Forced Paths

The arrival

The carriage they were in, had crossed half the distance towards home. His people, even the men of statues rarely used them for transportation. Their horses were more than enough to carry them and the fresh air was always welcome even in the snowy days. Carriages were for people who wanted to display their power with means more than their own strength. But his father insisted they would take one because Hyuga's was a proud clan which already looked at them like savages. A clan that made their women fight dare to think of that. His mother added that the journey might be difficult for the girl so they took one. Sasuke hated them. The closed environment, with no way to look outside and prepare for an enemy attack was making him on edge. He agreed nevertheless to stay inside, to keep company to his wife. Being married wasn't his plan. Being bound to one woman who you devoted to love and care didn't seem like his future. Then again, nothing he lived was ever his future. Everything handed to him when he left. When his father called him to talk about his plan, his surpise was kept inside. Their clan never practiced arrange marriages but his father explained it was all decided for the future. Sasuke knew that when the decision was taken, he wasn't the one that was going to be wed. The brown eyes lifted from the desk to examine him when he remained silent. Are you going to disappoint me too. He never spoke a word but he knew. So he agreed with whatever plan was in place. He would do anything for the clan. He would agree to anything if it meant his father would look at him and for a moment he wouldn't see his brother's shadow. He would cross whatever path so his mother would regain her clean gaze. Even marry to a woman he never met. He turned his head to observe the figure across him. She was pretty he guessed but not his taste. He didn't remember if they even exchange a word before he took her to bring him to his house. It was an improvement, since she would be second to her sister if she remained in her clan. He was stack with the second choice but what leader would give his successor to another clan. Her eyes were glued outside from the small opening the fabric offered. She seemed determine not to move an inch from the place she first seated as if a smal movement would kill her. He would enjoy the silence if she wasn't there. How he wished to be with the others, outside of this box that was carrying them. His mother suggested to leave them alone, so the ice would break before they arrived at their new house. He hadn't decided if that was better or worse than to have her here trying to pretend that this was normal. Nothing in this situation was normal. He was forced to share his space with another being he didn't know or had any intetion to. To respect and protect someone who hasn't earned either. He had his own reasons to agree into this but he hoped until the last minute that the Hyuga would deny. Her family claimed that she was a warrior, as much as she could, she should do something. Fight against it. He didn't have a choice. She did. She seemed to sense his gaze and turned her eyes for a moment on him. She was pale like the sun light hadn't touched her skin. Two black circles had formed under her eyes as he observed her more.
"Sleep. It would be another hour before we arrive."
The woman, his wife was more tense than relaxed after he spoke.
"You can't appear before my people looking like this."
The exhaustion was evident on her face. Maybe she wasn't used to carriages either.
"I'm fine. Thank for your consern." She spoke like she was taught. At least she knew how to be presentable. Sasuke didn't fool himself with illusions. His marriage wouldn't be like his parents was . He knew they had loved each other long before his father asked his mother to marry him. He could see the way they exchanged glances, speaking a secret language with their eyes. Fugaku Uchiha was a fearsome leader but inside their house, he would do anything for his wife. Mikoto had her way with all the Uchiha men, that were part of her family. She said the right words, stopped the fights before they broke, making them all feel unique and special. The clan was devoted to her as she was devoted to her husband and her children. He was her favourite since he was born. And to him Mikoto was perfect. Beautiful without trying, covering her kindness in little gestures, always presentable beside his father. Nothing could make her waver. In his younger days she was the epitome of perfection. Until he left. Her other child. Wrinkles started appearing around her lips when her smile broke until it bent the other way. Her previous glory replaced by a shade of grey that seemed to cast in every corner of their house. When his father misspoke she wasn't there to correct him. Her gaze was far away searching for her lost son. When his father proposed this union and her voice didn't reach the walls around them, Sasuke knew the person that he always admired was gone.
He remembered clearly the day he left. A note was left on the wooden table that they used to gather to eat their meals. Don't search for me. Goodbye. Itachi.
A few words, that was his way.
The first month there was agony. Every new information throwed them on the roads. Then the second and the third. Until a year passed and Itachi was nowhere to be found. One night at that same table his father announced that the search was going to stop. This was the last time he saw a glimpse of what they used to be.
His mother cried, raised questions even cursed, but when his father spoke again no more voice was left to be heard. He found him, he said. He explained why he left and why he would never come back. The tears were dry when the whisper of a voice finished. Then he emerged from his seat to announce them that if he ever came back, he would be killed on the spot. Fugaku Uchiha had only one son and heir. Noone would speak of any other ever again. Before he left he shot one last glance at Sasuke.  Don't disgrace me or your mother.
He shed away his thoughts when the carriage stopped. He felt terrible tired but everything would end soon. He didn't have to do anything more than he had already done. He did the journey, endured the foreign house and the obnoxious people living in it. Nobody asked him to be a good husband. Both clans wanted the same thing. The alliance. He had done his part. The only thing he would have to accept would be the trembling person across him.

