The Last One
By Blessed Eternity
Hey! This is going to be a new story. I'm sorry for not updating my other ones, but I've been busy with work lately, so yeah! Also, in this chapter, not all information about geisha items are true, but please just try to cope!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 2: A Chance to Shine
Sakura stayed seated as Hinata stood behind combing her hair, tying it into a small tight bun. Sakura always held small smiles on her face, and didn't seem to convey much expression. This is how life was for her for the past two years she's spent living in the Uchiha Mansion. Every morning, she would tie her hair up in a bun, and dress herself in a simple kimono that consisted of two layers, and then eat breakfast with the Uchiha family. After that, she would join her mother-in-law, Mikoto and do some embroidery, practice calligraphy and so on. The only people who seemed to care about her in the entire household were Mikoto and Hinata.
-----
Sakura entered the main dining room for breakfast and kneeled beside Sasuke, gently placing her hands on her lap. Even though she's lived here for two years, she always managed to show respect for everyone in the family. Servant girls began to enter the room, holding trays of food. As one of the servant girls placed a bowl of rice in front of Sakura, she intentionally spilled the tea by her food, causing the clear drink to leak onto her kimono.
"So sorry, Sakura-sama!" The maid apologized half-heartedly.
"It's… Fine," Sakura replied quietly as she pulled out a handkerchief to clean her kimono. The servant girl quickly backed away, leaving with the others. She knew the servants hated her for being the reason the servant girl was sent away. This was something she had to deal with everyday. That was why she had Hinata. Sasuke, who was seated beside her simply stared at her pitiful form and continued to eat his breakfast.
----------
Mikoto kneeled on the tatami, watching Sakura dance for her with fans held in her hands. Her face was in a trance of astonishment as the pink haired female gently glides across the mat, flipping the fans and moving her body gracefully in the tight kimono. Sakura swung the fans gently over her head and slightly bent her knees for the finishing pose. Mikoto clapped her hands loudly in approval of the beautiful dance.
"That was wonderful!" Mikoto praised. Sakura smiled and flipped the fans shut. "You learn a lot working in a Geisha House, don't you?"
"Yes, I suppose so," Sakura replied.
"That dance was special from the others you showed me," Mikoto pointed out.
"I'm starting to run out of dances to show you, Mikoto-sama. This dance was created by my sister, Ayaka," Sakura replied truthfully. "My other sisters had their own dances as well."
"Really? It was beautiful," Mikoto added. Sakura smiled and tucked the fans up into her sleeves. "Did you ever create your own dance?"
"No. I haven't even perfected my eldest sister's dance yet. And I don't think I'll have the time they had to create my own," Sakura replied.
"Well who says you can't practice here with me?" Mikoto smiled brightly. Sakura stared at Mikoto with eyes filled of hope.
"Really? You would let me?" Sakura stated, her eyes widening.
"Of course! I never said you couldn't. Besides, you better start practicing it soon. Itachi's birthday is coming up and I want you to dance at his ceremony," Mikoto offered.
Sakura stayed silent, not knowing how to respond. She hasn't performed in anything for almost five years now.
"I don't know… I haven't danced for a while," Sakura insecurely avowed.
"You'll do just fine! Besides, you can teach me how to dance too! Oh and your servant girl could join us and we could both join you in the background for the ceremony!" Mikoto excitedly stated, whiling gently clasping her hands together in hope for Sakura's agreement. Sakura smiled at how Mikoto could be so childish and playful. Fugaku was lucky to pick out such a nice lady.
"Well if you say it that way. I'll do it," Sakura agreed, smiling genuinely.
"Yes! I have the perfect kimono that I wore when I was your age. I can't wait! We'll start tomorrow. Tell Hinata she's to leave the house chores to the others and she's going to join us," Mikoto happily stated.
"This sounds like it's going to be lots of fun," Sakura honestly stated. "I'll be looking forward to it."
