CHAPTER 14 COVER
A picture of Sachi pointing at a black teddy bear while leaning against a slightly smiling Sasuke who had Sakura leaning back to back with him with a bright smile on her face. The background is of a simple rocking chair and an open window leading to the scenery of a tree outside.
-Printed on the top of the cover in Old English Text MT is the title-
WANTED: A PINK HAIRED WIFE
Summary: Sakura gaped as she looked at the sign before doing a double take. Yup, she wasn't dreaming. There, on the sign in front of the mansion, was stating that Uchiha Sasuke needed a wife. And it was her lucky day she became the hired wife.
Disclaimer: OMG!! TT-TT Ok, I don't own rights to NARUTO
CHAPTER 14
I was five at that time when we went to the fair. Okaa-san had wanted me to meet more friends so she took me to the school fair. I had looked ahead and seen my father talking with another woman, who was she? Okaa-san had looked at him, hurt, before turning to smile at me brightly and taking me to buy some cotton candy.
I still remember her asking me, "Sakura-chan, let's have fun today and forget all our troubles, ne?! Let's just be mother and daughter today!" and I still remember her smile. She had smiled at me so brightly that I thought that all the pain she ever felt had gone away because I didn't know it was a glass smile so delicate.
And I still remember her when she collapsed years later in our house when my father had run away with the woman that seemed to be richer than Okaa-san. She told me she wanted to have a good future in the hospital and that she was leaving to America and she'll have me come over with her when settled down.
And I remember how I had spent a week straight not eating and crying myself to sleep after news of her death caught on. My mother had died… by murder. And now, as I looked at the phone on the floor, I realized…
My blood father and my grandma were about to die the same way.
Kami-sama… why are you so unfair?
She was like the tragic Snow White or perhaps Cinderella except without the crazy step-people and family. But she did have a tragic life and she did lose all her precious people, well most of them. She couldn't help admitting she did wish sometimes she was Snow White or some kind of princess and just fall into her own kind of fairytale.
You know fairytales… the stories with happy endings. Because if happy endings were a huge part of fairytales, then her life wasn't about to become a fairytale anytime soon. Her tears dripped down onto her cheeks and trailed in a slow straight line as she stood there, frozen on the ground, just staring at her soulless grandma.
"Obaa-chan…" she managed to whisper in a broken voice. The woman lying on the hospital bed did not reply, she was hooked up to endless streams of machinery and wires. There was a bandage around her head and ribcage, she looked like she was an undead human. Sakura didn't feel anything right now.
She was completely numb as she looked at the old woman's face that she had cherished so much throughout her life. "Obaa-chan… don't leave yet… don't leave me here…" she whispered before falling to her knees and grasping her grandma's cold hand into her own two warm ones. "Obaa-chan…" she murmured against the woman's thin skin.
Her eyes closed as her lashes fluttered once before she fell forward, her hands falling loose as she drifted into unconsciousness. The door to the room creaked open as a blonde head, Ino, specifically, peeked in to make sure everything was alright. Her eyes widened when she saw the fainted Sakura as she ran over to the pink head.
Her heart beat furiously against her chest as she pressed the red emergency button repeatedly as she yelled out to people in the hallway that would hopefully hear her. "H-HELP! SOMEONE'S FAINTED!!! ROOM 219! PLEASE HELP!" nurses crowded into the room as three of them helped Ino take Sakura outside and into a check-up room.
Sasuke skimmed through the book he was reading quickly before sighing, shutting it open and setting his glasses onto the table. He felt so cold in the study room… hmm… wonder why. The door to his room suddenly burst open as a frantic looking Shina cried out in hopelessness. "SAKURA-NEE-CHAN'S IN THE HOSPITAL!"
Sasuke looked at her with his eyes, not registering what she said until now. He widened his eyes before standing up hurriedly, grabbed his coat and pulled her with him. "What did you just say?" he asked her harshly, hoping what she said wasn't true. Shina took a deep breath as her brother literally pulled her flying with him down the stairs.
"Well Sakura's Otou-chan and Obaa-chan are in the hospital and she went to visit them but ended up fainting herself!" Shina explained in one gulp of air as Sasuke opened the door to the garage for her. He went in after her and pressed the button to open the garage. He looked at the keys in the glass box and picked out a certain pair with a Mickey Mouse keychain on it.
