Chapter 2: Wedding bells
A little annoyed, Sasuke headed for Sakura's homeplace. His former discussion with Naruto was bothering him. Since when could Naruto be so serious? And why did he care anyway? "Tsk. To ask if I love her... he has some nerve..." he muttered to himself. "That's none of his business anyway."
He tried to assure himself that he did not care about their strange talk at all, but on the other hand he couldn't stop thinking about it. In the end, Naruto might interfere and ruin his plans. He'd have to accelerate the whole thing, just to make sure.
When he arrived at Sakura's house and knocked, it was her who answered the door. "Sasuke-kun!", she exclaimed. "Ah, come on in!" The house looked empty. Much to his relief, there seemed to be no one home but her.
"Where are your parents?" he inquired. He was not eager to meet her family. Such things had been simply unpleasant since the death of his parents.
"On a business trip," she answered quickly and concisely. "They'll return in about two weeks. When they left they just said that they like you and I should do whatever I feel is right."
Ah, perfect. Sakura pointed to the couch and they sat down. He noticed the slight distance she kept from him. Normally, she would have sat herself down as close to him as possible. "Can I offer you something to drink, Sasuke-kun?" she asked in a friendly tone.
"No thanks," he murmured. Something was disturbing him in here. The house was large and bright, the living room was pleasant and warm, and all lights were on. They hurt his eyes but he didn't say anything about it. This was a house a family lived in, just as his home had been once, when his parents were still alive. Now he hated this wrong ideal, and he hated the way these families seemed to always laugh at him tauntingly. He was the only one who knew how fragile this happiness could be. For only a brief second he felt burning hatred against Sakura, who had the gift of a loving family and took it for granted.
"Sasuke?" she asked and brought him back to reality. He winced slightly and had to forcefully suppress his feeling of anger. "Sasuke-kun, was there a reason you came over?"
Ah. He had nearly forgotten. "I came to take you with me. I want you to live with me from now on."
She grew pale. "What? You want me to move in with you?" she stammered. "So fast?"
He shrugged. "Why should we wait? I'll go to the Hokage tomorrow and take care of everything. I think it's best if you move in with me now, so get your things packed." Right after he had said that, he realized that perhaps he had been a little too rude.
She hesitated and he was positive that she would decline his offer. But then her expression lightened and she said, "Okay! It's boring here anyways without my parents." Sometimes she was a mystery to him, but he didn't have the nerves to think about it. "I'll pack one bag for now, and we can go fetch the rest some other time."
"Alright."
Slightly hesitating, Sakura entered the apartment. She had been here only a few times, and back then she hadn't the nerve to memorise the surroundings. The thought that this was going to be her new home was a little frightening. She put her bag on the floor and slipped out of her shoes. Sasuke locked the door thoroughly. She noticed that he had not turned on the lights. It was not necessary yet, for there was still enough light coming through the windows, however, the overall appearance of his living room seemed somehow creepy in this twilight.
She took a few uncertain steps into the room. It was bald in there, everything neatly cleaned up. The furniture was absolutely bare. Only a single lone plant sat on the windowsill of the large front window, and even this seemed to be strangely out of place in the sterile room.
"Follow me," Sasuke said, standing beside her. He took her bag and led her to the bedroom. The room was as empty as the others. She had already been here a few times, when Sasuke had lain in bed recovering from his wounds. At that time she had not noticed how much the mood of this place weighed a person down. One single photo stood there on a small table, and as she picked it up, she had to smile. It showed Sasuke, Naruto and herself. Kakashi had taken this picture some time ago, much to Sasuke's displeasure, but the fact that he had kept it proved that it meant something to him.
"Sakura." His cool voice tore her from the thoughts and she put the frame back on the table. He opened the large cabinet and unceremoniously dropped her bag on the floor in front of it. She looked into the cabinet curiously and noticed that there was far too much room for him alone. His clothes occupied only a small part of the cabinet, leaving the remainder bald and empty. "There is enough room for your stuff," he muttered. "I'll be in the living room."
"Okay," she said as she watched him exit the room. When he was gone, the smile on her face disappeared. The first thing she did was turn on the lights and sigh. Finally. How was she ever supposed to feel at home in this place? With a sense of resignation she bent down and opened her bag.
