The Uchiha Fraud
Chapter Eleven
Trust Mikoto to drag her off to the nearest outlet after coming home and finding her digging through two suitcases worth of clothes. Sakura would have been absolutely fine with wearing one of her old party dresses that Ino had picked out for her two years ago, but her mother-in-law insisted that the dress was too "conservative." If anything, the glittery silver dress that she was currently wearing screamed out—
"I look like a whore," Sakura mumbled, pulling the hem line down over her thighs. She was positive if she even attempted to bend over, the dress would expose parts of her that even she would be ashamed to see. "That red one we walked by earlier was nice."
"'Nice' isn't going to give me grandchildren," Mikoto chirped, zipping up the dress rather roughly. "And don't be so shy! If I had a pair of stunning legs like yours, I'd show them off!"
Be my guest.
"You know," Sakura started, trying her best not to fidget, "since this is a company party, don't you think it'd be a little inappropriate for me to be... flaunting myself?"
"Only the women would find it inappropriate," she replied thoughtfully, swatting Sakura's hand away when she tried to pull the dress down again. "But the majority of them are either married, engaged, or widowed..."
"Won't Sasuke-kun mind?" Sakura pressed.
"Hopefully," Mikoto said cheekily, standing up after making a few adjustments. "He's never been a fussy child, but what I wouldn't do to see him fighting off your admirers when they see you in this dress..." She sighed dreamily. "Perhaps he'll get a little impatient and ta—"
"Mikoto-san!"
"Just kidding," she laughed, winking. "You're very easy to tease."
.
.
.
My mother-in-law is insane, Sakura concluded, her face still hot from the woman's earlier comment. Honestly! As if wearing such a revealing dress would elicit such a strong reaction from him. But Sasuke had been engaged before... what type of woman was his former fiancee? Probably more voluptuous and had twice the self-confidence. Her hair definitely would have been a normal color; like brown, for instance. Or black.
Was he a physically affectionate person? Not that she knew of. Sasuke never initiated physical contact unless he was pulled into it forcefully, like when his mother hugged him. But it - he - might have been different, especially with a woman he had actual feelings for and not "pretend" ones that he was supposed to harbor for her. They probably snuck in a few kisses during his breaks, after meetings... and were they innocent kisses, or the thorough ones that Ino told her about?
The ones with the tongue and the touching and the—oops.
Bad Sakura.
When the pink-haired woman finally realized she had been lost in her thoughts, it was too late. Her mother-in-law stood before her, hiding a laugh behind her hand. Sakura's eyes widened, feeling herself turning pink all over again.
"I won't tell anyone," Mikoto said, shooting the girl a knowing look.
"What? No!" Sakura spluttered, groaning inwardly in pure mortification... and embarrassment. Oh god, now her mother-in-law thinks she's some sort of pervert. "I wasn't thinking anything, I swear!"
"It's natural, dear," she giggled, patting Sakura on the shoulder. "I'm sure Sasuke-kun has those exact same thoughts about you. And hopefully with this dress, your wish will come true."
God.
Totally not a conversation she would have ever expected to have with his mother.
"That's not—"
.
.
.
"Hurry back into the dressing room to change!" Mikoto interrupted as she shouted over her shoulder, already making her way towards the front counter, credit card in hand. "We have shoes to buy!"
"Dude," Naruto said, eyeing the tux that Sasuke had draping over his arm. "You seriously going to wear that?"
"Are you going to wear that?" Sasuke retorted, cocking a brow.
"The tie is cool," Naruto said defensively, stroking the striped orange tie that his adorable girlfriend gave to him. "But really, are you going to wear that?"
Sasuke exhaled loudly - impatiently.
"Would you like to continue with this game?"
"I'm just sayin'," the blonde replied, folding his arms behind his head. "I mean, won't Sakura notice that that's the exact same tux you wore for the photoshoot?"
"Are you naturally this observant or are you that adamant on irritating the shit out of me?" Sasuke growled, holding up the suit to eye it more carefully. This looked nothing like the tux he wore, but then again, he rarely paid any attention to what was carefully picked out for him to wear. Would his wife even care that this was the same tux? Would she even notice? It didn't matter, they weren't really married so there was nothing for her to be angry about... right?
Sasuke frowned.
But the idiot had noticed...
Damn it.
.
.
Naruto shot him a cheeky grin, causing his best friend to throw the clothing in his face. With a knowing grin, he pointed towards the cell phone sitting rather innocently on the dresser, earning a middle finger and a door slam to the face.
"You're welcome, bastard!" he shouted, already hearing the Uchiha talking rather quickly over the phone.
.
Naruto let out a relieved sigh, clutching the tuxedo closer to his body. Out of all the suits that Sasuke had to grab, it was the one that he had borrowed secretly last month and spilled sauce on, then out of panic had shoved to the very back of the closet. He gave himself a mental pat on the back; to think he pulled a fast one on the arrogant genius...
Uzumaki Naruto: 1
Uchiha Sasuke: 0
"I'm still not so sure about this dress," Sakura said, feeling her stomach twist in knots. "I feel like my chest is hanging out. Isn't this a little short? I wouldn't mind wearing dress pants and maybe a blou—"
"Nothing to worry about," Mikoto reassured, adding some finishing touches to the bun sitting on top of Sakura's head. "The dress was altered to fit your body perfectly so there won't be any accidents."
"And when you say accidents..."
