Sakura's POV

Sasuke spent the rest of the weekend with Sarada, and when Monday came around, he stopped by Sarada's school to tell them about the bullying issue, and the vice principal agreed to discuss is with Sarada, Sasuke, Aimi, and her family today, but the end of the school day was close and Sasuke still hasn't finished working.

I am working behind the counter, and cleaning up some of the french presses, while Sasuke stands impatiently on the other side, tapping his foot and biting his lower lip so he doesn't yell. The tables he was waiting for are taking very long to finish eating. As soon as they walked in the restaurant, both of us knew that they would be a pain.

"Could they be any slower?" Sasuke asks sarcastically. "I need to get to the school for the meeting. Sarada needs me there." After wiping one of the presses clean, I put down the rag I was using and rub his back to release some tension from it. It helps a little.

"Take a deep breath. I'm sure they won't start anything without you."

"Yeah but I don't want to leave Sarada there waiting all alone." The tension that left his back comes back. Seeing how stressed he is makes me worry too. I glance over to the tables, and notice that another conversation is starting between them. They aren't going to be finishing soon.

"Hey, why not I go wait with Sarada. Would that make you feel better?" Saying this makes Sasuke face me. His eyes fill up with hope.

"You would do that?"

I chuckle a bit and press my hands onto his chest. "Of course. I'm about to leave anyway, and I do want to see Sarada." Sasuke lets out a deep breath and grabs my hands that are still on his chest.

"Thank you." His sweet smile forms again, and I can't help but smile when I see it. "Will you tell her that I am coming?"

"Sure."

I am able to get to Sarada's school quickly thanks to the lack of traffic. When I enter the building, I notice Sarada sitting down outside of the office, looking a little distressed as she looks down at the dirty floor and twirls her thumbs. "Sarada!" I say while walking to her.

Her head jolts up to look at me, and when she does, the worry she had in her face disappears. "Sakura!"

I sit down in the seat next to her. "Sasuke got stuck at work, but he will be here soon."

"Okay." Sarada's body then leans to rest on the back of the seat. Her shoulders tighten a little and soon the face she was making when I got here resumes. Both of us stay silent for a little while, waiting for Sasuke and for the meeting to start. My eyes wander around the building again. I've been here a couple of times, but I never really observed the school.

For the most part it is clean, but since it is a place filled with many young children, it can never be fully spotless. Especially right after the end of a school day. At the corner of my eye I can see a janitor rolling a huge blue cart filled with mops, sprays, and towels for cleaning while listening to music through their headphones.

My eyes go back to the small girl to my right. Staring off in the distance must have bored her, so her attention is drawn to the zippers of her school bag as she zips, and unzips it. "Did you do anything fun today at school?" I ask.

Sarada's body jumps a little from me suddenly speaking, but then looks at me. "Not really. It's still the beginning of school, so teachers aren't doing much yet."

"None of those girls bothered you today, right?" From the corner of my eye, I can see Sarada's right leg bounce up and down rhythmically. Is it because something happened or is she nervous about the meeting?

"No, they didn't talk to me today. Maybe Aimi told them about this meeting." Her leg keeps bouncing even faster after mentioning the meeting.

"You have nothing to be nervous about," I say as I reach over to Sarada and hug her into me. "We're going to figure this out, and Sasuke will be there too."

"I know that. It's just..." Sarada's bottom lip gets caught under her top lip before speaking again. "I'm just a little scared to see Aimi's face."

After Sarada stops talking, I draw invisible circles on her shoulder for comfort. "She isn't someone to be scared of. If anyone is to be scared it's her. She is the one who will be in trouble when this is all over. Plus, she has to deal with an angry Sasuke, and that is truly terrifying."

Sarada lets out a quiet giggle, making her body relax a little into me as she lets her head fall onto my shoulder. "That's true."

"Don't worry Sarada. You won't be alone, and soon this will all be over." Both her and I have a comforting moment together before clicks of heels come stomping through at a fast pace, ending the relaxing aura.

Sarada's head lifts off of me and we both turn to see who is making all the noise, and we are greeted with a skinny, older woman, wearing an expensive business suit and a huge marriage ring on her finger. Her face has makeup painted all over, making her skin look even older than it probably is. The wrinkles on her forehead are more noticeable thanks to the frustration she is letting out.

