Capitulum XVII – Being a mob boss' girl can have its perks after all.
Rolling over in her bed, the noise of the machines beeping next to Sakura woke her up. As her eyes fluttered open, she took a deep breath. Every limb of her body felt leady. She knew this feeling. They sedated her again. Memories of last night flashed into her mind, as she recalled stumbling out of her guest house coughing up blood and collapsing on the porch. Someone poisoned her dinner, she remembered.
"It'll wear off in about an hour." Her head turned towards the source of the dark voice. "The sedative I mean." Sakura tiredly eyed her ex-husband, sitting in a chair next to her bed. She cleared her throat before speaking.
"Given your calm demeanour I take it you already caught the bastard who did this and smashed his head in. Unless, of course, you don't give a flying fuck about your ex-wife being poisoned. In that case your lack of empathy would explain your composure." – "I would be lying if I said it was the latter." Sasuke's words surprised her. She halted in her efforts to sit up and looked at him with a mix of depletion and wonder. "But you're right. The traitor has been caught and dealt with." Sakura nodded knowingly.
Whenever Sasuke dealt with someone, that person was never seen nor heard of again. One glance at his bruised knuckles revealed Sasuke probably beat the poor bastard to a pulp.
Sakura sighed and reached for the glass of water on the table next to her bed. Her motor skills were still a bit sloppy, but she managed to lift the glass to her lips and take a generous gulp. After setting it down again, Sakura leaned back and asked, "Any interesting intel you got out of him, anything I need to know?"
"Zetsu got to him. He offered him a generous sum of money if he managed to slip in some poison into your food, although he admitted killing you was not his goal. Zetsu supposedly told him that he didn't mind if you survive it. It would be enough for him to cause us a bit of distress, simply to let us know he could get under our skin."
Sakura couldn't help but snort. That sounded a lot like Zetsu. As much as he loved inflicting physical pain on others, he got off more on terrorising his victims on a mental level. Playing silly little mind games, controlling them like puppets, infusing them with ideas that would lead his victims to eventually destroy themselves. What Sakura couldn't quite understand though, was why he chose to poison her, not Sasuke.
As if reading her mind, Sasuke said, "I know what you're thinking. There's a reason he targeted you not me. The traitor admitted he was specifically instructed to poison your food not mine, because Zetsu apparently told him this would piss me off more, that he could provoke me by hurting you. It seems he is under the impression…. that I'm still in love with you." Sakura's eyes widened subtly as she looked at him. Sasuke's expression was stoic and emotionless as ever.
Images of him kissing her in his hotel suite flashed in her mind, the feel of his hands all over her body. As she felt a blush already creeping up her face, she couldn't help but ask. "Are you?"
His intense gaze still bore into her jade green eyes, but he said nothing. After a moment he propped himself up, gave her one last undefinable look and headed towards the exit. "You should get some rest.", Sasuke whispered before closing the doors behind him.
A soft smile spread across Sakura's lips. She decided to take his answer as a maybe. Sasuke had shown signs of jealousy, attraction, and even concern ever since she came back into his life. As much as he tried to deny it and hide it, she was sure Sasuke still had feelings for her.
After spending three years at his side, she never once witnessed him taking care of his so-called interrogations himself. He would usually send Kakashi to deal with traitors or get information out of people. But this time, it was Sasuke himself who intervened. Sakura couldn't help but think he did it out of revenge for her. And although any other rational, sane woman would run for the hills at the prospect of being with someone who basically kills people for a living, Sakura felt the butterflies in her stomach doing somersaults at the thought of Sasuke avenging her suffering.
Being a mob boss' girl can have its perks after all.
For the first time since their fight in Kyoto Sakura felt genuinely happy again. She had got to kiss her ex-husband, she survived an attempt on her life, plus she had more or less proof of Sasuke's affection. The only thing dampening her mood at the moment was her unruly hair, Sakura realised after catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. "Well, let's go find some scissors."
The smell of fresh herbs and the sound of her laughter filled the kitchen when Sasuke entered it.
