A Peculiar Relationship
Chapter Seven
foureyesfreak27
Summary: AU. After being jilted by her boyfriend for his pregnant mistress, Sakura Haruno sworn to never date again. That is until a godlike Adonis creature came strolling in and offered her a contract that she cannot refuse; a marriage contract with none other than Sasuke Uchiha, her father's business rival.
Character(s): Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Warning: This chapter has not been fully edited yet. Please excuse any grammatical errors.
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The raven-head crossed his arms over his chest as he tapped his foot impatiently. He peered to the stiffed pinkette beside him, miffed by the little progression she made for the past few minutes. "You know, it doesn't help if all you're doing is scowling about the situation," Sasuke reminded, almost tauntingly.
The couple stood nervously—well, it was more Sakura being the nervous one while her counterpart on the other hand looked impeccably serene—in front of the door of the Uchiha Estate. The size of the estate was monumental, even bigger than what Sakura had anticipated. The Haruno Estate paled in comparison to the prestigious Uchiha's. Not that she had any problems with it, after all, the Uchihas was one of the most powerful and wealthiest family in the country, even richer than the Harunos. They have clan members sitting in parliament and many who were elected as governors of districts. Her fiancé, Sasuke Uchiha, came from the main household of the clan, hence, he was the next successor of the Uchiha family. She wasn't sure whether or not she should feel overwhelmed or honored that she was engaged to one of the most powerful man of the household albeit she loathed the man with all her being.
After Naruto had dropped the peculiar couple off, he quickly sped away considering that he had to go back to work before he gets an earful from his own father. Earlier, Sasuke had to practically drag and wrestle the pinkette out of the car since the latter was very adamant on not stepping one foot on the Uchiha household. Sasuke, having had enough of her foolishness, hauled her as if she was a sack of potato and carried her to the front door. Before the Uchiha could ring the doorbell, his fiancée halted his movement with a swat and threatened him if he were to ring t before she was ready, she'll relive a very disastrous episode that was akin to their first encounter. The raven-head blanched a little, and reluctantly relented, giving the pinkette five minutes to regain her momentum before barging inside the house.
The pinkette glared at the raven-haired next to her. "Shut up, if you were to be in my position, you would know how I feel."
"Actually, sweetheart, I've met your father before, remember? And it was the other way around since your father was the one who's scared shitless," the Uchiha heir retorted, smugly. Sakura fought the urge to roll her eyes in annoyance. Sweet love of god, the man was the epitome of arrogance, egoistic and pretentiously conceited all wrapped in one fine looking package.
"Touché, Uchiha," she spat out, almost in a bored-like tone. She scowled at him but like always, her counterpart was unfazed by it, pegging up her irritation to a whole new level of acrimony.
Sasuke, who was deliberately ignoring the feisty female, released an impatient sigh, "Now can we enter? That security camera over there has been deliberately watching over us for the past five minutes." The Uchiha heir jerked his head towards the said object on the upper corner of the grand double entrance that was indeed sonorously recording their every moves through its lens. Sakura followed the former's direction and grimaced in distaste. She had forgotten for a moment just how filthy rich this man was. Well, they've been standing outside the front door for over five minutes now, so might as well get through this whole thing.
Fixing her posture, Sakura schooled a calm and settled expression with determined eyes. "Alright, go."
Her counterpart merely smirked, amusedly. She never ceased to amaze him with all her qualms and sudden mood swings. With that said, he rang the doorbell and within a split second, some answered the door. Greeting the couple was someone who they both were not expecting, especially for Sasuke. The person who greeted them was a sophisticated looking woman, poised with the air of elegance and refinement. Sakura noted that the woman was obviously older than herself, for she held an aura of maturity, far greater than the Haruno heiress ever had. But besides that fact that led to the conclusion of that notion, the pinkette was left wondering just how old the woman was. She bore no wrinkles on her forehead, other than the faint creases on her laugh lines that were telltales that she was a smiley person. Sakura studied the woman before her again and cannot help herself but to compare her physical features to the man beside her. Her dark eyes and raven hair greatly resembled those of Sasuke's. Unlike the latter's whose eyes bore coldness and aloofness, hers held wisdom and kindness.
