A/N: Hey guys! Sorry the update is late. But here's the next chapter. To the people who read, reviewed, favorited or subscribed to story alert and any combination of these, THANK YOU! I hope you still find time to read and review my story.
I hope you all enjoy this new chapter.
Chapter 27 Fleeting Moments
It's Tuesday and Sakura didn't have much to do anymore since she already did all of her homework last night. So, she decided to kill time in the library. On her way, though, someone called out to her. She turned around, and she knew her day's just about to get crazy… again.
"Oh, my dear, it's nice to see you again," Mikoto greeted while gently embracing her.
"Mikoto-san," Sakura said once she let go of her. "Nice to see you, too." Sakura was pretty sure that if she added, 'What are you doing here?' it will come out in a different way than how she intended it to. But, really, it was in the middle of a school day and your fiancé's mom casually appeared in your school. What were you supposed to do, aside from wanting to get away from her quickly? She liked Mikoto, really, she does, but she feels awkward around this kind woman especially since she and Sasuke were trying to break their own engagement she seemed to excited about.
"… and so I came here," Mikoto was saying, but she realized Sakura seemed spaced out. "Sakura? Sakura, dear?" Sakura focused back on Mikoto. "I'm sorry, am I bothering you?" Sakura saw those sad black eyes dreading her to say yes.
"No," Sakura immediately said. "No. I'm sorry, I'm just surprised to see you." Now, she remembered the last time she saw Mikoto in the school grounds and that definitely didn't end well. "I'm actually just walking around to kill time." The instant she said it, she regretted it because Mikoto's face lit up in half a second.
"That's good!" Mikoto clapped her hands. "Will you come with me? I'm going to cook a special dinner tonight. You should join us."
'Not again,' Sakura thought. "I'd love to, Mikoto-san, but I…" She racked her brain for an excuse. "I have to meet with Tsunade-sama for dinner." 'Yup, not to mention Sasuke might really kill me this time.'
"What dinner?" someone said behind them. Sakura's eyes widened and mentally slapped herself. Standing there beside Shizune, who was carrying a lot of documents, was none other than Sakura's alibi, Tsunade. Sakura slightly shook her head in hopes that Tsunade won't expose her for the liar that she was. Tsunade raised an eyebrow and looked at Mikoto. "Oh. That dinner. Almost forgot that one." Sakura sighed in relief. Tsunade noticed this and decided to entertain herself. She deserved it if you consider the fact that she'll be locked up in her room for the rest of the day for something as stupid as documentation. "Good thing you mentioned it, Sakura. I was about to go and tell you that I can't go. As you can see, Shizune here is bent on making me work overtime again." Sakura gaped at Tsunade. "Well, sorry I can't stop to chat. I gotta go. Lots to do. Bye! Nice to see you, Mikoto," she said with a wink and went past them. Shizune looked at Sakura apologetically and followed Tsunade.
"Nice to see you, too!" Mikoto greeted back even though they were a few feet away already. She turned back to Sakura. "It's settled, then, dear. Let's go." Mikoto held her by the wrist and gracefully dragged her to the car. Of course, she didn't drag Sakura but since Sakura didn't want to go, that's how she felt.
Every year, the heads of the Uchiha clan would hold a gathering in honor of the young men of the clan. It also served to introduce the sons of each household to the important people in the family. This included reciting the said young men's list of accomplishments and, if applicable, the names of their betrothed were also of value depending on which family they belonged to. Contrary to tradition, the Uchiha clan now accepted young women from other clans given that they have money, power, influence and skills worthy of the Uchiha name. At seventeen, Sasuke was now a part of this crowd.
"Hey, li'l bro," Itachi said as he put an arm on Sasuke's shoulder. "How many people stopped by already?"
"I've lost count," Sasuke hissed out. "Get your arm off me."
Itachi chuckled and removed his arm in a mock surrender. "Where's Father?"
"He went with some old guy that didn't look important." In these gatherings, the father should stay beside his son, wait for the Elders to stop by and introduce his son to them. And, yes, even though he's the son of the Clan Head, Sasuke had to go through things like these, too. Itachi had his turn years ago.
