*PLEASE READ WITH CAUTION AND FORGIVING HEART AS ALWAYS. THIS WAS WRITTEN BACK IN 2012, PRETTY ROUGH, ESPECIALLY THE BEGINNING.*
In a different world, water would've been sprayed everywhere. Gulping down the liquid, Sasuke coughed and brushed it of with his cool attitude. "Hn, she's just a classmate."
"Sasuke are you hiding something?" Mikoto stared her son down.
"No,"
"Then explain Sakura." Mikoto knew she got him there. It was never like him to bring anyone to these events much less a girl, a girl with pink hair to be correct.
"I was driving her home from Naruto's sleepover." Sasuke half lied.
"Anything else?" Mikoto questioned still not believing her son's words.
"No,"
"Sasuke," Mikoto smiled.
"Hn," Sasuke made his way to his respectful seat at the table as everyone settled down for the meeting. Sakura came back just in time as the meeting began.
Sakura scanned the seating arrangement; the only seat empty was the one next to Sasuke. 'You've got to be kidding me.'
Without any other choice, she pulled the chair out and sat down. She bit her lip when a sharp pain went through her head again. Resting her chin on the palm of her hand, she listened to Fugaku discuss about the Uchiha's business. But the news that Fugaku was about to announced, Sakura was shell-shocked.
Fugaku cleared his throat, "I would like to confirm that the rumors of my son, Uchiha Sasuke, marrying the Yamanaka's heiress is true."
Some of workers choked on their saliva while some sprayed coffee all over the table. A couple froze mid step outside of the conference room, not believing what they just over heard. Even the high class corporation's leaders stared wide eyes at each other.
"Fugaku," it was Minato that dared spoke up. "Are you sure about this?"
"Of course, why?"
"Isn't it kind of a rush? Sasuke isn't even done with school." Minato interjected, disagreeing strongly at the situation entirely. Knowing his son's best friend, the young Uchiha didn't dare speak up of his opinion against his father. Afraid that he would disappoint Fugaku.
Sasuke tuned out the conversation not wanting to hear another word about the engagement. Turning his head slightly, he spotted his rosette companion rubbing her temples and a barely visible clenched jaw. Glancing at her intently, he saw that she would grimace every once in a while. Sasuke took his index finger and scrawled something on Sakura's open hand. Her eyes shot open, emerald eyes darted to the left. Sakura gave Sasuke a blank look. Sasuke retraced his words on the palm of her hands, 'You okay?'
Before replying, another sharp pain shot through her head, biting hard down on her lips, she suppressed it.
Sasuke felt her delicate finger tips crafting the circles and lines of her answer. 'Migraine.'
'Need a pill?'
'YES!'
'Hn, we'll get you one after the meeting.'
Sakura held back an unladylike groan; instead she let out a nice short exhale.
'But that's like forever from now.'
'Hn,'
'Don't you 'hn' me Uchiha.'
'Hn,'
'Oh yo-,' Sakura began scribbling furiously but came to a sudden stop as another agonizing pain shot through her head. Unexpectedly, Sakura gripped Sasuke's hands. She half expected him to brush it off but surprisingly he didn't. Resting her forehead on palm, she took a peek at Sasuke who seems exceedingly interested at the conversation between the high class corporation leaders. What she didn't miss was the pink-ish tint on his pale cheek. Sakura would've burst out laughing if it wasn't for her throbbing head. Sighing internally, Sakura reminded herself that she needed to thank him later on...even if it killed her pride.
The meeting finally ended after two torturous hours. Even then, the pounding in Sakura's head did not cease one bit, in fact it did quite the exact opposite. Sasuke led her down the hallway and into a nicely decorated office. He walked behind the desk and pulled out the first drawer, tossing her a bottle. Sakura gladly took it and swallowed it down with a gulp of tea. "Thanks,"
"Aa,"
Sakura looked at him squared in the eyes, "No really, thank you."
"Aa,"
"Unbelievable," Sakura scoffed incoherently, which was not missed by the young Uchiha who was already out the door.
"Hn," Sasuke stood at the door, twirling his keys around. "I'll take you home."
"It's alright, I don't want to be a burde-," Sakura stopped short when pulsing pain hit her.
Sasuke looked at her, rolling his eyes. "I think it would be a burden for you to go home like that."
"But-,"
"Hn," Sasuke was already walking down the hallway, leaving not much of a choice for Sakura to choose.
Upon racing after him, Sakura came face to face with her worst enemy...Ino.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Ino questioned in a shrill voice, not helping the Sakura's pounding headache much.
"None of your business." Sakura shot back. "Why don't you go back to your sluts?"
"Who are you calling a slut?" Ino voice yelled catching some bystanders' attention.
