Sweet Summer Slumber
stfuSPARKS
She was born to create trouble, thus, landing her in that dump of a summer school which would turn out to be the place with the best memories of her life.
This called for someone's help- maybe it was time to finally call his father.
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CHAPTER TEN
Stay Together
"If this is what he wants, and what she wants,
Then why's there so much pain?"
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The phone rang once.
Twice.
Three times.
Four times.
Sasuke's shoulders tensed as someone finally picked up on the other end of the line.
"Hello, this is Uchiha Fugaku speaking."
"Father?"
There was a short pause. "Aa, Sasuke." The elderly man answered. "Are you not in the city of Leaf now?"
Uchiha Fugaku had always been an immense figure of power in Sasuke's life. The boy had spent his childhood always trying to impress the man, but he had always come up short when it came to competing for the man's attention with his older brother. Sasuke would be lying if he said that his brother's betrayal had crushed the Fugaku's pride- maybe that was the reason for which he always seemed to be trying harder to please his father, to make up for the things that Itachi could no longer do. Restoring his family's honor was now up to him- but he couldn't help but feel compelled to ask for his father's advice in the most difficult situations.
"Yes Father." Sasuke calmly replied.
"How are you doing in Konohagakure?" Fugaku asked, interest lacing his words. "I hope your job is gong well. Are you teaching many students?"
"Aa." Sasuke answered curtly, mustering up the courage to ask for his father's advice. "Father, there is something I wished to talk about with you." He hesitated for a mere second, but it was all it took for Fugaku to notice there was something bothering his son.
"Is something bothering you Sasuke?"
"Father, did you ever have any difficulties with Mother?" Sasuke blurted out, mentally hitting himself as soon as the words left his mouth. He had not meant for his voice to sound so desperate. "I mean, you know, before you got married. Did you have any issues in courting her?"
Fugaku seemed to be a little surprised at his son's outburst. Sasuke had always asked for his help when it came to problems with his studies or his future, but never had the boy approached his father with emotional issues in his life. "An Uchiha gets what an Uchiha wants." Fugaku's voice was firm, full of pride. "Of course your mother fell for me eventually."
"Eventually?" Sasuke curiously asked. "How was your relationship before that?"
"Oh, we hated each other." Fugaku said with a chuckle, as Sasuke's eyes widened on the other end of the line. "We always fought. She claimed I was heartless and I always claimed she was over dramatic." It was eerie how everything sounded extremely familiar to Sasuke. "Within time though, we learned to love each other." Sasuke stayed silent, not knowing how to ask his next question. "Are you having problems with someone, Sasuke?"
"I think I'm learning to appreciate a woman who I've recently met." Sasuke openly admitted. "But it seems to me that she can't get over the man she was involved with before... and the most irritating thing of all is that the man is a Hyuuga!" Sasuke's calm composure finally cracked a little at his last words. He could almost see his father frowning right now.
"A Hyuuga?" Fugaku repeated, his tone of voice disappointed. "Clan rivalry... do you know his name?"
"Hyuuga Neji." Sasuke replied sullenly, showing a side of him that only his father would ever see.
"A branch house member, nonetheless!" Fugaku exclaimed dramatically. "Son, what has gotten into you? Losing a woman to a Hyuuga branch house member? I thought I taught you better than that."
"I don't control her mind." Sasuke gritted out furiously. "I cannot control who she likes and who she doesn't like."
"That may be true, my son." Fugaku said slowly. "You cannot choose who she loves. But remember this: you have the right charms to make her forget him, and to make her fall in love with you." Sasuke quietly contemplated over his father's last words.
"How will I do that Father?"
"If you are an Uchiha, you will find out on your own."
"Aa. Thank you Father."
There was another short pause. "You do realize, Sasuke, it will have to be over soon. You have a fiancée waiting for you back home. We will have to start planning out your wedding soon."
"Yes Father."
"Good luck, Sasuke."
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"Sakura!"
The said girl moaned in her bed, feeling the biggest headache in her life take over her mind. She shifted around under her covers for a couple of seconds, before slowly drifting off again. Her bed felt so damn comfortable right now, if only she could have a few more hours...
