Author's Note:
And here goes my second attempt at a fanfic.
For fans of The Planning Of A Matriarch because of how light it is and all of the fluff but not of sexual and/or angsty situations, I'm sorry but this isn't the fic for you.
I don't want to have to give warnings for sexual content at the top of a chapter. I'm not writing a smut story but it will still happen in my Real Life AU.
If it really turns you off, I'm sorry but maybe this story isn't for you.
I feel weird calling this angsty, I wanna say it's more drama-filled instead because it is more realistic than TPOAM was. Because it is a Real Life AU.
Well, enjoy.
Disclaimer: This story will utilize characters and situations that are the copyright of Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, and Viz Media. ChronicallyChill is in no way associated with the creator or producers of Naruto and no copyright infringement is intended. Obviously this is a fanfic meant solely for the entertainment of the fanfic author and (hopefully) it's readers.
Chapter One: Late Night Visits
Sounds. At night all sounds have a tendency to seem much louder than during the day. Loud in contrast to the heavy silence that blanketed the small, secluded suburban neighborhood.
Sasuke shifted onto his back, arm thrown over his eyes. The loudness of the nighttime noises made it difficult to sleep. Difficult to breathe. But not difficult to think and to feel.
With little effort, Sasuke focused on the sounds of the CPAP machine in the room next door. The whirring and heavy breathing sounds did nothing to alleviate the anxiety he felt. It should have been a welcoming sound because it was doing it's job but the sound was grating because it reminded him that the damn machine was needed at all.
Throwing his sheets aside, Sasuke made his way to his desk and started up his desktop. His father was the only person he knew that would buy his son a desktop computer and a laptop in the name of studying. No excuses, he would always have a means to work and to strive to be the best. Something that he was failing at ever since he had transferred out of his private school, Oto Prep, to the local public school.
Fugaku Uchiha didn't even yell or lecture Sasuke. He just gave him the same impassive look he had when Sasuke was younger, like he had expected Sasuke to come in second place. Sasuke would have felt insulted about that considering he was top at the harsh and strict environment of Oto if it weren't for the fact he knew there was no way to surpass the person ranking first in academics at Konoha High. She had always beaten him in written tests when they were younger. Apparently his father never forgot that fact.
His mother, Mikoto, and his older brother Itachi seemed to be the only ones that were glad for the transfer. Who cared if he wasn't the highest scoring student if he was happier? Because Sasuke was not happy at Oto. He made three friends there and he joined the basketball team but being happy wasn't something that happened at Oto. It was a toxic place that would either burn you out until you wished you were dead or made you start slowly─or quickly─killing yourself, depending on how dependant on drugs you were or how far you were willing to toe the line between "study aid" and recreational use.
Sasuke ran his fingers through his unkempt hair and all but slammed on the keys to unlock his Mac and start up iTunes. Distraction. He needed a distraction. A distraction from the whirring and from the sounds of wet coughing when his brother woke up to shuffle his way over to the restroom.
As the crooning of the lead singer warbled out of his speakers, Sasuke made his way over back to his bed and threw himself on top of it. He curled up with a pillow on the farther side of his bed and inhaled. Disappointed to smell only his cinnamon and mint scent he tossed it aside. His sheets and pillows hadn't smelled like apples in over a week and it was starting to put him on edge how dependant he became on that smell to relax.
Sleep wouldn't be coming that night. Not when his distraction of choice was next door, nose in a book, having yet another night of cramming.
No matter how crowded the halls, she was always easy to find. Either because of her hair or because she was always with a taller blonde girl with ridiculously long "mermaid length" hair. A trend Sasuke didn't care for.
