To Love and to Love Again Chapter 7: Dinner and Afterthoughts
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER AND AUTHORS NOTE: I do NOT own Naruto. The awesomeness of the Naruto Manga and World is the creation of Masashi Kishimoto. This is Purely Fanfiction. All things Medical in this entire fanfiction should not be taken as serious medical advice or facts. PLEASE CONSULT AN ACTUAL DOCTOR FOR ANY MEDICAL INFORMATION/QUESTIONS. THANK YOU AND ENJOY!
The atmosphere became somewhat tense. At least, that was the case between Sasuke and Sora. Sasuke could tell, just by Sora's stance, that the boy was very protective of his mother. It was clear that he didn't want Sasuke anywhere near her.
Sora felt like he had to keep up a staring contest with Suki's dad. Granted his neck was starting to hurt from looking up at Sasuke. "He's really tall," he thought. Then again when you're looking up at someone almost three times your height, your neck would be uncomfortable.
Suki, being the blissfully unaware child that she is, didn't notice the mini glare-fest opted to focus her attention on Sora's pretty mommy. Sakura on the other hand, took notice of Sora's tone of voice immediately. "That cannot be good,"she worried.
The student's in Ino's studio had all left by now. The only people left in there were Ino, the twins, Sasuke, Sakura, Sora, and Suki.
Sakura cleared her throat. "So… Sasuke, Suki really does look like you. She's beautiful," she admired, one because it was the truth and two, she needed to get everyone's attention on something else. Sakura smiled at the little girl who clung on to her father's pant leg while standing behind him shyly. She was absolutely precious.
Suki giggled at the compliment. Sasuke tore his gaze away from Sora and smiled down at his daughter.
"Yeah… she gets that all the time, don't you Tenshi?" he asked as he made her stand in front of him. She was still wearing her little white ballet uniform which resulted in some glitter smearing off onto Sasuke's pants.
"Uh huh, but my eyes aren't like my daddy, there like yours," Suki pointed out again eagerly.
Sakura chuckled at her cute antics. Sora on the other hand was just standing there, still giving Sasuke a hard stare.
Ino and the twins came over to join in the conversation.
"So what's going on over here? Everyone getting acquainted… and… whoa…," she breathed as she stopped to take a good look at the four of them.
Sasuke was standing on one side with Suki in front of him while Sakura was standing on the other side with Sora right in front of her. The comparison was inevitable. The similarities between the parents and children stood out and if anyone else saw them, they would assume they were a family.
"You okay Ino?" Sakura asked worriedly.
Ino looked a little shocked but quickly chuckled and shrugged. "Oh… nothing I was just… remembering something," she lied, eyeing all of them with interest.
Akio and Akira were looking at them too. Actually Akira was looking at them. Akio was kind of staring out into space.
"So Sakura, we should really go out tonight and catch up, with the kids of course," Ino suggested. "I know a place that serves kid friendly food. And Sasuke and Suki, you guys are welcome to come too."
Sakura looked hesitant. "I don't know Ino I'm still in my scrubs after all. And Sora's in his karate uniform…"
"No problem, I'm going in my ballet attire and the kids will be in their uniforms. The restaurant is really nice but the environment really doesn't call for any kind of formal wear. It's pretty down to earth yet elegant. Shikamaru's good friend Chouji runs the place."
"Okay then. That sounds great. What do you think about that sweetheart?" Sakura asked as she looked down at Sora… who was still absorbed into a staring contest with Sasuke.
He finally tore his gaze away from Sasuke and turned to his mother with a simple nod.
"Great, what about you guys?" Sakura asked turning to Sasuke.
He seemed a little hesitant, not because of Sora's obvious dislike of him but the fact that it was dinner with two women, one of which was an absolute chatter box and the other was his employee whom he knew not much about. He would feel really out of place.
"I don't think...," he started but Suki cut him off before he could continue.
"Please daddy, please please please please pretty please with ketchup on top?" she begged as she bounced up and down and grabbed onto his hand. She was giving him the look with her eyes. Those undeniable big green eyes that even Itachi fell prey to.
"Must… resist,"he struggled, though it was a slowly losing battle.
"Don't worry about it Sasuke," Ino smiled knowingly. "Shikamaru will be there. As a matter of fact, I'm going to call him right now and tell him to get his lazy ass down there and save a table," she said as she whipped out her cellphone.
Sasuke consented after that. At least he wouldn't be the only man there. He could also talk to Shikamaru about those reports he wanted the day before. Suki was ecstatic. She loved going out with her daddy and today she could go out with her friends too.
