Unmei: teary-eyed So many reviews!! I'm so happy. Now, I'm so inspired to write even more! Yay!! You see, it's a win-win situation for everyone if everyone reviews (hint hint.)
Disclaimer: Blah, I think everyone's smart enough to know I don't own Naruto, Goong, etc.
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Princess Hours
Chapter 8: Scandals Galore
Unmei no Hana
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(Haruno Household)
A warm summer breeze blew through the air making the tops of trees sway ever so slightly. The chorus of the chirping bugs filled the summer night and a full moon rested in the clear night sky. The din of the city had quieted to a soft whisper and even the fluorescent lights were unable to be seen. All was quiet and at peace…that is until,
"Get your freaking leg off of me right now chicken head, OR ELSE!!!"
So much for peace and quiet.
"Mmphf, I will once you get your arm off my face pinkie!"
It was a typical day at the Haruno household, that is until 7 p.m. rolled around and a knock at the door signaled the much-anticipated arrival of the Crown Prince and Princess of Hi no Kuni—Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Now how did all of this happen? Well you see…
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(Two days earlier)
"That stupid, conceited, good for nothing jerk!" Sakura growled fiercely. "He went to breakfast without me for the second time this week! Wait until I show him what I'm made of." Stomping hard enough to make the walls of the palace shake ever so slightly, a fuming Crown Princess stormed her way to the greet the elders, her two assistants cowering behind a column. When she arrived at her destination, Sakura looked for Sasuke in the crowd of people, but was unable to find him.
'Where is that chicken head? He better not be hiding from me!' She thought as she chewed on her bottom lip in frustration. She stomped around the dining room for a few more seconds, scaring the living daylights out of a handful of old people who looked as if they were about to bite the dust, before a palace assistant approached her.
"Sakura-sama, the king wishes to see you." The palace assistant told her and led a confused yet compliant Sakura away from the crowded dining room to the King's personal living quarters. When Sakura entered she saw Sasuke sitting on a couch opposite of one that the king and queen were sitting on. Bowing slightly to Yoshino-sama, the king and the queen in respect, Sakura stormed over to where Sasuke was sitting and sat down next to him, glaring viciously. Sasuke, however, ignored her looks as usual and continued to stare nonchalantly at nothing in particular. Unaware of the current tension between the two adolescents, King Fugaku cleared his throat and began to speak.
"This morning, Prince Sasuke came to me with a most unusual request, but I feel that it was also a most reasonable one. He came to me early in the morning to ask me for my permission to stay at Sakura-san's house for a few days." When Sakura heard these words, she felt her spirits lifting.
"Really?" She gasped in surprise as she looked at Sasuke, who, as always, ignored her.
"Yes. I feel that it is a good idea for the Prince to spend some time in a different environment than he is used to for a few days." The King continued. "It'll be a great help to him as the future Royal Family's successor. What do you think Yoshino-sama?"
"Oh, what a wonderful idea! It's like a traditional wedding were the groom stays at his in-law's house for the first three days of their marriage. Isn't that our customary practice?" Yoshino-sama said excitedly to which Sakura gave out a loud shout of joy. "I also believe it's better to let the Princess make a trip back home before she starts missing it to much. What do you think Queen?"
"Yes…"The Queen replied quietly. "That sounds like a good idea to me. So what do you say Princess? Do you have any other plans?" Sakura opened her mouth to reply when Sasuke leaned forward to pick up his tea. A hesitant Sakura nudged Sasuke and gave him a questioning look to which he shrugged. Smiling broadly again, Sakura turned her attention to Queen Mikoto and nodded her head vigorously.
"No, I'm fine with it Queen Mikoto."
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"Thank you so much." Sakura said as she grabbed a fleeing Sasuke's arm. "I was so upset that you had left without me, but I didn't know about it. I'm so dumb, aren't I?" Sakura laughed.
"How many rooms do you have in your house?" Sasuke asked suddenly.
"Huh?" Came Sakura's unintelligent reply.
"I must have a room to myself. Understand?" Sasuke smirked at Sakura before he let out a sigh. "Ah, it's going to be hard staying at your house. Should I tell them I can't go?"
"Hey you can't do that!" Sakura relied indignantly. "And even if you don't go, I'll go myself." Sasuke apparently found this very amusing as he let out a snort.
"You really think they'd let you do that?" He asked. "Let me tell you this Sakura. They only agreed to this because I'm going with you."
