Title: Hundred to one: introduction
Main Pairing: Sasuke + Sakura.
Side pairings: ― none said for now.
Rate: Mature
Theme: meeting in-laws.
Tags: College ― Ooc ― Art! ― Foreign ― Ocs
Prompts: Obito's love crisis, Sasuke's sacrifices in name of love (For Sakura), Obito's childish and trickster, Spoiled little Sasuke brat, Whiny&Casanova cousin, warmwarm baa-chan, Trigger's macho habits, washing dirty mouths and arm around her waist.
Summary: Karin couldn't believe what she was seeing. Sasuke was there, yes, seemingly even more gorgeous, if that was possible, but they had yet to see his face. Why? Because he had it buried in the pink haired girl's neck. SasuSaku.
Disclaimer: Kishimoto-baka owns.
This chapter contains a piece of Flashback
Please read the important message in the Afternotes!
.
Reupload reasons;
Link for the storie's references will be posted in my profile from now on. And that's it.(anditworksnow!)
+ Hundred to one: introduction
Upper East Side, Manhattan, NYC, USA.
07:00 pm
Their ride to the building had taken longer than needed due to traffic, which wasn't any shock or front-page news in New York City. Mikoto and Obito spent most part of the journey clueing Sasuke in about the last family events and scoops; he was aware of some but didn't illustrate them with his thoughts concerning them, other than his monosyllabic answers or a few sarcastic notes.
Sakura knew he was tired, reason why he had favoured letting his mother and uncle to divulge about them themselves than to actually engage in a full conversation with them. He had kept his eyes on the urban scene that flashed outside the window, watching his origin city with mild interest while he listened to the conversation. His arm was still around her; the fingers threaded into her hair would move from time to time, stroking her scalp.
From all the episodes they touched, Obito's fight with his wife, Rin, took most portion of the discussion. The sportive man had expressed his stupefaction at how his wife had apparently yelled him out of their home last night, leaving him to crash at his nephew's, Shisui, place hours past midnight. Mikoto commented he could have gone to her place, but he vehemently shook his head in resistance, declaring how she would pester him like the good member of the Uchiha's sisterhood she was, adding that his brothers, Izuna and Madara, were also two of his last options because they were two stuck-ups that pretended they were the good trained hounds their two wives liked to believe they were ―words that earned him a slap on his shoulder and a strong pull on his ear from the raven haired woman, who started her rant reprimanding his male values and bruising his ego.
Seemingly, the motive for the present crisis in his marriage was that he had gone to a bachelor party that night, without saying a word about it to his wife that was at work, and had returned home with a mesh hot pink and blue thong in his pants' pocket —which, apparently, was taken as a joke by him and it only led to a comic but awkward story that he wasn't able to complete due to Mikoto's aggravation that had followed her mortified gasp.
The dogs had been quiet for the most of the drive, but Trigger couldn't lose the chance to be part of the commotion, being followed by Blue Hope, who seemed always fierce in not letting him have the fun alone —leaving to their owners to get them to stop their agitated barking.
.:*:.
"Here we are!" Obito called out for the teens that have been quiet for the last half an hour. After parking the car in the private driveway of the condo, he turned to look at them; the drowsy and blurred look in their eyes served as a confirmation to his suspicion that they had enjoyed a short nap. He sometimes had checked on them through the rear-view while he and Mikoto were informing his nephew on the latest news about their family. He noted that the two British youths weren't paying that much attention to their conversation, which they opted not to take part in, preferring instead to talk among themselves. After he had shared about his marital crisis, a biting argument with his in-law was evoked, thus his attention was immediately ―although, resentfully― grasped, causing him to forget the youngsters for a while so he could guarantee his defence on the matter.
"Sasuke, you are home! Go handle your mother and the other family's females' cries, go," he ushered, motioning for his nephew to open the door beside him, causing said youth to roll his eyes in a tired manner.
Sasuke detangled his arm ―which was now a little numb, from being around his girlfriend's shoulders through the entire ride— and opened the door, stepping out and placing Ruby on the ground since she had woken when the car parked. He turned to help Sakura out of the vehicle, taking an awakened Trigger from her arms and vaguely noting Shikamaru stepping out from the other side.
"Thanks" she said as she stepped out of the vehicle and stretched a little, letting her eyes follow the building's extension.
