Hello guys! Before we begin, do you like the sasusaku development in the story? Do let me know, and there's so much more to come! Have fun reading!
Chapter 13- Uzumaki Naruto
Faint sunlight from the windows woke Sakura up in the morning. The second thing she noticed was the clock at the bed table, the first being the empty other side of the bed where her husband usually slept. It was another Saturday, of course, the workaholic younger Uchiha still went to the office despite having the option to not considering it was practically weekend, although his work finished early on this particular day of the week. She was getting used to it, in the past few weeks of marriage they both woke up almost at similar times, mostly it was Sasuke who woke up first, or soon after her thanks to his light sleep. She adjusted herself to the environment, weekends were warm and comforting for her, however, she'd rather stay in university to make herself busy with something. The time she spent with Mikoto on weekends was absolutely great, but having all day free for her only led her to hit the library or repeat university work that she finished long before the deadline. All in all, these two days of the week went relatively boring for Sakura. She wondered what would happen after her university was over, how will she spend her time? Maybe she would try to get a job as soon as she could. She shut her mind overflowing with typical thoughts she had every week and sighed, feeling almost ready to spend another weekend studying all day.
A faint thud diverted her attention to her right, eyes falling on Sasuke who was ready for another day in office.
"Good morning Sasuke-kun." Sakura greeted with a small smile on her face while stepping out of the bed.
"Aa." Sasuke nonchalantly replied, his attention fully on getting ready and Sakura's on freshening up. And with that, they both headed for breakfast as usual, barely speaking to one another, however far more comfortable around each other than they were a few weeks back, which they both were thankful and content for.
Uchiha Corps
"Uzumaki Naruto is supposed to be present for the meeting shortly, right afterward is your meeting with Kazekage's with Fugaku-Sama at hotel Leaf International. 30 minutes of break in between and lunch break after that. After break, there are some meetings from 4 to 8pm and then you have a meeting with Hagoromo Otsutsuki at 9 at Otsutsuki residence." Karui ran through Sasuke's schedule for the day as he sipped on his coffee and worked on something on his laptop.
"Hn. I'll be heading to the hotel during the break. Get the car ready."
If there was one thing that annoyed Sasuke about business dealings, it was the Otsutsukis. Over the years of watching his father run this corporate world and he himself being a part of it for quite a while now, he was well aware of the fact that the Uchiha's were powerful- and the only other company of their match was the Otsutsukis. As much as the Uchihas always preferred maintaining peace with all other big companies to avoid rivalry- and succeeded in doing so, there was no denying in the fact that the Uchihas and Otsutsukis had an underlying rivalry that was never directly expressed. And while the less renowned companies were easy to persuade for business deals for their natural fear of the power of Uchiha Corporations, and bigger companies like Hyugas and Uzumaki merely signed contracts convenient at both ends for the friendly relations they always had, it was true that the Otsutsukis was the only company bearing the ability to have things their way in case any disagreement was to arise, which, so far, did not happen. However, that didn't mean the Uchihas would not give them a tough competition. Both companies were big and had their own ways to achieve success the way they did.
The sudden ring on the office phone shifted his focus, followed by the watch seeing which he realised it was already the time for his meeting with Naruto. He picked it up.
"Hn."
"Uchiha-Sama, it's your ti-"
"Teme!" Of course, Naruto never cared about whether Karui informed Sasuke about his arrival or not, he treated places where sasuke was as his own, not like Sasuke minded that, except for his loud voice.
"Hn." Naruto merely took his seat opposite to sasuke, smiling- which Sasuke thought was idiotic- as always.
"Oye tem-"
"I'm not going to Ichiraku's with you today." Sasuke said in a matter-of-factly tone, knowing very well what Naruto would be uttering next. This made Naruto grin sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
"Ehehe teme.. how'd you know I'll be asking that? Also, we could hit pervy sage's bar if not Ichiraku... come on it's the weekend! Just for an hour or so? It's been so long and I'm not taking no for an answer!" Naruto's request turned into whines. It was true, they didn't hang out in a while, and hitting the bar was a far better idea than going to Ichiraku's- for the 6th time- in a row. However, today did not seem to be the day.
