A/N: Update, update! ^_^ My dog's crying so I'll make it quick. LOL. haha. He'll be eating my laptop soon. Chapter 9 everybody. ^_^ Ahh..another short chapter. I really have to improve, so sorry, my brain's not working right. I'll try harder for the next chapter. :)

Disclaimer: ...?


Choice # 9: Visitors Visiting


"This is not a good idea."

Sakura was now in the front seat of Sasuke's car while he was driving northward to the Aomori prefecture. She was surprised when Sasuke turned up early that morning, picking her up from her house and practically kidnapping her. Sasuke smirked.

"Sasuke, this is not a good idea." Sakura repeated the hundredth time that day. She didn't even get to ask for Naruto's opinion about the trip. He didn't even know she was gone; he's going to be so angry once he finds out that she's not beside him in bed.

"Hn." was all Sasuke replied, keeping quiet about everything. "I thought you told me to relax." Sasuke said.

"I did! But it's not a good idea to bring me along!" Sakura said in a rush, remembering Itachi's face when he fired her.

"I told you it's a business trip, you're getting paid. And shut it, we can't turn back." Sasuke said simply. Sakura sighed. She heard a rummage from the back seat and she turned to look.

"AYAKA?" Sakura screamed. Her eyes were not deceiving her; Ayaka was really there, playing with the bags. "How did you get there?" Sakura's eyes widened.

"Papa…" Ayaka started to point at Sasuke, but she heard Sasuke clear his throat and saw his reflection at the mirror and she giggled. "Oops. No, Ayaka slipped in." She said innocently lying. Sakura narrowed her eyes at Sasuke.

"You're teaching the girl how to lie." Sakura glared at him. "You planned this didn't you?" She said. Sasuke sneered.

"Mama. We're going to Oji-san's house?" Ayaka asked, poking her head out from the backseat. Sakura smiled.

"No, Aya-chan, we—" She was cut off.

"Yes." Sasuke replied for Sakura. "Ayaka wanted to see her Oji-san, right?" Sasuke said. Ayaka nodded and went back to play in the backseat. Sakura thought for a while, her anger fading away.

"You planned this..for me?" Sakura said awkwardly. "You wanted me torelax." She said, the conclusions forming in her head. Sasuke didn't budge. Sakura's face lit up as she pinched Sasuke's cheek.

"Oi! I'm driving." Sasuke reacted, pushing Sakura's hand away.

"Thank you." Sakura muttered, blushing. Sasuke was definitely full of himself now. Suddenly, a thought landed on Sakura's mind, she sighed. "Oh no, this is going to be a real pain in the ass." Sakura said to herself.

"What?" Sasuke asked. Sakura shook her head.

"Nothing."

They were practically road tripping all over Japan, well, half of it at least. It was almost noon when she heard her phone ring and she instantly knew who it was. Sasuke grunted, annoyed at the phone and probably at the person calling too. She quickly answered it to stop the ringing and to avoid waking Ayaka up.

"Naru—" She was cut off when she heard him scream over the phone.

"Where the hell are you? I've been looking for you since I woke up! I called Hinata and all your other friends and they said you weren't there! Is Ayaka with you?" He said, going mad at the other line. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"I'm on my way to Hokkaido for a business trip and yes, Ayaka is with me so stop over-reacting." Sakura told him truthfully, sighing. Naruto wasn't convinced though.

"Business trip? Are you sure that's a business trip? You're with Sasuke again, aren't you? You didn't even tell me about this business trip of yours." Naruto said angrily. Sakura heard a very accusing tone in his voice which happens all the time nowadays.

"So what if I am? At least he took the time and effort to compress my work and vacation. You should be thankful I'm getting a break, you know that I was dying to have one." Sakura said, trying to calm herself down.

"Now you're on his side? For all I know, you're just dying to have a break with him. Just so you know Sakura, you have a husband, so stop being such a bit—"

"Don't you dare finish that word." Sakura said coldly in a low voice. She knew Naruto had the right to be angry, but calling her a bitch was definitely out of line. Naruto seemed to have caught what he just tried to say and came back to his senses.

"Sakura, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I was jus—"

"I don't want to talk to you. Don't try to call me while I'm away." Sakura said, still in her low voice. Sasuke sensed the hurt in her voice and he knew that Naruto probably opened that big mouth of his again.

"Sakura, come on, plea—" But he was cut off when Sakura clicked her phone off.

