Last Time:
Hinata nodded, "Yup. But with you, he's himself. He's happy and smiling. I haven't seen him glow like this in years, Sakura. You're the reason he's finally getting back to himself, and I haven't seen him fight this hard for anything in a while."
Sakura sighed, "The circumstances, though."
"They're not ideal, but they are what they are," Hinata cooed as she nudged Sakura. "I don't need to remind you that mine and Naruto's situation wasn't exactly ideal, either."
Sakura smiled a bit, "Yeah."
"Hey." Naruto walked up and held out his hand to both of them, "Sasuke's gotten checked in at Obsidian."
Both Sakura and Hinata took a hand and stood up from the curb. Hinata linked her arm with Naruto's and gently rest her head on Naruto's shoulder while Sakura stood on her own.
"I'm really sorry about Karin, Sakura-chan," Naruto apologized.
Sakura shook her head, "It's okay. I heard she wasn't a people person anyway."
Naruto sighed, "Yeah. Ah, Sasuke's room number is 2121. He said he'll be there for a couple of days. I have to go by his apartment and get him some clothes, but as for tonight, he wants to see you."
Infidelity: Chapter 20 – Secrets and Lies
It was late when Suigetsu heard an urgent knock on his door. He knew who it was before opening the door because she was all anybody had been talking about for several hours. The tabloids had already run several stories, most of them false, on why Karin would've slapped Sakura, Naruto's childhood friend – they made sure to include that part in every article that went out. No one had heard anything from Sasuke, so they made baseless assumptions on how he reacted and crafted responses they thought he would have. Nevertheless, it was all gossip, and the tabloids would be thriving for a couple of days before moving on to the next thing.
Karin, however, wouldn't move on so quickly.
"Let her in," Suigetsu's ward croaked with a raspy voice as he gestured a boney finger towards the door.
Suigetsu sighed, "Of course, sir." He got up from the living room and made a stop in the kitchen where his ward's primary caretaker was in the middle of making dinner, "Keep an eye on him, please."
"Took her a while to get here, didn't she?" the caretaker noted as he turned the heat down on one of the stove's eyes.
"Don't start, Kabuto," Suigetsu warned. He made it to the front door just as the urgent knocking transitioned into banging. When he opened it, Karin stormed in and slammed the door.
"Why didn't you answer the door sooner, you imbecile?" Karin spit.
Suigetsu just stood there and stared at her, an utter lack of amusement prevalent. She immediately crumped underneath Suigetsu's gaze and quietly apologized.
"He wants to talk to you," Suigetsu grumbled as he locked the door and disappeared into the house.
Karin sighed. She headed into the house and found her way into the living room where Suigetsu's ward, the man that practically raised him, her, and dozens of others once upon a time, sat in his favorite chair. Or at least the seventh iteration of his favorite chair.
"Orochimaru," Karin called as she came around and showed herself to him.
"I heard you made a spectacle of yourself at the Uzumaki-Hyuuga Wedding Shower today," Orochimaru breathed with a sigh of disappointment. "Why did I go through all that trouble to get you into their circle just for you to make a fool of yourself?"
Karin pursed her lips together.
"Who is she?" Orochimaru asked. "The girl you slapped. The girl Naruto defended over his own blood?"
Karin shifted uncomfortably where she stood, "Her name is Haruno Sakura. Naruto said she's a childhood friend."
"A childhood friend?" he repeated. "And what did Sasuke do? Did he defend his wife at all?"
Karin shook her head. She didn't speak up about the part where she'd been caught with Suigetsu the day before the wedding.
"Are you pregnant yet?" Orochimaru asked.
"He won't touch me," Karin answered quietly.
"Hmpf." Orochimaru reached over to his end table and pulled open the drawer. Dozens of bottles of pills rattled around inside, and he fiddled around a bit before he found what he was looking for. "I'll give you two options. The first one is a powerful sedative. Dissolve the contents in his food or drink, and he'll be out for a while. The second is an aphrodisiac, and it works the same way as the first. Get him to ingest it, and he'll be all over you in five minutes if not sooner than that."
"I'm not comfortable drugging him," Karin admitted.
"This isn't about what you are and aren't comfortable doing, Karin," Orochimaru sneered. "This was your idea, remember? You're the one who wanted to marry him and wiggle your way into Uchiha Enterprise. You're the one who wanted a piece o the pie, and now that you have it, you won't take a bite."
Karin looked at him.