"Goodness! I was bidding time on how long you both were just going to stand there in front of the door like that," the woman said, exasperatedly in relief. She then gave a heartwarming smile to the couple standing quite stiff before her. The pinkette could've sworn that the woman was itching to throw herself to the man beside her—or perhaps the both of them—considering that the woman was giving her a smile that screamed 'I want to hug you'.
The Uchiha heir narrowed his eyes, but his orbs somewhat softened at the sight of the woman—which was duly noted by the pinkette, much to her amusement. He allegedly ignored the odd look Sakura was giving him. "Mother," he greeted, curtly. "So you were watching us the whole time?" The question was said to be more of a statement of factually rather than a question, earning an enquiring brow from the woman before them.
Sakura, on the other hand, grew quite baffled at the sudden declaration and her green eyes widened in consternation. Mother? This beautiful woman was his mother? Green orbs diverted their attention back to the smiling woman. Good gracious, how the hell was this bubbly woman a mother to a sardonic bastard like Sasuke and the notably matriarch of the Uchiha clan? Actually, scratch that, this was a possibility. He was one hell of a handsome devil, so his genetic pools have to derive from good looking people, too and Sakura now clearly sees where he gets his looks from.
The beautiful woman merely chuckled, looking highly amused, a notion that perplexed the pinkette even further. "Oh Sasuke dear, it was just entertaining to watch the two of you."
Her son grumbled looking quite flustered, stuffing his hands inside his pockets. "So you were expecting us."
A dark brow was raised. "Of course, I know. Naruto had the decency to inform me beforehand, unlike my own son." The tone of her voice sounded as if he had just purposely insulted her.
Sasuke muttered some incoherent words, probably silently cursing his mischievous blond friend. "Well, what else did the idiot tell you?"
His mother shot him an unimpressed look as she propped her fists against her hips in a motherly gesture, as if she was ready to scold her naughty son. "Sasuke, how many times do I have to tell you to stop referring to Naruto-kun with those vulgar words?" she reprimanded him as if he was a child. Sakura pursed her lips at the amusing scene between mother and son before her. It was not every day that she gets to see a woman who can rein the great Uchiha Sasuke.
Sasuke merely rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue, a gesture that earned another light glare from his mother. Sakura watched the interaction between mother and son with interest, mostly the reason being was that had never seen this side of Sasuke. Well, considering the fact that she barely knew the man and for the past forty-eight hours—perhaps even less—all she had witnessed was his dark and sarcastic side. Seeing him all flustered and a little uncomfortable made her inner self a little smug since there was someone out there who could break his usual stoic façade. At least now she knew that there was a side of him that was not just his usual brooding self.
The Uchiha matriarch then discreetly adverted her attention to the quiet woman beside her son. Warm obsidian eyes clashed with startled green ones, making Sakura slightly flinched from the contact. Instead of giving the Haruno heiress an inquisition, the pretty woman merely gave her a mirthful smile. "And you must be Sakura," she stated.
Mutely, the said woman nodded.
"The dobe told you that, too?" Sasuke queried, highly unimpressed that his best friend managed to beat him in such thing. He ran a frustrated hand through his dark locks.
His mother waved a dismissive hand. "Hush, and don't you dare terrorize him, Sasuke. Anyways," she glanced back to the quiet woman and softly smiled, "where are my manners? Do come in now, Sakura-chan!" Surprising the pinkette, the Uchiha matriarch grabbed hold of her hand and led her inside the house. Sakura stole glance behind her shoulder and saw Sasuke shrugging indifferently. She scowled, damn him. The pinkette attempted to feasibly protest, trying so hard to keep calm and still be polite but her words were all a deaf ear for the dark-haired woman.
"By the way, Sakura-chan, may I call you 'Sakura-chan'? You may call me 'Mikoto', Uchiha-san is just too formal. Sasuke never mentioned that his fiancée is absolutely adorable!" she squeaked, excitedly. Unbeknownst to her, she subconsciously squeezed Sakura's hand a little too tightly, making the younger woman winced in pain. The pinkette couldn't help but to note that despite the air of bubbliness from the woman, she had one hell of a grip, perhaps she did indeed respectfully earned the title as the Uchiha matriarch.
