- and i got smarter, i got harder in the nick of time /
honey, i rose back from the dead, i do it all the time –
I. Look What You Made Me Do
- Uchiha Enterprises, Suna HQ, two years prior
Sasuke was standing in his office, hands in his pockets, looking out over the city of Sunagakure. The business district was made up of high, narrow towers, each a carbon copy of the one right next to it, with few exceptions. The Uchiha International Headquarters was one such exception, mainly because it towered over its immediate neighbors, but also because of the weight in the name. As pleasing as that was though, Sasuke couldn't wait to leave that sunny box soon. All of the AC in the world and you still barely survived noontime in Suna.
"Hold on, I got it…" Naruto trailed off on the sofa, still smashing buttons on the remote.
The plasma TV had been upgraded since the last time Sasuke had been there and his friend had been trying to get it to work for a solid ten minutes while Sasuke took care of some last minute business. He'd told Naruto that he didn't care, so he needn't bother.
"Shut up, asshole. Sakura's gonna be on soon."
Right. Sakura would be on Late Night with Jiraiya, promoting her new campaign. Well.
("Are you going to watch me?" she asked, honey in her voice. "I mean, I know with the time difference and all, but…"
"What?"
"I have a feeling you're going to like what you see.")
"For fuck's sake, finally!"
At long last, the screen lit up and after a couple more tweaks, it revealed Jiraiya, ready to introduce his special guest.
"I love her, you love her," the man was stupidly loud, very reminiscent of someone else, "Woman of the hour – Sakura Haruno!"
"Jesus, who even gave that guy a show," Naruto rolled his eyes.
"One of these days he's going to find out you're the one trolling on Reddit."
"Nah, he's too-… Wow."
Sasuke tore his eyes from the bright view outside the moment his friend swallowed, just as the clapping started. The set doors opened to allow Sakura in. She waved at the cameras as she strutted towards the guest spot in her black high heels. Once you set your eyes on her, she made sure you never fucking could tear them away. Her dress was tight, and short, and black, long sleeves but off the shoulder; not a lot of makeup, but her lips were bright red. And after she shook Jiraiya's hand and sat on the armchair, the camera panned closer, revealing the subtle glint of something hanging from her neck. The sight of her dolled up and wearing the custom Cartier Uchiha necklace he had given her a month ago for her birthday went straight to his dick.
Sasuke walked to the sofa, unable and unwilling to stop the smile forming on his face. That was until Naruto jabbed him in the ribs.
"Heh, look at you,"
"Fuck off," he grunted, pushing him off and onto the floor.
"So, how should I put it? You look gorgeous!" the man on the screen said just as Naruto and Sasuke were tackling each other.
Sakura laughed, "Thank you, and thank you for having me."
Jiraiya leaned forward on his elbows, "Dare I say, you're even glowing. Care to share the secret? I could definitely use it!"
"Yuck," Naruto gagged. "That fucking fossil,"
But Sakura cocked her head and looked the man in the eye with her best smile on. Sasuke would've given her shit for that if she didn't look drop dead gorgeous doing it.
Well played, Sakura.
The discussion on the screen veered towards her more recent projects, endorsements, that 'unbelievably successful' auction a few months prior, pretty typical stuff that even at her most stubborn she would've aced easily. Sakura had way too good of a PR team and annoyingly tight connections in the entertainment industry. By the halfway point, there hadn't even been any mention of the allegations.
"Y'know, this actually works," Naruto started, "I mean, it's really good that she's doing the talk shows. Nobody's talking about the rumors anymore."
Sasuke nodded. They'd gotten that stupid tabloid out of their system, the easy way and the hard way, the latter of which they both tended to gravitate towards.
"Now, I can't help but notice," Jiraiya said, in that standard attention-grabbing, showman way. "That beautiful necklace you're wearing. What's the story?"
"This?" Sakura reached for the pendant and grasped at it dreamily with her fingers, "I probably shouldn't say."
"Bullshit," Sasuke chuckled.
"Nonsense! It's just between you and me, and them, Sakura." The man laughed.
"Well…"
Sasuke had to give it to her, she was on her A-game. But there was an understated sweetness to her smile, one he knew. He also knew what it would get out of him later that night, once they landed back in Konoha.
"It was a present."