Orochimaru sucked his teeth, "You don't seem to remember why we're doing this, so let me remind you: Uchiha Enterprise got into a bind and needed to put the blame on somebody, anybody, that wasn't an Uchiha. They chose someone with enough power and a reputation so that the crime fit the criminal, and they picked me, Karin. They destroyed me because of their own fuck up. Because of some random Uchiha's fuck up. I was a scapegoat, and they're going to pay me back everything they owe me."
Karin didn't need a reminder because she still remembered that whole debacle like it was yesterday. Twenty years ago, a train had derailed in rural Fire Country several hundred miles away, damaged dozens of acres of farmland, and killed approximately two hundred people. When an investigation was launched, all hell broke loose at Uchiha Enterprise, and it was discovered that faulty parts made by their company had been on a recall for two months were used on the train. Usually, an inspector would've seen this defective part in one of their many inspections before the train was allowed to start running, but shortcuts were taken, and the pieces were left where they were. The inspection team was fired immediately with all of their retirement benefits and severance confiscated and distributed to a rebuilding effort for the affected areas. As for the faulty parts, more backdoors and shortcuts for cheaper materials were discovered, and the extra funds were being funneled into a private project not sponsored by Uchiha Enterprise. The culprit: a low-level technician that was the nephew of a brother of a cousin two steps away from Uchiha Katsurou, Fugaku's father and CEO of Uchiha Enterprise at the time. Not wanting the backlash, Katsurou directed the blame to someone non-Uchiha, and that someone was Orochimaru.
In the news, he was fired and barred from becoming an engineer at any company within Fire Country, and his retirement and severance were seized. However, Orochimaru was compensated handsomely behind closed doors, but it wasn't about the money; it was the reputation. Money meant nothing without a reputation.
The Uchiha responsible eventually committed suicide, though. Karin had heard that his suicide note consisted of him taking the blame for the incident, but it didn't make the news. Neither did the suicide even though he jumped from the top of the Uchiha Enterprise building downtown. From what Orochimaru said, it must've cost them an arm and a leg to keep that out of the news. But it was a hushed whisper amongst the elite for a while. Eventually, that died too.
"How long do you need to be married to Sasuke before you're granted a portion of his shares in the company?" Orochimaru asked.
"Six months," Karin answered. "I have six months before the prenup is null and void, but I won't be granted a portion of the shares until we're married for at least five years. Lady Mikoto made that very clear."
Orochimaru sucked his teeth, "And you're only three months into this marriage. You won't last five years."
"Or six months," Karin grumbled.
"What was that?" Orochimaru asked.
Karin sighed, "The girl, Haruno Sakura, she heard from someone that I was with Suigetsu the day before my wedding."
Orochimaru was silent.
"I'm sure he's going to meet with his parents tomorrow morning to discuss annulling the marriage because he suspects infidelity."
"Suigetsu!" Orochimaru bellowed.
Suigetsu appeared in the living room without seconds, "Yes?"
"I thought I made it clear that the two of you were not to be anywhere near each other?" Orochimaru sneered.
Suigetsu didn't say anything. Neither did Karin.
"What are we supposed to do if you two fuck around and Karin gets pregnant? Sure, she can hook Sasuke for another nine months, but what happens when that baby comes out with purple eyes and white hair? Uchiha's have dominant traits, Suigetsu, Karin. There's no way around it, and the only other acceptable outcome is if the child comes out with red hair and red eyes like Karin. Then maybe, just maybe, she can trick him into staying long enough for their marriage to outlast the statute."
"We'll be careful," assured Karin. "I promise."
"Don't see each other again outside of this living room where I can keep an eye on you. Otherwise, I blow this whole thing up myself and throw the entirety of the blame on you," Orochimaru threatened. "Forget an invitation to the White Party; I'll make sure they never even mention the name, 'Uzumaki Karin,' again."
Karin gritted her teeth. She wasn't sure who she hated more right now: Orochimaru or Sakura. She'd proposed the idea of marrying Sasuke to get herself into higher ranks amongst Konoha's socialites. Still, Orochimaru – and her parents – had seen it as an opportunity to gain some financial power as well. Acquiring shares in the company would earn them a seat at the table, and Orochimaru wanted revenge, but her parents wanted the money. Karin's parents weren't getting anywhere in Uzumaki Industries, so they figured a shortcut marriage to the top of the food chain and into a boardroom was the best way to get a seat at the table that they so desperately wanted. They cared about status, money, and power as much as Karin did, but Orochimaru had twisted their efforts to spearhead his own mission. A mission that was no doomed to fail for more reasons than one, but Karin didn't know that. Not entirely.