"Okay…Mikoto," Sakura replied, obediently although her tone was laced with uncertainty. If it weren't for the fact that Mikoto was holding Sakura's hand, the woman would've clapped her hands together with glee. Her eyes were illuminated with mirthfulness and excitement, something that baffled and somewhat overwhelmed the pinkette. Wordlessly, she was dragged by the older woman, dumbfounded that there was at least one Uchiha who was the exact opposite of what the media portrayed the clan to be.
Mikoto led her—Sasuke reluctantly followed shortly behind the pair—to the living room in which the former immediately ordered the pinkette to sit down next to her. Sakura complied without a fight, figured that it was best to just follow the woman and cease all protests that was currently being said in her head. After all, she was currently in the jurisdiction of the Uchiha family and she was not that stupid to cause a fit to the most powerful woman of the said clan.
Her fiancée sat right across from the two woman and crossed his legs comfortably. The pinkette gave him a look, demanding what in the world was going on right now. Sasuke inwardly shrugged as he propped his arms on top of the edge of the furniture, earning a narrowing glare from his pink-haired counterpart.
Sakura felt a strong penetrating gaze next to her and diverted her attention to her right, only to find Sasuke's mother smiling brightly, too brightly for her liking. She returned the overzealous smile with one of her small smiles, nervously laughing at the proximity between her and the Uchiha matriarch. The Haruno heiress would slowly move away from the woman, just to give a small and safe distance between the two, only to find that Mikoto would scoot next to her even closer than before much to Sakura's chagrin. Defeated, Sakura stationed herself at the end of the furniture and from her peripheral vision, she found Sasuke chuckled quietly, almost sounding as if he was taunting her. Sakura fought the urge to sneer at the said man, it was his fault that she was in this tedious situation. Despicable man.
"Oh my! I almost forgot the tea!" Mikoto exclaimed and stood up, startling the younger female from her abruptness. She lightly tapped her head in a forgetful manner and gave the pinkette a sheepish smile. "I'll be right back!" Before Sakura could protest, the matriarch shrewdly sashayed herself out of the room, leaving the odd duo in a cumbersome silence.
"Well that was something," the raven-head commented, smirking knowingly to the pinkette on the other side of him.
Sakura peered curiously to the man across her and scowled. "You never told me your mother was the exact opposite of you."
Sasuke quirked a brow as he lazily leaned back against the soft cushion pillow. "You never asked." It took every willpower within her to not go over there and throttle the infuriating man.
"Well, a little heads up would be nice," she retorted, sardonically. If she would've known that Sasuke's mother was very…well, the exact opposite of him, than she would have taken the decency to prepare her forwardness.
"Well, where the fun in that?"
The rhetoric question was highly unappreciated.
"Why I ought to—"
"Here we are!" The velvety voice that could only belong to the Uchiha matriarch exclaimed happily, unbeknownst to her she had knowingly stopped the pinkette from doing anything that might've put her youngest son at harm. Instead of finishing her sentence, Sakura opted a glare. Sasuke shrugged indifferently.
Mikoto beamed at the duo as she placed a tray that contains the teacups and a plateful of sweet treats. "How do you like your tea, Sakura-chan?" she queried, curiously. "I hope you like Earl Grey."
Sakura politely nodded, watching the other woman's every move as she expertly held the teapot and pour the content into three cups. "Just two sugar cubes please." She muttered a quiet appreciation as the woman gave her the hot drink.
"Where's father?" Sasuke wondered all of the sudden. He silently prayed that the old man wasn't home today.
"He went out golfing with your uncles," his mother replied, waving a dismissive hand. The raven-haired beauty averted her gaze to the pinkette and beamed. "Anyways, so you're the girl our Sasuke has been hiding from us!"
The pinkette almost choked on her hot beverage. "Pardon?"
"Mother," her son called out, unimpressed.