Jiraiya whistled, "Well, that's one nice present! But what I, and probably everyone else here want to know is," he leaned forward again, closer, more conspiratorially, "Since you made the impossible possible and tied the elusive Sasuke Uchiha on a leash," Naruto burst into laughter before the man even finished talking, "Is there going to be a rock on your finger the next time I see you?"
Sasuke smirked. Sakura chuckled, light and airy, and she was blushing. They'd been together long enough, in private and in public, for him to know how she went about crafting her persona, how much was rehearsed, how much was her natural charisma and the truth in between the two. Sakura loved the cameras about as much as they loved her, but some things were simply honest happenstance, like that sheepish smile full of contained hope. He pictured her like that, and whimpering, and in a completely different context.
"You know I can't tell you that," she waved the air.
Then she gave one of the excuses he knew she'd come up with her agent, because that question had followed them for months. Jiraiya pushed a bit more, then the discussion veered to more formalities and then the interview was pretty much over.
Naruto had barely turned off the TV when his phone rang.
"Well, that was some- Huh. It's Karin."
Sasuke walked back to his desk and checked the files he'd left for Itachi to pick up later one last time. A little housekeeping left to do and they could leave for Konoha.
"…Uh." Naruto scratched his head and hung up. "She says she needs to talk to you."
Sasuke cocked a brow. "Now? We're leaving."
"Yeah, I don't know. She said she's coming up now and that it's urgent."
The moment his friend said that, Sasuke was sure what it was going to be about. It instantly pissed him off, because the fucking mess that had Sakura on Late Night with Jiraiya doing damage control was her fault in the first face, whether she did it on purpose or not, like she claimed.
"Tch, fine. You go ahead."
Naruto frowned, one of those rare and fucking annoying moments he chose to be sagely.
"What's up?"
"Just go ahead, I'll take care of it."
Naruto didn't seem very convinced, but he shrugged and left the office. A couple minutes later, Karin saw herself in.
"Not going to knock anymore?"
She looked positively pissed as well, which caused a vein in his forehead to start throbbing ahead of time. She stomped her feet towards him, his desk between them and slammed a folder on the glass surface. He glanced at it once, and that was that.
"I'm leaving."
Karin planted her arms squarely on her hips, "Not until you see this. Seriously, Sasuke."
He took a breath in and walked around the desk and past her.
"Go home, Karin."
But then he heard the clink of her heels as she turned around, and he really didn't like what came out of her mouth next.
"It's got Itachi's signature- It was signed less than a month ago."
-Konoha Residential District, later that night
The hour was late. He had been sitting in the car, no headlights, fading in and out of the city downhill.
Sasuke's line of work demanded many things, many of which he'd never been too eager to give. But in order to do business, you had to become a professional, a state of self that demanded a certain cruelty out of you. He was taught that you cannot really give value to something, unless you took it away first. So, on his best days, Sasuke cursed time and how his own had slowly turned into nothing but income. Pride, on the other hand, would always remain the only unstained aspect of himself, the only part kept hidden away from the cameras and the people and the only thing which allowed the weight of his family name to shine true.
'Don't mix business with pleasure,' they say. Then again, they all say many pointless things, don't they? Because they all like to talk like they have some sort of input on things that don't concern them. People like to think they matter.
But therein lies the issue, what if some do?
He tensed in anticipation the moment he saw the alarm system was deactivated. No light was on, and his key rolled in twice inside the lock as if he was alone in that goddamned house. But of course he wasn't.
"…Sasuke?"
She sounded tentative, small. He could tell her whereabouts only through the flickering light of her phone next to her. Sakura was curled up on the sofa, in a shirt that wasn't hers, impossibly still. The image of her faded in and out with every new notification that he knew must've been mirrored on his lock-screen.
"You're late,"
His body felt heavy, like it couldn't recognize its own weight. When Sakura got up and turned on the closest lamp, he realized why that was. Every fiber in him was tense, ready to fight, fighting. She was still wearing the goddamn necklace.
"What's wrong?"
"You should've left."
It was true, and much more charitable than she deserved. His shirt and his name around her neck and yet somehow nothing was his anymore. By the softness in her frame, Sasuke knew she had yet to hear the news, but by the distance between them, he knew she had caught onto something.
He took a step. "What are you doing here, Sakura?" the words coated over with poison.
