Chapter Two- Revealing?
"Oh, Sasuke, so glad you could make it!" Yuki greeted Sasuke at the door.
"Hey Sasuke, sorry to say, but Naruto couldn't make it." Sakura stated as Sasuke entered.
"Hn, that's fine, it'll be quieter." Sasuke grunted.
A subtle, knowing glance passed through the three.
"Great, so when's dinner going to be ready, Yuki?" Kisuke asked.
"It'll be ready in ten minutes. Sakura, why don't you help me out?" Yuki suggested. "That way the boys can sit down and chat."
"Alright," Sakura nodded, and glanced over at Sasuke who gave her a slight, assuring look.
Sakura and her mother walked into the kitchen while Sasuke and Kisuke sat down on some chairs.
Yuki giggled lowly. "This is going perfectly; Kisuke's playing right into our hands."
"I guess so." Sakura agreed as she spied the two men. "It sure is going smoother than I thought."
"And I was correct to think Sasuke and I are on the same page!"
"Yeah, yeah, I admit that you were right, but neither of them is talking."
"Oh, they'll start up eventually."
"I guess…but Sasuke's never been one for conversation."
"Then we'll have to hope Kisuke will break the ice!"
"Mom…you've been reading teen magazines again, haven't you?"
"…Well, this food isn't going to cook itself!"
Meanwhile, with the guys, all was silent. Sasuke stared at the floor as he tried to think of something to say, and Kisuke twiddled his thumbs idly.
"So…you and Sakura have been teammates for how many years?" Kisuke asked.
"Ever since we were Genin, so about five or six years." Sasuke replied.
Silence fell again.
"…So how have you all been getting along…you seem fairly close." Kisuke inquired.
Sasuke thought of the irony that Kisuke had no idea just how close they were…but if all went well they planned to make him aware.
"We're…pretty close. We had a lot of time to bond."
"But didn't you leave for three years? I remember Sakura being quite torn up over that."
Crap…he went into that area. His three years of absence was a bit of a touchy subject, even now, and while he knew he had Sakura's forgiveness, Sasuke had no idea how Kisuke took seeing his daughter so distraught for those three years. He'd have to talk his way out of this one.
"Those were…confusing times, but I assure you that I never really forgot about my bonds." It was mostly the truth, while he did want to sever those bonds in the past, he obviously wouldn't have come back if he had succeeded in doing so.
"Ah, I see…so everything's alright now?"
"Yeah, perfectly fine…."
Sasuke sure felt he weaseled his way out of that one alright.
"The blond one…how's he doing?"
"Naruto? He's fine, loud as ever."
"Yes, that's good…."
Silence…this was harder than Sasuke thought it would be. He knew he'd have to say something to get Kisuke talking.
"So…" Sasuke drawled. "Are you a ninja?"
"Oh, yes, I'm a Jonin." Kisuke seemed to respond with pride. "Of course I'm a Jonin in an older sense…now they're a lot easier about instating them…so my skills can be that of an Anbu."
Sasuke smirked, Kisuke was obviously very proud of his status; he could work around that.
"And are you a Chunin like Sakura?" Kisuke asked.
"Yes, but they say I'll be a Jonin soon enough." Sasuke responded.
"Good, and what of Naruto?"
"The same…but he still wants to be instated as Hokage before he's actually considered the strongest in the village."
Kisuke chuckled. "Yes…Sakura has told me before."
"Dinner's ready." Sakura called as she and Yuki exited the kitchen with plates of food.
"Great, I'm starved." Kisuke grinned as he and Sasuke got up from their seats and walked to the dining room table.
Sakura took a seat and Sasuke took the one right next to her. Yuki sat on the other side of Sakura, which left Kisuke right next to Sasuke.
"So," Yuki immediately began a conversation. "Did you boys do any talking?"
"Yes, plenty," Kisuke answered.
"Great, you're getting acquainted." Yuki beamed.
Sakura felt something brush her fingers as they spoke. She looked down and saw Sasuke's hand held out to her under the table. When she looked up Sasuke glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She intertwined her fingers with his, she did say they could act more like a couple now, and maybe her father would eventually notice the motion.
Everyone focused on their food for a little while. Yuki obviously seemed to search for a good conversation in her mind, or at least hoped the boys would strike up a conversation between them. Sakura's fingers fidgeted around Sasuke's, she felt the tense atmosphere, and hoped someone would say something.
