A/N: I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING ANY FASTER! School started and I have LOADS of homework! I haven't been really inspired lately, either, but it's coming back to me. I can feel it! SO, I'll try to make updates on all my stories on an every week basis, but I can't promise anything.
ALSO! I totally forgot my disclaimer for my fanfics, so here it is: I don't own Naruto, nor any other artist, brand, manga or anime that might be named in my texts.
With that, enjoy!
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"It's funny how misery can happen to anybody, but always does to people who don't deserve it. I swear, karma has nothing to do with this! The most unfortunate thing about it is that it can show itself in the form of an exciting adventure, like travelling to France to go meet the most notorious person in Japan, but always makes you regret your choice to accept."
"If you are too much of a nice person, misery could strike anytime! Be vigilant! Do not accept any challenge before you've done something bad. I swear, if the only way for me to get out of this is to punch the air-hostess, I'll do it! Nothing else can get you out of this mess-…"
"Miss? We'll be launching now, you'll need to close that computer until we are fully in the air."
The (goddamned) air-hostess, who was emitting a very strong and unpleasant smell of coconut and mint, was smiling down at Sakura with her (huge) slightly yellow teeth. Her nose scrunched at the air-hostess's perfume, Sakura faked a smile, nodded, saved her work and closed the la
She zipped her sweater up, for the air conditioning system was making the plane feel like an iceberg in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, and looked out her window. She tried to keep an image of the Tokyo airport, which would probably be her last Japanese sight for a long time.
The plane started moving. The airport slid out of her sight and the background became blurry. Sakura turned her head back straight in front of her, took in a deep breath of the old plastic smelling air-conditioned cabin and closed her eyes as she felt the plane leave the ground. A tear swiftly formed in her left eye, then dropped down her cheek.
The old lady sitting next to her noticed it and patted her hand. She addressed Sakura a comforting smile. Sakura returned it, glad that someone understood her. That woman was probably leaving the country almost against her will, just like Sakura. She was probably also trying to find someone to share her sorrow with, feeling bad for leaving this wonderful-…
"Don't worry, the plane won't crash down."
Sakura's face froze, then blanked. Oh. That was why the old lady was trying to comfort her. She thought Sakura was worried about the plane crashing down.
Right.
So now, there was the "country-leaving" part, "the new country" part and the "plane crashing" part. Great! Anything to make her feel better, thanks, old lady! Sakura stiffly nodded and turned her head back towards the window. Her heart sank and a sharp pain pierced her left side.
Everything was so small! And it was shrinking, too! If the plane were to crash, it would be a looooooooong way down before they hit the ground for sure! The pain on her left side got worse by the minute. It always hurt her when she was stressed out. That's what the doctor had said. Because of the shock, every time her mind was disturbed, she would feel pain. Awful pain it was, actually.
Sakura softly rubbed her side and tried to calm herself down. She listened to the annoying air hostess as she was explaining the safety measures in case of a crash. Of course, it didn't help, especially because the Britney Spears wannabe had decided to talk painfully slowly. Honestly, the plane could have crashed at least seven times and a half before the end of her speech.
She then informed the passengers that they could now use their laptops, mp3 players and other electronic stuff (she finished the announcement with a very lame joke in which she called a Blackberry a blueberry) and went back into the air hostesses' quarters. Sakura took out her mp3 player and turned it on. Home Made Kazoku, Shounen Heart. One of the greatest songs ever, in her opinion. She closed her eyes and leaned further back in her seat.
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She had been wearing a white dress that her mum had made for her. It was her favourite. But they had torn it off her body, replacing it by a pale grayish-green rigid nightgown. She wouldn't have let them take it away if her mum hadn't told her to stay calm and let them do their job. They had also taken the white ribbon he had given her for her birthday.
They had put her on a steel table, forced something that produced air in her nose and inserted a needle into her arm. They were pressing a small towel on her left side, trying to get the blood to stop flowing out of her body.
Later on, they told her that she had needed twenty-one stitches, but that the wound wasn't deadly, so she would be fine. Her mum was by her side. She heard her sigh in relief, then felt her hand remove some strands of her pink hair off her face.
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan I won't ever let you wander around in dangerous situations again," her mum had whispered into her ear. "You will never see that boy and his dog again. You'll be safer that way."