"Sasuke's Lunatics United Together, isn't that what you guys call yourselves?" Sakura spoke smirking, inwardly giving her a high five. 'Oh yea!'
Ino fumed, her top getting ready to blow, "Shut the hell up bitch!"
"Make me," Sakura taunted.
Ino's ocean blue eyes turned stormy with hatred, she snatched the coffee out of the bystander's hand and dumped it all over what she taught was Sakura. To everyone's surprise, Ino ended up dumping the coffee's content over three people.
Sakura stared in shock and awe, but saw Ino's frame turn to stone. Ino's stomach churned as her heart dropped. Now covered in coffee were; Sasori, Gaara, and last but not least, Sasuke.
"I-I'm s-o-rr-," Ino's stuttering could have put the Hyuuga heiress to shame.
"Now that's not a really mature way to handle a situation is it?" Gaara sea-green eyes bore into the depth of her soul as he shook his head like a wet dog; droplets of coffee fell to the floor.
"Especially coming from a future Uchiha to be." Sasori added thoughtfully, still having a firm hold of the blonde's wrist. The cup hung in mid air on its side in Ino's hand.
"Aa," Sasuke coolly replied but it held a cold meaning behind it as he looked directly into Ino's blue eyes for the first time. The room's temperature dropped instantly as Fugaku came in.
"Uchiha-sama." Everyone tore their eyes away from the drama and bowed even those included in the mess.
Fugaku gave everyone a curt nod, and was shock to see the sons of the top corporations covered in coffee. Returning to his calm, emotionless phase, he cleared his throat. "What's the problem here?"
"It seems your future daughter-in-law might need some preparedness before you welcome her into the Uchiha family." It was Sasori who spoke up.
Fugaku narrowed his eyes as he looked at Ino holding an empty coffee cup. "So it seems."
"Sasuke, Gaara, Sasori, Sakura, and Ino. I want to see you all in my office." Fugaku commanded, giving everyone a silent message to return back to their jobs.
The group followed Fugaku down the hallway and into a big, open office. Sasuke closed the door quietly behind him with a 'click.' The teens lined themselves up with Sakura in the middle and the boys on each side. Gaara and Sasori stood to her left as Sasuke stood to her right with Ino beside him.
Fugaku's dark eyes scanned the teens. Gaara and his son, Sasuke, both had a splash of coffee across their once crisp, clean shirts. Sasori on the other hand, had small dots of coffee stains decorating his red shirt. Switching his attention from the boys to the girls, he found Ino fidgeting under his gaze while the rosette stood still but seemed to be clenching her jaw quite a bit. "Sakura, is it?"
She snapped her head up, and politely replied through a clenched jaw, "Yes Sir."
Her hands were clasped in front of her while she looked at him in the eyes. 'She's a polite one.'
"Why are you clenching your jaw?" Fugaku mused.
Sakura slowly released the tension in her jaw, not noticing when she had it clenched either. "It's just a headache Uchiha-sama."
"Hn," Fugaku grunted. "And why did Ino want to pour coffee over you?"
Sakura spared a glance at Ino, who was on the edge of having a breakdown. "I started the fight out of my own immaturity. Ino had nothing to do with it."
The others stared at the rosette in shock, considering it was pretty clear that Ino had started the whole charade.
Fugaku had his doubts about the rosette's answer but looked over at the boys, "And you boys. Does it take three boys to stop cat fight?"
They remained silent, no one answering.
"Because it seemed that Miss. Sakura here has it all under control I believe." Fugaku commented. "But it seems that Miss. Yamanaka here did not, am I correct?"
Once again silent came over the teens.
"Well then, I bid you all a farewell." Fugaku got up out of his seat and went to the door. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to face Sakura. He opened his mouth to say something but chose against it.
What Sakura didn't expect coming out of her bedroom drying her hair was to be tackled to the ground by a big white dog. Her damped pink hair sprayed all over her ivory skin, blocking her line of vision. A strong hand grasped her arm and lifted her off the floor in one fluid motion, like she was a ragged doll. Blowing the stubborn strands out of her eyes, Sakura nearly fell in shock at the sight of the newcomer. "S-sasuke?"
"Aa, who did you think it was dummy?" Sasuke teased.
"B-but," Sakura looked at her front door, "I was sure I locked it."
"You know its a little cliché to hide your spare keys on the top of your door frame?" Sasuke dangled a shiny gold key in front of Sakura's nose in a mocking manner.
"Well sorry," Sakura huffed,snatching the keys out of Sasuke's hands and crossing her arms. "I thought it was the best place since I couldn't even reach it without a stool."