Ino came back and flipped her phone shut. "Well, he's on his way there now. We should get going soon. If we leave now, we can beat the rush hour," she said before turning to Akira and Suki. "You girls should get changed. You don't want to ruin your ballerina suits do you?"
Suki and Akira both giggled and ran into the changing room in the back. Sakura and Ino started up a conversation about simple things that Sasuke didn't really care for. Besides that, he noticed that Sora was yet again, giving him a hard stare. He was standing close to his mother, who was absentmindedly running her fingers through his hair as she talked to Ino.
"What's with this kid? What the hell did I do?" he pondered. After a while, he opted to just ignore Sora's glares and look the other way. His attention only perked up when he heard his name being mentioned.
"…Yeah, basically it was just an evaluation and he had to tag along with me for most of the morning. But I think I made a good impression if I do say so myself," Sakura smirked as she looked over at her boss.
Ino raised a brow. "Did she really make an impression on the ever un-impressionable Uchiha Sasuke?"
"You're mocking me… aren't you?" Sasuke accused as monotonously as he could. Trying to show you don't care when you're the center of a joke is hard work.
"Oh no, I wouldn't be so foolish as to mock the man that needs a stress test and who just so happens to be my boss," Sakura replied as she chuckled in between words.
He sighed before he heard the door in the back open and saw Suki and Akira walk back in their school uniforms.
The group then headed out, with Ino giving Sakura directions to the restaurant so she could follow in her own car. Sasuke and Suki would do the same.
Sakura and the rest of the group all walked up to the Hidden Leaf restaurant. From the outside, it was hard to locate the restaurant just by looking for it in your car. The only indication there was even a restaurant at all was the sign above it with big green lights that had the name of the place on it. It was almost completely covered in vines and shrubs making it impossible to spot, especially at night. The name 'Hidden Leaf' suited it well.
They walked inside and went up to the hostess who asked what name they were reserved under.
"Nara," Ino answered. The hostess nodded and led them to their table.
From the inside Sakura was amazed at the build of the place. You would never be able to find a restaurant this warm and cozy anywhere else. It was dimly lit with high ceilings and amazing artwork from the ninja days. Most of the place was deeply inspired from the Kamakura to the Edo period (Ninja times) including some of the feudal era.
As the group was lead further into the restaurant, they passed by an area made entirely of glass that displayed a beautiful Japanese garden with an enormous Koi pond. It was odd how a restaurant could be historical, artist, romantic, and kid-friendly at the same time. The kids seemed to get a kick out of it.
They approached a table where a man in a lab coat was already seated. He looked like the grown up version of Akio, but his hair was tied into a high ponytail, giving him the profile of a pineapple. He also had the same bored and lazy aura as his son. His left ear was pierced with a simple silver earring. He was currently staring out at the Koi pond but turned his head when he heard the sound of his daughter calling out his name.
"Daddy!" Akira shouted as she ran ahead of her brother and right into her father's arms.
Akio just looked annoyed at her actions. Ino went over and sat next to her husband, who turned around and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Akira giggled at her parents.
"Shikamaru, this is my friend Sakura and her son Sora," Ino introduced. Shikamaru looked over at Sakura and nodded while saying a small hello.
"Shikamaru," Sasuke greeted with a nod.
"Sasuke," Shikamaru returned with the same head motion.
All the tables were round with the seating arrangement like so: Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura, Sasuke, Suki, Sora, Akio and then Akira who was sitting right next to her father. Sora pouted at the fact that his mother was sitting next to Sasuke. Somehow it just ended up as the adults on one side and the kids on the other.
A waiter came by and asked for their orders. Ino and Sakura thought it would be easier if the kids all shared a giant pizza.
"I want extra extra extra pizza sauce!" Suki requested making Sakura chuckle.
"She's adorable Sasuke," Sakura whispered, turning to him. Sasuke returned the look and smirked.
"She's big tomato lover. Anything with tomatoes is her favorite," he explained looking fondly at his daughter.
The dim lighting highlighted Suki's eyes. He glanced at Sakura who was smiling at the kids. From the side, he could see that her eyes were highlighted as well from the candles at the center of the table. The only difference was that her eyes weren't big and curious like Suki's. They were softer and more mature; like they had seen everything there was to see and held all the wisdom and knowledge it could. Sasuke just now realized that he could easily read her emotions just by looking at her eyes.
Shikamaru talking to him snapped him out of his little daydream.
At the other side of the table, Sora was not having a very good time. He watched as his mother talked to Sasuke. She was saying something about Suki. After she turned away, he saw that Sasuke kept looking at her.