1…4…6…10…14…18
It was an eighteen-story apartment building; the construction was out-of-century, old fashioned and ―maybe, if her knowledge on the artistic and cultural periods was right― Renaissance inspired. From the lobby till the fourth floor it was sheathed in limestone, and then it became only details and trims as the main frame changed for terracotta coloured construction that covered all the higher stories, reaching the terrace. Her eyes followed the length again, appreciating the sensitive details carved in the limestone and how the terrace seemed a construction of its own, as if a house had been built on the top of the building —the place of their destination.
"Your neck is going to stiff," —was the sort of comment that broke her thoughts.
She turned to see Sasuke behind her, a little smirk tugging one side his lips. She swatted his shoulder, "Thanks for worrying" she said sarcastically, although her voice was very soft. Before Sasuke could respond with a merry taunt, they were interrupted,
"Let's go, then?" a male voice asked.
Turning to the voice's direction, she saw Obito, Mikoto and Shikamaru watching them with some amusement —well, amusement wouldn't be the right word to describe Shikamaru's bored stare.
She noted that, like them, Sasuke was already carrying the bags and that the dogs were all put down and on their leashes, for exception of Biscuit, who seemed very comfortable in the older woman's arms.
Sakura nodded, taking her handbag from her boyfriend as they walked into the lobby.
A bald well dressed man, who looked likely to be a doorman, around his 50's nodded to Obito as he was about to enter the building, "Good Afternoon, Mr. Obito" he greeted, not committing the mistake of calling the man by his last name —something the Uchiha in question was so insistent for him not to do, "Would you like for your car to be brought to the garage?"
Obito shook his head, "No, thanks, Luke. I'll be leaving in a few, I suppose", he said before going in.
Luke nodded, "Yes, sir", and proceeded to nod Mikoto and Shikamaru, "Mrs. Uchiha" he said.
"Good afternoon, Luke", she answered, following her in-law along with the brunette youth.
Luke then turned his attention to the couple that neared the door, looking at both youth's interaction with warm eyes, then taking a longer look at the boy he knew for more than fourteen years, "Welcome back, Sasuke" he greeted.
The younger Uchiha stopped at the entry, raising his free hand to pat the man's shoulder once, "How are you, Luke?"
The older man smiled "I'm doing fine, and you?" he asked, glancing at the woman beside the young man who looked coolly at him, not interrupting their exchange.
Sasuke nodded, taking notice of the man's silent question, "This is Sakura, my girlfriend" he said, "This is Luke, he is one of the veterans amongst the Condo's employees" he introduced, glancing at said girl before looking back at the man.
Luke nodded, smiling at the pretty girl, "It's a pleasure, Mrs. Sakura. I hope you enjoy your stay"
She nodded once with a little smile, "Only Sakura is fine, thank you" she greeted before following Sasuke inside.
The lobby was adorned with light shade of colours like white, cream, gray, beige, goldenrod and browns. The two continuous walls that were opposite to each other were made of different materials: one of a refined type of limestone, while the other was made of blonde Anigre wood. A painting decorated the centre of the wall; the contour of the back of a lying woman made with wide soft brushes of pinks, yellows, browns and greys. The reception table was localized in an opening made in the Anigre wall. A tall and wide glass adjacent wall on the background allowed the view of the garden as a nice sight for those who enjoyed their time on the elegant seating area with rich leathers on the centre of the room.
"Sasuke, stop! Stop!" she said urgently, seeing him blink at her, his brows frowning a little in confusion. "Let me get Trigger" she said, motioning for him to halt so she could pick up the dog whose leash he was holding.
"Sak, he won't be up for it" he said seeing as how the dog was excited over his new environment, "Just leave him"
She shot him a slight wry look, "You know very well what he will be up for, if not in the lobby, as soon as we enter the elevator"
"He will do it in the apartment anyway" the raven haired youth said with a shrug.
She nodded, "Yeah, that's your problem, not mine. But at least he won't do it on his way there", she said and before the happy dog could go on with his plans of marking his spot, his mistress picked him up —much to his discontentment. She proceeded to follow the others through the entrance that was localized between two pillars, while holding the struggling dog tightly, "No, no and no" she said in response to his whines and struggles.
.:*:.
