It's Complicated
Chapter 7: drunken fallacies
"Ino?"
"Oh my god Sakura!" The voice yells over the phone, "I was worried all night! Why did Sasuke call me? What's he doing here?"
"Do you want to get lunch?" Sakura avoids her eager friend's questions.
"Will you promise to tell me everything?" Ino shoots back.
"Yes, I promise," she pauses, "your favorite café at 1?"
"Yes!" Ino chirps back enthusiastically, "There is a panini with my name on it!"
"Alright, I'll see you then." Sakura hangs up the phone and begins getting ready for the day. Her thoughts flash to last night's incident. Sasuke had helped her, not that she thought he wouldn't, but she just never expected herself to end up in that situation. Her embarrassment gnaws at her stomach, how can she face him, let alone suck up her pride and thank him. Nonetheless getting it over with now might be for the best.
Deciding it's time, she opens her bedroom door and enters the foyer.
Empty.
She peers over to the guest room to see the door ajar but that room is empty as well. She searches the kitchen and the living room only to yield similar results. Finally, she peers out on the balcony. There he stands, immaculately polished, with a cellphone to his ear.
She begins to slide the glass door open, but pauses when she hears his words.
"Yes father, things will go as planned."
Fugaku.
Goosebumps breakout on her arms as she thinks about that man. His angry eyes and biting voice. She turns to leave, but Sasuke sees her.
He spares her one piercing glare before turning away from her, annoyance obviously etched in his face. For some reason, that look is enough to keep Sakura in her place. After a couple moments more of Sasuke responding on the phone, he hangs up and slides it in his pocket.
"What's Fugaku up to these days?" Sakura asks, not hiding the disdain in her voice. "Plundering villages and ruining lives?"
Sasuke ignores her, pushing past to enter the apartment, acting oblivious to her jabs. He starts putting coffee in the maker, seeming to dismiss her presence.
"About last night…" she begins, pausing to see if he'll help her out with addressing the issue. He doesn't.
"I…" She pauses again, not quite sure if she can get the words out.
"You were a fool," Sasuke bites out, his voice low and dangerous.
"Excuse me," she snaps back. Sasuke remains silent, his piece having been said.
"You know what," Sakura continues a new rage burning within her. How dare he. "Fuck you, I'm leaving." She turns to storm out, expecting him to stop her.
Nothing.
She knows she should just keep walking out the door, but she can't help it. She stops and turns back around. "Don't you want to know where I'm going?"
No response.
With an angry slam of the door, Sakura exits the flat trying to ignore the feel of rejection twisting in her stomach. What did she expect? Them to have a heart to heart or something?
xxxxxxxx
Slam!
Sasuke lets out a puff of air, his anger finally flowing through him. When he saw her last night being held down, something feral was released. Suigetsu's lucky he stopped after the one punch, he should be dead. Unfortunately, after that stunt, word has gotten out that the prestigious Uchiha heir is in the area.
"You need to spin this, Sasuke," his father had told him over the phone. "It's time to start pushing your relationship with Sakura to the press. Image is everything. The merger can't come across as foul play or we'll be under scrutiny again. This all rests on you."
His father has always made his high expectations known, failure is not an option in the Uchiha family. Sasuke pinches the bridge of his nose at the memories of that fateful day.
He clutches his acceptance letter in hand from Konoha University, the top school in the world for their pre-and post-graduate law program and he would be on the accelerated track. It's what he has always wanted, more than anything.
He should have known it wouldn't last. The second he walks in the door to see his brother's stuff packed up he knows his life had reached a breaking point.
"Itachi?" he questions, the acceptance letter now clenched in his fists.
"Goodbye, Sasuke."
That's all his brother says before laying a hand on his head and walking out of the door forever.
"Sasuke, get in here," his father barks from his office. Obediently, he enters the cold, impressive room though all he wants to do is run in the opposite direction.
"You are now the heir to the Uchiha empire." It's the first thing out of his father's mouth and he knows that with that sentence, his future changes. "Itachi is no longer a part of this family, I don't want to hear his name."
Cool, calm, unbothered.
"What happened?" Sasuke dares to ask.
"That's not important, what's important is that you will be attending an accelerated 3 year business program at Sound University and you will keep a low profile. This merger with the Haruno's is now more important than anything."
Sasuke grows angry, the KU letter clutched in his hands.
"We need the Haruno business under our control and we need to make it look like it happened willingly." He takes a swig of a dark liquid from his ever present glass and Sasuke wonders how many times it's been refilled today.
"Do not try to get a hold of the Haruno girl until I tell you to, our timeline to release your engagement to the press must be pushed back. Our image to the world is everything. We need to tread lightly, this whole mess with that boy is bound to reach the news within a week and who knows what it will do to our stock."
His father continues to ramble about the business, his cruel dismissal of Itachi as "that boy" leaves a sinking feeling in Sasuke's stomach.
"That wasn't the plan," he interrupts defiantly. Fugaku doesn't even look at him, his eyes firmly glued to the computer in front of him. "I was to finish high school in Sound then I could return to Konoha for university and..." He trails off, not mentioning the fact that being able to finally explore a real relationship with Sakura had its appeal.
Dark eyes lift to meet his. "Do not question me."
Sasuke knows that with that tone, the conversation is over. He turns to head to his room, his world tilting on its axis. His door creaks with disuse, having spent the majority of the past 4 years in the dormitories at his high school. He gingerly smooths out the acceptance letter and sets it on his desk.
