(A/N: here comes the proper start into the story! Enjoy!)
Disclaimer: unneeded
Don't forget to check out my other stories, such as Case Closed!
Enjoy!
Chapter 1: The Great Escape
"And I want you to behave with only the best of manners, okay? Don't do anything foolish whilst Mum and I are gone, promise me this." Yet his words seemed to go unnoticed as the little boy stared feverishly at the ground, as if it was some miraculous creation in his eyes, although in reality, he was trying to avoid the gaze of his father.
"Akuma, please, look at me." Itachi demanded strictly, yet leaving a slight touch of care and love within his tone of voice as to not scare the boy completely. He knew how his own father, Fugaku, had been quite stern and cold during his childhood, resulting in a broken relationship with his younger brother.
Hesitantly, Akuma looked up, his bright blue eyes staring with a shade of misery into the obsidian orbs of his father.
Itachi could not help but smile weakly, "Akuma, I promise we'll be back soon, before you notice we're gone we'll already be here again, trust me." He whispered, managing to force a faint smile on Akuma's lips as he tousled the child's neck-long black hair into disorder.
"So, you promise to be good to grandma and grandpa, okay?" It took a while before Akuma gave his approval, nodding and smiling once more, if slightly fake, before receiving a loving hug from his father, who, with a kiss on his forehead and ruffle of his hair once more, took his leave.
His mother had already hugged him into breathlessness when she had cried into his arms, saying she would hurry to return as quickly as possible, and that it took her just one call from him for her to come racing all the way from New York to the side of her beloved son, in case he desperately needed her or could not stand the distance. At this, Itachi had told her off, warning his wife of babying the boy too much as it would do him no good, but Akuma simply ignored the matter and suppressed his own tears.
What was so bad about it, anyway? They would only be gone for about three months, until his 9th birthday for which they had promised to be back by. So as his parents left the house with one final wave, he shrugged the matter of feeling lonely off and turned around, wanting to head towards the stairs.
"Akuma-chan, lunch is ready in an hour!" His grandmother called from some room upstairs after having spoken to one of the maids, "No grazing of anything!"
He sighed. He did not even like sweets and candy, and it was not like he could simply walk into the exaggeratedly large kitchen and exit successfully with food in his hands, as one of the 20 cooks was deemed to notice his presence, no matter how slyly he could creep along corners. The thought made him sigh once more, before an invisible light bulb sprang on in his mind and announced a cunning plan.
'All maids are upstairs cleaning, there is only one of the butlers trudging around, and at the back-fence there is a gathering of trees close enough to hide from the guards..' he smirked; a trademark of the male Uchiha's, so it seemed.
"Okay!" He called back, hopping up the stairs towards his room, which had specially been designed and created at his will for whenever he visited his grandparents, before opening and closing the door quite immediately without entering his room.
He could not see the satisfied look on Mikoto's face as she, nodding, returned to her leisure activity, in the belief that her grandson was momentarily in his room. However, he was well aware of the fact that she was thinking and doing just that, causing a grin this time to form on his lips as he spun around, taking a quick glance towards both sides just to notice that he was alone, before delicately, without any sound, sneaking down the stairs and towards the back door.
It was actually supposed to be used only by the staff in order to quickly access the back yard, where the garden and compost lay, as well as the shed. For Akuma, however, it was a perfect route outside of the mansion safely, without being seen by anyone. He opened the door with great care, chasing across the freshly cut, vibrant green grass and towards the gathering of trees at the south end of the house. Hiding behind one of the massive trunks, he took a slight peek towards his right at first, seeing one of the guards positioned firmly at the edge, not even budging as a cold gust swooshed past. Now turning to the left, he realised that this guard would by no probability be moving either.
'Good' he cheered to himself as he crept from tree to tree, always making sure that the eyes of the guards were focused directly in front of them, for he did not want them to take notice of his illegal presence. Now he stood in front of the massive fence that, if it was surpassed, would lead to another extensive piece of forest before resulting in the main city streets and roads of Konoha City.
He took a few steps back, sprinting towards it with high speed before taking a good jolt of nearly a meter upwards onto the fence, clambering to the metal poles in order to not fall painfully on his butt. With quick movements he reached the top, swinging himself acrobatically (he was glad about the extra sports-lessons he had decided to pick) over the sharp, threatening edge of the spiked top and landing with a silent thud on the other side.
Wiping his hands, he smirked proudly, "Ha! What an easy task!" He whispered to himself in a hushed manner before he hopped behind the trees. After being reassured that the guards could no longer see nor hear him, he ran towards the city and into its lively centre, which radiated with a thrilling, but welcoming feeling that he had not felt since he went paragliding with his father: freedom.
Sakura scanned thoroughly through the designs in her hands, taking out a pencil from her curly pink locks to scrawl over the diagrams in order to remind her of something that only she would be able to decipher. Looking up, she inspected the semi-complete room and considered if there was anything else missing in her perfect layout. Yet with a bright smile that made stars go dull, so most men thought at least, she was satisfied with herself, seeing how her plan was flawless and the room would be finished by the day after tomorrow at the latest.
She truly felt passionate about her work, but what surprise is it when you spend all your life rummaging around in doll-houses, buying new mini-furniture to redecorate every single miniature room into a new, perfecting composition of comfortability and style. She loved it so much, and doing it actually as her job, speaks being paid for this activity, made it all the sweeter. To all that passed by her she appeared to be a self-confident woman who radiated a warm, loving mood which seemingly could enchant anyone into liking her. Yet what seemed so perfectly happy was in reality a mask hiding her true emotions.