Sakura hadn't had the strength to protest, but her mind was on fire. How could her mum forbid her to see her best and only friend!? Just because of a stupid accident. It wasn't his fault if his dog had jumped on her out of happiness but had missed its target.
She had waited until her mum was gone for the night before letting herself cry. Her eyes had welled up as soon as the door closed and tears had started flowing down the sides of her face and into her ears. She had been staring at the ceiling for about half an hour when a sharp pain on her side had struck her.
She had rolled on her left side, holding her stomach. She had felt the bandages around her waist. She knew they went on down her hips and a little bit on her left thigh. She had wanted to take them off, to prove to her mother that she was fine and that she wasn't scared of facing the dog again. When she had finally fell asleep, tears were still flowing out her eyes, but they were tears of anger that had been directed to her mother.
The next day, her mum had come to take her home. Sakura didn't want to leave, but she was still weak and she couldn't do anything against her mother. The doctor had told them about the shock, the consequences and the effects it would have on her future. Her mum had been worried about her health, but he had assured her that it would only sting if she was under a lot of stress.
Two days later, her mum had told her that her best friend was moving away with his family. Sakura had ran over to his house to ask him why and to beg him not to leave, but she had been too late. Her mum had waited too long before telling her, as if she had done it on purpose.
Sakura only had time to see the car driving out. She had screamed his name, hoping he would hear her. He did. He had opened the window and had looked at her with wide eyes. He asked the driver to stop the car. He had opened the door and had jumped down. She had run to him and had jumped in his arms, hugging him with all the strength she could muster.
"Don't leave. Please, don't leave," she had told him as he had put his arms around her. He hadn't said anything. He just stood there, holding as if their lives depended on it. He had inhaled the scent of her hair, had given her a kiss on the cheek and had left her.
He had climbed back in the car. The car had driven off. She had seen his face one last time, as he had looked at her from the back window. She had seen his big brother do the same thing, then hug his little brother to comfort him. She had fallen to her knees, her face in her hands, clutching her side that had started hurting as if the gash was new.
She didn't go home. She had run into the boy's house and into what used to be his room. She had expected to find the blue walls, the dark brown blinds on the window and the dark brown wooden floor. What she hadn't expected was to find all his furniture.
His bed, his covers, his desk, his armoire, everything had been standing as if he was just gone on vacation. When she had searched around, though, she had found out that the picture of them with his dog and brother was gone. Her pain had eased a little bit, knowing he would remember even when gone.
She had slept in his bed. It still smelt of him. She had snuggled in his pillow and curled into a ball under his covers. Her tears had fallen again. She had cried herself to sleep, hoping she would see him again.
The next day, her father had died.
She never remembered the boy's name, nor his face.
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Sakura woke up from a rough shake on her shoulder. She opened her eyes slowly, expecting to see her mum, who had climbed up to her room to tell her she was late for school. She nearly screamed when she recognised the yellow teeth and the coconut-mint smell.
"We'll be landing soon, would you turn off your mp3 player, please?" The air hostess asked with a very, very fake smile.
Sakura turned it off, put it in her bag and looked out the window. She gasped. There it was! The big metal tower that looked as if it was unfinished! The… The… Oh, what was the name again? The… EIFFEL TOWER!
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She walked through the door, entering the airport. She looked around, confused. She had taken two steps into Charles-de-Gaulle and she was already lost! She followed the rest of the passengers to the luggage registration and the baggage carousel. She picked up her two hugely enormous black and red suitcases and turned to the (apparently French) people obviously waiting for the passengers they had to escort.
There were three men that looked Mexican, a black-skinned lady, a tall man with a little girl in his arms and a young man wearing a suit who was surrounded by two very tall, very buffed out, very intimidating men.
One by one, they all left, except for the guy in the suit and who seemed to be his bodyguards. Sakura and the young man's eyes met and locked to each other. They stood there, staring at each other, for about five minutes before he stepped closer to her and held out his right hand.
"Uchiha Sasuke, first personal assistant to the Japanese ambassador in France. I'll be your escort to the Embassy," he informed her as she took his hand and shook it. He then turned to the bodyguards. "These two are Jeff and Malcolm, they will be our bodyguards for the day. Let them take care of your luggage, they'll bring it to the car. Follow me."
