Lessons of Life
By baluyutbee
Saturday, June 8th
"Teme, you busy today?"
"I'm at work, dobe, working on a new case. Why?"
"I've got your girl. We're meeting today for dinner at the Cactus Club, 7pm. You coming?"
"Aight. Downtown?"
"Yeah-don't bring Karin. She just pushes me to the edge."
At this, Sasuke chuckled. Naruto and Karin never did like each other. Karin saw Naruto as a threat. After the blonde heard this, he started to slowly dislike the girl. Naruto Uzumaki was not gay. Don't misunderstand.
Saturday, June 8th
7 o'clock.
That was the time that Naruto wanted me to come meet him, at the high end restaurant, Cactus Club. It was currently 7:15. Dumb bastard, should have told me that you were going to be fifteen minutes late.
Sighing, I laid back in the red chair. I bet I looked like a girl who's just been dumped by her date. Whatever. Silently humming to myself, I closed my eyes and tried to relax. Gosh, I'm nervous. They probably won't recognize me, Naruto never did. Moments later, I heard someone clear their throat. I looked up and saw the man who I spoke with over the phone - as handsome as ever, may I add - along with a raven haired man, who pocketed his hands in his dress pants. Damn, they were slick.
"Sakura-chan, can I call you that?" Naruto asked, drawing closer towards me, with a grin on his face. I simply nodded. He sat down, and the other man sat on the other side. "Sorry for being late."
Bastard.
Nodding with a flat smile on my face, we continued onto what our purpose was.
"Okay, well- you see Sakura-chan- before I can cast you as the lead in my commercial, there's a condition." I knitted my brows together, slightly confused.
"What kind of condition?" I asked Naruto.
"Before you get the part, we need to test you on your acting, if you really are good enough." He explained, stressing on his "really". "That's where my friend here, comes in." He looked at the direction of the other man, I followed his gaze. The other male seemed to be a man of few words, the ravens strands slighting covering his eyes.
"How?"
"You need to act as his fake girlfriend for two months." Naruto said bluntly, acting like there was nothing wrong with it. I stared at him with wide eyes. Is he crazy? Was he just asking me to sell my body? "It'll all be professional, all acting, and with a contract."
Still not convinced, I asked with an irritated tone. "Why does he need a fake girlfriend?"
And then he went on with his long explanation with the situation that his friend was stuck with. I can't believe it. Wow. I stole glances every now and then over at his friend, who didn't speak a single word during our encounter except for "We meet at Narita Airport tomorrow at 1 o'clock, bring your passport and clothes." While Naruto was giving me the background story, the raven haired man sent few glares that were directed at Naruto. Both men got up form their seats, Naruto turned around and faced me. "He's Sasuke Uchiha, by the way." Naruto handed me a business card that had 'Sasuke Uchiha' written on it, along with his number.
It took me a couple of moments to realize what he's just said to me. The Sasuke Uchiha. Oh Lord. His family owns a chain of malls throughout Japan and America. And I, Sakura Haruno, was going to act as his fake girlfriend. In front of his family. To get an acting job. From my high school crush, Naruto Uzumaki, who rejected me long ago. But doesn't remember.
What the hell. Is this all a coincidence?
After that meeting, I headed home. When I reached my destination, I picked up the phone and called my parents.
Bring, Bring.
"Hello?" The soft and lovely voice of my mother, Yuki, was heard on the other line. How was I going to tell them?
"Ah, Kaa-san, this is Sakura."
"Sakura!" She said in surprise. I heard my father's voice in the background. "It's Sakura-chan, tou-san." She replied to my father. "Kura-chan, have you been taking care of yourself? The last time we talked was a month ago, honey! You must have been busy." She rambled on. The corner of my lips tugged into a small smile.
"Yes, I've been well. You could say I was busy."
"You seem quite tired, just from your voice." I could sense the worry in her voice. This made me feel guilty.
"Kaa-san, ano, I'm going to be going somewhere for a business trip tomorrow and just wanted to tell you before I left." I lied through my teeth. I didn't tell her the complete truth as to what was behind this "business trip".
"Oh, my daughter, you need to get a boyfriend soon. You always work, work, work. And to where?" She asked. I paused, thinking of an answer.
"Not too far," I hope. I replied, weakly and not saying the last two words out loud. "Don't worry."
"Mm, I see. Have a safe trip, Kura-chan, and be careful! You need to take care of your health, remember that. You aren't a little girl anymore, twenty-seven for heaven's sake!" My mother reminded me, I smiled.
"Okay, kaa-san." I almost click the end button till I remembered something. "I love you, Kaa-san."
I heard a light laugh at the end of the other line. "You haven't said that in a long time. I love you too, Kura-chan." At that, we ended our conversation. I glanced over at the clock on the wall, 9:47 pm.
