I had always believed in true love.
Especially in having found it in a boy, who was called Sasuke Uchiha. Of course, not everybody was happy about my decision to be in a relationship with him.
My parents thought he was an arrogant asshole, who only wants to strip off my clothes. Some girls, who went to my school, wanted what I had accomplished to build with him.
And Ino?
She annoyed me with her conspiracy theories.
Yes, I had closed my eyes before the facts and called her, with the knowledge about how she used to dig him as well, a liar. Sasuke had, in my opinion, his reasons to treat me like that, or to not react in a probably desirable way in some situations.
But at some point everyone wakes up. Even the naivest person the world had ever seen.
Yes, even me, Sakura Haruno, I have someday been able to open my eyes for the gruesome reality.
It was one of these moments that didn't feel real. For the first instant it felt for me like a damn bad dream.
If I recall that day properly, I had even been giggling, because I had sworn myself to be a fool. I thought it was only a nightmare, something I had put together because of the past days.
Chuntering, because I felt guilty, I forced myself to part with the soft duvet and abstractedly moved a bit towards the middle of the bed. "Sasuke darling, you won't believe what kind of crap I dreamt together again!" all four stretched out, again giggling, and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I didn't expect any answer, because Sasuke had always been a very silent person.
It was one of these features that had made me adore him in the earliest schooldays already. He had always been so mysterious and me far too eager for knowledge and curious. After all, I had always been very sociable and loved to solve riddles. And a Sasuke Uchiha, as a matter of course, was just the biggest and best riddle that fascinated me, even as I was able to have a little look behind the facade.
"I dreamt that you go away again, without saying goodbye," I whispered and irritatedly rubbed the tears off the corners of my eyes even only seconds after that. I didn't want to annoy him with my emotional releases so early in the morning already and was satisfied with turning towards him to be able to look into his eyes.
But he wasn't there.
Could that be? Hadn't it been a dream after all? He had left just like that? Again?
The tears I had managed to oppress for a few seconds ran down my cheeks with a lightness to them, thanks to my emotional character. Sad and with a strange lump in my throat, which made breathing in a painful kind of way difficult for me, I scanned the bed anew, because I thought I was still too caught up inside my dream and for that show myself those very poor pictures. But to my regret there were no Fata Morganas.
Scumbag! He has promised me to never do that again!
Crying I rolled to and fro, fumbled around with the curtain out of anger and pulled myself out of the bed in one movement. But before I stormed out the door just like that, I noticed something off just in time. Self-understandingly I looked down on me and felt my cheeks getting hotter.
I was naked.
We had slept with each other yesterday.
I was in his room and for that automatically at his home.
Maybe he just went for a shower?
With a swallow and still red cheeks by shame, I browsed inside my little handbag to find a new slip and out of habit walked over to his closet and shortly after that got into a white shirt. Then I shyly went through the hallways of the Uchiha property and determinedly towards the bathroom, knocking on the door.
That bathroom, as much as Sasuke had told me, was used only by him and his older brother, who however was on the road a lot. Honestly, I wouldn't have believed his existence, if I hadn't seen various pictures inside the house and even on Sasuke's phone. But I didn't want to leave a bad impression towards him, if I would ever meet him, or put him on the spot with standing in the bathroom half-naked, while he freshens up.
When I didn't hear anyone answer, I just opened the door, locked it behind me and prepared the room angry again, put a towel on the white tiled floor and got under the shower with red cheeks.
Are you serious, Uchiha?
With tears, this time caused by anger towards him, I turned on the shower and put it on the coldest level, so I could cool down in the truest sense of the word. After all I wanted to avoid a tantrum inside the shower in the house of my boyfriend at any cost. I inhaled the air sharply and chewed on my lips desperately to avoid a loud cry and then put Sasuke's shower gel and shampoo on myself, because I didn't dare to take any of Itachi's stuff.
When I was ready, I toweled myself off, got other things done you do in the bathroom and went back into his room to get dressed and go downstairs to say goodbye to his parents.
Meanwhile many different thoughts were bothering me.
