Welcome again! Before we begin, this is kind of a "filler" chapter (sorry about that) and honestly, I'm personally not satisfied either but included it anyway for the sake of the details. And I really hope you'll understand, I have already written like till chapter 23 of this story (& still writing) and am publishing weekly. I feel like it gets better with time, precisely by the next couple of chapters! Thank you for understanding :)
Chapter 3- Preparations
"Sakura! Girls! Come downstairs fast! We're leaving!" Mebuki called. Only 3 days were to go till their engagement and 6 days to go till the wedding. Sakura's mom called Sakura's friends since they were heading out today to shop for the wedding. They left as the girls with Sakura headed out of the room.
"I never thought you'd be the first one to marry you know, and surprisingly with Sasuke! Pretty unbelievable thing forehead!" Ino said, she probably took the longest time for the whole situation to sink in, she knew both Sakura and Sasuke and she was sure none of them were the person to get married this early.
"I still don't think I can believe this you know, even after rarely seeing this Sasuke guy that too when I attended a couple of the meetings with Gaara, I can clearly tell that he barely holds any romantic feelings within himself, let alone getting married. He's much like Gaara to be honest." Temari said.
Sakura knew Gaara, he was one stoic guy with no emotions whatsoever. She saw Gaara quite a few times in Temari's bar and she was certain he never smiled or showed any emotion at all. Is her husband to be like that too? With no feelings in his heart?
"I am pretty sure that will change after marriage, don't stress about it girls!" Mebuki assured with great confidence. But of course, Sakura wasn't convinced, if Sasuke was indeed like that, nothing would change. He wasn't the one to feel, and she wasn't the one to fall for someone just like that. This is only happening out of responsibility, neither of us want it. She thought brushing all other thoughts off.
The group of ladies shopped all day, Sakura asked Ino to be her maid of honour, the others agreed to be her bridesmaid. It took all day for them to choose the dresses and accessories, after going through a lot of options, they finally chose a sky blue flowy dress for the bridesmaids, with matching accessories. As for Sakura's wedding gown, it was an elegant white long one puffed from the waist, sleeveless and with a long veil reaching till the floor. As per Mikoto's request, they chose the white gown and a diamond set for the wedding. After finalizing the wedding outfit and accessories they chose Sakura's engagement attire, which was a sleek and long, satin black gown complementing her porcelain skin.
After their own shopping, they went to get the engagement ring, Sakura wasn't excited a bit, rather she was shy and slightly scared about the whole situation. Her mother and friends seemed more excited, and after long hours of rejecting, Mebuki finally chose one diamond-studded engagement ring for her daughter's future husband, after Sakura's shy 'approval' which was only needed for the formalities, or at least Sakura thought so.
Meanwhile..
"Teme! Teme! How do we look? Oh my god teme, your suit is amazing!"
"Dobe, quiet down before I make you do so." Sasuke warned Naruto, all the preparations already annoyed him to death, but upon his mother's pleading look and request, today again, he stood in a shopping mall with Itachi, Naruto, Neji, Kiba, and Shikamaru.
"Heh Naruto, let's leave otouto alone for a while or else he might just smack our faces." Itachi said with a smirk. He was certainly enjoying Sasuke's wedding the most, according to him seeing Sasuke's irked reactions to their teasing was a once in a lifetime opportunity, which was true and Sasuke hated it. "By the way, I think we look good enough, Sasuke, care giving your approval?" Itachi asked.
"Hn." Sasuke left as he said his signature word, everyone took it as his approval and proceeded to change back in their clothes too. Itachi was the best man, followed by others who were the groomsmen, all wearing black vests with a white shirt underneath for the wedding. Mikoto Asked Sasuke to choose a white attire for his wedding, matching with his future wife, for which Sasuke's wedding outfit was a white suit and black shirt, with complementing branded watch and shoes. After being done with wedding requirements the bunch proceeded to buy Sasuke's engagement outfit. Again for Mikoto's desperate wish of Sasuke and Sakura to wear matching outfits, Sasuke had to choose a black blazer with a light pink shirt underneath, which later ltachi reminded that it perfectly complemented the hair of his future sister in law. The bunch began teasing Sasuke again and this time he actually ended up blushing a little, however instantly composing himself back to his stoic nature. Who cares. He thought.
For the next couple of days, even though Fugaku himself asked Sasuke to take a break, he gave in after realizing that Sasuke actually needed to attend few meetings and clear some paperwork. Even though Itachi insisted to take over so that Sasuke could focus on the wedding more, Fugaku denied Itachi's request saying how Sasuke needs to be done with some certain works for him to easily catch up after his break once the wedding period is over. And Sasuke too instantly agreed to it so that he wouldn't get bored at home like he was for the past few days, at least he gets to stay busy for the next two days amidst this wedding hassle that he was least interested about. Mikoto was disappointed at Fugaku's decision, she was very much excited to arrange a meeting between Sasuke and Sakura, she has also been nagging about how Sasuke should approach his future wife but Sasuke only avoided the topic, he wasn't interested and he saw no reason either. He knew that perhaps he would be forced to do so but thanks to all the wedding preparations, everyone got busy with work and neither Itachi nor Mikoto could raise this topic later on.
