Disclaimer: No owning.
Author's Note: The title just popped into my head one boring afternoon in the middle of my Math class. And I just can't give it up. :D
Summary: His life was not perfect, but it wasn't that bad either. That was, until the Fates decided to play a prank on him and started the game of Hide and Seek. "I don't hide; you just don't see me." SasuSaku
The Tokyo Bubble Project
Chapter 1
"Oh my! Wasn't that trip wonderful, kids?" Uchiha Mikoto gleefully exclaimed as she turned from her seat at the passenger seat to face her two sons, who both wore a scowl on their faces. They were just returning home from a visit at their ancestral house in the distant province of Kumo. They always visit their ancestral house at least once a year. And every year, the two brothers make it a point that they have to leave something important at home, example a homework or a project, just to cut their visit short. This time, Sasuke has to attend a College interview.
"Sure, mother..." Itachi sourly replied, still looking outside his window. He didn't even need to glance at his mother to see her beaming in delight with his reply. Apparently, she didn't sense the sarcasm dripping in his voice. Or she just decided to ignore it.
"I'm glad you thought that, Itachi." Mikoto's eyes were beaming with happiness, before turning to her precious youngest son. "What about you, Sasuke? Did you enjoy the trip?"
And before he could answer his mother's question, Itachi beat him to it. "Of course he did, Mother. Sasuke loves Kumo very much. Right, otouto?"
Turning his obsidian orbs to glare at his so-called older brother, he didn't have any choice but to say yes. "Aa."
"Tsk, tsk. Sasu-chan, what did I tell you about monosyllabic replies?" His mother reminded him. He knew his mother was just mocking him, and obviously she didn't know she triggered something in his memory that he refused to remember. Something that must not bug him, but because of his mother's comment he remembered it suddenly.
"Sasu-chan, what did I tell you about monosyllabic replies?" Her grin mocking, her eyes twinkling with happiness.
"Oh do stop mocking him, Mother. You know he's busy thinking about Sakura, and how he loathes the idea of leaving her once again in this far-away place." Itachi's voice was dripping with mockery. Sasuke always thought his brother was a genius. But why the hell does he keep deluding himself that there is something going on between Sasuke and their childhood neighbor—because Sasuke didn't have any childhood friends, just acquaintances and neighbors and a delusional playmate who prides himself to be his best friend.
Sakura lived at the house behind the windmill, near the river. He knew her by that. Her parents were workers for their cotton plantation, and her grandfather is his grandfather's closest friend. He didn't know anything much about her, and doesn't pay much attention to her. Though he knows that she does otherwise.
"Oh my..." Mikoto whispered slyly. "Did you hear that Fugaku? Sasu-chan is growing up now." Her mother's face twisted into a fond expression.
"Hn. Sasuke, did you finish arranging your papers for the Academy?" Not like Mikoto, Fugaku was always business-minded, strict and knows his priorities are priorities. After all, most of their business depends on him and his effiecient work ethics.
"Yes, Father." Sasuke replied. When he was younger, he always wanted to impress his Father. For him, his father is the perfect man: intellectual, successful businessman. Always perfect with what he does. No room for mistakes. And with how his brother, Itachi, was, he imprinted to his mind that the only way to get the respect of his Father is to surpass Itachi. He always tried to best his brother, but for some reason, his father doesn't seem so impress at him than what his Father tells him in words.
"Sheesh, business-work again. I thought we were here to enjoy and relax?" Mikoto muttered. Beside her, Fugaku glanced at her briefly, smirking, before looking at the road ahead again. "We had just finished the part of enjoying and relaxing, dear." You'd never think with Uchiha Fugaku's face, that the man is capable of uttering words of endearment.
"Yeah..." Mikoto replied sadly. But instantly, she cheered up again and turned to Sasuke. "But that's okay. It's for Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan's future, anyways!"
"What does she have to do with my interview?"
"Oh, of course she has everything to do with it!" Mikoto's eyes were wide, as if she just mentioned the most obvious thing in the world. "Sasu-chan, you need to finish college for you to have a decent job and to raise your family well!"
Sasuke only rolled his eyes.
While Mikoto chattered incessantly, outside their family car the rain was pouring just as much as words fall from Mikoto's mouth. The sky was dark, with no stars to grace the night. Outside the car, the woods continued endlessly, while the road bends to shaper contours and corners. They were already near Konoha, the town they are currently living in. In just a few minutes, they could finally rest from their three-hour drive.
But as they turn at a corner, a ten-wheeler truck with broken headlights also turned, coming from the way opposite to theirs. The road was narrow and without a doubt, given the truck's speed, it will hit them.
It seemed like a thriller movie to Sasuke. One moment he was still looking at his mother's smiling face as she continued teasing him to Sakura, and the next, all that he could hear is her ear-piercing scream.
(.)
