this is me praying that this was the very first page / not where the storyline ends / my thoughts will echo your name until i see you again / these are the words i held back as i was leaving too soon / i was enchanted to meet you / please don't be in love with someone else / please don't have somebody waiting on you
- enchanted, taylor swift (enchanted)
one look at his face and she knew—he was trouble.
the party was in full swing. the grand chandelier hanging above illuminates the entire ballroom and the sparks in the glittering jewelry of the women around surround her in her simple attire. there are no adorning sapphires that loop around her neck or rubies dangling from her ears, only the emeralds of her eyes and the pearls on her pink hair.
"i wonder if we could meet a husband here," ino whispered, her baby blue eyes roaming around the place with excitement. "mum said there are new guests in town and they're very wealthy families. they'll be here according to her sources."
sakura exhaled in exasperation, "pig, you don't need money anymore. you're already rich."
"and what's wrong with wanting to be richer?" her friend answered back, swaying her long hair on her shoulder and giving her a wink.
she couldn't help but smile. her best friend has always been a different species from her; all the more reason to love the blonde. they agree to almost everything except this part.
sakura never got the point of it. she understands the point of her parents wanting her to get married to someone who can provide for her. since she is an only child, it's very understandable; but it doesn't mean she agrees to it. the point of getting married should be the love and respect between two individuals wanting to be one together.
a collective gasp from the majority of the people woke her up from her musings. and just like how the sea parted in the bible, people parted to make way for a new arrival. whispers buzzed around the room and even sakura could feel ino vibrating beside her.
"i think they're here," ino exclaimed, grabbing her arm tightly before letting go and stood up to look closer. sakura grimaced.
two heads swam above the sea of people, one blond and one black. they're tall and seems to have good charisma based on the reaction of the ladies in the court. she didn't bother to move from her place on the corner, sitting and eating a slice of apple pie. it's delicious.
sakura paid no attention to the commotion at all. she just sat at the table with some elderly people who talked to her about her hair and got into an easy conversation with them as she waits for ino to come back. ino's mother might have gotten her daughter to stay with her and introduce her to the new folks. the yamanaka's are quite influential in their town anyway. it would only make sense.
she turned her head to the center of the room when she saw a tall blonde man, bright smile on his tanned face, and an energy that exudes from him even just by standing there. sakura couldn't help the smile that emerged from her lips. he screams of sun and friends just by looking at him.
unlike the man beside him with his dark clothes and dark hair, a small scowl on his face as if he doesn't want to be there, and a sharp glare he gave the blond. one look and she knew he was no sun; he was raging storm and lightning, but he was as beautiful as the first man if only a little dangerous.
sakura didn't notice she was staring until their eyes met and she almost choked on her pie. his eyes were black pools of something she hasn't experienced before, intensity coming off in waves and she could not look away.
it starts.
/
vultures. in his eyes, they're all the same.
he can say he's used to it already, the knee-jerk reaction of women and men alike when they enter a room. men of their stature and the confidence they emanate, sasuke is aware of his effect on people. alone by himself is already a hurricane; with naruto, they are a force to be reckoned with.
it doesn't mean he likes it. his blond idiot of a best friend thrives in it, while sasuke abhors it. in his head, they're all just vultures waiting to pick apart and feed on him. with him being from a noble family, he has been warned by his father to never let people use him as prey. an uchiha will never be a prey.
that's why his scowl is permanent on his face as they walk around the room, meeting people for their business and expanding their influence. he lets naruto speak instead, knowing the blond never shuts up. might as well use it to his advantage to keep quiet and leave this place once they're done.
after they, naruto, finished talking and shaking hands with everyone in the court, they moved to the center of the ballroom. naruto beamed around, "isn't this nice, teme?"
he rolled his eyes, "are we done here? i want to go."
naruto groaned, "oh, c'mon! there's a dance coming, we should participate! what if our future wives are here?" his eyebrows went up and down. sasuke scowled even more.
he doesn't care about that. only his parents keep on insisting about him finding a wife. his brother finally found one and they're settled down somewhere quiet where they build their own family. sasuke is happy for his sibling, but marriage is the last thing in his head right now. he just wanted to get all this over and done with.
his eyes ran through the crowd of vultures waiting to pounce until he felt eyes on him from the corner of the room. sasuke looked at the direction of it when he saw pink.
