For Sasuke, some days it felt like a lifetime's worth of drama went down in the year since he and his best friend became jounin.
Shortly after the boys' promotion, Itachi's engagement was formally announced. But their initial wedding plans were shot to hell when Konoha was put on red alert over a brutal new mercenary group that emerged known as the Akatsuki.
The Akatsuki was a band of S-class nukenin that wreaked havoc among civilian towns and hidden villages alike in search of the Bijuu. Months of hostile encounters with the group culminated in their leader's unprecedented attack on Konoha just four months after the last jounin exams.
To say the invasion was a shitshow of epic proportions was a gross understatement. But thankfully, it was over and done with.
The Akatsuki were soundly defeated and Konoha survived.
And now, Sasuke had different problems.
These days, the young Uchiha was more pre-occupied with his personal life since he and Sakura finally went public with their relationship.
He didn't know what to expect from their "big reveal", but he couldn't really bring himself to care. He knew he had his brother's unwavering support in reigning in any meddlesome clan elders that were salty about Sakura's civilian background. And his mother had been too frazzled planning Itachi's insane circus of a wedding to harass him about his own unmarried status.
Sakura was worried about what Naruto's reaction would be… But surprisingly, their teammate took the news in stride.
"Teme, you two were the worst kept secret in the village. The UST was through the roof! Plus, out of all the slimy creeps trying to lay it on Sakura-chan, I'm glad it's you. Even though you're a bastard, at least we know you really care about her and will actually be able to keep her safe."
Their old sensei just gave Sasuke one of his typically disinterested (but knowing) looks. "Why else do you think I got you that volume of Icha Icha?"
Shisui, of course, also had to throw in his own unsolicited two cents. "Sakura-chan is hot, and she's bumping uglies with YOU? Way to get laid out of your league, chibi grouch!"
Needless to say, Sasuke did NOT appreciate Shisui's comments (which successfully struck a very raw nerve). He also did not appreciate how little impact his official status with Sakura seemed to have in the eyes of the public.
While most of the infuriating love confessions and requests for dates that his girlfriend used to receive had ebbed out, that didn't stop her most shameless admirers from continuing to send flowers to her office, requesting allegedly "innocent" meetings over coffee or dessert, or otherwise trying to lay their filthy hands on her when he wasn't physically by her side.
These persistent overtures frustrated Sasuke to no end, but Sakura would always get so mad whenever he did anything about them.
"Sasuke-kun, you cannot put every other male I have the slightest interaction with in the hospital. Some of them are civilians!"
Just thinking about it gave him a headache. If maiming was no longer an option - what would it take to get these assholes to back off?
Shisui sagely advised, "Get her pregnant. Most guys aren't into that. I'm not… I don't think."
NOT. HELPFUL.
Sasuke was tired of this shit. While these flaming turds were sorry excuses for rivals, none the less - they were still rivals.
And he wanted nothing more than to be rid of them.
Every. Last. One.
Sasuke recognized that most people would find his so called "problem" laughable compared to the horrors of battling a band of dangerous nukenin armed with tailed beasts.
But for his emotionally constipated and romantically inept self, he honestly couldn't decide which was worse some days.
Even if he wasn't so verbally challenged, it's not like there was anyone he could reliably talk to about this. Sakura was the closest thing he had to a comfortable confidante, but his girlfriend was less than responsive to his "over-reactive" and "unnecessarily protective" tendencies.
And it wasn't like their best friend could possibly understand what he was dealing with.
After all, the idiot didn't have the same problems with Hinata that he did with Sakura. Naruto didn't have to fend off hordes of creeps on the regular just to ensure that his girlfriend was unmolested in his absence. She had an overbearing asshole cousin and an entire stuck up clan seeing to that already.
And he wasn't just talking about the dickheads at home, either.
Take the Fire Daimyo's pervert son, for example (the one who always insisted that "Sakura-hime" perform his physicals when she and Shizune visited the Daimyo's castle for the royal household's bi-annual wellness exams).