Naruto should've known that she kept on trying, trying to keep their relationship in control. She was being rational about all the things that had been happening, trying to remind herself that she was married even though her heart feels like she wasn't. She felt a hand touch hers and she looked up at Sasuke, he wasn't looking at her of course.

"One word. Jerk." Sasuke said simply. Sakura smiled for a bit before pulling her hand away.

"You were one too." She said with a quiet laugh. Sasuke shrugged.


It was quiet all the way to Aomori. She tried to forget the phone call and tried to focus on the trip. When they arrived, that was when Sakura realized that they were going to Hokkaido, Sapporo to be exact, so taking Sasuke's car doesn't make any sense at all. She frowned.

"How are we going to get to Sapporo?" Sakura asked stupidly. Sasuke tried his hard not to laugh, he kept his cool.

"Are you Japanese or what?" Sasuke asked coldly, Ayaka in tow. "Japan Rail Pass." Sasuke said, holding up a ticket.

"Why did you bring your car anyway? We could've just taken the ferry boat from Niigata, it's a much shorter route." Sakura said as a matter-of-factly as she thought of the easiest, but not really the quickest, way possible to Sapporo.

"None of your business." Sasuke replied, not wanting to answer her. Sakura rolled her eyes at him.

"You really have this all planned out, don't you? You even made ticket reservations beforehand." Sakura said. She got the rail pass from Sasuke and they waited for the train.

They rode the train to Sapporo, it had been a long time since she went back home. This was really nice of Sasuke to think of letting her have a vacation-slash-business trip. Sakura glanced over at Sasuke who was gently stroking the hair of a still sleeping Ayaka on his lap. Her eyes gleamed of admiration…and something else. Sasuke felt her gaze, he smirked.

"You fell in love with me just now, didn't you?" Sasuke said, putting Sakura's thoughts into words. Sakura blushed.

"Disgusting." She said, looking away to hide her blush and her small smile. 'You're too tempting, you know that?' She thought with a sigh.

If she encounters more of this side of Sasuke, she doesn't know if she can control herself anymore. In the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Sasuke yawn. She turned her head around and held out her hand.

"Give her to me. You should go to sleep." Sakura worriedly said. She knew how horrible it must've been for Sasuke to drive from Tokyo to Aomori. It was a long drive, almost half a day. Sasuke shooed her hands away.

"You're not ruining this father-daughter moment." Sasuke said, wrapping his hands around Ayaka, acting childish. Sakura just shook her head and laughed.

"You're really something else, Sasuke. I wonder what happened to the 'you' before." Sakura said with a smile. Sasuke looked outside the window.

"I guess he melts away when you're around." Sasuke muttered silently, seeing the frost melting in the window.


After grueling hours of sitting in the train, they finally arrived at Hokkaido. They took a cab from the station to Sapporo and it was freaking cold. It was February after all and it was still winter, especially in the northern part of the country.

"Cold." Ayaka said, her lips trembling and her nose red. Sasuke smiled as he wrapped his scarf around her neck and covering half of her face, only showing her eyes. Ayaka mumbled her thanks.

"We're almost there." Sakura said. Even though Ayaka was trembling from the cold, her eyes gave out the warmth she felt inside. It was her first time in Sapporo and the last time her grandparents saw her was when Sakura got married to Naruto, which was about a year ago.

Not long after that, they arrived at a quiet neighborhood with snow covering the place. The cab sped off as Sasuke paid the driver. They were standing in front of an old-fashioned house, with a chimney and stuff that was all covered with snow, it was a white winter indeed. Sasuke glanced at Sakura and saw that she was crying, he approached her and stood next to her.

"Welcome home." Sasuke said softly. Sakura bit her lip to stop herself from crying even more.

She remembered it; the last time she was home was before she attended college at Tokyo University. She never visited after that because her parents would often go to Tokyo themselves, instead of her going back to Sapporo. She sighed, her hand found Sasuke's warm hand and she squeezed it tight. She just had to share her feelings with someone else. Sakura led the way and knocked on the door, thrice.

"Who's the—?" An aunt who was roughly about 50 years old started while opening the door, she looked up and saw Sakura's smiling face. "PAPA!" She tried her best to scream inside, even though her voice sounded very rustic from the cold. Just then, an uncle, about the same age, came into view.

