Previously on Story of My Life
"Are you ok?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine, just fine. I'm just going to go out for a while and explore the manor." I lied and feebly smiled at him. Without waiting for a reply or even looking at him, I turned towards the door and headed out into the corridors to explore the manor I was going to call home for the next year or so of my life.
Chapter 3
Timeskip
Wedding Day
Dooms Day
My Apocalypse
God help me.
At the church
Wedding bells could be heard from miles away. The whole church was decorated with flowers, ribbons and other frillies. There were white lilies, and an array of red, white and pink roses in every bouquet and on the sides of the chair rows. I was sitting in the waiting room in what seemed to be a 100,000 dress. It was a Vera Wang original, I could tell it was custom made because it fit me and hugged my every curved perfectly. I had a feeling that it was Itachi's doing. Only he could pull off something like this seeing that he knew Vera personally.
The dress was breathtaking. It was all white, and hung off my shoulders (like the yellow dress Belle from Beauty and the Beast wore). It had a corseted top and it had a train that was about a metre long and a slightly transparent veil. I wore my mother's Harry Winston diamond and ruby necklace and matching earrings, the same one she wore on her wedding day. It was a gift from daddy. It was an array of half-carat clusters in a three upside-down triangular shape; the centre was the longest inverted triangle that had one large 5 carat ruby stone hanging off it. The earrings were a slightly long chain of small diamonds with a ruby hanging off the end. My hair was tied up in a curly messy-style bun with curly collections of hair hanging off some parts. I was in light make-up, with a thin layer of black eyeliner accentuating by eyes and had a slim coating of pink lip-gloss smeared on my lips. I made sure that even though I was in make-up, no one would recognise me as my model self, Kiara (which was my model name). I also wore 3½ -inch white Louis Vuitton sandal shoes, also custom made couchItachicough with Swarovski crystals embedded on the front and back edges. Although I was considered tall for a girl, being 170cm, marrying someone who is 183cm tall and walking down the isle alongside one's brother who is also the same height required tall heels for me to not look so damn puny. Even if this wedding wasn't what I wanted, those who planned it certainly made it like it was a dream come true, well MY dream come true anyway.
I sat down and took a deep breath and released it slowly. 5 more minutes before Naruto would come and get me. I calmed and collected myself before I was to walk down the isle. If nervous is how one would describe my feeling at this moment, this is a definite understatement. I was scared shitless. I've never felt so freaked out in my entire life before, and I've been through countless stressful situations. Before I knew it, a knock on my door pulled me out of my train of thought. I saw my brother standing in the doorway in his black Armani suit with a blood-red tie that matched the color scheme of the wedding. Naruto walked up to me and offered me his arm.
"You look really beautiful Na. Dad would have been really proud. Sasuke-teme is one lucky bastard to marry you." He told me, smiling his heart out. I didn't reply him, I just simply took his arm and linked mine to his, smiling back at him.
We both walked slowly towards the church hall as the flower girls, Chika included, walked down the isle, followed by the brides maids, Sakura, Hinata, Ten Ten and Maaya. I felt my heart beat a mile per minute as it was our turn to walk down the isle. The music changed to the wedding march. I tensed my arm that was linked to nii-san's. He felt it and used his other hand and placed it on mine that was linked to his arm, as if to tell me it was all going to be alright. I loosened my grip a little and took a deep breath as I started to walk towards the pulpit. It seemed like an eternity before I reached my destination. We stopped and Naruto lifted up my veil, handing my hand to Sasuke. He looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face, one that looked like shock and amazement or something along those lines. Naruto walked towards where the other best men were standing, he stood at the end, beside Kiba, who was standing beside Neji and Itachi respectively. The sermon lasted an hour before the priest finally got to the vows.
"Do you, Uchiha Sasuke, take this woman, Namikaze Natsumi, as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?"
"I do." Sasuke stated as he took the ring from the ring bearer, Miki, and slid the white gold and diamond band onto my ring finger.
"And do you, Namikaze Natsumi, take this man, Uchiha Sasuke, as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?"
"I-I… do." I slightly hesitated, not daring to look at his face while I took the band and slid it on his ring finger.
