Chapter Ten
The week passed by slowly, and when Friday finally came, Sakura's eyes were glued to the clock. The minutes ticked by, but never fast enough for the anxious pinkette.
The plan was set. Hinata would be over to pick her up after Sakura got off from work. She'd run up, grab her suitcase and she and Hinata would drive to the lake house.
Five minutes to five, Ino made her way passed Sakura's desk. She waved at Sakura and then blew her a kiss.
Sakura lifted her hand in reply. "Have fun this weekend, Ino!" she called out to her as the blonde left the building without looking back.
She couldn't help but to snicker to herself. Oh how she was going to ruin Ino's mood.
The time finally came when Sakura could leave, so she left in hurry, power walking all the way to her apartment building. She needed to pack a few more things, and by the time she was finished, Hinata called her.
Sakura accepted the call. "Hey, Hinata, I'm all set. You outside?"
"Yes, I'm here-"
"Great, I'm on my way down!" Sakura interjected excitedly, ending the call before any more words could be tossed around.
But when she got down to the street, Hinata's car was nowhere in sight. She looked around, expecting her to be driving up the road, but nothing. Sakura couldn't see her white Civic anywhere. Just a big, black SUV.
She took out her phone, about to call Hinata, but then the SUV beeped.
It started her so much, she jumped and put her arm up reflexively. The car gave a quick beep again.
She crept towards it, keeping her guard up. The passenger side window rolled down, and there was Sasuke in the driver's seat smirking at her.
Sakura made a beeline for the car.
"Sasuke, you jerk! Gave me a heart attack!"
When she got to the car, she could see Hinata and Naruto in the back seats. Naruto was laughing his head off.
"Think that was funny, huh?" Sakura started her threat. "You won't be laughing by the time this trip is over."
He shut up almost instantly, looking to Hinata for some sort of safety raft. She gave him a smile and Pat his hand.
Sasuke finally spoke up. "Get in, we've got a long drive."
She held up her bag, and Sasuke rolled his eyes. He got out of the car and put her suitcase in the back. She jumped into the passenger seat and buckled in.
"So, what's with the change in drivers...and vehicles?" Sakura asked, turning around in her seat to look at Hinata, curious as to when this decision had been made without her knowledge.
To her credit, Hinata looked almost just as confused.
Then, Naruto butt in. "I didn't want Hinata to drive somewhere she had never been to alone, so I offered to drive with her."
Sasuke scoffed.
"Fine," Naruto said. "I said that Sasuke could drive her. And Hinata said that she was going to drive you, so I just told Sasuke 'the more the merrier'!"
Sasuke started up the engine and pulled away from the curb. He didn't have his phone out for navigation, as Sakura assumed that he'd made the drive his whole life. She was honestly grateful to not have to worry about which exit they'd need to take or getting lost or finding a safe place to get gas.
Feeling relieved, she settled into her seat.
For a whole thirty seconds before she tapped her fingers against her thigh.
"Can we turn on the radio?" she asked.
Sasuke gave her a sideways look, but said nothing. She took that as a yes, and so she reached over to the dials to turn it on.
Sasuke's hand covered the radio before she could lay one finger on it.
"There are rules," he insisted.
Sakura sighed. "What are they, oh great radio keeper?"
He went on as if she hadn't insulted him. "First, no country."
"But-"
"Second," he continued. "No switching stations in the middle of a song. I can overrule your song choice though if I deem it unlistenable."
"This is silly-"
"Third." His third finger went up, he held them up between them. "No singing along."
Oh hell no.
"Sasuke, stop being ridiculous," she huffed.
He put his hand back on the wheel. "My car, my rules." He said it so unapologetically that Sakura could feel the brick wall he'd built to block her oppositions out.
Most of the fun of a road trip was being able to sing along to all the songs she knew. If it would have just been she and Hinata driving, then Sakura would have belted out the notes like her life depended on it. With others in the car though, she would have sang along at a respectful volume. But, for Sasuke to ban her singing completely was something she couldn't tolerate.
"Fine," she gritted out, having absolutely no intention of keeping that agreement whatsoever.
He conceded, giving her a quick nod of his head.
She wasted no more time in turning the radio on, flipping through the channels until she found one playing a song she knew.
She sat back happily, bobbing her head along to the beat, and she couldn't be more excited for when the singer came on. The lyrics flowed from her mouth so effortlessly, keeping perfect time with the singer.
Sasuke turned the song off. "I didn't think you could sing that bad," he incredulously admitted. "Where did that come from?"
Sakura grimaced and bounced her feet a couple times. "I'm a good singer."
He laughed. It wasn't that unadulterated, no holds barred kind of laugh, but it was still the kind of laugh that made Sakura curl her toes when she heard it. The low rumble rolled over her, making her hungry for more.
So she kept singing even without the music. Bobbing her head like she was still dancing around to the beat.
Sasuke gave another low chuckle, and then he turned the volume back up. "I'm not about to subject myself to just hearing that for the next hour."
Sakura was happy to get her way, but she was more pleased with herself for getting Sasuke to laugh. She had the feeling that it wasn't an easy feat.
So for the ride,she sang along to most of the songs while plotting out what she was going to do to Naruto. She was a content little passenger.
XXX
The lake house was absolutely stunning. It was a large, no, gigantic log cabin. Sakura marveled at the authenticity of it. For some reason she was expecting a mansion with columns and impressive landscaping. This was a big house, but it somehow maintained a semblance of coziness to her amazement.
When Sasuke pulled the car up to park beside two others, Sakura took longer to get out over everyone else. She couldn't help but stare at the serene water, the surface so smooth it looked like she'd be able to walk across it no problem.
