Sorry this took so long to come out. I needed some inspiration. Anyway, this chapter is lot more LIGHTER and happier than the last chapter. I enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoy reading it.
The perspective changes a lot without warning, but I don't think it's confusing or hard to figure out. I hope it doesn't cause any problems.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own Naruto nor anything related to Naruto but I DO own everything not related to Naruto, like Saarik^^.
Chapter Ten
Here's To The Past
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The sun had beat down on the five figures mercilessly as they fought their way across the wide expanse of desert. Covered in sand and features haggard from hard travels, they were barely recognizable when they had arrived in Suna a week before.
Sakura remembered the shocked looks they got from the Kazekage and his siblings after she had thrown her name around in order to see him, hoping her reputation and old rank was still recognized so far from Konoha. She had told him everything that had happened and he immediately sent a hawk to Konoha to inform the Hokage of her impending return. Then they were allowed to rest for a day and restocked their supplies before they were on their way again. Sakura forced Trina to stay because she was practically dropping from the unused hard travels and her skin was blotchy and red from the constant sunlight. Her ankles were swollen and she was beginning to get sick. Riina surprisingly was fine, if not fatigued even though she never did a hard day's work in her entire life.
Gaara had insisted on them taking a couple of his shinobi with them until they reached the border in case any of the mages from Saarik caught up to them. Once the border was in sight, the Suna shinobi said their 'goodbyes' and watched the small group cross the border into the lush shade of Fire Country before dashing back to their Hidden Village.
Sakura practically fell into the first stream they found, splashing and playing with Xanthus and Riina, relieved and lighthearted as they felt the hardest part of their journey had passed without any more encounters with any of the psychotic mages.
After an hour of rest Galen had forced them to start again, stating that they were still too close to the border for his liking.
Now Sakura led them through the dense forest that made up the Fire Country since it was her home country and she was more familiar with their surroundings than Galen. It was on the third day after they crossed the border when Konoha's ANBU found them.
They had just finished their five-minute break and were trekking through the forest when Sakura sensed something amiss. She stopped dead in her tracks, about to motion for Galen when figures dropped silently from the trees around the small group.
There were seven of them, each with a different mask to protect their identity. They weren't hostile but they didn't treat them like allies either. They encircled the four-member group, motionless and fearsome.
A shinobi wearing a tiger mask stepped out of the circle to address them. "You are Haruno Sakura?"
Sakura straightened from her tense stance before giving a firm nod, "I am."
"You are to come with us. If you resist we will act with force to detain you."
"We won't resist."
He gave a small nod before turning around and heading off in the same direction Sakura had been leading them moments before. The other ANBU fell into place around them, moving effortlessly through the leaf strewn forest floor without a sound.
One shinobi with a monkey mask jerked his head when Xanthus stumbled forward to grasp Sakura's hand. Sakura gave the ANBU shinobi a stern glare when she saw his gloved hand hovering over the pouch on his leg. He seemed to hesitate for a second before dropping his hand and facing forward again.
What the hell is a two-year old going to do? Sakura griped in her mind as she lifted Xanthus over a fallen tree trunk.
Despite his fatigue and fear of the masked men, he tried to scramble over to a fat green lizard lazing on the log. Sakura had to drag him away from it and heave him off the side of the trunk before giving him the most serious no-nonsense stare she could muster. He wilted under her heavy stare and looked down at the ground, scuffing a twig with the toe of his boot.
Sakura's heart clenched but she ignored the uncomfortable feeling before taking his hand and continuing after the tiger masked shinobi. She paid no mind to the small glances the other ANBU shinobi were throwing her way, no doubt amused by the little boy's antics and her attempt to discipline him.
After three dragged out hours the looming gates of Konoha finally came into view.
Sakura's heart started thumping faster at the sight.
"Wow Mama! Look at that!" Xanthus exclaimed, tugging at her hand and pointing jerkily in the general direction of the Village. "Is that where we hafta go?"