He was told by her security detail that she had gone to cook something for herself half an hour ago. Given the excruciating pain she had gone through the last time she ate something that came out of this kitchen, Sasuke couldn't blame her for wanting to prepare her own meals from now on.
After what happened last night, Sasuke and Kakashi had checked the backgrounds of each of his employees on his estate once more. They had sat down with everyone working in the kitchen and had grilled them under heavy scrutiny. Sasuke had fired two more people that rubbed him the wrong way, but he was confident now that at least in the kitchen, there was no one he couldn't trust.
Leaning against the door frame, he let his gaze rest on her hair. She cut it, Sasuke deduced. It wasn't as ornery as before, but rather in the shape of a bob haircut. Sasuke found himself liking her new hairstyle. As he watched Sakura clumsily trying to cut the basil leaves with his chef giving her instruction, Sasuke had to keep himself from grinning. Sakura was an absolute mess in the kitchen. She couldn't for the life of her prepare a decent meal. In fact, her definition of a culinary success was a sandwich not completely burnt to a crisp.
"You know what Teuchi, I'm a hopeless cause. I will never learn this." Sakura rammed the knife point into the cutting board and leaned against the counter. "Don't you guys have some frozen pizza lying around somewhere?" Teuchi turned to her with his mouth agape and a look of shock on his face. "The day I start to stock frozen pizza in my kitchen will be the day the culinary world as we know it falls!", he proclaimed dramatically, throwing his hands up in exasperation.
"That's true, I'm afraid. Teuchi would rather die before allowing convenience products to disgrace the sanctuary of his kitchen." , Sasuke threw in with a smirk. Sakura's head turned towards him in surprise. Before she could say anything, he raised his voice again, his face now turned towards his chef. "Would you mind leaving us for a moment, Teuchi?" The older man bowed in respect and left the kitchen.
"Something's wrong." Sakura crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked expectantly at Sasuke. After a moment of silence, he raised his voice.
"Our work has attracted a lot of attention. Primarily the death of Danzo Shimura. The clan heads and other leaders are still suspicious of you and demand a trial." As Sasuke studied her face, he saw Sakura's eyes widen ever so slowly.
"No." – "Yes. They called in the council of the Five." Sakura tore her gaze from his eyes and took a deep breath.
"The Five… Well it's not like I didn't see this coming. I knew I had to answer for everything eventually. I just didn't think it would come so soon." – "Well, proclaiming the resurrection of Madara Uchiha is a sure way to get the attention of Japan's criminal Supreme Court."
Running her hands through her short hair, she let her gaze wander through the kitchen. Sakura still didn't dare to look at him. So many things were running through both of their heads; unfinished plans, stifling worries, oppressive regrets.
Sakura's eyes finally met Sasuke's again when she spoke. "They're going to grill me." She watched him nod his head. "Their focus will be Madara. If you give them what they want, it might go smoothly." Sakura snorted as a grin spread across her lips. It didn't quite reach her eyes though, because Sakura was far from happy. "Things never go smoothly with the Five. They're going to want retribution for my betrayal and alliance with Madara." Sakura turned to face her ex-husband. Sasuke looked at her with cold eyes, his face a perfect mask.
She took a deep breath, before whispering, "We both know how it will end."
Sasuke lowered his eyes and kept quiet. Ever since he was informed of the council meeting, his mind was reeling at the thought of its possible outcome. But he was determined to not let it come to that. As he raised his head to meet Sakura's gaze, he could see genuine fear for the first time since their encounter in the airport lounge. Trying his best not to give in to the urge to comfort her, he cleared his throat before saying, "We fly tomorrow morning." With that Sasuke left her.
Nobody would hurt her, not on his watch.
Post Scriptum: Hello my lovelies! Hope you're having a wonderful day and hope you enjoyed reading the new chapter. My confinement begins as of today; I'm at my mum's now and I already can't wait to leave again. But there's a silver lining, I'm bored enough to be able to dedicate most of my free time to this baby here. Anyhow, please let me know what you think of it, I always love reading your uplifting reviews and comments. :)