Wow, straight to the point. This sounded like a very… Uninterested guy. She shot a glance at the men that took her luggage as if it were empty pillow cases and followed the guy through the airport and in a car that was waiting for them.
Sakura shifted uncomfortably in her seat. That guy was somehow more intimidating than the two bodyguards. He was just staring out the window, his chin in his palm. Sakura studied him for a bit.
He had black spiky hair, black eyes (as she had found out in the airport) and was quite muscular. Of course, he looked like a midget next to the very buffed out men, but certainly wasn't a small weakling when bodyguard less. His skin was pale and almost flawless. He would have been handsome if his facial features hadn't displayed an indifferent and slightly frowning stare.
Caught up in her observations, she didn't notice his head had turned towards her. His gaze met hers, cold but calm, almost the "tell-me-why-you're-staring-at-my-face-and-I-won't-harm-you" kind of look. He eyed her, as her eyes were still fixed upon his face.
"Stop staring. You look as if you've never seen a man before," he finally said, annoyed.
Sakura jumped, startled, then her eyes went wide and she opened her mouth like a fish out of water. So he had noticed her (no duh, she'd been almost ogling him for ten minutes). Quick, she had to find something to get her out of the awkward situation before her if she wanted to be considered as a serious and responsible underage girl.
Her brains set to work, causing a slight headache to appear in her forehead region. Which meant it spread veeeeery wide. Her mind was working hard to find a good come-back, one that was subtle, sophisticated but still ego-deflating.
"Think, Haruno, think! It's not that hard to find something to say to a guy to kill his self-confidence! Oh! I got it! Wait, is it good enough? Nah, not really. Oh, nevermind, we don't have time!"
"Well, it is not a man I am seeing now." Oh wow. Great. That was very smooth. Subtle, sophisticated, may we add slightly sly and yet very ego-deflating. Just the right thing to say to prove she's a serious and responsible underage girl.
Not.
Well, except for the ego-deflating part. It did work, as showed from his deepened frown and his newly arrived frustrated glint in his eyes. Her turned his head back towards the window of the car and put in chin back into his hand. Although he didn't want to seem like it, he was sulking. She could tell.
And was that a pout she could see?
She smirked to herself and leaned back into her seat. At least now, she knew that this Uchiha Sasuke wasn't very old and didn't like to be reminded of it. Almost like a child that wants to prove he's brave. Oddly, it felt quite familiar to her. So familiar that her side stung once more.
The car took a turn and Sasuke straightened up. When it stopped, he opened the door, let the bodyguards climb out, followed them and offered a hand to Sakura. She took it and slid out of the car. Well, at least now he was showing a little bit of manliness and gallantry.
She looked up. Her eyes widened. Before her was a very hugely enormously gigantic white building that seemed to have at least five stories and something like ten windows per story. Oh, and the windows were probably as big as a wall in her room back in Japan.
"Ahem."
Sasuke's throat sound seemed to bring her back to reality and she turned her head towards him. The two bodyguards had already taken her luggage out of the car and were walking towards the house. Sasuke was looking at her, slightly amused at her gob smacked expression.
"Are you done gaping, or do you want another minute?" He said teasingly, slightly smirking.
"U-Uh… I-…" was all she managed to choke out.
"Very well, then, let's go in." With that, he took her arm to prevent her from staying there ogling the house and pulled her towards the massive door. It was pushed open by two men standing by it. Sasuke addressed them a curt nod and brought Sakura inside.
If she had thought the house looked big form outside, it was nothing compared to the inside. Even Charles-de-Gaulle had seemed simpler and smaller than this house. The ceiling could have been one of a cathedral, for it was almost too high for her to see it properly. A massive staircase led to the first floor, on which a second staircase led to the second floor, and the same thing went for the three other floors.
Tens of doors stood all around the main floor, every one of them probably leading to another part of the house. The white floor was so clean Sakura could see her nearly perfect reflection in it. At the other side of the hall, a huge, transparent door seemed to open on the yard. Sakura couldn't see very clearly, but it did seem there was something green on the other side of that glass door.
A small, sympathetic-looking man approached them. He bowed deeply to Sasuke, then grabbed Sakura's hand and kissed it.
