Chapter five
The lunch
Mrs. Uchiha led her to the kitchen. Inside, the kitchen maids and the cook were giving the final touches to the lunch. A delicious smell of food filled the air, and Sakura's stomach growled.
"Oh, hungry, aren't we?" Mrs. Uchiha asked as they walked towards some kind of back door in the kitchen Sakura hadn't seen before.
"Uh, yeah. How did you know?" she asked confusedly. Did her stomach really growl loud enough for the woman to hear even with all the noise in the room?
"Well, you look hungry," the dark haired woman replied, smiling, as she pushed the back door open. Sakura stepped inside after her and the door closed with a soft click behind them as Mrs. Uchiha explained, "This is the maids' room. They don't live here, of course; only the head butler, the chauffeur and the Housekeeper actually live in the mansion, and they sleep in the guest rooms. The other staff that stays here only for the hours of their shifts leave their things in this place."
Sakura looked around the room. It was not very big, but it was not small either. There were lockers against the walls with long benches in front of them. In the further corner, there were two doors; one had a letter that said LADIES and the other had one that said GENTLEMEN. They were bathrooms.
"They change clothes in there," Mrs. Uchiha commented, nodding towards the bathrooms. "You know, take their clothes off and put their uniforms on, and vice versa."
In that moment, the door of the ladies' bathroom opened and Ino and TenTen came out. They were not wearing the maids uniforms, but they had wide grins on their faces and seemed excited. Sakura guessed they'd tried them on and liked them.
"Oh!" Ino exclaimed when she saw Sakura. "Sakura! Good to see you're finally awake."
"Are you feeling alright?" TenTen asked as they approached her.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sakura replied, smiling, wondering if she'd worried them a lot.
"She just needs to eat something," Mrs. Uchiha said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "So, why don't you all to stay and eat lunch with us?"
"Oh, that would be nice," Ino said. "I hope it wouldn't be a bother if we do."
"No, it'll be fine. My husband will be okay with it, and so will my sons... Well, I have my doubts with Sasuke, but don't worry, he's cranky, but he fears me."
Laughing, they headed back to living room to wait for the lunch to be ready. As they walked, TenTen and Ino filled Sakura in with the things they'd learned while she was asleep. They explained her about the different kinds of maids the Housekeeper had explained them about.
There were kitchen maids, as Sakura already knew; in the mansion, there was only one head kitchen maid, who directly helped the cook out, and five under kitchen maids, who helped out too but with smaller, simpler assignments. There were two parlor maids, three laundry maids, and two chamber maids, and the three of them would be an addition to that staff.
"We'll be house maids," Ino explained. "The head house maid will be kind of like our boss. She reports directly to the Housekeeper, who's like the staff's major boss; she reports directly to Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha."
They proceeded to comment her about the three scullery maids in the house. They washed the dishes, scrubbed the floors and helped out in the kitchen sometimes. They did the harder work, and got less paid.
She was also told about the other staff besides the maids. There were three butlers and one head butler (who was like the Housekeeper but male and in charge of the male staff), two cooks and three footmem (who were like male maids). There were also two gardeners, but they were absent unless their services were requested, which only happened once a week, when the grass or the bushes needed to be cut.
"You're missing two types of maids," Mrs. Uchiha said. They were in the living room already, sitting on the couches. "The Lady's maid and the Nursery maid."
"The Lady's maid?" TenTen asked. "I think the Housekeeper didn't tell us about her."
"Oh, really? Well, she's like my personal assistant. She helps me out with my things and travels with me."
"And the Nursery maid?" Ino asked.
"Oh, well, we don't have one anymore, so she doesn't actually count. She stopped being needed when my Sasuke became a teenager. My baby boys don't need a nanny anymore," she murmured nostalgically, but then she smiled brightly. "Oh! But when Itachi gets married and becomes a father, we'll need a Nursery maid again to take care of his children. Oh, I'm so eager for that moment... I like kids so much; I should've had more."
"I like kids too," TenTen said. "I'm hoping to work in a kindergarten when I graduate from the university."
"Oh, that's so nice!" the woman exclaimed happily.
"Excuse me," a voice said from the room's door, and they all turned to see a maid standing at the door way. "Lunch is ready, madam."
"We'll be there in a moment. Thank you," Mrs. Uchiha said.
When the maid was gone, Ino asked shyly, "Uh, will we have to call you madam too, Mrs. Uchiha?"
"Of course," she replied, standing up. "We're being casual now because you're not working. We can be friends when you're not working, but when you are, I'll be your madam, not Mrs. Uchiha. Now... I'm getting hungry. Let's go, shall we?"
Sakura was munching on the inside of her cheek nervously. She was forcing her eyes to stay fixed on the empty bowl in front of her, because Sasuke was sitting right in front of her, and she didn't have the courage to meet his gaze; actually, she wondered if she would ever have it.