"By the power vested in me by God, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." The priest continued. Wait, kiss the bride? Oh God, I was not prepared for this, shit, what do I do?! Sasuke turned me to face him; he lowered his face and brought his lips on mine. The kiss lasted a few seconds before he pulled away, giving me a look I've never seen before plastered across his face. The whole congregation stood and started clapping, as the best men and brides maids coupled up with their respective partners and walked down the isle once more, heading towards the exit, Sasuke and I walking out down the red carpet last.
Ok I have to admit, the wedding was not that bad. Not as dooms day-ish as I expected, I guess it was because the ones who planned the weddings made it according to everything I liked. My favourite flowers, favourite colours (well my favourite color is black, although I doubt it would be an appropriate wedding theme colour), even favourite foods that awaited for me at the reception. Sasuke and I didn't exchange any words after the kiss. And the rest of the day went by without anything special. We were just to stand there, greeting all the guests one by one, taking photos with them and thanking them for coming and for the presents they sent until the reception. Oh and did I mention by then I counted how long I was standing in my 3½ -inch heels for? 4 hours of constant standing. My feet felt like they were on fire by the time I got to sit down, and when I finally felt relief, Sasuke had pulled me towards the limo and told me I had to get changed and freshened up again for the reception. Great, more standing in tall heels for countless hours, yay.
Timeskip
Wedding Reception
Uchiha Manor Main Hall
I changed my dress, although everyone else seemed to wear the same thing. It's so troublesome that the bride has to change clothes, but I guess this dress was more convenient to wear. For one thing, I did not have a one metre long tail and second, the dress did not weigh a tonne. My dress was now a floor-length black Versace halter dress. Again, it is couture and custom made. Do I even need to say? Itachi. The front dropped to just slightly above the bottom of my thoracic cage. There is a gold ring holding the middle together. The back dropped to just above my tailbone, as in my back was completely bare, except for one gold chain along the middle joining the two sides together. Since the back of my dress was so revealing, my hair was straightened and left out. Good thing my hair was long, and I mean it's up to just slightly past my tailbone. My make-up was more Goth-like now, the black eyeliner was a little thicker and my lip-gloss was a pale shade of beige. I still wore 3½ -inch heels but this time it was a Jimmy Choo gold strappie. I wore a gold charmbracelet that dad gave me on my 15th birthday and a pair of long, diamond studded gold earrings.
The reception was somewhat boring; it was again the whole meet-and-greet thing again, until one particular couple came along. It was Shikamaru and Temari. They had gotten married the same year that Naruto and Sakura got married. Sasuke had the biggest shocked expression on his face. Yes, Temari was his first love, his ONLY love, and he had lost her to one of his high school best friends, the lazy-genius himself, Nara Shikamaru.
"Sasuke, it's been a while huh?" Temari asked as she pulled him into an embrace. I could see the emotions on his unguarded face now. He was still in love with her. Go figure. As she let him go, I saw him crashing back into reality as she continued to talk to him. "So this is your bride huh?" as she smiled at me. I smiled back; it was only polite of me to do so.
I have never been a big fan of Temari's; she was a temperamental, spoilt and selfish drama-queen, despite having other siblings. I've always thought that Shikamaru is one hell of man, being able to withstand staying married to this woman took effort or patience or lack of care, the latter being the trait said person is most commonly associated with. Don't get me wrong, the man loves his wife, but I'm just saying that his carefree attitude is one of the reasons they are still married until now. Snapping back into reality, I heard Sasuke answer her.
"Yes, she is. Her name is Nami… Uchiha Natsumi." Sasuke replied her
Uchiha Natsumi? What the hell? I've been married to the man for a few hours and he already decided to change my name without consent. How troublesome…
"Hello, nice to meet you umm…" I added
"Temari." She answered.
"Oh, nice to meet you Temari-san." I turned to her husband and greeted him. "Hey, Shika-senpai, still your usual lazy self I see." I joked to him.
"This is so troublesome. Oh, congrats for the wedding by the way." He replied.
"Thanks." I said half-heartedly.
As if on cue, the music started playing, calling people to the dance floor for a slow dance like a siren.
"Sasu, would you like to dance?" Temari asked. God, the look on his face was so priceless; he was blushing like a school girl, getting the biggest shock of his life. He just forgot about everyone else in the room and guided her to the dance floor as they started dancing to some random love song. Shikamaru turned to look at me, giving me the weirdest look.