Ding!
His phone vibrates with an incoming message.
Naruto: Party at Karin's. Want to go?
Sasuke is about to shoot back a declination to the invitation, but pauses. This is his chance to get away from his father and blow off some steam. As long as he keeps a low profile, he should be fine.
I'll be there.
The party is already raging when Sasuke shows up, the drive from the Uchiha Estate to Sound isn't exactly close. His car rumbles softly as he pulls it into the driveway.
"Uchiha's here!" somebody yells. So much for keeping a low profile. The second he steps through the door he's engulfed in a bear hug.
"You came!" Naruto cheers, clearly already enjoying a buzz. "Here have a drink!"
"Nah man," Sasuke begins to deny him "I drove here."
"Don't worry! Karin's got extra space for us to crash," Naruto places the red cup in his hand. "Worse comes to worse I'll hook you up with a ride later."
Sasuke shrugs, maybe this is what he needs to forget his family for the night. He tosses back the drink in one huge gulp and the soon to be graduating high school students around him start cheering. He deserves to unwind.
He shoots the shit with Naruto for a while, enjoying the mix up in routine. Parties aren't usually his scene.
"Hey Sasuke."
He turns to a voice he's familiar with.
"Karin," he greets, trying to be polite. "Nice party."
"Thanks," she lets out a giggle, leaning towards him. "My dad's gone all weekend so you should stay the night."
"Forward much," Naruto teases, earning a stuck out tongue from Karin.
"Come on Sasuke," Karin stands up and starts pulling his arm, "I have the good stuff hidden."
Sasuke decides to humor her, Karin's nice when she's not trying to impress everybody and he could really go for something other than overly sweet jungle juice and beer. He follows her up the stares into a spare room that looks like it's been used as an entertainment center. She instantly starts pouring shots of the good shit.
Patron,
Crown,
Ciroc,
Instead of feeling better, with each shot his mind moves to darker places. His brother's gone, his father's power hungry, and Sakura… Sasuke slouches in a chair, burying his face in his hands. Sakura's in way over her head. She doesn't even realize the shit show she's going to enter when their engagement is leaked to the press.
Image is everything.
His father's voice echoes in his head. He doesn't know how many times he's heard that phrase. When did his life no longer belong to him?
He feels hands wrap around his waist from behind.
"Sasuke, what's wrong?" a feminine voice purrs out.
"Nothing," he responds, moving from her grip. He needs to leave. He shouldn't be in this room, his head is cloudy, and Karin's advances are becoming a nuisance. He stands to leave and pushes open the door. He needs to find Naruto and get a ride home, he can come back for his car in the morning. If he just-
His thoughts are interrupted as the last person he expected to see emerges from behind a corner.
What the hell.
He feels as if the universe is laughing at him, taking the worse day of his life and dropping a bomb on it.
"Come on Sasuke, just one more round," Karin shouts after him, wrapping her arms around him. "You know you want to."
Oh shit.
Green eyes meet his and he can practically see her heart break.
This isn't what it looks like.
He tries to yell, but all the shots are interfering with the synapses in his brain. She's going to leave, she's going to say something. The merger will be broken off and who knows what his father will do. He watches her turn obviously trying to bolt.
Why would she even come here? This is Sound, not Konoha. He's not thinking clearly, the events of the day replaying in his head. He reaches out and grabs her by the wrist.
"What are you doing here?" He practically barks at her, his voice coming out so much more angry than he wanted. Maybe it's the alcohol, maybe it's the frustration. Most likely it's both and more.
"I wanted to see you," She sounds pitiful. Poor girl, doesn't she realize that nobody can know about their engagement yet? How did they end up in this convoluted mess? Why can't things just be simple.
"You don't belong here, leave." His fear at being on the receiving end of his father's anger fuels his need to get her out as soon as possible. Itachi got kicked out of the family for minor offensives, he can't imagine what will happen to him if the most important merger in the history of the company is ruined.
He sees a fire flash in those green eyes. An anger he never thought possible.
"We have an engagement. Fidelity is a main point in the contract your father and my mother constantly remind me of."
She's jumping to conclusions, she's seeing his father in him. It's obvious she resents the contractual part of their relationship. He doesn't want this situation any more than she does, can't she see that? His cool façade shatters. His anger with everything – his father, Itachi, his future – finally bubbles over and poor Sakura is on the receiving end of it.
"Those terms are for you. Not me. You don't mean anything to me. You're a legality issue, a piece of paper with legal jargon to ensure a profit. This is not an engagement and you are not my fiancé. Leave."
Whatever positive feelings she had left towards him, he can tell they're long gone. He sees the tears begin to well up in her eyes, the trembling of her body. She's scared of him. His mind whirls. How could he do this? Why would he say those things?
He turns, not baring to look at her. What did he do to her? Not knowing what to do he follows Karin back into the room and he hears her slam the door behind him.
"Oh my god," Karin exhales, "I thought she'd never leave."
He feels the rage from the alcohol swirling inside him again at her words. "I have to go." He states before leaving the room. He can fix this, he has to fix this. He thinks of their time together when he was 15, her smile, her laugh, everything.
"Sakura?" he calls out only for his voice to be swallowed up by the pounding music. He searches the house top to bottom with no sign of the pink haired girl.
He lost her.