I stretched my arms out and yawned as I sat up in my makeshift bed pallet on the floor. I gazed out at Konoha and couldn't help but feel this wasn't a dream. If you would've told me a month ago, that this is where I'd end up, I would've laughed at you and told you not to feed me lies and false hope. But gazing out onto Konoha as the sun climbed into the sky and spilled it radiance over the city like busted yolk, I was slowly coming to the realization that this is very real, indeed. But I was not ready to call this my life.

~3~

"Welcome to your life,

there's no turning back"

Everybody Wants to Rule the World- Tears for Fears

I watched as the once empty pent-house I now occupied slowly filled with new things. Itachi had hired an interior decorator that hastily began conjuring a vision in his head like a painter ready to slash his blood across the canvas. Although I didn't understand why the man kissed up to me so much, as if he was afraid one false word would be the death of him, I found the way he would envision a room very amusing to watch. He reminded me so much of the cliché painters from the old cartoons that would put their thumbs and fore fingers together to create a box encasing their eye. He continuously asked for my approval on things and I eventually told him to just go crazy. I was impressed at how fast he worked too. Within a week, I had a TV, nice couches, lamps, tables, rugs and mats. I had a large bed all to myself with a chest at the foot of it to climb onto and off and to store my things in. My bathroom was girl-ified with my toiletries just as my kitchen was stocked with food and new, top of the line appliances. Everything felt so real. To know all of this had my name on it was something I was not use to having. It was a luxury I only dreamed of tasting and having it on the tip of my tongue now felt amazing. However, my closet still remained bare. I had only a select amount of clothes- the rest was where I've left them in a garbage bag back at that place.

Itachi had brought me a phone- a rather expensive brand, top of the line as well- and it already had everyone's numbers programed in it. He called me the night before, informing me that his mother was on her way to take me shopping. I had on a pair of raggedy sweats, a yellow, dingy shirt and my hair was thrown up into a topknot. My foot had gotten better over the weeks and I could finally walk without the stupid NASA boot on but Itachi insisted I continued to wear it as punishment for acting so reckless. I told him what he could do with the boot and he chuckled on the other line.

I heard a soft knock on the door and was soon greeted by the Uchiha matriarch who looked the vision of elegance. She had on a pair of slim, sharp creased slacks that molded nicely around her. A crisp wine colored button up that had the top buttons undone and she donned a pair of Versace sunglasses. Her hair was neat and pressed just as her nails were manicured with a solid, fiery red color. At that moment, we looked our class and she frankly was not fond of mine. Her heels clacked with a prideful stride as she glanced me up and down.

"Honey, you must have something a little more...presentable?" She enunciated the last word with care to not offend me. She lowered her wide rimmed glasses to get a better look at my ensemble and her frown only deepened.

After a few more painful once overs, she asked me for my measurements, which I didn't know what size pants I wore in Hoshigakure or what shoe size I could possibly be in Kirigakure, but mother Mikoto never once showed me ill-will for my 'lack of culture', albeit, she showed signs of genuine intrigue and happiness at the thought of nurturing my young, malleable mind, I secretly felt like she felt some type of pity for me.

She took me into high-end shops and had them measure me down to my toes. Each store we walked into, the red carpet was lain out at our feet. The managers and sales rep jumped through fire laden loops and even one shop, the man got on one knee and bowed his head as he offered Mikoto their top-quality wine while she perused their best selections. With a look of concentration, she observed every stitch and threading of dresses as they were fitted to my frame and gave a look of happiness and simply waved it to be wrapped up or a look of disapproval that made them quickly tear the clothes off my body.

The feeling of rich fabric against my skin made me uncomfortable, excited, curious, and rejecting all at once. Although someone like Mikoto could hardly call this being pampered, I felt like one of the dolls that I've played with as a child. The type of doll all of you and your friends would gather around and scrutinize what she wore or how her hair was made or if her pre-colored lipstick matched anything you had for her.

"Ring it all up, we're going to walk out with it on." Said Mikoto to the eager sales rep.

After walking empty handed from so many stores, I instantly wondered where were all the things I tried on and my other clothes went. I asked Mikoto.

"I had them sent to your pent house and there's someone there now to unpack them for you." She smiled as we stepped into her chauffeured vehicle.

Next we went to the hair salon.