Sakura smiled as she looked down at his excited expression, practically bouncing in place. "Yes, that's where we'll be staying for a little while." She said softly, aware that she had an audience.
His amber eyes widened in wonder before he turned to stare at the large, faintly green wooden gates that, unbeknown to him, led to his mother's past.
"Hey did you hear? A bunch of strange looking people just passed through the gates escorted by ANBU! What's Hokage-sama up to now?"
Sasuke barely paid any heed to the noisy teen trying to impress his date with unimpressive gossip in the next stall in the restaurant. He merely nudged a piece of tempura around his plate before taking a sip of his oolong tea.
"Why'd we have to come here? It's so noisy and the ramen sucks!"
Sasuke clenched his jaw at Naruto's whiny voice as he complained to Hinata who just smiled like it was cute.
Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"Ah, shut it Naruto! We're tired of meeting up at friggin' Ichiraku! It doesn't even have enough stools for all of us, shit!"
Sasuke took another sip of his tea to hide his grin at Hinata's disapproving look at Kiba's foul way of expressing himself. He heard Shikamaru mumble something being 'troublesome' in his corner of the stall.
"Yeah, Naruto. It's time we broadened our horizons. So stop being so spoiled!" Ino huffed next to Chouji, flipping her long hair over her shoulder in a haughty manner.
"You're one to talk, Ino! You're the most spoiled person I know!" Naruto very nearly yelled. But when Hinata placed a soft hand on his arm he relaxed and turned away to slurp up another mouthful of ramen.
Sasuke's eyebrow twitched at his disgusting lack-of manners.
"Hey Shino, you gonna eat that?" Kiba asked, not waiting for the stoic man to reply before grabbing a chunk of something off his teammate's plate and shoving it in his mouth.
Sasuke felt a tic start as he forced his mind to blank out the people around him and focus on his own food.
He still didn't know why he kept showing up to these get-togethers. Maybe it was to shut-up Naruto's constant whining and begging for him to come but that didn't make sense because the guy whined about everything. And it didn't help that he found himself a quiet, patient wife who thought these childish antics were cute.
As Sasuke mulled over these thoughts he found himself glaring at the couple sitting across from him.
Naruto was in the middle of feeding Hinata a piece of beef from his ramen when he felt Sasuke's dark glare. He straightened and eyed the man across from him with a confused look.
"Why are you glaring at me Sasuke-teme? If you want to be lovey dovey with someone why don't you just ask Sayuri-chan out?" Naruto asked innocently.
Sasuke's glare intensified and Hinata looked between the two worriedly as the rest of the table went quiet.
The silence was broken when Naruto snorted on his laugh and fell into snickering at Sasuke's murderous glare.
"What's wrong with Sayuri?" Ino asked, confused by Naruto's humor and Sasuke's dark aura.
Naruto managed to come under control in time to answer, "Nothing's wrong with her. She's awesome. Sasuke just doesn't want to go out with her because her name is too similar to 'you-know-who's'" He gave the rest of the table a 'you know what I'm talking about' look.
Ino's confused look morphed into one of sly mischief, "Oh, you mean Sakura?"
Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes as everyone at the table turned to look at him to gauge his reaction.
"I don't care that her name is similar to Sakura's. It has nothing to do with that." Sasuke grumbled out, looking at the rest of the restaurant so he didn't have to look at the nosy people he was having lunch with.
"Then why don't you want to go out with her? She's not hot enough for you?" Ino asked in a sympathetic tone, gaining laughs and chuckles from the rest of the table.
Sasuke took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh, closing his eyes for a moment to calm down.
"She's too..." He started, opening his eyes and taken aback by Naruto, Ino and Kiba leaning almost halfway across the table, practically hanging off his every word and it didn't help that Hinata, Shikamaru and hell, even Shino were looking at him with curiosity. His only ally was Chouji who hadn't bothered to stop eating.
This time he did roll his eyes.
"She's too what?" Naruto prodded.
...
...
...
"Dominating." Sasuke mumbled after what seemed like five minutes but was really only one.