Itachi looked around in search for his father and he saw them on the far end of the hall, pretending to drink wine as they talked in whispers. When the other guy lowered his drink, Itachi recognized him as one of the people who had a closed-door meeting with Fugaku a few days ago. His eyes narrowed. "Sasuke, do you know that man talking to Father?"
Sasuke followed Itachi's gaze. "No. I've never seen him before. Why?"
"He had a meeting with him along with other people I've never seen before." Sasuke looked at his brother. Itachi's voice went down to a whisper. "Listen, Sasuke. I think there's something going on." Just as Fugaku was about to look his way, Itachi looked back at Sasuke and pretended they were casually talking. "I think Father and the Elders are up to something and I have a bad feeling about it."
"Like a conspiracy?" Sasuke said in a mocking tone. He had always known that his brother liked those kinds of things. His room was full of novels about that.
"This is serious, Sasuke. We need to do something." Although he still didn't want to believe it, by the look on Itachi's face, Sasuke knew his brother might be on to something.
The kitchen has never been a good place for Sakura. She knew that a long time ago when she tried to make herself an omelette for breakfast and almost burned Tsunade's house down. Today, however, she found herself in front of the stove, wearing a frilly, pink apron and staring at a pot of boiling water waiting for it to soften the pasta.
"Don't worry, dear, it won't explode," Mikoto said beside her, chopping things that were supposed to go to the sauce. Noticing that Sakura didn't seem to believe her, she added with a giggle, "It will beep to let you know when it's ready." Sakura nodded even though she wasn't convinced.
Trying not to focus on whether it will explode or not, she turned her attention on the window. The sun was setting. They must have spent a lot of time at the grocery earlier. She looked at her watch and thought about not getting back before curfew.
"Smells good," a deep but playful voice came from the door.
"Welcome home," Sakura heard Mikoto say and tensed. She looked around and saw Itachi and Sasuke standing on the doorway. She decided to focus on Itachi as he went to kiss Mikoto on the cheek to avoid Sasuke's death glare, which got scarier and scarier for her. "Are you hungry?"
"Starving."
"Good, because I cooked your favorite." Mikoto turned to Sasuke. "Well, Sasuke, aren't you going to greet your mother properly?" Sakura tensed as she heard footsteps coming nearer. Suddenly, the pot of boiling water seemed really interesting. The footsteps stopped near her and she tried to step away little by little.
"Where's your father?"
"He went to change first." This was definitely Sasuke's voice and, surprisingly, it didn't sound angry. Probably because Mikoto's around, Sakura rationalized. Mikoto and Itachi exchanged glances and smiled knowingly.
"Hey, future sister-in-law," Itachi teased. "Nice of you to drop by." Sakura felt Itachi's arm on her shoulder and she was forced to turn to their direction. Her eyes zeroed in on Sasuke, who was wearing his stoic mask again. The calm before the storm, perhaps.
Sakura awkwardly laughed. "Yeah. Sorry to intrude." And she really meant it.
"You boys go change too, then, go wait in the dining room," Mikoto said. "Dinner will be ready in a minute." The two boys, technically young men, followed their mother. Once she could no longer hear their footsteps, Sakura relaxed. "I'm sorry for forcing you to come here."
"No, it's not like that, Mikoto-san," Sakura said, waving her hands in front of her guiltily.
Mikoto smiled weakly. "I guess I just want some girl time. I mean, I've been with three boys for a very long time and it's very taxing to keep up with them." She started plating the seaweed soup she prepared especially for Itachi. "Sasuke is not a very talkative boy. Rather, he's ill-tempered and stubborn, but he wasn't always like that." Mikoto spared Sakura a glance and a smile, then turned back to plating. Sakura thought what comes next will be too personal and so the boiling pot became her best friend again. "Fugaku was very strict with them, being Clan Head and all. He was harsh on Itachi, too, but more so on Sasuke. Being the younger one, people compared him to Itachi most of the time as he was growing up, and as time passed by, he took everything to heart and began to close up. The little boy who used to run around laughing like other kids started to lock himself, figuratively, being burdened by clan duties and keeping up the family name."