among the kettle of vultures sat a lone pigeon with pearls on her hair and lace on her unadorned white dress. her eyes were the color of jades he saw earlier on the fingers of a trophy wife, they're wide, and looking at him that he felt exposed.
a person passed in front of him, breaking the stare they were in, and he was back on his feet. sasuke felt naruto drag him somewhere, "we have to talk to the nara's. they're over there!"
disoriented, he let naruto lead the way. he looked back to where the pigeon sat, but she was gone.
few more moments passed until the dance naruto was talking about started. naruto looked around, "who will you pick as a partner? i asked ino yamanaka earlier and she agreed."
sasuke was ready to decline again and insist on going home without him until the yamanaka heiress came to them, along with the pigeon. he couldn't describe it, but he felt his stomach flutter.
"naruto-kun, i want you to meet my best friend. this is sakura haruno. forehead, this is naruto uzumaki." he saw the pink-haired muttered under her breath that sounded like pig. he's not sure.
naruto smiled at the pigeon and she smiled back. he wanted to smack his friend all of a sudden. "hi there, sakura-chan! here," he said, clamping a large hand on his shoulder. "this is my best friend, sasuke uchiha. he can be a little asshole, but he's great."
sasuke gave him a deathly glare, "naruto..."
the signal that the dance has now started rang and the couples and partners went to the center of the dancefloor. naruto reached out to bow in front of ino who blushed, and together they followed the crowd. it left sasuke and sakura standing together awkwardly.
sakura fidgets beside him and with an impatient noise at the back of his throat, sasuke grabbed her wrist and gently led her to the center of the room. all eyes were on them since sasuke has been getting the attention of everyone and now he's dancing with someone.
he can tell she was surprised by his actions but was still polite when she put her hands on his and on his shoulders. her hand was small compared to his and she was so short, just below his chin, but her eyes were steady and she smelled of apples. his hand found the middle of her back as he gripped her hand with the other, and they swayed to the music.
sasuke tried to look away, but she was very easy to the eyes. small button nose, rosy cheeks, and vivid green eyes; she's even more fascinating up close. he's so annoyed in some inexplicable reason.
"so," she started. "how long will you be in town, sir?" her voice was melodic. it wasn't flirty or breathy like those other girls and he thinks that it might just be a scheme to get her under his skin. sasuke got even more annoyed.
he stiffly answered, "a month."
she nodded in response, her feet moving together with him to the rhythm. "do you have any plans on what to do here?"
"none yet," he answered coldly. yes, it's a scheme to offer her time to "show him around" before she goes in for the kill. was he wrong when he thought she was a pigeon?
she offered a small smile, "oh. well if i could suggest, you could go wi-"
"is this what you always do to a potential prospect of yours?" he interrupted.
she blinked, "pardon?"
he scoffed, twirling her around until she's back in his arms, now a little closer than earlier. "do you always do this to fish for your future?"
there was a sudden fire on her irises and he felt a spark lit up inside him in return. there's a tingling sensation in his spine and he couldn't look away.
she whispered with a harsh tremor underneath, "you don't have to worry, sir. i don't do it for my future because i will make my own. and if ever i do..." she paused as they parted a little to switch positions before the dance ends.
the last notes of the music played and she continued, "...i will never fish on you, that's for sure."
her eyes were hard as emeralds and sasuke was enamored. she curtsied to him as he returned it with a bow, still keeping his eyes up to look at her, and she immediately walked away after.
sasuke took his time to look back at their conversation and he realized he might be a little rude. a presence on his back came and naruto's voice was there, "okay, now we can go. ready?"
he saw a flash of pink on the other side of the room and she was smiling at a bushy-browed man in green. an impulse to go there and take her away rang on his head, an absurd thought behind it as well. thoughts like please don't be in love with someone else in flashing lights inside his brain.
with reluctance, he said yes to naruto. as he turned to go, he spared a last glance at the pigeon and she looked back at him. he wanted to say he was enchanted; that he wished this is not the last time they'll see each other; that her name will be echoing in his head until they meet again.
sasuke saw the defiance in her eyes, yet there's curiosity lying underneath. for sasuke, it was enough. his family has been bugging him to look for someone to marry and it seems like it's time now.
sasuke smiled. it starts.
~fin~