Sasuke opened the lift's door, so they could enter the cream coloured hall.
"Thanks God Mrs. Garner is on her spa recreation!" Obito said in relief as they exited the lift.
Mikoto shook her head at him, although she deemed the older woman's leave for the week a good thing.
Sakura looked curiously at Sasuke, "Who?" she asked softly, almost a whisper.
"One of the neighbours here―"
"Oh, she is an old widow socialite who is spellbound to fame, high society and such" Obito explained, interrupting his nephew.
"Hm…" she nodded, seemingly not impressed.
"Well, we have the Coopers, the Lanes, the Cunningham's, and the McLaughlin's and so on... Some are just less flamboyant than others. You might meet them while you are here, including Mrs. Garner, when she returns" he said after ringing the bell.
"That's not so certain since we won't be staying here for long" Mikoto said.
"Just pray you don't meet Mrs. Mclean or Mrs. Sweeney" Obito whispered to Sakura with a grim expression. She looked at him uncertainly, giggling a little, surely not catching the depth of what situation that would turn out to be.
The door was opened by a tall thin man with Asian features dressed in a white shirt, black waist coat, gray trousers and a bow tie, "Let me help you, Obito-san" he offered, glancing confusedly at the dogs as two of them started barking.
"No, no, no need to, Heng" Obito chanted, shaking his head as he walked into the apartment with utmost confidence, leaving the man to blink at his back.
Mikoto sighed, nodding in thanks when the man took the guitar case from her, and followed Obito inside with a sleepy Biscuit in her arms.
The black haired man turned to the other three, seeing his two-years absent master and two strangers and three dogs, for which he contained his shock about, "It's very good to see you again, Sasuke" he said with a smile.
Sasuke nodded with a slight smirk, "You too, Heng. These are my girlfriend, Sakura, and a friend, Shikamaru. They'll be staying with us" he introduced as they all entered.
Heng nodded to each of them after closing the door, "It's a pleasure"
"Sasuke!" a voice called.
They turned to see another man, only a few years younger than the first, dressed in the same outfit, except that his trousers were black and he wasn't wearing a bow tie; like Heng, he also had Asian features.
"Wei" Sasuke greeted him the same way he did Heng, but with a plus of familiarity.
The man stopped next to Heng, who was almost a head taller than him, and smiled at the youth, "Welcome back!" he greeted, placing a hand on the raven haired man's shoulder before patting his back, "And you are Sakura and Shikamaru?" he asked, having heard the prior introduction, he refrained from treating them formally. His master's three sons have abolished any formal honorific when referring to his friends. They nodded, which he returned, "I deem the flight was nice?"
"Yeah. Tiring, though" Sasuke answered with a glance at the girl, who was staring at a painting hanging on hall's wall while petting Trigger.
Wei nodded and was about to ask more questions, possibly concerning the three canines, when Heng interrupted him.
"Very well, you can leave your bags with us and we will take them to your respective rooms" he said, remembering his co-worker with a pointed look that the youth should be tired and wish for some rest.
After giving them Sakura's white bag that he's been carrying, Sasuke nodded to Shikamaru and both took off their backpacks, setting them on the floor. Both men picked up the bags and carried them to the stairs, when Heng turned to look at them. "Who is the owner of the case?" he asked, lifting the instrument case a little.
Sasuke and Sakura answered together, "It's ours"
Heng blinked a little, seemingly surprised or confused but didn't let it show much. Much.
"Sasuke, who are they?" Sakura asked in mildly wonder, although she knew the answer, she just wanted to check.
He took her hand in his and started to make his way somewhere, with Shikamaru following them, "Butlers, perhaps?" he said in a mocking hint, looking at her a little skeptically, as if not believing she didn't know.
"You have two Butlers?"
He sighed.
Shikamaru copied.
.:*:.
"Where are you taking us?"
"Hn"
"Sasuke"
"The kitchen"
Sasuke peeked inside the room, taking notice of his cousin inside, seating at the table. He opened the door and motioned for the older male to be quiet before fully entering, followed by his two companions. His attention turned to the elder woman near the stove and he silently made his way in her direction. The smell of oregano reached his nostrils as he stopped behind her; her figure still as short as always has been, now only reaching a little past his elbow. He smirked when he heard her ever present grumbles to herself, while she concentrated on her cooking.