Or that puppet freak Kankuro, who couldn't shut up about the "angel" who saved his life the last time they were in Suna.
Seriously, Naruto had it easy by comparison.
And, as if the stress of beating off Sakura's adoring male public wasn't enough…
"Sasu-chan! Sasu-chaaaan! Get down here at once, young man! The tailor is here!"
Sasuke audibly groaned. His mother was seriously doing her damnedest to drive him up the wall with all of the endless fittings, rehearsals, and other shitfuckery he was forced to participate in over the past two months in preparation for his brother's wedding.
Seriously, was one afternoon of peace and quiet too much to ask?
He'd just returned home from a two week reconnaissance mission near Kusagakure with Kakashi and the moron.
But instead of being allowed to rest after his shower, Sasuke found himself standing in the matriarch's private fitting room dressed in a cumbersome montsuki in the presence of the clan's official tailor for what felt like the hundredth time.
He repressed the urge to glare under his mother's watchful eye, and couldn't help thinking that he'd rather battle the Gedō Mazō all over again than waste one more second of his life being poked and prodded for another pointless fitting.
How was any of this necessary? It's not like he was the one getting married.
This was a waste of time. There were far better things he could be doing with his life.
Since awakening the Mangekyou, Sasuke entered into another phase of intensive training with Kakashi and Shisui to perfect his doujutsu when he wasn't out of the village on missions.
And he also started a special joint training regimen with Naruto to strengthen the combination of Kurama's tailed beast cloak with his recently acquired Susano'o.
If he wasn't at the training grounds, his time would have been better spent taking care of Sakura; making sure she was eating properly and getting enough sleep, among other things.
Not killing hours with this asshole tailor over frivolous nonsense.
Who gave a shit what color the trim of his hakama was?
He closed his eyes in frustration and tried to focus on something positive. Which was difficult when he had some old man's wrinkly paws all over his person.
He took a deep breath and tried to tamp down his irritation with thoughts of his girlfriend.
That's right… in another hour or so, Sakura would be over for dinner. And they'd be seeing each other for the first time since the men of Team 7 left for their recon mission.
His foul mood seemed to mellow near instantly at the thought.
Dinner couldn't come soon enough.
"Isn't the table quiet today without Naruto-kun and Shisui-kun?" Mikoto gently teased. "I understand that Naruto-kun was invited to dinner at the Hyuuga's, but I am a little sad about Shi-kun. I suppose his oba-chan's home cooking just can't compete with the lovely young lady he took out on a date."
The younger shinobi at the table silently wondered if the esteemed Uchiha matriarch would still think Shisui's latest flavor of the week was a "lovely young lady" if she knew the girl was a cage stripper/gogo dancer that once got into a vicious drunken catfight with two other girls at the club over her nephew's dick pics.
Of course, Mikoto was none the wiser, and continued her musing. "White Day is coming up soon; I hope he knows to be a gentleman and remembers to give her something."
Sasuke couldn't help snorting and muttered under his breath, "Not unless VD counts as a gift."
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura discreetly hissed and pinched her boyfriend's thigh under the table, to his displeasure.
Deciding a change of subject was in order before her future in-laws began questioning what that acronym meant, Izumi cleared her throat and looked to her favorite medic.
"So Sakura-chan, I guess it's been hard for you to get out of the village these days… I heard you couldn't join your team on their last mission."
Sakura gracefully placed her chopsticks down before responding.
Even though his thigh was still throbbing, Sasuke couldn't help being hyper aware of the kunoichi beside him – the way her pillowy lips subtly moved in tandem as she chewed her food; the movement of her slender neck whenever she swallowed and gods, the scent of her hair…
"Unfortunately not, Izumi-nee-san. I had a few surgeries scheduled over the last two weeks that couldn't be reassigned to another medic, and also had pre-existing commitments to host clinicals for our next batch of trainees."
"That's right! I heard your inaugural class of mednin graduated a few months ago. How are they doing?"
