7 – Passing Afternoon
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, just this story.
5 WEEKS AGO
Sakura feels warm and slow, like molasses.
If she doesn't watch out, she might sink into the earth and grow roots, like the blossoming tree she is named after. She'd be content too, just soaking in the noontime sun while kids frolicked all around her.
There isn't much to do at Shinseikatsu, she's discovered. Kids are kids, they get into fights, they trip when they run and they scrape their knees. Most of what she does is bandaging and kissing boo-boos. So Sakura helps out the already stretched staff in any way she can. She helps make snacks in the kitchen, she plays hide-and-seek with the younger children, and she teaches them how to make paper kusudama flowers— even if the art instructor, Sai, is a bit of an ass.
And as she lies down on the grassy ground under old Sosofu, Sakura thinks that she would be happy with just this forever.
The call of medicine still echoes in her heart, but it's slightly more subdued these days.
She likes to think Suisen would approve too.
Something lightweight kisses her cheek and she reaches for what is probably a stray leaf.
"Sakura-nee!" Asahi cries. "You're supposed to be the sleeping princess. Not the awake princess!"
She laughs, something she finds herself doing more these days, and apologizes for derailing the story the little boy is producing. Asahi is somewhat of a budding-playwright and they are in the middle of his newest creation: The Sleeping Princess and her Gallant Knight. They're working on the title.
As Asahi recounts the knight's awesome deeds, Sakura contemplates this brilliant boy. The similarities to Suisen is not lost on her, and part of her is afraid of letting this little kid or any of the others endear themselves to her. She could fail them too, and then who would she be left with?
When Asahi kisses her on the forehead to awaken her, Sakura fears that she's simply delaying the inevitable crash.
xxx
"So there's nothing going on between you two?"
The difference between Ino and Naruto is that Ino doesn't push. Not about the important things anyway. She knows she'll find out what she needs some other way, she always does. Sakura supposes she should be more afraid of that, especially considering they had a sort-of rivalry going on since they were in med school. But she's tired. Or content.
She doesn't know the difference anymore.
"For the last time Piggy," Sakura bites into her sticky melon pan and continues, "I just met Sasuke-kun the other day. I don't know anything about him."
"Oh-ho-ho! So it's Sasuke-kun now is it? Yesterday it was Uchiha-san."
"Ugh! You're impossible!"
They link their arms so they don't get lost in the sea of shoppers and tourists and bright lights of Yume-dori. The blonde is dressed in a structured, pristine white shift, the kind that Sakura only sees in magazines or those fashion show channels that she never really understood. In comparison, she hasn't changed out of the jumper dress she wore to work this morning. She's sure she smells like sweat and grass and there's a spot of red paint somewhere on her back that she hopes her long hair is covering up well.
Perfectly styled and coiffed Ino would probably look more at home somewhere fancy like the high-end fashion malls in Senju ward but she's comfortable enough in her own skin to hangout somewhere as pedestrian as Yume-dori with her, like they did every Friday night in their univ days.
And it hits her all over again how much she's missed this.
They stop by one of the stalls where an elderly auntie in a cotton yukata shapes some ningyo-yaki pastryinto cute little birds and fishes. Sakura catches herself thinking that maybe her kids would like it if she made some tomorrow.
Those kids have her all twisted around their fingers.
"He's not that bad you know. A workaholic, kind of a jerk—"
"Oh, I got that part, thanks."
"But he's not a playboy, don't let his looks fool you." Ino continues, "Family is important to Sasuke. And he's got integrity."
Sakura wonders at the way her friend emphasized that last part. She was lying when she said she didn't know anything about Sasuke. Solely by virtue of him being an Uchiha, there are already a myriad of things she can assume. He's a member of one of the richest families in Konoha; their names are practically synonymous to the word elite. She doesn't know anyone who isn't at least aware of the Uchiha name. Most of them worked in law, some in the police force, they even had a chain of stores that specialized in avant-garde senbei of all things. What they're mostly known for, however, is the Uchiha Foundation.
But Uchiha Sasuke specifically… All she knows is that he's been caught in some tough shit lately.
She faults the fact that she rarely left her bed at the time for her ignorance of the youngest Uchiha's recent scandal. If everything the papers said were true, he was a ruthless lawyer who would do anything to succeed, even bury evidence. And the reason he's so desperate to win every case is because he's planning on stealing the Uchiha firm leadership from his elder brother, the heir.
Uchiha vs. Uchiha. It's like something straight out of the tv dramas she and her father likes to watch.