"Are you Sarada Uchiha?" She asks violently. At this moment I realize that there is a little girl hiding behind the woman. Must be Aimi and her mother. "You have a lot of nerve accusing my daughter of bullying!"

Once I grasp that Aimi's mother is yelling at Sarada and not me, I step in. "Now hold on." I lift myself off of my seat. "Don't talk to her like that. If you have something to say, it can wait for the meeting."

The older woman draws her attention to me, giving me her deadly glare. "Who are you!? Are you the brat's mother. I thought that woman left." How does she even know that?

"I'm Sasuke's girlfriend."

"Girlfriend? Then what the hell are you doing here?! You're not her mother! You have no right to be here!" Aimi and her mother take another step towards me, causing me to step back in defense.

"I'm just here for support."

"Support?!" The woman lets out a disturbing laugh. "Ridiculous. This whole thing is a waste of time. My daughter would never bully anyone. I bet she just made up the whole thing to get attention! She probably doesn't get enough at home!" Hearing her continuing to yell, I feel my fists tighten. A flashback to Sarada's small body crying on the floor pops into my mind. I try to say something, but the vulgar woman continues.

"How dare you attack my child! Do you have anything to prove that my daughter is bullying her?!"

I then remember the drawing journal that was in the toilet, however, I threw that away, so it's gone. Why didn't I think of keeping that?

"How old are you anyway?! You don't look old enough to drink! If that's the case then I don't even want to hear anything you have to say! You're just some dumb kid who thinks the world revolves around them!"

"I'm old enough to drink," I mutter.

The violent mother doesn't hear me and keeps shouting. She continues to mention horrible things about Sasuke and his parenting. I find myself falling deeper into an abyss as she keeps talking. Why can't I say anything back? Am I intimidated?

Maybe it's because she is right about me. I don't belong here. I shouldn't be here. I'm not her mother. If anything she is making me feel like the little girl that used to hide from her bullies and cower in fear. Maybe I am just a dumb kid.

"Excuse me but what is going on?" My thoughts and the woman's shouting stops as a middle aged man dressed in a neat suit appears behind the office door. "I can hear screaming coming out. That's not very mature." He must be the principal.

"This whole situation is absurd! My daughter would never bully anyone! She is a good kid with the best grades in her class! I'm sure this child here is merely jealous of her!"

"Ma'am, please calm down. I understand that hearing your child is bullying someone isn't easy to accept, but you shouldn't completely deny it because you don't want to believe it's true. Once the meeting starts, I will listen to both sides, and you will have to be calm about it." The principle then turns towards me to speak. "May I ask where is?"

"He had to stay later for work, but he should be here any minute."

"Good. Once he gets here, we will start."

When things seem to have calmed down, Aimi's mother raises her voice again at the principal. "There is absolutely no evidence saying that my child has been bullying anyone. She told me everything!"

"Ma'am!" the man says that more seriously and sternly before. He is already done with this mother. "I wasn't going to say this right now, but I'll let you know that this isn't the only time that someone has come out and said that your child has been bullying them. Just today one of the girls that was in Aimi's class last year told a teacher today that she bullied them."

Saying that seems to stop the cruel mother from speaking again. Instead she turns to her daughter and glares hard at her, making Aimi drop her head down. From behind me I can hear Sarada whisper something too. "Cho Cho?"

After hearing Sarada's whisper, I can see a figure running towards us from the entrance that Aimi and her mother entered from. As he gets closer, I see the pitch black hair and pale skin that is a little red in the cheeks from running. "I'm so sorry for being late. I got stuck at work," Sasuke says in between breaths.

"That's quite alright . has been entertaining us," the principal responds slyly. "Shall we get started now?" he asks as he opens the door fully so other people can walk through.

"Yes," Sasuke pants. While Sasuke goes towards Sarada to give her a small hug, Aimi's mother stomps through the door with her nose in the air and Aimi trailing quietly behind. "Are you going to leave now?" Sasuke asks me.

"I think I will stay and wait out here. Is that alright?" I ask the principal.

"That's fine." And with that, Sasuke and Sarada walk into the office holding hands.