"...No, that chair should go somewhere else, too cramped..." She murmured as she scribbled once more on her diagram, god knows how she manages to draw with the paper between palm and pencil.
She did not really know what a family was like simply because of the fact that she never really had had one, and the near to certain knowledge that she would most likely never own one either made her feel tired. For all the love she had to share with the world, inspired by a simple snowflake dancing towards her, by a simple sway of grass, by the most natural sparkle of stars, there was no one, not anything, to return it. That is, if you do not include Jiji in the equation.
"Have I fed Jiji today...? I wonder if I have remembered to leave that bowl of food out for him." Jiji was the most magnificent, elegant, purring and fluffiest ball of fur and whiskers Sakura had ever encountered in all her life. And with his extraordinary amber eyes that lit up every day at her with longing and love, she could not claim to not have someone to call a family. It was not much, their little companionship of simply the two of them, but it was enough for both her and her cat.
So standing there, buried within her work to such depths that all around her, except for the composition of the interior design, seemed forgotten, she did by far not notice the graceful shadow that neared her posture discreetly. And she would have most likely not taken any further notice, had she not looked up for a second longer to gaze at the dinning table in front of her eyes.
Her green oculars widened for a fraction of a second; she twisted her head towards the direction the mysterious shadow seemed to have hushed off to.
"Hello?" She called, trying to conceal the fear that was forming within her voice. Boy was it easy to scare her; she was not one for surprises, that was for sure!
Hesitating at first, she took a step towards a door that was meant to lead to the kitchen, when, as her hand pressed lightly onto the ajar entrance, something once more ran past her, causing a squeal to erupt from her petite lungs as she jolted back in surprise.
"S-Sorry Onee-chan, didn't mean to scare you!" Was all she heard as a response to her squeaks, shocking her.
"Huh?" She did not manage to say more as she lowered her view, now figuring that what she had previously taken to be some haunting demon from some black lair was actually just a little boy of eight years, averagely. Nothing more, nothing less either.
He smiled brightly at her, blue eyes sparkling with excitement. Sakura had to suppress further squeals and calls of 'a'ww's' and 'how cute!' or 'I wanna adopt you!' as she feared that once the cycle started, it would never end.
"H-Hey there little man, where are you from?" the rosette asked with a frown slowly marring her face.
The boy drew circles with his foot on the marbled floor, hands hidden behind his nimble stature as his eyes completely avoided her intent stare.
"I-I...came from out there." He whispered with slight embarrassment.
"I gathered that, but what're you doing in in here and where are you supposed to be?"
"N-Nowhere! I'm not supposed to be anywhere! And I'm here because I want to be here."
Sakura giggled slightly at the childish answer the boy gave, his black hair messed up as if he had been running away from something.
"But don't you know that it's dangerous to be here? It's a building site after all, and you can't simply walk onto someone else's territory." she educated him with a tone of motherliness, dare she admit, as it seemed to comfort him.
"Aah..." was all he seemed to protrude at that point of time, looking at her with great interest.
Those intense, indigo eyes; the wondrous, charming gaze and the raven hair reminded her of something; had she not seen this before? But by the love of god, she could not figure out what it was at that very moment!
"Well my little friend" Sakura kind of sung with a grin plastered on her face, "how about we get you home?" By this time she was crouching in order to gain something akin to eye-level with the boy, who responded with a look of disbelief.
"But why!? I'd rather stay here!" He ran around the room, jumping towards a window in order to gawk outside at the miraculous city that extended itself below him.
Sakura had to giggle again, "But you can't, this is where adults have to work, not where kids play!" She held out her hand towards him, her eyes softening, "How about I buy you an ice-cream first?"
"Ice-cream?" He quirked an eyebrow and made a face of irritation. What was this strange item, if it was one at all, that the strange woman talked about?
Sakura shook her head in amusement, "Yes, ice-cream, I'm not joking!" And she took his hand without warning, pulling him outside of the uncompleted mansion.
His intent gaze filled with extreme awe and shock was something she had never expected to see. He investigated the ice-cream, as if attempting to reveal the cold secrets it withheld, as if desiring to understand its solemn meaning in life. He reacted as estranged as Sakura would most likely react had a frog-formed alien landed on her palm and begun talking some gibberish to her.
"Is it...not nice?" She asked carefully, not sure what she should expect from the boy that was currently sitting next to her on a bench within Konoha-park.
Said boy turned his gaze towards her, seeing how she licked the pink, red and blue splodges of frozen milk eagerly. He decided to mimic her actions, taken aback by the tastiness it withheld.
Sakura sighed with a smile. She never realised children to be so fascinated by everything in life, that it warmed her on the inside to know she was not the only one who had not lost the power to see the spark in everything existent, be it the smallest of things one might imagine.
"I haven't asked you yet: what are you called?" Leaning back, she favoured the taste of blueberry on her lips, breathing in the sweet scent of cherries and other fruits that made up her treat.
"Akuma!" He chirped with an eager smile present on his face, taking another lick, "And you?"
She looked at him for a while before answering his querying eyes, "Sakura." She tried to respond in a similar fall of tone as him.
His eyes seemed to brighten up all of a sudden, "Wow! What a nice name, it suits you so much!" He grinned in the most childish way she could have imagined, causing her own smile to cross her lips once more as she blushed faintly.
"Thanks, that's sweet of you."