"Oh my, where's the salt?" she asked no one, looking for the salt shaker amongst the many condiments on the counter. "Now you go missing, mister?" she asked in her tiny voice, seemingly annoyed, but funny nonetheless, "At least the chilli is almost done" she said, her little eyes sparkling at the memory.
…….
~
'Clanck!'
She was arranging a few groceries that had just been brought in by one of the employees when she heard the sound of the pot's lid being closed. Thinking it was Obito fussing around her cooking ―and eating it in the process― she turned to give him a lecture but smiled when she saw who it was.
"Oh, I see you are ready!"
She said to the small six-years-old who had just entered the kitchen wearing his party attire which consisted of a little suit, tailored especially for his measures by a renowned suit maker that was an old acquaintance of his mother.
"You look very elegant, Sasu-chan!" she praised.
Sasuke, however, didn't seem to think much of the whole thing —if his conspicuous scowl and pout combined with his crossed arms was taken in consideration.
"Humph!"
The woman on her late fifties smiled warmly at the boy, taking a few steps towards him, "Oh, Sasu-chan. This isn't so bad… It's a party in the big garden that you like to play at, with many friends of the family, including some of yours too. But you still have to remember not to cause trouble today and―", she stopped her sentence and halted her steps, "Sasu-chan, silly, where's your tie?"
The reactions were immediate; his face first contorting in one of annoyance and what seemed to be disgust and changing to an expression that screamed "CAUGHT".
Her little brown eyes narrowed. They never hardened like most, not losing all of their warmth, but since he was raised by her and so had come face-to-face with both expressions, it was easy for him to catch the difference.
"Why aren't you wearing it, mister?"
"I lost it" he said quickly.
She blinked and a worried expression took her face, no longer placing any of the blame on him, since she was one that believed his every word, even when anyone could see it was a big lie.
Like now.
"Oh! Don't worry, dear. I will look for it and I'll call you when I find it, ok?"
"Ok!" he said with a grin before running out of the kitchen.
-:-
Two hours later…
…and no sign of the tie.
She had looked for it everywhere in the house —figuratively speaking, since the house was immense. But she had searched for it in all the rooms he often made use of, where the article could be, and in the places where he had already used for hiding something or himself. She was sure she hadn't searched in all of them, since there were enough of occurrences in the past for her to doubt she could remember them all. One would think that after so many times, she would have her suspicions ready to fire, but she didn't.
Maybe with Itachi, she would have.
Maybe with Sai.
Maybe, perhaps, with them she would have suspected something by now.
But not with Sasu-chan.
She gasped when she remembered the Chilli that she left cooking in the kitchen. Although she had asked one of the maids to start the process and take care of it, she knew them well enough not to trust them with that so much, so she hurriedly descended the stairs.
-:-
She did right on not trusting the younger ladies, for when she arrived in the kitchen, both were in midst of their gossip across the room, while the chilli was seemingly long forgotten.
Not one to complain on someone or call someone's attention, even less start an argument, she left them to themselves as she approached the chilli pot. She gasped after she moved the lid, her little eyes wide and mouth gaped, staring at the inside of the pot, which she was sure that hasn't been removed till now, explaining the smell of burning food. Burned Chilli.
But that wasn't all.
Imagine her surprise, when she found the clothing article she had been searching for the last two hours inside the pot, drowned in Chilli!
The blue bow tie.
-:-
She padded down the hallway, hurriedly since she didn't have much time left! She needed to find that little trickster soon and then she could start cooking another pot of Chilli. She was thankful her mistress was understandable —about the Chilli, at least.
On the 'Sasuke' domain, on the other hand…
She was sure the only reason why the woman didn't ran around the house in search of her son was because some of the guests had already arrived and she didn't want to alert her husband about it.
"Now you go missing, mister?"
She panted as she stopped to open every door in the hallway, so she could check every room, except for the locked ones. As she was about to open the door to Sai's bedroom, the door from the room next to it was opened, revealing the master's oldest son, Itachi.
The ten-years-old didn't say anything, although his expression was a little annoyed. Just then he stuck his arm out of the room, his fingers holding the back of Sasuke's shirt, before he deposited him on the floor.
'Tomb!'
"Agh!"
Little eyes widened.
"Here"
And closed the door.