"That's a lie, you conceited jerk!" Sakura yelled and hit him with the scarf she was wearing. "You'd better apologize."
"For what? Being nice to you? Do you have any objections to that?" Sasuke asked. When Sakura could think of no comeback, he smirked again. Leaning down to eye level with Sakura, he inched his face closer to hers, making Sakura blush a bright pink that rivaled her own hair color. "I thought so." He said and poked her forehead. Ignoring her angry cries, Sasuke walked away, a small smile beginning to form on his face.
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(Present Day, Couple Hours Earlier)
And so, after two days of preparation, Sasuke and Sakura made the short car trip down to her house and were welcomed by a swarm of news reporters and other media workers as well as fan girls.
"Sasuke-kun!! Look over here!"
"Prince, I love you!"
"Marry me!"
"Idiot, he's already married." Sakura growled under her breath to the hordes of fan girls that were pushing one another in an attempt to get nearer to Sasuke.
"Jealous, are we?" A voice next to Sakura muttered. Blushing a brilliant red, Sakura replied,
"Of course not, why would I be chicken head? I mean, who would want to marry you? Only an idiot would like you…" She trailed off, noticing that Sasuke wasn't listening to her. 'That's just like Sasuke. Always ignoring what others say.' Sakura sighed in defeat.
As she stepped out of the car Sakura felt as if had been blinded by the thousands of flashes from the cameras of the reporters. Smiling with the most sincere cheesy smile she could muster, Sakura bowed to the reporters and hurried through the open doors where her parents were waving happily. After she shut the gate to the garden with a muted slam, Sakura turned to her parents and felt various emotions begin to surface.
"Mom…dad…I missed you guys so— Hey! Are you even listening to me?!" Sakura screamed as she realized she had been deserted by her parents who were eagerly leading Sasuke into their house. Growling slightly, Sakura ran to catch up with them.
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'That's odd…' Was Sakura's first impression when she entered her house. Usually the place was sparkling clean without a speck of dust anywhere. Then, what was this strange gritty feeling she felt beneath her feet…? She found the culprit right away.
"Hey! Don't you know any manners?" Sakura shouted at Sasuke when she picked up her foot and saw specks of coarse dirt on it.
"Huh?" Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks as Atsumi and Keito gave their daughter a questioning look.
"Your shoes. Don't you know that you're supposed to take them off before entering someone's house?" Sakura asked, wiping off the dirt from the bottom of her once pristine feet.
"Oh, um…" Came Sasuke's unintelligible answer. When he realized what Sakura meant he hastily retreated back to the entrance of the house to take off his shoes as Sakura explained,
"It must because in the eastern wing were we live, we're allowed to keep our shoes on since so many people are constantly going in and out. But honestly Sasuke, I thought you learned normal etiquette manners, not just those of the palace, seeing how your prince and everything. But then again, you're just a spoiled Chicken Head." She finally ended, sticking her tongue out at the prince. Sasuke opened her mouth to retort when a loud voice interrupted him.
"Chicken head? Forehead girl, that's not right. Aren't you supposed to call him 'Honey' or 'Sweetheart' or something mushy like that?" Shouta asked.
"Tch, sweetheart my ass." Sakura snorted. "Wait a second…what did you call me Shouta?!" Grinning broadly, Shouta gave Sasuke a high five before retreating to his room upstairs in order to escape a fuming Sakura. While Sakura attempted to chase her brother, Atsumi turned to Keito and sighed.
"This is going to be a long three days."
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(Night, Day 1)
"You can sleep in the main bedroom tonight prince. It's not very large, but it's the best room in our house." Keito told Sasuke after dinner was finished and the family had gathered in the living room to eat fruit.
"Please, no need to be so uptight with me. I didn't come here to get special treatment; I came hear to see how a normal family functions. That's why I didn't let all the body guards come." Sasuke said as he stared at the apple skewered onto a toothpick intently.
'Tch, don't want special treatment huh?' Sakura quietly scoffed as she shoved the apple piece into Sasuke's mouth, tired of seeing him just staring at it.
"But what are we going to do about sleeping, mom? There're only two rooms in the house, other than the attic where Shouta sleeps." Sakura trailed off when Sasuke, cheeks red from near choking, grabbed Sakura's hand tightly.
"Don't worry, we'll share the same room." He said smiling broadly.
"…."
Silence enveloped the house as Keito and Atsumi froze and Shouta dropped the piece of fruit he was eating.