It was one of those salons you would see on TV where the person would give you an outrageous style that you wouldn't even know how to sleep on at night. Sleek silver chairs alined stalls and women of all high social standing were currently getting their hair tended to as if every thread of hair on their head was worth 14k gold.

Mikoto strode in there and languidly leaned over the desk, playfully swinging her heel clad foot absently.

"Hi, I don't have an appointment but I would like to have my daughter's hair done." She said sweetly to the blank faced receptionist. My eyes widen at the word 'daughter' but I said nothing. The receptionist looked as if it would be in her job description, she would've laughed us out of there. She looked me up and down and I could see the look she was giving me in her eyes; she was looking down on me. I felt bad because Mikoto was still smiling at the woman despite the obvious tension that was arising.

"Ma'am, we don't do walk-ins. I'm sorry but we're also booked for the month, try again next time." She said with no sincerity. Mikoto nodded her head knowingly with her sweet smile and slowly leaned in further into the woman and whispered something that I couldn't hear but it caused the receptionist's eyes to widen considerably and her jaw to hang slack. I attempted to peek over Mikoto to see more of the woman's facial expression but my vision was obstructed. We must have been making a scene because I heard the sound of frantic clacking and looked up to see a woman with cropped corn syrup blond hair running down the isle to get to us.

"Mrs. Mikoto Uchiha!" The woman greeted as she came up to the desk, quickly gripping it to get her balance and breath. "Are you having trouble?" She panted.

"Um, it's nothing, I just didn't have an appointment and I was just about to lea-"

"What? Preposterous! We always have room for you, here."

"Oh, but your receptionist-"

The woman waved her hand. "She's new! She didn't know." The lady shot the receptionist a dirty look that had the lady groveling in her seat.

"It's fine, hon, I see you're booked already." Mikoto was just about to turn on her heel when the lady damn near threw herself over the reception desk to get Mikoto.

"No, wait!" She turned around and barked out an order to throw someone out their seat and make room. I turned my gaze towards Mikoto who simply turned back around towards the feverish lady. She was wringing her hands out as she smiled all too widely at us. I didn't notice it but the receptionist was gone from her seat and another woman now replaced her. I raised an eyebrow, something seemed off about everyone today.

They ushered me to a seat and plopped me down. Mikoto had joined my side with her cellphone in her hand. "Look this way," She said and I complied, just then I heard a shutter sound and realized she took a picture of me. She giggled. "Itachi wanted to see a picture of his new assistant before we beautify her." The evil matriarch typed away at her cellphone before turning and sashaying away. A man came moments later with the cockiest grin but it wavered slightly at the sight of my hair. It had been a long time since I've ever been to a salon and it showed in my raggedy ends and damaged cuticles. He raised an eyebrow as he examined my roots skeptically.

"This is your real color?"

"Yes," I said slowly as if it wasn't obvious enough. He wasn't convinced. He leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"Does the carpet match the drapes?" I blushed twelve shades of red and spurted out something incomprehensibly to his amusement. The nerve of him! I couldn't help but pout as he washed my damaged hair but his fingers felt amazing in my scalp.

He happily hacked away at my hair and blow dried every ounce of water out of it before flipping and whipping my pink tresses in every which direction. Moments later, another lady approached me with a black kit in her hand and pulled up two chairs for her and her secret box and began unpacking makeup.

"What's this?" I asked curiously. The woman had disinterested pearl eyes and dark hair pent up into an elegant bun. Her bangs were pinned back as well and made a modest bump. Her voice was soft and monotonous as she spoke. "Mrs. Uchiha asked for your makeup to be done." She said without glancing my way. She pulled out a fine haired brush and lightly dabbed it in a liquidity substance and began to work with piling moisturizer on my face before adding a coat of foundation. I did and said nothing as she painted me like a doll against my will. I silently complied all while dreading the outcome of this.

When the duo was done, he and the woman took a step back from me to examine me like an art exhibit and nodded in satisfaction at their artwork. With tears in his eyes, he muttered something in a language I didn't understand while the woman nodded her head in agreement. He tried to push a mirror in my face but I refused to see my reflection, I refuse to look whoever that was in the eye. I just knew it wasn't me. My face felt heavy and powdery but I did my best to avoid any mirrors or reflections. I approached Mikoto who was helping herself to a waiting chair and a glass of wine and some snacks that were given to her for her troubles. Her eyes widened as she lowered the glass from her lips and sat it on a silver platter being held by someone next to her. She leaned up in her seat and clasped her hands to her chest joyfully.

