S.H
It amazed Sakura how rich the Uchiha were.
She always knew, but experiencing it first hand hits differently. Being driven to a huge mansion with several fountains and tennis courts in a Porsche with swiveling chairs with a hired chauffer hits differently. Heck, they've already spent a minute in the drive way, and still not even halfway.
Usually this would've made Sakura beyond nervous, but today she felt different. She felt confident. And no, it didn't have to do with the cream coat and sunglasses that she was wearing that Ino thought was 'totally bad-ass'. She had a good feeling about this.
Plus, she had her friends with her.
Even if most of them were total idiots, they seemed to have calmed down for this trip. They were all seated nicely, all of them strangely quiet.
"Quit looking at us like that, forehead," whispered Ino.
Well, they were quiet for most of the time.
"Aren't you nervous, Sakura?" Hinata said quietly. "I'm not even the one talking to Mr. Uchiha, yet my heart is pounding like crazy."
"I should be," Sakura confessed. "But for some reason, I'm not. I just feel so...confident and righteous."
"Did you have second thoughts on your decision about Sasuke?" Temari asked.
"No," Sakura said. "I'm still not going to tell him. I know it sounds bad, still keeping lies between us two. But he's dealt with so much already. It's my turn to fight for us."
Tenten sighed dreamily, "How romantic."
The car suddenly stopped. The gruff voice of the chauffer spoke, "We've arrived at the main Uchiha household. Only Sakura Haruno is permitted to leave this car."
Sakura took a deep breath before clambering out of the car.
"We're rooting for you, forehead!"
She smiled, but then it dropped as she took in the view in front of her. An entirely glass door greeted her, the glass so smooth she could see her reflection perfectly. There were at least ten security guards patrolling just that one door. She noted that if things got ugly in the meeting, multiple body guards could easily come and tie her up. Sakura tried not to think of that as she pushed open the door.
A fresh wave of air-con and lavender hit her as she walked in to the house with marble floors and white pillars. A butler approached her, "May I help you?"
"Sato, it's fine," a familiar voice called. Sakura smiled at the familiar sight of Izumi. She had a happy glow to her face ever since she had married. Her mood reflected onto her outfit choice, a white dress with yellow flowers. Izumi smiled, "I'll take her."
Relieved that she was being accompanied by a friend, Sakura allowed herself to be lead by Izumi. The brunette glanced at her and said, "You feeling alright?"
"Yeah," Sakura said. "More confident than ever."
"Sorry for asking, I know you'll be fine," Izumi laughed before the conversation took a more serious turn. "Did you tell Sasuke?"
Sakura shook her head. "He's had enough to deal with. I don't want him to be fighting for us all the time, and I don't want to deepen the problem between him and Mr. Uchiha."
"Fair enough," Izumi shrugged before stopping at a glossy white door. She winked, "Good luck."
The pinkette drew her shoulders back before entering. Inside was an luxurious office, not that she had expected anything less. Bookshelves lined the walls, along with precious porcelain and jewels. A display cabinet had been set up right behind Fugaku, showcasing several medals, awards and trophies. Right in the middle, however, was a picture of the main Uchiha family.
It wasn't recent, Sakura noted. Judging from the date, it was about twenty years ago. She couldn't help but think how adorable Sasuke and Itachi were. Fugaku gestured for her to seat at a chair in front of his polished oak desk. The chair wasn't as fancy as Fugaku's swiveling leather chair with a cup holder, but it had one of the smoothest leather Sakura had ever felt.
Fugaku shifted through stacks of paper, the sound of rustling interrupting the otherwise silent room. Sakura sat up straightly, trying to look as proper as she could before reminding herself that she didn't need to appeal to Fugaku. She cleared her throat after a few awkward minutes passed, "So...you wanted to see me?"
Fugaku winced at those loudness, and Sakura knew that he was about thinking how informal she spoke. Nonetheless he replied, "We will not commence the meeting until somebody else arrives."
He gestured towards to an identical chair to Sakura's right besides hers. She shifted uncomfortably. Whoever it was, she hoped that they would be quick. As if on cue, she heard a few muffle voices at the door.
"What are you waiting for? Father's been waiting for you," her eyes widened as she recognized Itachi's voice. Could he be the one? No, it was probably the person Itachi was talking to. "Seriously, you're late to a meeting that used to be in your old home."
"House, not home, nii-san."
No way.
Sasuke?
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earlier this morning
S.U
"Uh, Sasuke? Your phone is ringing."
"Go answer it and tell whoever it is to shut up, dobe."
"No, you get the hell up. It's your brother."
Irritated, Sasuke reluctantly dragged himself out of his warm covers to answer the ringing device, making sure to shoot a glare towards his roommate who was still buried underneath his quilt. "Itachi."
"Sasuke, don't sound so disappointed," Itachi said wryly. "Have you forgotten that you have a meeting with Father in about an hour?"
"Shoot."
Sasuke grabbed his phone and went into the bathroom to get ready, clutching some navy trousers and a white button-up shirt.
"Better hurry, Sasuke," Itachi sighed. "And are you sure you're making the right decision, not telling Sakura?"
"I know," Sasuke rolled his eyes, buttoning up the final button. He tightened his belt. "Sakura already wanted to drop our relationship because she didn't want to worsen my relationship with Father. If she knows that our relationship is doing exactly that, all of my efforts will be for nothing."
"If you say so. You nearly done."
"Yeah," Sasuke hurriedly put his comb down and began brushing his teeth.
"Good," Itachi replied. "Because I'm outside your apartment."