Sora grew increasingly anxious around the man. He didn't know why either. From the minute he saw him, Sora felt strange. It was like Sasuke was familiar but different. It confused him and he couldn't understand why he felt like Sasuke shouldn't be around his mother.
Sasuke was Suki's daddy. He liked Suki very much and he didn't want to hurt her. But he just didn't want her daddy to be close to his mommy. As a matter of fact, he came to realize that didn't want any man near his mother. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Sakura called out to him.
"…Sora? Are you okay sweetie?" she asked with worry in her eyes. He was deathly still and staring at the center of the table.
He simply nodded in response. Sora noticed that everyone had their eyes on him and tried to suppress the blush that was forcing its way to his face.
The food came a little after that. The kids looked excited as the waiter cut one huge slice of pizza for each child. As requested per Suki, it was dripping with sauce. The rest of the orders came soon after. Small conversations came and went throughout the night with mostly Ino and Sakura catching up.
Shikamaru and Sasuke's conversations revolved around business for the most part. The kids were all chowing down on their pizza, which resulted in messy fingers, faces and sauce stains on Sora's brand new, very white, karate uniform.
Well, one single pizza stain on a white anything is considered messy. Sakura would just have to bleach that out later. At least Sora didn't hurt himself.
As if on cue, the sound of silverware cluttering sound followed by a crash ensued.
She thought to soon. Sakura immediately faced Sora's direction but was surprised to see that he was perfectly fine. It was actually Suki who had gotten hurt. She was holding her left index finger in her hand as tears welled in her eyes.
"What happened?" Sasuke asked as he took a hold of her now bleeding finger. She had obviously cut herself with her dinner knife. The question here was why was she even using her dinner knife? She was eating pizza!
"How did that happen?" he asked again. Suki was blinking back tears.
"I don't… (sniff)…know," she sniffled. Her little finger was hurting. Sasuke picked her up and put her on his lap. He inspected the finger closely. Sakura leaned in to take a look as well.
"Can I see your finger sweetie?" she asked gently.
Suki nodded and held out her finger for Sakura to see. She observed the cut closely. It looked deep, but not deep enough to where it would need stitches. It would just have to bleed itself out until the blood clotted.
"Oh it's not so bad. Let's go clean that up okay?"
Suki nodded. Sakura reached into her purse and brought out her trusty on-the-go first aid kit.
"You carry around a first aid kit?" Sasuke bemused. Sakura gave him a look as if he asked a stupid question.
"I'm a doctor after all. Plus, having a son equals big boo-boo's all the time," she replied. Sasuke just continued to stare at her. "…What? You don't carry one around?"
He shook his head while she rolled her eyes.
"Girls are less likely to get physically injured than boys on a regular basis," he replied to her eye roll.
"Sure they do," she drawled before turning to Suki. "Anyway, let's go clean that up."
She took Suki's hand and led her to the Ladies room.
As the two of them left, Ino sighed and shook her head. "Well, that's Sakura for you. Even when she's out, she still plays doctor."
Sasuke watched Sakura lead Suki into the Ladies room. Sora watched Sasuke watch them leave. Sora glared while Sasuke successfully ignored the glare— even though he was still irked by it somewhat— and Shikamaru observed all transactions. He mentally chuckled at the sight of Sasuke getting glared at by a child.
Sakura lead Suki inside the restroom. The place was neat, clean and sophisticated with lovely artwork printed all over the walls. Flower vases were stationed at each corner of the room. Sakura walked past the stalls and went over to the side, where there was a large vanity mirror before the black marble counter. For a bathroom, it smelled pretty good too. Sakura lifted Suki by her arms and placed her over the counter.
"Okay Suki, let get that cut cleaned up first and then I'll bandage it," Sakura said as she opened her mini first aid kit.
"Okay…," Suki sniffled. She watched as Sakura took out a little spray bottle that had "Sting-free Alcohol" written on it.
"This won't hurt at all," she explained before spraying several times over Suki's finger. She was right. There was no stinging feeling.
Sakura then pulled out a half coiled tube of medication. She got a Q-tip and dabbed it with a squirt of the medicine. After placing the medicine on the affected area, Sakura pulled out a small box of Band-Aids.
She grabbed a couple and showed them to Suki. "Which one would you like Suki?"
Suki looked over all of them carefully. There were five to choose from. Each one had its own color. Suki chose a light pink one.
"Pink. How great! Sora never uses those anyway," Sakura said chuckling as she opened the Band-Aid and carefully wrapped it over Suki's left index finger. Then, out of reflex, Sakura took Suki's bandaged finger and kissed it. She always did that to all of Sora's cuts.
"Kisses make it all better right?" she asked.
