Part 1: Impermanence

"Concubine?" Hinata inquired before yelping as her hair was yanked back.

"Yes, concubine. Don't you know?" Kurenai asked in an almost pitiful tone. Hinata shook her head, or tried to, with the hands still gripping her thick, midnight black hair.

Her mentor sighed, combing through her hair gently. "It's when a man has another woman, besides his wife."

Hinata's eyes widened, surpised by this new bout of information. "But... why would he want that? And why would a woman want to do that to someone else?"

"Well, you see," Kurenai's gentle voice began, "some people they are too busy to be at home. They're always travelling and it is not like he can bring his wife and children along with him. However, men are men and they need things that only women can provide. Some do not mind if that woman is not their wife.

"The woman... well there's many reasons. Many people think they do it because they want wealth and status. Others think they want to ruin marriage. Sometimes... sometimes they might do it for another reason. But, Hinata, never, never, think you know the reason why. Never think you know someone completely. Although, I know you're the last one I need to tell any of this to."

She looked beautiful and elegant, a graceful, white Tsunokakushi laid upon her head and. Her attire also consisted of a white Kimono with lavender linings, and the dress was elaborate with multiple layers. It was quite heavy, and it was surprising how Hinata's small frame could handle the weight of it.

There were no tears during the ceremony, there was only solemn acceptance. Her younger sister had merely hugged her, and she turned before Hinata could see any wetness brimming her eyes. It wasn't that upsetting, Hinata tried to convince herself. She was getting married within the village, her family could visit. Although her husband's place of stay was at the near end of the village, the place that had not been inhabited for almost two decades, if it allowed her to stay within her sister she had no qualms.

The only issue was her clan. They had negotiated for a long time, trying to secure Hinata a place that would benefit them greatly, and having anymore connections to her clan after her marriage would worry the elders into thinking that the marriage was not well. They could not let her fail, Hinata knew, because this agreement was much too beneficial for everyone.

But Hinata knew Hanabi, and Hanabi would willingly defy anything that stood in between them both.

"Please don't be irrational."

Hanabi cleared her eyes quickly and looked away, signalling that she would probably not heed her sisters wishes.

"Hanabi, I'm asking you, this is my final command as your sister."

The younger sister let out an uncharacteristic snort. "This is your only command as my sister."

"Hanabi," Hinata cut in sharply, and her sister was surprised by the piercing gaze she gave her, "I'm serious."

"I'll... try to."

"You know I love you right? But now, you must take care of father, OK? Don't worry about me, I'm in good hands."

"You married a mad man!"

"Father comes first," Hinata's voice was back to its smooth, delicateness, "if something happens to you or father..."

Hanabi nodded her head warily as her sister broke off. When Hinata reached in for another hug, a sadness tugged at her heart yet surprisingly tears did not sting her eyes. She was afraid bidding a farewell to her sister would have made her loose the years of composure she had worked so hard to maintain.

Funny, she thought dryly, the day she was no longer a Hyuga she felt as if she had finally become one.

"This is our room. There are several rooms in the compound, I could not care less if you take another one. There are two rooms, however, you cannot visit and they are among the ones upstairs, so, just as a suggestion, avoid the top floor in general. If you believe this room to be dull or unappealing and are itching to redecorate it, I suggest you release that pent up creativity for other rooms as I prefer this one to remain as is. But, that creativity should be for the rooms only, I don't wish to see anything else changed.

"Put your things wherever you wish, although I prefer the compound to be spotless whenever I come to Konoha. You needn't worry about my food choices. For the bathrooms, same thing applies for the rooms. Don't visit the top floor, keep this one as is, but do whatever you please for the ones leftover. You don't need to ask my for money, feel free to use it whenever to purchase anything you desire. The garden is also open to you."

Hinata looked at the floor as her groom listed out the commands, his voice nonchalant yet brimming with iciness. Her brain sped up to remember every command, yet it could not register all of them simultaneously. She was nervous. No, she was petrified. In all honesty she was scared of this man. All of Konoha was scared of this man! Her mind tried to juggled with all the things she should not do to anger him, yet she had to be wary that whatever she was currently doing was not already getting on his nerves.