"It's time to wake up Sakura!"
She had never had such a strong urge to kill someone before.
The sun rays shyly peeked through the curtains and into the room, shining onto the girl to reveal a pale face scrunched up in irritation as she felt herself about to burst into another tantrum. "Shut the damn curtains properly!" She snapped, rolling over so her face was hidden in her fluffy, comfortable pillow. Kiba smiled mischievously, before grabbing her covers off of the bed and throwing them into a corner of the room.
"Give... me... my... covers... BACK!" Sakura snarled, tackling the boy to the floor. "And give me something for this stupid headache! NOW!" She demanded nastily, clutching her head with one head, trying to decrease the pain. Kiba whimpered a scared response before rushing out of the room, quickly saying something about going to the infirmary to get her some medicine. She growled. Why couldn't she remember what hat happened last night? All she could remember were bits and pieces, scattered throughout her mind.
Her mood worsened when she opened the door to her living room, to find people sleeping on her floor once again. It was extremely deja-vu. There was a mess everywhere. Hadn't anyone sent them back to their own rooms last night? She stepped over a snoring Naruto and a quietly napping Kakashi- she had been momentarily tempted to pull his mask down to see his face, but decided that now was not the time when her head sent another shot of pain through her brain.
When her vision gradually cleared up, through her pain, she was able to notice one very important thing that was missing from the room.
Her Akatsuki book.
Sakura panicked- she vaguely remembered Kiba looking through it two nights ago, and he had left it on the short coffee table in the living room- but now it was gone. The light pink binder was out of sight, the proof of her work, her accomplishments.
She let out a cry of surprise and despair as she immediately acted on her instinct. She grabbed the nearby phone and dialed a number that she had memorized long ago. It rang three times before someone finally picked up.
"Sakura-cham, it's my day off!" Deidara complained sleepily on the other end. "You know I sleep in until past noon when I don't have any missions. After all, I do need my beauty sleep."
"Deidara!" She shrieked, as he winced, holding the phone away from him. "They stole my book!"
"Someone stole your book?" This time his voice was no longer playful, as he straightened up. Every member of the Akatsuki treasured their book, as it was something akin to a holy object to each and every one of them. "What happened?" Deidara's voice was for once, deadly serious.
"Yes! Some people threw a surprise party in my dorm yesterday, and I woke up with a huge headache and no memory whatsoever of what I did last night!" Sakura was near nearly hysterical. She took another swift look around the room. "And Sasuke isn't here either!"
Deidara could almost imagine the little girl flailing her arms around in her room. "Calm down, Sakura-chan." He tried to soothe her. "First of all, look around for any notes or something. Someone wouldn't just take your book without a reason- it has no value to anyone else." She was about to protest that she had seen all there was to see, when a small piece of paper jutting out from one of the coffee table legs caught her eyes. She old her friend to hang on for a second as she dived for the small object, making sure not to rip it as she wedged it free.
If you ever want to see this book again, meet me at the Blooming Lotus at noon.
"Someone;'s blackmailing me into meeting them at noon." Sakura growled into the phone, glancing at her watch. It was eleven thirty now- if she could quickly wash up and get dressed, she could still make it in time. "The nerve of some people!"
"Blackmail date?" Deidara suggested.
"No, I don't think it's something like that." Sakura said, eyeing the neat, formal handwriting for a couple of seconds, before crumpling up the piece of paper and throwing it into a corner of the room.
"You should have someone go with you Sakura-chan. Remember what happened the last time you were taken to meet someone?"
"The only reason that happened last time was because I willingly followed the guy." Sakura snorted. "You don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine."
Deidara paused. "The only thing that worries me is that if this is indeed another person trying to find out information about the Akatsuki, it means that they've found a lead on you. They found out that you're in Konohagakure and I don't want you to let your guard down only because we're in a difference city." Sakura softly smiled, genuinely grateful at her friend's concern.
"I'll be fine! Plus, Lee-san works there, and he said he'd protect me, so there's no way I'll get into trouble!"
"Who's Lee?"
