Trigger Warning: This chapter includes mentions of sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised. An additional warning will be placed before the statement and after so that you may skip and continue reading at your convenience.

Last Time:

"At this time, we ask that you allow Sasuke to rest and recover as he's suffered severe injuries from his accident just earlier this evening," Naruto added. "We also ask that you don't chastise and demonize our friend, Haruno Sakura, as she's not the woman Karin has made her out to be."

Infidelity: Chapter 31 – Press Conferences

Despite all the preparation they'd done leading up to the day of the press conference, Sakura felt unprepared. The last few days felt like a blur with all the interview prep they put her through, and some of the questions were less than unsavory. Hinata had given her the more straightforward questions to deal with, but Neji hit her like a bullet train. His questions came fast, were personal, and he didn't flinch. She wasn't allowed to flinch, and that was harder to do than she realized. She already wasn't the type to bite her tongue, but she had to be today. She just hoped and prayed that it would go by quickly.

On the other hand, Sasuke was more than ready to reveal the truth. Karin had tried several times to get him to cancel the press conference, but he ignored all her lackluster attempts to reconcile with him. They were past the point of no return, and if Karin was ready to drag them through the mud, Sasuke was going to help. Karin had even gone as far as to send a cease-and-desist letter, but Sasuke had better lawyers. He was prepared for the worse, and he was hoping it'd come to that. Not because he wanted to put Karin through the wringer and watch her suffer – even though it'd be something to watch – but because it would show his family – especially his grandfather – that he was done living under their thumbs. He made this decision for himself, and he would fully follow through despite their protest.

Sasuke wore a simple navy-blue suit with a dark emerald green tie on the press conference day. Hinata wouldn't let him wear black because she said it made him look like he was attending a funeral. He liked that idea, but he listened to Hinata's advice. And per Hinata's advice, Sakura wore a formal white jumpsuit. It gave off the impression of innocence, and though red would've been the bolder statement, they were trying to salvage Sakura's reputation as best as they could. It was paired with heels, though nothing too high to add to the escort rumors and nothing too short to add to the homely tales. The jumpsuit was form-fitting but didn't expose too much skin, and her makeup was light. Looking at herself, Sakura knew Hinata had put much thought into this.

"They're almost ready," Deidara announced as he stepped into the room off the side of the hospital's conference room. "A few more news outlets just arrived, and they're setting up."

"Thank you, Deidara." Sasuke let Naruto adjust his tie and smooth out any stray wrinkles in his blazer. He looked over to where Sakura stared at herself in the mirror, and he went over to stand beside her, "I think we're a good-looking couple, don't you?"

She smiled a little, "Yeah."

He kissed the side of her head then noticed something was missing, "You're not wearing your engagement ring?"

Sakura rubbed her naked ring finger, "It feels like I'd be adding salt to the wound."

"Whose wound?"

She shrugged, "I haven't figured that out yet."

"Don't ever feel guilty for having fallen in love with me," Sasuke cooed as he stood in front of her and put a hand on her cheek. "I fell in love with you, too, and everything from that point on was my decision. I accepted the consequences a while ago, and I'm not going to accommodate myself to satisfy others. You shouldn't either."

Sakura looked at him for a moment. She reached into her jumpsuit's pocket, removed her engagement ring, and handed it to Sasuke, "Would you?"

"Of course." Sasuke placed the ring on her left ring finger and kissed her hand, "Right where it belongs."

"Lady Hinata, they're ready to begin," Kou, Hinata's attendance, announced as he entered.

"Thank you, Kou," Hinata called. She walked over to Sakura and Sasuke and carefully picked a piece of lint off Sakura's jumpsuit, "Remember: take a deep breath. Don't answer their questions are soon as they're done talking, okay? Take a breath, process, then answer. This isn't a sprint; it's a marathon."

Sakura nodded, "Right. Marathon."

Then she looked at Sasuke, "You don't need your cane?"

Sasuke shook his head, "I'll be fine without it."