"They are doing well, thank you for asking. The majority of them passed their first stage certification exams at the beginning of the year, and formally entered basic rotations last month. That alone has alleviated the schedules for all senior medics across the board, which has been wonderful."
Despite the lingering soreness in his thigh, Sasuke couldn't help radiating pride at his teammate's remarkable achievements.
Following the invasion, Sakura had not only overseen the reconstruction of the hospital, but also took the initiative to create a meticulous first class training program for mednin at Konoha General. Her curriculum was the only one of its kind in the five elemental nations, and was widely recognized for the depth of training offered and the breadth of specializations students could choose along the way.
Izumi smiled with admiration. "Between your surgical practice and the research you've been directing at the poison lab, I don't know how you do it, Sakura-chan."
Sakura blushed at the compliment. "Well… Tsunade-sama always disliked dealing with the administrative side of things, so I learned about project management and finance early on."
This time it was Fugaku's turn to snort behind his newspaper. "Dislike" was a gross understatement. The Godaime couldn't stand handling any paper that wasn't a lotto ticket.
Itachi glossed over his father's indiscretion and nodded approvingly. "The program is a tremendous credit to you, and to the village. We have cousins who matriculated from your inaugural class and can attest to its rigor, Sakura-san."
Fugaku subtly lowered his newspaper at the mention of his clan members.
"Yes, Taro-san and Kikumi-san did very well. I believe it can only be helpful for the clan to identify those with sufficient chakra control to become eye specialists early on, if they so wish."
Itachi's eyes warmed at the deliberate nature of Sakura's words.
He knew she chose to recognize Taro and Kikumi by name in front of his father, because they were distant cousins that never activated the Sharingan.
Typically, Uchiha who failed to access their clan's kekkei genkai by the time they were eighteen were automatically shuffled into the civilian sector, and classified as unfit for shinobi service by their clan council.
In Itachi's opinion, that was fine… if civilian life was what they wanted.
But, he also believed that the older generation relied too much on their doujutsu.
Just because one did not have the Sharingan did not mean one could not contribute meaningfully as a shinobi in other ways, if they wanted to pursue military service.
Itachi considered his otouto's shrewd teammate. While most associated the Hokage's apprentice with her master's super human strength – to Itachi, Sakura reminded him most of the Godaime at times like this.
A clever one indeed.
Dinner continued in relative peace, given that neither Shisui nor Naruto was present to provoke Sasuke, and vis versa.
The youngest couple helped clear the table and volunteered to prepare the after-dinner tea tray, while Itachi and Izumi began plating the elegant namagashi that Sakura brought from the matriarch's favorite confectionary.
Once Sasuke and Sakura were safely ensconced in the privacy of the kitchen, she sweetly turned to give him a chaste kiss on the cheek. With her bright eyes brimming with affection, she whispered,
"I missed you so much, Sasuke-kun. I'm so happy to see you," before lightly placing her hand on his chest and wickedly running her soft, moist tongue over his bottom lip... only to pull away right after.
Enjoying the stunned look on his flushed face, Sakura grinned and turned towards the counter without another word. She casually started boiling water for tea, and also began gathering cups and small plates onto his mother's preferred tea tray.
Sasuke was too dazed to do anything other than take in the sight of his girlfriend in her pale green, knee length sheath dress while he tried to process what she'd just done. While the garment was certainly professional, it was fitted in all the right places, accentuating her tiny waist, the heaving swell of her breasts, the fullness of her rear as she bent over the counter to –
"Is the tea ready?"
The tone of his mother's voice and her knowing smirk meant he'd been caught staring at their guest in a less than innocent way.
Sasuke's ears burned with mortification, and he grabbed the tea tray before Sakura could respond.
"I'll take it," he muttered, before rushing back to the dining room.
After-dinner tea was enjoyed by all, but none more than Mikoto. The sheer delight in the matriarch's eyes at finally having a female audience with whom she could share all of the "fun" details surrounding Itachi and Izumi's wedding did not go unnoticed by her husband and sons.