"Long story short, a guy who crushes on me with bushy brows. Anyways, I gotta go now, I'll talk to you later." She said, and Deidara muttered a reply before hanging up.
Sakura rapidly made her way through the sleeping bodies scattered around her feet, making sure to step on Naruto extra hard. He grumbled a bit, before continuing to snore loudly. She rushed to the bathroom, washing up and changing into a pair of casual jeans and a light green shirt before making her way out the room once again. She tied her light pink hair back while hurriedly running through the hallway, hoping that she would still be in time to get her book back.
When she took her first step through the doors to the coffee shop, her heart fell with betrayal at the only familiar face she could recognize in the nearly empty place. "Neji." Her throat immediately dried up. "Give me my book back."
The said boy was quietly sipping his coffee, his unnerving white eyes piercing into her. "Only if you hear me out." He said in a quiet yet demanding voice. He motioned for her to take a seat in front of him, which she did with a deep scowl on her face.
She crossed her arms and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "I'll give you five minutes to say whatever you have to. If I don't have my book back by then, I will not hesitate you to punch you through the walls." His expression didn't change despite her threat towards him. He slowly set his cup of coffee back down onto the table, before taking a deep breath.
"Sakura, I know we were never in an official relationship but-"
"Tell me something I don't know Neji."
He gave her a frustrated look. "You probably asked yourself why I went for another girl instead of progressing things with you." He said quietly, his stoic face unchanging. She glared back at him, not giving him an answer at all. "I... I was blackmailed, Sakura."
Sakura momentarily forgot that she was supposed to be angry with him as her mouth fell open. "Huh?" She asked in confusion.
"I know about the risks that come with being part of the Akatsuki, and this girl... she would ruin your life Sakura. She would tell everyone back in Mist that you were currently in Leaf, she was going to tell them your room number, your schedule, everything. It wasn't going to be safe for you anymore. I refused to put you in danger."
Sakura's eyes softened. "This girl... she wanted you to sleep with her for you to keep the secret?" He merely nodded, and she shuddered, mentally thanking the heavens that she was not born as a good looking male- fan girls were just too frightening to her. "Neji, you-"
"I've been looking for you everywhere Sakura."
Sakura's shoulders immediately tensed up at the presence behind her. She closed her eyes, not wanting to face him at all. She could see how he could misunderstand this situation entirely, how bad it looked on her part.
"Really Hyuuga? Blackmailing? I expected you to be more honorable than that." Sasuke's voice was ice cold. "And I'd prefer it if you didn't blackmail my girlfriend into seeing you. If she says she doesn't want to talk to you, you should respect her wishes."
"It was an important matter." Black and white clashes as the two men glared at each other. Neji finally broke eye contact, pulling out the pink binder from under the table. He slowly set it in front of her. Sakura's eyes snapped wide open as soon as she heard the plastic cover hit the clothed table with a light thump. "I'll see you soon, Sakura. I hope we can still be friends."
With those last words, the Hyuuga abruptly stood up and exited the coffee shop, leaving an unreadable Sasuke to take his seat in front of her. She cast a look at her partner, wondering why she felt so guilty when she hadn't really done anything wrong.
"What were you thinking?" He finally said, his voice harsh and demanding. "It could have been anyone, worse than the Hyuuga. Maybe someone who wanted tokidnap you again, someone who wanted to hurt you-"
"Stop it Sasuke. This binder means a lot to me- and I can take perfectly good care of myself."
"Sakura..." His tone softened and he placed a calloused hand over her soft one on the table. "I was just worried about you." She didn't answer, but she dropped her glare. "I brought you these pills." Sasuke interrupted the silence, pulling out a plastic container. "I figured you'd have a headache after last night."
She gave him a grateful smile, and was momentarily tempted to ask him what she had done last night to acquire this monstrous headache, but right now she was simply too tired. Sasuke ordered a coffee and a glass of water, not saying anything else. When their orders came, he calmly sipped on his coffee as he watched her wash down a pill with some water.
"Would you like to go somewhere for dinner tonight?"
His words surprised her, as she coughed on the water she had been drinking. "I thought you didn't believe in taking me out to dinner when we could have free food at the cafeteria here." She replied teasingly, unable to hide the light tint on her cheeks.
