Sasuke Uchiha walked into the tavern and headed straight to the chair nearest the fire.
He was quickly approached by a waiter and Sasuke order a meal and ale and asked about a room for the night. The waiter asked his name and said that he would send the tavern owner over.
The tavern owner approached with a smile and a letter in his hand. “Welcome back, Mr. Uchiha. I’m having a room readied for you as we speak.”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, several years ago this letter arrived for you. I didn’t know who to send it back to so I kept it in hopes that you would return.” The tavern keeper held out the letter and Sasuke took it in hand. The tavern keeper bowed and walked away.
Sasuke looked at the letter. He thought he recognized the writing and when he opened it, he laughed as he read the signature.
Sakura Haruno.
He chuckled to himself as he read the letter which, according to the date was over five years old. He scoffed to himself as he read the words of love written by a silly girl-child.
He signaled to the waiter. “Bring me quill, ink and parchment.” The waiter bowed and rapidly brought the requested items. Sasuke moved a table so that he could write the letter. He sharpened the quill and cursed lightly as he cut his finger. He cursed again as he left a bloody fingerprint at the bottom of the parchment. But when he stopped bleeding, he wrote the letter and signed it.
Placing it in an envelope, he addressed it. Just then the waiter brought his meal. He handed the envelope to the waiter who promised it would be in the next day’s mail.
Sasuke tossed the letter he received into the fire, ate his meal, went to his room and as he slept, he forgot all about the letters he received and wrote.
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The woman who had been known as Sakura Haruno carefully mixed the herbs for the tisane she was making for the local schoolteacher, Iruka Umino, for the occasional headaches he got from working with rambunctious children every week.
She looked up as her best friend, Ino, entered the stillroom. “Pig, don’t you know how to knock?”
“And how would you hear it in here, Forehead?”
The two women grinned at each other.
Ino plopped herself on a stool near the table. “You have a letter.”
Sakura raised a slender pink eyebrow. “I get lots of letters. Most people do.”
“From Sasuke Uchiha?”
Sakura’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding.”
“No.”
Sakura walked over to the sink and rinsed off her hands and dried them thoroughly. She reached out for the letter and Ino handed it over.
Sakura tore open the envelope and read the letter:
Dear Sakura,
I have just received the letter you wrote five years ago and sent to the Rockwall Tavern. The tavern owner did not know how to return it to you and so he kept it in the hopes that I would one day return.
I must be blunt and must say that I cannot return your affections.
But if you make me a cambric shirt with no seams or needlework as well as find an acre of land between the salt water and the sea strands, plant it with sage, rosemary, and thyme, I will become…
Your Most Obedient and Devoted Servant,
Sasuke Uchiha
Sakura took a deep breath.
Then another.
The world was turning red.
“Sakura?”
Ino’s voice brought her, slightly, out of her rage. “Read this.”
She thrust the letter at Ino. Who read it.
“Oh, shit.”
“Indeed.” Sakura looked at her friend and gave her a smile that was chilling. “Look at the signature.”
Ino peered closely. “Is that a fingerprint underneath his signature?”
“Yes. It is.”
Ino looked up at her best friend. And she grinned. “And that makes it a blood oath.”
“Oh, yes, indeed it is.”
“Obviously, Sasuke doesn’t know what you’ve become.”
The two women laughed until they had to cling to the table to keep from falling to the floor.
Sakura took a deep breath and cupped her hands together. A low chant flowed from her lips.
Ino watched as a shirt of cambric, with no seams or needlework, wove itself out of thin air. When it was complete, fell to the table.
“Now what?”
“We take a walk.”
The blonde woman linked arms with her pink-haired friend. “The beach should be lovely today.”
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Sasuke smiled at the red headed woman who shyly pushed her glasses up her nose. “You remind me of dear friend.”
“Really?”
“Yes, she…” Sasuke straightened away from the table the woman was sitting at. His eyes stared over her head. “I…I am her most obedient and devoted servant. I must go to my mistress at once!”
The woman’s jaw dropped as the man who had been flirting with her turned and ran from the tavern, leapt upon a horse, and galloped off.
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Itachi Uchiha disembarked the ship. His buying trip had been most successful. He tossed a coin to a boy lingering hopefully nearby to run to his shop and give his employees a message to bring a wagon to retrieve the cargo he had purchased once it was unloaded from the ship.
As he left the dock, something caught his eye.
A new piece of land.
That had not been there when he left on his buying trip.
As he drew closer, he recognized the figure toiling diligently amongst the plants growing there.
A dark eyebrow raised in surprise.
Itachi turned towards his home and soon arrived. He was greeted quite enthusiastically by his sweet and loving wife. “I’ve missed you too, my love.” He smoothed back a lock of pink hair. “I noticed the addition to our town. And the one tending it. Should I assume there is a story behind it?”
Sakura smiled at her husband of four years. And told him everything.
Before she even finished, Itachi had to sit down before he fell to the floor from laughter. “My foolish little brother!” He pulled his wife into his lap and kissed her soundly. “You are my most delightfully wicked witch!”