"Oh hush, Sasuke, now I know why you've been all secretive these past few months! I knew that it was because of a girl! Honestly, I would never had thought that you would have a fiancée! Let alone a girlfriend. You never seemed to be interested in the opposite sex so I simply thought that you haven't found the one yet. But for the longest time, I've been worried that you might be either asexual or gay, not that I have a problem with that but the direct bloodline of the Uchiha clan ends with you and Itachi, you know? So at least one of you had to produce some offspring to ensure our lineage. If it weren't for Sakura-chan, I sincerely thought that you and Naruto have a relationship beyond the 'bromance' that you both have—"
"Mother!" Sasuke called out, horrified.
"—but then again, I thought different since Naruto introduced me to Hinata-chan. So then, I thought that you might be shacking up with Suigetsu-kun or perhaps even Juugo-kun since you were roommates with them back in college. But after seeing Sakura-chan, all my worries about our lineage ending here are now gone!" She beamed, brightly, feigned innocent.
Sakura couldn't hold back her laughter any longer, this was simply highly entertaining.
The flustered Uchiha glared at the pinkette. "It's not funny!"
"Oh Sasuke dearest, I never knew that you and your friends have a relationship beyond friendship. Should I be worried?" She asked, coyly as she innocently fluttered her eyes, batting her long lashes.
Sasuke gritted his teeth, feeling quite torn between replying with something witty back in the presence of his mother or simply let it go.
He opted for the latter—grudgingly, of course.
Mikoto wisely ignored her fuming son and focused her attention solely on the pinkette. "You know, Sakura-chan, I really wanted a daughter, not that I am grateful that I was blessed with two wonderful boys, but the odd number is just too overwhelming for me. So I have dream of having daughter-in-laws so I can finally have some female companion in this testosterone-filled place."
The said woman smiled softly. She decided that perhaps Uchiha Mikoto would be one of her few allies when she marries into the clan. "Then I guess it's a good thing Sasuke and I are engaged to be wed."
The Uchiha matriarch scoffed elegantly. "A good thing? Pft! As if! It's a wonderful thing! Now, the clan members can be assured that at least one of my boys will produce an heir!" she exclaimed, happily. "Ne, Sakura-chan, Sasuke never mentioned that you were so beautiful!"
A color that is akin to her hair blossomed across Sakura's pale cheeks. "A-ah, that's an exaggeration, Mikoto-san. I don't hold a candle next to you."
The only male in the vicinity scoffed. "Please, as if. Plus her temper is legendary." That remark of his earned a glare from the said woman.
"Darling, it's because you can be very infuriating at times. It's not my fault you wanted to settle down with a temporal woman like me."
"I guess that's why I fell for you," he charismatically smirked, faltering Sakura's narrowing glare a tad bit. His blunt reply made the pinkette blushed a shade darker than before. Sasuke's mother on the other hand watched the pair's interaction with interest. This was the first time she saw Sasuke had ever converse with a woman without replying with his trademark 'hn' or sometimes not even through words but a simple glare. He would always give the women that she'd introduced to him in the past a cold shoulder, viewing the whole general female population as a nuisance.
Seeing how the younger woman looked troubled, MIkoto decided that it was time for her to save the pinkette from being her son's victim in his verbal harassment. "Sakura dear, would you like to see baby photos of Sasuke? I'm sure I have a tons of albums of him when he was just a toddler."
The pinkette perked up at the mention of baby photos while Sasuke froze in utter shock. He narrowed his eyes to his mother in which the latter simply raised a defiant eyebrow up along with the infamous Uchiha smirk. The confident and cocky smirk that was plastered on his face faltered quite drastically, evolving into a frown and then to a scowl.
"Baby pictures?" The pinkette piped, her green eyes were practically glowing in delight.
Mikoto nodded vigorously. "Yes, as a matter of fact," she paused to get up and walked towards the small bookshelf on the corner of the room. She grabbed three thick albums—to Sasuke's utter horror—from the shelf before prancing back towards the eager pinkette. "I have tons of cute ones!"
This was one hell of an ammunition to get back on the damn Uchiha, the Haruno heiress thought, triumphantly.
Sasuke's vision blurred with red. He cannot believe that his mother had the audacity to show those…horrendous pictures to the pinkette. The Uchiha heir looked as if he was about to protest, given that his body was trembling with fury. But one look from the Uchiha matriarch sent the man into a state of utter defeat. His early fuming deflated a notch and he cannot help but to run a large hand down through the length of his face in clear vexation. Sakura almost shouted out in glee for it was a rarity that the Uchiha showed any other emotions but brooding and sarcasm, he seldom look so perturbed.