Sasuke looked out of the window and waited patiently. Light shone through the gap in the doorway and reminded him that only he was unable to bear the sharp light at the moment. His eyes were still very sensitive. Itachi had nearly taken his eyesight when he had created the stunning flash of light during the battle. Sasuke's eyes would need some time to recover. This was also the reason he currently preferred to be out during the night.
Sakura returned to Sasuke after about ten minutes. "Aren't your eyes better yet?" she asked nervously as she entered from the brightly illuminated bedroom into the depressing living room.
He shook his head no. "It's getting better."
She came to him and took his hand. He couldn't tell what she was up to. Her hand felt cool to the touch. She pulled him up and looked into his eyes seriously. "Sasuke..." she said and hesitated briefly. He had the feeling that she had been attempting to call him 'Sasuke-kun' like earlier. "Kiss me."
He stared at her, astonished. After she had been silent for such a long time, this sudden request surprised him. She gathered her courage and repeated, "Please, kiss me." He hesitated. In all honesty, he had never kissed a girl before. He had always concentrated only on his revenge. He was going to marry her though, right? This was part of it too. He approached her and grasped her shoulders.
She closed her eyes. For an instant their lips met and he wondered how long a kiss might have to last. His thoughts wandered off as he went over his mental checklist of preparations for the ceremony. His earlier discussion with Naruto was still running through his head as well. Suddenly, Sakura opened her eyes and looked at him. Seeing that he was staring in another direction, she broke the kiss. She lowered her head and turned around. "We should go to sleep, don't you think so?"
"Aa." he muttered. It surprised him that she had not said anything about this lousy excuse for a kiss. Even he, as unexperienced as he was, knew that the kiss had been lame. He went ahead to the bedroom while she disappeared into the bathroom. Quickly he turned off the lights and changed for bed. When he slept, he usually wore his tight, black shorts. He laid down and momentarily was glad that his bed was larger than average. The thought of sleeping beside her from now on was strange. He had not shared a bed with someone for years, as he had been living alone since the age of seven.
Sakura threw one last glance at herself in the mirror. She was wearing her baggiest pajamas and felt she was now ready to go to the bedroom. She was positive that Sasuke wasn't going to try anything tonight, but still she felt uncomfortable. She hoped that he had fallen asleep already.
Carefully she sneaked into the darkness of the room, knowing how the bright lights would hurt his eyes. However, when she ran into the cabinet, Sasuke sighed heavily and switched on the bedside lamp. "Sorry," she whispered as she crawled onto the bed. He watched her as she unfolded the extra blanket and crept under the covers.
"Are you done?" he asked her impatiently.
"Yeah..." she replied and the room was filled with darkness once again. Her eyes became accustomed to the darkness quickly. She watched him lay back down next to her. Slowly, her pounding heart calmed itself. She made note of the low temperature in this room. It was cold in the bedroom, and come to think of it the the rest of the apartment was too. It had a way of greatly dampening one's spirits... the apartment was as cold as him, and as empty as his eyes.
She froze, despite the blanket. Sasuke did not seem to be affected by the chill. She moved closer to him and put her hand shyly on his naked chest, in order to lean on it. He made an indignant noise and turned onto his side, his back facing her.
Sakura understood and retreated to her side of the bed. Thoughtfully, she stared at the gray ceiling. Yeah, that was how she had always imagined it would be when she would lie in bed as Sasuke. Just great.
When Sasuke awoke at around eight, Sakura was to be found in the kitchen making breakfast. He accepted this fact calmly and sat down at the table, not even wishing her a good morning. Through this, Sakura was too busy with herself to wish him a glorious morning, beaming with joy as usual.
The whole situation was somewhat weird. She had always wished for a chance to be with Sasuke and make breakfast for him, maybe after a romantic night they had spent together... her dreams had been shattered already, even before the wedding. Now it only felt strange to see him sitting there at the table and to prepare a decent meal for him. She knew, he would never ask her to do that. He would not ask her to do anything one would expect from a housewife. But who else was supposed to do it? He probably didn't eat breakfast at all when he was alone. It was a weird feeling; was this what her future was destined to be like? Staying at home waiting for him to return from a mission, and then later take care of the kids? This was no longer like a beautiful dream... it had become rather like a nightmare.
There was a gnawing voice in the back of her head which warned her about this wedding. She had suppressed this voice ever since Sasuke's request had been made. Something within her did not want to face the truth. Yesterday, when she had asked him to kiss her, she had tried to prove herself wrong, but the way he had kissed her... there had been no feeling at all. She had seen his eyes during the kiss. They had been looking in some random direction, his thoughts revolving around something else.
