Author's Note: Happy new year, everyone! I know it's been a while and I'm really sorry. I'll do my best to write to update more! And thank you for all the reviews and support for this fanfic.

Chapter 5: Hidden Emotions


Sakura's POV

"How could you not tell me about this earlier, Forehead?!"

Ino yelled at me as we were in a taxi, on our way to the airport where we would be meeting Sasuke and Shikamaru. Truth be told, I was excited when Sasuke asked me to go to Kyoto with him for a two nights trip, even though I had to miss some classes since it was the weekdays.

But I freaked out when he told me we were going with Ino and Shikamaru.

I had yet had the chance to tell Ino about my 'relationship' and I knew her enough to expect a lot of complaining about it.

"Everything happened so quickly and the right time to tell you didn't come." I mentally scolded myself for not finding the time to tell Ino earlier, to save me from having to explain myself like what I was doing.

"Fine." Ino's frown was soon replaced by an evil smirk, and I knew I had brought myself into another kind of trouble. "Tell me everything about you and that super hot Uchiha guy."

I probably knew Ino way too well to know what she was going to say.


Sasuke's POV

As we were flying on my family's private plane, I noticed how Ino was trying to dig out interesting things between Sakura and me. Although they were not loud enough for me to hear clearly, I managed to catch a word or two.

I could see the dark shade of red on Sakura's cheeks when asked about our 'first kiss'.

Although I was amused by Sakura's answers and reactions, I was glad we arrived just in time to save Sakura from fainting out of embarrassment.

Once we were out of the plane, there were two black limousines waiting for us. Our luggage was placed in the one Shikamaru and I would be using to go to Sunagakure Corporation, which would head over to our hotel afterwards.

"Shikamaru and I will be going for the meeting now. You and Ino can use the other car to go wherever you wish. We'll call after we're done." I told Sakura who gave me a nod in return. Through the corner of our eyes, we saw Shikamaru giving Ino a kiss on the check, making her giggle like a child.

Slight awkwardness filled the air between us as we looked away, neither knew what to do.

"Best of luck for the meeting and I'll see you later." Sakura said that almost too quickly when she saw that Ino was done speaking with Shikamaru. She practically dragged Ino to the car, telling her that there were many places she wanted to go, and they should hurry up.

When they had drove away, I could hear Shikamaru's snicker and I rolled my eyes as I waited for his smug words.

"It wouldn't kill to be a bit more romantic, you know."

"Shut up." Not wanting to hear another word from Shikamaru, I got into the car to start the day's business.


Sakura's POV

"Sasuke isn't much of a romantic guy, is he?"

Ino's question caught me off guard when we were walking through one of the parks. My head was already hurting from all the improvising and lying I had to do since morning.

But I was then reminded of the times when Sasuke was being sweet and I figured I didn't have to always lie after all.

"Well, he is just not very expressive. But there are times he is really sweet."

I began telling Ino about the time Sasuke brought me to Gâteau Château to cheer me up after what happened with Naruto. The whole place was out of his character, but he made everything a fun experience. I found myself smiling as I thought back to that day, secretly hoping I could feel that happy with him again.

I stopped daydreaming when I noticed that Ino was giggling beside me. I turned to her and was questioning her teasing smile.

"To be honest, when you were talking about your relationship with Sasuke during the flight, it almost felt fake."

I froze upon hearing what Ino had said, and was already thinking of how dead I would be if I were to be found out. But I chose to remain silent as I waited for her to continue.

"But seeing how happy you are right now, I can see that you're really in love with Sasuke."

I should feel relieved that the truth behind the relationship wasn't exposed and that the lie remained safe. But Ino reminded me of a line on the contract I signed in the beginning.

"Do not fall in love with me."

I felt an unexplainable sadness within myself and tried not to show it in front of Ino. I bit my lips to stop myself from tearing up. I forced a small smile, all the while thinking of how wonderful it would be if I could freely embrace all the feelings I had in me.

"Yes, I guess I'm really in love."

And the man I felt like I was starting to fall for shall never know.


Sasuke's POV

Shikamaru sighed in relief once we left Sunagakure Corporation and got into the car.

It was a successful meeting and almost everything was good to go. I looked out of the car window in silence while Shikamaru was on the phone with his father.

"Thanks, Sasuke. Wouldn't get out of this troublesome mess without your help." Shikamaru put his phone away and he thanked me for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Hn." I looked at my watch and saw that I still had about three hours before the networking event. I turned to Shikamaru who seemed to be messaging Ino. "Where are you heading to?"