He looked at the piece of freshly printed paper, warmth still radiating off of it as it had exited the printer mere seconds ago. Reading the contents with quick, skipping glances for which he thanked his photographic memory to be able to read so fast at all, he sighed, rubbing his eyes, before a knock interrupted his stream of thoughts.
"Come in!" He called in a rather monotonous, cold tone as he looked up, turning his grand, cushioned chair towards the large window before he gazed at the busy street and city life underneath.
"Uchiha-sama, have you received the documents?" A young woman poked her head in, chocolate brown eyes piercing at his solemn being as straight, dark hair fluttered towards the side of her face.
Sasuke turned, smirking at the sight. Said woman was wearing a very tight, appealing blouse of which too many buttons were undone for him to simply ignore her attire.
"Yes, got it here." He glanced at the paper once more before comfortably leaning back into his chair.
The woman took this as an indirect indication to enter the office, closing the door behind her silently. She tilted her head in child-like mannerism, "Is there something wrong with the letter, Uchiha-sama? Do you want me to recheck it?" She spoke with a rather lustful voice, her words seemingly not intended to be taken serious.
Sasuke's charcoal eyes focused on her. The short, black skirt that clung to her perfectly formed hips did not make it any easier for him still to not look her up and down appreciatively. Her legs were simply flawless in both shape and length, smooth and touchable as they ended in painfully high heeled shoes.
"Hn." Was all he answered, causing a fine frown on the woman's visage to appear.
He stood up, slowly approaching her with the paper once more in his hands, eyes not leaving her stature. She stepped aback, hands held out behind her and a fine smile formed on her lips as he cornered her within his office, one arm raised above her head, eyes lowered towards the one-head shorter woman.
"The corporation emblem is missing, there is a spelling mistake in the fourth paragraph, third line, and you forgot some of the details I ordered you to include." He whispered huskily into her ear, his breath heatedly fanning her neck.
With desiring eyes and an acted tone of innocence, the subordinate female made a fake face of shock, "Oh is that so? I will immediately take action to correct that, understands. Sorry for the inconveniences, Uchiha-sama." The last word was hushed out with a passionate murmur, turning the raven-haired man on.
"I guess I'll have to punish you then." Was all he said before capturing her lips in a dominant, heated kiss, hands already eager to tear off that terribly tight blouse.
Hena sighed, fingers clacking on top of the massive oak table that made out to be her desk, covered in pens, pencils, papers, notes, staplers and markers and all sorts of tools she needed; another stack of folders was scattered on the floor to her left as the desk could simply not carry more with the overwhelming amount of books plus the computer and printer already on it as well. Hearing how the badly-muffled moans and groans escaped from the room right next to her, she could not help but sigh in frustration and roll her eyes for the nth time that day.
"That Uchiha again..." She muttered as she tried to concentrate on the documents in front of her eyes, but her reading became further disrupted and the words rendered senseless with every heated cry that got louder and inched its way further into her "office."
As she heard a specific pitch of a moan erupt from the woman that was currently in the office of her boss, she sighed once more, this time in relief, glad the "break" time was over now. The door opened after a while, a female secretary walking out leisurely as she tucked at her blouse, a content smile present on her vulture-like visage whilst she held a piece of paper in her right hand.
Not long afterwards the boss himself exited the room, righting his blazer and shutting the door behind him.
"Seriously, Uchiha, can you not at least hold off at work?" His personal secretly murmured as one hand covered her mouth, scribbling something onto the piece of paper she was currently attempting to analyse with the other.
Sasuke smirked at the elder woman of about fifty-odd, walking towards the desk. She looked up with her wise blue eyes, black hair that started to fade to grey tucked back into a messy bun, for she had been scratching her head in thoughtfulness, "Seriously, you could have at least installed those sound proof walls at our last renovation. It can be quite a hindrance to my work, you know." She handed him a piece of paper which he briefly glanced over before returning it with another trademark smirk.
"Ah, but I can still always rely on you, Hena. Good job, send that to me via e-mail in an hour at the latest."
She nodded, blinking, obviously used to this type of procedure.
"Any calls or messages?" He requested as he took his mobile phone out to check his in-box.
"Yes, from your mother." Hena began touch-typing expertly, taking a second-long gaze every now and then at the piece of paper next to her.
Sasuke sighed silently at the mentioning of his parent. She seemed to call too often for his liking, forcing him to wonder why his beloved mother still tried to baby him even though he was a man of twenty-eight years.
Hena had to chuckle at his expression, "It seems your brother and sister-in-law are on a special business-trip and won't return until in 3 months time." She watched with interest as he looked at her, being able to tell how his eyes explained his current mood, "That means that your nephew is currently with his grandparents. Your mother has requested for you to visit him and spend some time with the boy, seeing as how he is so fond of you and the last time you saw him was quite a while ago."
Sasuke placed a hand over his eyes, rubbing them again before presenting her with a look of annoyance, "And you told her...?" Now he expected some wicked answer, something that would even convince him that he had a proper reason for not appearing at his mother's house. Hena was never to lack in originality, and it was one of the reasons she currently, and since long, had the job she was in right now. For his personal secretary, Sasuke needed a reliable, experienced woman who understood his desires to the fullest; not some sexy bimbo who was just in for the fuck and the pay. Especially since he needed his privacy within this kind of atmosphere from time to time. So standing there, awaiting whatever smashing response Hena could come up with, he was already going through how he would finish the day off; which was most likely by meeting up with some of his close friends to then grab some dinner, washing away the stress of the day's work in good companionship to then later fulfil some hot chick's greatest desire by allowing her to land in his bed with him, before he would do what he would need to do to satisfy his desires; just to ultimately be chucking her out; then being able to relax until the next day of strenuous work would commence.