Sanshou blinked for a moment, looking a little shocked and bewildered at the spot, before focusing her eyes on the almost sheepish little figure —as sheepish as the little Uchiha could be.
"So…" he trailed off, trying to sound innocent while shooting little glares at his big brother's door.
He'd never trust his whereabouts in him again. Traitor, he internally glowed as a scowl formed on his face.
Sanshou could only stare for a moment.
Tousled hair.
Furrowed shirt and trousers.
No coat. No shoes.
Dirty socks.
Blue bow tie burned with Chilli in the trash.
She sighed.
The Chilli would have to wait.
~
…….
He smirked at the memory, remembering the event at their house in Los Angeles. That was a good time, although he wouldn't agree with it back then, especially with the long boring party he had to attend after being found, closing the night with a screaming lecture from his angry mother.
He turned his attention back to the elder woman, seeing her close the drawers she had opened, seeming like she had found what she was looking for ―the salt shaker—or so she thought. His smirk widened and he refrained from rolling his eyes when he caught sight of what she had in her hand that she had mistaken for salt.
Just as she was about to happily pour the grains on her cooking; he decided to butt in,
"I don't think sugar will go nice with it…"
"Oh dear, what sugar are you talking about?" she asked while shaking her head with a little chuckle, not realizing who had spoken, much to his and the others' amusement —especially his cousin's, who had let out a snort from his spot at the table.
He reached out his long arm and snatched the condiment holder from her little hand, earning a huff from her as she turned around with a frown, as if ready to lecture a five-years-old, "Shisui-chan, give me―OH!" she gasped at who was behind her, with a smirk on his face. "Sasu–Sasu–Sasu-chan! Oh, my boy!" she squealed, her voice scratchy, and hugged the man who had to bent in an almost 90 degrees angle to make it possible, "You are here!" she beamed happily, tears running down her wrinkled face.
He chuckled, "So it seems," he said, letting her go just as an arm was thrown around his shoulders.
"What's up, little cuz?!" the long haired man hailed, tightening his grip on the younger man that was now as tall as him, "The people here has been expecting ya for the last… two months! I couldn't hear the end of it! And now that you are finally here to handle your share of these women, I see that you've brought one of your own…" he ventured, although he already knew about it, to try to get some annoyed reaction from Sasuke, who had just detangled himself from him and was stretching his back and looking at him with a raised brow, as if knowing he wasn't finished, "I suppose…?" Shisui lured, letting some extra mischievousness show in his onyx orbs.
Sasuke tilted his head to the side while staring at him in an unspoken conversation, "Ha ha," Humourless.
"Oh, dear, let me fix this…" the older woman said when she noticed that the pair of strangers she had just taken notice of were approaching them after Sasuke's nod, fumbling to take off her apron, which seemed always to be a hard task for her due to the tight knot she always did, "Oh, you fool rag" she grumbled, oblivious to the amused attention she was getting. Before she could achieve her goal, she found Sasuke and his two companies waiting for her, causing her to stop her fussing, "Oh"
The younger Uchiha smirked and looked at the amused woman by his side, sliding his arm around her waist and earning a small smile from her, before he looked back at a gapping Sanshou that was watching them with surprise written on her face, "So, this one is Sakura, my girlfriend" he said, hearing a scratchy "Oh" from elder woman, "and that lazy thing over there is Shikamaru" he said nodding his chin at said man's direction, which earned a giggle from both women.
"The tramp" Sakura joked, giggling lightly while she pressed herself to Sasuke's side as his side hug grip tightened. Her boyfriend had told her to let the dogs free to explore the house, which she was hesitant for a while —regarding Trigger— but shrugged it off, leaving for him to deal with it later.
The other door at the side of the kitchen opened a little as Mikoto peeked inside, watching as the introductions went on. She wanted to see the older woman's reaction to her son's arrival since she had been so anxious, but not only that, she was curious to her reaction to his two companies as well.
Sasuke chuckled, watching his friend roll his eyes with a sigh, muttering "Troublesome". "This is Sanshou. I told you about her" he said, looking at the woman in his arms who nodded with a smile at the curious look on Sanshou's face.
"You did" she said, moving to detangle herself from him.
"I don't recall…" Shikamaru said, making a small effort to search in his memory archive. Small because he was difficult on forgetting things.