Despite his accident happening just three weeks prior, Sasuke was already in the process of undergoing physical therapy. Hinata and Itachi had managed to keep pictures of Sasuke out of the media, so this would be his first public appearance since the accident. They had wanted him to wait until he at least had his prosthetic attached, but he wasn't willing to wait any longer.

"I'm ready," Sasuke said.

Deidara and Sasori promptly opened the double doors to the side room they'd been in for what felt like hours. The cameras immediately flashed, and Sasuke and Sakura walked out carefully. The room was packed from edge to edge with reporters, and the questions were already beginning to fly at them. It all sounded like white noise as they all tried to speak over one another to get their questions answered first, but Sasuke and Sakura continued to move towards the table at the front of the room.

Sakura carefully released Sasuke's hand and watched as he pulled her chair out for her. She took a seat and placed her hands in her lap while Sasuke took a seat close beside her. She sat with a stoic expression like Hinata had told her to and watched as Kou came over and poured a glass of water for both of them.

"Thank you," Sakura whispered.

Kou smiled, "You're welcome." He looked at Sasuke, "Lady Hinata told me to tell you not to overdo it."

"Tell her I said no promises," Sasuke responded.

Kou chuckled, "Very well."

Kou stepped away, and with the blinding lights shining on Sasuke and Sakura, she could barely see who was in front of them. However, she could see Naruto, Hinata, Deidara, and Sasori off to the side. When her eyes adjusted a bit, she saw Itachi slipping into the room from the back door with Shisui, and then she saw Itsuki. He gave a small smile and waved.

The reporters continued to hurl questions, but neither Sasuke nor Sakura responded. They waited. Or at least they made the reporters wait. Sakura was told not to speak first, so she waited on Sasuke. He took a sip of water and saw Naruto give the thumbs up that their mics were live. Sasuke then leaned over towards Sakura, put his hand over her mic, and whispered into her ear, "I love you."

She wouldn't help but smile, "Honestly, Sasuke."

He smiled, then directed his attention towards the reporters. He raised his hand, and the noise immediately stopped, "Would you mind dimming those lights a bit? They're kind of excessive."

Several of the lights immediately dimmed several levels, and now it didn't feel like the two of them were getting cooked under hot lights.

"Thank you," Sasuke said. "I know this has been a long time coming, and I appreciate the patience most of you have seemed to exhibit in the last few weeks while I recover from my accident. As you can see, I didn't come out of it unscathed. And fortunately for me, I'm ambidextrous, so the adjustment period was short."

There was a light chuckle from the crowd.

"I am grateful to the nurses and doctor's here who saved my life, and I am eternally thankful for the support system I've had. It has not been easy to recover and deal with this circus.

"Now, I'm not going to sit here and deny Karin's claims. Yes, I had an extramarital affair with Haruno Sakura, and I can boldly say I do not regret that decision. Sakura wasn't the one who pursued me or sought me out; I'm the one who went after her. Sakura attempted to end the affair, but I was stubborn."

Another laugh from the crowd, and Sakura could feel the tension slowly leaving her body.

Sasuke looked over at her and reached over to grab her hand, "The reason it is not a decision I regret is that I am deeply, honestly, and madly in love with this woman. And once this fiasco has settled, I have every attention of making her my wife."

There was an eruption of questions after that statement, but they weren't at the part for questions.

"It's true what Hinata had said the other day about mine and Karin's marriage being a sham," Sasuke spoke, and they died down. "She married me for an elevation in her status, not out of love. Yes, I loved Karin at one point in my life, but that was many years ago, and that love has since died. It is unfortunate because, at one point, Karin was someone that I considered a friend and someone I truly cared about, but things have been done to me and to those around me that have since changed my opinion of Karin. And I don't want to sit up here and chastise her for an hour. It wouldn't be challenging, but that's not the goal of today's conference. I asked you all here because I wanted to tell you the truth. After all, the things you've heard from Karin these last few weeks are far from the truth.