"WHAT!?"
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"Hn, so this is the room you spent 19 years sleeping, studying, and eating in? You did all that here? In this tiny space?" Sasuke immediately asked when Sakura showed him into her small pink room.
"That's why I told you to sleep in my parent's room, didn't I? You can still sleep there if you want." Trying to get the pig stuffed animal back from Sasuke who had stolen it, Sakura nudged Sasuke near the exit of her room. But Sasuke sidestepped Sakura and walked further into the room.
"No, I'm fine sleeping here. But there's one problem."
"What is it?" Sasuke draped his arm over Sakura's shoulders as he inched his face towards hers.
"You and I…we're two people. But this bed of yours is only a single. So why don't you just…whisper whisper?"
"Are you out of your mind?" Sakura asked defiantly and crossed her arms. "I slept here on this bed for 19 years. I'm not going to be sleeping on the floor anytime soon. You sleep on the floor." Sasuke scoffed as he began taking off his sweatshirt.
"And for 19 years I have slept on a bed the size of your room." Sasuke replied at a blushing Sakura.
"What…what are you doing taking your clothes off?" Sakura asked, her blush beginning to deepen as Sasuke raised one eyebrow at her in amusement. "Anyways, I don't care. You can take some blankets and sleep on the floor." Sakura said as she crawled into her bed and threw the covers on top of her.
"Really? Then we can sleep together." Sasuke lifted up the covers, nudged Sakura to one side and squeezed himself onto her small bed as well, tightly hugging her stuffed pig.
"Hey! What are you doing?" A flustered Sakura asked. "So you came to my house to make my life miserable?"
"Aa."
"Is it that fun to play around with me?"
"Aa. You're just like an amazing toy who spices up my dull life."
'A toy, huh? A toy you say?' Inner Sakura screamed as Sakura threw angry glares at Sasuke who merely closed his eyes and scooted closer to Sakura and farther from the edge of the bed.
"Fine, do what you want. But let me warn you, I'm not a very still sleeper. I guarantee you that you'll be kicked off this bed in no time." And with that final statement Sakura pulled the covers tighter and closed her eyes, making sure to kick Sasuke hard.
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(Yamamoto Yoga Clinic)
Mika Fuyuno and Sai's mother, Satsuki, sat together at a traditional Japanese table as they drank green tea in silence. It had been a couple weeks since Satsuki had opened the yoga clinic, claiming she needed a steady job even if she was part of the royal family, and Mika had been a regular customer ever since then.
"Right now when you were practicing yoga, you seemed nervous. Is there anything that's troubling you?" Satsuki finally asked, breaking the long silence.
"Ah…nothing in particular. It's probably because exams are coming up and I've never excelled in my studies." Mika replied, as she looked down uncomfortably, knowing that this was not the truth. To get off the uneasy topic, she decided to ask Satsuki a question she had been wondering about for awhile. "Satsuki-san, what was life in England like?" Tapping her chin in deep thought, Satsuki answered,
"England? Life in England was good…very suitable for my son and I. It's a very interesting country though. The people place a lot of concern on the Royal Family."
"It's very similar to our country then I guess."
"In a sense yes it is." Satsuki paused a while before continuing. "A couple years back Prince Charles and Camilla married. Ah, have you herd about Camilla?" Mika scrunched her face slightly as if thinking hard before she replied,
"Yes…I'm pretty sure I heard that she was Prince Charles' lover."
"That's right. The story goes that they fell in love with each other at first sight, way before either one of them married. However, because of royal traditions, Prince Charles was forbidden to marry Camilla. But they say that whenever Charles had a problem he would always go to Camilla for advice. As the more controversy there was about Diana, the talks became more frequent. In the end, they got together.
Diana once said, 'Our marriage became complicated because there were three people involved.' The royal couples and Camilla's love triangle became very complicated. It was a long and agonizing relationship lasting for 30 years. But in the end, after 35 years of waiting, the person of tolerance—Camilla—successfully married Prince Charles. She finally found her love."
Satsuki sighed to herself as if imagining what it would be like to have to live those 35 years of waiting once she finished her story and sipped her now cold tea. On the other hand Mika remained silent.
'After 35 years…she found her love. Fuyuno Mika can't give up like that so easily. She doesn't suit him. Sasuke needs me by his side….I know it.'