While Mikoto dove into a passionate monologue picking apart the pros and cons of various paper samples, fabric swatches, flower arrangements, etc. – Sasuke tuned out his mother's crazy wedding talk and snuck glances at his girlfriend instead.
He was trying not to be so fixated by her… but that proved difficult when she began squeezing his knee and occasionally brushing her hand along his inner thigh under the table.
His pants were feeling tighter by the minute, and he wasn't sure how much more of her teasing he could take - when they were suddenly interrupted by frantic knocking at the front door.
"Fugaku-samaaaaaaa!"
Mikoto sensed her husband's ire at this disruption, and gracefully stood to address their unexpected visitor herself.
She quickly padded to the genkan and opened the door to find the slumped over, teary eyed form of her niece, Megumi.
"Megumi-chan, what is wrong?"
"Mikoto-samaaaa!" Megumi promptly began wailing, and struggled to explain between sobs.
"He-he… is r-refusing to eat or b-bathe, and – and that means he c-can't take his m-medication, and… he p-pushed Jinzo-san into the tub instead and… and now – he's r-run out of the house!"
Mikoto briefly closed her eyes before asking poor Megumi to wait in the privacy of the sitting room.
Nobody missed the muffled sounds of stilted sobbing coming from the east wing.
The patriarch exhaled a deep sigh and reluctantly set down his newspaper. There goes my peaceful evening.
He turned to his youngest. "It is getting late. You should escort Haruno-san home now."
"Aa." Sasuke looked to Sakura and gestured towards the door just as his mother returned to the dining room. Ever the polite and tactful guest, his girlfriend gave no indication that she'd heard anything out of the ordinary and smiled at her boyfriend's family.
Bowing deeply, Sakura thanked her hosts for having her before Itachi and Izumi walked the younger couple to the genkan.
Things quickly escalated once Sasuke opened the front door. Not even Sakura's grace and poise was enough to keep her from gaping at the mayhem in front of them.
Jade eyes widened at the sight of an imposing figure loudly stomping down the street past the main house gates, leaving a wild mane of waist-length white hair and one of Sasuke's harrowed aunties flouncing in his wake.
Sasuke refrained from slapping himself on the forehead.
For fuck's sake.
"Mahhh… Madara-samaaaa!" Auntie Hitomi screeched, as her shorter legs struggled to keep up with the long strides of her significantly aged charge.
At this point, Itachi and Izumi joined them on the front lawn to see what the disturbance was all about.
It was only when the foursome got closer to the street that they noticed exactly what the old man was (or wasn't) wearing.
Everyone zeroed in on the exposed black fundoshi beneath his wide open yukata, and despite Sakura's very best efforts – she couldn't tear her eyes away from the impossibly gargantuan… package that hung heavily beneath the fabric of his undergarment.
Madara's sheer height (even with his hunched back), the broad expanse of his shoulders, the remarkable degree of definition that he retained in his chest and abdomen even in his advanced age, all indicated that he was not your typical geriatric.
As if his intimidating aura wasn't enough, this elderly man's body was undeniable proof that he was a formidable warrior in his heyday.
Despite Auntie Hitomi's flailing, Madara refused to so much as acknowledge his frazzled caretaker – but abruptly stopped in his tracks as his tired eyes settled on the dazzling palette of one Haruno Sakura.
Stunned still, his hard expression cracked and a deep baritone voice choked out - "Kami-sama… HARU!"
Sasuke, Itachi and Izumi all turned their gaze from the ornery old man in the street to the pastel sprite in their midst.
It was clear that Sakura was just as puzzled by the sudden attention.
Looking from left to right as if to confirm that the outburst was actually directed towards her, the Hokage's apprentice couldn't help but scrunch her little nose in confusion, before a spark of recognition lit up her face.
Ahhh, so this is who Shishou was referring to…
Frantically, Auntie Hitomi called out, "Madara-sama, please. Let us bind your hair and return to your home. Dinner has been served and your bath will be prepared soon."
