SasuSaku Month 2016

Day 5- Tag

This had seemed like a hoax from the very beginning, but Sakura had gone along with it. More than once, they had had clients who had all sorts of incredible requests and had wanted to meet at all kinds of ridiculous places. Working for a popular interior-decorating firm had its own charm, but it had its fair share of oddities too. Such as this one.

The request came from someplace on the outskirts of the old part of the city. It was an older house, which had been empty for a good ten years or so. The owner had asked for a remodelling, and had approached their firm for the task. Sakura and Ino had been assigned to the project, and Ino had volunteered Sakura to go and visit the house for an 'on-site examination'.

As luck would have it, the day for the visit was supposed to be Sakura's off day. However, she showed up to work, collected the required documents and set off for the house. Surprisingly, no cab driver was willing to take her there. Every single one of them refused, point-blank. After a lot of searching and asking and threatening, she found one guy who was willing to take her there. She sat inside, and gave him the general directions.

"Thank you, but I already know the place. I used to live in the vicinity."

"Is that so? I hear the house is rather old."

"Yes, it is. May I ask why you want to go there? Not many people visit that area."

"I have to visit it for an assignment."

"Ah."

"Why was no one willing to take me there? I even offered to pay double!"

He 'hmm'ed. "General rumours. Some random person started the rumour that the place was haunted. You can guess the rest. Anyway, here we are."

"How much would that be, Mr..." She glanced at the nametag on his collar. " Mr Itachi?"

"You don't need to pay me. It's alright."

"But-"

"Good luck, Ms. Haruno."

She was marvelling at the architecture and the masonry of the building. It was quite old, but stood strong. She pushed open the wrought-iron grille door, and walked up the pathway to the small porch. Finding no bell, she rapped thrice on the door, hard. As she waited for the door to open, she cast a cursory glance around. The paint was cracking, and the garden was overgrown in places. Obviously, no one had lived here for ages.

Her attention was diverted when the thick wooden door was pulled open. On the other side stood a young man, about the same age as her. Spiky black hair, and equally dark eyes. Skin pale as moonlight. He was atleast a head taller than her, if not more.

"Hi, I'm Sakura. I was sent here by Ms. Senju to look over the house."

"Sasuke. Come in."

She stepped in behind him, and fell silent at the sight inside. The walls were covered in rich wallpaper, and had paintings hanging through the halls. At one side, she saw a wide, white marble staircase, almost as if it were pulled from some fairytale. Lanterns hung from the high ceiling, and cast their soft light through the corridor.

"Wow..." She couldn't stop the words from escaping her mouth.

The young man softly smirked. "How about you go take a round of the upper floor? I'll join you in a moment."

"Alright. Thank you, Sasuke."

She slowly walked up the stairs, looking around at the sheer grandeur of the place. Making occasional notes, she was totally mesmerised by the interiors.

"Why would anyone want to redo this place? The interiors are so beautiful!" She mumbled to herself.

"Beats me."

She jumped at the sudden voice, dropping her files. They were caught in mid-air by slender, long-fingered hands. She turned to see Sasuke standing behind her.

"You might want to be a bit more careful."

"You might want to stop sneaking up on me!" Her chest was still heaving as she tried to catch her breath after the fright.

"I thought the study might be a little more comfortable if you wanted to sit and discuss anything."

"Why, yes. If it's no trouble."

He walked past her, along the corridor, until he came to a door on the right. Pushing it open, he mock-bowed. "After you."

Once they were comfortably seated, Sakura started asking him some general questions about the house. When was it built, about the structure and so on. Once they were done with the technicalities, the conversation shifted to more genial topics.

"So, Sasuke, how long have you been here?"

"I used to stay here, but I left a long time ago. I've only just returned."

"Hmm, I'm relatively new to the city too. This is my third year here."

"Ah, that explains it."

"Explains what?"

"Why they sent you here."

By now, Sakura was confused. If it wasn't enough that the man in front of her was devastatingly handsome, and that she was completely distracted by his liquid-silk voice, she had no clue what he was talking about.

"I don't understand."

"Most people wouldn't dream of coming here, because they believe the house is haunted. Can't blame them really. It fits the description. Old, huge, spooky, tragic."

"Hey now, it's a beautiful house! I know it's old, but the structure is just superb. I don't understand why people would be afraid."

He was silent for a moment, before his lips curved into a smirk, and one of his eyebrows raised.

"I can't believe you have no idea."

Sakura felt an uncomfortable chill crawl down her spine. "No idea of what?"

He threw back his head and laughed. "Oh, this is just rich. They sent you here, completely ignorant."

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. You'll have to be a bit clearer than that."

He straightened himself, clearing his throat. "Hn. Follow me."

She followed him to the end of the corridor, where he pushed open the heavy door, and led her to what looked like the master bedroom, if the huge bed with the canopy was anything to go by. He directed her attention to the portrait on the wall. A tall, stern-faced man, and a beautiful woman, with shining eyes. Both were dark haired and dark eyed, frozen in time. She squinted at the names at the bottom of the gilded frame

"Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto..."

"Aa. They were the original owners of the house."

"Oh. What happened?"

But Sasuke had already left, and she hurried behind him. He walked up the corridor, and down the staircase. He sharply turned into a room, and Sakura almost missed him.

"Oi, what's up with you?"

"Hn? Sorry, I thought I heard a disturbance."

"Uh, okay. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Hn."

Sakura couldn't help but worry about him. She felt an odd connection to the young man, even though they had never met before then. It was almost as if she knew him from another life. Subconsciously, she raised her hand to stroke his cheek. At the contact, his eyes locked with hers. He leaned into her touch.

"This sounds stupid, but I feel like I've known you forever, Sasuke."

"It doesn't sound stupid."

They had leaned towards each other as they spoke, and they was barely any space between them. He pulled back just enough to be able to look at her eyes.

"Come with me, Sakura."

That was all the warning she got before he crashed their lips together. And that was the last thing Sakura remembered before she lost herself in the kiss.

The Konoha Gazette
July 5

THE CURSED MANOR?

This morning, a young woman was found dead at the infamous Uchiha Manor. The Manor was in the news twelve years ago, when the Uchiha family was found dead, murdered by the eldest son, Uchiha Itachi, who became a wanted criminal. The only surviving person was the younger son, Uchiha Sasuke. He disappeared from the city, leaving behind everything. Nothing was known of either of the Uchiha brothers until a year later, when they were both found dead in the very same Manor. Now, nearly a decade later, the Manor has claimed another victim. The young woman was identified by the tag on her blazer, giving her name as 'Haruno Sakura'. The cause of death is unknown, almost as if she died a natural death. Investigations into the matter are ongoing.