The Uchiha Fraud
Chapter Thirteen
After Naruto mentioned Suigetsu's name, the reactions were instantaneous.
"Fuck," Sasuke cursed.
"That doesn't add up," Tenten said after a moment. "What purpose does coming back serve?"
No one answered, but Sakura didn't miss the way Naruto shifted uncomfortably from beside her. Sakura bit her lip, tightening her grip on the clutch in her hands. The name Suigetsu sounded unfamiliar, though after a while she realized that she hadn't recognized the name because Sasuke had excluded that person's profile from her booklet.
"Who's Suigetsu?" she finally asked.
"Er…" Naruto's eyes darted over to Sasuke. "You don't know?"
"She wouldn't have asked if she didn't know," Tenten said, rolling her eyes. "Suigetsu was Sasuke's bodyguard – he got fired about a year ago. At least, that's what Neji tells me." She shrugged. "It's confidential information, apparently."
"There is no need for you to participate in all that useless gossip that goes around," Neji replied back curtly.
"But why would he come back?" Sakura asked, still not satisfied with the answer. "And why does it matter if he takes a picture of us?"
Naruto frowned. "I think it's better if—"
"We need to go," Sasuke interrupted suddenly, flipping his phone shut. He turned to Neji, the two sharing a look before Neji eventually gave him a slight nod. "Let's go, Sakura."
"But—"
"Now."
Sasuke grabbed her hand, ignoring her protests as he pulled her, signaling for Naruto to follow closely behind. Sakura turned her head to catch a glimpse of the remaining group behind them, noticing Neji's somber gaze before the doors swung shut.
Uchiha Estate
After arriving back home, Sakura was pushed not-so-gently into the living room where Sasuke had instructed her to sit on the couch, then proceeded to disappear into his office for the past half hour. Sakura sat quietly, attempting to ignore Naruto's obvious attempt at rambling—most likely to keep her from asking any unnecessary questions. Still, she wondered why this 'Suigetsu' was such a threat to Sasuke… or her, for that matter.
And what was so wrong with having a photo of the both of them together?
Wasn't she in this whole predicament to fool people into thinking they were married?
Sure, the public would have things to say about their—
Sakura froze.
.
.
.
The public.
"So then Hinata decided to stick up for herself and you should've seen the look on Neji's face! He was so—"
"I can't do this," Sakura blurted out suddenly, feeling herself beginning to panic.
"…angry! God, it was hilarious and—what?"
"I can't do this," she repeated, her hands clamming up. "This was only supposed to be two weeks and if everyone knows they're going to—I… I can't stay here." Suddenly she couldn't breathe. "This is horrible! Oh God."
"Whoa!" Naruto immediately stood up, calling over someone – most likely a maid – to grab a glass of water. "Calm down, Sakura-chan! Ah, shit."
Sakura could faintly hear him uttering a string of curses as he fumbled around the room for God-knows what. All too soon a paper bag that smelled like dust and dirt was shoved in her face, causing her nose to scrunch up in disgust.
"Breathe with this!" Naruto said, pushing the bag closer. "I saw it on some show; it'll help you calm down!"
"I am calm!" Sakura replied, slapping his hand away. "And don't grab things from off of the floor!"
"I thought I told you guys to be quiet?"
"We were!" Naruto protested, dropping the bag onto the floor – must to Sakura's relief. "Your wife here started going crazy."
Sasuke moved his gaze towards her, raising a questioning brow.
"I'm calm," she said again, letting out a frustrated sigh. "That guy – Suigetsu – if he let's that picture out…"
"I know," Sasuke said, lifting his glasses to rub his eyes. "I'm having a couple of people track him down as we speak."
"Who is he?" Sakura asked for the nth time that evening, her eyes dropping down to her lap. "I mean, I thought only a few people knew about this? Does he have something against you?" She paused, the wheels in her mind finally turning. "Come to think of it, Ino said you needed to convince your mother you were married… why go through all of this trouble?"