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(Haruno Household, after the beginning scene)
'…I can't sleep. It's so uncomfortable to sleep straight. I feel all cramped up. And it's so hard going to bed while looking at a wall. But at the same time on the other side is Sasuke's back…' Sakura lamented to herself as she bite her blankets. 'But…this is so weird. Why don't I feel mad about this? And how can he be sleeping so comfortably on this small bed? Maybe if I…' Sakura gently laid her hands on Sasuke's back and scooted closer to him, cuddling her face on his back.
'Wait! What am I doing?' Sakura immediately shot up and slapped herself on the head. 'So I'm that type of person!? What shall I do? What if at night I suddenly grab him like a hungry lion…Maybe I should just sleep on the floor so something like that doesn't happen. No! I can't. If I do, then I'll be on the losing end. '
"Just go to bed….go to bed…go to bed…." Sakura muttered to herself as she fell back onto her bed. Slowly she felt her eyes beginning to become heavy as she snuggled closer to Sasuke and unconsciously grabbed the fabric of his shirt between her hands.
Meanwhile Sasuke, who unbeknownst to Sakura, had been awake for the whole time she was arguing with herself.
'That girl…She's hopeless.' In a rare moment, the corner of Sasuke's mouth slowly began to turn up as he watched Sakura snuggle closer to him. Suddenly, Sakura let out a loud snore and turned over, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand unconsciously. At that moment, Sasuke felt a curiously wet feeling on his back and reached over to feel his shirt. Much to his disbelief, he felt the unmistakable wetness of a certain girl's drool on his back.
'Ugh…this is going to be a long night.'
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(Sai's Apartment)
"You're still reading those books?" Satsuki asked as she walked into the small apartment she and Sai resided in. Sai was sitting on a chair reading a Harry Potter book, the rest of the books littered on the table before him. Picking up one of the books off of the table, Satsuki flipped the book over and sat next to Sai.
"She must be a witch." She suddenly said. At this comment, Sai looked at his mother with a questioning look.
"What do you mean mom?" He asked although not tearing his eyes off of the book.
"For someone who was divorced…in poverty to suddenly become one of the richest people in the world. Don't you agree, she must be a witch?" explained Satsuki as she set the book down. Silence was all that greeted her. Sighing, she stood up and hugged Sai gently from the back. She looked at the quiet night life through the window in front of them as the steady hum of the lamp rung in her ears.
"Although it's so busy during the day, Konoha is always so peaceful at night. What I want is this kind of peace. If it was possible for you to become King…I'd willingly make a deal with the Devil. Your forgotten father…the position you once held and is rightfully yours…I must bring them back. This is the reason why Yamamoto…no Uchiha Satsuki must keep on living."
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(Haruno Household)
'Need…water…' Sasuke gasped as he narrowly escaped the clutches of a not-so-still sleeping Sakura. Rubbing his eyes, Sasuke stumbled into the main part of the house and groped around in the darkness in an attempt to find the kitchen. After a painstaking ten minutes he had reached his goal and quenched his protesting throat.
Sasuke let out a sigh of relief as he backtracked his way to Sakura's room but stopped when he saw light coming through the bottom of the main bedroom door. Although snooping and eavesdropping were beneath him, after all he is the crown Prince, Sasuke couldn't resist opening the door a crack and listening to the mutterings of the Haruno household, who much to his surprise was still not asleep before going back to Sakura's room to sleep.
"Maybe we should go check up on them to see if they need anything." The muffled yet clear voice of Keito suggested. "Give them some drinks or something. You know Sakura always gets thirsty in the middle of the night."
"What? But they're most likely already asleep by now." Atsumi reasoned and pulled the covers over her head.
"Still. You know Sakura. Bring them some juice. She loves orange juice." Keito persisted, shaking the bundled up form of his wife. Atsumi let out a sound of annoyance and sat up, glaring at Keito.
"If you're so worried, then bring them juice yourself. You're capable of doing such a thing, I'm sure." After another couple minutes of arguing, Atsumi finally gave up and walked to the kitchen to pour two cups of juice. With an eager Keito following behind her, she opened the door of the dark room and entered. After setting down the tray she turned around and what she saw made her eyes bulge out. Sleeping together on the small single bed was Sasuke, looking as nonchalant as ever, with Sakura wrapped around him, snuggling her face into his chest. Immediately Keito turned on the lights.
"What is this!?" He asked, his voice cracking slightly.