"You...look...beautiful, like a blooming..well.. Sakura." She laughed as she jubilantly stood from her seat and almost cradled my face in her hands and at the last minute, she remembered my makeup and dropped her hands on my shoulders instead and gave them a gentle squeeze.

"Do you know where we have to go now?"

"Home?" I sourly answered much to her disappointment.

"No silly, Mani-pedies~" She sung happily and I inwardly shuddered.

Mikoto had dragged me to a nail shop where we were given the same high class treatment as everywhere else. All the while, I felt even more out of my own skin and element. I began to notice the people openly staring at us and the quiet murmurs around the room. We were currently sitting in massage chairs with our pants rolled up to our thighs and our feet in colorful water. I glanced over at Mikoto's nails and saw they were perfectly manicured with the fiery red and felt bad they were about to take off that beautiful color. I looked down at my own nails and grimaced at the chipped, raggedy nails and overgrown cuticles that needed to be cut. There was even a film of dirt under my nails that I had neglected to fully clean. Okay, I can admit that I'm not the most prissiest woman, but compared to Mikoto, which was the vision of femininity I looked two steps closer to a wild animal in her presence.

The nail technician uttered something in a foreign language to the lady doing my toes who shook her head and replied back in the same language. I felt like they were talking about me. The nail techs handling Mikoto simply laughed at their friends who were in charge of me. It made me feel a knot in the pit of my stomach. I knew they were laughing at me.

Mikoto didn't notice my sullen mood and I tried not to let it show after we left. She had insisted I do an emerald color to match my eyes and while the car was driving me home, I glanced down at my freshly polished pastel green nails and matching toes. I had gotten a peek of my hair when it brushed over my shoulder and noticed he had chopped off a lot of hair. I doubt I would be able to successfully put it in a full ponytail anymore, but I had figured it was for the best.

We pulled up to my pent house and I had told Mikoto I wanted to go up on my own. After some brief parting words, the car didn't drive off until she saw me walk into the lobby. I trudged my way to the elevator and slowly unwound with each floor it escalated passed. By the time it got to my floor, I was all but overjoyed as I stepped out.

I had remembered Mikoto saying something about a person unpacking my things and sure enough, there was a woman with two pigtail balls sorting through bags of clothing. She didn't see me and I sort of ignored her as I plopped down onto the couch. My abrupt actions startled her and she quickly glanced my way.

"Gee, you scared me." She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry," I replied with mild sincerity.

"Tough day?"

"You have no idea."

The pigtailed woman laughed. "Sorry to hear. Well, I'm TenTen."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Sakura Haruno." I was seconds away from falling asleep on the couch when I heard the lady gasp.

"The Sakura Haruno? From the Konoha Academy?"

"That's me,"

"You don't remember me? We graduated from academy together!"

I sat up straighter in the chair, she was actually really familiar now that I look at her. "Oh yea, I remember you now. Kiba placed bets that you and Neji would get together eventually."

She blushed with a bashful smile. "Well yea, everyone remembers that about me."

"Well, how did it go between you two?"

She was putting one of the dresses that Mikoto picked out for me on a hanger and setting it aside. "Well, we got married, and we have a cat that he's super protective of." My jaw must have been hanging because she laughed when she caught my expression.

"What?! That's so amazing."

"There's another thing,"

"What else could there be?"

"I'm also pregnant with our first child." That was it. I squealed so loud I swore my neighbors from all the floors could hear me.

"Oh-mah-gawd! Are you serious? That is so amazing! Wait! How far along are you? Are you even showing yet? Does he know? How was his reactions? How was his families' reaction? Don't just sit there and fold my clothes, dish!"

"Calm down," she laughed, putting her hands up defensively. "I'm just two months right now, yes I'm slowly beginning to show, he figured it out when I started to sleep all the time and my crop tops started to fit too snugly. His family is actually happy, he didn't think they would approve of our child."

I was genuinely happy for her. I remembered her distinctly being such a tomboy back in the academy but she also had a tough feminine air about her. Believe it or not, she use to bully Neji and he would always try and run away from her on the playground. It the midst of the reminiscing, it struck me. "So what makes you do this work?"