"Hn. Tomorrow. I have a meeting after office today." Naruto pouted at Sasuke's denial but took his words nonetheless. Upon finalising their plans on hanging out, they proceed to discuss on the project Naruto was there for, and the next hour passed with them being indulged in it.
Uchiha Residence
Sakura spent the rest of her morning studying after breakfast, the sudden email from her university on exam notice made her focus even more, not like she didn't see it coming or she lacked preparation, rather, she was content, at least she will have something to make herself busy for the next couple of weeks or so. She spent some time with Mikoto afterwards in the garden. Sakura talked with her parents on the phone for a while and chose not to call any of her friends understanding the pressure they might be going through too for the upcoming exams, and planned to hit the library afterwards for having nothing else to do. She was only walking towards the library when-
A wide smile appeared on her face as the sudden idea struck her head. She took a look at the clock nearby, there was still some time till lunch. This is it. This is what she will be doing for the noon. She didn't spend anymore time thinking and hit the kitchen right after making up her mind. Sasuke has only been as nice as possible and caring towards her since day one and she always hoped she could do things for him in return as a token of appreciation. After all, even if they did not have any feelings a couple should have, she considered sasuke a genuine friend and wouldn't mind doing anything if that makes him happy. Sasuke said he likes her meals, now she could only hope he didn't mind her surprise appearance in front of him.
Meanwhile...
Itachi's eyes opened and he snapped out of the deep thoughts upon hearing the footsteps that kept coming closer. "Kisame."
He uttered the name, well known to the fact that the person coming closer was him.
"Looks like your suspicions were right. I wonder how you identify these underlying corruptions, Itachi."
"Tell me everything." Itachi demanded before Kisame could continue any farther. Sure he was least interested in his family business, however, that did not stop him from checking and figuring out any underlying conspiracy against the company, specially when he had good enough connections and skills to see through the dark side of the corporate world.
"There's still a lot to uncover, even after the thorough investigation a very little information was possible to be collected. It does look like a typical foul play with the budget, but like you assumed, something seems fishy. The people messing are in very much lower status to pull such stunt, someone seems to be pulling the strings from behind." Kisame explained, Itachi raised an eyebrow, his eyes fixed on nowhere particular, however his gaze was intense.
"What about people within the company?" He immediately asked, registering all the information Kisame was providing to put the pieces together.
"That's where the doubt kicks in, it seems that the money isn't flowing out department wise. Whoever is the mastermind of it must be someone from outside the company, whatever these employees are doing are extremely sly, they could continue this for months right under everyone's nose and no one would know. I'll do further investigation to find that out."
Itachi maintained his composed state the whole time and only nodded at Kisame's last statement, calm as always. However, he could not keep quiet about what's happening right under Fugaku and Sasuke's watch. I'll have to do something...
Uchiha Corps
Being the disciplined person Uchiha Sasuke was, he headed to the meeting with the Kazekage's right after his meeting with Naruto. True to his words he decided upon earlier, he spend the whole 30 minutes of his break to go to the Kazekage residence from his office. However, the event turned out to be unfortunate for Sakura, she happened to reach Uchiha Corps just minutes after his departure. However, how'd she know? This was the first ever time she came to this place, and watching its lavish exterior was almost dreamlike. As always, she wasn't used to these. Kami, the place she would call dream around a month ago is now... her husband's office. How crazy did that sound? She stepped in only to get even more amazed at the sight inside. The view was pure luxury itself. She made her way to the 26th floor, where the receptionist said where Sasuke's room was and headed towards where she saw an elegant looking woman sitting, working on something on the computer in front of her.
"Excuse me.. can you give me directions on where sa... I mean Uchiha-sama's office is?" Sakura asked cordially, still unable to draw herself out of the dazed state she was in after seeing such posh interiors of the place.
"Good afternoon miss. As per Mr.Uchiha's schedule, he doesn't seem to have anymore meetings till lunch break. I assume you have a meeting with Uchiha Itachi or Uchiha Fugaku instead. May I know your name so that I can confirm and provide you with the right directions?" The lady asked her to which Sakura smiled at her slightly, unsure of exactly what to say.