She had heard stories, about men beating their wives over the simplest things, verbally abusing them to a mere shell, breaking them apart in invisible ways. And although she had realized from a young age that would be her fate, even after her wedding she was terrified. Hinata began her own path of unconscious critique, from her posture to her silence, from her shifting to the pitiful look that must be on her face. Her father had embedded it within her, to point out her ever constant flaws before anyone else could. What a meek type of strength...

"For your own comfort, I'd suggest you to change."

Hinata snapped from her reverie and looked up at her husband quickly and fearfully, looking away almost immediately as she had looked. Although most of Konoha feared him now, at one point most of Konoha loved him. He was much more hardened than in his youth, much sharper, much wiser. She had only a few glimpses when she was young, and never had she denied his dignified existence to be anything short of exquisite. Yet, that's how far her admiration went, a nod to his looks and talent, that was it.

It was quite ironic that they ended up married, both dark and quiet, one painfully shy and the other bitingly cold. Pale skin, beautiful eyes, elegantly poised, one was like the moon and the other its reflection on water. Bound by family, raised in their siblings shadow, both carrying heavy burdens of pain they other knew nothing about, they had too much in common it seemed.

"Y-yes. P-please excuse m-me." Hinata replied clumsily, trying her best to bow despite the faintness that gripped her body.

There was no spark, no heated gazes, no hasty actions. Two individuals, both too far from each in age, experience, and thoughts no matter how close their respective situations might bring them. The ripple in the water would always obscure the image of the moon.

"There's a Kimono behind the Byōbu."

Hinata made her way behind the screen doors, huffing a silent breath of relief when she made her way behind it. "Thank you!"

She heard no reply, but she was aware he had heard her. She began to fix her rapid breathing and soothe her beating heart. She felt her cheeks and wasn't surprised to find them heated. After a few moments, she began to undress herself.

Exiting the Byōbu, she was surprised to find her husband on his side, his body on the futon, the comforter lay discarded.

Nervousness then began crawling its way into her. Was she supposed to sleep here? Was she supposed to tell him she was done? Was he waiting for her and fell asleep? Hinata chewed on her bottom lip nervously. At least she was prepared what was going to happen on her wedding night. It had shocked her greatly, but Kurenai had told her that it was necessary. For the longest time, Hinata was disgusted and embarrassed to continue to hear more, but her kind mentor had explained that it was better to feel those emotions one at a time during then, than to experience them all together in one night. She explained the beauty behind the actions, and how one day she might experience them in joy instead of fear Hinata thanked Kami that Kurenai had told her what she had, because, mixed with the shakiness of her fingers and the tiredness of today, she would have certainly fainted if her husband even began to follow through with the actions she had been forewarned about.

When he refused to turn his back to her after a few moments, she decided to lay down as far as respectfully possible. She placed the thick, silk comforter upon herself, and attempted to settle down without much hassle.

He's so quiet, she wondered. The room was quiet, so quiet that she could hear the flames of the candle dancing. Such a quick sleeper, even with the candle still aflame?

The room, she surveyed, was large and wooden. There was minimal decoration, yet the ones that were evident was elegant and stylish. The Byōbu she had changed behind was one of the most beautiful ones she had laid her eyes upon. Upon it was a large tree, littered with red, blue and lavender flowers along with a flowing river in black and magnificent black birds flying. There was a chabudai towards her husband's side, and on it was what appeared to be a bonsai tree that had not been taken care of properly. It was overgrown, and looked brittle and aged. Above it was a small window covered with a sudare. There was a large ink painting behind her head, and on it appeared to be a beautiful mountain landscape.

Hinata froze when he shifted, and her heart began to beat rapidly as his body turned to the left, facing her. Hinata continued to stare at the ceiling, her mouth going dry. She felt a burning sensation on her right cheek, knowing he was staring at her, studying her. She immediately felt self conscious. Was he pinpointing her flaws? Without even realizing it, she tilted her head towards him, her eyes glancing at him as well.