The woman ignored her, walking across the room to retrieve the heels that were still sitting in its box. After much deliberation, Mikoto had decided on one inch open-toed black heels, despite the fact that she was itching to give Sakura the three inch ones that she had bought on impulse. The girl was standing at a measly 5'2", barely reaching her son's shoulder! But better to let her cute daughter-in-law be... she managed to torture the girl enough as it is.
.
.
"Now," Mikoto said, an accomplished smile on her face. "All finished."
Sakura glanced at her reflection in the mirror, feeling just as she did on the day she wore the wedding gown. The strapless silver sequin dress fit perfectly on her body, leaving little room to move yet still gave her enough space to breathe without feeling the least bit constricted. Her hair was once again pulled into a - messy - bun, a few strands of loose hair framing her heart-shaped face. Mikoto had done a very nice job applying her make-up, and she couldn't help but revel in her appearance.
It almost made her excited to attend the gala.
Keyword: almost.
.
.
"Sasuke-kun is very lucky to have found such a beautiful wife."
The compliment caught her off-guard.
"I—I'm sure there are other girls that are a lot more attractive than I am," she replied, feeling somewhat awkward. Someone with a bigger chest, for instance. "And I wouldn't be able to look this... nice without your - anyone's - help, actually. I'm horrible with make-up, and my hair is either in a ponytail or barely brushed on my good days, and I—"
Mikoto laughed, causing Sakura to prompty shut her mouth.
"Sorry," Sakura mumbled. "I tend to babble..."
"I'm just glad that he has good taste in women." She smiled. "It's difficult nowadays to meet people with high social and economic status that are genuine."
"Thank god for Naruto, then," Sakura joked weakly, clearing her throat.
"He's one of the few exceptions," she winked. "Now, since Sasuke-kun is one of the sponsors for the gala, you both need to be on your way. The first hour of the event is always the most important."
Wait, what?
"Aren't we just going to have dinner and uh, listen to speeches?"
"Ah, if only," Mikoto replied, grabbing a matching clutch from one of the shopping bags and handing it to Sakura. "It'd be very hard to strengthen relationships with future business partners if you're anti-social!"
"Right," Sakura said slowly, feeling as if she had made a big mistake with wanting to attend. "Of course."
"Have fun!" Mikoto encouraged, all but shoving Sakura out of the bedroom door.
.
Sakura groaned internally, rubbing her temple with her free hand. She stood staring at the wall for a moment, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Just remember all the names and faces of his friends and acquaintances, make light conversation, and try not to embarrass yourself... or royally screw up everything you've worked hard for this past week. After taking a few minutes to compose herself, she turned around and headed towards the staircase, knowing that Sasuke would be waiting for her at the bottom.
.
.
.
I can do this.
For a split second, Sakura swore she forgot how to breathe.
Was Sasuke always this attractive, or had his moment of kindness completely change her perspective on the man? He was looking bored - as usual - checking the time on his cellphone with a slight frown on his face, arm resting on the railing. The tuxedo he wore was very similar in style to the one he wore on their wedding photoshoot, the only difference this time was that the previous white dress shirt was now black. And... was he actually wearing a silver-colored tie?
Mikoto must have picked it out.
A part of her wanted to run back up the stairs and lock herself in the room, though the click of her heels brought his attention to her, so she opted to smile uncomfortably and hope that he wasn't getting an eyeful on her way down the stairway. As expected, his eyes remained glued to her face and he remained quiet save for the mumbled instruction to stay while he signaled for Hayate to pull up in front of the house.
Sakura tried not to let the disappointment ruin her mood.
.
.
.
.
When he glanced up at his wife, the first thing that registered in his mind was that there was a good reason that his mother forced him to wear the silver tie. The second was the fact that despite having shared a room with Sakura over the past week, this was the very first time he was seeing so much exposed skin. Only years of practice and lessons on gentlemanly behaviour allowed him to focus on her nervous expression rather than the legs that looked a bit too appealing in the short dress she chose to wear tonight.
Sasuke had always found Sakura rather attractive, but it wasn't significant enough to leave an impression nor did it make him think about her in that way. If anything, whatever he was feeling that was just bubbling - waiting - within him was all Sakura's damn fault. She had to have a nervous breakdown in his goddamn living room, practically forcing him to comfort her because she just knew he wouldn't know what else to do. Not to mention his idiot of a best friend kept implanting weird thoughts about his wife into his head during every second of every day.
Sakura was pretty, he'd admit that much. And smart. Her temper, however, sometimes got on his nerves... so did her need to return the favor for every little thing he did. Couldn't she accept his random acts of... giving without throwing a fucking hissy fit or spouting nonsense about the damn compromise? The way she bit her lip sometimes was also annoying - more than annoying. And how her lips would curve into a victorious smirk when she managed to win an argument, and the wa—
Fuck.
Sasuke scowled, realizing where his thoughts were headed.
.
.
.
He couldn't wait until the night was over.
Author's Note: And the feelings are taking a turn! The whole Sasuke inner-monologue thing was a result of one too many conversations about the mouse effect I learned from a friend... apparently if you had a mouse inside of your home that you can never get rid of, you'll begin to become fond of it. Or something like that.
Buuut, I beasted through finals and the fall semester ended last week, so I am ready to enjoy my month of freedom! Happy Holidays!
(Also, link posted on my profile of Sakura's dress for anyone who was/are curious.)