Chapter VI
Departure
Leaving someone behind is painful, saying goodbye hurts even more.
It was the day after Christmas day and Sakura was just setting her feet on the asphalt laid out on the parking of the Tokyo International Airport. The air buzzed with activity even with the cold temperature of five negative degree's Celsius. She was far beyond the point of cold, she was freezing after merely a minute out of the warm car. Fortunately she was shoved against the entrance of the airport at a fast pace by her boyfriends mother who didn't want to waste any time away from her little boy who was going away for such a long time.
They passed through the doors, greeted with a confused and stuffed area full of tourists and businessmen. The volume was loud, even overpowering the sound of an airplane lifting off. Mikoto hurriedly scrambled through her purse, moving lip gloss, the wallet and her many notebooks out of the way as she searched for a small piece of paper she had written down the night before.
"Ah! Here… port 7 is it? Alright, come on, Sakura-chan," Mikoto said, her voice strained. She started pushing her way through the crowds, incautiously shoving people out of her way. Sakura tried to follow the best she could, but with the security guards watching her eerily, finding her hair disturbingly rebellious, she didn't dare to try and anger people.
Even though it had been a refrigerator outside, it was like an oven in here, leaving her sweating beneath her thick coat. She panted, annoyed at the lack of space as she tried her best to move discreetly. It took her a good ten minutes to even catch a glimpse of the sign saying 'Port 7; international flights'. With a relieved breath she smiled, all the while continuing to force her way forward. Flashes reflected on the walls and windows around the port, revealing to her that her boyfriend had not gotten on his plane yet.
She carelessly threw herself in amongst the many reporters and curious commoners, in an attempt to get to see her boyfriend one last time before he went off. There was a loud protest when she pushed a photographer aside in order to catch a glimpse of the men clad in suit walking down the way to the check in. She saw a man she recognized from one of her recent visits in the police department, he had presented himself as Hoshigaki Kisame, apparently a good friend of her boyfriend.
Next she saw a few men which faces she had only seen on television, and she couldn't remember their names, but was aware of them being in high positions within the government. She frowned at them, boring, old, arrogant men… They looked almost as naturally arrogant as those born in the Uchiha family, but of course, few could rival to them in that aspect. On top on the list of most arrogant men she knew Sasuke must be placed in fourth, just after his rival Hyuuga Neji. Second would of course be Fugaku, since he was the head of the Uchiha family, but he had lost some of his stuck up-ness after a few years with three vigorous kids running around his house every day of the week. So the one gaining the first place would definitely be…
"Uchiha Itachi-sama!" a girl shrieked in her ear, nearly leaving her deaf.
Speak of the devil, no? The independent persona inside her head chuckled.
Suddenly the flashes exceeded the light of the sun, and everything was lit up by the constantly flickering lights. She squinted, trying to block out some of the blinking coming from the opposite side of the isle from her. A choir of shrill screams erupted around her as she caught sight of him, walking down the cleared way with his father beside him. He nonchalantly passed by the crowd, holding his gaze steadily on the check in. However, just as he was about to walk past her he threw a quick glance her way, red eyes glistening with thousands of words.
For a few moments she stood there, staring after him in wonder. But when he attempted yet another look her way she jerked. She turned around, realizing that she was flustered. Hurriedly she exited the ocean of fanatic fan girls and eager cameramen. She continued walking, without looking back, giving the cold shoulder to the atmosphere he had so skillfully built up between them in a few milliseconds. She bit her lip, frowning at the small thumping in her chest.
She huffed when she was about to launch inside the huge crowd again, when a hand was placed on her shoulder. She turned her head at a neck breaking speed, expecting to see Itachi with a displeased look on his face. But it wasn't, and instead she stood face to face with a woman, pointing to her left, "this time, miss, ya oughta take th' way by th' cafeteria n' such. Keeps ya outta th' way o' them travelers."
Sakura at first had a hard time comprehending just what the woman was saying, because she wasn't good with dialects, and since she had been thinking she would receive some kind of amorous punishment for leaving so quickly she was not very fast on the uptake.
"Miss?" the woman asked again.
"Oh… Sorry," Sakura bowed, embarrassed over her behavior and shameless thoughts just a second ago. It also disturbed her that she hadn't thought of the area with shopping stores and cafeteria to go through, since it was less crowded than the way she had been taking last time. She wanted to slap herself, because really, did she, a top student on the top school in Tokyo, allow herself to be so stupid and impulsive?
