Capitulum X – I told you I'm not going to wear those clothes.
"All I wanted were some new clothes, but no, he would rather have me walk around in these dirty old rags his fuck bunnies have left behind." Sakura was fuming. She was sitting in front of a pile of clothing she was brought last night when Kakashi had visited her.
It felt good to see him again. Back when she was still married to Sasuke, he was not only his confidante, but he became hers as well. She had always felt as if he were some kind of mentor for them both; a wise old man with decades of life experience who always had a suitable advice for any situation. That being said, his distant manner last night hurt all the more. Kakashi hadn't been mean to her, but she could see he had buried his old feelings and had treated her like merely a business partner. Sakura couldn't blame him; he felt responsible for Sasuke and was just trying to protect him. As long as she didn't have Sasuke's trust, all of his subordinates would keep treating her as the cold-hearted ex-wife who betrayed him.
She dismissed those gloomy thoughts and rested her scornful gaze on the pile of clothing in front of her again. Granted, they were washed and neatly folded, so she couldn't really call them dirty. Moreover, she actually liked some of the pieces, but, by God, she would never admit to that. Hell would freeze over before I let him see me in any of these again. She groaned and let herself fall back. Well, at least he didn't accommodate me in a hole, Sakura mused, letting her eyes wander around her.
She was given one of the smaller guest houses of Sasuke's compound, directly opposite the main house, where he had his office and his other rooms. The two buildings were separated by a beautiful pond that was part of a garden that stretched out over the majority of the estate. A small wooden bridge granted access to the other side. Everything was kept in a traditional Japanese style, from the gardens to the architectural facets of the buildings to the interior design, with a few modern influences here and there. Although Sakura was more or less a prisoner here, she felt comfortable in her guest house. It was small, at least compared to the main house, yet extraordinarily fancy. All rooms were tastefully furnished and made the resident feel like royalty, but the bedroom was her favourite one. It was to die for. The futon she had slept on last night was wonderfully comfortable and she had woken up to the most breathtaking of views, looking at the sea and the cliffs upon which Sasuke had his estate built. There was even a spacious wardrobe that had enough room to house the clothes of a five-member family. But alas, it was empty.
Thinking back to the idea that had popped into her head during her conversation with Sasuke yesterday evening, her mood suddenly changed for the better again. A shit-eating grin spread across her face as she stood up and headed towards her bedroom. Sakura came to a halt in front of the floor-length mirror and inspected her reflection. Given the hot temperatures of Tokyo's summer, she had slept naked last night and also hadn't put on any clothes since waking up half an hour ago.
She released her pink tresses from the ponytail and watched them cascade down her back. Sakura threw one last glance at her reflection before heading out with a devious smirk.
He envied Naruto, Sasuke realised in that moment. He was somewhere in his beach house, with his wife and kids enjoying the summer breeze and bathing in the brisk waters, while Sasuke was stuck in yet another dull meeting.
Since it was so hot, he decided to slide open one of the shoji doors and allow a freshening breath of air into the conference room. His languid eyes roamed over the garden and his gaze rested on the pond in front of Sakura's guest house. The temperatures were so torrid and the meeting was so tedious, Sasuke actually found himself playing with the thought of walking over to it and letting his feet cool off in the water.
He was suddenly torn from this idea when he saw the doors of the guest house on the opposite side slide open. He heard the commotion of his business partners and the surprised questions before looking up to see what they were all so curious about.
But when he did look up, he was livid.
"I told you I'm not going to wear those clothes.", Sakura remarked with a sly grin on her face, while nonchalantly leaning against the door frame.
Naked.
Sasuke clenched his fist and could feel the rage bubble up inside him. A deep growl could be heard before he shot out of his seat, walked out of the conference room and slammed the shoji doors shut behind him. With long strides and a menacing expression he crossed the bridge over to her side of the compound while keeping his gaze fixated on her triumphant grin. He grabbed Sakura's left arm and hauled her back into the foyer of her guest house before slamming her shoji doors shut as well.
"Oh my, Sasuke, you seem terribly upset about something. Whatever could it be?", Sakura asked, innocently smiling up at her infuriated ex-husband. She could hear him puff and growl as he approached her.
"Is this how you will behave then? Walking around naked, parading yourself like a whore?" – "Mm, I've been naughty. Are you going to take me over your knee now?", Sakura whispered with a wanton gaze. Sasuke was coming ever so closer. Something in his eyes changed, she realised. Was that a spark of lust or was he getting even angrier? He stood so close to her now she could kiss him if she raised herself on tiptoes.
Sakura suddenly felt one of his hands around her waist and another underneath her knee pit, lifting her up and setting her down on the dresser behind her. Sasuke was standing between her spread legs, their noses so close they were just about to touch. With a flustered expression she looked into his eyes again, only to find them cold and distant as ever.
"Let me be perfectly clear on one thing, Sakura." He whispered as his bland eyes bore into her vivid ones. "I can be this close to you, touching you," he said, while letting his hand wander from her knee pit up to her waist, "without feeling anything." Sasuke could see a faint blush spread across her cheeks as he watched her gaze drop to his lips. "Don't mistake my generosity in letting you live here with any sort of feelings you think I might still harbour for you. Because they don't exist. I feel nothing when I see you, dressed or undressed. So you might as well stop this childish act." He let go of her body and turned around to leave her guest house, when her quiet voice stopped him.
"Your pupils are dilated. And your pulse is high. I felt it when your hands touched my body. You do still feel something." – "Rage."
Sakura hopped off the dresser and approached him from behind. "Stop lying to me Sasuke, I've already seen your reaction. And I've felt it, too. You can't deny there's still chemistry between us." Her arms wound around his torso as she pressed her naked self against his back. She stood on her tiptoes to whisper into his ear, "I will dress like a nun if that's what it takes. But I want my own clothes. I refuse to be a constant reminder of all the women you had after me."
Sakura let go of him and turned around to head towards the bedroom. She was going to be the one to have the last word this time. As Sakura grabbed the bathrobe that was fortunately brand new and tied it around her figure, she could hear Sasuke slide open the doors and leave the guest house. She waited one more moment before returning to the foyer.
A triumphant smile spread across her lips when she spotted his black American Express card lying on the dresser.
He was simply being the bigger man, he told himself over and over again as he watched the delivery men unload all the things Sakura had ordered from their van the next morning. Sasuke knew how stubborn Sakura was and that she would have kept that ridiculous child's play going for weeks.
He told himself the real reason why he caved in and gave her his credit card was because her antics would have put him in a bad light as a businessman. Allowing an associate of his to walk around naked was unprofessional, plain and simple. It would have seemed as if he couldn't control his employees, and that, in turn, would make him seem weak. And Sasuke never allowed himself to display any sort of weakness whatsoever. That's the real reason, he tried to convince himself.
It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he had felt real jealousy for the first time in three years when he realised his business partners were gaping at his ex-wife in all her naked glory.
As he watched an overjoyed, and most importantly, dressed Sakura help the delivery men carry the boxes to her house, he thought back to what she had said last night.
You can't deny there's still chemistry between us.
Sasuke felt the chemistry all right. He felt his pulse quicken when he touched her. He felt a shiver run down his spine when she pressed herself against him. As much as he still tried to hate her, as much as he tried to distance himself from her – Sasuke couldn't deny their attraction.
But he'd be damned if he ever admitted to it.
Post Scriptum: I feel like I suck at describing things, especially places & surroundings (yet here I am, writing a fanfic. I know, I'm weird like that). I had difficulties describing Sasuke's estate, so if any of you guys can't really imagine what it's supposed to look like, just google The Wolverine Yashida compound, that was my inspiration.