I clicked the talk button and dialed up Ino's number. "Ino, hey, this is Sakura."
"Ah-Sakura, I'm at work. Gaara-san wants me to organize a pile of documents. Mind calling me back later?"
"Uhm, sure-" I got cut off. And the line was dead. Shocked, I closed my phone. I sighed and fell on my bed. Well that was pointless, she's busy.
Truth be told, I was jealous of Ino Yamanaka. She had a good job, as the secretary of Gaara Sand, who was a very influential man. She's beautiful, with her long blonde locks but she wasn't the stereotypical dumb blonde, no Ino was intelligent. She was certainly popular while we were in high school and elementary. All the guys chased after her. All the girls wanted to be her friend. But she always stayed by my side as I too, are by her side. She's my best friend, no matter how many fights and arguments we get into.
I wanted to tell her that I was going to leave tomorrow for my first day at work. Then again, will she be happy about this? I know that Ino won't be happy about me pretending to be some man's girlfriend, whom she barely knows. But this is how I strive. Getting up from the bed, I took out a luggage from the back of my closet. I travelled a lot, while I was in high school, between Tokyo and Osaka. My father lived in Tokyo and my mother in Osaka. They weren't divorced but because my mother could not leave my grandfather nor bring him with her to Osaka, she chose to stay. My father could also not find a job in Osaka, so in order to survive, me and him went moved to Tokyo. We visited on the weekends. But that was in high school, long, long ago. I no longer live with them and rarely get the chance to visit.
I looked at the stack of clothes in my closet. I soon realized that I did not know how long we were going to stay there for. Looking at my closet, I examined what would be proper for summer. I brought a pair of skinny jeans, one pink sundress, three of my good shirts, denim shorts, and a short floral skirt along with my pyjamas. I headed over to my study table, taking out my passport and necessary things from the left side drawer. Placing the passport in my purse, I thought about the things that have happened over the last two weeks. Along with that, I held the tension in my stomach as what was in store for me, is yet unknown. I sighed and headed for bed. I had a lot to think about.
Sunday, June 9th
When I woke up, I felt excitement rush through me. I felt like one of those giddy high school girls, excited for prom. I had no clue why, but I had butterflies in my stomach. After taking a shower, I slipped into a white Sunday afternoon lace dress and tied my hair up into a bun. Putting a grey cardigan on, I went over to grab my stuff. Looking at my watch, it was 10:30 o'clock. It takes about 2 hours to get there, without a lot of traffic, probably takes 1 hour and a half. Grabbing a taxi, I headed over to the airport. After sitting in that retched taxi for 2 hours, the driver finally spoke as I could see the airport ahead.
"Where are you going? I can drop you off to the gate you need to go to."
"I know this sounds stupid,but I actually don't know where I'm going." The driver looked at me as if I was the dumbest person in the world. "You can drop me off anywhere, and I'll just ask directions." He nodded. We soon arrived and he parked the car to the side. I handed him 10,000 yen. (which was about $120 in Canadian dollars, just letting you know. it's expensive to take taxi!)
I stepped out of the taxi and went inside. I had no clue where I was. The sign said that I was in the area for those boarding the Korean Airlines. I took out the business card that Naruto had handed me and called the number on it.
"Hello?" The other line answered, that must be Sasuke Uchiha.
"Ano, I am currently at the airport. I'm near the boarding area for the Korean Airlines, Uchiha-san." I informed him, using formality. I didn't want to get on his bad side.
"Meet me at the food court, ask for directions from one of the attendants." The other line hung up without a single goodbye. Wow, he didn't even give me directions. I approached a lady who was attending to the floors, sweeping.
"Excuse me miss, but do you think you could give me directions as to where the food court is?" She gladly led me to the food court, and I saw him, no Naruto in sight. He wasn't that hard to spot. Everything else in the airport was moving and buzzing around while he sat on one of the tables near Starbucks, not making much movements as he read his newspaper.
"Uchiha-san!" I waved over at him, smiling happily. He merely nodded over at my direction. He wore a casual grey v-neck shirt and black jeans. I sat down in front of him and he handed over a document.
"This is the contract, sign it at the bottom. Listen attentively." He leaned closer to me and narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms over the table. I leaned back on the chair, biting my lower lip as I looked into his dark orbs, frightened. "Contract lasts for three months, I have the power to extend or shorten the validity of the contract. Do not mention this to any of your friends, as this was not meant for your gossiping pleasure but as a plan to fool my family. Everything that happens must be kept away from the public or else your acting career will be far beyond your grasp, I will make sure of that. After the contract ends, you will not speak to me and of me. We shall pretend that you and I were never involved in this contract." I blinked, overwhelmed with all of the clauses that he has laid out for me. "One last thing, I expect you to act as I instruct. You are a professional liar after all."