Urgh… this is all Itachi's fault… She thought to herself, walking to the door the guard had pointed out for her. Seriously, she was a lot more careless and relaxed ever since she met him. Last time she checked she was supposed to be a workaholic in school, and she usually spent at the very least four hours a day with her books in her room. But now that was all changed. She couldn't focus properly in school, well, not as much as she wanted to anyway, and she never felt like picking the math's book from her bag and solve a few problems. Before she did it without a problem, but nowadays she found herself lightheaded, distracted and daydreaming. The last was the worst part.
She could sit in school, doing a test, or listening to a boring lecture about the ethics of ancient Egypt, and suddenly images of cliché couple scenes in a park covered with twilight could appear behind her eyes. He would be holding her close on his lap, nuzzling her neck, lifting her skirt to her waist, with his hands on her hips. She would make some vain, pathetic attempts to keep him away, but would fail after a few short moments. Then he would push her down on the grass, kissing her furiously…
NO! This time, she actually slapped herself, ignoring the few stares she got from people watching her. She was not-absolutely not-going to have a wet fantasy in the middle of a crowded airport! She grumbled a little, receiving more confused and surprised looks as she stomped outside. She shivered when the automatic doors opened for her, and the air hit her.
She looked around, without finding Mikoto anywhere, and stuck her hand in her pocket to pull up her phone. She opened it and was just about to quick dial her teacher when it vibrated in her hand, playing her ring tone and displaying a picture of her boyfriend in his working attire (it was a sneak photo she had taken of him just when he was finishing work, without him noticing).
Quickly, she pressed the green button and put the phone to her ear. "M-mochi, mochi?" she said uncertainly, furrowing her brow.
"Hello Sakura," she nearly dropped the phone, hearing his voice caressing her ear through the speaker, "how nice to see you picked up. And so quickly at that."
She blushed, "I was just about to make a call, that's why." Her slightly distressed tone probably had him smirking.
"I'm a little bit hurt with your attitude at the moment, Sakura," he mumbled, feigning sadness.
"What attitude?"
"The attitude that makes it seem like you're more than willing to avoid my presence, even through the phone," the sadness was gone, but he still sounded a bit…disturbed.
"Well I'm sorry, but I'm cold and want to get home, that's why I can't wait for you to hurry and hang up so I can call my driver," she sighed, letting her voice shudder as she spoke to empathize her feelings.
"Oh, that is cold indeed," he laughed, "and I'm not talking about the weather."
"Ha, ha, ha…" she snapped icily. "Don't you have a reporter to flirt with or something?"
"Actually no, rather disappointing in my opinion," he snickered at her low growl, "I am sitting on the plane already. We will take off in a few minutes."
She was silent, looking down on the ground. The quiet moment between them seemed to last forever, and was awkward, for the both of them. She heard him clearing his throat, and was glad that he seemed to have something to say, but he didn't. She released a deep breath, turning her face upwards.
"Well, since we don't seem to have anything to talk about for the moment, I'll let you call your driver. Good bye Sa-
"Wait!" his sudden farewell caught her off guard, and she frowned over the fact that she hadn't told him anything that she wanted to.
"Yes?" surprisingly, he seemed happy that she had interrupted him, as his voice was light and eager.
"Um…yeah… Be safe, Itachi, and hurry home," she mumbled, turning her face downwards again, hiding her blushing cheeks behind the blue scarf hanging around her neck.
"…Hard to be anything but on an official meeting," he sighed, and the sound of clothes shifting registered in her ear, "if I only could I'd be running out of this plane right now to elope you."
"E-elope? What's up with the sudden romance?" she blushed harder, and wanted to sink through the earth, just so she could flee from the embarrassment of his statement.
"I've got no idea, I would have hoped you knew," he took a long exhale, marking how uncomfortable he was, acting like a teenager falling in love for the first time.
"I thought you were the one with experience within this area?" she giggled, excited with this new side of him.
"You presume a lot about me, don't you?" he asked, his voice still tight.
"You're a man who leaves many impressions," she confessed, frowning slightly at his chuckle.
"Excuse me, for a moment," she was surprised my his request, but he returned to the phone before she could answer, "I have to hang up, they're starting the plane."
