Author's Note: When you have iffy computer and internet situations, a family that loves to hog the computer, three teenage sisters, and you haven't had Microsoft Word in three to four years, this is how delays happen. I am also actively involoved in my school with clubs, a swimmer (if there are any swimmers reading this, you know my pain), and I cook dinner for my family most nights. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
I need to thank a few people! C.A.M.E.O.1andOnly (my first follower. I love you like Naruto loves ramen), caslspirit15, BabySnoopy, SilverMoonlight14 (Silver is my favorite color!), yumi-echizen, pink-pretty-princess-, MyKyo (no MY kyo! Just kidding!), chibihiharuno, loves0sharingon0boys, BlueSword23, Inuyashainy, shadowxblossomx, seeingthroughtheblack, Christianrose, mayday5393, White Devil Mica (It's like my name [Micah]!), xRedHasAppearedx, Tennis Barbie (I just imagine the Barbie from Toy Story everytime I see your name), vertigo36, deedee2034, triela45, AlphaSigma, xSasukeXChickx, Don'tTrustMeLoveLeSs, princess-dq, animefaves, Polandfuck (hahaha it has the f word in it!), LuthMelody, Natsumi-Chan23, EmoSakura95, Alienarcher326, kitty141, Ladyrouge214, WispersOfMyHeart, whenhellfreezesover1 (my mom loves that expression), OhYeshI'mAwesomeX (Oh yes you are!), Hikari1994, AnimeGangasta (Your name got me everytime with the 'gasta'!), xXFoxy Scorpion BlossomXx, sakura-cherrytree, PsYcOgUrL911 (keyboard seizure!), cimpleCC, Phaesporia, sakura4ever123, and Katie-Color (My youngest sister's name is Katie!).
And a very special thanks to the hater/flamer/ignorant person: lolothecccp! Haters gonna hate!
Now! Commence with the reading!
After they were done eating, Shikarmaru and Choji went to the weight room, Naruto went to go find Sasuke, Kiba and Shino went to go play video games, and Neji and Tenten when to their room, they shared, to have some 'alone time.' Hinata and Sakura decided to go on a tour of Sharigan. While they chatted and walked, Sakura tried to help Hinata on her love life.
"You like him." Sakura squinted at a flushed Hinata, "You've liked him since kindergarten! Why haven't you made a move yet?"
Hinata flushed deeper, "I-I don't know what you're talking about." She avoided eye contact with Sakura as best she could.
Sakura skipped a few steps ahead of Hinata, stopped and turned around right in front of the shy girl; which caused her to stop and look at the pink haired one, "You. Like. Naruto. Uzumaki." Sakura punctuated each word with small steps forward. "Why, oh why, haven't you made a move yet?" Sakura put her hands on Hinata's shoulders so that the pinkette could see into the shy one's eyes.
"I-I don't think that it is proper for me to make a move. . ." Hinata mumbled.
"Proper!" Hinata scoffed, "Hinata, honey, you're not ten years old anymore. You are a big girl now! Your dad doesn't dictate your every move anymore."
"It's just not the way I was brought up."
"Well," Sakura started to walk down the hallway again and Hinata caught up with her, "maybe you need to forget that way of life and let go! Have some fun and get your man! I'll help you!" Sakura smiled to her nervous friend.
"Really? You'd do that?"
"Of course! You have waited too long for you not to have your man!"
Hinata beamed and flushed, "Thank you, Sakura! You are a great friend!"
"No problem!" Sakura returned the smile, and the pair walked in a comfortable silence. Hinata reveled in her fantasies about the blonde boy and Sakura wondered how she could make it happen. 'Well, Sasuke is Naruto's best friend. . . I wonder if I could ask Sasuke if he can help me hook them up. No, I doubt he'd help . . . but,' Sakura glanced at Hinata's excited smiling face and inwardly sighed, 'well, I'll just have to suck it up and ask for the prick's help.' And Sakura's choice was made.
They continued the tour of the building and she, Sakura, found out that Sharigan had three weight rooms, two gyms, one recreational pool, one lap pool, a large hot tub, a large sauna, an indoor soccer field, a track that went around the field, and may closets filled with equipment for every sport imaginable. She also discovered that there were seven floors of housing quarters. On the first three floors of dorms, there were twenty to twenty-seven rooms on each floor. The next two floors had only thirteen rooms and they were much larger and the second to last floor had two rooms on the entire floor. The final floor of housing belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha, the owners/CEO's/directors of Sharigan. In all, there were forty-two total floors but from the outside, Hinata explained, it looked more like sixty-nine. Sakura imagined that Sharigan was an impressive structure from the outside. 'I wonder if I saw it before from the outside.'