Everyone else at the table seemed to be a having a good time, though. Ino and TenTen were telling Mikoto about how much they liked the maids uniforms and how good they looked on them, while Itachi and Mr. Uchiha were having their own private conversation about some men that were coming over the next weekend. Sasuke remained silent, sipping from that damn tomato juice that looked so much like blood, but even though he was not speaking, he did not seem uncomfortable, or at least not as much as Sakura.
A minute later, a couple of kitchen maids came from the kitchen. One of them was carrying a big, black pot and the other was holding a wooden spoon with a hand. They stood behind Sakura and she watched as the one carrying the pot took its lid off and the other sank the spoon inside. The spoon came out a second later carrying some sort of thick, green liquid, which the maid poured into Sakura's empty bowl.
"The starter of today's lunch is broccoli soup," the maid with the spoon announced as they scooted over to stand behind Ino and serve her the soup too. "Enjoy."
When the maids came back into the kitchen, the people at the table took their spoons and started eating. Sakura hesitated at first, not used to that kind of soup. It just looked so weird, so thick and green and... Was it broccoli? It seemed to be. But was it really broccoli soup? What kind of sick person made a soup out of that vegetable!
"Come on, it tastes good," Ino said lowly from besides her. Sakura turned to her and saw her smirking. "This is a common course in Europe, and it is very liked there. I know it looks weird and everything, but give it a chance. You'll like it; trust me."
Sakura turned back to her bowl and sighed deeply before starting to eat it. As soon as the strange liquid touched her tongue, her eyes widened. She pulled the spoon out of her mouth, took a napkin and pressed it against her lips.
"How was it?" Ino whispered.
"It was... delicious," she admitted as a maid came from the kitchen carrying some plates with cut bread on them. She put them on the table and then left.
"Try it with the bread," Ino told her, taking a piece of bread. Sakura watched as she soaked it with the soup and then bit it, and decided to try the same thing.
When they finished their soups (Sakura liked it so much she was the first one to finish), a couple of maids came and took the bowls into the kitchen. A moment later, a foursome of maids came carrying two plates in each hand and left each in front of each person seated at the table.
"The main course is roasted salmon and salad," a maid announced. "Enjoy."
And enjoy Sakura did. She got only three small pieces of salmon, and she loved it so much she wanted more but, of course, she didn't ask for other piece; she didn't want to look too needful. When they all finished, the maids took the dishes back into the kitchen.
"And finally, as dessert, vanilla ice cream sprinkled with powdered chocolate and chocolate cookies the cook personally prepared," the same maid as before announced lastly as the other maids put a small bowl with the dessert in it in front of each of them. "Enjoy, please."
When they finished eating the dessert, Sakura could not be more full. "Is every meal like this?" she asked Mrs. Uchiha.
"Yes," the woman replied, smiling at her. "I know it seems too formal, but we like it this way. Don't worry, though; any of you will be needed here during the meals. Only kitchen maids serve the dishes and everything. Oh, and you'll eat in the kitchen. This table is only for the family, not for the staff."
Sakura nodded. She wondered why the family was so... formal, indeed. So... last-century. According to her, rich families these days did not have such a big staff and the people who cleaned and cooked for them didn't need to wear uniforms or to be as formal as to call the lady of the house "madam". They also didn't live in such old-looking and elegant mansions; they lived in mansions with the ultimate technology and pools and stuff, so... what was up with the Uchihas? Perhaps they just liked to be old-fashioned; perhaps they just needed to modernize a bit.
Sakura sighed and turned her head away, towards the front, forgetting Sasuke was there, and she almost gasped when their eyes met. Green clashed against black, and her pulse quickened. She felt herself fading away from the dining hall and entering her nightmares again. Her mind was clouded by the memories filled with confusion, fear and frustration, until Mikoto's voice brought her back to reality.
"You should be leaving now. I'm guessing you'll want to go out and celebrate you got the job, so I don't want you girls to go back home too late. Tomorrow, come at ten o'clock in the morning, not a minute earlier, not a minute later. Bring comfortable, yet formal shoes, preferably black. We'll have your uniforms ready when you get here tomorrow, so you'll change here. Come in casual clothing in which you can change when your shift is over. Oh, and make sure to bring a sweater or something, because it gets cold at night and I don't want you to get sick."
The girls nodded obediently, making mental notes to remember all of those instructions.
"But, Mrs. Uchiha," TenTen said, "you haven't told us what kind of maid we'll be yet."
"Oh, that's right!" The woman rose to her feet. "I had forgotten about that! Well, I will tell you in the entrance hall. Let's go."
Sakura and her friends rose to their feet as well and, after saying a quick good bye to the Uchiha males and thanking Fugaku for hiring them, they followed Mrs. Uchiha to the entrance hall.