My mouth hung open, shocked at what he had said. Professional liar? He called me a professional liar. What a guy. I took a deep breath and exhaled. Inhale the love, exhale the hate.
GRRRUUUUMMMBLLLEE. (A/N: my pathetic sound effect skills. ): )
My stomach grumbled. I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. It was now 1:30. I sighed the contract and handed it over to him. He chuckled at me, I looked up. He turned back to his newspaper, slightly smirking. "Flight isn't till 2." It was as if he read my mind.
I spotted an A&W stall and got up form my seat. "I'll be right back, just going to get a Burger!" I took two steps and turned to him, "You want anything?" I smiled at him. He shook his head as I noticed a cup of coffee was in his hand. I soon came back, with my Mama Burger and water.
"Where are we going?" I asked, not knowing what he had planned.
"My family is having a reunion, all members of the Uchiha clan are coming to this. We're heading to my father's island resort in the Bahamas." He said it with such a monotone voice, as if owning an island resort was nothing.
"Ah." Rich people, tsk.
Turning my attention back to my wonderful and very attractive burger, I took a big bite out of it, and devoured it like a blood thirsty vampire. Okay, that was probably an exaggeration. Awkward tension soon filled the air as he was busy with reading his newspaper. He looked over at me, noticing that I had finished my burger. I looked back at him, as if asking what to do next. He got up from his seat. I took that as a signal to leave and follow him.
We boarded the plane, economy class. "Surprised we aren't first class." I mumbled silently after seating myself down near the window. He heard, apparently, since he has ears of a hawk.
"If we board on first class, I will be risking the possibility of seeing one of my relatives. If we board on business class, I will be risking the possibility of seeing one of my rivals." He stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He must have a lot of relatives and rivals, for him to be worried about them seeing us randomly. "Besides, we haven't gotten our story straight about how we met." He took out a piece of folded paper form his pocket and handed it to me. I opened it, noticing that the writing looks like chicken scratch.
"It's Naruto's writing," He said. That explains everything.
Reading over what was written on it, I looked at the paper, annoyed. "Okay, so, we met while I was working with Naruto to audition. You saw me at a bar and I asked for your number. Then I called you and asked you on a dinner date. We started going out after knowing each other for 4 months." I looked over at him, who had his eyes closed. "This is not original! This is how I met Naruto, except for the fact that I never asked for his number nor asked him out for a date. And I always make the first move?" He nodded, not really caring, "Oh , for the love of!" I sighed and leaned my backed against the chair, trying to relax.
"You're being paid to do this, Haruno." Sasuke reminded me, I glared at him. He was right, I was being paid, as a professional liar, to do this so I shouldn't complain.
"By the way, you can't keep calling me Haruno, Sasuke-kun. We're supposed to be dating." The last word rolled off my tongue with a rather disgusting taste, along with saying Sasuke-kun. With the sudden informality I was giving him, he looked over at me with serious eyes, but then broke the gaze and opened the newspaper that the flight stewards had given him.
"Hn." He returned to reading, until he felt a tap on his shoulder from in front of us.
A woman with beautiful brown hair with amazing eyes to match was giving Sasuke a flirty smile. "Ano, you're Sasuke Uchiha, no? My cousin had you as her divorce lawyer, I heard you're really amazing." She said, giving him a wink and stressing on her last word.
"Yes, I am. I'm sorry, but if you have an things to settle with and need a lawyer, please chose someone else. I am currently on vacation with someone special." At that statement, I made a gagging face at him. Someone special, my ass. His nose is so stuck up in the air that he even agreed that he was amazing.
"Aw, that's too bad! I'm here on a honeymoon with my hubby!" She said pointing to the geeky man next to her. Oh-I felt bad for the man. He has such a flirtatious wife. The man had thick rimmed glasses and wasn't that bad looking, just a bit geeky. He waved and stretched out a hand to me. I smiled at him as Sasuke nudged me with his elbow. I looked over to his direction, mouthing "what?"
"So, you're here with her? Psh, I'm so much cuter." I mocked her in my head. She was prettier than me, I had to admit, but I bet I had a bigger brain. "Who has pink hair anyways?" I sent a glare towards her. Completely ignoring me, she continued questioning Sasuke. "So, where are you heading to?" She was clearly more interested in hearing where the Uchiha was going, rather than where I was going.
"Uchiha Beach Resort." I answered for him, she sent daggers at me. I smiled.
"That's where we have our honeymoon too! What a coincidence!" She grinned at me, ear to ear.
Oh, this was going to be a long plane ride.
Author's Notes: Haha, I just noticed that this story's abbreviations are L.O.L. Oh gosh, I am so tired. At least there's sasusaku interaction in this chapter. So there. Like the annoying lady on the plane?