Maybe he is sitting at the breakfast table already and I really just make a fool of myself. But if not, he should brace himself. I didn't do anything wrong after all, did I? Right, even if, he can just finally tell me what's his freaking problem. I've had enough cold-shoulder. Or only getting paid attention to whenever it suits his plans.
I didn't even notice anymore, how my hands became fists, before I, as I saw his mother, forced myself to calm down and not shout at her just like that. Because after all it wasn't her fault, that her son behaved the way he did.
"Oh hello, Sakura. Do you want to have breakfast with us? I made scrambled eggs with bacon, pancakes and blueberry muffins." Even when my mouth already watered with the description, I didn't want to park myself on them like an insect and eat up all their food in the worst case scenario.
Apart from that, I just felt displaced, when Sasuke wasn't near me. As if to claim something that I actually didn't deserve.
"Is Sasuke still here?" I asked absent-minded and looked around insecurely and could have hit myself because of the thought about Ino making fun of me, if she knew how I was acting right now. Because it wasn't anywhere near typical for me to be shy and introverted.
Mikoto frowned a bit, but then smiled at me friendly, before she put the bowl of scrambled eggs on the breakfast table. Delicious, Nutella, fresh strawberries, sparkling wine, croissants and fresh buns from the bakery!
"No, he didn't have that much of an appetite and wanted to go for a run. But he didn't want to wake you and so he went off just like that."
Don't you believe it.
Again I felt anger raising inside me and noticed the lava raising in my body to keep boiling up slowly but surely. Absent-mindedly I clenched my fists and fixed on a spot in the hallway.
He really did it again! Although he promised me. That little scumbag! How dare he?
"Sakura?" Mikoto asked worriedly and even touched my upper arm to calm me down with petting movements. "Did you two have your first relationship fight then? Do you want to tell me about what happened?"
Desperately I was chewing on my lips and breathed in and out with closed eyes to calm down, but I almost laughed. First relationship fight sounded like a damn bad joke and that's exactly what I felt like. Played games with and humiliated.
"That's very nice of you, Mikoto!" crying again now, I drew back from her and got ready to go, "But I don't feel like it. I just want to be alone." To cry, to ignore him to death for another couple of weeks.
I looked to the ground, so she wouldn't have to see my red cheeks from all the anger and the tears in my eyes, and unable to cope, scraped my feet along the floor.
"What's happening?" I suddenly heard Fugaku ask from behind me and his wife sighed theatrically. "I guess our son did something that hurt her." Again I felt her seeking body contact to me and the serious man, who called himself Sasuke's father, groaned quietly.
"First relationship crisis?"
It would have almost been funny, if this was the only bad thing about our relationship. Though, not only since today, as everyone was thinking.
"Yes. But she doesn't want to say, what it's about, and wants to go home."
"So let her." he simply gave and pushed past us. "It's their relationship and they have to talk about it, not us," he said unimpressed, when Mikoto flared at him angrily, and meanwhile poured himself a coffee.
"But she doesn't feel well."
"She won't feel better, if she has breakfast with us, darling," he sighed quietly and just at that moment said Sasuke Uchiha opened the door and that only to first unimpressed and then angrily get an idea of the situation presenting itself to him.
"What did you tell them?" his voice sounded so toneless, as if he would ask about why the sky was blue, but in his words there was so much anger and behind them a hidden threat that made me wince. But eventually my own angriness won.
I folded my arms in front of my body. "I could ask you something as well. For example, why you disappeared again just like that, without letting me know."
"You were sleeping and I don't owe you any commitment."
If, to that point in time, as Sasuke found his way back to his property by any stupid coincident, there had been anything like self-effacement from my side, I now exploded completely. Now I didn't even care a bit about the presence of his parents.
"Not owing me any commitment?" I burst out laughing hoarsely and braced my hands on my hips. "We're a couple, Uchiha! Of course you owe me telling me, when you, after six months of our relationship, piss off just like that, only because you happen to not be up for me anymore, or only getting in touch, whenever you happen to want that. Not to forget that I told you more than once how much it hurts me."