"What?" yelped Sasuke, spitting out the toothpaste and water, and running to the window. Sure enough there was a jet black Mercedes outside with the Uchiha crest emblazoned on the doors.
A doorbell rung throughout the whole apartment, and now Sasuke could hear his brother's chuckles in person. He exited the apartment quietly. "Very funny, surprising me like that."
"I know," Itachi's eyes sparkled in amusement. "C'mon, let's go. We're late."
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About twenty minutes later they had arrived at the familiar door to their father's study. Sasuke hesitated, remembering the last conversation, well, argument, he had with Fugaku.
"What are you waiting for?" Itachi asked him. "Father's been waiting for you. Seriously, you're late to a meeting that used to be in your old home."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "House, not home, nii-san."
He pushed open the door.
Green met black.
No way.
Shock pulsated through him, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "S-Sakura?"
"S-Sasuke."
"Welcome, Sasuke."
Sasuke's attention diverted to his father who was staring at him with a smug look on his face. "You planned this."
"Indeed I did."
"Why?"
"Sit down, and I'll tell you why."
Sasuke silently obliged and took a seat next to Sakura. They avoided each other's gaze. Fugaku cleared his throat and carefully inspected the two. "As you probably would have figured out, it was a test."
Sasuke angrily opened his mouth to speak, but Fugaku silenced him with a gestured of his hand. "Sasuke, when we had our last...conversation, you told me you love Sakura so much that you were willing to leave your family behind for it. Is that still true?"
"Yes," Sasuke answered in a heart beat, noticing the furious blush on Sakura's face and smirked to himself.
"From this test," began Fugaku. "There was no right or wrong decision. I can understand why you wouldn't tell the other about your decision. However, there is one thing that is evidently clear. You don't trust that the other will accept your decision. To have love, you need trust. You two don't have any right now."
"We would trust each other if somebody wasn't creating problems," snapped Sasuke.
Fugaku stared at his son. "I know that. So, I think, for now, I will stop my influence in your love life."
No way.
No way.
No way!
A mixture of emotions washed over Sasuke. Disbelief, shock, hope, relief, and then finally, joy. Pure joy that they wanted to feel for so long. It felt as though their greatest monster had finally been vanquished. He felt dizzy with the overwhelming emotions.
It was like a whole new world of possibilities had opened.
Suddenly, he didn't want to trade his dreadful life anymore. It was absolutely golden now.
Sasuke grabbed Sakura's hand in happiness and squeezed it. "But why?"
"Because you yourself told me you never know what could happen unless you try," Fugaku smiled, and Sasuke realized that his father changed, for the better. This version of his father was the one that he was proud to call his dad. "But..."
The mood dropped back to being serious. Fugaku said solemnly, "But there will still be problems in your life. The Uchiha elders aren't happy with this. Sakura, you have an ex who already proved that he would resort to drastic measures. Along with the pressures of being famous and having paparazzi following you all the time, I don't know whether you two can keep your relationship alive.
"If you two have the love that Sasuke told me you had, then you should be fine. Prove to me that you two really do love each other and value each other beyond everything else. Otherwise this world will crush you. And if it does, know this, I will consider this chance as a mistake, and I do not make the same mistake twice. Do you understand?"
"Yeah," Sakura said, seemingly in some happy daze. Her cheeks were tinted with pink, and at that moment, Sasuke wanted to lean over and kiss her. But then she stood up and gazed at Sasuke with some kind of new spark in her. Her eyes shone. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's start packing for Paris!"
Sasuke looked at his father to see what he though, half waiting for a scolding, but Fugaku only smiled. "Son, you're being too slow."
Son. "I-I love you, Father."
"I love you too, Sasuke. Now go on!"
"Yes!"
Sakura and Sasuke raced together down the hallways, their elation lighting some kind of new freedom within them. They laughed together as butlers and maids they passed down the hallways tried to process what happened. Never once did they let go of each other's hands.
They halted their dash at the main entrance, where a beaming Izumi, grinning Itachi and a smiling Mikoto waited. Mikoto, wearing a blue satin dress, stepped forward and clasped the two's interlocked hands in hers. Mikoto glowed as she looked at Sakura in admiration. "My future daughter-in-law."
"Hopefully," Sakura giggled.
Mikoto moved her gaze to Sasuke, a look of utmost pride on her face as she whispered, "My son."
And in that moment where their eyes connected, Sasuke felt as though their hearts connected too. He could feel all of her emotion, and then knew that she was the push that brought on this new version of Fugaku. He knew that she had suffered, too, to get to this point.
A lump formed in his throat, and Sasuke probably would've cried if Izumi and Sakura wasn't there. But he held it in as he leaned forward and hugged his mother. He buried his head in her shoulder. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Mother."
"Now, now Sasuke. I though you were supposed to be a cold jerk," Mikoto laughed, but her body shook from the onslaught of emotions as tears spilled down her face. "You don't need to thank me. I'm just doing the right thing. Now, go. Go with Sakura and explore this freedom."
"Yeah, Sasuke, we should go shopping together! I really need a beret. Ooh, maybe we can get matching ones! Which colour though? Pink? Or black? Or even white?"
Sasuke laughed as he watched his lover ramble on and on about colour choices. A whole new world awaited within her, infinite possibilities. Infinite happiness too. As he gazed at her, he saw past her face and her body. He saw into her soul, and knew that he wasn't wrong at all about her.
"Shut up, we're getting pink and black for certain. Let's go."
And holding hands tightly, they ran off into a new world.
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i was getting sick of writing fugaku as an antagonist bc i actually think he was a good father and character in the canon. but, the problems for sasuke and sakura are far from over muahahaha :)
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Word count: 2181