Seeing the Moon [EDITED ✔️]

XVIII. Love Lies ✔️

Haruno Sakura was about to make the biggest mistake of her life...Or so, that's what Sasuke told her. What a supportive teammate, right?

She walked briskly through the Uchiha clan grounds as cold obsidian orbs bored into her skin from all directions. She was an innocent baby gazelle walking straight into the lion's den. They were watching her, assessing her, judging her. She could practically hear their scornful whispers: She's not one of us. Who is this child to have the gall to walk onto our soil? A pretty head to mount on my wall. Okay, maybe not that last one, but from the looks she was receiving it might as well be true.

By the time she made it to the center of the compound where the main family resided, all the confidence she built up this morning had dissipated into dust. It took every fiber of pride she had left not to turn tail and jet it out of there. When Itachi first mentioned the ceremony Sakura had choked on her saliva. Wasn't he moving too fast? she'd thought. After all, she just made thirteen, still in her early teenage years. But she then realized that even though that was true for herself, Itachi was eighteen and the heir to the Uchiha clan. Fugaku was probably grooming him to take over in a couple years and part of that process was finding a suitable wife to bare the next clan heir. So if there was ever a time for Sakura to solidify the eldest prince as her own, now was it.

"Sakura," Mikoto's voice caught her off guard, "you look beautiful."

The pinkette blinked to clear her thoughts. "A-arigatou gozaimasu!" she frantically bowed.

The woman giggled behind her hand from her seat on the porch. "No need to be so formal, dear. It's not like we've never met before. Come, come, we're just about to begin." The young kunoichi scurried to sit beside her future mother-in-law while trying to stop the erratic beating of her heart. "I was so excited when Itachi told us that he nominated you as his bride. I just knew there was something going on between you two."

Sakura smiled before her eyebrows suddenly scrunched together. "Wait, he nominated me? You say that as if there are others."

Mikoto looked sincerely perplexed. "He didn't tell you? Sakura, this is a selection for the next female leader of our clan. Itachi gets to nominate his own potential spouse but Fugaku and I also pick. In the end, we will present our results to the Council of Elders and they will have the final say."

Her eyes were the size of saucers. "He...failed to mention any of that." Holy shit, she was in trouble now. How could Itachi forget to tell her the most important part of this tradition?! She thought this was going to be a formal introduction: shake some hands, smile till her face hurts, kiss a few cheeks, and bam - done. But no, this is a freaking competition! Sakura wasn't sure if she had enough confidence to go up against other girls and fight for Itachi's heart. As far as she was concerned, she already had it and these other 'candidates' were in for a rude awakening.

A warm hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked up into the Uchiha woman's cheerful eyes. "Do not fret, Sakura. Fortunately for you, there's only one person Fugaku and I nominated. Had I known Itachi would do this, I would have placed my vote on you."

The young girl's eyes trembled with uncertainty. "But this isn't fair, Mikoto-san. Itachi chose me as his wife. Why do we have to go through all of this if he wants me?"

"Well," Mikoto's smile tilted downward, "this is just how things are. And it is fair, Sakura. You see, I wasn't exactly Fugaku's first choice. Heck, I wasn't second, third, or fourth choice. The girl he nominated was a real warrior, his female version. I, on the other hand, was the meekest of all the candidates. I stuttered with every word, tripped over air, and Kami, I could barely hold a kunai. To this day, I still don't know what possessed his parents to nominate me when they already had four eligible wives."