She was still staring when Sasuke popped open the door, giving her a knowing look.
"Never seen water before?"
Sakura couldn't help but smile. "Everything's so beautiful."
He paused, looking like he wanted to say something but couldn't quite get the words to roll of his tongue.
They stayed like that for a few more seconds, neither of them making a move to look away, to speak about anything further.
Naruto had other plans though. He jumped in, putting his arm around Sasuke's shoulder and smiling. "Let's get this three day weekend started!"
That broke Sakura out of her daze. "Did you say...three day weekend?"
Sasuke picked up on her confusion right away. "You forgot that we don't have work on Monday?"
"Crap!" she cursed under her breath. She completely forgot that the CEO shut down the office on Monday. He did that one weekend every quarter, and this weekend was that time.
Sasuke's eyebrow rose. "Do you have something against having time off?"
"I just…"
Wasn't mentally prepared to spend that many days with you.
She pushed out of the car, shoving Naruto and Sasuke aside as she passed them. She found Hinata only a few steps away and looped an arm through hers.
"Time to go get settled!" Sakura declared. "And then go to the water."
She and Hinata walked to the back of Sasuke's SUV to pick up their bags. They followed Sasuke and Naruto up the front steps and into the grand house.
The inside was just as cozy and magnificent as the outside. There were flannel throw blankets tossed over the couches and nature paintings having along the walls. The room structure was interesting with stairs rounding up to a second and third floors, with separate landings in between.
It was all so...perfect. Sakura had always dreamed about living in a place just like this for her whole life. Something so upscale, and yet down to earth at the same time.
"Who designed-?" Sakura began but was cut off by the elegant woman she had seen previously at work.
She carried herself with that same sort of confidence that she exuded back at the publishing house. However, this time she was dressed much more casually. Her silky, dark hair was down, and she wore a pair of beige pants with a loose white shirt tucked into the hem at her waist. Her sleeves we're rolled up to her elbows, and she wore a simple, thin bracelet on her right wrist.
"Welcome," the woman said. "Thank you all for accompanying Sasuke for this long weekend ahead of us."
"Hey, Mrs. Uchiha!" Naruto beamed, going in for a hug.
The woman was happy to hug Naruto, looking every bit the motherly figure welcoming one of her own children home.
"Naruto, it's really been too long." The hug ended,and the woman looked to Hinata. "This must be Hinata, the one you've been talking to me about.
Hinata instantly blushed at the insinuation that Naruto talked about her without her knowledge to people she had never even met before. Sakura couldn't have been happier for her friend, Naruto was really a nice guy.
"Y-yes, I'm Hinata," she slowly got out while extending her hand. "And if it wouldn't be too rude, may I ask your name?"
"It's Mikoto," she said while accepting Hinata's handshake.
"It's very nice to meet you, Mikoto."
Mikoto smiled and turned to Sakura then. A look of realization struck her as they locked eyes. "Well, hello again. I didn't know that we would be meeting again like this."
Sakura smiled at her. "It's great to see you again. Thank you for allowing us to stay."
Mikoto waved her off. "Any friends of Sasuke's are always welcome."
Sasuke walked up to his mom then, kissing her on the cheek while hugging her. The notion felt sweet to Sakura. She was getting this small glimpse at Sasuke that he most likely didn't really show anyone else.
"Sasuke, show your guests to their rooms. Dinner will be ready in about an hour." Mikoto gave them all one more smile before returning from the room she came in from.
Sasuke wasted no time in walking away from them and up one of the winding staircases. Sakura and the others quickly followed suit, trailing behind a stoic Sasuke.
He took them down a hall lined with elegant doors, most of them were shut. But, he stopped at one of them and opened it up. Hecocked his head in it's direction and looked at Sakura. "You can stay here."
Sakura bounced into the room, taking it all in. The room was enormous, twice the size of hers back home. It was decorated with throw pillows and a fluffy comforter that looked so cozy that Sakura knew she'd have no problems getting to sleep at night.
"Naruto, show Hinata around," Sasuke ordered.
Naruto took Hinata by the hand and ran down the hall, excited for her to see the masterpiece of a room waiting for her.
Sakura went to the window and pulled the wispy curtain aside, unveiling a surreal view of the lake. "This is a beautiful home. I would love to have a home like this." She turned to look at him then. "And this is your lake house. I can't even imagine what your real house looks like."
Sasuke looked at her bemused. "I live with Naruto, you know. It's not fancy at all."
She rolled her eyes. "Fine, then I mean your parent's home."
He walked over to join her by the window. He stared at the water, and she stared at him through the window's reflection.
He was pensive as he said, "Having fancy or expensive things isn't always better."
"I've never really had anything that was fancy," Sakura admitted. "So I guess I'm just on the other side of the glass looking in when you're looking out."
"What an eloquent way of phrasing that ideology," a dark, unfamiliar voice snaked its way to them from the room's entrance.
Sakura turned to see Itachi studying the two of them, his gave steady. She had never before had an interaction with him; she'd only ever seen him from a distance.
Sasuke stepped just a bit in front of her as he addressed his brother. "Itachi."
Something in the way Sasuke spoke jogged Sakura's memory. This man was the reason why Sakura had to get information from the CEO's computer. Sasuke was competing with him for the chance that his father would overlook his first born son so that his younger child would inherit the business.
She also was reminded of the fact that she had no siblings. When she was younger, she would often fantasize what it would be like to have a sister to share secrets with, to do each other's hair, to be each other's champion.
So she couldn't help but wonder what happened between these two men for them to look at each other as if they were thinking of a million ways to cut the other down.