The rose gold head of Sakura Haruno was like a beacon, calling out to him. His eyes couldn't help but be drawn to her due to the odd genetic mutation passed on from her father's side of the family. Her father had told them a weird story about how originally their ancestors had a unique chocolate with heavy violet undertones shade of hair but that the brown had dulled down through the generations and left it a sort of purple hue. It drew in everyone's eyes. Rose gold was what his mother called it when they were younger but the strands were more dusty rose and thus pink, just plain pink. Sakura had pink hair, a lovely delicate shade that couldn't be imitated by dyes.
"You can't survive on coffee, Forehead," Ino Yamanaka scolded the pink haired girl as they passed Sasuke's locker. Sakura let out a long groan and then sipped from her travel mug.
"I was studying all night and didn't go to sleep until like three. I need this, okay?"
"Whatever. Let's go pick up Sai from the Art room. He can't miss any more classes because he's holeing himself up in there."
It was brief, very brief, completely unnoticeable to anyone else but their eyes met. Their eyes met and the world became muted with just a flash of vivid green eyes. As quick as their eyes met, they also averted their gaze. Sakura continued walking and Sasuke turned his attention back to his locker.
"I saw that."
Sasuke took a sideways glance at his friend and fellow transfer student Suigetsu. The had attended Konoha for an entire year and a few months already and Suigetsu still insisted on tagging along with him. Suigetsu had made friends with most of Sasuke's old friends but continued to pester Sasuke the most.
Ignoring him, Sasuke slammed his locker closed and headed off to class where Suigetsu couldn't follow him into the classroom. It didn't stop him from walking with him though.
"It's not that weird that you look at her. I look at her too sometimes. Don't let Karin know that though."
Sasuke rolled his eyes and shoved the feeling of irritation away. He tried to convince himself that he was just irritated with Suigetsu's constant chatter about his nonexistent love life and not the fact that he confessed, yet again, to finding Sakura Haruno attractive.
"I mean she's pretty hot. For a nerd."
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Sasuke grunted. Suigetsu gave him a lopsided smirk and held up his hands in surrender.
"Yeah, yeah. I gotta go or Uzumaki will bitch at me for being late for the pre-lab work." Suigetsu let out a playful sigh in mock exhaustion. "Still have no clue how a dummy like that ended up Student Body President. I'm sure even I'm smarter than he is."
If Suigetsu expected Sasuke to defend his best friend he was mistaken. Sasuke just gave him an unimpressed look and walked away. Suigetsu was one of the few students at Oto Prep that was there on a sports scholarship but then ended up hating his school life. When Sasuke, Jugo, his closest friend there, and Karin Uzumaki, Naruto's cousin, transferred he jumped ship as well.
Rumpling his hair for the thousandth time that day, Sasuke made his way to his desk and pulled out his Calculus notes, not even bothering to look at any of the students around him. When he returned to the public school system he had been bombarded with unwanted attention from the female student body. Naruto, who used to find it a reason to be jealous, laughed uproariously in his face at his discomfort. Naruto then made a comment about his sexuality and then was punched in the face which resulted in an all out brawl.
Not a great start to his career at a new school but worth it since it had helped him fend off any initial admirers that found him too violent. The ones that loved "bad boys" were then disappointed to find out that he was just a quiet and studious person. Sure he had some of the elements that one could find in a "bad boy" but that wasn't who he is. Now all he had to do was avoid the fans of the dark and brooding type.
"Think you'll beat me today?" Sasuke looked up from his notes to his seat mate. Sakura tossed her pink locks over her shoulder as she slid into her seat. She flashed him a winning smile and pulled out her pencil pouch and spiral notebook for class.
Sasuke grunted and went back to his notes. Calculus was one of the classes he could out score her on tests but it wasn't a consistent occurrence. Calculus might have been Sakura Haruno's worst subject but that wasn't saying much when she was the top student in all of her classes.
"Going to give me the silent treatment?" Sakura whispered flipping through her notes on the unit they were going to be tested on as soon as the teacher closed the classroom door. "I guess in the off chance that you do beat me, you're not going to want to cash in then?"