"I'm meeting Ino to do some shopping for tonight. She said Sakura is at Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine now."

"I'll go find her then."

After informing the chauffeur of the arrangement, I leaned against the headrest and relax a little after an entire afternoon of human interaction.


Sakura's POV

As much as I love Ino, I was glad to have some time alone.

I found a bench while strolling around the shrine, and decided to take a rest. It felt like it had been a long day, even though there was still a long way to go.

When I received a message from Sasuke that he was on his way to find me, there was a mixture of excitement and nervousness. I was still not sure of my own feelings for him, and everything was too complicated for me to digest easily.

And I did not even dare to imagine what would happen if Sasuke realized I might had feelings for him. I was terrified thinking that I might not be allowed to see him again if he found out about it.

"Come on, Sakura. Maybe you're just confused and think you like him. Maybe you don't even like him that way!"

"Hey."

I yelped in surprise when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I stood up and turned around, only to see Sasuke who was giving me a weird look.

Upon realizing it was him, I calmed down and mentally scolded myself for acting stupid in front of him.

"Sorry, I was too lost in my own thoughts." I smiled apologetically but I could see Sasuke wasn't bothered by it.

"Want to go for a walk with me?" As usual, Sasuke's question almost sounded like a command. He gave you a look which said that he wouldn't take no for an answer. At the beginning, I did find it annoying, but I eventually grew to find it amusing in its own way.

"Sure."

We walked in silence for a few minutes, simply enjoying the breeze and serenity surrounding the shrine. Spending quiet times with Sasuke was starting to become the norm, especially when I could see that he needed some time to relax.

"What did you do earlier?" I was slightly surprised that Sasuke initiated a conversation, but I kept that thought to myself.

"Just strolling around Kyoto. It's been a while since I last came here." I love places where I could be close to nature, so I had fun going to different parks and shrines.

"Good to know. Let's go get something for the event tonight after this."

I nodded in response as I followed Sasuke's path around the place, all the while thinking of how great it would be if I didn't have to suppress the feelings I had for the man beside me.


Sasuke's POV

"Can you please don't embarrass yourself by staring at her all night?"

I glared at Shikamaru who was did not wish to miss the opportunity to make fun of me. We were at the networking event of Sunagakure Corporation when Shikamaru caught me staring at Sakura, who was wearing the black long dress I bought for her after we left the shrine.

She looked stunning.

Fortunately for me, Sakura was taking some drinks and were too far to hear Shikamaru's teasing.

"Thank you for joining us here tonight."

I was saved from further mocking when I heard Gaara's voice from behind. We turned to greet the host of the night, who had two other people with him.

"It's a pleasure to be here." I shook hands with Gaara and his two companions, whom I had never met before.

"These are my siblings, Temari and Kankuro." I was not expecting the three of them to be siblings so Gaara's introduction came as a surprise.

The five of us talked for a while, before the Sunagakure siblings had to leave to attend to other guests.

"It seems Gaara's older sister has taken a liking to you." I might not seem like I cared most of the time, but it didn't mean I was unaware of the way Temari was looking at Shikamaru.

"Whatever. I have no interest in anything that is too troublesome." Shikamaru walked away, heading towards Ino, whom in my opinion should be considered troublesome.

I decided to mind my own business and try to get some fruitful business networking done.


Sakura's POV

The extravagant life of the rich was not cut out for me.

By the time I got into the car, I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than a warm bath. Ino dozed off on Shikamaru's shoulder as the car drove us to our hotel.

Sasuke, on the other hand, seemed pleased with the business he did that night. Though I could see the amount of interaction he did since afternoon was wearing him too.

Our luggage was already taken to the hotel, so we directly headed for our rooms when we reached. Ino almost seemed like she was sleep walking so Shikamaru was making sure she wouldn't fall.

And when we reached the floor where our rooms were, Ino sleepily said goodnight to me and went into the room with Shikamaru. When the door closed, I realized the situation I was in and was so close to freaking out.

"Don't tell me you're not expecting to share a room with me?"

Sasuke asked while getting the key to our own room, which was just beside Ino and Shikamaru's. I tried to compose myself a little and after giving it some thoughts, I concluded that I was being naïve to think that it was the normal thing to do for me to share a room with Ino.

Not only was I mad at how stupid I was, my heart was pounding like crazy when I stepped into the room.

At that moment, I did not have a single clue as to how I would survive the night.


Author's Note: Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out what will happen next! Leave a review before you leave too. Don't forget to click follow and favorite to make sure you'll receive notifications of future updates. Until next time and have a nice day!