----------
As she made her way to the bathhouse with her towel and nightgown, Sakura couldn't keep the thought of dancing on stage once more out of her head. To think, she was going to perform again. It excited her to no end. Sakura arrived at the bathhouse to find it emptied. She loved being alone in the warm bathhouse. She found it relaxing. Sakura slipped out of her thin layered kimono and stepped into the water in her naked form. She tied her hair into a sideways ponytail and swayed it to the right side of her shoulder. Sakura grabbed a small towel that laid on top of her larger one and soaked it in the steamy water, then lifting it up to cleanse her skin. She stood up so the water reached up to her abdomen.
The small towel left trails of trickling water along her back, as it reached the long scar that was imprinted from her left shoulder to the back of the right side of her stomach. She turned her head slightly to see the scar still visible from the terrible encounter with the Uchiha servant girls last year. It just struck her last nerve when she walked into the servant girl courtyards to find all the maids forcing Hinata to do all the heavy duty work. With Hinata missing one dirty spot on the ground, she earned a whip lash on the back, with crimson red tainting her maid kimono.
"What do you think you're doing?" Sakura interrupted urgently as she rushed to cover Hinata with her back facing the torturous maids. Within the second, the whip lash meant for Hinata landed harshly on Sakura's back, with blood immediately seeping through her own casual kimono. Sakura's eyes shut tight, as she tried to withstand the pain. Hinata turned to face Sakura with tear stained eyes from the burning sensation on her own back.
"S-Sakura-sama!" Hinata shouted frantically. She quickly got up to observe Sakura's harsh cut. She turned around to scold the maids. "Look what you've done!"
The maids turned their heads from side to side, feeling a singe of guilt. They quickly dropped the whip and bowed their heads apologetically.
"Gomen-nasai Sakura-sama!" The maids apologized.
Sakura wiped the memory out of her mind, continuing to think about the good outcomes of her act of saving Hinata. The maid that whip lashed her was definitely fired after Mikoto accidentally found the scars on Hinata's back when accidentally walking in on Hinata while she applied ointment to her wounds. Sakura was lucky enough to have left Hinata's room just before Mikoto entered. If Mikoto walked in a few minutes earlier, she would've found Sakura pulling her kimono on over the scar on her back. If Mikoto found out about Sakura's one scar, all the maids would've had hell to pay and that probably meant worse for Hinata. It was probably because ever since Sakura stepped foot into the Uchiha household, she's had an eye out for her, as if Sakura was her own daughter. She knew people wouldn't have accepted her into the family.
-----------
Sakura earnestly entered Mikoto's private room with Hinata behind her, holding the long three stringed shamisen wrapped in a silky black cloth, and Sakura herself holding a long velvety box. Mikoto was settled by the small table at the very end of the room, pouring three servings of tea. Sakura quickly settled herself beside Mikoto, gently placing the velvet box at the other end of the table. Hinata gave a quick bow of greetings toward Mikoto and seated herself next to Sakura, placing the shamisen aside.
"Mikoto-sama, I brought some equipment you might want to tend to," Sakura stated as she reached for the shamisen. Mikoto's face excited at the sight of the wrapped shamisen.
"Open it, Sakura! I want to see it!" Mikoto excitedly exclaimed. Sakura smiled at her impatience and handed the cover cloth to Hinata. The shamisen was beautiful. The black painted wood shined from the polished wax on the sleek neck of the instrument. Sakura's hands traveled to touch the cat skinned surface below the neck, then fingers trailing to touch the hardened silk strings. A golden flower design was painted from front to the back of the instrument. "Wow, it's amazing… I've never seen one of these up close."
"It's one of Japan's finest," Sakura informed with a smile. "It was a gift to my older sister, Misaki from my mother."
"No wonder," Mikoto stared in awe. Suddenly, her gaze landed upon the huge velvet box. "What's in here?"
