A/N: I'm not a big fan of writing stories with multiple chapters, because I'm just plain bad at them. But here I am with a fic that I'm planning to expand to at least a dozen chapters. I'll try my best (though I may need your help sometimes), so bear with me!
Title: New Beginnings
Summary: Because even the best make mistakes, get hurt, fall in love, and screw up. Sometimes you just gotta live in the moment. SasuSaku
Rating: T for now, may change in the future (THERE WILL BE LEMONADE, I'M WARNING YOU!)
Pairings: SasuSaku main. Possibly minor NaruHina, NejiTen, ShikaTema, SaiIno in future. If you don't like those minor couples, it's okay—they'll probably just be mentioned sparingly. As long as you're a fan of SasuSaku, you're set.
Warnings/Notes: The first chapter's kind of a prologue, but whatever, haha. Future chapters will contain more drama, romance, humor, hurt/comfort, and so on. You might see Sakura as a bit OOC because she doesn't complete fangirl at Sasuke, but just think of it as her maturing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, unfortunately.
Read and Review, please!
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Tap tap tap.
Click.
"Ohayo, Tsunade-sensei! Why did you call…for me…"
Tsunade smiled at her pupil. She'd known exactly when Sakura would arrive (goodness, the girl made such a racket ascending the stairs), but the suddenly palpable tension in the room made the Godaime want to giggle and proclaim a cheesy quote about young love, or lack thereof.
"Sakura, there you are," she put on her best surprised voice. It fooled Sakura, of course—the girl was naively gullible—but she had a feeling it wasn't lost on the other occupant of the suddenly small office.
An occupant whose onyx eyes glittered suspiciously.
Uchiha Sasuke.
"I thought you might like to welcome him back, before, well..."
"Before?" Sakura prompted quietly, still frozen in the doorway.
"Why, before his return is made public and he is reinstated as a member of Team Seven, of course," Tsunade smiled sweetly.
The pinkette spluttered. "H-H-He…but Tsunade-sensei, what about his punishment? He's been gone nearly three years and has even plotted to invade Konoha! W-W-Wha…"
Tsunade waved the petty concerns away and clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "Now now, Sakura. Sasuke-kun here is coming back in good graces, and we shall receive him as such. He's brought to us valuable information regarding Kabuto and Madara, as well as an informant that he's managed to capture."
"So you're say he paid you off?" Sakura's fists balled. "He bribed you?"
"I wouldn't say 'bribed'..."
"That's enough. I'm leaving," the younger woman spun around, making a move to escape.
Tsunade rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. "Sasuke."
With annoyance flashing through his onyx eyes, the man sprung into action. Before Sakura could even begin to move, his hands were encompassing her thin ivory wrists, effectively binding her.
Sakura just barely managed to control her sharp intake of breath at the close contact. She couldn't fall for him, it was too painful. She wouldn't let herself be fooled again…
"Sakura." He spoke for the first time, his voice deeper and more refined than she'd remembered. And oh, how she'd remembered. One word, that was all it took for Sakura's resolve to shatter into a million pieces.
"S-Sasuke," she gasped before trying to wrench her arms away from his powerful grasp. How could he be so strong? "L-Let go!" She snapped. He ignored her.
"Anyway," Tsunade continued on as if her longtime student wasn't currently being rendered powerless by an ex-rogue. "You, Haruno Sakura, are to be responsible for Uchiha Sasuke's transition back into the life of a Konoha-nin. That means reteaching him the rules and guidelines, instructing him about everything there is to know about our village, and just being there for him."
The pink-haired woman finally stopped struggling. "…What?"
"Basically, you'll be his teacher of sorts as he readjusts to life here. This is being regarded as a fully-paid mission, the length of which is to be determined."
Sakura could care less about the pay. "What if I refuse?"
"That's the thing, dear. You can't, and you won't."
A pregnant silence overtook the room.
"Oh, and by the way," Tsunade shuffled the stack of paperwork lying neatly on her desk. "You'll be moving into the Uchiha manor for the duration of the mission."
It just got better and better.
-oOoOo-
Sakura could see nothing but faults with her new living arrangements.
Her friends, however, saw nothing but the bright side, no matter how misgiving that bright side may be.
"Hey, you get to live with a hot guy who just happens to be super strong and filthy rich," Ino had offered jealously. "I see nothing wrong with that!"
Tenten, Hinata offered a nervous, "G-Good luck," and Temari, who happened to be in Konoha as a substitute ambassador, had advised Sakura to "buy a lot of sexy underwear and seduce him while he's sleeping."
As for the opposite sex, it didn't get much better. Naruto had, of course, cheered about the fact that his long-lost teammate and friend was finally back. The whole matter of who would be supervising said teammate's life as a reinstated Konoha-nin was lost on him.
Sai had shrugged and handed her a condom, for which he sustained multiple wounds. The doctors were puzzled when the injured man's diagnosis was given as 'beaten unconscious with a condom.' Shikamaru gave her an amused look, yawned, and went back to sleep, Neji was just happy to finally have a chance to battle the arrogant Uchiha, and Kakashi…well, it involved the words "Always practice safe sex" and an offer to lend her copies of Icha Icha Paradise, which she had politely—albeit vehemently—refused.
All in all, it meant that she was alone, both in her dread and with Sasuke.
Yes, she, Haruno Sakura, was alone in the dark, gloomy, spiderweb-infested Uchiha Manor with a certain silent, infuriating Uchiha Sasuke.
Oh, joy.
"Well," she began, pausing to cough. The manor was filled to the brim with dust from almost three years of abandonment, and it wasn't helping her allergies any. The man next to her just kept as still as a statue. Jerk. You could at least offer me a tissue. "I guess we should clean this place up?"
She was met with no reply. Zero, nada, zilch, nil, nothing.
She forced down her quickly uprising scream of frustration, and the overwhelming urge to start wheezing from the thick billows of dust emanating from within the large structure.
Much to her surprise, she was handed a surgical face mask, the thin papery type that filtered out dust and germs, by a still-emotionless Sasuke. Where he'd gotten it from, she didn't know, and frankly didn't care. She quickly donned it, tucking the loops behind her ears. The air filters soothed her irritated lungs immediately.
"T-Thanks…Sasuke," she mumbled.
"Hn." Finally, an acknowledgment of understanding. Maybe this wasn't so hopeless after all.
"So, which room should we work on first?" She asked cheerfully. Yes, a cooperative, pleasant, engaging Sasuke wouldn't be so bad to work with…
"…"
Her smile froze.
Scratch that, this was completely and utterly hopeless.
A/N: So, what did you think? I tried to make Tsunade sound kind of calculating and teasing. I don't know if it worked, but hey, I tried!
If you don't know what 'surgical face masks' are, just google 'surgical masks.'
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I know everyone says that, but reviews make me feel like an author with an engaged audience. And that's the best feeling in the whole wide world for me, haha.
I will do my best to reply to every non-anon review! Yosh!
Thank you!
~HauntedMoonlight~