What would happen next, if this was a show, is that a sassy ingénue would come and make him see that there's more to life than his career or his ambition. She'll teach him to relax, help him make up with his brother, and get him to fall in love for the first time in his life.
And the way Ino's been playing it, she thinks Sakura's going to be that girl.
Gods. Is her life not enough of a wreck yet that she needs to add a relationship with an equally troubled guy? She's got enough baggage of her own thanks, she doesn't need to take care of someone else's too.
A tourist dragging his suitcase around bumps into her, successfully dragging Sakura out of the rabbit hole she's been following. Thank the gods because the angst levels were getting too high. Besides, she doesn't believe Sasuke is as cartoonishly evil as the papers and tabloids portray him to be.
An absolute jerk, a caveman who won't string a sentence together, and someone who'll never believe there's not an ulterior motive for every good deed. Uchiha Sasuke are all those things, but not a corrupt lawyer.
At least, she doesn't think so.
"Hurry up Forehead! I told Shika and Chouji to wait up at the barbecue house half an hour ago!"
"What?" Sakura hurriedly swallows the rest of her melon pan, "Well why didn't you say so?"
Despite wheezing for breath as she runs along the lantern-lined streets with Ino, Sakura's never felt greater bliss.
xxx
Now comes the hard part.
"That's outrageous." Sasuke tells her.
"No, it's not. Have you tried cooking for over fifty kids?" Sakura bats his hands away from the whiteboard, stopping him from erasing what she just wrote. "Three to four times a day, seven days a week? That's outrageous."
They've been at it for a while now, her and Sasuke. He's shot down almost all of her suggestion so far and it's driving her nuts. Right now, they're arguing on the merits of having a full kitchen staff to help with the one cook who works for Shinseikatsu. If he's not going to sign off on anything, then what did he expect he'd be able to achieve? She seriously hopes he's not regressing back to his previous 'give them a check' option.
He could do so much more than just that. If only he'd stop looking back to his laptop and his watch.
"I know, but we don't have to hire a whole staff," the Uchiha erases what she wrote and replaces it with his compromise. "One or two helpers should be enough. They're not going to be making three-course meals are they?"
Sakura concedes to this. It's something. She rattles off a couple more things she took note of during her short stay at the orphanage so far. The library, the playground, the roofing in some parts of the building. And the cycle continues with her requesting one thing and Sasuke negotiating it down to a level he thinks is manageable for him and the firm.
She sighs. Lawyers, honestly.
"You two aren't going to get anywhere like that, you know?" They both look at Karin, who's sitting back in Sasuke's chair, a foot incased in high heels tapping to a silent tune. "You're being so random about this. Focus on a couple of key goals and work around it. You need a plan."
Sakura glances at Sasuke and finds he's already looking at her, nonplussed.
"Ugh. You two are hopeless." The redhead grabs Sakura towards the long table. "Pinky and I will start, alright? You go do whatever it is you have to do Uchiha. You look like you're about to explode."
They leave Sasuke to his devices and Sakura observes the other occupants of the meeting room. The Ino-Shika-Cho PR team are off to one side workshopping vague press releases and calling up media outlets that are still favorable to the Uchiha.
Naruto, for some reason is next to the wall, having a hand-stand competition with the solicitous boy who introduced himself as Rock Lee. Normally, she'd be annoyed that they're not doing anything productive but who is she to be mad at them? Even the scary looking Hyuuga and his fiancée, Tenten, didn't bother to show up.
Everyone else is busy with their own share of the work, but there's a cohesiveness that's still missing from all of them. Karin is right, of course, they need a plan. But where would she even start? Sakura grabs a grid notebook from her bag and a freshly sharpened pencil.
She tries to get a peek at Sasuke without being noticed. He probably won't. He's focused on his laptop in a corner couch and based on his ever-deepening scowl, the orphanage is probably the last thing on his mind.
"Pinky, you're not gonna get anywhere if you keep staring at Sasuke-kun."
Sakura nearly jumps from her seat and grips her notebook to her chest. "I am not," she hisses and wishes to high heavens that Sasuke heard nothing.
"Uh-huh." The redhead takes the seat beside her. Sakura wilts a little at her incompetence being laid bare. She supposes it'd be worse if it was Sasuke sighing in disappointment beside her. Karin drags her notebook and pencil closer to her. "Why don't we do bullet points first. What's the mission and vision?"
"The what?"
"What's your objective and how do you plan on getting them done?"
"Well…" It's simple isn't it? "To help and support the kids of Shinseikatsu by giving them the tools they'll be needing to succeed in life, in a way that'll be easy for them to sustain."
"Alright." Karin writes it down with the literary flourish that it needs. "You have any main points yet on what those tools are? Give me at least three to four steps."