"I didn't tell you"
"Hm" he shrugged then.
"You probably weren't welcome at the moment he released this info, man" Shisui said with a grin.
He rolled his brown eyes, "That's nothing rare…" he grumbled.
Sanshou was about to make an outraged opposition to Shisui's impolite comment, when she saw the girl taking the few steps towards her. She gasped as the girl stopped before her, being now able to take a good look at her, since her sight fooled her about what lay in distance. The old woman was sure surprised to find the girl to be unnaturally beautiful, although she had to say her choice of clothes looked rather funny in her old eyes opinion. The hat on top of her head, the oversized leather jacket that was unzipped, revealing a striped summer dress unmatched with those thin blue tights seemed to divert her. Returning her attention to the angelic face, she saw as her little smile widened.
"It's sweet to meet you, Sanshou-san" she said politely, surprising said woman, who was distracted by her accent for an instant.
The old woman's smile became even warmer as she giggled, "Oh, no, no, child! You can call me Sanshou-baa too! It's a pleasure to meet you too!" she said, placing her hands on the girl's arms since neither her size nor flexibility let her put them on her shoulders. A little gasp left her lips as she started fumbling with her apron again, "Oh, dear! I'm sorry to be receiving you this way! What am I thinking ―"
"It's alright"
"No, no, let me just ―"
"Really, it's very fine, Sanshou-baa" the girl said with an amused smile at the elder woman's antics.
Shikamaru had halted his bored thoughts as he regarded Sakura's treatment towards the elder woman; the warmth and maybe admiration in her green orbs called his attention. He glanced at his raven haired friend to find him watching the two women's greetings with a thoughtful and satisfied expression.
Mikoto also noticed the warm exchange and felt a little bothered by it as she walked down the hallway after closing the door quietly. She, who didn't know the girl at all, couldn't understand the reason for the different treatment between her and Sanshou.
"Oh, good then" the light silver haired woman said, still unconsciously patting her apron as she saw the brunette boy approaching them.
Shikamaru nodded, "Nice to meet you, ma'am" he said, sighing as his rosette friend rolled her eyes at him.
"Hey, Sasuke! I didn't leave the kitchen yet, you know? And I'm part of the family's big-league, so I do believe it's essential for you to mention me!" Shisui complained, rather irked and gloomy at the fact that he was being left out in a group of only five people, no less.
"You are part of the family, but I don't deem you essential at all, nor worthy of being mentioned if I can choose it."
"Now that's stingy" the older Uchiha scoffed at the smirk tugging the younger man's lips.
Shikamaru yawned, "So… will we have a tour to a room any time soon?" he asked before he gave a little jump to his left as Sakura pinched his right side, making him frown at her before letting his eyes wander around again.
"Oh! Of course, dear! Sasu-chan, they are tired! Look at your friend's face, ne…"
"That's how it normally looks like" Sasuke drawled wryly, hearing his girl's giggle. He pulled her to him, having his arm around her shoulders.
"Hey!" Shisui called out, glaring at the brunette.
"Sasu-chan, don't be rude!" Sanshou chided, ignoring his snort. "Take them to their rooms and I will call you three when dinner is ready."
The door they came from opened, causing them to turn to see Heng entering the kitchen, "Sasuke, I announce the two guest bedchambers are ready. It's not up to the normal high standards but considering you didn't caution me or anyone here that you were bringing two companies with you, I suppose, in such a short notice, it will be commodious enough. But even so, I can say, I made my best and―"
Sasuke blinked once, raising a brow at the stiff and slightly bitter butler, "You are clearly missing the conception here, Heng―"
"Oh Heng, Heng, Heng" Shisui said in mocking disappointment, shaking his head at the flustered stiff man.
"Only one guest room will be enough"
Heng looked alarmed at the young man, "But, Sas–Sasuke, why not provide proper accommodations for your companions? This is not how Mrs. Mikoto raised you to―"
"Sakura will stay with me" Sasuke said, tightening his loose grip on the girl's shoulders, bringing her ―very willingly― to his side.