"What?" Ino asked loudly, "Stop mumbling into your teacup!" She snapped annoyingly, smacking the table with her palm causing Chouji's dishes to rattle.
This triggered Naruto to go into a whining frenzy as he begged Sasuke to tell them, that he promised he wouldn't laugh. His voice got louder as he tried to compete with Kiba's 'stop being a pansy and spit it out, Uchiha.' and Ino's blabbering about why he should tell them and they could help him if it turned out he was gay and if he was she knew it for a while and that he had her support.
People from the other stalls and tables were starting to look in the direction of the rising voices and Sasuke felt his resolve breaking.
He sent a death glare in their directions before almost yelling, "She's too damn dominating! She won't stop demanding things from me and whenever I do something she doesn't like she stops talking to me for weeks and leaves dead animals on my doorstep every morning until I buy her something as an apology. She burned down a tree in my yard and poisoned my koi fish pond because I didn't compliment her new hairstyle. She keeps telling everyone I'm her boyfriend even though we've never been on a date and she threatened to kill and maim every single girl she caught looking at me. She won't leave me the fuck alone." Sasuke finished his very uncharacteristic rant that had most likely been building up since the first day he met Sayuri.
The entire table went silent for about two minutes before everyone simultaneously burst into laughter, Shino only chuckling and Hinata giggling. The three most boisterous ones were the three that had been the most nosy; Naruto was full-out laughing, holding his sides and tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Kiba was slapping the table and howling with laughter while Ino had slumped back in her seat, her face red from lack of air. Shikamaru was the first to quiet down but he kept an amused smirk plastered to his face at Sasuke's murderous glare, noticing the flush to the last Uchiha's cheeks.
"What's so funny, guys? We could hear you laughing all the way outside."
Everyone looked towards the new voice, little bursts of giggles bubbling up once in a while. Tenten, Neji and Lee were standing at the edge of the table with amused expressions and curious glances towards the glowering Uchiha.
They scooted down the table to make room for the newcomers as Naruto and Ino retold Sasuke's embarrassing confession, Kiba throwing in his piece whenever they forgot something.
Lee smacked Sasuke on the back in what he thought was a sympathetic manner but it almost pushed Sasuke face-first into his plate.
"Ah, the pains of unrequited love." Lee sighed.
"Whose got unrequited love?" Sasuke grumbled glumly, clenching his fists under the table.
"Well, we have news of our own, although who knows if it can beat Sasuke's love-troubles." Tenten smirked in Sasuke's direction.
Sasuke glared back before turning his glare at his food.
"What is it, Tenten-san?" Hinata's soft voice broke the silence and brought the attention back to Tenten.
"Um, we just got back from training and as you know we pass by the front gates right?" Tenten started, sounding like a teenager who just got her hands on a piece of juicy gossip. Ino was lapping it up with eagerness.
"Well, today we were passing by as usual and guess who's strolling through the gates, flanked by a seven-squad ANBU force and a handful of strangely dressed people?" Tenten let it drag out before exclaiming, "Sakura! She's back!"
Naruto felt his chopsticks slip from his fingers and clatter into his ramen bowl, splattering ramen everywhere, the echo of a teacup falling and spilling its contents across the wooden table triggered chaos to ensue.
"Sakura, I can't believe it. To think it's been three years since you've been home and to hear this kind of news." The Hokage sat behind her large desk in her office, staring at the new arrivals in deep contemplation. Shizune and Jiraiya hovered nearby after Tsunade had dismissed her ANBU squad.
Sakura stood in front of the Hokage's desk, waiting patiently for her old sensei to absorb everything she had revealed after their heartfelt and teary reunion. Her legs ached and her stomach clenched with hunger but she stood straight and motionless, falling back into her long-forgotten shinobi mode.
Riina had a firm hold on Xanthus and Galen stood behind them, his arms loose by his sides but his eyes were alert and roving to take in his surroundings and the other people in the room.