Sasuke smirked as he realized how much shorter Sakura was compared to him. The top of her head only barely reached his shoulder. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a navy envelope and tossed it to Sakura. Catching it effortlessly, she turned it over. Her name was written in a fancy font, each letter sharing its own delicate beauty before forming together. Sakura opened it slowly, making sure to not tear the envelope. Inside was a white invitation.
Sakura,
The Uchiha family would like to invite you to come and enjoy a week at the Uchiha's lake house for the upcoming break. Tonight though, we hope you can come for dinner and stay to get to know everyone who will be attending this trip. The Uchiha family awaits your presents at the Uchiha Manor.
Sincerely, the Uchiha Family.
Sakura looked up at Sasuke with a raised eyebrow. "Another invitation?"
"Hn," Sasuke made himself at home by lounging on the sectional in front of the TV. Grabbing the remote, he began flipping through the channels available. "Pack up; we're leaving in 20 minutes."
Her jaw dropped to the floor, was she his maid? Who was he to command her around like that? Sakura turned on the ball of her feet and retreated to her room puffing her cheeks out in frustration. She slammed the door to her bedroom and began angrily packing her bags while letting out a string of curses at the damn Uchiha sitting in her living room. Shoving a week's worth of clothes into her white gym bag, she made her way towards her desk and proceeds to wipe everything she needed into her bag.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt something brush her shins, it was Sasuke's dog. "Hey there boy, what's your name?"
"Shadow but my mom calls him Chidori."
Sakura jumped, holding a hand to her heart. "For crying out loud will you two give me a break, I nearly had a heart attack twice!"
Sasuke grunted from his position from the bedroom's door frame. "Ready?"
"Aa,"
Sasuke smirked as he heard the familiar response; Sakura locked the door and began making her way down the flights of stairs with Shadow at her heels. "Where did you park the car?"
"Hn, out front."
Sakura nodded as she exited the building with Shadow, Sasuke was just about to leave too when an old lady called for him. "Son, may I have a word with you?"
Sasuke looked at Sakura's retreating back and silently made his way over to the old lady sitting on one of the armchairs in the lobby. "Young man," her voice was raspy but it held a certain firmness to it, Sasuke looked at her in the eyes, sensing something important in her words. "You better not let a single hair on her body be harm. This is the first time she ever came in contact with anyone ever since moving here, on the terms of friends. She had a hard life, without a single family member. No one to back her up or support her when she's fallen. And friends are important to have in life. But it's the matter of choosing the right ones. I trust you that you will bring her home in one piece and look out that nothing will happen to her. Correct? Now if you don't, I'll be sure to haunt you when I'm dead. Am I understood young man?"
Sasuke stared at the old woman but after a while he grunted, "Aa."
The old woman let out a soft chuckle, "Right now, you better not let your girl waiting like that. It's not polite."
Sasuke opened his mouth to tell her that she misunderstood the situation, but clamped it shut once he realized the woman was nowhere in sight. He looked left and right but the old lady gone. Shaking his head, he exited the building and into his car.
"Who was that?" Sakura questioned as she scratched the Shadow's head, whose paws were on her lap.
"Hn," Sasuke looked at her, a smirk pulling itself on his face as Sakura puffed out her cheeks and muttered, 'Annoying jerk.'
"Are they here yet?" Naruto asked through a mouth full of ramen, pieces of noodles flying everywhere over the table.
"No,"
"Tell me when they're here." Naruto slurped up his seventh bowl of ramen with a satisfied sigh before yelling, "Kimiko, Another Bowl PLEASE!"
5 minutes later...
"Kimiko, Another boooowlllll!" Naruto shouted after stacking his 10th bowl of ramen. Looking over at his friends he asked, "Are they here yet?"
Tenten slammed her drink down on the table, chocolate milk spilling. "For the fifth time Naruto, the answer is still NO."
Naruto hide behind the shy Hyuuga heiress, whispering, "Hinata-chan is she on her period?"
'BAM!'
Naruto was sent to the ground crying for mercy from Tenten's fist calling from Hinata's help. After a couple minutes of groans, shouts, cursing and painful punches, Tenten returned back to her seat. Plopping down into her seat she happily drank her chocolate with a knocked out Naruto on the ground.
The teens heard the front doors open and close, signaling that someone had arrived. Multiple footsteps clicked and clacked against the tiled floor, Shadow came bounding in with their pink haired friend. Sasuke came in and coolly leaned at the counter.
"Sakura!" Tenten enveloped their pink haired friend in a big hug as Hinata did too while Temari waved.
Sakura let out a small laugh, "You guys acted like you haven't seen me in years."
"Well it felt like it," Tenten replied, hugging the living daylights out Sakura. She was quite sure Tenten wasn't going to let go anytime soon either. Sending Sasuke a 'help me' look, she stared at him with puppy dog eyes and a cute little pout. No reaction. Bottom lip trembling. No reaction. Tears forming. "Hn."