Sasuke lifted his head again and turned in her direction. Sakura was subtly going through her notes as if they weren't speaking in the first place. She placed her left elbow on her desk, cupping her face with her hand to hold up her head as she read her notes. With her hair tossed over her left shoulder, her neck was shown to advantage. Creamy and slender, it was one of his favorite parts of her anatomy. A fact that was no secret to Sakura.
Sasuke's eyes followed the line of Sakura's neck down to her clavicle and then even further down to the V of her shirt. The swell of the top of her breasts peeked from her low neckline from the angle he was looking. The shirt was modest, not one part of it meant to be seductive, but that was the way Sakura Haruno worked: in subtlety.
Sasuke shifted his gaze back to his notes and ignored her attempts at flirting and playing coy. Cash in? As if it mattered whether he got the higher score or not. He was still going to win in the end.
There was always that awkward moment when he walked through his front door and stood in the foyer removing his shoes. It was the most vulnerable position he could be in when he got home. Taking a pause on his way to straight to his room left Sasuke opened to any questions from his mother about his day.
"How was your day?"
Surprisingly, it wasn't his mother. The voice was too low and raspy. Sasuke looked up with his mask of indifference to look at his older brother.
"How was your doctor's visit?" Sasuke countered the unwanted question.
Itachi gave him a somber smile. It stretched his gaunt face and was weak, as if it was too much of a strain to use his facial muscles. He held out out his arms to take Sasuke's school things and coat which earned him a growl of disapproval from his younger brother. It was something he use to do, help his younger brother with his things when he came home from primary school. Not only did Sasuke dislike being treated like he was still a child but he hated when his brother offered to do things he had no business doing.
"You know I hate feeling useless," Itachi said with a soft voice. Sometimes Sasuke thought Itachi's voice was doing the same thing that he was doing: physically, slowly disappearing. Sighing, Sasuke handed him his hoodie. It was the lightest thing he was carrying and Itachi only had to turn his body slightly to hang it in the front hall closet.
Sasuke stood next to his brother and his eyes softened at the sight of him in his too big clothes. Sasuke had shot passed his brother in height over the summer but he had never expected that Itachi would ever be so much thinner than him.
"How was your visit?" Sasuke asked again, tone a lot gentler than it was the first time he asked.
"The rheumatologist sent me for more blood work." Itachi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I hate being prodded with needles."
"I bet you're tired now. Have Shisui or Izumi stopped by today?"
"Shisui has work all day and Izumi is spending the day with her mother. She hasn't been doing too well this past week."
You're not doing too well, Sasuke wanted to retort but held back his tongue. Considering how much time Izumi dedicated to being Itachi's companion it would have been rude. She and Shisui were one of the few friends of Itachi's that stuck around after his illness got worse. On bad days Sasuke didn't think they counted as friends since they were technically distant cousins but close enough relations to carry the same last name.
"Is father going to let you go back to desk duty?"
The two brothers made their way to the kitchen and Sasuke let his brother prepare him a snack of sliced tomatoes. It was rare that they got time alone in the house. Mikoto would hover around Itachi whenever he was at home on one of his bad days or on days he dedicated to doctor visits. Itachi would never admit it but doctor days wore him out, exhausted him and made him weak. They were stressful and lowered his energy. He would never admit it but it was obvious to his family. Sasuke wouldn't point it out, only make small suggestions, Fugaku ignored it when possible, and Mikoto suffocated him with care and attention.
"I hope so. No one expected me to relapse but I'm doing better. I want to work again."
Itachi had once been an active duty officer in their hometown's police force. When he got sicker he was moved behind a desk to do paperwork. He had been fine with the trade in positions as long as he was still a functioning member. Most Uchihas worked for the town's police department in some fashion. Their earliest ancestor had helped settle the town with another family and became in charge of defending it and enforcing the law. The Uchihas have been working as the police force ever since.