Shisui snickered at the agitated butler who he could see asking Sasuke to repeat what he had just said, since it seemed to have taken him by great surprise. Heng was a very formal man, even after having been with their family for twenty-something years, the guy loosened very little of his etiquette. It was actually unfair, in Shisui's and his cousins' opinions, considering their many attempts through the years to break the man's pose. They've learned that even a flustered and irritated Heng, wouldn't be in lost of posture for too long. But now, looking at the pale and blinking man, who kept opening and moving his mouth, as if trying to form words for this situation, only to close it again ―seemed like this was the low blow. The blow they needed. The one Shisui would be damned not to take fortune of,
"What Sasu-chan is saying is that," he started, ignoring the glare he was sure his cousin had directed at him for the inappropriate name using, "is that this beautiful young lady will be staying with him, in his bedchamber. Therefore, you can rest assured that we'll certainly be providing them the best of our accommodations; at least I'm sure she will agree with me, for she will be under his care and under him himself when it's time to call it a nigh―", he didn't get to finish his sentence when the half from a grilled tomato that, to his luck, seemed to be bathed in its juice, was accurately thrown at him, landing on his forehead, above his left eye before sliding down his face and falling on the floor. Sasuke always had a good aim.
He looked at said man, seeing he was not a tad bothered about his insinuation and, to his curiosity, neither was the woman in his arms, who was grinning in amused bewilderment with a soft blush adorning her cheek; both actually looking pretty entertained. Of course his cousin wouldn't care about his words, since Sasuke wasn't one to be known for his bashfulness and modesty, nor was he packed with morals either. But then again, Sanshou being around could be a good guess for why the reaction, other than for the younger Uchiha's own amusement, that is.
Speaking of said woman, he found estrange that she didn't stand up for his defence after his cousin's attack, but with a glance at her he doubted the now blushing in red highlights, sporting an expression of utter stupefaction, had registered his demise. So he guessed his words were clearer than an innuendo should be, since she never followed those.
Sasuke sighed, "Let's go then" he said, taking Sakura's hand in his and holding the coat she had taken off in the other, knowing Shikamaru was sure to follow them.
"You won't leave before introducing me!" Shisui protested, getting even more agitated when he didn't get a response, "They even know their way to one of the bathrooms already! They even know Wei and Heng and how locked in the latter is!" he continued. As if just remembering the mentioned man was still in the room, he added "No offense there, man. You are just inelastic."
All Heng could do after the scene was to give a more-stiff-than-usual nod with an audible gulp and leave the room in inflexible and précised fast steps.
Shikamaru sighed, "Sasuke, are you taking us there or will I have to find my way and crash somewhere 'round the house?" he drawled with another yawn.
Affronted onyx eyes narrowed at him, "Hey, Pineapplehead-boy! This isn't nice! And I thought English people were super polite!"
The brunette just rolled his eyes, "What a drag…"
"Ok! If my disrespectful cousin won't do it, I'll introduce myself then!" he decided, seeing as this was the only way. Focusing his eyes on the girl, who mattered most from the two —or in general since the others were douche bags in his opinion, while she was so pretty!— He closed his eyes for the full effect of the move, stretching his lips in a charming smirk and slowly opening his lids halfway to wink at her, "Hello, pretty girl. If you think this" he said, motioning to his sceptical looking cousin "is good, I'm at the top of the stairs to cloud nine–OUCH! Fuck, Sasuke! You didn't have to kick, man! You don't kick cousins! Maybe a shove or a punch in the least, but not a kick! Fuck! OUCH! What was that for?" he asked after being injured again by a wood spoon and was now scowling at the angry elder lady, while massaging his abused shin and stomach and trying to ignore his cousin's satisfied smirk.
"I beg you two to excuse this sleazy young man's dirty mouth and I guarantee to you that I'll wash it brand new!" she said with a determined nod, not noticing the newcomer's confusion as to what she was exactly meaning about that.
"Come" Sasuke called them, opening the door.
Shisui recovered fast, "Hey! Come back here! Yo, pretty girl! Room at the second floor, hall to the right, and…" Think fast, damn it! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… "Fifth door!" he called out when they had already left the kitchen.
"Shisui-chan, stop shouting. They can't hear outside the kitchen. You'll talk to them later…"
"Ah, dammit. That brat. He makes me miss Itachi, man" he whined, standing up to leave the room with the plan of lying down on his comfortably bed to ease the burning in his shin but was stopped by a hand grasping the end of his shirt. Looking down he saw Sanshou shaking her head at him,
"Nou-uh, Shisui-chan, you won't leave this kitchen right now. Not until we talk about your manners."