"Ngh…turn off the lights." A sleepy Sakura replied as she rubbed her groggy eyes. Blinking to let her eyes adjust to the sudden light, she was totally unprepared for what was to happen next. Sakura realized much to her dismay that she was hugging something very soft…and warm…this was definitely not her pillow! I mean, come on, it even was moving—there had to be something wrong here. Snapping her head up, Sakura looked up into the amused face of Sasuke which was only a couple centimeters away from her own. Looking down again at her limbs which were tightly wrapped around the boy's body, Sakura looked back at her parents who were staring at the two of them in shock.
"AHHHHHHH!!!"
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(Morning, Day 2)
"Good morning," Sakura yawned as she walked out of her bedroom. It had been a long night to put it simply. After the…fiasco last night, Sakura was forced to sleep on the floor. And so after a rather awkward breakfast, Sakura had been recruited to do the dishes as her parents and Shouta cleaned the rest of the room. Sasuke had been un-included from the chores and as retribution for last night, Sakura decided to make him help her with the dishes.
"Yah, Chicken head. Instead of standing there doing nothing, help me with the dishes." Sakura said as she pulled Sasuke over to the twin sinks, placing him in front of the one contained a pile of dirty dishes. "You clean and I'll rinse, okay?"
And so, surprisingly without any complaints, Sasuke began to awkwardly clean the dishes. However, washing dishes is just not something you learn at the royal palace, Sakura learned the hard way. Much to Sakura's amusement, the moment she received dishes from Sasuke to rinse, she spotted a problem.
"Chicken Head, you left a spot here. And these are still greasy! What in the world are you doing?" She asked as she leaned over to inspect him cleaning the dishes. Barely containing a laugh, she watched as Sasuke attempted to clean the dishes with his bare hands and water, ignoring the sponge and soap clearly in his view. "Honestly, you learn nothing at the Palace do you?" Sakura sighed and switched places with him. "Here, first you take the sponge," she held up the brightly colored sponge and poured some liquid dishwashing soap on it, "Then pour on the soap, lather it up, and clean. Here you go." Satisfied that he was well equipped Sakura handed him the sponge. All was going smoothly after that until they were forced to wipe the dishes and put them away.
"What's this?" Sasuke asked curiously as he held up a spatula. "It looks like a weapon." Emphasizing his point, he took the spatula and hit Sakura over the head with it.
"Sasuke!!" Sakura screamed, upset. Looking at the smiling Prince, a plan began forming in her mind. Taking the faucet, she turned on the water and pulled in out, spraying Sasuke with water. He retaliated by taking a pot to cover himself with and once it had filled with water, dumping it on the unsuspecting Sakura. They would have made a larger mess, much to Atsumi's displeasure, if the ringing of the doorbell had not stopped them. Wiping herself with a towel, Sakura opened the front door to be met with the surprising sight of Kakashi.
"Kakashi-san…" Sakura said, clearly confused. Sasuke, who was standing behind Sakura, looked just as confused. Remembering her manners, she let Kakashi in, but was stopped when he put a hand on her arm.
"Crown Princess…thank you for your hospitality, but it is not necessary at the moment." He then turned to Sasuke and looked at him meaningfully. "Prince, the King has fallen ill."
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Immediately, Sakura and Sasuke were recalled to the Palace. To Sakura, she had never seen a time when the Palace was in such a frantic uproar. It seemed that after such a long time, the terminal illness that the King had tried so hard to fight had struck again. However, in order to not let it be revealed to the public, Sasuke and the Queen as well as Yoshino-sama had taken control of the issues. Because of this, Sasuke was sent to Kiri no Kuni in order to replace the King in the yearly visit to ensure the peace between the two nations. And so, let the story continue.
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(Kiri no Kuni)
Gaudy. That was one of the many words that Sasuke could come up with that described Kiri no Kuni. Gaudy. Gaudy and frivolous. Very frivolous. How in the world did Sai and his mom live here for ten-some years? Sai and his mysterious, no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point, simple, ways? Oh well, this wasn't a huge concern of Sasuke's right now. What was, however, was the oh so familiar feeling of annoyance beginning to surface. If he had to attend one more gaudy dance performance, one more frivolous dinner, one more stupid, good-for-nothing, not even entertaining event with the Royal Family of Kiri no Kuni, Sasuke swore he was going to shoot something.