He led her over to a sleek black motorcycle and Shina twitched as she looked at them. He rolled his eyes. "Just get on!" Shina groaned at her brother but got on after he did as she placed on a black helmet and so did Sasuke. He turned on the engine and let it roar a bit before zooming out the garage, past the driveway and to the gate.
The guards immediately opened it at once, seeing his rush.
Aijou looked around her house curiously, seeing as how it was so quiet and you can already guess that nothing was quiet with Naruto around. She called her brother's name once. "ONII-CHAN!" no answer, she furrowed her eyebrows, that was odd. The great king of all things noisy wasn't… noisy?
She cried out his name once more, hoping to gain a reply this time. "NARUTO-ONII-CHAN!" still no response. She ran to the kitchen and looked at the bulletin board. There were no notes from him saying that he had gone somewhere. Then where could he be? She wondered before stepping outside of the house. Her feet stepped on something and she looked down onto the ground.
What shocked her was that there was knife on the ground and it looked similarly like the one Naruto carried around. She widened her eyes. "No way…" suddenly, her eyebrows furrowed as she let out a growl.
"Riku…"
Sakura opened her eyes softly to see a concerned looking face right above her own. Her eyes widened by a fraction in surprise before she murmured the person's name in surprise. "Ino…" she whispered. The blonde above her grinned before leaning back and giggled and let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank Kami-sama… you're alright! Oh my goodness, Sasuke would have had my head if anything horrible happened to the Uchiha Matriarch. Sakura sweetie, are you ok? Daijoubu?" Ino asked worriedly as she sat on the side of the bed. Sakura looked at her through glassy eyes as tears suddenly slipped down her eyes again. Ino gaped, "S-Sakura! What's wrong?"
Sakura sniffed as she opened her mouth to let out a hiccup. She continued crying before calming down slightly, "Obaa-chan's gone… Okaa-san's gone… Ino… I'm all alone…" Sakura cried as she let herself break down. "This life is too much for me… my mom died and then suddenly because of my dad my grandma's gone too… they were the only family I had left!"
Ino glared at Sakura, "Don't you dare say that. Mark my words, I will slap you if you say that one more time. Never say you're all alone, Haruno Sakura. Because you have a wonderful family waiting for you at the Uchiha Mansion. Shina loves you more than anything and your almost-son, he loves you too. Most of all, Sakura, you have Sasuke… he cares for you… tell me, what do you feel about all of them if they're not your family?"
Ino looked straight in the eyes with Sakura as Sakura looked at her in shock. She bowed her head as Ino's words slipped through her head. She felt as if she lost her voice, but when she found it, she actually said something she wished she never said. "They're not my family… they're my employers… Ino…" she whispered.
Ino widened her eyes as she looked at Sakura in surprise. It was quiet before she let out a small laugh. "You're so naïve. So naïve that it makes me sick to my stomach. I'll see you again sometime. Goodbye Haruno-san." She bit out coldly before grabbing her purse and turned her back on Sakura. She paused a bit to whisper something to Sakura before walking straight out the door.
"You know you're starting to love him."
Sakura opened her mouth to say something but Ino had already gone. She lifted a hand to bring it to her hair as she whimpered and a single tear left her eye. "I know that I am…"
Naruto looked at the empty room around him in the dark as he cursed. He looked around to find something to cut open the ropes the bound him but the whole room was completely empty. Smart bastards... he tried to reach in his pocket to find something and felt his firecracker. He chuckled as a crazy thought hit him.
"Got rejected once and now I get strike by a gang of freaks… might as well burn myself to death…" but he knew he couldn't, as long as he still had a baby sister to feed, he wasn't going to be that irresponsible. He cursed once more, hoping to find something that wasn't such a bad idea. He groaned as he felt the numb and stiffness get to him.
"Fuck… I can't believe this but someone better get me by tomorrow or else I might really consider this firecracker…" he whispered as he closed his eyes to get some rest.
The door to Sakura's room bust open as a frantic Sasuke entered. Sakura sat up on her hospital bed and looked at him uninterestedly. She looked like a stick figure. Sasuke closed the door behind him as Shina waited outside. He walked over to her bedside and looked her straight in the eyes. "Why didn't you tell me you were here?"
