LOLITA
'When Uchiha Sasuke asked Haruno Sakura to be his wife, she thought she couldn't be happier. That was, until she realized that there was someone else, someone she'd never dreamed about being with in a million years, someone who could truly make her happy.'
I know, I know. I shouldn't have started yet another story, especially when I shouldn't have even written Unbroken until all my other stories are finished. But this one has been in my head for months now, begging to be let free and I couldn't resist. Think of it more as my side project.
It won't be as big/long as Unbroken, it's roughly estimated to be about eleven chapters, but it's still going to be a good story. Yay love triangles! How I do adore them.
So, please enjoy, and remember, reviews are very much loved. :)
The cover art is called 'In Touch' by sorceressmyr and can be found on DeviantArt.
CHAPTER ONE
"Sakura, will you marry me?"
The petal-haired woman could only stare blankly at him, her viridian eyes wide with shock, her mouth slightly agape. The entire restaurant had fallen silent, not even the chinks of cutlery against plates could be heard, and he could feel the numerous pairs of eyes that were fixated on their forms.
His dark eyes narrowed.
"An answer would be appreciated."
Sakura finally blinked and closed her mouth, broken out of her momentary state.
"Are… are you sure, Sasuke-kun?"
"If I wasn't, I sure as hell wouldn't be bent down on one knee proposing to you, would I?"
Despite his snarky remark and the tone that had accompanied it, Sakura's lips had broken into a wide, beaming smile. It was the day she had been wishing for since she'd first laid eyes on the Uchiha prodigy, the one dream that had kept her going when it seemed that all hope was lost. She'd fantasized about becoming Mrs. Sasuke Uchiha since she could remember, and now it seemed that was become a reality.
"Of course I'll marry you, Sasuke-kun."
Wordlessly, he took the diamond ring from it's small blue velvet box and swiftly placed it on her finger. Before he could move off the floor and back to his own seat, Sakura lurched forward and threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug, despite never actually embraced him in such a way before. It was then that she realized that the restaurant had erupted with applause from the other diners, her embarrassment distracting her from the fact that Sasuke had stiffened from her sudden contact and had not returned her embrace.
Finally she withdrew her arms and sat back in her seat, admiring the ring that now sat upon her finger as Sasuke returned to his chair.
"This ring, it's beautiful!" she remarked, gazing at it with a content smile on her lips.
"It was my mother's." Sasuke replied with a non-committal shrug, his voice void of any emotion despite the subject of his words.
Sakura frowned ever so slightly, the change in her features missed by her new fiancé as he picked up his knife and fork and once again began to eat his dinner.
The proposal had been sudden. Incredibly sudden. They weren't in a relationship, they hadn't even been dating. He'd simply asked her to dinner that night, and she'd accepted, believing it to be the first date and the start of something. She hadn't expected for him to bend down on one knee and ask her to marry him.
She supposed that her acceptance of his proposal would be met with confusion from others. Why had she said yes? The answer was simple - she loved Sasuke. She had for years, despite everything that had transpired. This was an opportunity she could not miss, not when there was a chance that he felt the same way. He hadn't said anything to her along those lines, there had been no indications of his feelings, but the marriage proposal had been enough.
They would be husband and wife, and he would be hers forever, and she his.
Sakura didn't dare question it.
Instead she basked in the joy of knowing they were to be wed, and gushed on about the future they were to have, the wedding of her dreams. Sasuke remained silent, nodding every so often but his focus seemed to be entirely on his food, and once that had been devoured, he decided that it was time to leave.
He walked her home, aware of the way she managed to flash her ring to every passer-by that they happened upon. Yet, he kept his mouth shut, choosing instead to block out her ramblings with years of practice. Sakura paid this no attention, prattling on about their friends and her predictions of their reactions to the news.
Once they had reached her apartment, she attempted to kiss him goodnight but he turned his face away so her lips met his cheek instead. Clearly hurt by his actions, Sakura's smile faltered before turning into a frown, causing Sasuke to sigh.
"I would like to keep that for our wedding day."
She raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing in reply. Instead she unlocked her door and headed inside, throwing one last glance at her fiancé who looked blankly back at her before turning and heading down the street. Sakura watched him as his disappeared into the darkness of the night before she sighed and closed the door.
A few weeks later, Sakura found herself trying on wedding dresses at Ino's insistence. The bossy blonde had declared herself unofficial wedding planner when Sakura had told her of the engagement, and today it had seemed like the perfect day to find the perfect dress.