It was in this time of Sasuke's utter annoyance did the much un-welcomed noise of his cell phone cut through the moment of peace and silence Sasuke so dearly treasured. If it was Sakura, Sasuke would fly all the way back to Konoha just to burn her. God, that girl could be annoying. She called him every ten minutes, wondering if he was okay. Sure, maybe at first, Sasuke was a little touched…only a little, mind you! But, after the 100th call, yes he had been counting, he was ready to burn her alive. Although he had to admit it, he had grown to become rather fond of the bumbling fool of a wife he had…not that he would ever say that aloud. She might be loud, annoying, too emotional, and not very pretty, but he couldn't deny that she was the most pure and sincere person he had met. And somehow she found a way to wiggle herself into his heart. But only into the back most corner.
Finally, Sasuke decided that maybe he ought to pick up his cell phone. Once, couldn't hurt right. I mean, even the so-called Ice Prince could tarnish his reputation just a teensy bit for the girl he had unwittingly become somewhat fond of. So on the fifth ring, Sasuke picked up his phone. But nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.
"So you finally picked up." An all too familiar voice said. "I was wondering if I would be standing outside your hotel window all day long." At this, Sasuke whipped around and opened the closed curtains of his window to see the smiling face of a certain Fuyuno Mika.
"Mika…" was all Sasuke was able to mutter, his brain currently in an overload crisis. He flipped his phone shut and ran out of the hotel to where Mika was standing. "You can't be here." He finally said after a long moment of silence. "You have to go back," He started to say before Mika cut him off.
"Sasuke, let's spend the day together and forget about everything and everyone around us." She suddenly blurted out. When Sasuke hesitated, she continued. "If not, I'll just stay put here." To emphasize her point, Mika walked over to a bench and sat on it.
"This isn't like you." Sasuke said as he walked up to Mika. What he received was a piercing glare.
"Not like me? What are you saying about me? Then what is me?" Mika asked, nearly screamed, as she stood up to look Sasuke in the eye. Sasuke was at a loss for words. Sighing, he sat down on the bench.
"Mika…you know the current situation I'm in right now."
"I know. I know it better than anyone else." Mika replied as she sat down next to Sasuke. "That was why we were dating secretly for two years. It was a relationship where even if I said 'I love you' a thousand times, it wouldn't have mattered. It was a relationship where just one 'let's breakup' could end it. Is this love?" Sasuke remained quiet as tears began to well up into Mika's eyes. "Yes, it is. I'm nothing to you now, and I know it."
"What's wrong with you?" Sasuke abruptly asked, grabbing the hand Mika was about to use to wipe her tears away. Mika jerked her arm away from him and stared at Sasuke with tear-filled eyes.
"You don't know? We are no longer together, but still there is news about you everywhere I go. Who you saw, what you wore, what you did. Even when I cover my ears and close my eyes, I can still know all the details about what you did, without wanting to. I see you in the newspapers, on TV—it's driving me crazy! Now I am just an outsider with a commoner's view into your life. Can't you understand how I feel? And you say this isn't me? So what should I do to be like me? How should I be like me?"
Finally, unable to control it anymore, Mika let the unshed tears flow freely down her face. Covering her face with her hands she began to sob. Sasuke, feeling a pang of regret and pain, reached up to wipe the numerous tears from her face, but Mika slapped his hand away.
"Don't. I…never once felt like I was your girlfriend." She said as she wiped the tears away.
"Mika…"
"Enough. I'm fine. Leave. I will leave now too." As she said this, Mika grabbed the large bag she had been carrying and began to walk away, still wiping the tears from her face. But, before she could go too far, a hand grabbed her wrist. Sasuke slowly got to his feet and tugged the bag Mika was carrying from her hands. He attempted to drag Mika somewhere, but she defiantly refused. When he tugged on her harder, she found herself reluctantly being dragged off by Sasuke.
"Shouldn't you go back? I'm sure Kakashi-san and the others are looking for you." Mika whispered softly as Sasuke but her bag in the trunk of a cab and asked the driver to take them to the airport.
"It doesn't matter. I don't have to be somewhere until seven, I have plenty of time to take you to the airport." Sasuke replied. Nothing except the quiet hum of the motor and the muted shouts of the street outside was heard, until a very noisy motorcycle pulled up beside them. A faint look of annoyance crossed Sasuke's face as he leaned forward. "Go faster." He ordered the cab driver.
"Who are they?" Mika asked, referring to the men riding the motorcycles, equipped with cameras. Sasuke held his hands up near his face in an attempt to cover it as he told Mika,
"The paparazzi."