"I'll have to call a meeting with the elders. This could be related to the sudden lack of activity from Akatsuki. Who knows what havoc they could bring if they figured out how to use that land's powers. I'll hold the meeting in a few days to give you some time to rest so you can be present for the meeting."
"Galen will be coming as well." Sakura interrupted. At Tsunade's skeptical look she added, "He's one of the emperor's top three soldiers and he's here on the emperor's behalf and should be treated with the utmost respect."
Tsunade looked taken aback, Jiraiya and Shizune stared in shock at Sakura's commanding tone. They still couldn't believe she had grown so much from the young, hot-tempered girl into this proud, commanding woman who, despite her haggard appearance, reeked of control and poise.
"Of course." Tsunade agreed reluctantly, still apprehensive but trusting her past apprentice.
Sakura let the "empress act" fade and smiled gratefully at the Hokage. "Um, where will we be staying?"
"I had a house rented out for you but I doubt you would want to stay in it. It was the only thing available on such short notice. If you don't want to stay there I'll let you stay in the guest house until we find somewhere appropriate for you to stay. I don't think you would want to stay in an apartment when you have this little one; he'd be restless." Tsunade motioned to Xanthus who stared up at her in open curiosity.
Sakura looked at her suspiciously, "Where exactly is this place and why wouldn't I want to stay there?" She flicked her eyes to Jiraiya who coughed into his hand to hide his grin. Shizune pursed her lips to keep from smiling. Sakura narrowed her emerald gaze onto the Hokage who looked away awkwardly.
"It's located in the Uchiha district."
Sakura felt her mouth fall open as she gaped in astonishment at what Tsunade was saying. She wanted her to stay in the Uchiha district?!
"B-But Sasuke hates me!" Sakura protested pathetically.
Before Tsunade could deny it, they all felt a flare of familiar chakra right before the doors to the Hokage's office were blown open and Naruto hurtled in, searching frantically around the room.
Galen flicked his sword out of its scabbard but halted his movements when he heard Sakura gasp "Naruto?!"
Naruto immediately shot over to her and scooped her up into a tight hug that took her breath away.
"Who is that, Riina? Why's he hugging Mama? Doesn't he know Daddy will hate him for hugging Mama?" Xanthus questioned as he tugged on Riina's hand.
"I-I don't know Xanthus. He's probably just her friend, don't worry." Riina assured the young prince, before throwing a suspicious look in Sakura's direction. She still had her arms around the other man's neck and there were tears in his eyes. What a pansy.
Then she felt another presence and then some more behind the first so she glanced over her shoulder in time to see a gorgeous raven-haired man with a cold aura stroll into the room followed by a perfectly proportioned young woman with long pale blond hair and startling blue eyes. Then an elegant and very poised woman with long hair so black it gleamed blue followed after the blond and Riina was taken aback by her pale lavender, almost white eyes. Was she blind...? No...it doesn't look like it....this place is stranger than Saarik.
Riina watched as the blond woman elbowed the blond man out of the way to pull Sakura into a tight hug after yelling "Forehead-girl why the hell didn't you write?"
'Forehead-girl...?'
Riina turned to give Galen a perplexed look before catching the raven-haired man's eye. He regarded her coolly as he leaned against the back wall near the doors. His lips twitched in an almost 'scoff' before turning to look at the small group surrounding Sakura.
Riina felt her face flush at his blatant dismissal of her as something inferior before she glared hard at him and turned to face the group in front of her. The white-eyed woman was there now, talking softly but the light in her white eyes showed her excitement as she chatted with Sakura.
The blond man finally noticed the raven-haired one and glared at him playfully.
"Oi! Sasuke-teme! Get your ass over here and greet Sakura! You know you missed her!" Naruto grinned at Sasuke's alarmed glare before Naruto whispered loudly to Sakura so everyone would still hear, "He's been saving himself for you!"
The other two women laughed but Riina frowned deeply, her eyebrows furrowing when Sakura just blinked blankly at Naruto before shaking her head and straining a smile.
"Hey, don't swear, can't you see there's a kid here?" Riina snapped, her words tinged with annoyance.