She shook the thought off and filled up the plates. When she brought them to the table, she announced merrily, "Breakfast is ready, Sasuke-kun!"
He drew the plate closer to himself and said calmly: "You didn't have to do that; you know that."
"I know, but I wanted to."
He started to eat and after a short silence he said, "We have to be at Tsunade's office at around ten. I'll be out for a while, I'll meet you there, okay?"
"Alright."
Exactly five minutes before ten, Sasuke showed up outside Tsunade's office. Sakura had already waited for nearly half an hour. She was dressed in her finest clothes while he was wearing his usual ninja outfit, the black, short pants and the equally black shirt with the Uchiha logo on his back. She hadn't expected anything else from him.
As he approached her, he greeted her with a simple nod.
She repeated the gesture mutely. She had had a half hour to think about it all, and the nagging voice of doubt in her head had become more like a scared scream. Was she doing the right thing? Was she here because she had promised something to him some years ago, or was it because she was still in love with him?
He went past her to the door, but before he could open it she grabbed his wrist and held him back. "Wait a second.", she said and he stopped to look at her. She could not hide herself from the truth any longer. As hurtful as it was going to be, she had to face it. Before she was going to enter this room, she had to make it clear. She stared into his eyes directly and said: "I want you to answer me one question, and please be honest." He nodded quietly and she asked the one question that had been bothering her since that day: "Why did you ask me to become your wife?"
Without hesitation he answered: "To restore my clan."
This was exactly the answer she had expected. And yet, it hurt. A lot. "Do you love me, Sasuke-kun?"
"No."
She nodded, shocked from his honest reply. He had just confirmed her worst fears. This was not about her. He could have asked any other girl too, probably he just chose her because she had been stupid enough to always be by his side. And stupid enough to wait for him. "I hoped so much that I was mistaken," she said sadly.
"Do you want to call it off?" he asked.
She shook her head no. "I said I would do it, right? I just wanted to make things clear before we do this."
This time he took her by the hand and pulled her to the door. "Then come." He opened the door to the office, where Tsunade was already waiting for them.
"You're a little late," she said cheerfully. "I thought that perhaps Sasuke-kun got scared." Sakura managed a weak smile. They both stood before Tsunade's desk and the Hokage asked: "So, how do you want me to do this? Do you want the whole ceremony or do you want a brief wedding?"
"Make it short." Sasuke said quickly. Sakura stayed silent.
Tsunade picked a scroll from a drawer and unfolded it. It contained numerous lines of handwriting always concluded with some signatures. "This is an Uchiha family tree of sorts," she explained. "The head of the family writes briefly about the two people getting married and then the couple and the witnesses sign below. Unfortunately, since there are no other family members, it'll be only your signatures."
"Is that all?" Sakura asked quietly.
"Ah, chotto matte!" Tsunade picked up a small black box from her desk and opened it, revealing two simple, silver rings in it. "These were your parents' rings, Sasuke-kun. They were family hereditary pieces and your father was very proud of them. Sarutobi-sensei had kept them for you and I thought, today was the right time for them to be returned to you."
Sasuke stole a glance at the rings. An emotion flickered over his face for a second, it might have been sadness or maybe anger. "I had completely forgotten those...", he said emotionlessly.
He took the rings from the small box and looked at them. Then he shove the larger of them unceremoniously into his pocket and handed Sakura the smaller one. Tsunade's face darkened at the sight, but she did not say anything. Sakura admired the piece of jewelry for a second and then delicately slid it onto her ring finger.
Tsunade handed Sasuke a pen. He briefly read through the other texts on the scroll and then simply wrote down the current date and the text "Uchiha Sasuke, head of the clan, marries Haruno Sakura." He then signed it and handed the pen over to Sakura. Her hands trembled as she wrote down her name next to his.
Tsunade nodded contently and said almost cynically: "I hereby pronounce you man and wife. Congratulations."
Sasuke threw her a blank look. Sakura thanked her politely and followed her spouse who was already leaving the room, not bothering to wait for her. "Sakura!" Tsunade called after her and she stopped, looking back over her shoulder. The fifth Hokage smiled sadly. "Take care of yourself, okay?"
Sakura put up her best smile. "Sure."
...tbc...