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"Thank you very much." Mika told the cab driver as she pressed money into his hands and ran into the airport with Sasuke as fast as she could. After that ride, she felt as if her lunch was about to come back up. Those paparazzi members sure were persistent! Even after going way above the speed limit, it there was a speed limit, cutting through dark alleyways, running several red lights, and much more, they still weren't able to get rid of those pests. So unfortunately, the first cab driver had to let them off at some market. After hours of running through the colorful market place and pretending to be tourists, Mika and Sasuke were finally able to safely make it to the airport.
"Up to here is fine." She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "Even though you never acted like a boyfriend in the past, I appreciate what you did for me today. It really makes up for everything, just knowing you care after all." At this Sasuke couldn't help but smile some.
"Thank you. For everything. I'll never forget the times we spent together. But now…it's time for me to go back. Goodbye…Prince." And before she turned to leave, Mika leaned up to kiss Sasuke.
click But unbeknownst to the pair of them, two men were lurking in the shadows of the pillar, taking photos of the compromising scene they were witnessing right now. After Mika had departed, one of them took out his cell phone to call someone.
"Hey boss, it's me. We got them."
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Hey, Tenten here! Geez, something seems to be wrong with Sakura ever since Sasuke went to Kiri no Kuni. But have no fear, for Hina-Ten-Ino is here to cheer her up! But say, she's been spending a lot of time with that Yamamoto Sai kid. I heard he's always there to comfort her—how sweet! It's almost like a story from a romance novel!
Next time, Chapter 9: Secrets
"If fate hadn't been playing with us…your husband wouldn't have been Sasuke, but me, Sai."
-Yamamoto Sai
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Unmei: Wow…It's been so long since I've last updated. I'M SO SORRY!!! bows repeatedly I do have great excuses for why I didn't update but I'm sure none of you want to hear me ranting about my wonderful adventures at the wonderful world called school, tests, projects, and finals plus viola, driving school and uh… drama watching?
Anyways, anyways, enough babbling from me. Since it's summer, I hope I can get at least 2 more chapters done, 3 if I work reallllllyyyyy hard. And as always, I have to thank my wonderful reviewers who have always been so faithful to me despite my horrible updating schedule.
sasusakux3: Aww…poor Mika, everyone's picking on her. But I guess that's good…? After all, I'm making a believable bad character, yay! ...I think. Anyways, thanks so much for reviewing!! I hope you'll continue to read, review, and enjoy my fic.
TenTenXIrista: I can't decide whether you like or disliked the fluff do to the "argh" at the end of your review….but since there were exclamation points I think I'll arbitrarily decide that you like them. Thanks so much for reviewing, it really encourages me to keep on writing!!
Diana-san: Haha, I know, I loved that part in Goong when she finds out that the cd-player is empty. I watched that scene a million times. Sorry I really didn't update soon….at all. But hopefully this chapter was worth the wait. Hope you continue reading and reviewing and thanks so much for the review!
baby's breath: I'm glad you really enjoyed my last chapter. It took me a long time to come up with…so I hope you like this one too because sadly it me even longer to write….Well, thanks for always, always reviewing! You're reviews are always so nice to read, they really make me feel happy and accomplished. Hope you continue to read and review and of course enjoy my fic. Thanks once again!
petite.ina: Albeit short, I'm so glad you reviewed. I love new reviewers! Once again, thanks for reviewing and please continue to read and enjoy my fic.
sasusakufaves: Once again, sorry I didn't update very soon. Hope you liked this chapter, seeing how all of you had to wait for such a long time for me to update. I hope that despite my bad updating habit, you'll continue to read my fic and hopefully reviewing!
Norah: Yes, another new reviewer! I love this!! Thanks so very much for the review. I love reading such nice reviews—they make me feel so energized to write the next chapter…that is until I have to go study for a test of course. Hope you continue to read and review and most importantly enjoy my fic!