Naruto looked like he was about to answer, but Sasuke shot him a glare.
"I was… engaged," Sasuke said eventually, uncomfortable.
"Oh."
Sakura knew as much, but hearing him say it was a different thing altogether.
It didn't explain all too well what Suigetsu had to do with everything, though.
Sasuke must have read where her thoughts were headed, clearing his throat as he moved to sit down on the armchair across from her. Naruto brought his hand up, mouthing something to Sasuke before he turned to Sakura. Sasuke frowned, crossing his arms as he leaned back into his seat, carefully watching her expression.
Sakura pretended not to notice.
"Suigetsu was the teme's bodyguard," Naruto explained, rubbing his chin as if deep in thought. "Personally, that guy was irritating. Didn't like him much but he did his job well so the bastard didn't complain." He hesitated. "Ah, well… until Karin cheated on him."
Sakura snuck a glance at Sasuke, his gaze impassive as ever.
"She was a whore anyway," Naruto said, shrugging. "Complained too much and—" he shot her a smile "Karin wasn't half as pretty as you are. And her hair was this weird shade of red… I was pretty surprised when I found out you had pink hair." Naruto laughed. "Guess bastard has a thing for redheads… or at least shades of it."
"Idiot."
Sasuke scowled.
.
.
.
Sakura was relieved – more than she would admit.
Could admit.
She hadn't realized that she was unconsciously competing with the image she had conjured of Sasuke's ex-fiancée, constantly worried that in some way she couldn't measure up. Who cares what he thinks anyway… right? It's not like she liked him or anything. Sakura clasped her hands together, the feeling of metal brushing against her finger reminded her of the ring she wore on her finger. Sakura was ordered to wear the small piece of jewelry on her finger upon accepting the proposition, but the color of the gemstone didn't register until today.
Ruby.
Huh.
It's almost the same color of…
The end of Sakura's lips tugged into a frown.
"This ring…" she trailed off, already knowing the answer to her question.
"Ah, that's—"
"Karin's," Sasuke interrupted, his eyes boring into hers.
.
.
.
Sakura stared at the offending thing on her finger, suddenly hating herself for harboring even the slight hope of…
Doesn't matter.
She shoved down the sick feeling in her stomach, moving her hands beside her legs so she wouldn't have to stare at it anymore.
"That still doesn't explain why Suigetsu is back."
"You see—"
"Karin," Sasuke interrupted smoothly, "probably sees you as a threat. Suigetsu is here on her behalf, most likely."
"Teme," Naruto hissed, shooting a hard look. "You know that's not—"
"Don't worry about it," he continued, ignoring the blonde. "Neji is taking care of things."
Sakura remained silent, still skeptical.
"My mother wants to talk to you," Sasuke told her suddenly.
She had forgotten all about Mikoto.
"What? Why?"
Sasuke snorted.
"Girl talk."
.
.
.
Sakura stood up, about to stretch her limbs though quickly remembered that she hadn't changed out of her dress. 'What a waste,' she thought, eyes sliding discreetly over to Sasuke who was silently talking with Naruto. 'Not like he would have noticed…'
Or cared.
.
.
.
Sakura sighed.
None of it made sense.
If Karin had been so adamant on leaving Sasuke, why would it matter if she was with him as a "pretend" marriage? Or even better, why would she see her as a threat? Maybe it was a pride thing. But usually that would require the new fiancée or whatever to be prettier and more accomplished. Sakura was still studying medicine at an institution and had no sex appeal whatsoever.
She wasn't even wealthy.
And to top it all off, how did Karin know that they weren't officially married… taking a picture seemed more along the lines of blackmail than revenge. Wasn't running off with her fiancée's bodyguard already enough of a revenge?
Sakura rubbed her temples, feeling a headache starting to form.
.
.
"Are you okay?"
She snapped her head up, facing a smiling Mikoto who was standing at the top of the stairway.