"I told her you'd be there straight away after work to take care of your nephew." He turned in surprise, all the composedness of his facial features leaving him as he arched a quizzical eyebrow.
"Pardon?" He spoke quite lowly, but Hena knew better than her other co-workers as to be scared by his intimidatingly dark voice.
"Uchiha, you seriously need to consider spending more time with your family, because those are the only people that you can call as such, and with your constant excuses you will just one day regret missing the time you could have spent with them; but by then it will most likely be too late." Hena chastised him, a critical eye placed on the young man who sighed in aggravation.
Hena was a happily married woman with two grown up children. She cherished her family strongly, very much to Sasuke's confusion, as he could not discover any sense or point in a family, let alone marrying. He had simply no respect for woman. They were just there to be fucked by him and then tossed into some corner he would not bother to look at twice in his life. The only three woman that could manage to reach specific limits of his respect were in the most obvious case his beloved mother, his sister-in-law, as she seemed a very decent lady, and his reliable but momentarily back-stabbing secretary. Maybe he required revising the lastly named.
He turned around, walking towards the other end of the room, "Hena, seriously, I don't need this family shit; what is it with you and families anyway?" He inquired with a boyish whine.
"Uchiha..." Hena simply glowered, eyes gazing at the man who turned and attempted a pathetic grin.
"Alright already! I'll go!" Grabbing his briefcase whilst righting his tie and leaving in the direction of the lift, he murmured a quick "later" before he was gone.
A satisfied smile crossed Hena's lips as she continued with her work, "Seems that age brings slyness with it." she chuckled, happily continuing to type without any further disruptions.
He set foot on perfectly paved ground, stones in precise shape and form cemented with so much coordination into the earth that it's completeness stole all of nature's majestically irregular charm. Grass grew to systematic heights on either sides, with bundles of lustful, rainbow coloured flowers gathered in exact distances to each other around the manor that he had once called his home.
He strode leisurely along, the guards not needing more than a respectful glance to recognise the all-powerful man that went past them as they opened the gates in a rush. He paid them no heed, no look of approval or appreciation, not even a word fell. For him, it was blatantly obvious that they had no other choice but to act like inferior beings, because to him, and at that very moment specifically, that was exactly what they were in his eyes.
The grand wooden doors which held the Uchiha crest with all of its pride upon it opened just in time for him to enter without having to decrease his speed of approach.
"Welcome, Uchiha-sama." A butler well into his sixty's greeted, bowing respectably low before he raised himself and looked indirectly towards the young man, "Your mother has been awaiting your visit." His voice, hoarse from age, was still clear and carefully levelled as on the very first day Sasuke had ever heard him speak.
He nodded, grunting in approval before giving an indirect signal for the butler to leave. The group of giggling young maids at his back left stolen looks behind as they also retreated with much hesitation and expectation.
Sasuke sighed. The looks caused an unpleasant frown to form on his facial structures as he stared holes into the evenly white marbled floor, which glittered with the reflection of the light that fell in through the ceiling-high polished glass windows.
Do not get me wrong; Sasuke did, to a degree, enjoy the attention seemingly every single woman tended to give him on this god-forsaken planet. He loved how easy it was to hook up with any girl of his desire, to make her obey his every orders perfectly and without questioning; how they played along, how they were so quickly caught and devoured, before their gnawed, empty remnants were left to rot in whatever place he decided to have been at the time. But as said, to a degree.
Never once had he been challenged, never once had he needed to fight in order to get a girl to play his game. That does not mean he does not know how to fight, because many times had he been engulfed in battles to attain his dreams and wishes; but this never, not even once, included any woman on this planet, not even his mother. And it annoyed him; how his godly looks, his perfectly structured face, his irregular, silken hair that defied all laws of physics and his exactly calculated height and muscularity bought him more attention than he needed. It annoyed him how every single girl would give their life just to lay underneath him once; to feel as if they were of interest to his enticing orbs. And for that, and that alone, did they never ever manage to gain proper respect from his side. And they most likely never would, either.
"Sasu-chan!" He heard a frantic call from the top of the curling stairs that glistened, just like the rest of the room, in its marbled glory. A woman of no little age, but appearing younger to the eye, came chasing down the steps with great speed in a knee-length, strapped red dress, charcoal hair swaying frantically behind her as worried, puffy eyes focused on Sasuke.
She gave the good-head-taller man a tight hug before separating immediately.
"Kaa-san, what's wrong?" He spoke with worry as he looked at the woman below him, the only one that ever got to feel his love. His tone of voice was so different, with more softness than edginess to it, his eyes equally presenting emotions other than indifference.
"It's so terrible, darling! I can't believe how this could have happened." He gestured with one hand towards the seating facilities placed in the lounge, ordering discreetly for his mother to sit down and try calm her erratic heart.
"Calm down first." He sat next to her, rubbing her back. He did not like returning home simply because of all the turbulences and inconveniences, and especially because of his father. But at that moment he felt ashamed; ashamed that he had been prepared, merely a few minutes earlier, to not visit his parents and therefore not be there when his mother was distressed and in obvious need of him, "What happened?" His voice still firm and dark, he gazed outside the windows and into the palace-like gardens, discovering the massive fountain at the back of the house in the corner of his eyes somewhere.
"He's gone! I can't find him, he must have run away!" She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, having had her face hidden in her palms.