"You make it pretty easy for yourself right now," he simply answered and braced himself on the wall next to me, while his parents were watching the scenery wordlessly. "Easy?" I fired sharply and he smirked at me so arrogantly, that I really wanted to slap him in that moment.
"Yeah, easy. You like to see yourself as the poor victim, how we could see in elementary so perfectly. You got bullied, because you knew it all better, you let it all happen to yourself and you didn't give a damn about your appearance, but at least the others were to blame," I only heard it as if being numb, as Mikoto grasped for air in shock. "But you know what? It's pretty pathetic and not really grown-up, placing conditions, but never acting after them yourself."
Without really intending to, I boxed his shoulder so roughly he rubbed over the spot with a moan. "In contrast to you I stick to our bargain: you hang out with your friends more often than with me and I don't lose a word on it. I leave you in peace, whenever you study for your tests and don't text you every day as well to 'interrogate' you. But I'm sorry that I'm interested in the person I have a relationship with!" I shot at him. My speech didn't even get to him, which exasperated me even more.
"Why did you even come back again?" I asked with tears in my eyes, "If I'm nothing more to you than a little pastime. A person you can just text whenever you feel like it?"
"I forgot my bottle of water."
"Good that you give a crap about my wishes like that, but threw something so obnoxious into my face anyway." I gave just as toneless, before I walked past him, without wasting another look on him, and pushed against him on purpose. He just snorted and now only fought with his mother, because she dared to be on my side. I shook my head in despair and unhappily, before I looked back for a last time. Fugaku was now leaning against the door frame, just at the spot, where I had been standing only minutes ago, and watched the fight between the two quietly, nodding at me friendly, as I was just about to open the door to go.
Jut in that moment I ran into him. Into Sasuke Uchiha's older brother, who looked down at me wordlessly.
His eyes were black. Just like Sasuke's, only much darker. Apart from that they had nothing in common with his brother's ones. Because while Sasuke's eyes had always shown something cold and aggressive, Itachi's eyes had something quiet, calm, but also knowing in them. As if there was nothing in the world that could upset him, or anything he couldn't explain logically. With a closer look I even noticed a friendly, good-natured, soft spark inside them and wondered about how he could be related to Sasuke.
"The entire block of houses heard your fight," I cringed and got out of his way with shiny red cheeks, but it couldn't be avoided that we touched softly for a bit. That I could scent his perfume. An interesting mixture of pomegranate and forest honey. Without realizing it I breathed in his scent and felt myself calming down right away just by his odor. But it could have as well been his deep, soft and calm voice, which made little chills shoot through my body.
"Hello, my son," in fact, in fact Fugaku was smiling by the sight of his oldest son, even when only for a short moment. "Are you swinging by again? How was summer camp?"
"The kids I looked after were all very well-behaved and nice, as long as you knew how to handle them," he answered placidly and walked directly towards his little brother, who stared at him with so much anger, as if he had stolen something very valuable from him with his absence.
"Is that the girlfriend you told me about?" Itachi asked unimpressed and looked into my eyes for a moment. "You never mentioned that she's so pretty." I couldn't help myself but smile. Sasuke hadn't ever called me pretty.
"And again you screwed up."
"How is that any of your business?" Sasuke fired, "It's not like she's your girlfriend and you're hardly ever here anyway, only, when it's about bragging about all the great things you achieved." The older one smiled wordlessly, before he turned to me again. "I would suggest you go, Sakura. But not, because I don't want you in my house. Not even, because Sasuke doesn't want it, but for your own good. My brother is a very exhausting person, you know? Whenever he has a problem, he likes to blame it on others. It makes it easier for him. Because he's never been someone, who cares for other people's feelings. But I give it to him, that he's gotten better with that during the past few years."
"Uhm," I gave confusedly and as well not particularly intelligently, which made Itachi smile. But eventually I nodded with a swallow and a dry throat, before I now finally went outside and closed the door behind me. The last thing I heard was most likely Sasuke grabbing the vase on the sideboard to throw it against the wall angrily and screaming.