Sakura drums her palms on the table. If she could focus on three things, she says to Karin, she'd start with the building itself. The home needs to be fixed up and honestly, some of the furniture are so worn out, they need to be replaced. So that's one. The children's education also worries Sakura. Not all of the kids are able to go to school. The younger ones who should at least be starting first grade can't because there aren't enough staff to keep track of all of them and a few of the older ones opt out entirely.
But there's still the bigger problem of how the children are dealing with their situation. "Kids are like sponges, and I'm scared of what they've soaked in so far. Not all of them are there because they don't have parents you know. Some of them have been given up by their families, some of them have been taken away because their families were abusive. Can you imagine the emotional wounds they could still be carrying because of that?"
Karin snorts. "You don't have to tell me."
"Oh crap! I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me…" Sakura remembers that like her cousin, Karin's home life wasn't perfect either. Her father died before she was born and her mother, while not abusive, had problems with active addiction. She could tell, in the few times they came to see Naruto. Her skin was sallow and she hid her bloodshot eyes behind sunglasses. There were times where she came with Karin and she could barely string sentences together and then times where she was filled with an almost frenetic energy. Looking back, Sakura understands now why Iruka was always a few feet away during those visits.
It's the reason they couldn't take Naruto to live with them and why the cousins didn't have a lot of contact with each other growing up, aside from the holidays. Even if Karin herself didn't grow up an orphan, Sakura assumes that she had to take care of herself and her mother instead.
"Kami, you're a real bleeding heart aren't you?" Karin crosses her arms and shoots her a smirk. "It's fine. Anyway. It seems like you've got at least three points here that you can build up here."
Sakura reads over what the redhead has written and it's far more eloquent than she could have come up with herself. Give her scientific articles and reports to write and she'll be fine. It's when she has to use something other than medical jargon that she has trouble with.
"You're very good at this," she tells Karin in awe.
"Well don't sound too surprised. Do you think Uchiha Fugaku writes his own emails?"
Sakura guesses Karin meant her boss. "Uhm, yes?"
"Yeah well he doesn't!" Karin slides her glasses up her nose. "If he did, he wouldn't have any time to spend with his family— and he barely does as it is."
"Oh." Sakura side-eyes the Uchiha in the room. Sasuke is balancing his laptop on his lap and a huge black binder in his arm and there's a little groove forming in between his furrowed brows that she thinks is cute. Perhaps he inherited his workaholic tendencies from his father too, an illness of the rich and successful. It makes her doubly thankful that her father, a simple baker by profession, could spend as much time with her as she wanted.
"But if you're supposed to lighten his load, what are you doing here on this project Karin?"
"I'm auditioning for the Uchiha Foundation," Karin tells her with a finger against her lips, a secret. "Sasuke-kun's mother is the president, and if she approves of my work here, then she might invite me into the organization."
"I didn't know you could audition for that." Sakura says. The Uchiha Foundation is the biggest charitable organization in all of Konoha, funding schools, museums, and a veritable rolodex of tear-jerker causes. Every socialite and debutante who mattered is a member of the Uchiha Foundation. It's a bit sexist, if Sakura thought about it, that only women join but she doesn't know the first thing about how they work now does she? "You're gonna be a shoe-in for sure Karin."
"Obviously. So don't mess this up for me Pinky."
"I would never." Sakura assures Karin, touching her hand over her heart teasingly. She kind of likes her best friend's spitfire cousin and she wishes she'd known her better when they were younger.
"Hey! Shouldn't you be eating by now Sakura-chan?" Speaking of said best friend, Naruto and Lee-san sprint towards them. "We should go get some lunch before you have to go back to the orphanage. Sasuke-teme's treat!"
The Uchiha tells him to fuck off from across the room.
"Fine. But we have to go to Ichiraku now." Naruto's stomach rumbles for maximum effect. "I'm dying here Sakura-chan!"
Lee-san pumps his fist into the air. "Yes! And we need to be in top condition to help the children of Shinseikatsu!"
They make quick plans, and of course when Chouji heard, the Ino-Shika-Cho team has to come along as well. It's too bad Karin has to beg off since she has to get back to her boss's office. Sakura looks back to the busy Uchiha, still deep in paperwork. It doesn't seem like he heard them at all, aside from Naruto's earlier claim.
She approaches him carefully, like she would a feral cat off the street. "Wanna get lunch with us Sasuke-kun?"
He doesn't acknowledge except for a grunt. In Sasuke-esque, that's a clear dismissal. Sakura feels the shame of rejection, and for a moment, she's back in the playground being chosen last for games or not at all. It sucks that after all these years, she could still feel this way.
