Tied by Greed (ItaSaku - modern AU)

Chapter 9: Instability

"God, look at you. You are so pretty!" Ino said cheerfully. "Isn't she, Sasuke?"

"Hn."

"Thank you, Ino. I am pretty surprised on how this dress turned, too." Sakura answered, analyzing the hand made details of her own dress.

"If my time ever comes, I want yoj to helo me pick the dress." the blonde said.

"Yoo!" Naruto waved from behind Ino. "Sakura-chan, it's time to open the gifts. Your husband is waiting for you."

Sakura's smile faded at his words. Husband... Such a filthy word in this situation.

She passed by her friends  without adressing one word. And they didn't either. It was easy to say that she didn't feel in a good position right now but compliments and gifts were their only ways of trying to make her feel better. It didn't work none the less. This was more serious than any high school drama that they ever encountered.

When Sakura reached Itachi, she glanced at him only for a few seconds, her posture becoming stiff and serious.

She intertwined her fingers and looked at the crowd in front of them.

"I want to thank everybody for attending our wedding and supporting us in this special day. We couldn't be more grateful. You witnessed our union and were by our side as we tied our lives. Thank you!" Sakura adressed them, the words rolling off her tongue naturally after passing the manner filter, joining her acting skills.

Fugaku seemed convinced that she choose to adress them as he crossed his arms proudly while smirking.

The newly weds turned towards the table full of gifts. Sakura found support on it while breathing heavily like she did the hardest thing in her life. Itachi looked at her worried.

"We can do this another time if you don't feel good." his fingertips touched gently the skin of her arm but she fliched.

"And make your family mad? I think I have enough problems for now." she whispered harshly.

Her husband just nodded.

He picked up an envelope. "Money." he said then put it aside.

Sakura picked up a small, red box with a golden ribbon. She opened it hesitantly.

Inside, she found the keys to a Mercedes. She also read the note. "Maybe this will make it less gloomy. - Sasuke."

She smiled.

Itachi opened a small box where he found two plane tickets. It was headed to Iceland. The tickets were joined also by invitations to a beautiful Resort in Reykjavik. Well, this will probably serve as a great gifts for his parents on Christmas, as Sakura would probbly not want to be anywhere with him.

He read the names of people that gave then the gift. Bad news. It was his parents. He pressed his lips in a straight line.

In another box, Sakura found a shopping giftcard for Gucci from Karui and Choji. She smiled.

As selfless as she was, she was a girl after all and owning pretty things was a hidden desire that she tried to push back.

Another vacantion was gave to them by Sai and Ino but this one, was in Egypt.

From the others, they received mostly money. Only that Naruto gave her a mansion in Los Angeles, Hollywood. He gave this gift as a common gift with the Hyuugas and Sakura's parents as the mansion came fully furnitured.

The pinkette thought that what they received was a bit too much but she was thankful none the less. Maybe she should try to focus more on material things so the time can fly faster. She heard that it's time consuming.

Maybe turning into a basic girl who loves shopping and traveling doesn't sound so bad, after all.

Ini will teach her better.

She felt her neck hurting and touched the back of it while moving it slowly.

Itachi tapped with his nail his glass of champagne, gaining everyone's attention.

"This is a toast." everyone raised their glasses whether it was with champagne, wine, Burbon or just water. "For my lovely wife, Sakura. And for the great person that she is. The kind of person that is willing to sacrifice herself for the good of others." he sugestively said.

Everyone cheered besides her close friends that looked worriedly at her. They just let their glasses down, without even taking a sip while the Uchiha clan seemed the most content about this entire façade.

Itachi put his own glass down, while offering his hand to his wife. She blinked a few times, confused. "Time to do the opening dance." he reminded her with a whisper. "

She gave him  fake smile, trying to hide the fact that she forgot and initially, interpreted his gesture as trying too hard, but she was so transparent that he saw right through it.

He led her in the middle of the dancefloor while "Thinking out loud" by Ed Sheeran started playing. She relaxed her muscles, closed her eyes and tried to remember every step that they were taught.

His hand wrapped around her slim body, bringing her closer while her hand rested on his shoulder.

Without knowing, her feet started moving while being guided by him.

*

Sakura ruffled her own hair in front of the make up table. She laid the wipes down and looked in the mirror at her tired persona. She wasn't glowing nearly as much as she thought when she imaginated her wedding while she was a child.

She was just a faded image of the cheery girl that she used to be. A ghost.

Itachi came out of the bathroom, wearing only a pair of shorts that he was sleeping in. The flirty girl that once analyzed every muscle of an attractive man, was no longer interested. Because yes, she admitted that he was attractive. But it was not enough. The madness, sadness, self loathing and disgust were the only thing that occupied her mind. Such a waste of thoughts as much as Itachi was a waste, being here, forced to be with her instead of being with someone who truly makes him happy. Yet, she didn't know why he didn't have the same repulsive feeling towards her.

He tried to dry his hair using the towel in his hands.

"Do you want to watch a movie with something?" he kindly offered.

She pushed her own chair back so hard that it scratched the floor. "No, I am tired." she answered bluntly while getting up.

Itachi sighed. "We can't keep doing this if we want to live together peacefully."

"Who said that I want to live with you? The only reason I am here right now is because this is your parents house, this is your parents that put us together in this room thinking that it's time to consume our marriage and the fact that we have to make it credible for tonight. "

He caught her arm gently as she passed by him. "The press is also all over us, Sakura. If you live somewhere else they will know, everyone will know."

She yanked her arm from his grip. "Oh, great. What next? Will you handcuff me to the bed to be sure that I won't destroy your reputation?" she spat bitterly after the new information.

"No. I trust you." he said softly.

Sakura moved her eyes to the ground then back at him. "Do your parents need to be completely assured that we slept together? Do I need to fake moan loudly?"

He was taken aback by her question. "No?" he asked confused.

"Good, then I'm going to sleep. And stay on your side, if you try anything I swear to God..." she closed her eyes and massaged her temples.

She jumped in bed and pulled the thin sheet over her while trying to stay as close as she could to the edge of her half of bed.

Itachi sighed then did the same while shutting off the lamp.

They both kept staring on each side of the room without being able to fall asleep. Thoughts of the fake future they had wouldn't let them sleep.

In that bed, they looked miled apart. Bodies and hearts.