Sakura made her way out of the changing room, wincing at the amount of layers of tulle and lace that the dress she was currently wearing contained. As soon as she came into Ino's eyesight, the blonde squealed happily and clapped her hands together.
"Oh my gosh, that looks amazing!"
Sakura turned to face the mirror, grimacing at the reflection. The dress was absolutely horrid, and she was finding it difficult to locate herself within it. The skirt of the dress was huge, drowning her petite frame within itself, and the puffed sleeves weren't giving itself any favours either.
She turned back and raised an eyebrow at the blonde, who instantly lost her beaming smile and pouted at the pinkette.
"Honestly Sakura, you have no taste in fashion."
Sakura sighed.
"I already explained to you, I just want a simple dress. One I won't get lost in."
With that, she returned to the changing room and somehow managed to escape the dress, although it did take her quite a long time to do so. Once she was back in her own clothes, a pair of comfy jeans matched with a simple red tee and black sneakers, she returned to Ino, who frowned.
"You're not going to try on any more dresses today, are you."
It was not a question, but a statement.
Sakura simply shook her head in response, causing the blonde to sigh.
"Fine. But don't think you're getting out of it next week!"
After thanking the shop's attendants, the two women left and headed back through the village's main road, heading to a nearby café. Sakura was practically famished from all the changes of dresses, and needed to fill her growling belly.
Once they were seated and the waitress had come and taken their orders, Sakura leaned back in the chair before looking to her left hand, finding the familiar sight of her engagement ring. It was beautifully crafted, everyone had told her so. The fact that it had belonged to Sasuke's mother also gave the jewellery extra meaning. Well, at least to Sakura it did.
Her thoughts went to her fiancé, wondering what he was doing. She had hardly seen him since the night he had proposed, and even then it had only been in passing, small talk made about how the plans for the wedding were coming along before he made some kind of excuse to leave and then stalked off.
She was grateful that he'd left her in charge of the wedding plans, it gave her a distraction from her questioning thoughts about the circumstances of the engagement and marriage itself. All she had to do was remind herself of how much she loved Sasuke, and that she was soon to be his wife.
Unaware that she was making a face as she gazed at her ring, Ino lifted up a slender eyebrow at her best friend before clearing her throat and catching the pinkette's attention.
"You okay, Forehead?" she asked, her voice filled with genuine concern despite the fact that she had used the nickname that Sakura detested the most.
Sakura sighed and placed her hand back under the table, hiding the ring from her sight.
"Just having bad thoughts."
This caught the blonde's interest. "Bad thoughts?"
"About Sasuke-kun and the engagement. I mean, I'm ecstatic that he asked me to marry him, but I can't help but think about everything else. I mean, we weren't even in a relationship when he proposed, and he's barely looked at me since." Sakura clarified, her lips curling into a frown.
Ino mirrored Sakura's expression. "Have you spoken to him about it?"
Sakura let out a derisive snort. "This is Sasuke-kun we're talking about."
"Ah, fair enough." Ino sighed, placing her elbow on the table and using her hand to prop up her face, cradling her cheek with it.
"We haven't even kissed. I tried to but he shot me down."
Ino's eyebrows shot up with surprise. "You didn't tell me that!"
Sakura sighed. "It's not exactly something I want to be sharing with everyone."
"Hmm." Ino pondered aloud. "Maybe you just weren't doing it properly."
Now it was Sakura's turn to raise an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that there was a right and wrong way."
Ino rolled her baby-blue eyes. "Of course there is. Just shows how unexperienced you are."
The pinkette folded her arms. She hated being reminded of her lack of experience with boys, and Ino knew it. She'd waited for Sasuke for so long that other boys just couldn't compare. And now here she was, twenty years old and never been kissed.
"I think you should try and seduce him. Make him unable to resist you. Then he can ravish you and you can give me all the saucy details." Ino waggled her eyebrows at her best friend suggestively.
Seduce Sasuke? She'd probably have better luck seducing a brick wall.
"I don't know Ino…"
"Oh come on, it's totally easy." Ino waved her off. "You just need an adjustment to your wardrobe, a little bit of liquid confidence, otherwise known as alcohol, and knowledge of how sex works. I know you have the last one, and I'm sure I can help you with the other two."
Sakura bit her lip. Could it actually work? Could she actually entice Sasuke into making love to her? It sounded too good to be true.
"Besides, it's always a good idea to try before you buy." Ino added, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder before winking at Sakura.
"I'm sure you'd know all about that, Ino-Pig." Sakura retorted, smirking at the blonde who simply sneered back in response.
