Shisui had always joked that Sasuke didn't need to worry about planning his future. With the Uzumaki bloodline's collective obsession with him, he'd become one of them one way or another. He hadn't been able to get rid of Naruto since they were eleven and Karin's stalking tendencies ever since she met him at university weren't much of a secret either. Sasuke guessed he was so used to this family - Minato and Kushina included - trying to meddle with his life that on some level he had believed this too. He didn't like Karin that way, but to his parents' horror he didn't care enough about who or even if he would end up with someone. Karin would probably just wear him down, he guessed. Imagine his surprise when Naruto's wedding came around and he found out that Shisui had been partially right. This family's hands had finally closed around him. Instead of marrying Karin though, he had got Naruto's, his best friend's and self-proclaimed soulmate's, twin sister pregnant. He was damned. Still, she was the woman that he could not forget.

When they were 15 and drunk for the first time, Naruto had told Sasuke that he was his soulmate. It was embarrassing and cheesy and something boys didn't do and they never talked about it again. Now, years later, Sasuke was to attend Naruto's wedding to Hinata and he honestly was not sure if this was the straw that broke the camel's back. After all the fighting and testing of each other's tolerance, he wasn't sure if getting Naruto's sister pregnant was the final test that their friendship might not endure. And it pained him to admit it, but after his relationship with his brother it was the most meaningful relationship he had built with anyone. During their time at boaring school both boys had always stayed the weekends. Their families were busy and kids of busy families could get lonely. Sasuke's parents and Itachi sincerely loved him, but because of their many resposibilities with the family business, they didn't stay in touch as often as Sasuke would have secretly liked. Naruto's loud colourfulness was a good distraction when his phone stayed silent.

Back then, they got older kids in their class to buy them beer and then lounged around in their room. Both Naruto and Sasuke leaned against Sasuke's bed. Naruto turned his head and drunkenly breached Sasuke's personal space. His body sagged to the side and swayed dangerously close to kissing Sasuke's ear when he said: "My sister is my twin, the other half of - half of my soul. You can- cannot be that, but uhhh - you are my soulmate." Sasuke still remembered his beer breath and the surprisingly deep words for Naruto - maybe also Shisui's teasing that if he ever wanted to go gay, there would always be Naruto.

Naruto's phone rang all the time. Their boarding school was on the outer edge of Fire Country and Naruto came from the capital city, Konohagakure. This was where his sister stayed for school. If it weren't for his family's tradition to send off its boys to an all-boys boarding school, he could have stayed with his better half as he liked to call her. Creepy, Sasuke thought. Still, the phone rang constantly and Naruto spent hours talking to his sister.

"You wouldn't understand, teme. My sister always understands how I feel. I don't even need to use words," Naruto wiseassed.

"Then why do you guys talk so much?", he snarled. A fight ensued.

The image of a cherry blossom tree flashing on Naruto's screen and the words "better half" betraying the caller's identity were as constant a companion to Sasuke's days as cup ramen and the colour orange. A cherrry blossom tree for someone named Sakura. Sasuke thought it was a bit on the nose.

School life was definitely never boring. Sasuke didn't know how Naruto had managed to do this, but by their third year of boarding school it was a normal occurence to find him eating during class. And he wasn't even somewhere in the back to hide away. No, Naruto sat in the second row next to his best friend, of course. Sasuke always chose the second row. Being as ambitious as he was, he wanted to follow the lesson and the front of the classroom made it easier. There he didn't have to blend out Shikamaru's snoring in the back and Kiba's snickering. He had probably once again roped innocent Sai into drawing a crude scene for him. It was also easier to actually hear the teacher when they were someone talking really quietly and maybe even having a speech impediment like, let's say, hissing. Orochimaru's class had left its mark even on Sasuke. The only thing he wouldn't do is sit in the front row. He wasn't an attention seeker. Unfortunately, Naruto tended to follow him and so early on, Sasuke had to learn to endure his antics which maybe were the worst of all. It all started about three weeks into their stay at boarding school when the first seemingly inconspicuous slurping disturbed a phase of quiet individual work. A few heads turned, but couldn't make out its source. Their homeroom teacher Kakashi, of course, kept his head in his book. But soon another slurping noise startled the room. While the rest of their class was still clueless, a vein on Sasuke's forehead started to throb. From where had that idiot even gotten his stupid cup ramen? He hadn't seen him walking in with it. Strategically hidden behind that tall kid in the first row with the glasses and the long torso and a fortress build by a water flask, the textbook, the workbook, a notebook, the student diary their school gave out and that Naruto had never even opened, his pencil case and whatever else he could find, Naruto opened the lid once more and filled his mouth for a third time. By then, the curry smell was filling up the room and even Kakashi looked up from his book, so Naruto earned his first trip to the headmaster.