"WHAT?"
"That girl must be traumatized by now!"
He gave her a dry look, "I really doubt it"
"The poor girl, tsk! Come on, step close to the sink" she said before picking up the little bench from the corner of the room and placing them in front of the sink before stepping on it to stand higher.
His eyes widened before shutting in irritation, "Oh, no! Not this again!"
"Come here, Shisui-chan" she called again, opening the tap and rubbing some soap in her hands before looking expectantly at the tall man.
He sighed as he stood beside her, "Yeah, I sit here while the one who threw the tomato and kicked me is out and about tapping the hot chick" he grumbled before bending down when she tapped his back.
"What did you say? Speak louder so Sanshou can hear it, dear"
"…Nothing" he grumped before grimacing at the taste of soap and clapping his lips tight.
Afternotes:
EDITED: The present date that is mentioned in the first chapter was changed for the 21st, instead of 23rd —as I have abstractedly put it.
In the third chapter, Obito refers to Sasuke as a twenty-years-old, when he actually is 21. This wasn't an actual mistake because I had to go deeper in many topics to decide how old Sasuke was going to be in this story.
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Some of you might be not really grasping the interaction between Sakura and Shikamaru, as one of the readers told me. But you will get the swing of things!
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Concerning the Flashback (which I think it was clear that was one, right? I didn't want to write "Flashback"), it was a flash from both Sasuke's and Sanshou's memories —reason why is told by both of them (more by her, but Sasuke has his inputs).
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This is IMPORTANT and HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE STORY!
Before I wrote this story, I had developed ideas for three stories (this one, a prequel and a sequel). Because I wasn't in my best moments to commit myself with the prequel of the story (and because at first this story was more for me to exercise my writing), I decided to start with the middle one. I was pleasantly surprised with the response I got for this one (for which I'm thankful for!) So it was all cool, all going, and flowing… until I was cornered by my friends that knew of my original plans for me to write the prequel. Well. Crap. So I thought for a while and decided that I will try to begin it. But this means that I'll pause this one for a while (and maybe I'll upload a chapter now and then), but that will only happen if I achieve to write two chapters for the prequel. So it's not a bad thing, right? I mean, in the prequel you'll be aware of how things happened between them, of how they came to be. I do have many ideas! (Yeah. They've got me excited.) For those who are worried about this one and ready to PM me to make their worries known, don't worry. I fully intend on continuing this story and it will be back to its normal rhythm after I'm finished with the prequel.
So, concluding, if I succeed in starting the prequel, I will pause (not abandon) this story.
At first I was against the idea, because I thought it was very unpractical of me. But after having come across so many good stories that were deleted because they are going to be rewritten and others which don't connect with their prequels (an easy mistake I don't want to happen), I changed my mind. I also didn't want it to confuse you, so if I do it, I gotta do it now since I have released too little information in this story (thank pockies I'm a slow writer!) So it's actually fit that I pause this story now. As my gift to you all, instead of revealing in the further chapters as was planned, you'll find out what Sakura does in my next update. It won't be detailed, but it will answer many questions and will be a snack for the possible prequel.
The prequel would also be important because will focus (not that this one doesn't) more on Sasuke and Sakura's relationship, meaning, more SasuSaku moments.
So I ask you all, those who review and those who don't, to go in my profile and pool it. Your opinion won't exactly decide what I'll do (since as I said, I need to see if I achieve to write a few chapters first to see if there will be or not a prequel), but they mean a lot. I need to know if you guys are interested and if you'll still be with me.
So, yeah.
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Man, I miss reading stories… [so little time…]
If you find many grammar mistakes in this chapter, I'm sorry. I very exhausted and will jump from this chair to my bed (after brushing my teeth and putting on my PJ's) to sleep and calm the swirling in my head. As I answered to some of you that PMed me, I was planning on updating in the end of the month or in the beginning of November… But then, today I decided to lift this off my shoulders.
I've updated yesterday night, but delete it because I wasn't sure about it yet.
little warning: next update wont be called a chapter because it isnt one, but it's also part of the story! I'm warning this so no one would think is an author's note or smth.
Anyone feeling like biting nails for the next Manga?
Your reviews fuel my motivation, yeah!