Sakura felt Mikoto's hand on hers and she found herself looking at those glistening dark orbs of hers. "We may have been rash, deciding for both your futures." Mikoto brought her other hand over Sakura's other one. "But please, at least, try to understand him. It may take a while given his personality but Sasuke…" She let it hang. "I really feel like you'll be good for him." Sakura didn't know what to say. So she just nodded. Mikoto smiled. "Thank you."
Sakura didn't know how long it has been since she tried boring holes into the pot by staring. How long does it take for those pasta strips to soften in boiling water anyway? Mikoto brought out the seaweed soup and udon for Fugaku. She said she'll come back later for the spaghetti (for Sasuke), tempura (for Mikoto) and dumplings (for Sakura). Deep in thought, she didn't realize someone was already standing beside her and looking at her curiously, although he tried not to show it.
Sasuke cleared his throat as loud as he can to rouse Sakura from her trance. Sakura took a sharp intake of breath and finally looked at him. Realizing who it was, though, she turned her gaze back to the pot. By now she knew very well how many dents it had – none. It had some scratches though.
"I really tried to make an alibi this time," Sakura said, her brows furrowing further. Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "I didn't want to come here either." Sasuke didn't respond so she continued. "If you don't believe me, I-"
"Stop explaining." Sakura turned to him. "We can't do anything about it now, anyway." Sakura turned back to the pot once Sasuke moved around the kitchen, doing something. "It's not gonna cook faster if you glare at it." Sasuke was back at the counter beside her and Sakura saw he was plating the dumplings.
"You're plating it," she said in confusion.
The look on Sakura's face, like he was doing something he's not supposed to, made him smirk. The kitchen has always been the one place none of the maids were allowed to step into. When he was a child, he was always in the kitchen with his mom especially when Fugaku had Itachi do his homework all day. "Mom told me to bring out the rest and you're clearly useless," Sasuke commented, his attention on the dumplings. Just then the stove beeped and made Sakura jump in alarm.
"W-what the-," she stammered, trying to figure out if it was the boiling pot or the other one with the sauce. She looked around trying to find mittens so she could remove the pots on the stove. She looked like she was definitely panicking but Sakura would say she was more like trying to solve the problem at hand but failing. Her ears were filled with that annoying beeping, which she swore got louder every second. Then, she heard another sound. A chuckle. Right beside her. 'Great, he's making fun of stupid me now.' She turned to him to ask what's so funny but her words were stuck in her throat. She was pretty sure her breathing stopped, too.
Sasuke was smiling.
It was unmistakable. And Sakura just stared at him.
Sasuke reached out past her to turn off the stove. He looked at her, still smiling and Sakura was sure her heartbeat was quickening. She reasoned it must be because of the rarity of the situation, like a 'Eureka!' moment.
"You know," Sasuke said once the beeping has died down. "For someone who could whip up a lot of techno stuff in a short time, you sure can't handle the kitchen." Sakura, still gaping, didn't respond. "It beeps when it's done so you have to turn the stove off or you'll burn it. Or is that what you were trying to do?" Due to the lack of response, Sasuke looked at her and frowned. "What's with that stupid look?"
Because the legendary smile has vanished, Sakura was brought back to the present. "What?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Give me the strainer." He pointed at it and Sakura obeyed. Sasuke put the pasta in the strainer to remove the water. He went to another cabinet and got an oval plate where he placed the pasta. He poured the sauce on it and added some garnish. He picked up the spaghetti and the dumplings. "Get the tempura." Sakura didn't move. Sasuke sighed. "Move it. We have to get back before curfew." Sakura got the plate and was about to follow Sasuke out when he said, "Take the apron off."
Naruto got back inside his room and immediately plopped down on his bed. He was so sleepy but he still had a lot of homework to do and he had to submit two of them tomorrow. With a groan, he stood up and went to shower. When he was done changing clothes, he got his notebook to remind himself what the assignment was about. Unfortunately, he didn't understand a thing about it and threw his notebook across the room. As luck would have it, it hit Sasuke's desk and one could've heard the 'ting' sound of a light bulb when one had an idea. Naruto beamed. He figured Sasuke won't be back 'til later because he said he was going home.