"For starters, as Hinata mentioned some time ago, the possibility of Karin's child being mine is slim to none," Sasuke announced. "I had a vasectomy several months before we got married per my brother's advice. He had had his suspicions about Karin, and though I didn't know this at the time, there had been rumors of Karin still having a full-blown relationship with Hozuki Suigetsu at the time our engagement was announced."

Sakura had been opposed to revealing Suigetsu's name, but Sasuke and Hinata's reasoning was that Karin's partner should be subjected to the same scrutiny she'd been forced into. It was a tactic they hoped would get Karin to come forward and confess to the truth and hopefully resolve this sooner rather than later.

"And if Karin is willing, I'm prepared to submit for a DNA to prove I'm not the father," Sasuke said. "And in the unlikely event that the child is mine, I'll be more than happy to issue a formal and public apology."

"Uchiha-san! Uchiha-san! You mentioned that things were done to you and those around you; can you elaborate on that?"

[Stop here and skip if you need to.]

"Ah," Sasuke cleared his throat and loosened his tie, "I suppose I could. I'm hesitant to share this, especially surrounding the stigma around such a topic when the roles are reversed, but I'm inclined to share." He took a sip of water and reached over to grab Sakura's hand, "Some months ago, I had a brunch meeting with my mother and father. I had asked them to meet me to discuss getting an annulment because I was serious about starting a life with Sakura. However, we didn't get to talk about it in depth because my mother had invited Karin there. It was something like an ambush, but Karin told me she wanted to speak and come clean about some things at the end of it.

"She had told me she wanted to tell me directly why she had sought out this marriage, and I was hopeful of receiving an answer," Sasuke admitted. "I already knew, but I needed to hear it from her directly. However, I didn't receive an answer."

For a minute there, Sasuke had said he was ready to talk about what happened but talking about it was proving challenging. She squeezed his hand, and Sasuke took a moment.

"She poured me a drink and then said she wanted to apologize for lying to me, and then I blacked out," Sasuke continued, his breath a little uneasy. "It was three days that I lost after that. There were blurs, nothing too concrete but enough to piece some general idea of what happened during that time. I was violated in ways I didn't think I would ever be violated. I was molested. I was raped. I was sexually assaulted by a woman who likes to call herself my wife. I was essentially broken."

There was an unsettling silence that hung over the room. Sakura moved her chair closer to Sasuke's, linked her arm with his, and placed her chin on his shoulder. She could feel he was trembling slightly, but not enough for those a few feet away to notice.

[You may continue reading here.]

"I love you," she cooed. She put her forehead gently against his head, and though it was awkward, some cameras flashed and caught the moment.

Sasuke squeezed her hand in return. He kissed her forehead and responded, "I love you." He took a deep breath and looked back at the crowd of reporters and journalists, "When the drugs were finally out of my system, I found my way to Sakura's apartment. I was fragile, but she helped hold me together when I couldn't do that for myself.

"It was also in those three days that Karin got me to sign a new prenuptial agreement that guaranteed she'd get almost the entirety of my estate and assets if our marriage ended in any way, shape, or form before our fifth anniversary. That's nearly seven hundred and thirty-five million dollars in its totality," Sasuke announced. "Karin thought she'd be able to get me to stay with her if it meant my losing everything, but I'd already made up my mind to give all of that up.

"My family – rather my grandfather, mother, and father – have been less than supportive of my relationship with Sakura," Sasuke continued. "I understand. The circumstance in which she and I began our relationship wasn't ideal. Still, I've repeatedly told them that this sham of a marriage with Karin would never develop into anything tangible.

"Since I've revealed my relationship with Sakura, they've threatened to take away the grant she'd earned on her merit and make it difficult for her to continue her education," he exposed. "They've threatened to block her in the medical field and prevent her from practicing medicine not only in Konoha but in Fire Country. Sakura, however, is probably just as stubborn as I am, and she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of running away, and I'm thankful for that."

"Sakura, many people are accusing you of being a gold digger and an opportunist! What do you have to say about that? Especially given the things your father said about you."