Sasuke arched an eyebrow before he slowly understood whom she meant, oculars widening ever so slightly as he sighed after a couple of seconds, "Did the brat run away then?" He spoke as his fingers glided through his hair – a habit he seemed to have gotten from his father, even though he would never admit it.
"Don't call him that! He is a good boy and you know it! But for some inexplicable reason he's run away and I don't know how or where! We've got guards all around the house!" Her eyes clouded with more worry as another wave of tears streamed down her reddened cheeks.
"He's clever after all, he has his tricks." The young Uchiha stood up, righting himself, "Don't worry Kaa-san, I'll go look for him, I won't stop until I find him and bring him home safely. After all, Nii-san would most likely kill me if I let anything happen to Akuma."
Mikoto nodded with a smile, wiping away her eyes, "Thanks, Sasu-chan."
He smirked at her; he was not the kind to be smiling anyway, "You go back to your clothe-designs, you need to finish them before the next show begins." He turned with a hand raised in farewell, taking long steps towards the door, once more exiting the manor in a similar kind of rush with which he had left many years ago.
She held her hands protectively above her head, sighing loudly at the notice of the tiny, cold droplets that crashed down on them first carefully, then mercilessly as they charged for a café with a sail covering.
"Damn! Does it have to rain now of all times!" Sakura called out to the heavens, as if awaiting an answer as she held tightly onto Akuma's hand. The boy grinned at the weather, "Haha, how cool!" He called as he pulled away from Sakura's grip and raced out into the pouring rain.
"Akuma!" She saw his figure fading, and as fear arose in her that she might lose him, she chased after him, getting drenched in the process, "Akuma wait!" she called, being blinded by the fierce droplets that smashed onto her face with such irritating violence that her vision blurred.
She had taken it onto herself to take care of the boy for the day. He seemed so curious about the city and it's lifestyle, as if he were some stranger from another culture, or like a bird in a cage, who could only see the world from the inside but never get to feel it; until finally being able to flutter around all the places that he had only ever heard of and actually discover what seemed to be a mystery of understanding.
So after they had finished their ice-creams, she had decided to take him to the old town, presenting him with magnificent buildings; flowers scattered everywhere, food gathered in baskets which stood outside houses whilst massive great barrels half full with water were settled next to doors in walls. Yet the old town seemed of little interest to the boy, hence calling for Sakura to turn to the more modern perspective of Konoha: the city-centre. It was buzzing with life; electronic adverts and real posters covering many skyscrapers and nearly-as-high buildings, with people flooding the streets and cars bursting the roads with traffic noises, chattering, beeping horns, shouts and curses, laughs and dove's clucking. It was at that moment that the boy's belly rummaged violently, calling for them to find the first available toilet in a great shopping centre that had popped up in middle of all the architecture.
After their hour-long striding along the streets, Sakura attempted once more to ask him where the boy came from and if it was not a good idea to go find his parents. Yet the aggravation present on his face as she spoke those words spoke volumes for itself; he was enjoying himself, and going home would destroy his happiness. Sakura understood his child-like thinking, because she too still owned some aspect of it; the aspect that simply could never die. So she decided to tell him about the crazy designs of all those buildings, and then about how flowers created their own food, jumping to topics such as why the sun shines or why it rains or how it comes that Venus shines the brightest of all stars at night. She depicted every part of nature in its glorifying beauty, inspiring the boy to an extent she would not have thought herself to actually be capable of. It was, after a while, of little matter what Sakura was talking about, he concluded, as long as she did not stop the actual talking part, because it simply amazed him to hear so much emotion and passion for something as trivial as to why blueberry ice-cream is blue.
So standing there, eyes frantically scanning about in order to find the boy in this darkened world, she felt like crying out loud with frustration. He was gone; in the end she had lost him, and if something were to happen to him, it would be her fault. A car crashing towards him? Her fault; some perverted drunken bastard taking the better of him? Yep, she was to be blamed if a scenario like that occurred.
"Sakura-neechan!" She flipped around, eyes wide as she saw his back, focusing on the sky above.
"Akuma!" She called with great relief as she took slipping steps towards him, turning into a chaste jog as she reached his side, kneeling down, trying not to mind how her exposed knees were now covered in ice cold, wet mud; her skirt becoming drenched with dark patches as she held him by the shoulders, turning the boy around, "You can't just run off like that! Anything could have happened to you; it's dangerous!" She called but was quietened by thunder, causing her to shriek in dismay.
He chuckled at her reaction, "Sorry Sakura-neechan, but look!" He pointed above him, where the clouds began to play some spectacular game of form-changing and movements, whirling and curling into themselves and then stretching out again as the rain poured down from them.
Sakura smiled at his reaction, "Have you never seen that before?" All of a sudden she forgot how wet she was, how she would most likely end up with a cold and how she still did not know where this boy had come from, hence where he would have to go.
He shook his head with a saddened smile, before Sakura stood up, taking his hand warmly into hers and leading him out of the rain.
He cursed, grabbing into his jacket's pocket and picking out his delicate smart phone. He stared at the screen, noticing the time, which was quite late, before dialling a few things into it with speedy finger-movements. Because he would never manage to find the boy alone, he had acquire help. Yet before he could press the in-existent green button on the touch-screen and wait for the ringing to commence, his eyes caught an interesting sight.
There stood Akuma, said boy Sasuke had been running around the whole city for in order to find, staring up at the heavens with great awe. He smirked in victory, pocketing the phone again, being about to call over to the child when his intention was interrupted.