*+~:..:~+*
While Sakura and Hinata explored the building, Sasuke filed papers in a dimly lit room. His movements were almost mechanical as he sorted, stuffed, shredded, copied, threw away, and filed papers. He was so used to the task that when people walked into his office, he didn't need to look up.
Kakashi crept into Sasuke's office and stood in front of the door and watched Sasuke work. "What do you want, Kakashi?" The raven hared man inquired with a sigh of exasperation, without looking up.
"You need to get out more, mate," the silver haired male stated as he looked at the stacks of previously sorted files that adorned the room.
Sasuke winced, slammed down his work, and shouted, "I did! Remember? I got shot at and had to pick up a. . . a," he struggled to find the right word, "situation." He fell back into his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose to quell the oncoming headache. 'Situation, yeah that's a perfect word to describe this,' he inwardly scoffed.
"Speaking of that so-called 'situation,' your mother and father want to see you, upstairs, with her, in half an hour."
"Shit."
Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, "She and Hinata have been touring the building all afternoon. I believe they just finished the pool areas, so I suggest you get her before she wanders off."
"Hn." The raven grunted and organized his desk before he followed Kakashi out the door, "Why are you coming?"
"Because I'm supposed to escort you both to the door." Sasuke shrugged then nodded and they descended many flights of stairs to get to the aquatics area. Sasuke was a little against the elevators with Kakashi as his only company; he didn't want to hear his giggles over one of his books. As they walked, Sasuke's mind flooded with thoughts. 'Why can't someone else take her? I think everyone is perfectly capable of bringing her ass up to their quarters! God dammit, why is she here? Why is she torturing me with her—.' His thoughts were cut short as Sakura and Hinata came into view. Sakura's face was smiling as she told Hinata an amusing story.
Sakura noticed the two males and said, "Oh, hey guys! What's up?" she was still smiling, which made it obvious she was in a great mood, and probably didn't want to be put out of it.
Kakashi replied, "Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha need to see you," he pointed to Sakura, "and him," he pointed to Sasuke, "in their apartment in ten minutes."
'Ten minutes?' Sasuke thought, befuddled, 'We've been searching for twenty minutes?'
"Alrighty then," Sakura turned to Hinata, "Thanks so much for showing me around! And don't forget to come get me later tonight!" Sakura hugged her as Hinata nodded. Hinata then turned around and headed back the way they had come.
When the trio started walking up the many stairs to the Uchiha head's apartments, Kakashi engaged Sakura in conversation, "What are you ladies doing later tonight?"
"Having a girl's night."
"What do girls do on a girl's night?"
"Eat sweets, talk about guys, watch movies, etc."
"Kakashi smirked, "Which guys?" Sasuke perked up so he could hear her answer.
"Now Kakashi, I don't ever remember you being a girl, so obviously you can't know." Sakura smiled.
"Ah, how true. Well, how did you enjoy your tour?"
"It was quite fun! I had no idea a company could have this much fun stuff!"
"Did you see the dance floor and the stage?"
"No!" Sakura got giddy with excitement, "You guys have them?"
"Of course! We even have talent shows/dance-offs every third Friday of the month. Don't we Sasuke?"
Sasuke gave his usual reply, "Hn."
"Despite his lack of enthusiasm, he goes every time." Kakashi informed the female, "And this is where I must part with you. Have a lovely evening, to you both." He turned on his heel and retreated the way they had arrived.
Sakura waved and then turned her attention to the large, mahogany, double doors, "Do we knock?"
In answer, Sasuke went up to the doors and yanked them open. 'Let's just get this over with.' He walked into the apartment with Sakura on his heels.
*+~:..:~+*
Sakura walked into a small foyer with a deep mahogany red paint and a tint lighter of color for the carpet. At the opposite end from the entrance, there was another set of double doors and that was where Sasuke was headed. 'Well, I guess he is their son, so he does have the authority to just barge in whenever and however he pleases.' Sakura quickly followed Sasuke.
The next room was a lot less overwhelming with color, in fact, at first glance it seemed as if there was hardly any color at all. In admits of all the seemingly faded colors of furniture and wall paint alike, sat two figures. Both had very dark hair like Sasuke's, and the figure that faced their direction, looked like an older, handsome, yet colder version of Sasuke, 'If that's even possible.' She thought.
Sasuke cleared his throat and the two figures took notice of them. The figure that they couldn't see the face of, was a woman and to Sakura, she was beautiful.
