call me Madara. I couldn't fall asleep tonight and wondered if you'd like to join me for a walk?"

I glanced back at my dark room, feeling his warm hands against my colder ones. I slid my door shut behind me quietly before walking side by side with him through the halls of the palace.

"How are you settling in?"

In all honesty, I felt more uncomfortable than anything. The only person I could talk to was Mikoto and even with her I had to think twice about what I'd say before saying it. Everyone else seemed to feel the same way towards me.

I glanced at Madara's smiling face. He seemed kind and sincere so with a boost of courage, I answered as honestly as I could without being insulting to his family, "I hope the princes warm up to my presence sooner rather than later."

He let out another light chuckle, "There is a reason they treat you this way, Miss Haruno. Didn't you know?"

I shook my head, but gave him a curious look as if to ask him to explain. He led me down to the second floor where we headed past his room, "The princes fell in love with their previous servant."

I was in disbelief, "Both of them? With the same girl?"

He nodded and put a finger to his mouth, motioning to the princes in question's rooms that were further down the hall. I winced, not realizing my voice had risen, and nodded with a finger to my mouth to mimic his motion to be silent.

He stopped in front of the door that Mikoto had skipped over during our tour, "This is Itachi's room."

Itachi? Is he the last family member in the portrait?

He leaned against the door with his hands in his pockets and a sad look on his face. He looked near tears in an instant and it stirred something in me to gain the courage and lay a hand softly on his arm. Did Itachi die or something? Madara looked so grieved.

The man in question lay a hand gently on top of mine and offered me a small smile, "Don't worry about me, Miss Haruno. I simply wished to give you a warning."

His smile vanished and was replaced with a serious frown, "Itachi violated and murdered the previous servant girl."

Fear rocked through my veins and I froze in disbelief. Had I heard that correctly? Madara pulled my hand from his arm and held it firmly in between his two much bigger ones, "Itachi is returning home tomorrow. With him being an Uchiha, his crimes were concealed from the public and the girl's family hushed with money. Please, Miss Haruno, promise me you'll come to me if he approaches you in private. I wish nothing more than to prevent such an atrocity from happening again."

My heartbeat quickened at his kind words, his face serious in a way I'd never seen a man look. Unable to find words, I nodded in reply and allowed him to lead me back to my room.

Once we arrived, he knelt down to place a chaste kiss on my hand, "Good night, Miss Haruno. Remember your promise when tomorrow comes."

I shyly pulled my hand away from him and nodded with a red face before closing the door to my room behind me, the hand he kissed curled up into my chest. No one has ever treated me so nicely.

Come morning, I woke up an hour earlier than usual, nightmares of this Itachi man had plagued my dreams. I've never had sex with anyone and the mere thought of someone stealing something as precious as a girl's virginity felt worse than taboo.

On a different topic, though, I felt more annoyed than anything because being in this damned palace had me acting like someone I'm not. Did I really have a choice other than to adjust myself to my setting? I just need to survive the next three months and then I'll be free to return to my life in the lower-class.

With a new determination to just do my job and make it through my sentence, I got dressed and headed downstairs to start my chores early.

The halls were dimly lit with the light of sunrise as I hummed a light tune to amuse myself and swept the long hallway. A door opening pulled me from my trance and I turned to greet whichever brother was leaving their room, only to be faced with a red-headed woman I didn't recognize.

She was obviously of high-class, but the look of shock on her flawless face told me she hadn't expected to be caught leaving Sasuke's room. I bowed respectfully to her, despite her obvious annoyance, causing her to huff and stomp past me and toward the staircase to leave the palace before anyone else could spot her.

With a sigh, I finished up mopping and headed toward Sasuke's room to collect his clothing from yesterday for cleaning. When I stepped into the room, he was sitting up in bed with no shirt on and a thick blanket draped over the bottom half of his body. There was a book in his hands that he looked away from momentarily to shoot me an annoyed glare. Trying to hide the look of incredible discomfort on my face, I bowed before beginning to pick up his messy room.

Each morning his room would be in disarray. How could a grown man be so bad at picking up after himself?

As I got closer to his bed, I was hyper aware of his nakedness. It was unclear if he was wearing any bottoms because of the blanket, but his bare torso was hard enough to ignore. Toned muscles glared openly at me, and I couldn't even lie to myself: he was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen. It was too bad he hated me.

With a frown, I tore my gaze away from his toned body and leaned down to grab a discarded item of clothing, only to jump in shock when I realized I was holding the redhead's forgotten underwear.

My face heated up and the unfamiliar sound of Sasuke chuckling met my ears. I glanced at him in surprise and he had a small smirk on his lips as he purposely kept his gaze on his book. A glare slipped onto my face before I could control it and I snatched the lacy panties back up before continuing my chores.

The next few moments were silent until I was about to leave the room, when Sasuke suddenly blocked the door. He was wearing a simple pair of black bottoms, thank the lord. I would've actually died if he approached me like that completely nude.