"Um.. you're misunderstanding.. I'm not here for any meetings. I'm here to see Uchiha Sasuke.. he's.. m-my husband.." Sakura slightly blushed upon uttering the last word and the woman's eyes widened.
"Oh Kami... pardon me Mrs.Uchiha, I didn't know. I'm Karui, nice to meet you Uchiha-sama." Karui said apologetically.
"Don't worry about it Karui-san, I'm Sakura." She responded warmly. Karui was about to speak when-
"Sakura-Chan!" Both the girl's eyes fell on blonde who hurriedly approached towards them.
"Hello Naruto!" Sakura greeted warmly.
"Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked curiously. They're now meeting in the... office? A sly grin formed on Naruto's face.
"Uh.. for Sasuke-kun.. I mean I thought I.. could make him lunch so I brought..." Sakura trailed off shyly and Naruto's grin became a wide smile. His bestfriend was lucky to receive such warmth in life.
"Oh I get it! You brought him lunch, didn't you?! That lucky bastard! Let's go to his office first." Naruto led the way to Sasuke's office and Sakura was even more enthralled if that was even possible. How much luxury was she yet to uncover while being with the Uchihas? How will she get used to it? His office was as organised as his room and probably bigger than her own house. Naruto noticed Sakura's curious expression and immediately understood who her eyes were searching for.
"Come on Sakura-chan! You're looking for teme aren't you? Your eyes are always on him. He's out for a meeting, did you not tell him that you're coming?" Sakura blushed a deep crimson at his statement, not to mention she was slightly disappointed too. Not like she blamed Sasuke for his absence, he was a busy man and was bound to attend meetings on a day to day basis. However, the thought of not being able to see him wasn't very much pleasing, she did not want to think of having any feelings for him but she still couldn't help but give out a fallen expression which was quickly caught by Naruto.
"Oh.. I didn't know he wouldn't be here.." She quietly said, with obvious disappointment in her voice that came to her involuntarily.
Sakura's sudden fall in expression and tone didn't go unnoticed by Naruto. So Sakura-chan feels something for teme too? He smiled warmly at her.
"Neh Sakura-chan, it's alright. I'd ask you to wait but he just left, I had a meeting with him till now and you know how workaholic that bastard is, he left right away. I was looking for Itachi-nii to catch up but he wasn't there, then I saw you. He will be back by lunch break I guess."
Naruto explained patiently, hoping to make her feel better. That's exactly when it hit him. This is the chance, the right time to confirm her feelings, pulling the second string that will lead to the development of their relationship. Moreover, Naruto would never lose the chance to get to know his bestfriend's wife better, this was something he felt from the bottom of his heart, to treat Sakura like his own sister that he never had. He was well aware that Sasuke and Sakura were to know each other a lot more, considering their totally opposite nature and he was more than willing to help them out as much as possible, being one of those only people to be able to deal with the stern Uchiha well.
"Alright.. I'll just leave the lunch here with a note I guess. Could you tell me where will I get a rough paper to write.. I don't want to make Sasuke-kun angry by touching things he wouldn't like me to." Sakura gently placed the lunch on the desk, giggling slightly as Naruto nodded and immediately got her a pen and paper for her to write. After being done, she faced Naruto again intending to take her leave when he began speaking.
"Hey Sakura-chan, I know you're busy with the exams and all but.. we never had a talk with one another properly you know.. and you're teme's wife so of course I'd, I mean we must hang out more! If you're free today, maybe just for lunch hour, would you mind hanging out at a nearby restaurant with me?" Naruto asked to which Sakura was a bit taken aback. Of course she liked Naruto, he was always the nicest to her and she couldn't be more thankful for the amazing friends Sasuke had. Moreover, she was free for the day.
"Alright Naruto, I'm free for the day too honestly, all I do is study so I really don't know what to do on the weekends, so thank you too!" She smiled at him and Naruto was more excited than ever, his sudden overly uplifted mood made Sakura chuckle.