"It's my lucky day," Naruto snickered. "Take your time, Sasuke. Better yet, go sleep there." He bent over to pick up his notebook, proceeded to Sasuke's desk and sat on the rotating chair. "Hmm, why are Sasuke's stuff always better than mine? That bastard." Naruto rotated himself a few times before stopping himself and getting to work. Naruto picked out his notebooks one by one while whistling, trying to find Sasuke's Physics notebook. He quickly browsed each one, with one finger at one end and letting the pages turn rapidly. When Naruto was on the fourth notebook, something fell out of it.
Naruto bent down to pick it up and put it back hopefully in the same spot. Sasuke had this weird OC-ness when it came to his things so Naruto thought he would definitely know if it's not on the same page. As he did so, he saw a blob of pink. Curious, he turned it over and saw a picture of Sakura.
Naruto gaped in disbelief. 'Why does he have a picture of Saki?' He couldn't think of any explanation. 'Unless…' Naruto didn't want to think about it. He didn't notice that Sasuke was also in the picture, albeit in the background, because he was holding that part of the picture. If he did, he might've prevented himself from jumping to conclusions.
After dinner, Fugaku called for Sakura in his office while Mikoto was giving Sasuke some food for their trip, as if they were having a picnic someplace far. Sakura knocked and the door was opened by Fugaku himself.
"Come in." Once she stepped inside, Sakura thought she heard the lock click shut, but she wasn't sure. He led her to one of the seats in front of his desk and asked her to sit down while he, himself sat behind his desk. Fugaku put his elbows on the table and crossed his fingers just in front of his nose. For a while he just looked at her.
Sakura gulped. She didn't want to be around Mikoto because she was too kind. But right now, she wished she was the one accepting the multitudes of food from her. Being inside this room with Uchiha Fugaku looking at her like she was guilty of something made her feel slightly claustrophobic. She tried her best not to look scared, though, and she wasn't sure if she was doing a good job.
"It was nice of you to join us today," he began.
"Thank you for accommodating me," Sakura said with a small bow.
"Are you and Sasuke getting along well?"
If she said yes, that would be a lie. If she said no, well, that wasn't entirely true either. "We're okay, sir."
"That's good to hear." Fugaku stood up and Sakura was about to do the same when he said, "No, please sit down." She obeyed. "I would like to ask you some questions and I hope you won't find offense in them nor see them as an invasion of privacy. After all, we will soon be family, will we not?" Sakura nodded, because she knew she couldn't say otherwise. Fugaku nodded in acknowledgment and began pacing around the room. Sakura felt like some wild animal was trying to see if she was good enough to eat. She hoped she wasn't. "For almost five years now, you've been in Tsunade's custody, is that right?"
"Yes, sir." Somehow, she just felt it was right to call him 'sir.' Calling him anything else felt wrong.
"Do you remember what happened to your parents?"
"I don't remember much about them, sir, but I was told my mom died when she gave birth to me and my dad died on the battlefield." With this, Sakura noticed Fugaku's eyes glint under the light of the chandelier. Really, she couldn't remember anything about them or anything about her earlier than five years ago when she woke up in the hospital.
Fugaku stopped in front of a row of portraits on the left side of the room, his back turned to her. "The Uchiha clan has been established many years ago, even before Konoha came to be. Since then, we have been under the guidance of these wise men." He motioned at the pictures. Sakura thought they looked scary even if their faces were showing no emotion whatsoever. But those eyes, black and hard, surely had something more behind them. Then, Sakura noticed Fugaku's portrait was on the far end.