Her heart slightly jumped in her chest when he gave her a small smirk.
"Let me take you out to dinner Sakura."
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"Teme where have you been all morning? I've been trying to find you for hours!"
Sasuke winced as his self-proclaimed best friend's loud voice greeted him the moment he stepped into the teacher's lounge. He looked over to see the blonde cheerfully waving at him from the comfortable couch. "To tell me what?" Sasuke asked irritably, rolling his eyes as he took a seat across from Naruto.
Naruto seemed to be oblivious to Sasuke's clear irritation, and carried on speaking in a loud voice. "Well you know Neji's cousin?" Sasuke's eyes flared up at the mentioned name. Naturally, Naruto did not notice. "I talked to her last night and I scored a date with her for tonight!" His bright blue eyes gleamed in excitement.
"That's great." Sasuke grumbled, vaguely remembering the timid girl. He relished the silence, hoping that Naruto would give him a break-
"And you'll never guess what!"
Sasuke had obviously asked for too much.
"What Naruto."
"SHIKAMARU TOTALLY HOOKED UP WITH A GIRL!" Naruto exclaimed, bursting into laughter. He looked at Sasuke's mildly surprised face, and he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Well kinda... I guess. He met this girl last night and he said he's going to meet her again tomorrow for a battle of shogi... what a lame excuse!" Sasuke was about to tell the blonde that no, he did not care about who hooked up with who last night and yes please, he just wanted a break, when his onyx eyes caught a glance of the big calendar hanging on the wall.
"Naruto..." Sasuke said in a low voice, never taking his eyes off the dates. "One month has already gone by."
"Duh." Naruto gave him a weird look. "Of course it's been a month genius, it's August now." It took him a couple of seconds to realize what Sasuke meant. "Are you worried about Sakura-chan?"
"No."
You're such a bad liar, Sasuke.
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"He was such an ass!"
Sakura gave her best friend an absent-minded nod as she distractedly looked outside the window, only vaguely listening to Ino's words. The blond haired girl had been repeating the same words over and over again for the past hour- and as much as Sakura really did love Ino as her best friend, there was a limit to how many times she could listen to Ino's complaining.
"He was such a rude jerk! You should have seen the way in which he was treating me, it was completely-"
"I think you like him Ino."
"And his sense of- WHAT?"
Ino's shriek was louder than Sakura's poor ears could handle, and the latter's cheeks turned pink in embarrassment as several people turned around to give them curious looks. "Lower your voice, pig!" Sakura hissed, before continuing her sentence. "You keep on talking about him nonstop. You usually do that with boys you're interested in." She pointed out, ignoring the murderous looks Ino was giving her.
"I keep on talking about him because he's interesting, yes- but in a negative way, Forehead girl." Ino told her, putting extra emphasis on the word 'negative'. "I like to insult people as well- only because I talk about someone doesn't mean I like him." Sakura rolled her eyes at the obvious excuse, but decided to drop the subject- once Ino started to deny something, there was no way to change her mind.
"I'm going back to Mist in a month."
Ino's eyes brightened up at her friend's words. "Yeah you are! And we're going to throw many parties like we used to!" Ino exclaimed, looking giddy. "It'll be like the good old days- you better not blow me off for stupid missions or whatever they assign you in that stupid group! And I bet Idate's still waiting for you too!" She paused her rant when she realized the pink haired girl didn't look excited at all. "It's Sasuke isn't it?"
Sakura averted her emerald eyes away and suddenly took extreme interest with a strand of her hair.
"Not really." She answered, twirling the strand around a finger. "I'm just worried about other things."
You're such a bad liar, Sakura.
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"You're worrying me."
Tenten shot her co-worker a concerned glance from her messy office desk. The Hyuuga heiress sat at her own desk across from her, the complete opposite of Tenten's space. While the brunette's area was messy and disorganized, Hinata's work area was spotless and neat. "You've been completely out of his since last night, Hinata. Are you going to tell me what happened?" A roguish grin came over her face.
