Chapter 16

So much happened in one night that I expected a big change in atmosphere going forward, but I was wrong. Ino, Mikoto, and I were so busy taking down the decorations from the ball that I struggled to focus on anything else.

I thought maybe things between Sasuke and I would continue to pick up, but that wasn't the case. A lot of it was my fault because as soon as I finished bathing and my head hit the pillow each night, sleep would take me in an instant. Although Sasuke didn't go out of his way to approach me, either.

The Subaku siblings, Temari included, left the next day so they could prepare for the festival we'd been invited to attend. We hadn't really been given too many details about the event, but I couldn't care less so long as Gaara and Kankuro don't try anything unwelcome with me or Ino.

Kankuro had expressed a mild interest in my twin sister despite her being "claimed" by Sai. The Uchiha prince even threatened him to back off, but it only did a little to hold him at bay. It seemed that the Subaku royal simply loved women and causing trouble.

Ino and I agreed that he's attractive in a similar way that Naruto was, but there's no way in hell either of us would ever be interested in him even if he was a human. He's simply too much of a playboy.

Naruto sent a letter to fill me in on what was happening outside the castle walls. Apparently our house had finally been repaired in full, thanks to him and his father, so Mom was living alone and refused to leave for any reason other than to visit the church. His mother, Kushina, has been sending groceries over once a week to make sure she doesn't starve, but isn't sure if she's actually eating them or not.

On a more surprising note, Naruto says he and Hinata have been exchanging letters quite regularly and plan on meeting again in person soon. I was equally happy and worried for the pair. It was obvious they held mutual feelings for one another, but it's her family that made me uneasy. What would they do to Naruto and maybe even Hinata if they find out?

Despite my best efforts to avoid him, Madara still found moments where he could get me alone long enough to taunt me. The older vampire loved reminding me that Obito was still in chains in the cellar and that he could release him at any moment or that Sasuke still hadn't realized the truth about what had happened down there to begin with.

To my great relief, he rarely chose to feed on me, stating that he wants to savor me and not spoil himself. I was almost grateful that we'd be going to Sunagakure for a few days and he wouldn't be coming along. That's one less problem to worry about.

The one month anniversary of me arriving at the castle came and went and the next morning I awoke with Sasuke's arm wrapped around my waist, which was becoming the new norm. He seemed to notice my awakening and tightened his grip around me.

I felt the firmness of his muscles even through my gown, a small dusting of heat rising to my cheeks as I greedily enjoyed the sensation. "Good morning..." My voice was still groggy from sleep and Sasuke replied with his usual grunt of acknowledgement.

I'd grown incredibly used to him not being as talkative as me and have even started to be able to figure out what each little sound means. To others, it may seem like he's annoyed and doesn't want to respond to me, but I've realized that he just isn't as expressive as others and I'm doing my best to accept the personality trait. He doesn't try to get me to stop talking so much, at least he doesn't try very hard, so I don't try to force him to talk when he doesn't want to.

Once we're all freshened up and at the breakfast table with the rest of the family, Fugaku surprised me by saying, "You'll be leaving for Sunagakure at noon today. I trust I do not need to remind you all how important it is that you do nothing to upset our allies." He was speaking to his three sons directly, and Ino and I indirectly. His voice was as gruff and serious as usual, his words straight to the point and borderline threatening.

Itachi was the only one to respond verbally, "Yes, Father."

My heartbeat quickened with nervousness. How would we be traveling? How far away's Suna? Would it take a long time for us to arrive?

Ino and Sai glanced at one another and shared a smile, making one appear on my lips as well.

The couple's grown on me, I have to admit. Despite the absolute horror that I'll most likely be killed before Madara lets me return to my previous life, it seemed apparent that Sai would do anything to protect my sister and she's honestly never looked happier. My biggest relief was that she hasn't experienced any of the terrible things that I have throughout the past month.

Once breakfast was finished, Mikoto shooed Ino and I away from helping her tidy up the dishes so we could pack for the trip.