While Sasuke got busy with work, Sakura, on the other hand already had to take a leave from the university thanks to her parents constantly nagging about it since the day her marriage got fixed. Mebuki asked her to contact Sasuke but well, regardless of how many times her mother said it Sakura would never do that. Things were already too awkward for that kind of approach. After all, Sasuke and Sakura didn't even speak to one another for once even during their first meeting. Moreover, she didn't want to either. He didn't contact her and she knew he had no intention to. It was very clear that both of them are bound to fulfill their responsibilities and this is the only reason this marriage was happening. None of them were into this one bit so even she thought it was best to let things be the way it is now, at least they don't have to be around each other for nothing, their time together would just be awkward.
However, in the times when Sakura wasn't with her parents preparing for the wedding, she was bored since she had nothing to do. She spent her time trying to study but she was already way ahead of the syllabus and at this point, it was also getting boring for her to study the same thing again and again. And since she already applied for the leave application to the university thanks to her parents' constant request she couldn't even attend the classes. And after the wedding shopping was done Sakura had even more free time, leaving her even more bored than she was a couple of days back since her parents were doing the rest of the arrangements with Sasuke's. Her friends took notice of that for which Temari arranged a hangout in her restaurant today, two days before the engagement.
They were now at Temari's, everyone was well aware of the condition Sakura was in, and all of them were giving their best to cheer her up.
"Hey Sak, you know Tsunade-sama was on the verge but setting the university on fire today, somehow Shizune-san managed to find her sake's secret hiding spot out and took away all of them, the scene was something to see!" Tenten said excitedly.
"You should've seen Jiraiya-sama's face though, he totally got reminded of his own dangerous experiences with Tsunade-sama!" Ino added. These only seemed to bring a very little effect on Sakura's distressed mood, she couldn't get the stress of marriage out of her head, though she was enjoying her friends' company and it helped her cheer up a little which she was thankful for.
"Guys, please make space." Temari came with the food and sat along with them after serving, she continued, "Hey Hinata, didn't you say Naruto was supposed to be here, where's he?" Naruto Uzumaki? Sakura thought. Oh yes, he is her fiancé's best friend apparently.
"Y-yeah.. he really wanted to.. but the boys are busy for the time being.. he was s-saying everyone will have to take leave for a couple of days or two to attend the wedding.. all of them are the groomsmen after all.. so they are completing the pending works beforehand.. even I didn't get to t-talk with him for long.. I wonder i-if Naruto-Kun knows that Sakura-chan is my friend.. I didn't get the chance to tell him back then.." Hinata explained.
"Ah I see, dad was saying the Uchihas got extra busy too, rescheduling meetings early and stuff." Ino informed.
"People, can we refrain from talking about them for now? Let's focus on the feast! Sakura-san, please you go first, a youthful blossom like you deserves all the youthful treats!" Lee encouraged, indicating that it's better to drop the Uchiha subject for the time being.
"Itadakimasu!" Everyone enjoyed the meal as they began talking about other topics and began joking around as usual. Meeting her friends actually lifted Sakura's mood a lot, she no longer felt bored and was a lot more cheerful, temporarily forgetting about the wedding.
Uchiha Corps
Sasuke was content with where he was now, he had been working all day, and it helped him brush off all other thoughts from his mind. He really didn't want to think about the marriage or the girl, nor he didn't want to think of what might happen once they get married. He was least bothered about that, he'd rather keep himself busy with work. Yes, that's the plan. He was indulged with paperwork when suddenly the door of his office slammed open.
"SASUKE? SASUKE?! WHAT AM I HEARING? IS THIS TRUE?!"
Karin? Sasuke should've seen this coming, he thought. Karin has been the fangirl type ever since the first time he met her. She was always confident about how she will be marrying Sasuke, considering how the Uchihas often partnered with the Otsutsukis, the company Karin's father owned. Moreover, till now Karin was considered to be the only possible person eligible to get married to Sasuke in his parents' eyes, they never mentioned it out loud but somehow everyone in the family just knew. Truth to be told, even Sasuke thought the same, considering how prestigious family Karin belonged to and thinking if his father were to set him into an arranged marriage he'd choose a family as wealthy as his own, until, thanks to Itachi, his father considered other families too, Sakura's family to be precise. And regardless of how eligible candidate Karin was, it was true that none of the Uchihas really liked her for her personality, especially Sasuke. Even though he hated the idea of marriage, it was a relief that he wasn't at least getting married to her. Actually, he completely forgot about her existence amidst of all these. But now that she was in front of his eyes again, he could guess that she got to know about his sudden marriage, and she wasn't taking the news well.