It wasn't shy, almost nil like last time, but it was still reserved. His was a more blatant stare, and he was looking at every corner of her face, sometimes even farther than that. There was a concentrated look on his face, as if he were studying closely and Hinata felt herself blush once again. His face outlined in the candle light looked more sharp, his pale skin illuminating in the semi lit room. His strong jaw and cheek bones looked so perfectly sculpted that Hinata felt a wave of second hand embarrassment. Him with her? It was such an disappointing feat with someone who possessed much more potential. Although he towered her when standing, his lean figure did not possess as much of an imposing feel when lying down, yet Hinata wondered why she still felt so small. It was his eyes, she decided, that glinted like gemstones but she had yet to see a stone that had such a dark colour.

With a silent sigh, he moved above her and her eyes followed his elegant movements languidly, her breath still held. He bent down and touched his lips with her own, slowly and gently. His hands didn't wrap around hers. Her eyes shut when her stomach did a flip, and her arms felt heavy beside her as they itched to hold on to something for support. His lips guided her slowly, not becoming passionate yet holding a feeling of comfort.

Just as quickly as it came, it went, and her eyes shot open. His hands began to remove the blanket she was wrapped in and Hinata simply watched. His actions reminded of the acceptance that had long been registered within her.

"The candle, would you like me to extinguish it?"

It was for a few seconds but Hinata caught it. His eyes darted to hers and they furrowed, just a bit but it was there, and then, without turning his face, his eyes quickly glanced around before going back to the task at hand.

"It's fine."

Hinata looked at the ceiling yet again as his deft fingers found the obi.

When his cold hands touched her skin, her fingers touched her warm lips, and her eyes imagined the moon that shone beyond the wooden ceiling.

Author's Notes:

Hello again! it is I, the frenchiest fry, back with another story! now I know arranged marriage fics are very popular in SasuHina fandom and yes my other fanfic also deals with it but guess what? I'm still writing this lmaooooo. This is like a combo of my other two fics, ones arranged marriage and the other is feudal and this is both, but this is with another pairing so different situation, different things yada yada yada. I actually love SasuHina and was really looking forward to posting this. Boy the summary and title took a long time (still not completely satisfied with either) but hey, I still wanted to post this. As I mentioned in my first fic, this fanfic is gonna be fast and like not too deep (although it sounds pretty angsty right now lol) but hey, all that might change as the story progresses.

I actually put in a reallyyyyy small foreshadow, I wonder if anyone can get it cause it's very slight, practically impossible. And there's another one too, that's a little more obvious. But anyways, I'll be sure to let y'all know where it is when the big reveal happens!

Another thing, yea basically the end intended they consummate their marriage. I've read a bunch of arranged fics (especially historical ones) that don't have them consummate it cause Sasuke's like 'awww, imma let her adjust I'm not that evil'. I'm not bashing anyone, I just feel the mentality of that time is to have an heir ASAP, especially a dead clan like his and since they're both from very important clans. It's kind of like resigned acceptance from both ends, they know they have to, it's just about who makes the first move.

The title is in Japanese, it means Wabi-Sabi which basically means finding beauty within imperfection. It's the Japanese view which embraces importance. This type of view finds beauty in the "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete". OK and i used a bunch of Japanese words because I want to be respectful of their culture and as I've mentioned in my other fic, I'm a huge history nerd so I love learning about it. I mainly added it for the decoration of that time, I'll be sure to use it less as future chapters are posted. I'll just leave the definitions below (copied from wikipedia probably).

Kimono- a Japanese traditional garment

Tsunokakushi- is a traditional headwear worn in Shinto wedding ceremonies in Japan

Byōbu- Japanese folding screens made from several joined panels, bearing decorative painting and calligraphy

Futon- a traditional Japanese bedding comprising a quilted mattress that is usually laid on the floor

Chabudai- a short-legged table used in traditional Japanese homes

Sudare- screens or blinds

Obi- a sash for traditional Japanese dress, part of kimono outfits

Anyways, short chapter as usual from me but see you soon!