____

Hinata thought that her strength was drown the moment the ceremony ended. Flatteries were exchanged but she didn't remembered any. It was a mutual decision the couple as well as their men to leave after everything was over. It was a bless for a while. She wouldn't have to conclude the marriage immediately. She watched as they crossed the land moving away from her home with every mile that passed. She was living a prison to enter another. Yet she would try her best. Not for the alliance this men hoped they were building. But for Hanabi. She understood the thread her father had sent her. One mistake and Hanabi would suffer. She wasn't sure he would do it, Hana was always his favourite. But she feared the hate for her was greater than his love for her sister. She had come that far already. One hour. That's the only thing she heard. In one hour she would be officially sold. She tried to calm her nerves thinking that if she hadn't do what she did, Hanabi would be traveling east with this strange man. The carriage stopped and with the corner of her eye she saw him more relaxed than before. Her husband. He had nothing to fear. This was his home. These were his people. He didn't lose anything by this arrangement, or maybe he agreed to it willingly. If he had come sooner, if he had reached out to her, they could have been a team. But he wasn't that kind of person. There was never a chance he would be since she, Hinata, was cursed. She only hoped not to bring another cursed child after their union.
It was night when they arrived. Everyone made way so the newly weds to walk.
His mother touched her hands and welcomed her. Hinata offered her a smile. She was nice to her from the beginning, it felt cruel not to return it. She walked behind him, he was intimidating wearing his black kimono with the vivid red Uchiha crest on his back. She wished she had her katana. She felt naked without it.
Two girls awaited outside of what seemed to be their house. They bowed on their arrival and standed before her.
"They will help you get ready since you don't have a relative with you.".
The blood was lost from her face.
"I..I don't need any help."
He stopped on his tracks.
"Be clean." He commanded before he moved his hand to dismiss the servants and enter the house.
She followed with half heart as the worst were yet to come. He showed her the house, a sitting room and a kitchen were the first rooms they entered. Further inside a bathroom and a spare room and at the end of the hall the master bedroom with a bathroom of its own. He looked at her before he examined the closets to see if her things had arrived. Hinata stayed frozen in the little space she occupied as she felt like a foreign object in someone else's home. She moved when he turned his look again to show her her clothes arranged perfectly beside his. She knew the time had come when he sat on a chair across the bed and waited. She took a piece of the clothes she wore at night, the most covering she could find. As she entered the bathroom and opened the water she thought how meaningless it was. She would be naked short after the white door would open and he would claim his right. The water run cold before she realised it was time to face him. Her night gown covered her body entirely but she never felt more exposed than the moment the man lifted his eyes to watch her walk inside the room. She sat on the bed and waited. Her eyes were glued on the floor and she flinched when she heard him get up.
He leaned forward and as an instinct she moved back.
"You really aren't my kind of taste."
His words serious, almost cold made her open her eyes and face him.
His dark eyes looked straight at her.
"I like my women skinny. I prefer the ones that stand out the most.I want them to be desirable." He looked her clothes with disgust.
"But most importantly I want them to be willing." He got up,straighten his body.
"If anyone's asks you know what to answer."
She was so shocked she almost forgot how to speak. A jolt hit her when his feet exited the room.
"Uchiha-san. Thank you."
She never got and answer but she didn't need any. Uchiha Sasuke had let her go. And that was enough.