Sakura opened the box gently, revealing messily arranged variety of geisha equipment. Mikoto picked up several genuine objects and looked at them carefully.
"This is just some stuff I've collected over my years as a geisha teacher and for living in an okiya," Sakura explained. Hinata picked up a few familiar objects from the variety in front of them herself to observe. "It's just basically the make-up, the fans, and some other training material."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get started!" Mikoto rushed. Sakura giggled softly seeing how excited her mother-in-law was for starting practice. Just as Sakura was about to stand for the start of practice, Hinata's sudden stuttering caught both Sakura and Mikoto's full attention.
"S-Sakura-sama!" Hinata's eyes widened in shock.
"What is it Hinata?" Sakura questioned in curiosity. Sakura's eyes traveled to the opened velvet box that Hinata's finger pointed to. Her eyes widened just as Hinata's did a moment ago. Mikoto sat confused, staring at the two, wondering what the big deal was, until Sakura picked up a tube that was covered within a white piece of tissue paper. The end of the tissue paper was torn, revealing a crystal like, white and greenish stem sticking out.
"What is it Sakura?" Mikoto asked eagerly.
"It's my flute…" Sakura replied, as her eyes suddenly began to water. She quickly tore off the tissue paper, revealing the full form of the precious flute that was completely made of rare, white stoned jade. Sakura's fingers trailed down the many holes carved down the center of the smooth, thin tube. The end of the tube had a carved floral design, painted with a rich layer of expensive golden paint that was identical to the one on her sister's shamisen.
"Sakura, are you okay?" Mikoto questioned in concern, seeing Sakura at the verge of releasing tears.
"I'm fine!" Sakura suddenly stated, wiping away her tears of what seemed like joy.
"This was Sakura-sama's inheritance gift from her mother," Hinata softly informed.
"Just as my oldest sister received a shamisen, I received this flute from my mother. Just as my 2nd eldest sister, Umeko received a pair of beautiful dancing fans, with its handles made of a rare syrupy golden colored maple sap, and the interior of the fan painted with the same special Haruno design, and my 3rd sister, Ayaka received a crimson red kimono of silk, embroidered with the same design, except the golden threads are made of real gold," Sakura explained deeply. "I thought for sure I'd lost this when I was departing from the okiya and the only thing I saved from the debt claimers was my sister's shamisen!"
"I'm really happy for you Sakura," Mikoto smiled. "Why don't you play us something?"
Sakura was just a bit too caught up in her overwhelmed joy to refuse. She nodded cooperatively and held the flute horizontally, with the first hole gently pressed against her lips.
----------
Sasuke took a seat on the bench beside his clumsy friend as they decided to take a rest from their sparring match. The messily blonde headed man beside Sasuke sighed in relief as he gulped down the cup of fresh water.
"That match was intense! You almost beat me for once," Naruto boasted.
"Hn," muttered in reply. He took the second cup of water from the tray placed on the edge of the wooden floor board outside the Uchiha dojo.
"Teme, my father's hosting a party tomorrow night because he lost to me in a bet! I'm designated to invite as many people as I possibly can so he'll go broke before you know it! That shows him for stealing money from my pouches," Naruto evilly sneered. He let out a small snicker at the thought of his long, white haired father cried in agony at the loss of his money.
"You do know you're losing your own money by doing this," Sasuke implied casually. Naruto gave Sasuke a look of utter shock and tried to hide his embarrassing situation by trying to randomly change the subject.
"Do you hear that?" Naruto questioned as he perked up his ears.
"Hear what?" Sasuke replied.
"That pretty sound!" Naruto whispered hastily. Sasuke closed his eyes as the sound Naruto was talking about finally flowed gently through his ears. "What is it?"
"It's the sound of a flute," Sasuke replied, listening more intensely. Indeed the soft sounds that escaped the flute captured Sasuke's full attention, soothing him, almost even mesmerizing him.