The front door opened and Sasuke threw a sympathetic look at his brother before taking off, leaving him alone in the kitchen where whatever parental figure could find him. If anyone needed the attention it was Itachi. Sasuke was more than willing to let him have it now that he was older and the able-bodied child. The expectations placed on him were stressing him out and had he known how intense it was, he would have never craved for his father's approval and attention.
As soon as he got to his room he locked his bedroom door and blasted his music loud enough for his family members to know he was in his room and didn't want to be bothered.
Sasuke's attention was drawn away from his handheld gaming device by rhythmic tapping on his window. It was two-thirty in the morning so there could only be one explanation for the knocking on glass.
Casually, without seeming like he was in any hurry to get to his window, Sasuke saved his game and turned off his device before tossing it aside. He stood up with a small groan and stretched as he made his way to the window to unlock it. He had gotten rid of the mosquito screen a long time ago on that specific window.
This time it was her eyes that drew him in. Yet another coloring of hers that couldn't be replicated. In some lighting her irises were a pale jade, in another a sparkling emerald. In all cases they were vivid, bright, perfect.
"Can't sleep?" She asked in a soft voice. All they could do was whisper at night when everyone was asleep and the only noises Sasuke could hear from his family was the CPAP machine in the room directly next to his.
"You wouldn't be in here if I was able to, would you?"
"Hmm. Guess not."
Routine. It was all routine for them. She would sneak out of her house in the middle of the night and climb up the lattice vine wall that ran up the brick walls of his cottage styled house to the part of the roof that held his bedroom window.
And in the night as part of their routine she would distract him from his brother's illness and from his father's expectations.
"I got the email with my test score when I got home. Ninety-nine. My score was higher wasn't it?" Sakura smirked, playing with the waistband of Sasuke's flannel pajama bottoms. "Are you going to be extra attentive tonight?"
"Ninety-eight," Sasuke replied before cupping her head with his hands and leaned in to give her a kiss. He nibbled at her lip and deepened the kiss when she parted her lips. Sakura sighed into the kiss, her hands on his forearms, lightly scraping her nails on his skin as her fingers curled around him.
"Slow down a bit," Sakura whined as Sasuke placed hurried kisses and nips and bites on her neck. Sasuke growled but did as he was told and gave her slow open mouthed kisses on her neck and clavicle as he slid his hands under her shirt and t-shirt bra and cupped both of her breasts in his hands. He would say they were closer on the small side but still full and perky. Sasuke brushed his thumbs over her nipples and she arched into his touch, moaning softly. Sakura's hands went to his hair, tangling into his unruly locks and tugging at it.
"Take it all off," Sasuke grunted. Sakura shook her head giving him a mischievous grin. He glared at her and she made a clicking sound with her tongue, still smiling at him playfully.
"You take my clothes off. You're suppose to be more attentive to my needs tonight, Uchiha."
Any other night, Sasuke would have silently demanded that she stop trying to order him around. But it had been a while and he needed her, wanted her. So he pulled her shirt over her head and rid her of her other clothing. He paused momentarily to just look at her. She was all strawberries and cream. Milky skin flushed red, pink hair, pink nipples, and full pink lips. The only sweet thing he actually liked.
Lightly, he pushed her backward onto his bed and watched as she bounced on the mattress as he pulled off his own clothes. Sakura's eyes darkened at the sight of him, bare, in all his glory and she licked her lips. If he weren't so desperate for her himself he would have smirked at that. To think this was the same girl who only two years ago had looked at him, with worry in her eyes, and said there was no way he would fit in her.
"Just like that," Sakura moaned softly, tangling her fingers in his hair. Sasuke loved the view from between her thighs. Loved watching her chest heave, the way her stomach muscles quivered, and the way her body arched when he licked her in a way she particularly liked.
Loved when he made her a quivering mess, squirming and clutching at his dark gray sheets.