"Itachi called me in. I was just sitting at the compound, doing nothing when he asked for me to do a favor. Neji is super over protective of our kitten and of me now and really just wants me to stay in one place where he can heavily monitor me. I'm not even allowed to run my families' weapon shop because he pales at the thought of me handling a weapon the wrong way. Needless to say, I needed to breathe, and if it meant folding clothes, I'm all for it." She instinctively rubbed soothing circles in her belly.

"So what do you and Sasuke's brother have going on?"

"Sasuke's brother?"

"Yea, Itachi?Sasuke-from-the-academy's brother."

"Sasuke...That name rings soo many bells." I tapped my bottom lip with my forefinger in thought.

TenTen nearly fell over laugh. "You're kidding right?" Her face fell when she realized I dead-ass-serious. "Oh-my-goodness, you don't remember! You and Ino use to fight over him!"

"Hm...OH! OH MY GAWD, THAT'S HIS BROTHER?!"

"I can't believe how clueless you were.

"I can't believe it either."

"So, if not Sasuke, how did you two meet? Are you lovers?"

"No, we're not, and well...he kind of saved me and gave me a job."

"This is a job? Where can I put in my application." We laughed. It felt good seeing a familiar face. TenTen and I really didn't talk much in school, and I felt we missed out on a good friendship back then.

I felt a gentle vibration against my chest. I pulled my cellphone from my bra and examined the screen. It was Itachi. I hastily stood as if he was in the room and walked towards the back, away from TenTen in order to let her work. "Hello?" I answered.

"Hello, dear Sakura, did you have fun today?" I tried not to scoff at his words. He sounded like a father hearing about his child's first day of school.

"Yes, I had fun with Mother Mikoto today. She insists we go out for mani-pedies more often." I rolled my eyes at the memory of the matriarch gushing about the future date, but I couldn't help the smile on my face. There was an awkward pause when it came to me.

"Oh yea, thanks for bringing TenTen here, it was nice to see her."

"TenTen?"

My brows furrowed at his words. "Yea, you invited her right? We use to be school mates, she's married to Neji Hyuuga now. You didn't know about this?"

There was a long pause and I started to get nervous. "Yes...I did invite your old school mate, I thought she be a warm, familiar face for you." His words were slow and even, they sounded even a little forced but I still sighed in relief.

"Well, yea, so...thanks for that." I smiled.

"Sakura, I think I left something of extreme importance in your pent house. Go to your room and find it for me."

"What is it?"

"My briefcase. It has very sensitive information in it and I need you to lock the door for safety purposes and don't come out until you find my briefcase."

I was a bit confused but complied. I left TenTen to finish folding while I stepped into my room and locked the door behind me. Itachi insisted he stayed on the line with me whilst I looked around my room for his missing briefcase. I checked everywhere and didn't see it at all, after I while, I picked up my phone and spoke into the bottom.

"I don't see it, sir." I told him.

"It's fine, I'm in your pent house anyway." He responded and sure enough, I heard three soft knocks at my bedroom door. "Can I come in?"

"No, I'm indecent." I lied playfully.

"All the more reason for me to come in." I could hear the smirk in his words as the tip of my ears heated.

"...Perv," I stood from my crouching position and smoothed wrinkles out the expensive dress. Padding my way to the door with the phone nestled in my bra, I unlocked it and opened it to see a lecherous grin shining down on me. Well, for a moment it was.

The grin on his face was wiped out instantly. His thumb fell on the end button on our call and he raised an eyebrow at my appearance. I tried not to feel awkward under his scrutiny, but I couldn't help but bite my lip.

"You look breathtaking," He smiled warmly. I didn't believe him, but I still accepted the compliment. "I think we should go out and celebrate this occasion, come on, the limo is waiting." He didn't give me time to respond as he hooked his arm around mine and happily dragged me through the penthouse. We passed the living room and I instinctively turned my eyes to TenTen but she was gone, my clothes half folded in her wake.

"What happened to TenTen?" I asked as we stepped onto the elevator.

"Oh..Her," Itachi paused, his face growing grave with a dark look in his eye. "Ever thought of putting a lock on your elevator, Sakura?"

./.

Sorry for such late posting, laptop is broke.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, R&R~!