She stiffened, and did the worst thing. His nostrils flared watching her fingers circle around that jewel hanging between her collarbones, like she'd done many times before, like it'd save her again. She was in for the rudest awakening of her pampered life.
"Sasuke," she tried, still steady, "What's wrong."
Right then, her phone started ringing. Sakura made no move to pick it up until she saw his eyes flicker towards it. She reached for it famously slow, still staring him down with that counterfeit concern of hers.
Sakura didn't answer, and instead tapped around for a few deafening seconds, each punctuated by a quick, shallow breath. It had to be either Ino or her agent.
"…Why is Naruto calling me?" Or that. "What's- He's saying it's urgent. He's saying he can't get through to you."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but he had yet to smile. She still didn't know.
"Sasuke, what's going on?" Then, she paled. "What did you do?"
Not yet.
Her phone rang up, presumably still Naruto trying to do damage control, because Sakura didn't spare it a second glance. They were staring each other down, waiting for the other to give. Sakura still looked mortified under all of that defensiveness, but there came something new. Something else coating her eyes with deadly bitterness.
When she spoke, she spoke low, and daring, and that's when Sasuke smiled.
"What the fuck did you do?"
"That's it."
Sakura frowned, but her fingers closed around the phone hard. It was still ringing.
"Not gonna pick it up?"
"Not gonna tell me what it's about?" her tone was harsh and her mouth bared the glint of teeth with every word, flickers of dangerous light in that near dark room.
He took a few steps towards her, hunting for the jerk in her movements. It was maddening, everything he knew and that she had corrupted, but even more so because she did not draw back, not an inch. This had become some sort of ritual since the news first dropped, an arena only they knew how to enter and that only one could leave at a time. Sasuke would circle her until their nerves buzzed on end, causing her to retaliate, every attempt more intricate, but also more sincere. The more honesty she poured in her voice, growling or otherwise, the sicker he got, because he had come to know it as wasp's honey – stolen and vilified. Because a bee would die to sting you once, but a wasp will go mad doing it again and again. He had become sure of it.
Sakura must've loved it. That week between Karin's first speculation and today, when she showed him the proof, the papers. In their time together, Sakura had scalded him clean with her virtue, with the brutal righteousness she flaunted. She was far from picture-perfect, because she was far too gorgeous to stop from motion, and she had a way of engaging him, daring him to ruin her. Sasuke didn't want to believe it, any of it, but rumors had fangs. She must've loved that undivided attention, the fool she'd made of him to be so desperate to fuck his name out and back in her. But then everything changed. The moment he saw Itachi's unmistakable signature black on white, the damage was done.
The worst part was that it made him sick, and he still couldn't stop touching her. That's what happens when you mistake honey for poison.
He cupped her cheek with his hand and waited. Sakura did not let up still, more fire in those mystifying eyes of hers, green and lying and painted with betrayal. If only he knew better.
"Is this how it's going to be?" she hissed, surprisingly angry.
"How?"
"You disappear, you tell me nothing, and then you come home and do this," she snapped his hand away. It drained the little bit of good faith he had left.
"Wrong, Sakura."
He brought his hand back and stood it under her chin, tilting it towards him. For a second he thought she'd have the decency to be ashamed and look away, but Sakura never fucking did.
Does he make you look away?
"It's not going to be like that," he felt the smile leave his face, "It's going to be a lot worse."
She faltered momentarily, and this close Sasuke could tell the fear in her eyes never truly faded. The eyes of traitors all look the same.
-Downtown Konoha, present day
"…he didn't."
So, after that heart-shattering revelation struck in vulnerably close quarters, things went like this: Sakura, uncomfortably damp, make-up on her face in the wrong places and clad in a soaked towel, locked and nearly dead-bolted the door to her suite behind her. The world was fading in and out around her, and it was damn hard to breathe. That vivid anger as she stormed off fizzled out pretty much once she was alone, and despite that, nothing around her felt safe. But hey, at least she smelt great.
Did she even retrieve her shoes? She couldn't remember. Half-naked, barefoot walk of shame would definitely go on the never-ending list of memories as soon as she could just think. But because she couldn't, because her gasps for air left her somehow dizzier after every attempt, she toppled over onto the closest wall and speed-dialed her first emergency contact. Ino picked up, Sakura had no idea what either of them said or talked about, only that her friend went dead silent for a second, and then simply said.