The Uchiha muttered something about a call and work in his old room and promptly bolted out—more like stomping childishly—of the alcove not desiring to hear any more of his childhood humiliation. Both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law immediately dived into the photo album once the Uchiha heir left and burst into fits of giggles. They lost track of times, for their laughter never faltered, instead, it gradually got louder for every pages that were flipped.
"You're so adorable, Sakura-chan," Mikoto commented out of the blue, startling the pinkette who was caught off guard.
She made a weird look. "Um, thank you?"
Obsidian eyes began to soften in a faraway look as they bore into skeptical looking green ones. "I'm glad Sasuke found a girl like you."
Before the pinkette could reply, a familiar head popped itself inside the living room. "It's late. Sakura and I should be going now."
Mikoto frowned and pouted. "Already?"
"I got words that your father has arrived home," he flatly stated, zeroing his eyes into Sakura's.
Sakura blinked owlishly at the information given. "Well, that was fast."
"Perks of being an Uchiha, darling," the endearments was drawled out very mockingly. Instinctively, Sakura sneered. Damn the infuriating man to the pits of hell.
"Stay for dinner at least," the Uchiha matriarch insisted, persistently. She held onto the pinkette's hand tighter, making the latter slightly flinching from the unnerving strength she bore.
Sakura gave the woman a sad smile. "I'm truly sorry, Mikoto-san. Trust me, I would love to, but I already made plans with my father."
The older woman made a sad face, making the pinkette want to laugh. "Well, fine," she reluctantly relented, "but the next time you visit, you're staying for dinner."
"Deal," Sakura smiled. The trio made their way towards the front door with Mikoto leading the couple (she was still grasping the pinkette's hand as she went). Before the pair bid their final goodbyes, the raven-haired beauty pulled the Haruno heiress back to her, startling the couple.
"Sasuke dear, go on ahead and fetch your car," Mikoto ordered her youngest son, who was waiting impatiently near the threshold. "I want to have a talk with Sakura-chan first before you leave."
The Uchiha heir grumbled and was about to protest like a spoiled brat, but one daggering look from the said woman wisely made him shut his trap. Sakura wasn't sure whether or not she should be amused that her apparent fiancé was a momma's boy through and through. She mentally noted to never defy the Uchiha matriarch. Ever. His mother pecked him on his cheek, making him beat red, and the Uchiha heir strode out to go fetch a car.
"Sakura-chan," the woman called her name, fondly, bringing back the pinkette's attention to her.
Unsure what to make of it, the pinkette responded hesitantly, "Yes, Mikoto-san?"
"I know Sasuke can be a little bit…difficult per say."
Sakura pursed her lips together to stop herself from scoffing in front of the nice woman. After all, they were talking about her son who she had the displeasure of being engaged to.
"But this the first time I've seen Sasuke act so…relaxed. Believe it or not, he's not much of a talker, and seeing your interact with him was just so freshening."
"He just likes to annoy me, Mikoto-san," she muttered, grudgingly.
"Well, you are the first girl he brought home to me and the first to not look so, well, promiscuous around him," she mused, mirthfully.
"That'll be the last thing I'll ever do," the pinkette muttered to herself. Besides him being sinfully handsome, his personality was an antithesis of his Adonis-like features. His attitude was just a turn off, never mind that tight butt of his.
"Give him a chance, sweetie. I can tell that he's already warming up to you and let me tell you that not a lot of people can get close to him, let alone talk to the poor boy."
Not wanting to seem rude, Sakura could only nod. "I will. Thank you for your time, Mikoto-san. It was a pleasure to meet you."
The ageless beauty smiled warmly. "Oh, and Sakura-chan?"
The pinkette paused her movement to turn to the woman. "Yes?"
Mikoto flashed her a soft smile, "Take care of him, would you?"
Puzzled, the pinkette could only nod and agreed to her request. "I will, Mikoto-san," she assured the worrywart mother. Giving the woman one last hug, Sakura began to walk away from the older woman.