Sakura seemed to come back to herself and smacked the blond man over the head, "Yeah, Naruto. Mind your manners." She said as she walked over to the small travel worn group.
Naruto looked at them like he had just noticed they were there as he rubbed his head where Sakura smacked him. Ino regarded Riina, instantly not liking her because of her haughty manner (despite her being haughty as well). Hinata smiled politely in greeting, moving to stand next to Naruto.
"I'd like to introduce you guys to my old friends," Sakura said to Riina, and Galen as she scooped Xanthus into her arms.
"This is Uzumaki Naruto, Yamanaka Ino, Hyuuga or should I say Uzumaki Hinata," Sakura added with a sly grin in the other woman's direction, "and Uchiha Sasuke." She ended with a lazy motion in the Uchiha's direction who had yet to greet her.
The three aforementioned greeted the small group politely, though Naruto was a little too enthusiastic about it.
"So who's this little guy? You forgot to introduce him." Naruto said loudly, ruffling Xanthus's hair with a wide grin causing the boy to clutch the front of Sakura's clothes shyly.
"This is Xanthus," Sakura started, smoothing his ruffled hair down.
Before she could finish Naruto interrupted, "Hi, Xanthus! I'm Naruto. You sure like Sakura-chan huh? I like her a lot too. Can I hold him Sakura-chan?"
"Naruto, I wasn't finished." Sakura stated flatly.
"..O-Oh. Ah, go on then." He scratched the back of his head before moving backwards slowly, almost cautiously so as not to make Sakura angry and start yelling like he remembered when they were young.
"This is Xanthus, my son." Sakura finished cheerfully. She smiled at the blank expressions of the three newcomers, already expecting the reaction.
Naruto blinked blankly like how Sakura had previously done before shooting a glance towards Galen and then a nervous one to Sasuke.
"Oh my gosh! Sakura! He's adorable! Lemme hold him!" Ino snatched Xanthus from Sakura's arms before cooing at him, "Hi! I'm your Oba-saaaan! Nice to meet you! You're so cute! Look Hinata! When are you going to have one? He's so cute! I want one!"
Sakura rolled her eyes, "He's not a puppy, Ino-pig! He's a human boy! And you're scaring him! Stop cooing over him like that! He'll grow up to dread you." Sakura snatched her son back who stared at Ino in childish anger as he dramatically wiped his cheek where she had planted a kiss.
Hinata was still blushing from Ino's comment on her and Naruto having a baby. Ino pouted at Sakura, still reaching out for Xanthus who turned his face away into his mother's chest.
Sasuke went still at the news and stared at the pink-haired woman and then slid his eyes down to the small platinum blond boy in her arms. Then he felt Naruto looking at him and he slid his dark eyes to meet his friend's worried blue ones. He gave him a small smirk before giving a slight shrug like it didn't matter.
Naruto's brows furrowed sadly before he turned back to Sakura.
Galen watched the exchange from the corner of his eye and he didn't like it one bit. He flicked his eyes to the raven-haired man to see him staring at Sakura. He fought down the urge to scowl and shot the raven-haired man a suspicious look before facing forward again.
"So who's the father, eh, Forehead-girl?" Ino nudged Sakura's side, glancing in Galen's direction and earning a scowl from Riina.
Sakura forced the sadness she felt away before smiling, "He's not here. You don't know him, obviously."
Ino pouted again before tapping her chin thoughtfully, "Well, was he one of the gorgeous guys that came last time when you left?"
The color drained from Sakura's face before she nodded shakily.
Ino brightened, "So, which one? The one with the blue hair was really cute. Or was it the red hair one?" She squealed at the thought.
Riina glared at the mention of her brother and looked at Galen in a "can you believe this girl" way.
"Ah, neither one." Sakura ran her fingers through Xanthus's hair.
"Well, tell me!" Ino whined.
The rest of the room went silent. Tsunade looked to Sakura worriedly, about to say something to save the girl from the uncomfortable situation. Sakura had mentioned that she didn't want anyone to know that she had been an empress; she knew it would create a lot of awkward situations.