Never taking his eyes off Sakura, Madara swatted the middle aged woman away with ease and stated in a tone brimming with authority –
"I will bind my hair… but only if Haru does it for me." He tilted his head towards Sakura, making it clear who he was referring to.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed sharply at this demand. What was this old nutass playing at? Who the hell was Haru?
AND DID THIS HALF DEAD PUNK REALLY HAVE TO BE HUNG LIKE A HORSE ON STEROIDS?!
The youngest Uchiha's fuming did not go unnoticed by Madara, who smirked in response to his obvious displeasure.
Oblivious to the silent enmity building between her boyfriend and his great great-grandfather, Sakura's expert eyes quickly assessed Madara's condition with clinical precision.
Despite his imposing stature, she noticed a minor tremor in one hand, the faint difference in the way he distributed weight between his right and left legs, the slightly strained intake of each breath…
Abnormal variations to the substantia nigra and the basal ganglia, degeneration of his neurotransmitters, erratic blood pressure, contusions of the alveoli, just to name a few…
The young medic saw panic rising in Auntie Hitomi's face at Madara's scandalous state of undress and mounting agitation, and knew what needed to be done to resolve this tantrum as quickly and discreetly as possible.
Surprising everyone present, Sakura addressed the elderly man with a gentle tone borne from years of experience working with patients, young and old.
"Madara-sama, I would be honored to bind your hair for you. But only if you agree to follow Uchiha-san and take your dinner and bath straight afterwards. A shinobi's body requires proper rest and nutrition as much as it needs intensive training, and I know you must take pride in your peak physical condition."
Madara's face eased into a sultry grin at her words, while Auntie Hitomi's glistening eyes brimmed with tears and unadulterated gratitude.
FINALLY! Someone was getting through to her impossible charge!
Sharp, arrogant eyes softened as the old man beckoned Sakura to come closer.
She shyly gestured for him to close his robe first, and to everyone's shock – he actually complied. Sporting a devilish smirk and never breaking eye contact, Madara wrapped and secured his yukata, then slowly seated himself onto a wooden bench underneath a nearby street lamp.
He reached up to take hold of Sakura's delicate wrist and raised her hand to his hair. While everyone else was astonished by this initiation of physical contact, Sakura took it all in stride. She casually accepted a thin leather tie from Auntie Hitomi and proceeded to gently pull back and bind his wild mane.
Sasuke was not at all pleased to see Madara closing his eyes with a small but genuine smile, as he basked in the feeling of having his hair gently bound by such a beautiful young woman.
When Sakura was finished, she placed a soft hand on Madara's shoulder and brightly remarked, "There, all done. How handsome and distinguished you look! Now you are ready to enjoy your meal and take your bath."
The elderly hellraiser looked on affectionately at the medic beside him, when the Uchiha matriarch's elegant form suddenly appeared by the main house gates with her husband and niece in tow.
"Madara-sama, won't you allow dear Megumi-chan to escort you home?" Mikoto inquired, gently ushering Megumi forward.
To Auntie Hitomi's enormous relief, Madara actually rose and allowed himself to be escorted down the road to his villa.
Before leaving, he whispered something to his caretaker before turning to give Sakura a parting look filled with longing.
She just smiled back warmly, oblivious to the nature of his attention, as she was with all of her patients.
But Sasuke didn't miss the way the old man's eyes seemed to scrutinize his girlfriend's face and form, lingering on her figure.
Itachi quietly considered what just transpired. Interesting…
Izumi privately wondered what her future in-laws thought about the episode they just witnessed.
As for Sasuke… he wasn't sure why, but he suddenly felt a low grade sense of panic starting to seep in.
What the hell was THAT?!
A/N: I want to express my sincere thanks to everyone who took the time to leave a comment and provide feedback on this continuation! This Ch 2 is for YOU. As always, if you liked this update: please let me know through your reviews! Thank you all so much~!