"Oh… I see… Call me when you get there, ok?" she said, a lump suddenly forming in her throat along with tears in her eyes.
"I will. Goodbye Sakura," he said.
"Goodbye, Itachi," she hesitated, she didn't want him to go to the other side of the Pacific ocean, "I-I…I'll miss you."
Once again, there was silence, but soon enough, he answered, "…the feeling is mutual."
Then the line went silent, and she closed her phone, blushing to a shade of crimson. She put the pink cell to her lips and closed her eyes, frustrated tears brimming in them. She almost gave into the urge to throw the plastic and metals into the ground and stomp it just to get emotions out. But no, she was a refined young lady, so she would not do that. She would join Naruto on his venture to the gym later in the afternoon instead, and she would demand that he brought extra clothes for her.
She jumped high when her phone started ringing, and she thought she had a heart attack. She excitedly flipped it open again, hoping to hear the sweet murmur of her bastard boyfriend when he told her he was really coming to elope her and all that jazz, "mochi, mochi!"
"Mochi, Mochi, Sakura-chan, where are you?" it was Mikoto.
A wave of disappointment washed through her, cooling her girly senses. "I'm at the exit already," she mumbled.
"I see, I'll be there soon, and we'll go home, alright? Naruto-kun is coming over later too," the older woman said, seemingly having a hard time getting through a crowd.
"Yeah, right," Sakura closed the phone, bracing herself for the next few hours to come.
"Sakura-chan, calm down!" Naruto yelped in a high pitch when she attacked the two boxing cuffs he was holding. He stepped backwards in timing to her advance on him, afraid that he would be smacked into a wall if she got a hit.
"Naruto, keep. The. Fuck. Still!" she was dangerous, seriously dangerous. Women who was separated with something they liked, no matter if it was shoes, chocolate or men, were scary. Naruto had known that his entire life, and have had first hand experiences since his birth. He squealed again when she landed a hit on the pillow, what might have broken his arm if he had been any less bulky.
"You'll kill me, Sakura-chan!" he said and ran to the other side of the room, trying to ignore the pain resonating in his right arm. "I don't wanna be the one doing this if you hit me with your right," he winced.
"Stop being such a pussy!" she yelled, launching with full speed at him. He screamed in terror and barely escaped a kick for his abdomen. He rolled to the side, whining like a dog when he saw the poor boxing sack she hit instead. It swung wildly behind her as she turned to him. "Damn it Naruto!"
"Help me-e!" he yelled for anyone that might hear, but as far as they knew, they were alone in the gym, save for the one standing by the entrance.
"Shut up you idiot!" Sakura screamed, gritting her teeth. When seeing the truly terrified face of her best friend she got down into a crouching position, digging her fingers into the hair she had put up in a ponytail. She stared at her red painted toenails, and frowned. She glanced up, and saw the blonde watching her eerily.
She gave him a small smile before turning downwards again, "see? This is what he does to me."
He was shifting, and crawled over to her, sitting with his legs crossed. He put a tanned hand (how it was tanned in the middle of the winter she had no idea) on her shoulder, surely sporting a comforting smile too. "I know how it is. Uchiha's should be banned from earth," he said with a sigh.
"You know that wouldn't work," she looked up at him, tears brimming, "we would still be just as miserable as when they're here."
He gave her a sad smile, shaking his head, "maybe, maybe not."
"Why do they do this to us? How do they do it?" she asked him, not bothering about the salty water falling to the floor.
"Because they're Uchiha's," he grinned, "they're born with extreme luck."
She had to laugh at his to obvious attempts at making her feel better. She pulled the tie from her hair, letting it fall around her face in a messy heap. "What would I do if I didn't have you, idiot?" it wasn't really a question, but he answered anyway, with a wide grin.
"You would be caught in a love triangle with the worst sibling duo in the whole world."
She tapped her foot, absentmindedly patting her cat that had found a good spot pressed up against her thigh. She stared at the TV, that wasn't even on. She was waiting for her cousins to pick her up for their annual visit to a festival outside of Tokyo. Their parents were not coming with them this year, because they had gotten a ticket to a spa this day, and was surely enjoying it to the fullest by now.