"Sasuke!" the woman, who was his mother, immediately got up and rushed to him, "You look well!" she cupped her hands around his face which made Sasuke look a little flustered.
"Mother. . ." he whispered, "not now!" and he darted his eyes to Sakura a few times.
His mother giggled, "How rude of me not to welcome our newest! What is your name?"
When Mrs. Uchiha turned to face Sakura, Sakura felt like a plain-Jane compared to her. Mrs. Uchiha had long dark hair, midnight blue eyes, and beautiful ivory skin. The contrast between her hair and her complexion enhanced her beauty. Her heart-shaped face smiled at Sakura and her kind eyes felt motherly, "I'm Sakura Haruno. It is a great pleasure to meet you." Sakura held out her hand in an expected shake but Mrs. Uchiha embraced Sakura. After the initial shock was gone, Sakura hugged back, 'She feels like home.' The thought ran through her mind.
Mrs. Uchiha pulled back, "Sakura. What a perfect name for such a beautiful young woman."
"I'm not really that beautiful. . ." Sakura mumbled, very flushed from the compliment.
Mrs. Uchiha smiled, "I'm Mikoto Uchiha, and this," she stepped back to the older male figure and wrapped one arm around his, "is my husband, Fugaku Uchiha." Fugaku stepped forward and offered a handshake to Sakura, who accepted.
"It is a pleasure to meet you both." Sakura said. As Mikoto, Fugaku, Sasuke and Sakura arranged themselves on the couches, the pinkette's mind was racing, 'Why am I meeting with them? Did I do something wrong, already? Will I be able to go home? Is Mom completely worried? Will Dad send out a search party? What about my job? Did I lose it? Will Tsunade be furious at me? Of course she will! And what about In-'
"Sakura," Mikoto started, her voice pulled Sakura out of her thoughts, "I'm sure you have many questions about your being here and such, but I must tell you that your presence has an important part in the future of the company."
"How so?"
Mikoto looked at Fugaku, who nodded, "We would like you to marry our son."
Sakura stared, dumbfounded, at the Uchiha elders. Sasuke, on the other hand, blew up. "What?" He bellowed, "I dragged her here, against her will, so that you guys could play matchmaker for me?"
"Sasuke," Fugaku spoke, "calm down. We did not say that Sakura was necessarily for you. You know you do have a brother."
"Brother?" Sakura snapped out of her dumbfounded state.
"Yes dear," Mikoto replied, "Sasuke has an older brother, Itachi."
Sasuke's face lost all traces of anger, "He's back?" Now, he looked almost terrified.
"He got back this morning." Mikoto replied with a small frown, "He has been looking forward to seeing you, Sasuke."
Sasuke turned white and became quiet. Sakura was confused, "You brought me here to marry your son?"
Fugaku nodded, "Yes. That is the plan. You see, our sons are getting on in their years and the future of our company depends on their getting married and producing heirs."
Mikoto rolled her eyes, "That's true, but he just wants to be a grandpa." She smiled at Sakura, but Sakura did not return the gesture.
"I'm a pawn in your little game." Sakura concluded, "I was brought here against my wishes and now you tell me I have to marry Itachi? I don't think so." Her viridian eyes had a raging fire in them she was livid beyond belief.
Fugaku frowned, "We could have made you get an arranged marriage. You wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet your husband, whoever we chose, before the decision was made. Would you have preferred that?" he looked at her for a moment, "I didn't think so. The way things are now, you get to get to know your future husband before deciding which son you would like to marry. It does not necessarily have to be Itachi."
A door opened and the man from the cafeteria entered the room, "Did someone say my name?" He inquired as he walked over to the couches. "Mother, Father, wonderful to see you again. And Sasuke, I hope you have been well." He smiled in their directions as he addressed them.
Sasuke grunted.
Mikoto and Fugaku smiled and nodded back.
Itachi then turned and faced Sakura, "Who is this?"
Mikoto answered, "Her name is Sakura, Sakura Haruno."
"Well, Sakura Haruno, I am very sorry that I had overlooked you." He got down to one knee, took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, "How that happened, I have no idea, but I can assure you it won't happen again." He kissed her hand.
The same shivers rand sown her spine in the lunch room rand down her spine again, but more intensified because he was directly in front of her.
.:~+*-*+~:.
The five of them exchanged pleasantries for a while and then Fugaku explained the situation to Itachi. He thought the idea was brilliant and gave his complete cooperation for it. It was decided that by the end of the summer, Sakura's decision would be made and the boys would take turns trying to woo her. Itachi seemed excited for it and volunteered to go first, but Sasuke, on the other hand, was less than enthused about it.
You. You are awesome.