"Sakura-neechan!" He shouted with great enthusiasm, resulting in a woman to appear barely a few seconds afterwards, falling to her knees, ruining her attire in the process, and staring at Akuma with worry and shock.
He would be lying if he had not found her appearance...interesting. Her curly, twisted rosy locks fell to the middle of her back and were drenched and forcefully straightened, some bangs sticking to her face whilst delicate hands held onto Akuma's shoulders; creamy, perfected legs smothered in rain-water. He took in the sight for a long moment, drowned in simple curiosity, before realising that he had never, in all his life, seen this woman before, therefore immediately had to ask himself what she was doing with his nephew.
And as he watched with great interest as she took his hand into hers, pulling him along as they walked through the rain, his body became active again and he speed-walked to catch up with quickening steps.
"Surprise surprise, whom do I find here?" Sasuke called out loudly with a smirk adorning his lips as both Akuma and Sakura came to a halt, turning around with wondrous looks; of which Sakura's withheld more confusion than Akuma's, who was perplexed at the fact that his uncle had found him.
"Oji-san?" He tried to fake a tone of innocence as he gripped Sakura's hand more tightly.
Said woman looked down at the nervous boy and back up at the man in front of her. Her eyes were focused on his stature; a perfect body-shape, broad shoulders and seemingly lean muscles hidden behind expensive fabric; a head at least taller than her and eyes, so dark and alluring, they made any woman drown within them. His charming aura and gaze were enchanting her too; his raven locks which spiked up in all inexplicable directions bringing up feelings of awe and admiration within her as she encountered a hard time trying to believe that this man was Akuma's uncle.
"Am I...in trouble?" the youngster carefully questioned, looking into Sasuke's stern oculars.
"You bet, boy." was the cold response, causing Akuma to wince.
Sakura bent down in order to reach eye-level with the eight-year-old, "Hey Akuma, it's best if you go home with your uncle now; I'm sure your obaa-san is very worried, and it's not fair on her to leave her so sickly worried about you and your well-being." She smiled softly, calling for the young Uchiha to return the gesture.
"Okay...can Onee-chan come with me though?" His eyes brightened with hope, causing Sakura to gaze doubtfully up at the looming man who, with a void expression, sighed and gave a curt nod, turning around in order to leave.
"Hurray!" Akuma cheered, grabbing Sakura's hand and pulling her along with his uncle.
They had not quite noticed how the rain had stopped and the clouds broke open, revealing a powerful sun sprinkling its light onto the now glittering world below.
"Akuma-chan!" Mikoto jolted from her cushioned armchair inside the living room as said boy, followed by the elder, similar-looking man, entered.
She embraced him tightly, squeezing all air and life out of his little being as he begged his grandmother to let go out of fear that he might suffocate, resulting in a roll of eyes from Sasuke's part.
"I'm so glad you're okay! Don't you know how dangerous it is to be wandering around alone out there? How did you manage to escape anyway? Have you no idea of the kind of people out there that could do all sorts with you!?" and she squeezed him some more, not allowing him to answer and excuse his behaviour.
"Don't worry, Kaa-san, he was under good care when I found him. You wanna know who his saviour is?" He smirked as his mother looked up wondrously, nodding slowly as she stood up, Akuma's hand within hers, following her son outside the living room and towards the entrance hall.
Dumbfounded. She was dumbfounded.
She gazed in awe at the fine marble staircase, the neat, dark blue rugs skipping over them, with the emblem on both sides. Lion-like statues stretched towards the ceiling in front of her and glass cabinets filled, with golden awards and certificates decorated the walls, accompanied by classic portraits and other fine paintings as well as some artistic statues of some other kind. Everything was polished to its finest, with no room left for an unclean spot. She could see herself in the reflection as clearly as through a brand new mirror, causing her breath to hitch. Never in all her life would she have believed the little boy that had bumped into her earlier that day to be the son of a freaking millionaire; well at least his grandparents were, so you would expect their son to not be much different! The entrance gates they had passed alone were striking; with all the security guards at every edge and corner and the sheer size of the fences, causing great wonderment about how Akuma had exactly managed to escape through these hindrances. And the emblem that she had then seen for the nth time just stirred her memory all the more, but it still would not quite hit her as to what it was that was so blatantly obvious, making her feel stupid in the process.
She also took note of all the maids and butlers scuttling around the room, cleaning away the invisible dust they believed to be there, seemingly catching it in mid-air before it could even dare to land on the highly expensive antiquities. There was a small lounge area to her right, with flower pots stretching against the light that infiltrated through the massive windows which were, to her astonishment, of the finest shape and form that she had ever seen. So crystal clear, with a black pattern separating the different fragments with so much preciseness. For an interior designer like her it was breathtaking and inspirational all together.
"This direction, Kaa-san." Sakura could hear the velvety voice of Sasuke echo along the hallway, causing her head to flip in the direction of the noise. She was surprised to see him followed by quite a young woman - at least she appeared to be very young - holding onto Akuma's hand, that she was convinced her to be the mother, not the grandmother.
Mikoto took a good glance at her; shocked, astonished and unsure as to what to think.
She was strikingly beautiful.