"It sounds… So sad and pretty…" Naruto complimented, at the same time closing his own eyes. Sasuke who sat beside him listened for more until he realized the flute player had stopped. A smile appeared on his face from the soothing sweet melody. "Aw, it stopped."
"Hn," Sasuke stated as well. "So what about the party?"
"Oh, yeah bring Sakura-chan with you. The more the merrier," Naruto informed. Sasuke nodded, followed by a sigh. He really preferred not to bring his wife, but he found no excuse not to bring her. "Oh right, you guys aren't really lovey dovey."
"How do I not bring her?" Sasuke sighed in frustration.
"Just tell her it's a guy thing," Naruto stated with simplicity.
"That's so cliché and lame at the same time," Sasuke replied. He released a sigh once more before finally deciding not to take his pink haired wife. He's had enough of seeing her everyday and night. "I guess that'll do."
-----
After a long day of training with Sasuke, Naruto was finally on his way out of the Uchiha estate when a certain female caught his attention. His eyes beamed with joy as he ran to greet the female that held pearl pupils.
"Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed loudly. He finally stopped right in front of her and held her petite hands into his, causing her cheeks to flush.
"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata greeted timidly.
"My father's hosting a party tomorrow night and I want you to come!" Naruto's eyes beamed with hope for Hinata to say yes. Unsure of what to say, Hinata gave a slight nod of agreement. "Yes! Well I'll see you tomorrow then! Wear a nice kimono!"
"Hai!" Hinata shouted as Naruto had already ran half way toward the exit. Hinata smiled to see the man she's fallen so deeply in love with disappear into the scenery. Ever since she moved to the Uchiha estate to join Sakura, she's constantly been seeing Naruto and the two of them just had sparks flying between them. He loved the way she always blushed when he said something no one else found funny and she always loved the way he made lame jokes he knew no one would laugh to. But nothing serious has happened between the two puppy lovers just yet. She didn't want anyone to find out about their relationship if they were ever going to have one. It would be bad for the Uzumaki reputation and she didn't want Naruto to end up like Sasuke. So it was best to hide the secret even from her very own, lovely Sakura.
-----
Hinata walked into Sakura's room nervously holding a tray of fresh green tea. Sakura walked over to the small table and signaled Hinata to sit across from her.
"Sakura-sama," Hinata nervously began.
"What is it Hinata?" Sakura questioned.
"I-I have a friend who's hosting a party tomorrow night… I was wondering if maybe I could borrow a kimono…" Hinata stuttered awkwardly.
"Hinata, you know I'd say yes. Don't be so nervous around me," Sakura smiled gently at Hinata to ease her density.
"Arigatou, Sakura-sama!" Hinata thanked joyfully.
"Let's go pick one out right now," Sakura suggested. Hinata nodded and followed Sakura to a small shoji doorway that led to a walk in closet. "The ones on this side all of Uchiha crests, so pick from this side."
Hinata did as she was told box after box, Hinata went through many beautiful silky kimonos, still not finding the right one. Sakura knew Hinata wouldn't be comfortable choosing her own, afraid it'd be too expensive, or too simple for Sakura's liking.
"How about this one?" Sakura pulled down a white kimono that held hand sewed shimmering indigo flowers on the sleeves and the bottom corner. Hinata's eyes widened at the sight of such beautiful material.
"It's perfect," Hinata complied. Sakura smiled once again and handed Hinata the box.
"Well have fun tomorrow night," Sakura genuinely affirmed.
"Sakura-sama, if you're not doing anything, would you like to come with me?" Hinata offered. Sakura smiled slyly.
"Well of course! It's settled. Tomorrow, we'll be equal women. You won't have to follow me around and I'll get to go wherever!" Sakura expressed.
---------------
Second chapter was 'kinda' long ish? I'm sorry if the descriptions are a bit exaggerated and stuff, but I did my best! Leave a review to inspire me! Hahas, well Happy 4th of July Everyone!