"Hey, Ino-chan, I think Sakura-chan is very tired. Why don't you visit her another time after she's rested?" Shizune piped up before Tsunade could. Jiraiya nodded his agreement.
Ino was about to protest but Sakura cut her off, "No, it's fine. They're bound to find out anyway." She smiled in thanks to Shizune before answering, "It was the silver-haired one."
"The silver-haired one..." Ino tapped her chin again trying to remember before she froze and her eyes widened.
Hinata covered her mouth in surprise when she too remembered.
Only Sasuke and Naruto were left confused because they hadn't paid much attention to the strange men because they were too focused on the return of their teammate.
"Why's everybody so shocked? Who's the silver-haired guy?" Naruto asked loudly, glancing towards his wife and Ino, his face perplexed. "Can't be Kaka-sensei can it?" He laughed at his own joke and didn't notice the disgusted looks he earned from Sakura and Sasuke.
Sakura smiled tightly after Naruto quieted down, "No, it's Azryal, he's the-"
"Emperor!" Ino shrieked and practically threw herself to Sakura, questions and exclamations spilling from her lips. Even Hinata came close to hear what she would say and to add her own excited questions.
Xanthus had piped up at the mention of his father and started running his mouth a mile-a-minute about how he couldn't wait until he saw his Daddy again and what they would do and how much fun it would be and how nobody would try to hug Mama because Daddy would kill them and they would all be happy and together forever and ever and ever.
Naruto gaped at the implication of what this meant and then looked back at Sasuke with a defeated expression as he moved closer to his friend to lean against the wall next to him.
"Sorry, Sasuke-teme. But you don't stand a chance against what she's already got. Even though you're very pretty." Naruto patted Sasuke's shoulder comfortingly.
Sasuke almost growled in annoyance before swiping his friend's hand off of him.
"What makes you think I was even interested in her? You just jumped to conclusions all on your own." Sasuke scoffed.
"Just keep telling yourself that, Sasuke. One day the pain will disappear." Naruto nodded as he said it.
"Alright everyone. It's time you left Sakura alone. She's dead tired and you're not helping. I'm sure they're all exhausted." Tsunade said, authority lacing her words. She ushered Ino and Hinata away from the young mother before glancing at Sakura.
"Are you okay with staying in the Uchiha District?" Tsunade whispered under Ino's loud protests and the adventures Xanthus was still describing he and his Daddy will have.
Sakura sighed tiredly, "Yes, it's fine. I'm too tired to complain, really." She smiled before setting the still yapping Xanthus on the floor.
Tsunade nodded before turning to face where Sasuke was still leaning on the wall, "Sasuke, these are your new tenants I mentioned earlier."
Sasuke's shoulder actually slipped on the wall, his eyes widening slightly before he schooled his features into a blank stare and nodded. He pushed off the wall and headed out of the office.
"What? Sakura-chan is staying with Sasuke?" Maybe there's hope yet! Naruto rapidly thought in excitement.
"No, they're just renting one of the houses in the Uchiha district. Don't get your hopes up, Naruto." Tsunade clarified before pulling Sakura into another hug. "I'll see you at the meeting later this week, alright?"
Sakura nodded before pulling away and taking Xanthus's hand.
"It was nice meeting all of you." Tsunade smiled at Sakura's companions before returning to sit behind her desk.
Riina and Galen replied politely before following Sakura out of the office. Naruto and Ino scrambled after them while Hinata bowed politely and followed.
When all the younger people had left, Tsunade slumped in her chair and let out a long tired sigh before facing Jiraiya and Shizune.
"This is going to get very interesting."
Before the others could reply, their was a pop and a poof of smoke before Kakashi appeared on the windowsill behind the Hokage's desk.
"I heard Sakura returned?" He stated simply, his Icha Icha book hanging from his hand.
Tsunade rolled her eyes in annoyance, "You're late, as usual Kakashi. You just missed her."