Before I knew it, we were escorted by the militia to a large vehicle with dark windows. A small truck was behind it with everyone's luggage. I'd never been in a motorized vehicle and my nerves were bundled in a giant knot in my stomach. Not long after the vehicle started moving did I start to get restless.

Itachi was sitting up front with the driver, Ino and Sai were in the middle row seating, and Sasuke and I were sitting in the back row. I tried very hard to ignore Ino and Sai's flirting, adjusting my hands in my lap for what felt like the hundredth time when Sasuke's rough hand suddenly pulled one of mine into his own.

I looked over at him in surprise since he's not normally one to show affection like that. Hell, we haven't even kissed once since that night. I often had a hard time convincing myself that it'd actually happened and wasn't just some fever dream. He kept his usual hard glare out the window.

A small smile tugged at my lips and I turned to lean my head against the window on my own side, letting his small act of kindness calm my anxiety.

We traveled for a very long time. It took hours for me to fall asleep. Then, I was awoken much later on by someone shaking my shoulder lightly.

My eyes crept open and I felt my pupils shrink by the sheer brightness of the world around me. Gone were the cloudy skies and thick trees and here was an endless sea of sandy colored buildings decorated with vibrant flags and paint with a wide desert for a backdrop.

A sweat dusted my forehead as soon as my shoes hit the ground. The sun was bright and unforgiving up above and the temperature was much higher than that of Konoha.

A group of tan, muscular men with swords approached us and I instinctively inched closer to Sasuke. Once they were standing a yard or so in front of our small group, they parted to make way for none other than Temari. We exchanged bows of respect before she motioned wordlessly for us to follow her. The armed men loosely surrounded our group and I had trouble ignoring them. Not one of them wore a facial expression or looked around. It's like they were empty shells of beings or something.

Citizens clad in loose and colorful fabrics bowed eagerly as their princess and a group of obvious outsiders passed them by. To my shock, many of the women wore sheer fabrics with nothing underneath so the world could see all that their bodies had to offer. My face burnt red in reaction to the heat and culture shock.

After what felt like an hour of us trekking through the large desert town, we finally approached a large castle made of a tan stone. It didn't impress me as much as the Uchiha castle, but it was still quite beautiful. Thankfully, it was a bit cooler indoors and we were led to an extravagant room where Gaara was sitting on a large throne with Kankuro standing casually a few feet away.

It amazed me how Gaara's skin was so glaringly pale despite living in such a bright place. Even his two siblings had tanned skin. He was clad in an elegant pair of teal and tan pants and a sheer coat with no clothing underneath. I thought he'd seemed thin when I'd met him in Konoha, but he did have decent muscles showing humbly to his guests.

Kankuro was wearing a similar outfit, albeit his was just a dark brown color. He was extremely muscled, which didn't surprise me given his personality and ego. He very much seemed the type to brag about and show off his muscles in an attempt to impress women.

Said prince stepped forward excitedly upon our arrival, "Welcome! It's good to see you ladies!" Temari cleared her throat at him and he rolled his eyes, "and you Uchihas, too."

We all bowed, Sai and Sasuke already looking like they wanted to choke him.

I tried to avoid Gaara's unwavering stare, but accidentally met it and quickly looked away to my feet with a red face. We hadn't spoken or even seen each other since he'd pretty much confessed his feelings, whether they're just sexual in nature or if they held something more. Would things be awkward now? Hopefully he wouldn't bring it up during our visit.

"I trust your trip was pleasant. Welcome to Sunagakure." Gaara's gravelly voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, despite it being incredibly hot under the heavy black dress I was wearing.

Temari stepped forward as though she'd been instructed beforehand to do so, "Please, Haruno sisters, follow me so we may dress you in appropriate attire."

I gave Sasuke a nervous glance before joining hands with Ino and following the blond vampire princess out of the room. Ino didn't seem nervous. In fact, she seemed to still hold a distaste for the Subaku woman. She glared openly at the back of the taller woman's head as she led us through hall after winding hall until finally arriving in what appeared to be a type of spa.