"Fuck, I'll be right there, hold on."
And so, god-knows-how-many minutes later, Ino Yamanaka unlocked the door to the suite, found her essentially naked and grasping at her chest, swore a 'Jesus-fucking-Christ' loud enough even for Sakura to register, and cradled her in her arms. That was when the faucet broke and the tears started running again.
Somehow that wasn't even the worst either of them had looked throughout their friendship, and Sakura couldn't decide if that was good or bad. It was funny in the moment because once she felt the world form around her again, the gasps transitioned into maniacal laughter.
"You're telling me, all this time, he knew."
Sakura nodded.
"That slithering, fucking, despicable asshole."
Ino shifted so that she was sitting on the floor with Sakura still in her lap. Sakura had the presence of mind now to realize they'd be there long enough for Ino's leg to fall asleep. When her breath found a semblance of its natural rhythm again, she pulled away, but neither made a move to get up.
"I just- how the fuck was I so stupid? Again?"
Sakura knew things were bad because Ino held the I-told-you-so on her tongue and only helped her get her disastrous hair out of her face.
"How could I let this happen? How'd I even think that he came here in good faith? What the fuck's wrong with me that I can't even get that?"
Ino sighed.
"It's your heart, Forehead. Sometimes you just reek of decency."
At that Sakura laughed, "Yeah, you don't mean that,"
Ino laughed too, "Well, that goes hand in hand with stirring the pot on occasion. A girl's gotta have some flavor."
She caught Sakura's hand in hers, looked contemplative for a moment, then the lines on her face hardened.
"Sakura. Do I need to tell you that none of this is your fault?"
A pause. "…No."
"Good, because it isn't."
A few beats passed and the room started to feel cold, presumably because of her exposed skin and the wet towel stinging clinging loosely to her frame. Sakura felt a visceral urge to throw it away and wash away with scalding water, but for some reason, her body wasn't ready to yet. There was a pool of… something within her that she hadn't dared to touch, it was raw and threatening and she was afraid of whom she'd be once she looked that hurt in the face. But Ino's presence was so familiar and known that it was comforting, so she went for the swing.
"Ino," she let out, smaller than she meant to. Her friend set her eyes on hers.
"How long have you known?"
Sakura had the distinct, annoying feeling that no matter what her next words would be, it still wouldn't dent their friendship too much, at least not once things cooled down. But, human lie detector that she was, Ino had some explaining to do.
"Not as long as you think," she replied, pushing her whole fringe back swiftly, a gesture Sakura was very familiar with. It often indicated tiredness and an underlying disappointment. "Kurenai figured it out pretty early on, and did whatever needed to be done. And your dad, they did it together. I've got to say, they were pretty proficient because I only caught wind of the smoke months after,"
Sakura waited, not yet content.
"See, this is where it gets weird. I didn't make the connection either, because Itachi's name was never dropped. Not once. I mean, not by an official source. You remember how all of the third-rate tabloids kept referencing that Sun article?"
"We never did find it."
Ino nodded, eyes suddenly so very focused in thought, an empowering spark that emboldened Sakura.
"So, obvious explanation, someone paid dear money to have it taken down pretty much immediately after it was released. Someone either rich enough to then pay the other shits to avoid using his name, or…"
Messy dots, all over the map. But Sakura saw the picture they were hiding in an instant.
"…Or threatening enough for them not to risk their livelihood going up against."
Ino smiled that cunning smile of hers, which spelled out 'proud.'
"A salacious slut-shaming story, where the two men involved are one, erased from the narrative and two, painted as the undeniable victims."
"And that goddamned voice message," Sakura added, "It was everywhere. Which means it wasn't tied to the article, but in support of it…" another revelatory blow washed over her, but it only hardened her growing resolve. "Someone fucking released it anonymously. Public domain, no copyright, no ties to any one particular media outlet."
Sakura looked at Ino then and felt all of her emotions mirrored on that frenzied look on her face.
"The nerve," Ino said.
"These fucking assholes." Sakura finished.
The gears kept turning in their brains for a few silent moments. It was a gruesome picture they were painting, dealing cut after cut to Sakura's already bloodied skin to add more color to it, and it was maddening. She had been accused throughout her life of having a working moral compass, further dulled by her naivete, but now there was a twinge of darkness to it. Sakura learnt right then and there that she wouldn't be content simply righting wrongs and setting the record straight. She had lost so much of her own blood that she craved another's in return.