Sakura waits a few more seconds before she straightens up. Well that shouldn't be the case. No one has the right to make her feel that way but she's got no control over that. It's up to her if she lets herself be affected. And she won't.
She considers Sasuke one last time and takes note of his harried expression— his pallor and the way it highlights the grey under his eyes. He's swamped; he's being pressured to do better because of his current predicament she convinces herself.
"Come on Forehead!" Ino urges her. "We'll bring Sasu-cakes something later."
As they travel to Ichiraku, Sakura realizes she can't bring herself to be mad. Yes, Sasuke is an ass. Yes, she would have preferred he answer her even if he was rude about it. But… she examines the others squashed into Naruto's orange truck as they bicker about whether ramen or barbecue is the superior meal.
They're his friends and maybe they knew him well enough to know he wouldn't go, but it saddens her that not one of them invited Sasuke eat with them.
Then again, just one call from them and she came running, not even giving Sasuke a second thought until they were well on their way. That excitement— that gratefulness she felt almost made her jump up. A childhood of not being wanted made sure she never took friends for granted. But the experience of not even being asked? It's not something she expected to share with the man.
xxx
"So how do you like working at the orphanage Sakura-chan?"
Sakura contemplates Naruto's question as she swirls her chopsticks in her miso pork ramen. It's not a lot of work. In fact, the few times she met up with the committee was harder than dealing with a few dozen children. "All in all? It's different. Good different. It's not as draining as when I was in hospital… and the kids are a hell of a lot less troublesome than you were."
"But Sakura-chan! You were just as bad; you were my partner in crime!"
"Please, I was a complete angel compared to you," Sakura says as they laugh at the pouting blonde.
It's not the only thing that's different. This is actually the first time in months that she's gone out with people she could consider friends. It's not because of what happened with Suisen— even before that she had trouble bonding with her fellow interns because her dream of being a doctor always came first for Sakura. And in UMSoM, aside from Ino, there had been no one else she truly hung out with. She had to work part-time to afford med-school, even with the scholarship, and then she used every available time she had to cram.
It was a never ending hustle trying to get past the finish line and here she is on the other side, with not much to show for it.
So what was it all for?
"Earth to Forehead!" Ino pokes her on her temple with a well-manicured index finger. "Are you there or is the mothership trying to send you a message?"
"Very funny Piggy. What did you want?"
"Not me. Lee was trying to ask you something."
Rock Lee is gazing at her earnestly from across the table. "I was a wondering if a fair blossom such as yourself already has a significant other, Sakura-san."
"Yeah, Sakura-san, do you have a si-signi— special someone?" Sakura chuckles at Naruto's modification.
"As a matter of fact I do!" She ignores Ino and Naruto's similarly scandalized expressions, as well as Lee's crest-fallen one. "He's so cute. He's got chocolate brown eyes and he's got the most dazzling smile."
"W-what? How come I've never heard of him before now?"
"Well I only met him recently Naruto-baka! And don't worry, he's really nice to me." Sakura fake gushes for extra effect. "He's sweet and creative. The only problem is…"
"What? What?" Naruto squawks and he's practically on the table, inching towards her. "If he's mean to you, I swear—"
She shoves his palm into her best friend's face before he can continue his threat. "It's not that. It's just, well, Asahi only reaches up to my waist and that's kinda weird. But he did give me flowers—"
"But he's a little runt!" Naruto groans when he realizes she was referring to the little boy who followed his every word. "Okay, fine, you got me. Hear that fuzzy brows? She's single."
"No, I'm not!" She pushes Naruto, face and all, away from her and regards the well-meaning Lee. "I mean I am— but I'm not ready for anything right now and I'm- I'm gonna shut up now."
Oh gods. Why did she say that? He's probably just asking to be nice, not because he wants to be her boyfriend or anything. Who does that? She slouches into her chair and hopes the floorboards would open up and swallow her whole.
"No, it's fine Sakura-san." Lee reassures her. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to wait until you're ready. I think it's admirable and I will endeavor to be just as patient, Sakura-san!"
"Right," Ino says dryly. "You wanna know who else is single?"
"Ugh, stop it Ino-pig. I'm not interested in him." Why is she still pushing this Sasuke agenda? Didn't she see how he barely wants anything to do with her?
"Sakura! You're going to make Chouji cry!"
"You're incorrigible Pig," Sakura chides. She takes a swig of her lemonade— no alcohol before work, obviously— while the topic moves on from her. All the teasing and intrusions into her non-existent love life aside, she can't remember laughing as much as she does now, even when she's in the orphanage.