Not in the sense that fashion models seemed strikingly beautiful, nor world famous actresses or singers. It was more of in the sense of her whole posture, the aura she vibrated off, the randomness of her looks. Those frilly pink locks that clashed so passionately with her piercing green eyes, the perfect body-shape with the curves at all the right places; not too fat, nor too thin, with a smile present on her glistening lips and a charming feeling around her being. Her choice of attire, however, confused the Uchiha matriarch very much. She wore a smeared, short black skirt that reached a few inches above her knees, with brown boots coming quite far up the other way, hiding most of her perfectly formed legs. A smudged, cream-coloured and long-sleeved blouse snuggled itself tightly around her flat stomach and normal-sized chest, with a pink scarf wrapped around her neck and a loose, dark wintry jacket reaching just below her hips, obviously drenched in rain-water. A petite white handbag was hanging from her left shoulder as she greeted the Lady of the manor.
Mikoto walked up to her with a bright smile, taking her hands into her own, feeling the soft warmth they radiated off, "Thank you so much for taking care of Akuma, you cannot even begin to realise how relieved I am right now – 'though, what am I saying, you probably can imagine." She held a hand to her cheek before grinning with an excusing expression.
Sakura felt nervousness creep up her spine; how was she supposed to react towards such a posh lady? She had never been taught the correct mannerisms around higher society.
"No problem! I'm glad nothing happened and that Akuma is fine now..."
"Ah, but it is nothing self-evident!" The woman protested, her manicured fingers laying above where her heart was to be, "We can only thank the gods that you found him! After all, being the son of an Uchiha heir is nothing easy to live with; he is in so much danger out there, with all those kidnappers and evil-doers, you most likely understand what I mean." Another endearing smile.
"Oh yeah, I can imagine-" She stopped for a brief second, realisation dawning upon her. Uchiha? Uchiha? Had she really just said that name..?
Wait...was not the company she was working for part of the Uchiha Corporation; the most powerful company world wide, owning a million of businesses of all sorts, the very founder a multi-billionaire of so much fame and wealth that even Bill Gates's jaw would drop? And was it not that the youngest son had opened up his own business, his main company an architecture one; the very one for which she worked as a simple concept artist of the interior design department?
"U-Uchiha...?" She asked quite meekly, having finally found her voice again. Of course; hence she recognized the emblem, which was the well known Uchiha symbol. And no wonder Sasuke seemed so familiar to her! When was he not in the news and magazines, not only written down as the youngest most successful business man in the entire world, but also the hottest guy alive – simply drop-down gorgeous; an opinion with which she could only agree. How the hell could she have forgotten that? How could she not have taken notice of this straight away like any other sane person!? But then again, she was most definitely not like any other person.
"Sasu-chan" Mikoto turned around to her youngest, smiling warmly at him whilst his expression stayed the same, stoic one he always had plastered on his face, "I believe we should kindly repay this wonderful lady for her honourable doing. I am sure you will take care of this matter!" And with another smile, she turned around to said woman, looking down at Akuma as she spoke her next words, "Thank you very much, once again, Sakura-chan. I hope you don't mind me calling you that?" She gave her no time to reply, "If you would now so kindly excuse me and Akuma, I hope our paths cross again at some later date." She nodded, Sakura bowing in the process as also Akuma unpacked his formalities and lowered himself, eyes nonetheless glittering with sorrow as he departed, staring over his shoulder at the pink-haired lady, who simply watched how his figure disappeared behind a set of doors opened by butlers.
Sasuke turned to her. Looking at him, she once more froze to the spot.
"Oh my god...OH MY GOD! This is...like my BOSS! Like the big boss! I mean yeah my boss is Tsunade, but Tsunade has a boss, who also has a boss, and in the end it all leads back to the ultimate, top boss, which is...that guy right in front of me...!"
She gulped, screaming inside of her mind as she tried to give off a calm aura.
"Thank you also on my behalf for taking care of my nephew. I heard from Akuma that you were working on designing the inner layout of a mansion on the west side when he met you, so I presume you are an interior designer, most likely working for the Uchiha company?" He spoke less questioningly and more with a knowing tone, pretty much aware of what the answer was going to be, anyway.
"A-Aha..." She was still dazed by the fact that she was actually meeting her big boss right now. He was, after all, kind of like a celebrity!
Sasuke walked towards her with slow steps, rummaging in his right pocket until he found the desired item and stretched it out towards the woman in front of him with a smirk, "I would like to thank you properly; after all, we Uchiha always show our gratitude in the most appropriate of ways. Here is my secretary's number. I would like it if you called her and made an appointment for tomorrow at my office so we can further discuss this matter." His cold expression had a demanding edge to it, surely with the intention of intimidating her, yet she ironically did not feel the charm.
"Ah, but, there is no need to thank m-"
"No" he cut her off, "I insist." And with a nod from both her and him, he led her out towards the entrance, the guards and butlers doing the rest, watching her exit the mansion's site.
Ruffling through his hair in a weak attempt to cheer the little boy up, she sighed at her failing, watching how he sat in dissatisfaction at the table, nostalgic eyes staring outside the grand windows.
Sitting down, Mikoto inspected her grandchild intently, yet he did not stir nor redirect his gaze towards her; he was oblivious to her presence.
"Akuma-chan..." she spoke ever so softly, "I can understand that you're miserable, but you still have to eat."
He pushed out a long ragged breath, still not budging nor answering back, as if he was alone in the room.
Sighing once more, an idea struck her mind quite immediately and a proud smile formed on her lips, "Akuma-chan, how about I give you your birthday present early?" She began, watching with a grin as his blue eyes glistened at her in sudden wondrousness and excitement, an inquiring look spreading on his face.
"What is it?" He questioned, tilting his head slightly. She noticed how her youngest son had just entered the dinning room, leaning against the wall whilst watching the scenario with amusement.