Sakura looked at him as he sat down on the bed. She didn't say anything back as he glared at her, piercing eyes staring into her own soulless ones. "Sakura. Say something." He hissed at her as he scowled. He was irritated for worrying. She suddenly shifted a bit so that she brought one hand out from the blanket.
She lifted it up to caress one of his cheeks as she felt how cold he was. She pulled him close to her as he looked at her with observing eyes. "Sakura-!" "Sasuke-kun." He stopped what he was going to say as she spoke. "Sasuke-kun…" she called him again. He responded with a small "hn" to let her know he was listening.
"What if I told you… that…" she whispered as she breathed out slightly husky air. He raised an eyebrow warily… she leaned in closer to him. "I wished…" her eyes closed slightly as his stayed wide open in alert. "That our… relationship… wasn't just…" he flinched, not knowing if this was going to turn out as he predicted.
"A job…" she finished as she closed the gap in between them, resting her lips on his.
BONUS! Preview
Sasuke looked at his mother that sat in front of him on her office chair. "So Sasuke-chan, since having rivals will do a big damage to our reputation, I need you to take care of a certain company for me first beforehand. I believe this will be no problem since the heir, or should I say, heiress, is quite the Uchiha Siblings fan girl…" Mikoto smiled at him brightly.
Her sweet face didn't change as she spoke to him of her not so sweet plans. "Make her fall in love with you and fool her into giving you the deeds of the next spring collection, after you've done that, break her or do as you please with her. Now Sasuke sweetheart, don't take this as a bad thing, I am just thinking of our company's long reputation as the best fashion industry in the world. So… do it for me?" Mikoto smiled even wider as her smile reached her eyes.
Sasuke looked at her and shook his head once to get the hair out of his eyes before smirking slightly, "Hn…" he said before accepting the slip of paper on the desk as he walked out of the office. Mikoto smiled deviously as she leaned back in her chair, she folded her hands together as she giggled.
"I have such a darling little son… well then, better get to those designs before the next release arrives!" she smiled as she looked at her computer screen once more. Her eyes skimmed through the list of junk and fan mail before she caught something interesting. Email from Haruno Kaiyuri
She clicked on the small link as it led her to the email she read it to herself quickly as her eyes widened by a fraction in surprise.
Dear Sweet College Friend,
Ah what a surprise to see you Mikoto-chan! I was just watching television in my very large office at the headquarters of the Haruno Fashion Inc. when I caught the news anchor saying that they are expecting a very special spring collection from you, my dear. I just wanted to tell you that… I know your plans and I only have one thing to say to you. A challenge perhaps? But…
Let's see which one of our darling children will win this game.
Love,
Haruno Kaiyuri
Mikoto narrowed her eyes as a smirk played on her lips. "Such a scandalous challenge…" she whispered. She just hoped her son wasn't going to lose. She knew that the Haruno Family did have a long line of connections with other famous designers and companies that the Uchiha weren't that friendly with, such as the Hyuuga and Yamanaka.
And what worried her mind was that she knew the Haruno heiress to be quite the devious one and even if her darling boy was very handsome and the most eligible bachelor in the world right now, he did have the tendency to let his guard down once in a while. She just hoped that the Haruno daughter wasn't as charming as her position as Japan's Number 1 Most Wanted Woman stated.
Best Dressed Heartbreak
I hope you enjoyed this very short chapter after my fall from writing. The ending preview is for my upcoming new story called 'Best Dressed Heartbreak', I hope you'll all read that one soon after I post chapter 18 of this story up. Why after chapter 18? Because 18 is my favorite number! Well… my 3rd favorite number anyways. :P
I had a major writer's block after camp and I couldn't think of anything that would be labeled DRAMATIC since I was basically lost after I wrote the ending of the last chapter. I didn't know where to go from there but hopefully the romance and dramatic plot will get back in here after this chapter since it's basically introducing the conflict right now.
I will give more details about Best Dressed Heartbreak in the next chapter but I hope to get more than 10 reviews for this chapter so pretty please? (Puppy dog face) I know I'm a loser for asking reviews after abandoning you guys for nearly a month but I'm sorry!!! T-T
Just review, for me… please?
How about if you get free cookies?
Lots of Love,
XOXO Kaze-Chan