A small group of beautiful women greeted us eagerly before starting to help us out of our clothes without hesitation. Temari sat on a small bench and watched us with a bored look on her face. She was wearing an off white cloth over her breasts and a loose skirt of the same material wrapped expertly around her waist. Strappy brown sandals were on her feet.

The women around me spoke in a language I couldn't understand as they worked. One had sprayed a light mist of something that smelt good onto my hair and was undoing the braid it was in. Another was helping me out of my dress. A third one was taking my measurements and the last one wrote them down before flitting off to a large rack of clothes to pick out something to put on me.

Ino was on the other side of the room going through what looked like the same process.

I was so overwhelmed, I didn't even have time to feel embarrassed that so many strangers were seeing my naked body. At least everyone was female.

The woman from before returned and I was helped into a red top that was sheer except for a section across the front that was covered in a gold cloth underneath to cover my breasts. Even the sheer part, though, only came to my navel. A golden and silky cloth was fashioned into a loosely fitting skirt that was above the knees in the front, but almost reached the ground in the back. White tassels adorned with rubies hung from the hem and made little clinking noises when I moved. Finally, a strappy pair of sandals were slid onto my feet.

Once I was dressed, another beautiful woman came in and painted my nails a dark ruby color. The paint was quickly dried by some sort of mist she sprayed over them.

I felt incredibly uncomfortable with how much skin was showing and tried to ignore my anxiety as the women massaged what I assumed was sunblock into every inch of my skin that was visible.

When they were finally finished, I followed Temari out of the room when instructed to. Ino finished at the exact moment and I noticed that her outfit was identical to mine, but instead of red and gold, hers was purple and pearl.

Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail with just her bangs hanging down, and her nails were a violet. The hairstyle actually suited her well and I wondered why she hadn't worn it like that in the past. Thankfully they'd left my hair down and wavy because I didn't want my big forehead standing out. That being said, it was starting to stick to my skin in reaction to the sheen of sweat starting to form.

Temari let out a sigh, pulling me from my thoughts, before we stopped at a seemingly random room amidst one of the winding stone hallways. The princess lazily motioned for us to head inside before turning on her heel and leaving us. My sister and I shared a glance before pushing past the green cloth hanging across the doorway.

Standing in the room alone was the king of Sunagakure, Gaara.

My stomach dropped and I forced myself to appear confident as he walked around us with an unwavering gaze, like a lion circling its prey. My whole body was burning with anxiety and I jumped when his rough voice broke the silence, "Take the blond one away." One of the muscular guards from before appeared from outside the doorway and led Ino away. We shared a look of panic and before either of us could object, they were gone.

Then Gaara and I were alone.

I tried to maintain that confident look from before, but wavered when I turned forward and saw that the king had come to a standstill not an arm's length in front of me. My body naturally moved to step backwards, but his voice interrupted the movement, "Do not move."

Our eyes locked and the fear that I'd felt in the garden that night returned. I tried to stop my limbs from shaking in fear, but struggled to hide it.

"I proved my willingness to wait when we were in the garden, yet you still fear me. Explain why." His eyes danced over my body in an odd way, like he was searching for something in particular and not as though he saw me as a sexual object.

My mouth opened as I tried to find an answer, but I couldn't figure out how to respond, "I-I..."

One of his hands shot up, so quickly that I couldn't react, to firmly grip my jaw, his thumb brushing surprisingly gently against my lips as I snapped my mouth shut in terror. My legs finally gave out from under me and a thin rug cushioned my knees from a potentially harsh impact.

Gaara crouched down as I fell, calculating eyes never missing even the slightest movement. "You're still unclaimed, as well." It was not a question, but a statement.

Does he think that means he can do as he pleases since Sasuke hasn't "made a move", in the words of Kankuro? Surely he wouldn't do something so soon after our arrival.

His calloused hand moved from my jaw to the crease between my neck and shoulder. He moved my hair away from the spot almost mechanically before leaning toward me further.

My hands shot up in terror and pushed against his bare chest before I could control them.

His eyes locked onto mine and started glowing a familiar bright red.