"Okay," the woman said when they got there. "This was a hard a decision... but I think I managed to make the right choices. Sakura," she turned to said girl, "you will be the parlor maid, because I didn't want to give you a hard work since you seem to easily faint."
Sakura wanted to object, to explain to her that she did not faint easily, that it had actually been the first time she ever fainted, and that she passed out only because of the shock of seeing her younger son. But Mrs. Uchiha would want to know why her son shocked her, and Sakura could not tell her the truth if she did not want to be taken to a mental hospital.
So she just nodded, faked a smile and said, "Okay. Thank you very much, Mrs. Uchiha."
"You're welcome." She smiles back and then turned to TenTen. "TenTen, I think you'll be perfect to be the laundry maid. I noticed how well ironed and washed your clothes are, and since you live alone, I'm guessing you did it yourself."
"I did," the brunette replied.
"Well, then you're perfect for the job." Mrs. Uchiha turned to Ino. "And you, Ino... you know what's left."
"Chamber maid," Ino said with a smile.
"Exactly. It was the only one left, but I think it still suits you perfectly. You seem to be a very tidy person; I noticed that by the way you were eating your lunch. You'll be a great bed-maker."
"Thanks a lot, Mrs. Uchiha," the blonde said. "We're really happy we got the job."
"You are good girls," she replied. "You deserve it."
Momentarily, Sakura wondered why the woman kept calling them good girls. How would she know? Everyone hid secrets. Sakura had never murdered anyone, but she was not a saint, either; she'd gotten drunk, smoked, even consumed drugs once during her last high school year. She was not good, or at least not as much as the woman seemed to believe.
However, she didn't say anything. She decided to let Mrs. Uchiha believe whatever she wanted. What harm would it do?
When the girls left, Mikoto came back to the dining hall. The maids had already cleaned the table and she could hear them washing the dishes in the kitchen. Her husband and sons were still there, sitting at the table, as she'd expected. Sasuke seemed bored as he stared at his half-empty glass, while Itachi and Fugaku conversed casually.
"You weren't too talkative during the meal," she said as she sat at Fugaku's left, who sat at the head of the table, with Itachi at his right.
"I'm not good at chatting with women," Fugaku said.
"I didn't know what to say," Itachi defended himself.
Mikoto turned to her other son and waited for his excuse. "I just didn't care," he finally said, shrugging. "They seem stupid."
"Sasuke, you know how much I hate that attitude," Mikoto scolded.
"But they do, mother. Especially the blonde one. What's up with her wanting to be a maid? She's one of us. No one of our kind should do that kind of job."
"She just wants to know how it feels like, to experience all kinds of things," she lied.
"Well, like I said, that's stupid."
"I have to agree with Sasuke on that, mother," Itachi said. "It is quite senseless."
"Well, let her do whatever she wants to do," Mikoto said, annoyed and secretly uncomfortable. "Besides, it isn't as if it affects us. Actually, exactly because she's one of us, she'll do her job very well." Suddenly, she remembered something. "Boys, why don't you go prepare for your evening lessons now?"
"But they don't start until five," Sasuke said.
"Doesn't matter. Your father and I have something important to discuss. Now, go."
Her sons obeyed, clearly confused she was shooing them away to talk with their father in private. Ever since they left childhood behind, Mikoto had stopped sending them away to have private conversations with her husband because now they were young adults and they could understand.
But this time it was different. They could not hear what they were going to talk about. For the first time in years, they were keeping a secret from their sons.
When they had left, Fugaku calmly asked, "What is it, Mikoto? Does it have something to do with the new maids?"
"Of course it has something to do with the maids!" she hissed. "With Sakura, to be more specific."
"You are surprised, aren't you? You cannot believe she is Hikari's daughter."
"Actually, I can." She sighed sadly. "She looks a lot like her. It's like a young Hikari with green eyes and pink hair...! She reminds me so much of her my heart aches."
"We are in a great danger, did you know?" Fugaku asked lowly, taking her hand. "She is a half breed. She is... illegal. Her parents are gone, but she is still here, and though she's been safe thanks to the Yamanakas for more than a decade, they'll come back for her sooner or later. And if we're involved with her, if we're giving her shelter, we might be in danger, as well."
Mikoto knew that very well. She knew she was risking her own and her family's safety by getting involved with that girl. However, Sakura Haruno was not just any girl. She was her best friend's daughter and, because of that, she was dear to her, even though she barely knew her. Sakura was like her niece. She could not abandon her. She had to protect her.
"I know," she finally replied, squeezing his hand gently. "But I don't think there's much to fear. It's not probable that they are still looking for her. They must think she's already dead. I thought she was, as well, until a few days ago. But even if they do know, I want to take the risk. She is a good girl, Fugaku, and I want to help her because of that, too. A lot of bad things have happened to her, but she keeps fighting. She is like her mother: she never gives up."
Notes: I know it's starting to seem kind of boring, but this is just the start. Things will get more exciting in the future :)