"Don't be so loud." The man said, annoyed at his wife. He, however, took notice of the little girl first. "Who's this little person?" He asked, his eyes failing him because of the fog and of old age.

"Sakura. Sakura came home!" The lady said, her eyes streaming with joy. The man frowned.

"Last time I checked, our daughter had pink hair and wasn't she tall?." He said, touching the little girl's raven hair. Ayaka laughed.

"Jii-chan, I'm not Mama." Ayaka said softly, pointing upwards to her mother. Sakura laughed quietly at her father.

"Ma, Pa. Tadaima." Sakura said simply. She was immediately welcomed with a hug by her parents, along with Ayaka. Sasuke couldn't help but smile at the view, he never had a family; well, at least not like this.

"It's freezing outside, come along." Her mother said. Sakura, however, stopped first and stepped aside, revealing Sasuke behind. "Oh, you have someone with you." Her mother took notice. "Introductions inside, my dear." She said nicely, she didn't ask why Naruto wasn't with them.

They entered the house and it was really nice and cozy. There was a roaring fire in the living room and Sakura noticed that a magazine of knitting patterns was opened next to a knitted pillow case.

"You're knitting now, Ma? You've gotten old." Sakura said playfully, laughing at her mother's expression.

"I've got nothing else to do." Her mother said with a snort. This amused Sasuke to all levels; now he knew where Sakura got all the snorting habits.

Sakura nodded, she glanced at her father who was sending death glares at Sasuke, her eyes widened. She knew her father very well and giving death glares was one thing she didn't like to see, most of the time. They sat down in the living room, Ayaka sat beside her grandparents while Sakura and Sasuke sat beside each other.

"Ma, Pa, this is Uchiha Sasuke. You…know him, I presume." Sakura started, unsure of what to say.

Indeed, her parents knew Sasuke from all the stories she told them, but they've only met him once and she knew her parents were always forgetful when it comes to faces. Sasuke bowed in respect, Sakura was surprised. 'So this guy is respectful after all.' She thought. Mr. Haruno eyed him warily while Mrs. Haruno just smiled.

"It's very nice to meet you, Sasuke. Thank you for bringing our daughter over for a visit." Mrs. Haruno said nicely.

"She deserves a break, Haruno-san." Sasuke replied, his politeness was clearly mind-blowing. Mr. Haruno cleared his throat, Sakura and Mrs. Haruno immediately looked at him.

"So, this is him?" Mr. Haruno started.

Sasuke's eyebrows did not twitch even for a moment and Sakura's eyes just widened. This was what she feared. She understood her father's dislike of Sasuke since he knew that Sasuke left her with a baby, but she always feared confrontation since she always ends up pretty much embarrassed.

"Dear.."

"Pa.."

The two women started, but no, there was no stopping Mr. Haruno with his interrogation. Sasuke just waited, he was never the type to back down and Mr. Haruno sensed this.

"Sakura, this is the guy whom you fell madly in love with?" Mr. Haruno said, looking over at Sakura. Sakura's eyes widened. Right, here comes the embarrassment part.

"I did not fall madly in love with h—"

"Yes you did, you wrote that in your letters." He said, he cleared his throat, "Ma, Pa, Sasuke was just awesome today, you should've seen him, -sigh-, I'm really falling madly in love with him." He recounted. Sakura winced. "That's what you said in one of your letters." He said. Mrs. Haruno was just watching, slightly amused.

"That was.." Sakura started, she heard a 'heh' coming from Sasuke's side and she knew that he was enjoying this. She cursed under her breath, giving Sasuke a death glare which she probably learned from her father. "..a long time ago." She finished her sentence.

"What is so awesome about this man? Tell me. If he's so awesome, he should've taken responsibility of things." Mr. Haruno said, glancing at Ayaka who has now vanished from their side and was starting to play with the knitting objects.

"If I may, Haruno-san, I didn't leave Sakura without a reason." Sasuke said truthfully.

He never told anyone the reason why he left and maybe this was the perfect time to tell somebody to clear out the misunderstanding, even just to her parents. Sakura was now interested, she glanced at Sasuke and their eyes met, there was something in them that told her he doesn't want her to know.

"Tell me your reason then." Mr. Haruno said, standing up. He probably realized that Sasuke doesn't want Sakura to know when he saw him glance at her, so Mr. Haruno stood up. "Follow me." He said. Sasuke obediently followed. Sakura and her mother were left inside the living room.