"The Uchiha crest and name has been known across nations, named and unnamed, big or small, for our skills and intellect in the battlefield. We value family and honor above anything else. But some people took this belief as arrogance." Sakura saw Fugaku's hands clench at his sides and stayed like that for some time before he crossed them behind him to try and relieve his tension. But when he spoke, it sounded an octave lower. "Our clan, though proud and strong, had our share of losses and defeats. But we fight back and we make sure to win." Fugaku turned back to her and Sakura inwardly cowered under those black orbs of his. He walked toward her and stood towering over her seated and small frame.
"Soon, you will be a part of this family." His baritone voice gripped Sakura in place. "Soon, you will hold the same values and you will fight with us. Your past, or whatever you may or will remember about it, does not hold you anymore." Sakura felt her hands sweating and she tried to inconspicuously wipe them dry against the hem of her shirt. "It will be hard but I expect you will handle it well. Two years from now, when you and Sasuke are of legal age, you will wed. And at that moment you bear our name you will be under our law and you will obey them without questions." Sakura bit her lower lip to prevent herself from releasing any pathetic sound like a whimper. "Do I make myself clear?"
She understood every word he said but she wanted to ask a lot of questions. Why her? Why not someone from a more prominent family like Hinata? Was it because it was convenient to have an orphan? Less bother to negotiate with a whole clan for her hand? What were they expecting her to do, exactly, once she becomes an Uchiha? Now, more than ever, she dreaded marrying into this family. But Fugaku was waiting for an answer. No, he was demanding for it and she knew there was only one acceptable answer.
"Yes, sir."
When Fugaku finally released her from that awfully suffocating room, she went to say 'goodbye' and 'thank you' to Mikoto. Itachi was asleep now. She went out and climbed down the front steps to find Sasuke waiting for her beside his motorcycle. When he saw her, he unclasped one of the helmets he has been holding and threw it in her direction. She caught it and realized it was his helmet, the black one she wore before he bought her the red one, which she remembered was tucked away in the closet in her dorm room.
"What about you?" she asked when she reached him.
"I borrowed Itachi's," he said as he put on a silver, off-road helmet with black linings as opposed to the full-faced ones she and Sasuke had. Sasuke swung his leg to the other side of the bike and started the engine. "C'mon, we only have about an hour before curfew." Sakura nodded, put on her helmet and climbed behind him. She grasped the hem of his shirt at his sides. As she did so, Sasuke felt her shaking. "Did the old man give you a hard time?"
"No, I…" It was more than a hard time but she was still recovering from the shock so her brain couldn't form the words.
"Don't mind him," Sasuke said as he revved the engine once more. "Itachi and I learned how to let his words in one ear and out the other." He looked back and smirked at her with his eyes as they were the only things on his face visible through the helmet. How he was able to do that, Sakura didn't know. Sakura remembered the image of smiling Sasuke just this afternoon and somehow it made her relax and smile back at him. Sasuke looked back in front abruptly. "I'm thinking about going 120."
The smile on Sakura's face was wiped out instantly. "What? Are you out of your mind?"
"It's the only way to get back on time."
"We're on a motorcycle!"
"I know."
"Are you on drugs or something? Or are you normally suicidal? Or you just feel like spending the night in jail?"
"So you don't like kitchens and going 120 on a motorcycle. Interesting." Sasuke chuckled. Twice in a day, that's gotta be a record. "Besides, I'm taking a route with no patrols."
"You're –"
Sasuke stopped her midsentence when he looked at her again. "We'll get there in one piece and on time. Trust me." They were the same black orbs as Fugaku's and Mikoto's but still different. They were gentle, Sakura noted. Like they were repeating his words. 'Trust me.' She nodded as a sign of consent and Sasuke's eyes seemed to be smirking again. He looked back to the front and leaned forward. In a split second, they were surrounded by blurred images of… things Sakura could no longer identify, whether due to the speed or her anxiety, she couldn't distinguish.
She wrapped her arms tightly around Sasuke's abdomen, the front of her helmet buried on his back. She thought she felt him breathe in sharply and his muscles tensed as she did but she didn't care. He could get mad at her later all he wanted to but right now, she was holding on for her dear life.
A/N: Well? So how was it? Did you like it? Yes? No? What do you think will happen in the next chapters? Sound off in your reviews. Thank you very much!