Sakura Angel 4eva: Haha, like so many other people, I see you don't the character of Mika. I hate to write someone so…conniving but I would feel really bad if I made her super nice and yet she had a sad ending in the story. Also, I'm trying to stick to the original plot of Goong so I guess it can't be helped. Hopefully her character won't deter you from reading my story. Thanks for the review!!
sallyluv16: Once again, sorry I didn't update very soon. I'm glad you think my fic is getting interesting; I'm really trying to make it more mm…dynamic! Hopefully it isn't too static and boring—that's something I'm constantly worried about when I'm writing. Thanks so much for your review!
silverdragon994: I have to say thanks to you a million times for always reviewing—I'm so grateful. I'm glad you enjoyed the hinting of other pairings I tried to incorporate in the last chapter. Sorry I wasn't able to put any in this one, but I'll try to continue to put in more NejiTen, etc. when I'm able to. Thanks once again for always reviewing!!
waterkunoichi: Or else…I don't want to know what that means since I didn't update very soon. I think I might need to lock all the doors in our house now… . Anyways, thanks so much for revewing. I filled with so much bubbly happiness when I read your review—I love such positive reviews. Once again thank you so very very much!!
Yucina101: I feel so bad that everyone wants me to update soon yet I was unable to. So, as I mentioned with everyone else, I'm VERRRYYYYY sorry I didn't update soon. But, putting that aside, I'm glad you thought that last chapter was excellent. Hopefully this one was just as good, if not better. Thanks so much for reviewing!
EYHO187: Haha, I guess I really did take my time after all, didn't I? I'm glad you liked my story up to the last chapter, hopefully you still like it after reading this chapter. Thanks so much for reviewing and I hope you continue to read, review (hint hint), and of course, as always, enjoy my writing!!
SheSays: I agree with you, Yul was one of my favorite characters too. It's too bad he had to be the second guy character and couldn't end up with Chae-Gyeong. Ah, but that's dramas. At least one guy and girl always have to suffer at the expense of the happiness of the main characters. Anyways, getting off that tangent, thank you so much for reviewing!!
bobalina: It did sound "painfully" cliché, didn't it? I guess after awhile I got lazy, but if you've seen the drama, this is pretty much along the lines of what the main character Chae-Geyong says. I know I shouldn't be so bounded by the drama and try to expand off of it and put in my own personal touches, but at the same time, I want to the preserve most of the integrity of the drama. So I'm sorry it sounded so cliché, I'll try not to make the rest of the story so bland and venture out to make it more original. Thanks for your warning—I don't get those too often but I guess they're helpful as well—and thanks for reviewing!
Dark MiMi-Ayumi: Thanks for reviewing once again!! I'm so glad that there are quite a handful of people who are continuously reviewing. It reassures me that people are continuing to read my story and don't just read some of it and get bored after the next chapter. So, as always, thanks so very much for reviewing and I hope you continue to read and enjoy this fic!
sharinganuser21: Another Mika-hater I see? I hope I don't get too many of those. While it's true that I am making Mika more of the typical "bad-guy" figure, I don't exactly want her to come off as being hard-core villainous, because she's not. Think of her as more…misguided and blinded by her love turned obsession of Sasuke. I guess I really should try to revise her character some to make her seem not as extremely horrible as she does right now. Anyways, thank you so much for reviewing! I hope you continue to read despite your deep hatred for one of the characters.
MM-Kokopelli: Haha, another fangirl of Goong? There's so many of those, but it is a good drama, isn't it? If you like Goong you should also try Full House if you haven't seen it or Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang because they're a little bit similar in the sense that the main characters are drawn together in marriage but not initially because they love one another. Also the Taiwanese drama It Started with a Kiss is one of my favorites and Silence if you're able to deal with quite a bit of sadness and the Japanese drama Hana Yori Dango. Thanks for reviewing, and hopefully you'll continue to be a drama fan like I am!!
Kawaii-Sak-Bloom: Yep, Goong is very, very extremely good. If you read my post to MM-Kokopelli above, I gave her some drama suggestions. If you haven't seen those already, I suggest you look at them as well—they're some of my favorites. Well, that aside, thank you for reviewing. I'm so happy you think I'm doing a good job writing this fic—it really encourages me to keep on writing. So once again thanks and I hope you continue to enjoy my writing.
Dark Mint: Yay, another new reviewer. I'm glad that Princess Hours pops into your head when you read this fic—that means I've accomplished my goal. But hopefully you think that it's not all like Princess Hours because I've been trying to add some more personal touches into there, although they are quite limited. Anyways, thanks so much for reviewing and I hope to hear your comments again!
Unmei: Phew, that was a boatful of reviews, not that I'm complaining. I'm so glad so many people are enjoying my writing. So for everyone out there who read my story but didn't review, I hope you continue to enjoy my writing as well, and reviews would be much appreciated. I'll really try this time for everyone to update faster, but I can't guarantee anything, but I really will try had since it's summer. So, thanks once again to everyone!!!