"Mama, what was that?" Sakura asked, sitting next to her mother. Mrs. Haruno just laughed.

"Leave them be. Papa needs to, you know, evaluate the man. You know how he did that to Naruto." Her mother replied, observing Ayaka's every move and laughing as she stumbled in one of the chairs. "She definitely looks like her father." She added. Sakura nodded.

"They're pretty close, I couldn't stop it. Maybe it's because of blood relations." Sakura said. She turned to her mother again. "You're not looking for Naruto." Sakura stated, somewhat confused. Her mother laughed.

"I was expecting him, yes, but after seeing that you have Uchiha Sasuke with you, I won't be surprised if you tell me you're divorced." Her mother said truthfullyand casually.

"Ma!" Sakura started hitting her mother playfully, attracting Ayaka's attention, resulting in her doing the same thing to her grandmother. Mrs. Haruno just laughed.

"Sakura, I'm your mother, I know what you feel just by looking at you." Mrs. Haruno said, stroking her daughter's hair. Ayaka was back again to the knitting patterns.

"How can you? For all you know, I might've fallen in love with Naruto over the past year." Sakura said in a low voice. Her mother smiled.

"Hm." Her mother replied in a disbelieving tone. Sakura sighed, her mother shook her head. "Do you remember I asked you if you made the right choice before you got married?" She said. Sakura nodded.

"Yes. I thought I did." Sakura replied. Her mother smiled.

"But did you really?" She asked. Sakura shook her head, not really sure.

"Do you think I did?" Sakura asked. Her mother smiled at her, giving her a warm, motherly hug.

"That's for you to decide. Just remember, if you're having second thoughts, say it honestly to the person involved, that way, you won't be unfair." Her mother reminded her, she stood up and went to the kitchen to prepare food, Ayaka followed suit.

Sakura couldn't believe the support her mother was giving her; heck, she couldn't even believe that her mother would be supporting her since this was all madness. Her mother always wanted her to be happy and she probably sensed that she was being happy, not with Naruto, but with another person. She sighed.

"He's married. There are a lot of people involved, not just us." She told herself.


"Why don't you tell her?" Mr. Haruno asked.

Sasuke told him the reason why he left. Mr. Haruno listened intently and after much interrogation, he decided that Sasuke was telling the truth. He sensed that Sasuke was still very much in love with his daughter, though he attempts to conceal it was pretty good.

"She'd go crazy. I can just imagine her face when I tell her." Sasuke said truthfully. Mr. Haruno gave him a piercing look.

"Do you love her still?" Mr. Haruno asked. Sasuke looked straight at him and gave out a rare smile.

"Yes." He answered straightforwardly, catching Mr. Haruno off guard. When he asked that to Naruto, the guy paused and stammered first before letting out an answer.

"She's married, you are aware of that, right?" Mr. Haruno asked. Sasuke nodded.

"Of course, and I'm also aware that she's not happy." Sasuke replied, still full of confidence. Mr. Haruno placed his hands over his chest.

"And you're married." Mr. Haruno said.

"I will resolve that matter myself, but I assure you that I will not hurt Sakura again." Sasuke said. Mr. Haruno shook his head.

"I personally don't want you to be with her again, but if she chooses you, then I have nothing else to say." He said, standing up. "I'd like to see where this confidence of yours will take you." He ended, walking away. Sasuke smirked.

"You'll see." He told no one in particular.

Sasuke planned to stay at Hokkaido for a week before going back to the busy city of Tokyo. He thought he'd collect his thoughts here and finally decide on what to do. He remembered that he had to meet up with a Hiroshi Kenji of the Sapporo district to discuss the new markets of Yamanaka fashion. He decided to postpone the meeting and allot his time first to Sakura and Ayaka.


A/N: Ah..so refreshing after posting. ^_^ I'm seriously having a runny nose right now, it's gross. haha. I'm writing too much that when I'm proofreading, my brain interchanges Sasuke and Sakura's name. It's insane. hahaha. Good night people! ^_^ Gotta go and have a decent sleep. Oh...it's Valentines already! HAPPY SINGLE AWARENESS DAY! [Damn it. I gotta go and grab somebody for a date later today. LOL. hahaha.]

Thanks for the reviews everybody! I had fun reading all of them! ^_^ Write one for this chapter too! Thankssss. :)


February 14, 2011 [Monday - 12:03 a.m.]

Philippines