Still, I dropped the armful of clothing I was carrying in shock and a noise of surprise slipped past my lips. With a hand to my heart, I took a calming breath before leaning down to regain the items I'd lost, "Do you need something, Sir?"

Despite his face still holding an expression of distaste toward me, his words were spoken precisely, "Avoid Itachi at all costs."

My whole body felt like it was set ablaze. This was the first time I'd heard him speak so clearly and directly to me, at that. Without giving me a chance to respond, he stepped to the side and opened the door for me to exit his room.

I did so with no complaints because Sasuke was still by far the most intimidating member of the family I'd yet to interact with, to me anyway. His mother and even Madara have warned me about his temper so I wasn't in any hurry to witness his fury firsthand.

Once his clothes were in the washing machine, I headed up to Sai's room only to catch him on his way out.

"Ah! Hello Miss Haruno. How are you today? Are you sleeping any better?"

I paused mid-bow, unsure of how he would know I hadn't been sleeping well. Did I have dark circles under my eyes that gave me away? Regardless of how he'd received the information, I replied, "I'm alright, Sir. Do you have any special requests for me today?" Again, I hated being so damn formal all the time, but I was literally serving the royal family. If I acted casual around them they'd probably have a not so nice reaction.

He smiled the same blank smile as usual, but spoke in a matter-of-factly voice, "Come get me if Itachi approaches you in any way."

My fear of this Itachi character was growing more and more as the day progressed. Every member of the Uchiha family that I talked to today warned me to avoid him. I simply nodded and waited politely for him to leave the area before entering his room to do my daily chores.

Once I was finished cleaning, ironing, and placing the boys' clothing on hangers, I headed back upstairs to place them in their respective rooms. As I was hanging up Sasuke's trousers in his wardrobe, a voice sounded so softly behind me that for a moment I thought I'd imagined it, "Excuse me, miss?"

I jumped and turned to see an attractive man standing a yard or so away with his hands behind his back. His black hair was tied back in a neat ponytail and his face was serious as he studied me.

My body froze in terror as his eyes locked onto my own. They were a glowing bright red that made it hard to look away. This was Itachi, there was no doubt about that. Sasuke was, naturally, nowhere in sight and I had no clue where he or Sai had even gone.

I greeted him shakily, "H-Hello, Sir. You must be Itachi. It's a pleasure to meet you."

I was shaking in my hypothetical boots. Would he kidnap me here and now and take me away to violate and murder me like he did the other girl? If I lived past today, I'll have to ask Madara.

Tears filled my eyes and I fought to pull them back before he could notice, but it was all in vain.

"Please don't be frightened. I have no intention to harm you."

Of course a murderer would try to convince his possible prey to trust him! I'm no fool and I won't be falling for it. With my best foot forward, I forced back my tears and nodded, "O-Of course, Sir."

He stared at me with those calculating eyes for a silent moment before releasing me from their hold and glancing around the room, "Do you know where my brothers are?"

I shook my head and finished hanging up Sasuke's clothes, gathering Sai's from the bed to take to his room, "No, sorry."

Itachi stared at me again for a moment before silently turning on his heel and leaving the room. Relief rolled over me the moment he was out of sight and it was as though I could breathe again. I'd survived my first encounter with someone I knew was a murderer.

That night, well after I'd had my bath and could be found sitting in my favorite spot at the window, there was a soft knock at my door. Would this become a habit? It's the middle of the night, yet this is the second evening in a row that I've had a visitor. I padded my way to the door to find that it was Madara visiting again.

He greeted me with a kind smile, "Good evening, Miss Haruno. How was your day?"

I returned his smile, more at ease knowing it wasn't Itachi coming for me in the cover of night, "Fine, thank you. What can I do for you?"

He answered without hesitation, dawning a slightly bashful look on his handsome face, "To be honest, I wish to learn more about you."

My face heated up just slightly. How can he say such embarrassing things with a straight face? He spoke like he was from a different era and it gave him a certain prince-like quality that made sense given his status.

Even if Madara was a very attractive man that had done nothing to make me feel as if he has ill intentions, it would be stupid for me to not consider it odd for a grown man to want to hang out with a seventeen year old girl. I reluctantly allowed him to lead me out of my room and towards the family room, trusting that I was wrong to question him.

He made us both some tea and we sat on the soft rug in front of the fireplace. "Tell me, Miss Haruno. Is it alright for me to call you by just your first name?"

I nodded politely as I sipped my hot tea. The sweet liquid warmed my body as it flowed down my throat. Almost immediately I felt dizzy with heat.

"Sakura, have you heard anything from your family since your arrival? Have you received any letters?"

Everything was moving in slow motion. When I blinked, it took multiple seconds for my vision to recover. Did he put something in my tea?

Not wanting to be rude, I tried to respond politely, "I-I'm sorry..um..I feel a little dizzy. Maybe I should-!"