Sakura took a moment. She was prepared for this, and she felt the answer came quickly, "I can assure you that I'm neither a gold digger nor an opportunist. As Sasuke mentioned before, I tried to end this relationship before it became anything serious because he was married. I didn't believe in becoming a 'homewrecker,' but Sasuke told me what was beneath the surface when it came to his marriage to Karin. I was still hesitant, but things just developed naturally from there, and now we're here."

"I can promise that Sakura didn't give a single damn about what I had or who I was," Sasuke laughed. "I'm pretty sure she had me in her phone as 'Pretentious' for a while."

"Oh, I still do," Sakura assured him.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and the crowd laughed.

"They're doing great." Hinata was highly giddy and was practically jumping in place.

Naruto chuckled, "Relax, Hinata. Don't appear too excited."

"With the fear of having your career ruined, why didn't you leave?"

Sakura looked at Sasuke and smiled, "I won't lie and say I didn't consider it for my selfish reasons." She looked back at the crowd, "As many of you already know, my father has a history with drugs. I watched it turn my father from an accomplished architect and industrial designer at Uzumaki Industries into a beggar on the street. I didn't want that to happen again, so I worked hard to get where I am today. At times I even sacrificed a social life to make sure my grades were what they needed to be because, if nothing else, I was going to become what I had set out to be.

"I was terrified for a long time about whether or not they'd deliver on those threats, and nothing is stopping them from doing so now," Sakura continued. "The Uchiha are powerful, and they've done a lot for this city since it was founded almost half a century ago. I don't doubt that despite my best efforts, they'll still tarnish my dreams. And despite that, I think I'll be okay."

"So, you're willing to give up your lives for love?"

"In some sort of Shakespearean way, sure," Sasuke agreed. "My grandfather, he's a traditionalist for Uchiha values, and I don't fault him for that. My clan hasn't lasted this long because we were complacent and didn't get where we are because we didn't sacrifice. But, there has to be a limit.

"Very few people know this, but the last thing I wanted to do was join Uchiha Enterprise. I admire my family's company, and I'm thankful for what it's done for my family, but it was never my intention to join its ranks. Thanks to my great grandfather, Madara, I developed a love for the arts. I fell in love with music and painting, and it was what I wanted to do with my life.

"And I think now I'll finally get a chance to do that." Sasuke looked at Sakura, "Sakura told me a while ago that she heard advice from her father when she was younger. He told her that even if she did nothing with her life, and she's happy with that nothingness, then he'd be proud of her for having lived a full life. She said she didn't understand it when she was younger, but as she got older, she realized that many people do things to survive and appease others rather than do what they want or be happy. So, her advice to me then when I was at my lowest was that maybe I should do more of the thing or things that make me happy."

"It's advice that everyone should live by, honestly," Sakura said with a shrug.

"Would you say you're happy now, Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke nodded, "Despite the circumstances, I can truly say this is the happiest I've been in my life. Moving forward, I'm going to do more of the things that make me happy."

The press conference continued, and Sasuke and Sakura charmed the reporters and journalists with ease because it was genuine and effortless. Their love was evident, and their joy was infectious. And it became clear that whatever Karin and Sasuke had had long died before they were engaged. Looking back on all appearances Karin and Sasuke made were both planned and spontaneous, Sasuke had been stoic and withdrawn. He wouldn't even crack so much as a smile when Karin made a joke, but here, Sasuke couldn't stop smiling.

By the end of the press conference, they loved Sasuke and Sakura as a duo, and they were going to be sure that the whole of Konoha – and Fire Country – loved them too. They knew it wasn't one of those spontaneous and circumstantial situations where a man stuck in a loveless marriage bided his time and his attention where his affection would be returned. As one journalist would write, it was the joining of those bounded by the red string of fate. Their love seemed older than them and seemed like it spanned across lifetimes.

Sasuke and Sakura retreated into the adjourned room where Naruto and Hinata waited when their press conference ended. Sasori and Deidara had already gone, and Itachi left before any of the journalists and reporters could pull him into a series of questions. He did make sure to send a text to Sasuke, though, expressing how proud he was.