"Oh thank you, thank you Sakura-chan! And yes we are taking my car, I'll drop you home later of course!" And with that, the duo headed towards the restaurant. Naruto being the stubborn person he was not only made her agree to the offer of a ride home but as well as took the treat on him, despite Sakura's countless requests of letting her pay. That made Sakura feel no better, as much glad and grateful she was for Naruto's utmost hospitality towards her, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty and promised herself to return the same treatment.
"Come on Sakura-chan! Don't worry too much about it, trust me this is the least I could do! Plus my treat to celebrate your marriage was pending you know! I always treat teme at Ichiraku's but that bastard hates ramen somehow! How can someone hate ramen?" Sakura giggled and relaxed a little, letting go of any discomfort. Naruto really could brighten up anyone's mood anywhere.
"Maybe add a little tomatoes and he'll love it." She responded, still giggling.
"Yeah.. He'll eat anything with tomatoes in it.. anyways, how're you doing Sakura-chan? Hinata is drowning in pressure, we are not even going on dates these days for the busy schedule so I can tell how hectic the days are for you guys." He explained.
"It's a little frantic, but I don't really mind you know. After all, it's the last semester, I'm just wondering how will I spend my time after the exams are over, I'll barely have anything to do." She responded almost sadly.
"I understand, and come on, don't worry about what to do! We'll hang out lots, I really can't wait for that!" Naruto excitedly said, Sakura gave a soft smile. Of course, they would, but would she want to even if Sasuke refused to join? It's not like she wanted to be around Sasuke.. just that it didn't look good. She'd probably hang out with her own friends whenever possible but when it included everyone.. leaving Sasuke alone is the last thing she'd want to do although she was sure he'd never encourage that.
"I know Naruto, but Sasuke-kun is a busy person too.. if he wouldn't want to attend that frequently it won't really be nice of me to leave him you know." Naruto was a bit taken aback by her statement. He felt happy. If this is the treatment Sasuke was receiving from his wife, Naruto would call his best friend one of the luckiest person on Earth.
"Teme won't deny Sakura-Chan, he's an absolute bastard when it comes to things like this, but he won't say no to me, not specially when I say you'll be there!" Naruto said grinning at her, Sakura blushed lightly.
"Also.. from teme, I had to ask you something if you don't mind.." Naruto continued. This is the chance. Sakura looked up at him with questioning eyes and nodded, indicating him to carry on.
"Uh Sakura-chan... sorry if I'm being too direct about this, but.. do you.. like teme?" Sakura immediately blushed deeper at the question, staring at him wide eyed. She almost felt like she lost her breath. Like Sasuke-kun?
"L-Like him?.. b-baka! It's nothing like th-that!" Naruto realised one thing- Sakura was far more readable and open with emotions than Sasuke was. Her hard blush and severe stammer were the solid proof of that. He grinned.
"Ne Sakura-chan.. don't be shy. You know you can share anything with me right? You're no less than my own sister. And your reaction is saying it all anyways." Naruto said, delighted with the unwanted disclosure of Sakura's emotions. Sakura on the other hand could practically faint then and there. Sasuke's bestfriend was so openly talking about this, and with her reacting like that she didn't even want to know Sasuke's views on her from now onwards. Sure she realised her husband was a gentleman and she wouldn't mind if they stepped forward with their relationship and tried making their marriage work, but she really wasn't sure about what she felt about him. He was gentle.. nice.. and a good friend to her. But that didn't mean she liked him isn't it? She wasn't sure with her own feelings on top of not knowing what he felt about her at all. Kami.. she didn't even know if he liked someone else.. maybe Karin? No, she couldn't let any more uncertain thoughts evade her mind to ruin what they currently had. Sasuke decided to be friends with her and she was happy about it. Ruining the terms they were in right now would be the last thing she'd want and in order to maintain their current bond letting any other feeling invade was out of the question.
"Naruto.. it's not how you think it is.. I mean, Sasuke-kun.. he's nice, he's always been nice to me. But you know how this marriage happened. He considered me his friend, and I really appreciate that, I don't expect anything more. Besides what I want... I will always respect his decisions too.." Naruto's eyes softened even more at her statement.