But that wasn't the only thing she was waiting for. She had been sitting for five days straight watching her phone. She hadn't gone anywhere without it since two days ago. She had been in the shower, and when she had come back to her room she had one missed call, from America. She had yelped in happiness, but when she realized she couldn't reach it back for one reason or another, she had been rather outraged. There she had gone hoping for a call for three days, and even if the time was different over there from in Tokyo, he should be able to nail some time that fit them both rather well. She had tried reaching his phone, but had gotten a message that he had switched it off. It was enraging, really. What was that about cold attitude, huh?
She was rather hurt by the fact that he hadn't even bothered to try and contact her any other way than through that one phone call. She didn't receive any mails either. And she wasn't worried, because Fugaku called Mikoto every day and left throughout reports of their visit in the States. And after his call, she would call Sakura and ask if she had heard from Itachi, but got an unwavering no, and it made both of them disappointed.
"Well, I'm sure he's just busy," is his mothers convincement.
His girlfriend on the other hand, was not so sure. He could hardly be more busy over there than he is on the TMPD, and even then he go out of his ways to have one free night with her. So there was something else that was keeping him from calling her. And either Fugaku was hiding something from his wife, or Itachi had simply lost interest in her. He must have found some beautiful, blond and blue eyed secretary with Norwegian origins or something, and was currently enjoying his time fooling around with her. When he was back, he would no doubt go back to her, get into her pants and dump her before calling his Norwegian lover over and marry her.
The jealousy was unbearable as she thought about it, and unconsciously patted Leo's head harder, making him want to growl at her, but he didn't because one, he was too lazy, and two, he might not be allowed to sleep in her bed again, like one week ago when some strange, tall and dark haired human had taken his seat. He was not pleased about that at all, especially considering that the two usual idiot's had been occupying the bed the night before, and for that, he had demanded to sleep beneath her cover. It had worked well enough, but the second night he was going to try it, she had come home, run up to her room and not even opened the door when he scratched his paw against it.
The doorbell rang, and then Amarante popped up in the door opening. "Sakura, are you ready?" she asked with a bright smile.
"Yeah," Sakura said. She grabbed her purse, and for the thousand time she checked her phone, to see if she had gotten any messages or calls.
"He's still not called you?" her cousin asked with a worried frown.
"No," she put on her boots, and walked out to the car that was parked just outside their lawn. The snow and ice had melted quickly the last few days, and now it was merely dirty water left in big poodles everywhere.
"Hello, Sakura-chan," Sasori said, and accepted the kiss she offered in greeting from the backseat, "you look good."
"Thank you, Sasori-nii-chan," she smiled, and straightened the green kimono she was wearing. She fixed the black obi belt to not ruin the ribbon on the back when she fastened her seatbelt. Amarante jumped in next to her, smiling.
"It's been a long time it's just been the three of us," she said, thinking back, "Shisui has always been so persistent on joining me on everything I got to, so I guess it's haven't been since he and I got together. That makes… four years. Oh my, have we been dating for so long?"
"Without getting married? Yes," Sasori teased from the front seat.
"Ha, ha, very funny, Sasori," the girls said in choir, like they used to when they were younger, and he was a sarcastic and bossy teenager.
"I have a feeling he will pop the question any day now though," he said, "I think he feels that he has to be one step ahead of Itachi all the time, and when Itachi has…Sakura as girlfriend," wow, that was hard for him to say without breaking the wheel, "Shisui think that the next step is marriage, and then babies."
"Sasori!" she blushed, and tried to hide her cheeks by awkwardly holding up her fan in front of her face.
"It's true, Amarante," Sakura smiled, giving thumbs up.
"Oh stop it you two! You always tease me!" she frowned.
"You're too naïve, that's why you think we simply tease you," the redhead looked at them through the mirror.
"I'm not naïve!"
"Oh please, who was it that nearly got kidnapped at the age of fourteen?" he shook his head, sighing angrily at the memory.
"I was lost and they said they were going to take me to the exit!" she protested, trying to sound angry, but was somewhat aware of her own mistake.
"Let's not talk about that! Come on, we're going to celebrate New year!" Sakura said with an awkward laugh, trying to ease the sudden tension.
"Yes, but we will take the first prayer tomorrow morning, My and Shisui told me they wanted to join, and since they're both working late tonight…" the driver trailed off.