"Isn't the first dance supposed to be for the newlyweds?" he questioned.
"Hn." I replied smirking. Oh God, did I just say 'Hn' and smirk, hmm… Naruto was right, I've been spending too much time with the Uchiha's. Now I'm turning into one of them.
"Whatever, this is so troublesome. I'm gonna go sit. Later." and with that Shikamaru left to sit at one of the tables. I looked around. Everyone was so happy. Everyone had someone they loved, and is currently dancing with them. I sighed and walked towards the door leading to the garden as I grabbed a cashmere wrap. I walked down the footpath; I stopped to look up at the stars. It was such a beautiful night, the moon was full and shone its brightest and all the stars were out. I sighed and continued walking towards the rose garden. This place has always been my favourite spot for me since I was little. It was a closed off part of the gardens that especially grew roses of every color and species. I sat on the bench, closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.
Meanwhile in the main hall
Mikoto saw in the corner of her eyes, her youngest son, dancing, very intimately, or so it seemed, with a woman, which was most definitely not his bride. She had always known Sasuke had a thing with this particular woman since young. She had always known that Sasuke was in love with her, and still is. She sighed and started looking around for her new daughter-in-law, and became slightly worried when she couldn't find Nana anywhere. Mikoto got up from her seat and started to look for Itachi, and found him just re-entering the main hall.
"Itachi"
"Yes mother?"
"Where did you go just now?"
"I went upstairs with Maaya to send the kids off to bed; she's with them now reading them a bedtime story, why?"
"Have you seen your sister-in-law anywhere?"
"Nana? No, I haven't. Why? Has she gone somewhere?"
"I've looked all over the hall for her, but she's not here, I thought you might have seen her upstairs or something."
"There is no one upstairs mother. Do you want me to find her?"
"Oh, I think you should ask your stupid little brother to go find his own wife. While he's on the dance floor groping someone else's wife, he didn't even notice that his own wife had disappeared."
"What?!" Itachi asked, rage starting to show in his voice as he scanned the dance floor to look for his foolish otoutou. Itachi caught sight of him as he just made it to his table and sat down with the same woman he danced with sitting beside him, talking like a couple in love. Itachi was now about ready to explode and beat the living daylights out of his brother for ditching his own wife at their own wedding reception. He walked past his mother and started advancing to Sasuke, putting his emotionless mask back on his face to hide his anger in front of the guests.
"Sasuke"
"What aniki?"
"Do you notice anything missing?"
"What?"
"Have you noticed anyone's presence gone?"
"What the hell are you talking about aniki?"
"Where is your wife dumbass?"
"Oh, Natsumi? She's right over…" he said as he turned around to point at the direction of where I last stood, according to him "…there" he trailed off as his brain finally clicked and he realised I wasn't there. He abruptly stood up and asked Itachi "Where is she?"
"How the hell should I know, she is your wife and your responsibility. Besides I was upstairs and when I came back down mother told me she was gone." What an idiot
"…" Sasuke clenched his fist in anger and ran out the door towards the garden. God I'm such an idiot, how can I not realise she was gone?! Shit! Where the hell is she?
Sasuke ran around every aspect of the garden looking for me for around an hour, well it is a very large garden after all. Finally, he arrived at the rose garden and spotted me sitting on the bench with a cashmere throw wrapped around me, he was panting and sweaty after running around on his own looking for me and looked like he was about ready to kill me at any moment. Luckily I was asleep, well until he called me a few times and tapped my shoulder after getting no response. I slowly opened my eyes and waited a few seconds to re-focus my eyes. He looked so very extremely pissed off.
"How long have you been out here for?" he asked, gritting through his teeth, trying to regain his ice-prick-like composure.
"Hmm? I don't remember. Maybe 3 or 4 hours." I replied still half-asleep, completely oblivious to how angry he was.
"WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT? DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO FIND YOU?" he finally snapped, like a twig.
"The party was boring, I was bored and I felt like coming here. Why are you complaining that it took you ages to find me? First of all if you had a functional brain, you could have asked someone to come and help you look for me. Secondly, if you actually knew me you would have known where to find me without having to run around the whole garden like an idiot." I hissed back at him. He was starting to piss ME off now. He was the one that ditched me at the party and he didn't exactly give me a very pleasant wake-up call, geeze, and now HE's angry at me?!