Sasuke left the room with Shadow at his heels leaving a gaping rosette in the arms of a weapon lover.
'That damn bastard.'
After escaping her bun haired friend's clutches, she went on a search for a certain Uchiha. She found him sitting on his sectional playing video games and Shadow lying on the floor in his room. Sakura silently went inside and plopped down heavily on his fluffy bed, sighing as the coolness of the pillows soothed her. She turned over and rested her head on the cool, unused pillow and looked at Sasuke's back. "When are we leaving?"
Sasuke paused his game and turned to face the rosette, throwing his controller onto the couch. "Hn, tomorrow."
Sakura sighed in annoyance.
"Hn, something wrong?" Sasuke asked as if sensing the girl's strong annoyance. Considering your typical girl would die to be in her shoes...but the she's not your typical girl.
"Do I have to go?" Sakura whined, surprising Sasuke. He never thought she would whine about this.
"Aa,"
"Why?"
"My mom insisted,"
"Why?"
"Hn,"
"Why?"
"Hn,"
"Why?"
Shadow looked at the couple's conversation, his eyes moved from Sakura to Sasuke then back to Sakura. He looked at his master and whimpered as Sasuke didn't seem to want to lose this fight anytime soon. The poor dog internally wished that the rosette would beat his master for once.
"Hn,"
"Uchiha," Sakura eyes narrowed into slits as the conversation had gone on long enough. "You say 'hn' again; you'll be getting your death ticket."
Sasuke sensed Sakura's threatening aura, and could tell she meant every word. But he wouldn't let himself to be beaten by a pink haired girl now would he? His lips tilted up slightly in a proud Uchiha smirk, "Hn."
Sasuke sprinted out the door before Sakura could even react, but he barely had a head start before Sakura began chasing him. "UCHIHA!"
'Ohhhh...Sasuke's in trouble.' Everyone else in the house thought.
The two ended up in the kitchen as Sasuke stopped at the counter while Sakura stopped at the other end. Emerald clashed with onyx. Sakura gave him such a dark glare that it could've rivaled his own. Sasuke pushed his left foot and began running to the left as Sakura followed. They ran in circles around the counter 'til Sasuke made a sharp turn into the garage, barely passing the rosette's extended hand attempting to catch him. 'Hn, she's just as fast as I am.'
They weaved in and out of the cars and into the dark night. Sakura chased him onto the front lawn; the wet grass tickled her bare feet. It smelled earthy and clean, like it was just freshly cut. Suddenly Sakura lost sight of the raven head. Sakura did a 360 but still couldn't find him.
Out of nowhere, Sakura let out a shriek as icy cold water hit her square in the back. Within the next minutes, she had streams of cold water being shot at her from all direction. "It's So Cold!"
The gang kept on squirting the water, which included Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Tenten, Shikamaru, Temari, Gaara, and the Akatsuki members.
Sakura laughed, "Not fair! Twelve against one?"
"Sucks for you!"
Sakura ran behind Sasuke and used him as a human shield, "It's Cold!"
Naruto ran away while the rest soaked the two to their bones in icy cold water. Sakura's teeth chattered, her lips turning a purplish pink. Suddenly, they were showered with water all at once. Naruto returned with the garden hose in hand, waving it back and forth in a wild manner. "NARUTO! IT'S FUCKING COLD, STOP!"
But Sakura's scream drowned in the water that was sprayed at her face by the laughing blond. She grasped Sasuke's arm in shock as Temari dumped ice cubes down her back. "TEMARI!"
Before Sakura could even react, her friends sprayed icy cold water from their water guns and garden hoses laughing so much that their sides ache. Sakura hate to admit it but it was a blast even though she was the victim. "YOU GUYS ARE SO DEAD!"
"Is it cold Sakura?" Tenten asked with fake sympathy. Laughing at her friend clutching on the young Uchiha for dear life.
"Hell Yea!" Sakura shouted back through chattering teeth.
Laughter erupted from the teens, shattering the silent night.
Sasuke held Sakura steady as she stood wobbly; the force of water was close to knocking her off her feet. Out of the blue, the once wimpy squirts from water guns were traded in for powerful streams of a garden hose. Sasuke felt the Sakura throw her slender arms around his neck and dug her heels into the ground, an attempt to stay standing. His hands were at her waist, anchoring her to the ground.
Sakura looked at him in the eyes; they were soft and gleamed like a child on Christmas morning. It was hard to believe that this was the Uchiha Sasuke she knew but hey, it didn't matter. Sakura broke out into a smiling, not caring that she looked like an idiot. Beneath the water shower without a single witness besides Sakura herself, Sasuke granted her a once in a lifetime smile. Not smirk, but a full on beautiful pearly white smile.