"It's so fucking unfair," she hissed through gritted teeth. "All of this bullshit,"
…and for what?
"Please tell me you're thinking what I'm thinking, Forehead."
Sakura huffed. All of her life these bystanders had counted her out, time and time again. It was about time she did something about that.
"We give them a run for their money. We hit them back, and we hit them hard."
Ino… beamed.
"Good thing Fashion Week is, you know, next week."
The grip that they had on one another's hand was bone-crushing. The way out that haze, out of that previously incomprehensive maze was beginning to form. Sakura took a deep breath in, then took her time letting it out, and then she nodded, more determined than she'd ever been. They had a long night coming up, but daylight would come for them all.
Ino stood herself and pulled Sakura up with her.
"First order of business, let's get you cleaned up."
The water had turned cold for a while, and yet only when the mist finally cleared could he really feel it. The tragedy with that was, you can only realize it if you've been touched by the mirage of fire. And how fucking spectacular it makes you feel, in spite of the burn, in spite of the pain. Because the moment Sakura removed herself from him, she pettily decided to steal all the warmth too. Had she always possessed such power?
"…fuck."
Sasuke dragged a hand over his face, being purposefully rough. It was always easier to kick into gear and stop being useless if there was a little pain involved. In a way, the night had ended as a success. He got the answers that he came for and he got Sakura on the side. Except he then fucking lost her. Again.
'How could you do this to me?'
He could still hear her sobs like ripples on water after the fact. He hadn't seen Sakura shudder like that since that night two years prior, but then again, the only Sakura he had gotten in-between were sunny smiles frozen on a pitiful screen. Unassuming, charming, effortlessly beautiful. Funny how the real Sakura was blatant, spiteful and a real pain in the ass. What was that about pain? Yeah, fucking hilarious how that Sakura was the one who drained the blood from his brain and manipulated it anywhere else to her liking.
Sasuke wondered if he could still get to her. The side of his brain that kept him in that freezing tub still, said 'yes.' The side that got him out of there and straight into a hot shower wasn't as sure. Ultimately, he chose the latter because in the wake of that disastrous afterglow, he remembered Sakura's latest promise to him.
'If that fucking lambo isn't out of the parking lot in thirty minutes, I'm smashing it myself.'
He had no idea how much time had passed since, and despite her not always following through with her worst threats, Sasuke had the distinct feeling this wouldn't be one of them. He had conceded so much to her today, but his favorite car wasn't going on the list. And more than that, he definitely had to leave, because he had allowed himself to be backed into a room closing in on him, what the fuck was he thinking? Why did he go there in the first place?
'Answers,' my ass.
Some fucked up and uncharacteristically stupid part of him had known what would go down the moment they got on that elevator. Maybe he knew the moment he saw her sitting at the bar. Maybe he'd known all along he was mistaken to believe that he could escape her. He'd learned that once you got taken with the poison, it became more of an addiction- eating away at the better parts of yourself, but still. Nothing this bad had ever felt like this.
Sakura, begging for him. Sakura, begging for the worst to be a lie.
(Sakura, begging for him to stay.)
Him silently wishing he could just give in. He had grown accustomed to her spells, after all.
She still smelled of white roses, the expensive kind, and still smoked like she thought she could conquer the burn. The water was scalding hot on his body, and his skin boiled with the feeling of her.
His girl.
He was so fucking stupid. He'd been had, and he'd been had good.
Sasuke had been surrounded by ashes for as long as he could remember, and he could not recall a day before he realized the matches were his to light all along. Itachi never hesitated to do it, so he learnt to trust in the fire, even if it would' never really belong to him the same way. There was nothing that his name - his pride and power would not make bow before him in the end. But tonight, it was his head fallen, once again.
There were two things on the agenda when he checked out of Haruno International. One, make sure Sakura didn't make good on her promise. And two?
Make sure she remained his.
A/N: back by popular demand! plot references to the first installment, which we recommend you read beforehand if you haven't! it made us so happy that you liked the first part to this story that we had so much fun creating, so we're bringing out the big guns
disclaimer: we're swifties and you will have to suffer because of it. therefore, the entirety of 1989 and reputation are required listening to get the feel of the story and because no one does these narratives like miss swift ;)