While Karin dealt with Orochimaru in an almost forgotten suburb an hour away from downtown, Sasuke dealt with Sakura.
They'd broken in Sasuke's temporary home and christened every piece of furniture and countertop. Sakura joked that the housekeeping staff would need to deep clean the room for at least a week before letting anybody else stay there. Sasuke liked the idea of the two of them leaving a semi-permanent mark somewhere.
But for right now, he focused everything he had on Sakura. He laid out underneath her and watched as Sakura effortlessly rode him. She'd been lost to the pleasure for a while now, so a more lustful side of Sakura was on top of him, and he loved every second of it and every bit of her.
"If you keep riding like that, I'll cum," Sakura groaned as a low moan came from the back of his throat.
They'd run out of condoms a while ago, but neither of them cared. It was too much of a hassle to go to the nearest convenience store and buy some more, and Sakura was against paying a five-dollar delivery fee for a box. Sasuke didn't argue. He was starting to think he should have because he knew there was no way he'd be able to go back to condoms after this.
"You can't cum yet," Sakura cried as she brought her hips down against his and started to grind. "Please, not yet."
Sasuke placed his hands on her thighs, "You're making it really difficult not to."
Sakura wore an apologetic smile, "Sorry."
They continued like this for a long while. The hours bled into one another until it was well past midnight.
"I'm starving," Sakura cooed in a sleepy tone.
"You can barely keep your eyes open; how are you supposed to eat?" Sasuke teased as he looked down to where Sakura had her head nestled into his chest.
"I'll wake up for food," Sakura declared with a yawn.
"Sure, sure." Sasuke reached over to the nightstand and pulled up the room service menu. "What do you feel like eating?"
"Anything," Sakura answered.
Sasuke chuckled and eyed the menu for a bit before grabbing his room's phone and getting the bar. He put in the order, and the two of them were almost completely knocked out by the time the food got there thirty minutes later.
"Room service!" the attendant called.
"Coming," Sasuke called as he got up and fished a pair of sweatpants out of his duffle bag. But then he heard the door click open.
"Room service for a. Mr. Uchiha Sasuke," the attendant, now clearly identified as Itsuki, pushed the cart into the room.
"Hey!" Sasuke threw a sheet over Sakura and headed into the living room, "I said 'coming,' not 'come in.'"
"Ah, my apologies." Itsuki wore an apologetic smile, "These doors are so thick, sometimes it's hard to hear clearly."
It took a moment, but then Sasuke recognized him, "Handa Itsuki, right? Sakura's old neighbor?"
"I'm surprised you recognize me," Itsuki admitted, and he indeed was surprised that Sasuke did recognize him.
"I never forget a face," Sasuke said. He picked up his wallet off an eye table near the door and removed a few bills, "Thanks for bringing up our food."
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura moaned as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
"Heh, that doesn't much look like your wife, Mr. Uchiha," Itsuki noted.
"And it doesn't look like that's any of your business, either," Sasuke countered as he handed Itsuki a hefty three-hundred-dollar tip. "Good night."
"Thanks for the tip, Mr. Uchiha." Itsuki tucked away his tip in his vest's breast pocket and slipped out of the room.
"Was that Itsuki?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah." Sasuke removed the covers off the food and set them aside. "Is he the quiet type?"
Sakura nodded, "He is. He's not much for gossip."
"Hm, good." Sasuke sighed, "Come on, come eat. I have an extra shirt for you in my bag over there."
"Thank you." Sakura climbed out of bed and found the extra shift he mentioned. Then her phone buzzed. She found it in her purse and saw the text from Itsuki that read, "He seems nice."
Sakura: He is.
Itsuki: He's married, Sakura.
Sakura: I know. I catered at the wedding, remember?
Itsuki: What about his wife?
Sakura: He doesn't love her.
Itsuki: Then why did he marry her if he didn't love her.
Sakura: It's complicated.
Itsuki: I got time. Explain it to me, so it's not complicated.
Sakura: Not now, Itsuki.
Itsuki: Fine, explain it to me on Sunday then when we go to brunch.
Sakura sighed, "What's with him?"
"Sakura?" Sasuke called.
"Coming." Sakura put her phone away and went into the living room.
To Be Continued…