"Well, it can be anything you like! I allow you any wish you want to make, and will promise to make it come true!" And he really could have asked for anything; whatever toy, game or item he desired, he would get it. Was it a grand pool with a water slide? Granny would go build one. A massive HD TV that filled a whole wall? No problem with that. A whole toy shop in style of a resort? She saw no problem there. All his wishes would come true. At least Mikoto believed this to be the case, that she could grant him anything he wanted; never in all her life would she have believed his next words which he spoke with so much enthusiasm and longing.
"I want to live a normal life like every other kid, going to school instead of staying at home, and, and meeting friends and living in a normal house without security and...and going around the city like any other person would! An average life-style, at least until Mommy and Daddy return!" His grin went from one ear to the other, his eyes were wide with expectation.
Mikoto and Sasuke...were simply shocked.
Sasuke did not show this, however, it was merely present in the form of a raised eyebrow, a slight widening of the pupils, as far as this was possibly noticed with his obsidian orbs. His whole body did not move a single fraction; he stayed positioned still and calm.
Quite contrasting to his mother's response.
Her eyes widened to a considerable size, disbelief marring her facial features as she held a hand to her heart, as if scared it might stop beating any minute, "D-Darling...but...that..."
Akuma feared what she would say next, and with saddening anticipation, slumped down into his chair, eyes sombre once more.
And it hurt; hurt really bad to see her only, beloved grandchild so pained and tortured. He desired a normal life so much, no object could make up for it, no power, no attention, nothing. Nothing. He wanted – no, he needed this! He was caged like a laboratory rat, only capable of waiting and watching as the world outside moved and attempted to influence him with failing attempts – and that was what bothered him most strongly; he only ever watched and endured; he was never a part of the greater life outside of his cage.
All he requested was to be let free from time to time to run around and discover the world with his own eyes, hands and feet instead of always having someone tell him about it. Mikoto had no choice, and she had promised to fulfil him any wish – and an Uchiha stuck to their word; it was a matter of pride, after all – therefore, seeing as this was his wish, and she knew he would not change it, she was kind of forced to oblige.
Sighing exasperatedly, Mikoto looked at Sasuke for a moment. Suddenly, relief flooded her consciousness, "How about you stay with uncle Sasuke for some time, eh?" She hoped for a positive reaction, but was instead greeted by two negative ones.
"What!?" Sasuke and Akuma both shouted simultaneously.
"But Obaa-san! I see Oji-san all the time and have been at his place before already; I don't want to stay with him, I want to stay with Sakura-neechan!" He whined ever so desperately, shocking both the other Uchihas.
"But...you barely know her!" Sasuke threw in with a frown.
"That's not true! I spent the whole day with her and she is really nice; I like her a lot! I want to stay with her, just for a while; please, please Obaa-san!" His eyes were on the verge of tearing, and she felt helpless at his sight.
"Ohh...okay okay!" She called, shutting her own eyes tightly to avoid his gaze, "But under specific conditions! Three to be exact!" She spoke in a strict tone, "First, you have to ask your mother and father if you are allowed to do this; without their approval nothing will happen! Second: of course after that, Sakura's approval needs to be received; if she does not agree there is no point in all of this, after all, you do want to stay with her." She sighed, shutting her eyes, "Thirdly...it is much too dangerous leaving you alone in this world with some stranger you met just today. As protection I want you to have another family member stay as well. And seeing as me and granddad cannot do so, nor your parents obviously, the only left option is..."
She turned to her son, who's eyes widened sluggishly at the realisation, him standing erect and with an evidently shocked expression.
"No...no." He nearly scowled, careful to not raise his voice against his own mother.
"Sasu-chan, there is no other option."
He looked at his nephew, "This is a stupid idea anyway! You'd be dead before the first week's over!"
"No I wouldn't, I can take really good care of myself!" Akuma protested whilst standing up angrily, "Nothing would happen, I'll be fine, and I don't need you to bully me!" He slumped down again, crossing his arms with a frown.
"You little brat, who do you think you-"
"Sasuke!" He stocked. His mother would never call him by his proper name unless truthfully angry and on the verge of cracking. And looking at her delicate face that presented, at least to him, clear wrath if he spoke any more, he bit his tongue to stop the words from flowing.
"Hn..." He mumbled, then grunted as he leaned back against a chair, his back facing the woman and child in the room.
"Please darling, do it for him." Turning around slowly, he looked at the begging eyes of his mother. He could resist any woman; they were nearly useless, heartless, boring creatures to his mind, incapable of stirring up his feelings, of which he did not own many and rarely, as good as never showed any either.
But his mother, after all being his mother, knew how to work on him, how to get to him; she had her ways with him simply because she knew him ever since the very first moment he formed had inside of her. He had no guard to protect him in front of this woman, he was left open to attack, vulnerable within her presence, and as much as he hated being so weak then and there, he also loved it that she, at least she, understood him.
"Alright..." he muttered, pocketing his hands, "I'll go set up some negotiations with Haruno tomorrow then..." And he left the room before he could notice the beaming excitement and happiness as Akuma bounced up and down, repeating over and over again the same words as if they would perform some magical trick.
"Thank you Oji-san!"
(A/N: And we're done! So I hope you've enjoyed. Hena and Akuma are obviously invented characters. I still hope you can befriend with them! Soo, be expectant for the next chapter, wherein the 3 month living-together adventure begins! Just leave behind a review to tell me you want me to update the next chapter and it'll be up ASAP!
Thanks!)
R&R