"Sasori-nii-chan! Look at this doll! Didn't you have one like this when we were small?" Amarante asked and pointed at the puppet that was placed as a price for the shooting game.
"Correction, I still have. You seem to constantly forget I spend most of my time polishing my puppetry skills, Ama-chan," the redhead said and eyed the female version of the same doll, debating with himself if he should throw some money on a game he knew he wouldn't have any problem with winning. Could that be seen as cheating? He was, after all, specially trained with guns, so using his skills would be very unfair to whatever child that could barely see the targets but still wanted that doll.
Sakura sniffed the air as her cousin unfocusedly told them to stay put and wait for him to finish the five shots he was given. She smiled at the aroma of candy apples and dango dipped in chocolate (how she knew it was chocolate dipped dango? It was a sign right in front of her). Her gaze flew between the many faces by the many stalls, older women and men walking with small kids, presumably their grandchildren, parents with their little babies, couples walking hand in hand…
Her eyes darkened, once again reminded of her own miserable position after two glorious hours forgetting about it. She gave a young pair a death glare, which they were to busy to notice. She grumbled inaudible complaints and curses while looking down on the ground. She kicked the dirt slightly with her boots wondering whether she would ever be able to walk down the street with him. So far, he had been careful to not go out on a date with her, aside from that one dinner a while ago. But he was an official person, and being together with just anyone wouldn't do.
She frowned at where her thoughts were going, cause if there was anyone to blame about it, it wasn't her. With a sigh she turned to Amarante, "hey, Ama-
She quickly shut her mouth when she saw that beside her there was no purple haired woman. Somehow, in her head, she was lining the outline of where her cousin should've been standing, just like in a manga. She looked around her, utterly confused to see both her relatives gone, which was hard to believe, because Sasori would never let her out of sight of both of them in this kind of place.
And even if she was supposed to stay at the same place she figured they couldn't have gotten far, and started down the road in search for them. Children played in delight around her, and older people was smiling nostalgically. She went around, feeling like a lost kid. With a deep sigh she stopped and dug through her purse, taking up her phone and flipping it open. Her eyes widened as the screen lit up, telling her she had one missed call. The katakana read 'Itachi'.
She quickly ran to the side of the road, and tried to find some way behind the stalls. Just when she got out onto the dark grass her phone went off again, and she answered without hesitation. "M-mochi, mochi?" she squealed, excitement making her body shake.
"Sakura? Where the hell are you?" it was Sasori, and he sounded outraged.
"I'm…uh…I don't really know where I am, but I went out behind the stalls to make a call…" she almost lost her strength to stand when she realized that it was not her boyfriend on the other side of the line.
"Behind the stalls? Sakura, you get yourself into some light up place right now or I'll make sure you'll be grounded for a year!" he hissed angrily.
"Alright, no need to be so bitchy about it…" she growled, walking back to the festival.
"Excuse me?" he sure didn't like her tone, and made it clear to her.
"There, I'm out now!" she spit back.
"Stay where you are, we'll come and get you, Saku-chan," Amarante had obviously stolen the phone, since she was talking.
"Ok, I'm by a fish n' chips stand," without telling them goodbye, she closed the phone, abruptly cutting their conversation off. But she immediately re-opened it, opening her list of numbers, scrolling down to Itachi's name. She approved the call and put the speaker to her ear, and waited impatiently for him to pick up. The call had only been ten minutes ago, so he should have the time for a short talk. Her heart worked overtime, and she was sure he would be able to hear her heartbeat once he answered.
"Mochi, mochi?" she gulped at the dark tone, that was surely not the one her significant other had left with.
"Um…it's Sakura," she stammered, "Fugaku-sama?"
"Yes. Do you wish to talk to Itachi?" his brisk way of speaking had always been he same.
"Yes, he called me just now," she smiled.
"I am sorry to tell you he just went out to join the party being held at our hotel, I was about to join him," he didn't sound like he was eager to take part in the festivities.
"Oh…Could you ask him to call me as soon as possible?" the disappointment was so blatantly obvious.
"I will tell him," Fugaku saw that as the end of their conversation and cut the line, leaving her to herself.
She frowned, and kicked an empty can laying by her feet. It hit the calf of a young man in her age that was walking by. He gave an irritated and surprised look, but the disgruntlement disappeared when he saw exactly who had caused the minor inconvenience. He turned and gave his friend a cocky smirk, before approaching her. "It's rude to kick cans at people, pinky."