It was then that their meals came, the two chatting idly as they ate over trivial things, as well as Ino's various relationships over the previous few months. Sakura knew the truth behind Ino's serial dating, and that was because she was avoiding her deep feelings for her team-mate, Shikamaru. Ino had fallen for him in her youth, although she wouldn't dare admit those feelings, or even acknowledge them.
But Sakura knew, she could see it when the two were around one another. It was only a matter of time before one of them finally came to their senses and initiated a relationship.
Once their meals were devoured, the girls paid and left the café before going their separate ways. Ino had a shift at her family's flower shop, and Sakura was heading home to work on the guest list for the wedding.
The two girls said their goodbyes, making plans to meet up the next day and work on what Ino was calling the 'Seducing the Uchiha' scheme. Sakura was still sceptical, but figured that it wouldn't hurt to try and initiate some intimacy in her relationship with Sasuke.
She wandered down the road, noticing the whispers and stares that followed her. She'd quickly gained notoriety for becoming the wife-to-be of Uchiha Sasuke, the former missing-nin. Sasuke had been brought home two years earlier by Naruto, and was still trying to gain favour from the villagers after his rehabilitation.
It had been a long road for Sasuke, he'd been through so much since leaving as a twelve-year old boy. There had been many trust issues involved, and Sasuke had spent his first six months back in Konoha behind bars, bands on his legs and hands preventing him from using chakra. When he was deemed trustworthy again by Tsunade, he'd been allowed to return to society and continue his training.
With the Uchiha compound destroyed by the invasion of Pein, Sasuke hadn't been able to return to his former home. However, he had been made aware of a large inheritance as he was the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan, and now owned his own house on the richer part of the village. Sakura's own apartment was tiny compared to his spacious home.
"You seem to be very deep in thought."
A rumbling baritone voice sounded on Sakura's right side, and she paused mid-stride to find it's owner. Her pretty face lit up when her viridian eyes met the sole obsidian one of her former teacher.
"Kakashi-sensei!" she exclaimed brightly, throwing her arms around his neck in a quick hug.
She usually did not give Kakashi hugs, but this was an exception. It had been a good few months since they had seen one another, Kakashi having been sent on a lengthy mission to Suna to aid the Kazekage, Gaara.
"It's good to see you too." the silver-haired shinobi chuckled, looking down at his former student.
It seemed to him that Sakura had become much more womanly than the last time he'd seen her. Of course, he would never voice this thought aloud, knowing what others would think. He was fourteen years her senior. And according to the rumours he'd been hearing since his return to the village, she was also engaged.
"I believe congratulations are in order?"
Her cheeks flushed red instantly with Kakashi's words, reminding him of her younger self.
"You heard?"
He moved his hand to absentmindedly scratch the back of his head.
"About the engagement? Yeah. It's all over the village."
Just when he'd thought it wasn't possible for Sakura to blush even more, her cheeks were now almost crimson in colour.
"I know it was sudden, but I know Sasuke-kun will make me happy."
At least, that's what she kept telling herself.
"Sasuke?" Kakashi questioned, watching her carefully with his sole eye.
Sakura looked up at him, and for a second he could have sworn he'd seen shame in her green orbs.
"He proposed to me a few weeks ago. I said yes."
Kakashi stook silent for a moment as he let this information sink in. He knew what kind of man Sasuke was, and what kind of woman Sakura was.
He knew that the two would never be truly happy with one another.
But once again, he did not voice this opinion.
"I certainly hope he makes you happy, Sakura."
With that, he turned around and began to stride down the street in the opposite direction, not daring to look back in case he said something he would ultimately regret later.
"Kakashi-sensei, would you like an invite to the wedding?" Sakura shouted out behind him as she watched his retreating form. For some unexplainable reason, she wanted him to be there. Even more, she wanted his blessing.
"I'm not really a fan of weddings."
With a wave of his hand, Kakashi kept on walking until eventually he was no longer in Sakura's line of sight. Her heart sank with his response, She should have known that the union would not get his approval. He'd been there when Sasuke had broken her heart, not once, not twice, but three times. He'd been there, along with Naruto and the rest of her friends, picking up the pieces, knowing that it was only inevitable that it would happen again.
With that sad thought, she continued on her way home, returning her thoughts to the guest list.
Here's three things you should know;
1. This story should be updated every week. Should.
2. I love writing Ino. I've always wanted to and now I have and it was so much fun!
3. Despite the fact that this is only small story and not my major focus at the moment, I adore it. And hope that you will too. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next!
Please let me know what you think, feedback is incredibly helpful and very much appreciated. :)