"…"
"And you know what; it was your fault I went out in the first place. Who in their right mind would ditch their own wife, fake marriage or not, at their own reception, to go and dance with someone else's wife while looking completely spellbound, leaving one's wife standing there looking like an idiot without a word? God, I know you're in love with her but could you have said something, pretending to care, maybe saying something along the lines of 'honey, would you mind if I danced with her?' or something. But NO, you we're too far off, flying on cloud nine to even say anything, let alone look at anything besides her. Do you know how embarrassed I was in front of her husband, your good friend, my senpai, the man I respected for being my private tutor?" I sighed deeply. "You didn't see the look on his face." I angrily continued.
"…"
"You know what, whatever, I'm tired and the guests would have probably gone home by now, I'm going to bed." I shrugged him off, sighing deeply once more and walked towards the mansion. I could feel he was giving me his trademark death glare, but I shrugged it off too. The walk back towards the mansion was entirely conducted in silence. I walked in front of him while he walked behind me giving me death glares the whole journey back. I opened the door to the house and started walking upstairs. I headed towards my room and when I opened it all my stuff were gone. I froze on the spot for a moment; I was officially very pissed off now. I slowly turned to face him, with a deathly aura a hundred times fiercer than his stupid death glare.
"Where the hell are my stuff?" I asked through gritted teeth as calmly as I could.
"They were moved this morning…"
"No duh, I can see that Einstein."
"… to our new master bedroom."
"Say WHAT?!"
"We are officially married, even if only on paper, we have to keep up appearances and make it seem as real as possible to other people."
"Why the hell would I care about what other people think?!"
"…"
"You know what, since you have managed to disturb my sleep and completely pissed me off, I don't care where I sleep right now as long as I can sleep. I'm so fucking tired it's not funny. Unlike you I've been standing and walking all day long in tall heels, my feet hurt like hell and I JUST WANT TO SLEEP! So tell me now where the hell the room is." I practically screamed at him.
"That one." He pointed to a room a few doors down. It was the room that was under construction or redecoration when I arrived. I practically stomped into the room while I took off my killer heels as I walked, entered the room and dumped the shoes in a corner. I went to the drawers and took out a pair of pyjama pants and a tight black tank top, went to the en suite bathroom, slammed the door shut and locked it. All the while completely ignoring the source of my rage, the one they call 'my husband'.
Sasuke stood there completely shocked, he decided to let it go since he was extremely tired as well, he went to his drawers and pulled out a pair of pyjama pants, a tight white muscle shirt and clean boxers. He didn't care that it was one o'clock in the morning; he was going to have a shower NOW, well after his wife would kindly exit said bathroom anyway. He was pissed, tired and smelly. After a record of 3 minutes of waiting, said wife exited the bathroom in pyjamas and without make-up, looking very pissed and completely ignored him while she stomped towards the bed. Who would have thought that a member of the female race was able to get out of the bathroom in less than 10 minutes?! Well, if one is dealing with a certain extremely annoyed and sleepy blonde, miracles CAN happen. When Sasuke exited the bathroom, done with the shower, he turned the bathroom lights off and walked towards the bed to find a peacefully sleeping blonde on one side of the bed.
Hmm, she's asleep fast. Sasuke thought to himself. He turned on the bedside lamp on his side of the bed and switched off the main lights. Then he headed back towards the bed and got under the duvet and turned off the bedside lamp, finally being able to rest after a long day, sleep overcame him.
The next morning
When I woke up this morning and tried to move, I seemed to not be able to move at all. I opened my eyes and found myself staring into Sasuke's chest. We must have tossed around a bit last night. We ended up sleeping on our sides facing each other. I was sleeping in his arms, he had me locked in a vice grip. My head and neck rested on his right arm and his forearm wound around my shoulder tightly. His left arm draped itself on my waist, also tightly; well, tight enough for me not to be able to move out of his grip. As much as I hated to admit it, it was warm and comforting. It's been years since someone slept beside me and just hugged me throughout the night. The last time I slept this way was when I found out about dad's passing, Maaya slept beside me, hugging me the whole night as I cried myself to sleep. It gave me security that someone is there for me when I felt like shit, and it was reassuring to me that I would be able to make it through the day fine. I looked up slightly to see his face, it was peaceful, unguarded and he really didn't look like a prick when he slept, he had left his cold emotionless mask off during his sleep. It felt good to know that maybe he wasn't as bastard-like as I deemed him to be. At least I didn't marry a totally emotionless asshole.