"It's rude to call people whom you are not familiar with by a nickname," she sneered, "besides, I didn't mean to kick it at someone."
"I am no 'somebody', pinky," he reminded her of that fish like man who was Itachi's friend, he also called her by that nickname, and he had the same sort of toothy grin. "Does the name Hoshina ring any bells?"
She frowned, barely resisting the urge to hit him senseless. "Actually, no," she growled.
"So you have never heard the name of the famous politician Hoshina Gin? Then you must be an undereducated little bitch," he made a move to grab her, but his hand was stopped by another. She turned to look at her cousin, only that it wasn't him.
Instead of the redhead, a man with dark brown hair and blue, glistening eyes was frowning at the offender. "You should never raise you hand against a lady," he said, releasing the other young man when he struggled.
"This has nothing to do with you, damned lecher!" the accused man made no move to deny, but gave a glare.
"That's not a nice thing to say, Pachin-san," the tone was cold, and the one obviously named Pachin (the name reminded her of her teachers infamous favorite pet dog) backed off.
"Whatever," he said and threw glares at both him and the 'innocent' spectator.
After making sure the rude boys walked away the brown haired man turned to her, "I hope you're not hurt or shaken by this incident."
"Um…no, not very," Sakura breathed out.
"I'm glad," a wide grin, "I'm Otomiya Haruhi, nice to meet you."
"Ah! I'm sorry for my bad manners!" she took a step back and bowed, "I'm Haruno Sakura, thank you for helping me out!"
"No problem, I'd take care of those guys any day," he grinned again.
"Do you go to the same school?"
"Yeah, and even worse, same class!" he laughed and scratched his chin.
"Oh, I see. What school do you attend to?" she asked.
"Gukiyagi high, second year," he said and asked her the same.
"I go to Konoha high," she said, shying at the strange look he gave her.
"Really? Wow, that's impressive, not just anyone can get in there! Is it true that every student get their own special teacher?" he was eagerly on her, cross-examination her about the life on a top school. At first, she was uncomfortable in his presence, finding him strangely imposing, but after a few minutes of lively chatter she found him as pleasant as a cat. They complained about traffic, praised food and disagreed on whether animals had feelings or not. But mostly they laughed, and moved out of the way for people walking past.
She didn't know how long time had passed when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned immediately, and saw brown eyes watching the male she had been socializing with critically. "Come on Sakura, it's getting late," his voice dropped the temperature by an x amount of degrees, "you don't want to keep your friend away from his companions during the firework display, do you?"
"Is he your boyfriend or what?" Haruhi asked.
"No, he's overseas for a while," she forced a smile, "this is my cousin, Sa-
"Let's go," Sasori didn't excuse himself, he simply dragged her away, towards Amarante.
"Hey, Sasori-nii-chan! That's rude!" she protested angrily, pulling at her arm.
He didn't say anything, just continued to drag her along until they met up with their other cousin. "There you are, Saku-chan!" Amarante sounded relieved beyond belief, "but what happened, Sasori-nii-chan? You look like you just bit a lemon."
He gave an annoyed glare, before letting go of his younger relative. "Let's go and get ourselves a place to watch the display," he said.
Without protest, they followed him, not wanting to anger him further. They pressed past the other festival visitors, hurrying to the river side before too many got there. The area was lit with traditional lantern lights, but where probably bulbs hidden inside the paper case, for safety reasons. They found an empty bench, annoying a young couple who had been heading for the same area to rest their legs at and have a make out session.
They sat in silence, looking out over the river, seeing the lights of Tokyo glistering on the surface. Soon, the screeching sound of fireworks going off echoed over the water, and the sky was drenched in light for a short second before fading in sad little dusts of glitter.
Sakura found herself philosophy at the sight. Her life had been speeding upwards for a short while, then, it had exploded into something beautiful. But it had disappeared the next moment, leaving her stunned by the sudden flash and deaf by the loud bang.
Right now, she had to hope there would be another piece being sent up in the sky.
I'm so sorry it took so long for an update :( I had some trouble with the beta reading, and I've been depressed the latest few months...
But anyway! I'm back on track, with the next chapter half finished, so I hope I can have it up by the end of the month ^^