Hinata let out a timid squeak and clumsily dropped her pen to the floor. The object loudly clattered on the metal surface, startling the heiress even more. When she reached down to pick it up, she knocked over a stack of well-organized papers to the floor as well. "See what I mean?" Tenten said, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm... I'm j-just not feeling w-well today," Hinata stammered, frantically picking up the papers. "I have a l-lot on m-my mind."
"Does it have to do with a certain blond haired boy you were talking to last night?" Tenten teased, enjoying the sight of her co-worker looking so flustered. "He was SO all over you oyesterday night, it was painfully obvious Hinata."
A heavy blush adorned Hinata's cheeks. "Do you t-think s-so?" She timidly asked, a small but pleased smile spreading on her porcelain-like face.
"Definitely." Tenten confirmed, with a nod of her head. "Didn't you see the way in which he was talking to you? And you have to admit that he seemed totally interested in you when he asked you to eat ramen with him tonight! It's like a date!" Hinata let out another surprised squeak at the last word. "Oh and by the way Hinata, you never told me your cousin was such a hot piece of meat!" Hinata's blushing face turned horrified at Tenten's description of her relative. "Too bad he's such an asshole. No offence."
"It's s-strange." Hinata suddenly turned serious, looking extremely thoughtful. "N-Neji nii-san is not t-that kind of p-person, I s-swear. There must b-be a misunderstanding." It took one look into Hinata's eyes to convince Tenten that the Hyuuga heiress was probably not lying.
"Well, isn't that Sakura girl going out with the Uchiha? Neji should just give up and look for another girl. Leave them to enjoy their summer romance!" She huffed, looking slightly irritated.
"A g-girl like you?" Hinata giggled, as Tenten's mouth formed a round 'O' shape.
"Hinata!"
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It was late in the afternoon when Sakura got back to her dorm after meeting with Ino. She was completely exhausted- Ino certainly knew how to talk her mouth off. She looked around the room, grateful to see that the mess had been cleaned up. She found a couple of notes waiting for her on the coffee table- one from Shikamaru, telling his roommates that he would be out for the evening to play shogi with a friend, one from Kiba, attached to a bottle of aspirin, and one from Sasuke, telling her to be ready by six.
Sakura looked at the clock, dread forming a knot in her stomach as she realized that it was already past five. She barely had the time to take a shower and get dressed- where was she going to find the time to choose her clothing and look nice? She wanted to look more than decent for their first date- but if she wanted to even look anywhere near decent, she would have to start getting ready. Now.
She took a rapid shower, making sure she smelled good before standing in front of her drawer. She looked at her clothes with a deep sigh, thinking that her boyfriend could have at least told her where he was taking her so she could dress for the occasion. She didn't want to feel under-dressed or vice-versa. In the end, she decided on a safe but pleasant looking white, casual summer dress, accompanied by a short black sweater. She had just finished applying final touches on her make-up when there was a knock at the door, making her heart jump to her throat.
"Sasuke," She greeted shyly, opening the door to reveal the taller man standing at the doorway. He was dressed in a fairly similar fashion, perhaps a little more elegant. His black skinny trousers were supported at the hip by a black leather belt, and his white shirt was slightly unbuttoned to reveal his toned chest. He gave her a brief but appreciative glance before motioning for her to follow him. "Are you going to tell me where we're going?" She asked him curiously, as he led her down the hallway by the hand.
"You'll see." He replied curtly.
Knowing that she probably wasn't going to get more from him, she silently followed him towards the parking lot, where he opened the car door for her to get in. He slid into the driver's seat next to her and started up the engine. Without another word, the car pulled out of the school grounds, driving down towards the main road.
"So, what have you been up to all day?" Sakura nervously asked, hoping the cheerfulness in her voice didn't sound too forced.
"Met Naruto after splitting up with you at the coffee shop." He said, his eyes never leaving the road. "Planned out your courses for the last four weeks of lessons." Her face fell at his words. She had been trying to ignore the subject of their time limit all day, not to mention she didn't have the courage to bring it up in front of him. She wanted to know what would happen to them after the summer ended, but at the same time she was scared of the answer.