"I'm more than ready now Sasuke," Sakura whimpered, breathing hard after coming down from her high. Sasuke shook his head and gently bit down on the fleshy knob that brought her so much joy when he played with it. He continued to lap at her and snuck a hand up her torso to fondle her breasts, tweaking the hardened nipples. He used the other one to tease her nether lips, stroking her, refusing to place them inside her. If he felt her clench around his fingers it would be his undoing and he couldn't let her know just how badly he wanted his cock in her.
She had left him without for a week and he was going to make her wait for what she really wanted. Besides, he was being attentive. Wasn't this her prize? To think winning their little competitions use to mean either buying sweets or packages of collectible cards. They were both a long way from when they were younger.
"I'm starting to think," Sakura panted, "that you like eating me out more than fucking me."
"Shut up." Sasuke spread her thighs apart with his knees, used one hand on her hip to steady her, and thrust hard into her. He used his free hand to clamp over her mouth to keep her from crying out loudly. He only removed his hand when he knew she would have an easier time controlling her mewling.
Sakura clung to him, wrapping her legs around his waist and hooking her arms under his armpits to hold onto his back. She used her hold on him to pull him closer so she could pepper his throat with kisses and licks. She sucked hard on his pulse point and Sasuke couldn't help the low moan that escaped his throat.
"Fuck, you're squeezing too tight," Sasuke groaned. He buried his face into the crook of her neck. He breathed in the smell of her apple scented shampoo intermingled with sweat, the resistance of her tightening causing him to slow down his thrusting.
"I c-can't help it, I'm─ah!─going to come again." Sakura bit down on his shoulder and he groaned from the pain mixed with pleasure as her muscles clenched even tighter around him. A few more thrusts and he found his release as well. Tired, he pulled out of her and collapsed on top of her, resting his head on her chest.
Sakura stroked his hair, lightly scratching his scalp with her nails, and he closed his eyes and let sleep take him.
Sasuke woke up hours later, alone in bed. That was their routine. They would fall asleep after a nightly romp and he would wake up to find that she had left before morning light. He use to wake when she moved to leave but after growing accustomed to her presence at night he fell into a lax state and his body no longer alerted him that there was a stranger moving around in his room.
Sasuke pulled the pillow Sakura had used the night before and held it to his chest. It smelled of apples so he curled around it and fell back to sleep.
Author's Notes: I don't want you guys to think that this is a High School AU because it's not. It's just the beginning of the story and they will reach adulthood!
Fair warning, this is probably going to be a very long fic.
So, the inspiration for this story? Partially real life, partially an idea I had in my head about a story about childhood friends that were secretly in love but didn't know it while also being in an intimate physical relationship. Thought what the heck let's make it a SasuSaku story.
Now the partially real life part comes from my Original Story where I based a lot of it on what I'm going through with being chronically ill. In that story it's mainly from the MC's POV and partially from the MC's sister's POV but I don't really go that deeply into what the sister feels about their older sister being so sick besides feeling sorry for her. Decided to add the somewhat sadder, darker part of someone watching someone they love go through being so ill.
The title comes from something my ex-boyfriend said when we use to have to sneak around behind my father's back to see each other. We would go to this playground at night and we would hang out just us all alone and he called it a kingdom for two.
I ended up not writing in first person which is something I was contemplating as readers of TPOAM know. I'm sort of getting use to not writing in the first person but I hope I get better at having character's emotions come across without using first person.
For anyone worried that there will be love triangles in this story because I am now utilizing Team Hebi/Taka characters: don't be. There will be no SasuKarin, not even one sided. I like the idea of Sakura and Karin being friends after reading Gaiden─I actually have an Auntie Karin headcanon ever since Gaiden. I wish she had been included in Naruto's family.
For anyone that doesn't like Karin, I hope that doesn't throw you off from my fanfic.
Next chapter will be in Sakura's POV. It should come out soon because I find it easier to write Real Life but at the same time, I would like to focus on finishing TPOAM.