"So…Sasuke…" Kisuke declared. Yuki and Sakura cheered mentally that he was talking to Sasuke. "Does Sakura snore as loudly out in the wild as she does at home?" Kisuke chuckled.
"DAD!" Sakura exclaimed, embarrassed.
"…You snore?" Sasuke glanced over at Sakura.
"No! I've never snored!" Sakura replied heatedly.
Kisuke laughed. "That's not what I hear!"
"You're right…you don't hear it over your own snoring, dear." Yuki announced.
"Me? I don't snore!" Kisuke retorted defiantly.
"I don't wear earplugs for nothing."
Kisuke looked down and poked at his food, grumbling.
"Don't feel too bad, it's probably better than listening to Naruto." Sakura stated. "Isn't that right, Sasuke?"
"Yeah, he's loud awake or asleep." Sasuke responded.
"Well…moving away from that topic…" Kisuke pronounced. "What about our guest? Let's hear some stuff about you."
Sasuke was silent. What much could he say? He's the last Uchiha, he's killed one of the three Sanin, his brother, and also tried to kill his best friend on a couple accounts, oh, and he's also dating the questioning man's daughter. His life isn't really conversation material….
"Uh…there's not much to—"
"Yeah, Sasuke, why don't you tell him about how you've done so many difficult things to benefit the village?" Sakura interjected. "Like how you helped defend everyone during the Konoha war, or the things you've been doing lately to help work out the problems between here and the Land of Lightning?"
Sasuke lightly tightened his grip on Sakura's hand in thanks. "Yeah…I've been doing a lot of the frontline work for some time now. Before, when the new Kazekage aided in the war against Konoha, I was the one who held him off until Naruto and Sakura came to help."
"Oh yes, I heard. Sakura, you had some bruises from that." Yuki confirmed. "Did Sasuke help keep you safe from too much harm?"
Sasuke and Sakura looked over at each other. It was moreover the other way around from when Sakura jumped in Gaara's way to keep him from killing Sasuke. But Sasuke did catch her when she fell after Naruto defeated Gaara.
"I think we both helped each other." Sakura answered. "But the war is such old news now; lately Sasuke has been traveling back and forth between here and the Land of Lightning a lot. He's being a big help."
"That's good. It's nice that you're such a strong boy." Kisuke nodded his head approvingly.
Sakura, Sasuke, and Yuki exchanged hopeful glances. It wouldn't be long before Kisuke was in on their loop now.
"So, do you have any plans for your adulthood?" Kisuke asked. "You two will both be full blown adults very soon. Are you planning on settling down with anyone?"
Sasuke smirked. "Yeah, most probably."
Sakura took a deep breath, now was probably the best time while the subject was up. "Yeah, maybe it'll be me. After all, Sasuke's my boyfriend."
Silence fell upon the table. Sasuke and Yuki appeared to be calm, Sakura looked at her father nervously, and Kisuke stared at the two teenagers.
Kisuke suddenly burst out laughing. Yuki raised an eyebrow, and Sasuke's calm face shattered into a confused one, as well as Sakura's nervous expression.
"Aha, ha, ha…well…you are so adorable, Sweet Pea! You're so young! I can only imagine what'll happen when you're older!" Kisuke chuckled.
The three stared at the laughing man as he stood up with his plate.
"I'm going to get some more food. Oh, ho, you can sure set someone up, can't you?" Kisuke laughed as he walked off into the kitchen.
Everyone was silent in either disbelief or shock. Kisuke's laughter could still be heard muffled through the walls.
"…Sakura…" Sasuke declared. "Your dad is an idiot."
"No…" Sakura denied. "He just doesn't want to leave his la-la land."
This would be harder than any of them thought.
Chapter two of three is done! The next one is the last chapter! (Short, I know, I said it would be.) Ehhh…sorry for taking so long…like I said on my profile, writing conversations are hard. (Moreover coming up with them) But thankfully I was able to pull something off. Well, once again, the next chapter is the last one. Let's see just how thick the skull of Kisuke is until he realizes Sakura was telling the truth. Well…I know how it ends, but you people still have to wait! (I know, shocker, I've actually got a planned out ending.) Well then, that's all, till later!