He must have felt the tension in her body. "We're going to talk about it tonight." He said quietly, in a serious voice. She briefly wondered if tonight was going to have a good outcome or a bad one.
Neither of them said another word to each other for the rest of the car ride, both too deep in thought to start up a conversation.
When he finally stopped the car, Sakura was snapped out of her thoughts as he opened the door for her, waiting for her to get out. She couldn't stop a gasp from escaping her mouth as she looked at possibly one of the most elegant and luxurious restaurants she had ever seen- she couldn't help but feel slightly self-conscious as numerous rich, well-dressed couples walked by them, entering the building.
As if he had read her thoughts, he leaned his head down to whisper a reassuring "Don't be nervous." into her ear. She gave him a nervous smile, but found herself unable to relax as the huge brass doors opened automatically as they got closer. She marveled around at the beautiful ruby carpet adorning the floors, and the intricate wooden wallpapers throughout the spacious place. She vaguely listened as Sasuke ordered for their table.
"Of course, right away Uchiha-sama."
Her eyes widened at the formal speech the waiter used, and had to suppress her giggles as he raised an eyebrow at her. "Aren't you popular, Uchiha-sama?" She teased him.
"I have been here numerous time on family business." Sasuke seriously replied, but she didn't miss the smirk that graced his lips as they made their way towards their table. Sakura took a seat as the waiter pulled out the chair for her. She awkwardly squirmed in the expensive leather seat, the cheap material of her dress feeling uncomfortable against the luxurious material of the seat.
Sakura quietly observed as Sasuke ordered off the menu, speaking a language that she had never heard before. She was positive that it wasn't english. She nervously looked around, her eyes darting back and forth between her partner and the extremely expensive looking chandelier above their heads- she could only pray that it wasn't as frail as it looked.
"Sakura." He caught her attention right away as soon as her name rolled off his tongue. Bright green orbs looked up to gaze back at him.
"I must talk to you about something important."
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Shikamaru sat still in his seat, dumbfounded- a feeling he had not experienced in many years. Never before in his entire life had he been beaten by someone, nonetheless a stranger he had never heard of.
But here she was, right before him. Sabaku no Temari had just triumphed.
Oh, the humiliation
"So you're the genius everyone's talking about?" Temari huffed, arrogance slightly lacing her words. "You aren't all that much kid. Sorry to break it to ya."
He narrowed his eyes at her, crossing her arms as he leaned back in the small plastic chair. They received a few curious stares from several people walking by- it was an unusual scene, seeing a couple sitting at the fast food stands at the mall, with a shogi board right in front of them. Shikamaru would have preferred a quieter place- he blamed all the noise and confusion on his loss- but against his will, he had been dragged here by the forceful Temari, who insisted that fast foods helped her think better.
He was about to challenge her to another round when a shrill voice interrupted their thoughts. "Ah! It's you!" A voice screeched, and the two heads turned around to see a familiar platinum blond haired girl pointing an accusing finger towards them- more precisely, towards him.
Shikamaru was horrified. His day was indeed spiraling down towards the gutters.
"Hey, you're the blond chick from the party!" Temari called out. Her voice was friendly enough, but Shikamaru could see the devious grin in her face. It scared him to no ends. This was precisely why he did not get involved with women- they were troublesome. This was proof. "Hey, why don't you join us?" Temari added.
"Uh, crazy pineapple haired guy and freaky fishnet girl? No thanks." Ino scoffed, flipping her hair back.
"We're going shopping." Temari added. Ino's ears perked up and her blue eyes immediately lightened up at the other girl's words. Shikamaru loudly groaned, knowing what this meant.
The sandy blond haired girl had won this round as well.
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Sakura's face was no longer nervous on the exterior. She looked calm and serious, her green eyes unwavering as they met his own. She prayed that he wouldn't be able to see her shaking hands under the table.
"What do you need to talk about?" She asked, trying to keep her voice light and steady. She feared his answer.
"We need to talk about what will happen to us when this month will be over."
The plate of raw fish was served in front of her.
Somehow the only thought that came into her mind was a miserable one.
This reminds me of Kisame.
Somewhere on the other side of the city, the said blue skinned man sneezed.