"Oh," Sakura responded lamely, dropping her hands from her head. "Just… kind of tired."
"Well, we can fix that!" Mikoto said happily, pulling her into her and Sasuke's shared room.
.
.
.
.
"You don't have to do this," Sakura murmured, cracking an eye open to stare at Mikoto in the mirror who was braiding her hair.
"It helps me relax," Mikoto replied, a soft smile on her lips. "And it'll help you relax!"
Sakura didn't answer, closing her eyes once more as Mikoto's hands ran gently through her hair.
"I'm disappointed," her mother-in-law sighed. "My idiot son has more restraint than I imagined."
Sakura blushed.
"Er, I don't think he—"
"Who turns down such a beautiful woman in a dress?" she continued, pouting. "I don't understand him sometimes."
"It's not like that," Sakura muttered under her breath, fiddling with the ring on her finger, something Mikoto didn't miss.
She felt the older woman sigh, finishing up the braid before tying it and setting the brush down. Mikoto gently grabbed Sakura's shoulder, turning her around so they were facing one another. There was a sad smile on her face, almost as if her mother-in-law understood exactly was she was feeling.
Sakura broke their eye contact, uncomfortable.
"So it's safe to assume that you've found out about Karin?"
Sakura's eyes widened.
Had she accidentally said something while deep in thought?
She hadn't remembered what Mikoto was prattling on about while her hair was being braided… crap.
Sasuke was going to murder her.
"Calm down," Mikoto laughed, patting her cheek affectionately. "Of course I know. What kind of mother would I be if I didn't?"
Sakura was still in shock, staring wide-eyed at the Uchiha matriarch.
"Why do you think I'm here?" she asked, not waiting for an answer. "I knew he was engaged a year ago from a phone call, though it wasn't until recently that I found out about everything being called off. As if a few thousand miles could prevent me from checking up on my son."
"So… you know?" Sakura asked slowly. "About us not being…?"
"Yes, about your marriage being a fraud." Mikoto clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "Sasuke-kun thinks he can pull a fast one on his own mother… honestly. That boy has learned nothing about me while growing up." She sighed.
"Wait, if you know…" Sakura's brows knitted together. "Why do you keep pushing him onto me?"
"At first it was just to humor him," she started, tapping her chin. "He went through all this trouble to trick me, after all. But then…" Mikoto patted Sakura's head softly. "I realized something."
Sakura waited for her to continue, but she only let out a laugh.
"Ah, it's unfortunate though…" Mikoto said sadly. "I'm scheduled to leave earlier than I intended. Sasuke's father, I'm sure you know, is a bit overprotective. I would have liked to see how things with my son progressed…"
"That's not possible," Sakura blurted. "I mean, I'm only here as long as you are."
'At least until the Suigetsu thing gets figured out,' Sakura thought, though she wisely kept that information to herself. It didn't seem like Mikoto was aware of what was going on, anyhow.
But with her… you never know.
"Hm, I suppose so." Mikoto frowned. She laid a hand on Sakura's shoulder, giving her an encouraging smile. "I don't know much about you with how little time we've spent together these past few days, but whatever the circumstances were, it lead you here. I'm a big believer of fate and soul mates; I met Fugaku by chance, you know."
Sakura smiled.
"…I know that you're here for a reason, and whatever reason that may be, it brought you here by Sasuke-kun's side. And I could be wrong…" she trailed off momentarily, "but you feel something. You're just not ready to admit it yet. I've done what I could, so it's all up to you with what you decide from this point on. And forget about Karin… from what I've collected of their relationship, she's nothing special."
Mikoto winked, earning a light chuckle from Sakura.
"So…" she clapped her hands together, lightening the mood. "Are you up for one last mother-daughter bonding time?"
"I'd love to."
Author's Note: I am still alive! Thank you so much for the positive feedback and all the wonderful messages! I love waking up to review, story, and favorite alerts （ﾉ´∀`）
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