"You might not have realised it just yet.. and probably teme too is too embarrassed to admit it but... you have no idea what you do to him Sakura-chan." Sakura stared at him wide eyed upon what he said. "Teme is a reserved human being, even a heartless human to many for his unfriendly nature but deep down he genuinely cares for the one he loves, his family, his friends.. and you might already know.. even you. When he cares for someone, you know that person matters to him a lot." Sakura didn't know how to react to whatever Naruto was revealing. Of course, Naruto would know a lot about Sasuke, but if Naruto was right... did he really want their marriage to work too? "I know him since childhood, he was never the person to express feelings openly, he's rather a man of actions you know. But when he loves someone, he's willing to do anything for them. And judging from how teme reacts around you, it's really no surprise that he has a thing for you too Sakura-chan. It's just the situation you got married in, I assure you, with time teme himself will open up to you." Sakura's eyes widened even more, Naruto gave a wide smile.
"You.. think so? I mean.. I'll always welcome him with open arms if he does that, I understand he did not want this marriage, so the least I can do is make him feel comfortable around me because he has done the same.. or at least tried to." Sakura explained.
"I promise he will, just give him some time, all that bastard needs is a little push. And I'll make sure that is taken care of. Believe it!" Naruto said with a tone of determination, already deciding up on filling some senses into Sasuke, his new goal. Sakura gasped slightly.
"D-don't tell him anything I said!" She said worriedly, Sasuke knowing all these would be the end of her when she had no idea what he feels yet.
"Don't worry Sakura-chan, your words are safe with me! But that bastard sure is getting a talk. I'm sure he feels just the same as you do and would open up more if it wasn't for his antisocial nature. His actions say so!" Naruto explained which made Sakura smile. Just like Naruto said he considered her his sister, she was beginning to consider him her brother too, after all, he was doing things a brother probably would, not to mention he was the sweetest as well. "Now leave everything to me, I'll make sure teme admits what he feels. I know it sounds unbelievable to you but for someone who knows him too well, I'm sure of that bastard suppressing his feelings, moreover who would not like you? I'll make him understand, it's a promise Sakura-chan!" Naruto assured smiling brightly at her. Sakura blushed and felt grateful at the same time. Deep down she could also feel a corner of her heart flutter at the thought of Sasuke. The fact that he might like her. What was this feeling? Nonetheless, she decided to ignore whatever it was for the time being.
"Thank you Naruto... you really are the nicest.." She smiled at him dearly, an obvious tone of appreciation in her voice.
"Don't be that formal with me neh.. moreover we're supposed to meet tomorrow so that makes things easier. Anything for teme and you Sakura-chan! I just... teme has always indulged himself with the corporate life.. I just want to see him happy, with you. You're like the light of his life now, he always avoided anything lively, and I know you can change that. Likewise, when teme realises his own feelings, I know he can make you the happiest." They both smiled at each other.
Sasuke indeed is blessed with the best people. Sakura couldn't help but think. And with her as a part, she'd give her best to be one of those people in his eyes too. She was grateful for having so many amazing people from her in laws side now and appreciated every bit of what everyone did for her... and them.
Author's note- So it was about time I entered a little bit about the malicious side of the world sasuke lives in and sakura entered, there's so much more to come and disclose! Also, yes I planned on writing a chapter entirely based on Naruto since the beginning, can't miss out on Sasuke's best friend you know! Dattebayo! XD
Important- hey readers, I kind of needed a bit of help from anyone who has been using ffn for a while. I'll be switching to another device soon so I need to login but I forgot my ffn password, and I tried changing it using the option they have in the app but it requires my old password so that's not working either :(( so what I wanted to ask is if I try logging in from another device will there be an option of 'forgot/change password' using which I can change it through my gmail? Or is there any other way to do it? Do let me know in the reviews/pm, any help will be appreciated! TIA!!
Ps- In the last chap someone asked if I'm a professional writer. Firstly, thank you so much for your kind words! Secondly, I'm not professional haha, I just write for fun and because I love sasusaku so much! Stay safe!
Next chapter release date- 3rd July, 2021.