Still, over the years Naruto eating during class had become routine. New teachers didn't even address this behaviour anymore. Were they warned beforehand in the teacher's lounge? Were they told that it was fruitless? That Naruto was the governor's son? Better ramen than heroin? Sasuke didn't know and honestly, he had given up as well.

The idiot somehow managed to smell like frying oil, especially when he was sweating. That made Sasuke worry that the fast food joint smell didn't just cling to his clothes but had been trapped under his skin waiting for his sweat glands to get activated to finally find a way out again.

Even Sasuke had to admit, albeit silently, that Naruto was the most loyal friend you could wish for, but personal hygiene just wasn't his strong suit, so Sasuke would have been impressed if he had learned that that idiot's sister showered. The bar was that low.

How could he have known that the person who'd been on the other end of Naruto's phone for the past 13 years couldn't be compared to that? His phone only showed a cherry blossom tree when she called. Sasuke hadn't even seen a picture of her. Well, she didn't smell like frying oil, but rather, what he imagined the actresses in old southern European beach movies to smell like. Her note was citrous, aromatic and very aquatic. It had a certain weight to it like a strong breeze rustling through palm leaves. Mostly, she made Sasuke lose his head and get mushy.

Back then, Sasuke only knew her name was Sakura, nothing else.

Naruto didn't even want to show him a picture of his sister.

"My sister's the prettiest girl in the world, teme. If I showed you a picture, you'd immediately fall in love with her and I'd have to kill you. I'm her bodyguard, ya know?"

"You're an idiot," Sasuke scoffed.

In boarding school, they spent a lot of time arguing.

Still, Shisui concluded, "Naruto and you - you would certainly make a good love story," while a cheeky grin stretched his lips.

Sasuke wanted to bash his head in.

Now that Naruto's wedding was around the corner, Sasuke had flown in to help. It was only two more days and Hinata Hyuuga would finally be a member of that obsessed bunch.

After their time at school, Sasuke had moved back to Oto and since then he hadn't had any desire to change anything about his location until a few months ago.

He met her at a gala in Konoha. She was a slim and small pink-haired, fairylike-looking woman who drank straight vodca shots with him while her surprisingly loud laugh filled the room. A playful smile greeted his gaze over the rim of her glass and under the lids of her bedroom eyes. He found her incredibly hot and the conversation was flowing like the champagne that night - a rare occurence in his life.

He had flown in from Oto for the event. It was a charity fund raiser for a hospital, he thought. Because Itachi's baby girl had suddenly developed a high fever, Itachi needed a quick replacement, so Sasuke came in his stead. The family wanted to make a big public donation. Thankfully, that part of the night and handing Tsunade Senju the check went by in a bearable pace. After he had finally made enough small talk, he found a quiet corner for himself and his drink. From that position he had the perfect view of a side entrance through which a latecomer made her apperance. She was pink-haired and wore a long white gown with splashes of different colours. The effect of it looked slightly artsy? His fashion vocabulary wasn't the best. It was form-fitted and revealed a slim, slight, even sylphlike woman who slendered over to the bar. His eyes followed her. When she had nearly reached her target, a man intercepted her. Sasuke at least thought it was intercepting. The guy started talking to her and she answered him. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but she wasn't smiling. His eyes were still on them. More or less unconsciously, he started walking towards them until finally their words reached his ears.

"Well Sakura, do you come to such big events often?" the guy asked.

"I try to avoid them," Sakura answered - a fitting name as Sasuke thought.

"I guess with your job it isn't as common to go to these things as with mine. I go all the time." He fluffed up his imaginary feathers and looked around the room while making a grand hand gesture. That guy wasn't the real deal, not even the half-price deal and the hidden insult was not to his advantage. She must have thought the same thing. When the guy didn't get any reaction from her, he started his questioning again.

"So what do you normally do in your free time?"

She grimaced, but answered. "I like reading."

"What's the last book you've read?"

"Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice."

Here her eyes started to get some animation back.

"Oh, I read that in school many years ago. It's a good book for women. I don't remember a lot of it. Lots of marriages, right? I find that a lot of women like that romance and finding a nice husband thing. Having a nice house, nice shoes, a few kids, maybe a nanny and a cat - Oh, of course, a cleaning lady!" Here he raised his voice with his sudden thought. "Even if you don't admit to it, that's what you secretly want. That's why you read all that romance stuff, right?" He leaned closer and winked. "You know you can talk to me about this stuff."

She had taken a step back and her body language was completely shut off, but he followed her.

"Of course, I like cars, fast ones and a good cigar. Do you smoke?" She didn't answer.

"Why don't you give me your number?" He was again leaning down towards her, his large frame towering over her and she backed away again. Sasuke moved towards them now to interrupt. He was just about to step in-between when she changed everything.