"Well? Care to give an explanation?! What's with you being married all of a sudden?" Karin demanded.
"Karin, I don't think there is any explanation to give to you out of everyone, I'm the one being wed and it has nothing to do with you." Sasuke replied calmly, maintaining his cool and composed tone.
"What do you mean by it has nothing to do with me Sasuke?! And how could you agree to this? Who's the girl anyways, I'm not buying the fact that you found a girl from a family with better standards than the Otsutsukis!" Sasuke felt a slight bit of anger getting to him, if anyone was there with low standards, it was certainly Karin. Not Sakura. Sasuke was a bit amused at his sudden thought about her, after all he knew nothing about her nor he cared. But well, it was true, Sakura was at least not a fangirl and had her own ambitions in life regardless of how different she was from Karin in terms of financial conditions and social status, a personality that Karin clearly didn't have. All she could think about was use her father's money and get married to a rich and good looking guy, namely Sasuke.
"Karin, who I'm getting married to doesn't concern you. If my marriage is indeed fixed with the girl you must understand that she was capable enough to bear the Uchiha name, now I don't want to hear any more assumptions about her from you. You may leave." Sasuke said, this time with a more serious and stern tone. He didn't know why he said the last part and why he felt the need to defend his fiancé. Tch. He said the truth, it will only help Sasuke get rid of the annoying girl before him. Of course, what else can be the reason for him to say that?
Karin gave an angry look and stomped out of the office. As she strode out furiously, a scared looking secretary of Sasuke entered. "Uchiha-sama, I really tried to stop her from entering without permission.. but she wouldn't listen, she just stormed in-"
"Hn. Get me coffee." Sasuke interrupted, he really didn't want to deal with any more of this and would rather go back to work.
"H-hai Uchiha-sama! Arigatou!" Karui squealed and went out. Sasuke sighed in relief as she left. He hated having a fangirl secretary, but Karui was the closest to being good enough. Although she was no less of a fangirl of the Uchiha boys (yes, both Itachi and Sasuke), she made sure that her job as a secretary was being done well, which is why Sasuke didn't fire her till now unlike all other girls who could only think about getting their hands on him. Why can't someone like Sakura be his secretary? Tch. Recent events really got the worst of him, what was he thinking? Why'd he ever want someone like Sakura as his secretary? He couldn't care less anyways nor he knew her as a person, he reminded himself once again. With another sigh, Sasuke got back to his paperwork.
The next day passed quite fast for both Sasuke and Sakura. Since only one day was left for the engagement and the wedding was nearing too, both families were busy preparing for it to go perfect from both ends. Fugaku took responsibility of the venue and prepared for that along with Itachi and Sasuke, and Mikoto who chose everything necessary, often with Mebuki and sometimes Kizashi too. Apart from that Sakura's family was busy packing things of Sakura as well for moving out, her mother was replacing a lot of her old belongings with new ones for her to use in the Uchiha house, even though Sakura said that wasn't needed, and she actually did not need it, her mother still refused to allow her to use anything previously used or worn out in her new stage of life. And following these, in no time the last day passed as well. It was already past midnight and after a tiring day of work both families headed to sleep, both of them had a long day to took forward to.
As soon as Sasuke got back to his room, now with no more work to do, he knew he must go to sleep as soon as possible. He didn't want the thoughts of tomorrow to pop into his mind. Whatever happens will happen, as long as things go okay, he was least bothered about Sakura. He just wanted to forget it for now, and after a long day of work, he was exhausted too. It wasn't work that exhausted him though, he could endure a lot of workload without getting tired but the fact that he had to deal with his own wedding was what drained him. He was totally uninterested about it and his family dragging him for the preparations felt ten times more exhausting than it was already supposed to be. Without thinking anymore, he shut his eyes and went to sleep.
'I wonder how tomorrow's encounter will be like..' Sakura thought as she laid flat on her back staring at the ceiling, darkness filling her room. She didn't know what to expect. She just wanted to get this over with, and truth to be told, she didn't want to face her fiancé either. Who knows what he's really like, she better let him be and avoid him as much as possible. Hopefully, tomorrow won't be as awkward or bad as I'm assuming it to go like.. Sakura eventually got tired of thinking as well and drifted off to sleep.
Author's note- Alright I'll be honest here, this chapter wasn't planned at all. I wanted this chapter to be the one where Sasuke and Sakura get engaged but it seemed unrealistic to not include some preparation scenes before that, and I didn't want to move too fast either so I ended up writing a whole chapter based on it.
Anyways, I hope it was good enough and expressed Sasuke and Sakura's feelings about the whole situation well, which I feel is important for the plot. And yes there's no way I could not include Karin in the story xD
The next chapter will be the engagement of Sasuke and Sakura! I hope the pace and the plot is okay with y'all. See you in the next chapter, stay safe!!
Next chapter release date- 24th April, 2021.