I thought about what had happened yesterday at the rose garden. He seemed really worried and very pissed, I think maybe is should apologize although it was mostly his fault I went out in the first place. I sigh slightly and he shifted a bit in his sleep. He took one deep breath and cleared his throat slightly, he then opened his eyes. It took his brain a little while before he realised what was making his right arm so numb. He seemed to look a bit shocked, or something along those lines, I couldn't really see, I was still deep in thought, while mindlessly staring at his chest. He shuffled a bit and released me from his grip slowly, while stroking my hair in the process when he thought I wouldn't notice. Hey, come on, even if my hair is really long, I can still feel it. Well, I felt it anyway and looked up to see him staring at me a bit.
Sasuke's POV
I woke up this morning and felt my right arm refusing to move, it felt numb and like the blood circulation stopped going there. I felt like I was wrapping my arms around an object, a heavy object in fact. I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was a mass of blond hair. Oh God, I'm hugging Nana. I began to panic a little and started to think back to how I ended up sleeping in this position. The last time I remember I was sleeping on my side with my back facing hers. I must have tossed around a bit, may be she did too. This position was comfortable though, warm and reassuring. It almost felt right to me, that being said, I didn't think she would be okay with it since our 'marriage' was only on paper anyway. I released my grip a bit and stroked her hair, as gentle as I could, so she wouldn't notice my hand in her hair. It was so soft and smelt really good, it smelt like roses in fact. Speaking of roses, I guess I should apologize for being so explosive yesterday, after all it was my fault she left the hall. God, how am I going to do this? I suck at apologies. Just as I was about to say sorry, she shifted in my loose embrace and mumbled something.
"I'm sorry about yesterday."
"…" God, can she read minds or something?
"I was really pissed because you woke me up." She sighed
"…"
"I haven't had a good night's sleep since I left. For once I was actually able to sleep peacefully and then you come barging into my personal space and woke me up."
"…"
"Sorry."
"No."
"…?" She looked up at me.
"I should be the one to apologise." She continued staring at me. "It was my fault you left. I should have realised sooner that you were gone. Itachi came up to me, looking like he was about to behead me, telling me that you've been gone for God knows how long. I shouldn't have danced with her. It only brought up painful and very non-existent memories."
"…"
"I'm not good at apologies."
"Hn. I don't think I've ever heard you apologise… ever." She replied, looking up at me, smiling.
Just when I was about to reply her with a comeback, there was a knock on the door.
"Yes, what is it?" Nana asked, sitting up on the bed.
A head appeared at the door as it opened slightly.
"Sorry to bother you Uchiha-sama, but Lady Uchiha wanted me to tell you that breakfast is served now, at the dining hall." The maid said with her head poking in the bedroom.
"We'll be right down." Nana replied.
"Yes madam." She replied as she took her leave and closed the door.
Nana's POV
I turned to look at Sasuke and smiled at him. The expression on his face was so priceless, like a lost puppy needing shelter. I was wondering why he was looking at me like that. Oh yeah, he just apologised.
"Hm. Don't look at me like that. You're starting to scare me." I joked and laughed. "It's okay, I forgive you. Let's just forget about what happened yesterday and grab some breakfast, okay?" I told him as I got up the bed and headed for the bathroom while tying up my hair. He just continually gazed at me as I walked into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. He got up from the bed and headed for the bathroom. He grabbed his toothbrush and started to brush his teeth in front of the other sink. I spat out the toothpaste and headed towards the bedroom.
"Do you want me to wait for you or go down first?" I asked him
He turned around to face me while still brushing his teeth. "You can go down first."
"Okay"
I headed out the door and went downstairs, still in my pyjamas towards the dining hall. I got there and greeted everyone at the table.
"Ohayo."
"Ohayo Nana-chan, how was your sleep?" Mikoto asked.
"It was good thank you."
"Where did you go last night? Itachi and I couldn't find you anywhere in the hall."
