"A heart breaking isn't always as loud as a bomb exploding.. Sometimes it can be as quiet as a feather falling.. And the most painful thing is, no one really hears it, except myself.."

-Naruto

Source: (Quotes from LovingYou (Dot) com

Chapter 12

Engagement

"So, he's trying to contact Itachi."

Fugaku Uchiha's voice rang out in the cold, dark room, adding to the solemn atmosphere in the study. His manservant nodded dutifully and took a step back, noticing the displeased look on his master's face. Fugaku rubbed the bridge of his nose as he felt an impending headache coming onto him.

"I won't let that misguided fool of a son contact his older brother. Not now." Not now when my plan has just started. He'll be another pawn, just like Itachi. I won't let that girl jeopardize what I started for my sons. He swiveled his chair to face the giant, golden oblong window.

"What should we do, sir?" Nishida asked. The older Uchiha stood up from his seat and turned to inflict his eyes upon a picture of his family on his table. He glared at one particular pest in the middle of the glossy paper.

Uzumaki Naruto.

The weed in the middle of Sasuke's path. The girl who was tainting the name he worked so hard for. The family glory was all going to amount to dust and be wasted; all because of her. Uzumaki Naruto, you are small, but you are dangerous. You can destroy my family, shred them into pieces. A treacherous risk that could poison the ground they all treaded on.

She was nothing but a pest in society, a gold digger like every woman whose leeching could carry them to the top. Just like before. He wouldn't let that kind of awful situation occur in front of his family. He couldn't let her claw at his sons. Never.

"Get ready."

"You still can't contact your father?"

Sasuke cursed, agitated, finding the persuasion of stubborn Sakura (He's former love interest) to amount to a waste. After all, it had been a month since he had last seen or even heard from Itachi. It was even more suspicious that both his calls and Sakura's couldn't reach the States.

"Whoa! Don't get so angry, bro! Chill out," Chouji warned, holding his girlfriend together after crying over Sasuke's extremely pissed off and scary face.

Neji seats down with Hinata on the couch then turned to face his fiancee. "Maybe there's someone who's interfering with the calls," Kiba mused, cupping his chin on his hands. Everyone turned to look at his sudden comment and he sweat dropped profusely with the new attention. "I mean," he stuttered, "maybe someone doesn't want Sasuke and Itachi to talk."

"I think Kiba-kun's right, Sasuke-kun!" Hinata piped up, hitting her hands on the table with her eyes wide in realization.

Sakura twisted the white cloth napkin in her hands, thinking the mess her friends were slowly unearthing. "So...you're basically saying that Sasuke-kun's father has everything do with this?" she asked worriedly.

Shikamaru sighed and cuddled up closer to Ino (His fiance). "Pal, I hate to admit this, but Kiba's right. There's something fishy about the whole picture. Be careful," he directed to his best friend.

"Hey! What do you mean you hate to admit?" Kiba protested.

"I know," Sasuke replied grimly.

Sasuke began his long journey to reach home. He wanted to see Kaoru awake before the newly hired nanny sent her to sleep. He smiled to himself as the thought of home...his only sanctuary from his father's conspiracy. Sasuke's obsidian eyes narrowed and his mouth tightened as he thought of his father. If he had been younger, he wouldn't have ever thought that his father was capable of going so far as to cut off his contact with Itachi. It wasn't impossible, though, from a man like him who could send people on their knees-a very powerful person, indeed.

He turned sharply on the corner when two black cars came suddenly, out of nowhere. Producing an enormous screeching sound, the cars blocked the front and back of his own. A number of men in suits came running out from the vehicles.

"Shit," Sasuke cursed under his breath. He got out of the car and began to look around, trying to form an escape route in his mind. But he was cornered.

"Young Master, come with us."

"Ah! Thank god the day is over! I can't wait to see Kaoru," Naruto gushed aloud while stretching her tired arms. She massaged her fingers with a large sigh. Writing on those computers all day long is so tiring! Especially since I don't even know how to use one, she pouted. I hope Tono-senpai will help me again tomorrow! Naruto closed her locker with a nice slam and slung her book bag over her shoulder lazily.

"Hey Naru-chan! How was your first day?"

She jumped up in the air, surprised as a hand grabbed her shoulder from behind. Hikaru sweat dropped at the reaction of his kouhai. "Sorry! Did I surprise you?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Naruto shook her head, obviously lying. "No, just don't do that again. I may have a heart attack next time," she stammered, placing her hand over her chest to calm her heart beat.

"You know, you're a bit jumpy. Something bothering you?" Hikaru asked. His words hit a nerve on Naruto. Ever since the not too friendly reunion with Sasuke and Itachi's father, she had felt uneasy and over-conscious of her surroundings. Whenever brand name cars came passing by her house, she shook, thinking that Sasuke's father would come to take her daughter away with him. Stop thinking like this, you're being paranoid!

She scolded herself internally, nearly pulling the roots of her hair out in frustration. I won't let him touch my family. I'll fight for them instead of running away like last time, three years ago. No, my family's complete now and they'll fight along with me. Someone tapped her shoulders again, snapping her out of her thoughts. Thinking that it was her senpai Tsubasa again, she elbowed the figure. "Senpai, not now! I'm thinking abou-"

"Ow! Well, isn't that a nice greeting?"

Naruto froze and whipped around to see a tall girl behind her.