"And do come back soon! Next time, I'll show you tons of pictures of Sasuke when he was in junior high! He looked like a girl!"
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"How did you get your car…you know what? I don't even know why I bothered asking," she said, after seeing the deadpanned look given from the raven-haired man inside the car. Wordlessly, she hopped inside the sleek vehicle and buckled her seatbelt. The car drove out of the estate within minutes.
"Enjoy laughing at my expense?" he asked, wryly.
Sakura nodded and chuckled. "You were one girly looking baby, Uchiha."
The raven-head scowled.
"Anyways, what did you tell your mother?" She had been wondering about this question throughout the entire time with his mother. If he had told her that he practically forced Sakura into an engagement, Sakura bet her whole retirement savings that the Uchiha heir would definitely be hearing an earful of reprimands from his mother. If she did know, then she had done a meticulously damn well job at not mentioning it, but finally getting to know the older woman, it was quite unlikely for her to do so.
"About what?" he queried in wonderment. He stole a quick glance to the pinkette before diverting his attention back on the road.
She raised an enquiring brow. "About how we met, stupid. Do you peg me as an idiot or something?"
Sasuke was suspiciously silent and shortly he inwardly shrugged.
Sakura did a double take. "Bastard," she hissed. "Anyways, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't go breaking your dear mother's heart that you blackmailed a girl into an engagement."
"I never blackmailed you, I simply offered your father a deal, and you were just a bargain."
Sakura fought the urge to roll her eyes, "Humor me, Uchiha."
The raven-head was the one who rolled his eyes but relented. "I told her that you and I have been secretly meeting with each other for the past year. And that since you don't want our relationship to be expose to the public, we kept it on the down-low."
"I was just engaged to Kenchi earlier this year, how would your brilliant plan work out anyways?"
"Sweetheart, I told you I know everything about you. I've always known that your ex was a sleazebag and that your relationship with him was almost nonexistent. Do you honestly think that you would have any benefit of marrying that man?" he wryly asked, rhetorically.
This time, it was Sakura's turn to be silent.
He took her silence as an agreement. "Exactly. Other than keeping your mother off of your hair, I'm sure your marriage to him would've been a disaster."
"I never planned on getting married anyways," she muttered.
Sasuke rolled his shoulders indifferently. "Welcome to the club, Haruno. But as the rich and spoiled brats we are, marriage is a tool for power between families so things like this is inevitable."
Deciding that she had had enough of this conversation and not wanting to start another fit, she shifted the gears. "How long has it been since my father arrived?"
If the Uchiha took notice in her sudden change of topic, he didn't show it but played along. "An hour, why?"
"He's probably at home," she mumbled to herself.
"Why do you want to talk to your father again?" He wondered, curiously.
"I want to interrogate him."
He raised a brow. "About?"
"Why he sold me to the devil," she jeered through gritted teeth.
Sasuke chuckled as he stole a glance to the brooding woman next to him. "Sweetheart, I told you already. Perhaps you're the one who has Alzheimer?"
She glared. "Fuck you, Uchiha."
A smirk was his response. "I already told you when and where, it's bound to happen anyways."
"Argh, you insufferable man." Sakura propped her elbow against the side door as she rubbed her temple to ease the aching headache. How can one man be the sole cause of her impeding headache?
"I wouldn't be where I am right now if I wasn't, sweetheart," he pointed out, chuckling.
The Haruno heiress harrumphed. "Whatever, all I know is that my old man has a lot of explaining to do."
Sasuke pursed his lips and couldn't help but to wonder what she'll converse with her father about. His mind began to turn its wheel, thinking about all the possible scenarios, no doubt regarding their sudden engagement. "What? You're going to blackmail him or something? Or perhaps you're going to beg him to break off this engagement of ours."
She gave him a flat look. "The 'or something'. I told you, I have no qualms regarding this engagement of ours since this is solely for our own superficial reasons. But I ought to teach him a lesson or two for selling his only daughter to the highest bidder."
The raven-head looked highly impressed and nodded. "Very quaint of you, Haruno."
Sakura smirked. "I aim to please, Uchiha."
A/N: Reviews? Thank you all for your support!