"Oh, I went out to the rose garden. I miss it there, brings back memories." I replied her and smiled.
"Yes, you and your brother used to ask Minato to take you there every time you came to visit."
I simply smiled at her, remembering the times we spent there with dad.
"Don't tell me you fell asleep there again?" Itachi interjected.
"Haha… Yeah, I sort of did."
"Well, it's a good thing it wasn't too cold last night." Maaya added.
"Hmm… Yeah." I replied her.
"Well, anyway, Nana, take a seat and have something to eat dear." Mikoto said.
I nodded and took an empty seat beside her. The maids brought in scrambled eggs and bacon. I took a piece of toast and spread some hazelnut chocolate spread on it. I took a bite and Itachi turned to say something form the opposite side of the dining table.
"So Na, when are you going to go back to work?"
"Hmm, I don't know. I think maybe I want to take a week off before going back into my hectic work lifestyle. Besides, everyone thinks I'm on my honeymoon or something."
"Alright then. When you're ready to go back to work, just tell me. I've already transferred you to the Tokyo branch; I'll be working here too, so I'll take care of your work while you take your leave."
"Oh thanks. So you guys and the kids are going to stay here for good?"
"Yeah, we think it'll be good for the kids to stay with their grandmother. And plus, we are always busy at work, I feel bad for always leaving the kids with a nanny, at least Mikoto-san can spend some time with them and they don't have to stay with a stranger the whole day." Maaya answered.
"We need time for family bonding." Itachi chuckled.
At that moment, Sasuke came downstairs in his work suit and took a seat beside me. He greeted everyone at the table as the maids brought in his scrambled eggs and bacon.
"Morning"
"Good morning dear, are you going to go to the office today?"
"Yes mother."
"What about Na…"
"It's alright Mikoto-san. I had something in mind to do today." I interrupted before she could finish the sentence. I know she didn't like it when people interrupted her speech but I didn't want to hear the end of the sentence.
"Oh? What were you planning to do?"
"Oh you know, just go to the city and drive around. It's been a while." I replied her. Actually I wanted to buy a car and maybe a city rise apartment too, if I can find the right one.
"Oh, you can ask Mori-san to drive you around."
"Thank you Mikoto-ba."
I smiled at her, she smiled back, and Sasuke stayed silent, looking at me from the corner of his eyes. I finished my breakfast and excused myself from the dining table to go and take a shower.
Meanwhile
In the dining hall
"So little brother, how long did it take you to find her?"
"…"
"I'm guessing it took about an hour or so."
"…" Sasuke glared at Itachi.
"Hn. You really don't know her do you?"
"…" the glaring became fiercer.
"sigh Did you apologise to her?"
"…"
"You got angry didn't you?"
"…"
"Then she got even angrier at you because you woke her up and pissed her off."
"…"
"You know you could at least nod or something, it's rude to not reply someone when they are talking to you." More glaring. "Let me give you a little tip otoutou. She hates it when people wake her up."
"Why?"
"Hn, finally, an actual reply. Why, you ask? Because she hasn't had a good night's sleep in 5 years."
"…"
"She has been working constantly all day, everyday since she left Japan." Maaya added.
Sasuke moved his eyes to look at his sister-in-law, softening his glare that he gave his brother.
"She had to study at one of the most expensive schools in the world without any financial support from her family, and even with a full scholarship, she still had to take a part-time job to support herself." She continued. Sasuke looked a bit taken aback. "sigh She never let it show but I know how exhausted and horrible she felt. She was my room mate for 3 years, and the only time I ever saw her break down was when she heard of her father's death. The next day she composed herself back to normal and made it seem that nothing happened. Itachi tried to talk to her about it but she just shrugged it off like it was no big deal. I think she has always blamed herself for her father's death and she never forgave herself for it."
"…"
"Sasuke, I know you don't love her, but at least, please protect her." Itachi added.
Sasuke finished his plate and stood up abruptly.
"I will. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend to." And with that he took his leave.
When Sasuke exited the dining hall, Mikoto took a sigh of relief and turned towards Itachi and his wife.
"Well, this will certainly be an interesting year." She said smiling to them. "I think he might even fall in love with her before their little contract ends." She continued, still with a happy heart-felt smile tugging at her lips.
Itachi and Maaya just simply nodded and returned her smile.