"Welcome to our 'ouse, Mademoiselle," he spoke with a very strong French accent, but in a very soft and gentle voice. "My name eez Benoît, I am ze butler. Let me show you to your room."
He walked up to the staircase, and climbed it up. She followed him suit, judging preferable not to get lost on her first (yet unofficial) day. He led her through two other staircases before stopping on the third floor. Her turned to her and smiled gently.
"This eez ze floor for ze employees' bedrooms. As you can see, zhere are only six doors. Zhere is one for ze Ambassador's secretary," he pointed to the first door to his left. "Zhere is one for me," he pointed to the second door. "One for ze cook," he showed her the third door. "One for both young Masters Uchiha," he pointed to the fourth and fifth doors. "And one for you, Mademoiselle Haruno," he pointed to the last one, the very first to his right.
Sakura approached the door slowly, as if she were scared it might disappear. She put her hand on the doorknob, turned it and pushed the door open. When she saw the inside of the room, she couldn't believe her eyes.
The room was the biggest, prettiest, whitest bedroom she had ever seen. The bed was at least three times as big as her own bed in Japan. The furniture was all made out of dark brown wood. A real chandelier hung from the ceiling. The window was indeed as big as one of the walls of her old room. Soft white curtains hung over it, letting the redish sunlight infiltrate the room. Thicker curtains were tied to the sides of the window. The same curtains hung from a structure over her bed. It did look a little bit too much like a spoiled princess's bedroom, but it was still beautiful.
She ran to the bed and jumped on it. She landed on her back, sinking into the soft thickness of the mattress. She took a closer look at the pillows and found out they were filled with feathers. She sat up and smiled at Benoît.
"This is the most beautiful bedroom I have ever seen in my life! I think I'll like it here," she said, falling back on the mattress again.
"I'm glad you appreciate your new room. Your luggage eez already 'ere. Please change clothes zhen come down in the hall. I shall be waiting for you to take you to ze dining room." He bowed down and retreated from the doorway.
Sakura went to close the door and walked to her suitcases. She took out a pair of black pants (she decided wearing jeans wouldn't look really good if she were to meet the Ambassador) and a short-sleeved shirt that didn't look too indecent. She put on her least torn pair of shoes and walked out of her bedroom.
She climbed down the stairs. As expected, Benoît was there. Not as expected, Sasuke was there too. He simply spared her a glance and walked out by the closest door. Benoît invited her to follow him in the dining room. She obliged, feeling a tinge on her left side. She put her hand on it and walked in after the butler.
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"Nothing can get you out of this mess, except for a very handsome yet a little bit unpleasant guy, a sweet and kind butler and the most charming secretary. Yep, these are the only people who were present for supper. The Ambassador was out for business. I have to admit, I don't mind. I was kind of scared of meeting him. I mean, I'm going to work for him for I don't know how many years. What if I hadn't made a good first impression?"
"Anyway. The other "young Master Uchiha" wasn't there either. He was off with the Ambassador, naturally. So, let me tell you about what I know. Uchiha Sasuke is a very handsome, very poised and very uptight guy who doesn't seem to be older than me. It makes me wonder how long he's been working for the Ambassador. Shizune (Idon't know her last name), on her part, is a very sweet lady who is something like 25 years old. She is very talkative, and she talks a lot about the Ambassador's alcohol problems."
"My room is the most amazing I have ever seen! I can't believe it is all for me! Oh, wait, someone's knocking on my door."
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"Apparently, I have a curfew. It is now time for me to leave. Oyasuminasai. Haruno Sakura signing out."
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A/N: WHOO! Was that long to write! Took me two weeks! Anyway, hope you liked it. It is quite long, but at least now, I don't have my "blank page syndrome" anymore.
Don't worry, Sasuke will become more pleasant.
I hope I didn't describe too much. I honestly despise fanfiction in which there is too much useless description.
REVIEW! PLEASE I BEG OF YOU! Tell me what you think! I really want to know. I like nice long reviews that really tell what you think about my story! I hate it when I receive a review that says "i luv it plz update soon". I'm glad you love it, I really am, but don't you have a little bit more than that on your mind after you read it? At least write it properly! "I love it, please update soon." With capitals, punctuation and vowels. It ain't that hard!
Thanks.
Ja!
Queen of Pascalities