And if she's happy now, in this table with all of these old and new friends, is everything so bad?
Ayame, the chef's daughter, comes by to chat and to give them their bill. She even asks about his handsome friend and Sakura finds herself surprised when she comprehends that she meant Sasuke. The two of them have been coming to Ichiraku for years, her and Naruto, and it's silly to think that the blonde would stop bringing other friends over when she decided to edge out of the picture.
Right. Naruto's managed to build a whole life for himself with her barely in it. Much like she has.
Everyone starts taking out their wallets to pay, which reminds Sakura to do the same. She's mentally calculating how much she still has inside hers and how much will be left for her ride home when Naruto stops her.
"Don't worry, it's on me today Sakura-chan," he says as he lifts the ridiculous froggy wallet he's had since they were kids.
"You don't have to Naruto, I can—"
"Don't worry about it. I know Iruka's not really paying you much at the orphanage," he whispers. "You can spot me next time."
Sakura feels her face heat up. He thinks she's getting paid? Why would Iruka tell him that?
"Alright…" It's not serious, Sakura thinks. Friends do it all the time. And she should be glad he's watching out for her. In the grand scheme of things, having a friend take care of you I the last thing she should be mad about.
Right?
xxx
Sakura feels uneasy when they get back.
Something is wrong. There are voices coming from inside the meeting room, and while they aren't raised, they're anything but friendly.
I thought you wanted this Sasuke. You only have so little time to change people's opinion of you before they solidify forever.
She doesn't hear Sasuke's reply and she's selfishly glad for that. Sakura's has first-hand experience on how frightening Sasuke could be purely with his deceptively soft tone, she dreads what he could do shouting.
They all stand awkwardly before the wooden double doors. Should they go in or not? Sakura raises a hand towards the door handle and looks to the others for guidance but they seem as hesitant as she feels she is.
It's been a week. What have you accomplished since then?
Sakura is pushing the door open before she even knows what she's doing. Sasuke is on the other side, as is Karin who appears to be trying to diffuse the tension. But there are two others— a man and a woman, with their backs against her who Sakura doesn't know. She may not like Sasuke much but it's almost instinctual. There's only one thing on her mind and that's to stop this interrogation.
"We already have a plan," Sakura says nervously. The two turn towards her and she's immediately struck by the family resemblance. They must be Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto.
"You do?" Uchiha Fugaku stares at her, and while his eyes don't roam, it still feels like she's being judged and found wanting. In this way, from his piercing eyes to the hard set of his mouth, the connection to Sasuke is clear. The woman beside him, Uchiha Mikoto— who no doubt gifted Sasuke with his stunning mien— looks more contemplative, but not any less intimidating.
Sakura racks her mind for all the things she and Karin talked about. She tells them of the state of the orphanage home and the children's schooling. When they don't seem that impressed, she throws in a couple of other things like maybe the children need counselling or psychiatric help too. It feels like she's throwing stuff against the wall and by god, she hopes something sticks.
She's out of breath when she finally stops and still they study her. It makes her want to run away or heave her guts out. Thankfully, neither happens because the two share a wordless glance and nods at her.
"Good," Uchiha Fugaku turns to Sasuke with a look that shows he's unimpressed. But then he puts a hand on her shoulder and she thinks she just might faint. "Finalize it in a week."
He leaves without his wife, who stays behind to approach Sakura. "Give our regards to Tsunade-hime, alright?"
She is gone before Sakura could process that Sasuke's mother knows her somehow, knows that she used to work at KMC and under Dr. Tsunade. And she reels, wondering what else Uchiha Mikoto knows.
"Oh shit," she hears Naruto mutter.
Sakura turns to him, expecting to see him peering at her worriedly, but his eyes are trained at Sasuke and Karin. The redhead is pale, shocked, and stares at her with something akin to betrayal. And Sasuke is just openly glaring at her, with more animosity than when he called her out when they first met.
All of it has Sakura disoriented.
Oh god. What did I do wrong?
A/N: Lol. Okay, I know I haven't been posting as regularly as I told I would... or promised myself I would. But I got a bit busy with this zine I'm a part of. If you love SS (and of course you do, you're reading this), then check out LAKBAY: SasuSaku PH Travel Zine. There are so many artists and writers working on this zine, it's utterly phenomenal. I submitted three stories, so you can guess why I haven't updated this story in a while (among other things).
Anywho, I've learned a lot about writing stories through it that I hope I can still apply here. As always, hopefully, leave me a review. I would really love to know what works and what doesn't. And I appreciate everyone who follows and favorite-s In the Interim. Thanks!