Instead of continuing to lean away, she straightened and said clearly:

"No."

No?"

"It was nice talking to you, Arakan**,**" Sakura said clearly.

"Well baby, you don't know what you want," the guy tried to influence her again, but his gaze also slit over to Sasuke nervously who had halted in his step too close to them for comfort.

Her gaze, however, remained steady and no sign of intimidation or hesitation was written on her face. She said nothing more, moved around Arakan and also Sasuke and took a seat at the bar. The guy looked at her dumbfounded, obviously not used to being ignored like that. Shouted at? Sure. The object of a nervous, uncomfortable, flitting gazes? Yes. When he wanted to get a woman, he accepted these consequences. But being of no interest? He continued staring at her, unable to comprehend how she had bruised his ego until he finally took his defeated leave. Now Sakura turned around and looked at Sasuke.

"You are still standing there."

"Well, I-" Sasuke was floundering. He was uncomfortable. He had come to help this gorgeous woman. That was until she had shown that she clearly didn't need him. Hence, he felt like a lagging laptop. What exactly was the new protocol now?

"I didn't need your help then, but I could use a drinking partner now." She smirked at him and he was immediately drawn in.

"My name's Sakura," she said. Quickly, an image of Naruto's phone screen with the cherry blossom tree flashed through his mind. If that was on the nose for someone with her name, this Sakura had pink hair. She was stunning though.

"Sasuke."

"Well Sasuke-kun, what kind of big, large car can you impress me with?" Her eyes twinkled with her teasing remark.

"I actually like Audi. They offer the best quality for your money," Sasuke replied with a straight face, but a tiny, tiny smile tugged on his lips.

"Me too, actually." Sakura giggled excitedly. "What do you think of the new model?" He sat down with her at the bar and their conversation flowed from there.

A while later, Sakura came back to the incident with the guy who had introduced himself as Arakan.

"He's just an idiot. I know that, but part of me was a bit scared at first. I was reminded of a few uncomfortable encounters of the past, so when he rushed in like that and surprised me, I felt catapulted back to that time when I was in my late teens and a few guys were super pushy and scary. It took me a moment to remember again that I am older and know how to handle myself now."

"Well, you saved yourself," Sasuke assured her.

"That I did."

He listened as she continued to tell him details from her life. She had a beautiful black cat she had adopted from a shelter two years ago and she really liked to dance through her apartment whenever she played "Dancing with myself" by Billy Idol - of course, with her cat in tow.

Sasuke snorted at that.

"It is true," Sakura said. "She likes to get on her hind legs and playfully pat my thighs with her paws. I think she wants to use me as a life-sized drum," Sakura giggled.

"Sure, she does," was his reply.

"Hey!" Sakura pushed on his chest while the humourous sparkle never left his eyes.

She stared at those dark irses, then slowly licked her lips. Suddenly, she nervously broke the eye contact and ordered another drink.

Sasuke who had also felt the shift in atmosphere shifted a bit closer, so that the heavy fabric of his trousers shifted against the exposed part of her right leg. She shivered a bit at that and he put his hand on the exposed part on her back. "Are you feeling cold, Sakura?" he whisphered into her ear, all while his hand started feeling up her sensitive naked skin.

"You're a little flushed," Sasuke said and his eyes burned. He had skin contact with this absolutely gorgeous woman - inside and out - and he was feeling hot. He was burning up like he had never before. Had the venue's air-conditioning failed or was that all her effect? When her head turned and she made direct eye contact again and said, "So are you", he had his answer. How could he have ever doubted her?

Later, he fucked her hard against the door of his hotel room. They didn't make it to the bed. It was like a prayer. It was like meeting god. Her body was sacred and he was her devoted worshipper. He came pushing everything he had into her. Laying out all of his offerings to the spring goddess. Afterwards, his hand left her clit and travelled up her stomach, playfully pushing in the soft skin of her belly and lightly yanking on a sensitive nipple which made her yelp.

A sensual "Mhh, Sasuke" escaped her mouth, but his kiss swallowed everything else she wanted to say. They lay in bed for a while afterwards, caressing each other and eventually bringing each other pleasure again.

When later that night Sasuke went to the bathroom totally blissed out on the experience and then came back to the room, he discovered she was gone. No clothes left, no note, no Sakura.

It broke his heart.

Until he met her again at the location for Naruto's wedding festivities talking and laughing with personnel and obviously very pregnant.

Is he gaaaaaay or European... haha, I've had this song stuck in my head for quite some time and honestly, for a moment I was tempted to change this fic to SasuNaru. Still, I stuck with my plan and there's always a next time.

Next chapter we'll hear a bit about Sasuke's relationship with Karin and of course, our ever elusive Sakura will make an appearance again.

So long! XXX