He was about to poof out of there to go after her but Tsunade stopped him, "And she's dead tired. Visit her tomorrow." She smirked at his disappointed look before sobering up and becoming serious. Then the Hokage began the dreaded discussion about the coming catastrophe Sakura had brought light upon.
"This is awkward." Riina whispered to Sakura as they followed Sasuke to what she presumed was the 'Uchiha District'.
Naruto and Hinata had left a little while ago with Ino to tell the rest of the Rookie Nine and Gai's Team about what happened and promised they'll come visit tomorrow. So they were left with the silent Uchiha who Riina thought was an antisocial rude jerk with no manners whatsoever who didn't deserve to be considered Sakura's friend.
Sakura shrugged, keeping an eye on Xanthus as he skipped ahead of Sasuke, waving a stick in the air like a sword.
"He's always been like that. Get used to it." She glanced at Riina with a slight smirk before turning back to watch her son, "I still can't fathom how that child has so much energy! He was practically dropping with fatigue before we got here and now look at him."
Riina giggled when she heard Xanthus yell a battle-cry that Rene was known to yell when he trained.
"How far is the Uchiha District?" Galen asked, finally breaking his age-long silence since they had arrived in Konoha.
"Uh, it's near the outskirts of town. Probably another ten or twenty minutes. I don't think I've ever been there, actually." Sakura answered, her features becoming thoughtful.
"But weren't you guys teammates? You've never been to his house?" Riina asked.
"Well, we weren't exactly the closest of friends. I had the biggest crush on him when I was younger and he utterly despised me because I was always flirting with him and trying to get his attention. I was actually pretty annoying." Sakura joked. She noticed a tenseness to Sasuke's shoulders and her smile turned into another smirk.
"Ugh, how can you ever have liked such a stick in the mud?" Riina blanched at the thought. "I'm glad to see your tastes have improved." She stated haughtily, obviously referring to Azryal.
"Shh, Riina! He'll hear you!" Sakura giggled, her finger over her lips as she shushed the younger girl.
"I don't care!"
Galen felt his lips twitch into a smile at Riina's blunt words and Sakura's very loud 'shushing'. He glanced at Uchiha Sasuke and noticed his clenched fists and stiff shoulders. He no doubt heard everything, despite walking a few feet ahead of them.
After a couple more minutes the Uchiha District came into view and Sakura was surprised to see how busy it was. They passed under the archway that led into the district and noticed how the Uchiha red and white fan was only on the entrance and nowhere else.
"Wow, it's so busy. So you rented out the houses?" Sakura asked, looking around with interest at the bustling people.
"Hn." Was Sasuke's only answer.
Riina blanched in disgust at his rudeness but was given a warning glare from Sakura to not say anything.
He led them down a nice stone cobbled path to a quaint traditional house settled in between numerous trees and large rocks in various spots in the yard. A good sized koi fish pond was to the left of the front of the house with three plump koi fish swimming in it.
"The Hokage already has the first month paid off, I'll come for next month's rent when it's time. These are the keys and I expect you to keep the property in good order." He handed the keys over to Sakura and with a slight bow of his head he headed up the path they had come from.
Sakura gaped after him, shocked by his formal words and cold indifference.
"Like I said, he's a complete jerk." Riina muttered loudly before snatching the keys from Sakura's fingers and trudging up the steps that led to the front doors. Xanthus pelted after her in excitement.
"It's no use staring after him, your Highness. We should all get some rest. We're not on a vacation." Galen stated calmly before motioning for Sakura to go into the house.
Sakura smiled at him sadly before following the other two's path.
He was right. They weren't here because they wanted to be. They had business to get down to and she wanted this to be over as quick as possible so she could return to her life in Saarik and to her Emperor.
Alright! I hope everyone was in character and you guys liked this chapter. I told you it was much more lighter than chapter nine but don't get too used to it because it won't stay all happy and light for long. Oh noes!!!!
Please review! I love reading the reviews and it REALLY gives me inspiration to keep on writing!
yuru