When I looked back up all I could see were red eyes. I couldn't pull my eyes away and found myself dropping my tea cup. As it clattered to the floor, the hot liquid left inside burned my lap through the clothes, but I still couldn't move to tend to it.

It was as though I was being hypnotized. Every sense in my body was screaming for me to do something, anything, to get away, but my muscles were frozen as the eyes slowly came closer and closer. This felt like a dream. Even as it was happening, I struggled to comprehend what was happening.

These eyes were the same as Itachi's. Had he really made his move so quickly after returning? Where'd Madara go?

A moment passed and I tried to move as I felt large hands suddenly move my arms away from my sides. They took their time as they gently caressed the curves of my body that they could reach. My heartbeat sped up further, somehow, when they slowly moved my gown off my shoulder. Suddenly, a hand came up behind my back to hold me upright and the other one held a fistful of my hair.

Every fiber of my being was in flight mode, but I still couldn't break away from whatever spell I was under. In my mind, I knew sirens should be going off, but something was interfering with those signals and causing a calming effect.

"Close your eyes. Don't make a sound." A beautiful voice as soft as a breeze drifting through the trees floated through my mind and my eyes shut in an instant. The longer I was under the trance, the less I was able to focus my thoughts.

Someone's lips pressed against my collarbones, slowly trailing kisses up to my neck. The sensation was foreign and unwelcome. I could move my fingers slightly and grasped onto some type of cloth, probably my attacker's clothes, but it was all I could do to hold onto my sanity.

The voice said something quietly, the soft lips on my neck moving as the person spoke, but as I tried to process their words, a sudden shock of pain erupted where they'd been kissing me and a jolt of electricity shot through my spine as I tried to scream.

Waves of burning coursed through my body, starting at my neck and rolling down my skin to reach my toes. My grip on my attacker's clothes slowly loosened until I didn't even have the energy to move my fingers anymore. The last thing I could remember before finally passing out was the pain subsiding and someone lifting my slack body up from the ground.

The next thing I felt was someone roughly shaking me by the shoulders, obviously trying to wake me. Flashes of what happened crossed my mind quicker than the speed of light and my eyes shot open in terror.

Immediately, I recognized that I was laying on the ground on the second floor of the castle. It was early morning as there was only a small amount of light coming through to provide vision.

Someone's voice rumbled through the cloudiness in my head and I struggled to focus on whoever was shaking me, but couldn't break from stupor. I could tell they were becoming more panicked by the tone their muffled voice was starting to take and suddenly Sasuke's panicked face was clear as day and only inches away from my own.

The expression he was wearing seemed incredibly out of place and differed greatly from his usual scowl. His mouth continued to move as he spoke to me, but I still couldn't make out the words. Was I dreaming? Was that attack last night just a dream and it's still going on?

I could feel heat rising in my face and the small amount of light made my head pound. A sensation similar to that of water leaving the ears slowly rolled over me and it was like everything happened at once. I sat up, causing the Uchiha prince to move from his position atop me and to instead kneel at my side.

He seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes on my face. Still stunned and struggling to believe that I was actually awake, I looked down to see that my pajamas had been nearly destroyed, leaving me in my undergarments and the tattered lacy remains of my nightgown.

That's not what caused me to scream in terror. No, that would be the blood that had obviously flowed from my neck, down my body, and eventually down to the floor to leave a massive puddle. How am I still alive if all that blood had come from me!

Sasuke grabbed my shoulders once again and this time I could hear his deep voice crystal clear as he tried to calm me, "Stop! Stop! Don't move! What happened?"

Tears poured down my face as I tried to hold back my terrified screams, instead whimpering in panic as I glanced down at all the blood on the ground once more, trying to wipe the still-damp blood off my body with shaking hands.

When it was clear that I wasn't in any state to listen, the Uchiha prince hesitated before placing a hand over my mouth to muffle my cries and pulling me up to my feet. His hands were rough and cold against my hot skin.

A wave of nausea rolled over me once I was upright and I knew I was about to throw up. Still amidst a full-on panic attack, I wrenched my arm away from Sasuke and stumbled into his room, then his bathroom, so I could fall over to vomit in the toilet there.

He followed me, to my horror, and once I was done losing the contents of my stomach, I fell lifelessly onto the cold linoleum floor. I sensed him reach over and flush the toilet before getting up to do something. I lulled in and out of consciousness, a cold-sweat coating my body and my labored breath leaving a little fog circle on the floor where I'd collapsed.

Suddenly Sasuke was back and I groaned as he sat me up to help me remove the remainder of my ruined gown. His voice was cloudy once more as I struggled to stay awake, "Don't go to sleep, Sakura. Stay awake!"

I tried to remember what had happened last night in detail, but was so out of it that all I could remember was the glowing red eyes that had stolen my ability to control my body. I tried to make out the word "red" before falling completely out of consciousness, but I don't know if I made it or not.