"Hinata and I can't stay long," Naruto told them as he hugged Sasuke. "You did great. If no one was on your side before today, they will be now."

"Which means Karin is going to be furious," Hinata sang as she squeezed Sakura's hands. "You did great. Karin's face is probably as red as her hair right now. I wish I could see it. That conniving cunt deserves everything coming to her."

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a look.

"Such language from a refined lady," Sasuke teased.

Hinata cleared her throat, "Pardon me. A brief lapse in personality."

Sakura giggled, "I liked it."

"We have to get going to a meeting with our wedding planner," Naruto said as he offered his hand to Hinata. "Remember, you two need to lay low for the next forty-eight hours and let your press conference get some serious traction. Then you can start going out together."

Hinata opened her mouth to speak, but she stopped suddenly when she saw who'd come into the adjourning room with them. She looked at Sasuke, and the pure look of anxiety was enough to tell her who was behind them. Together, Sasuke and Sakura turned to see Katsurou. He didn't look happy, but he didn't look irritated either.

"I'll leave you two alone," Sakura cooed.

Sasuke nodded and squeezed Sakura's hand, "This won't take long. At least I hope it won't take long."

Sakura nodded. She looked at Katsurou and acknowledged him with a slight bow before stepping out of the room with Naruto and Hinata. The two of them hung around with Sakura for a moment until they couldn't wait any longer. Sakura was on her own for a moment before a familiar face took a seat on the bench beside her.

"You did great," Itsuki complimented.

Sakura smiled a little, "Thank you. My palms were drenched."

Itsuki chuckled, "Gross."

"Extremely," Sakura laughed. "What comes next is going to be difficult."

Itsuki sighed and nodded, "Yeah, but you prepared for this."

Sakura nodded, "Right. I prepared."

Itsuki smiled a bit, but that smile faded when an officer approached the two of them. The way he removed his hat and the awkwardness of his stance was unsettling and put both of them be on edge.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Miss Haruno, but there's a situation that requires your immediate attention," the officer mumbled as he fiddled with his hat. "There's been an accident."

"An accident?" Sakura repeated.

The officer nodded, "Yes. Your mother and stepfather were in an accident across town. They were taken to Konoha General about an hour ago. I didn't want to interrupt you during the conference."

It took everything in Sakura not to explode, "An hour ago?" She bit her knuckle and began to shake with anger, frustration, and worry. "I need to go. We need to go. Itsuki?"

"Come on." Itsuki and Sakura were out of the hospital, in his car, and heading towards Konoha General in no time at all.

At some point during the drive, Sakura had begun to cry. She didn't notice, but the worry outgrew the frustration and anger. An hour had passed since her parents' accident, and she already knew what could transpire in an hour. She thought back to the night Naruto came and got her when Sasuke had her accident and the time between her arrival at the hospital and Tsunade telling them he was alive. Hurt, but alive.

"Breath," Itsuki suggested.

"I just need them to be okay," Sakura sobbed.

Itsuki reached over and squeezed her thigh, "I'm sure they're fine. If you think the worse, it'll be the worse."

Sakura wiped the tears from her cheeks and took a deep breath.

"Here," Itsuki reached into his pocket and handed her a handkerchief, "use this."

She quietly thanked him and began to wipe away her tears. She was in the middle of wiping her nose when she heard her phone ring, and she immediately recognized the ringtone. But she didn't get a chance to answer. Her head began to swim, "Itsuki?"

Itsuki didn't say anything.

She looked down at her phone's display, and just before she fell unconscious, she saw it was her mother calling.

Itsuki took his handkerchief back and tucked it away before grabbing Sakura's phone. He waited for it to stop ringing before removing its battery and sim card. He tossed the battery out the window first, then drove a few blocks before dumping the phone. He held onto the sim card, however.

"You'll thank me for this later, Sakura," Itsuki cooed as he rubbed Sakura's thigh. "You'll have a happier and quieter life with me. I promise."

To Be Continued…