He knew he had already opened his eyes. The shifting from the darkness to the pristine white background made him distinguish his awakened state to his unconscious one. He felt for his hand and clenched his fingers, just to stretch the aching bones. After a second or two of not feeling every bit of his body, came the ache coming from everywhere. He tried to sit-up but his body felt like it weighed a ton. As his head fell back on the pillow from attempting to sit-up, he heard shifting somewhere from his left. A few moment later, he saw a man in a tux approach him.
"I see you're awake now." He smiled crookedly. Sasuke tried to rack his brain for answers as to who the heck this person is when his brain gave up and broke into a splitting headache.
"Ow..."
"Careful there. The doctor said you hit your head at the window, from the impact." The man silently said to him. His tone was somewhat sympathetic, and Sasuke couldn't understand why.
Did something happen? Why did he hit his head on a window? Surely, he's not trying a Naruto act, is he?
When the man noticed his face twist into a confused one, the guy slowly asked him, "You don't remember what happened, did you?"
Sasuke tried thinking again, but all he could think of is that his family, his mother precisely, waving off goodbye at their house staff at their mansion at Kumo. He also remembered feeling bad about something that he probably did, but he couldn't remember anything.
Only the picture of his mother waving off at their house staff. He was inside the car already, beside him Itachi was just twisting and turning, finding a comfortably spot at the seat. His father was walking towards the car, fumbling with the car keys, face stoic as ever.
He remembered looking at the mansion's second story, the window third from the left. Its curtains were apple green, and it was slightly parted at the corner, like someone was peeping from behind it. He remembered feeling hurt but he couldn't remember why.
Then he remembered his mother's giggles, and laughter, and finally her horrified scream. And like a flood, it all came back to him.
The truck with no headlights, his brother's arms flailing in the air, his mother's arm bending, trying to protect her, her father trying to protect their mother from the impact, the nearing of the woods, the feel of the wind when all the windows were closed.
Everything came back to him.
"Where is mother?" He snapped, all of a sudden his body was bursting with adrenaline. Worry filled his whole being for his family. By instinct, he grabbed the man's collar and started shaking him with the little strength he could muster.
The man just held his hands, and gently pried them off of his Armani. "Sasuke, calm down..."
"How the hell could I do that? Where is my mother? And where is father? Are they alright? Is Itachi with them?"
He knew something was terribly, terribly, terribly wrong the moment the man exhaled somewhat tiredly. "Your parents are missing. I'm sorry."
"What?" How the hell could that possibly be? They were all inside the car, and he doubt if his parents could crawl out of the car, the way their car tumbled down the edge of the mountainside. Besides, the seatbelt locks at sudden movements, holding the person down. With the way they fell, no wonder the car would trap them all inside.
"And where is Itachi?" Because if he's parents were missing, Itachi might probably be too. But there is a great chance that they were all missing together. At least his parents have some company.
But he didn't expect what the man just told him.
"I'm sorry. But he was dead on arrival. We cannot even distinguish him, with how his body was crushed."
(..new?)
She patted the bun she created at the back of her head, gathering all her pink locks in one scrunchy, before turning to the big backpack she have beside her. Today, she is going to prove to herself, not to anyone else that she has a purpose in this world. Today is the day when Haruno Sakura grows up from the sheltered Princess of the Cotton Fields—a joke his father like to tease her often—to a modern independent woman who will one day be successful.
And Sasuke-kun would wish the he never messed up with me. She shook her head at the train of thought. No. She was most certainly not doing this for Sasuke. No, no, NO. She was doing this whole growing up thing because this is the right way to grow up and be successful in life.
She decided to leave Kumo, the place she grew up all her seventeen years of life, because as she deemed it be, it was time for her to see other places and grow out of her comfort zone. She knew, hell if she doesn't, that all her family does not agree with her decision. For them, she was just wasting her efforts. Apparently, they think that Sakura is not suited for work that consists of papers and pens. It was way modern for their way of living.
Her cousins always taunt her of being a cotton planter in the future, no matter how high her grades could get. No matter how hard she try, for them, nothing will change. They were born tilling the land, and they will die tilling them. Her mother was also against her decision of pursuing a career in the city. It will just bring them more expenses. Her father just wanted her to just get married. He only let Sakura to live in the city in the hopes the she will marry a loaded guy.
Sakura swallowed the bile that was rising in her throat. They are her family. I'm sure they just want me to be sure of my decisions. I know they are just testing me and how I hold onto my decisions. But she know deep inside her, that she was just feeding herself lies.
Post Notes: I uploaded this one to test the waters. Haha. If I get good feedbacks, I might upload the second chapter sometime this week. I'm not asking for like, hundred reviews. Just tell me if I should continue this one.:D And of course, do leave comments and suggestions.:D
Hehe… It's been a while since I last uploaded something.:D
(Forgive the typo's and grammar errors. Had no time to check on the whole thing because I was darn freaking excited to upload this one.)