"Hi, I'm Karin. I want to talk to you, if it's not too much of a bother," the strawberry blonde girl smiled innocently, flipping her locks away from her shoulder.

"What's with that girl?" Hikaru asked aloud, watching both of their retreating forms.

Naruto was clueless as to why she was brought to this hotel. Looking around, it seems as if there were only socialites in beautiful dresses and carefully ironed suits. She had an uncomfortable feeling that everyone was staring at her, thinking that she didn't belong in the scene with the golden chandeliers and the grand stairwell. The whole design of the place silently screamed to her that she was not one of the crowd and would never be. Naruto never knew that standing in the middle of a fancy hotel could intimidate her like so. Why was she brought here by that girl? She frowned. Speaking of Karin, where is she? She hugged herself close, feeling like a lost puppy.

"Uzumaki-san?" Naruto turned around to acknowledge the man that spoke her name.

"Ah, sir," Mikan greeted and bowed respectfully to the older man. If this guy's here, Sasuke's father is probably here as well! If the older Uchiha was truly in the grand room, he wouldn't be pleased to see her. Not. At. All. I have to go, quickly!

"Uzumaki-san, here is an invite from my master." The manservant handed her a golden brown envelope. On reflex, the brunette shoved his hand away from her. Her whole body shook, obviously signaling that she didn't want to accept the invitation. Why would I ever go into the snake's den?

Nishida's eyes swept across her pale face and his mouth opened in a sigh. "I'm going to be truthful with you, Uzumaki-san. This is the invitation for Sasuke-sama's and Karin-san's engagement."

...

Wait. What?

Slowly, a tear escaped the corner of her eye and she gripped her skirt so hard that the skin over her knuckles turned white with pain. Her heart did not want to accept the news, but her mind already had. A thousand times her thoughts rammed her heart over and over again like a cat clawing at a dangling, vulnerable string. The sharp stinging shredded her faith and caused her to believe once more-

Sasuke had left her alone.

Again.

Another tear fluidly moved down her cheek and onto the ground. From somewhere a gasping sound emerged along with truly heartbroken cries escaping a poor woman's lips. Where were they from? How did those sobs perfectly describe her pain and suffering right now? Then she realized.

Those cries were hers.

Now Naruto realize something she hates to admit, "A heart breaking isn't always as loud as a bomb exploding.. Sometimes it can be as quiet as a feather falling.. And the most painful thing is, no one really hears it, except myself.."

"What are you doing Father? Let me go!" Sasuke raged while struggling with the two men holding him down in a golden, velvet-cushioned chair. His obsidian eyes blazed in fury. "Dad, tell them to let me go or I'll create a scene here that would taint and destroy your reputation!" he whispered scathingly.

"There seems to be something wrong with your son, Fugaku," Karin's father remarked, taking a delicate sip of his wine. His daughter stood by him, looking confident and please that Sasuke would be hers starting tonight.

"It's nothing," the older Uchiha smiled and hoisted Sasuke up on his feet. "But let me talk my son into better behavior. If you excuse us." He dragged them over to the corner of the room and let go after making sure there was a reasonable distance between them.

"I don't permit this attitude." Another pair of obsidian eyes flashed in fury and Sasuke paled. He had forgotten how commanding his father could be. "You'll be following my orders if you don't want anything to happen to your family. I know you know what I can do, so don't test my patience."

"Then tell me first, what did you do to Itachi?" Sasuke demanded, with equal seriousness in his tone.

"Follow me and sit down."

"The door is open, Uzumaki-san, please come in."

The manservant dutifully opened the door for the very stiff and disoriented Naruto. Her legs were beginning to feel wobbly and she clutched the hem of her skirt to support herself. Her sapphire eyes blinked several times before adjusting to the sudden light of the ball room and finally wandered upon- She gasped softly. Sasuke!His father was also there, with the girl who had brought her to this place and another man who looked to be her father.

What's happening?

"Oh! We have a visitor Uchiha-san!" Karin smiled and waved her hands towards Naruto. Her lips had slid up in a different way from a few hours before. It was as if she was sending the other girl a message. A You Lose and I Win look.

"Naruto!" Sasuke tried to stand up, but was once again restrained by the two guards at his sides. He growled in frustration. "LET ME GO!" he snarled angrily.

"Sasuke." The soft, but stern voice of his father made him remember what he had been told a moment ago. Damn it! Dad, you planned this all along!

"Uzumaki-san, welcome to my son's engagement party. We've been waiting for your arrival. Go and help the others to prepare food," Fugaku drawled, his cold gaze bored onto her, daring her to make a contrary move.

Engagement.

Her eyes glazed over in numbness and her hands released the pressure on her skirt.

So it's true. He's engaged with that girl.

A cry escaped her lips, and more tears threatened to taint her already puffy face, but she withheld herself. She would not allow herself to cry in front of a man who had betrayed her twice. She would not cry in front of a girl who she envied for snatching away the man she loved. She would not cry in front of a stranger.

And she would definitely not cry in front of the intimidating glare of the older Uchiha.

He wants me to serve him. He wants to humiliate me.

I won't give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

YR: 2 Chapters in 2 Days this is my sorry gift since its been months? years? since I updated so Enjoy! Also thank you to those who reviewed all of you rocks!

DISCLAIMER: I Do not own Naruto the plot is based on Filipino Drama Katorse (Fourteen in English) but this (will be) is completely original

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!