Suki smiled and giggled at her. Sakura made her feel really nice. She was pretty and kind had the coolest pink hair ever. Suki also like the way Sakura smiled. Out of all the women that were really involved in her life, Suki felt like Sakura was the most motherly, even though they just met today.
No one else kissed her cuts when she got them. Sure her grandma, Aunty Tenten, Aunty Hinata and Ino all cared about her, but Sakura was different. She was just a little more special, or at least she felt more special.
Suki decided that she really like Sora's mommy. "He's lucky,"she thought.
Sakura brought Suki down from the counter. "Let's go back alright?" she asked while extending her hand out to her.
"Okay!" Suki smiled as she grabbed on to Sakura's left hand with her uninjured one. As they left the restroom, Suki was continuously swinging her bandaged hand from side to side, admiring the pinkness of it all.
Everyone at the table was busy doing something. The rest of the kids were playing with their silverware but quickly stopped after Ino scolded them about what just happened to Suki. They decided to just play with the cloth napkins instead by making hats out of them.
Ino was finishing off her salad and Sasuke and Shikamaru had begun talking about business again.
"So the meeting four months from now should give them a more informed report on the pediatric research project then," Sasuke noted.
Shikamaru nodded. "The main focus was on how the dosage of medication was leveled out depending on the age of the patient. Lab results show the dosages may need to be decreases a bit from age twelve and below. It we can get that message across, then that will mean big savings on all prescription drugs altogether."
"Just out of curiosity, is that meeting scheduled before or after Christmas?" Ino asked. She turned to Shikamaru and said "Akira has a recital that I will not have you miss."
Shikamaru sighed and muttered something about being "Troublesome".
"It's a week before Christmas," Sasuke answered. "When's that recital supposed to happen?"
"The Saturday before Christmas," she replied. "Please tell me your meeting is before then."
"It is," he said before catching sight of Sakura walking back and holding Suki's hand.
There was a noticeable pink bandage wrapped around her finger that she seemed to be fascinated with. Suki waved at him with her injured hand. Sasuke smiled at the sight. Sakura lead Suki to her seat and then returned to her own.
Sasuke thanked her as she got adjusted in her seat. She smiled saying it was no problem at all and put the first aid kit back into her purse.
"Daddy, look at my Band-Aid!" Suki waved her little finger in front of him. She looked pretty happy for someone who just received a cut. Sasuke took a hold of her finger and let his other hand run through her hair.
"Are you okay then?" he asked. She nodded and looked over at Sakura, who was smiled.
"So Sakura," Ino said turning to her. "You should come and watch the girls in their ballet recital this Saturday. They have a performance every two months and the Christmas recital is the biggest of the year. All the girls are permitted four tickets. Akira only needs two for Shikamaru and Akio and I'm the instructor so you and Sora can have the other two if you like."
"I would love to come and watch but I really don't know if I can," Sakura admitted. "I have no idea how tight my schedule will be. Normally I try not to work on the weekend unless I'm absolutely needed, and I'm always on-call so I can't make any promises. But I'll call you and see if we can make it."
"Please Aunty Sakura. We're doing Swan Lake this time," Akira pleaded.
"And we have pretty wings too," Suki added, hoping it would entice her to come. The two girls began a little chant of "please" over and over again. Sakura and Ino couldn't help but laugh.
"We'll see girls," Sakura allowed after a minute of pleading. "I really hope I can but if I can't then Sora could always come and watch you guys," she said as she turned to her son. He was talking to Akio and then looked up as his name was mentioned.
"Huh?" he mumbled.
"Wouldn't you like to go see their recital?" asked Sakura.
Sora turned to Akio who mouthed that their recitals were "boring". Of course he couldn't say that to his mother so he just nodded.
After everyone settled down again, the waiter came and asked if anyone wanted dessert. Everyone including, the kids, was stuffed so they just asked for the check. When the waiter came back, Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura and Sasuke sort of had a pulling contest on who gets to pay the bill. Sasuke said that he would pay while Sakura said that she was willing to pay all of it too and Ino absolutely demanded that Shikamaru pay for it all.
Everyone at the table sweat dropped. "Grown-ups just keep getting weirder," was on all the kids' minds.
In the end, no one had to pay anything once the restaurant owner Chouji came up to them. He insisted that their entire meal was on the house. Chouji, Shikamaru and Ino were all really good friends.
After that was settled, everyone left to start going home. It was nearing 9:00 pm at this point and the kids were starting to doze off. Akira was already knocked out and Shikamaru had to carry her. Akio was well on his way to falling asleep so Ino just opted to carry him as well. Sora was yawning like there was no tomorrow and Suki's head was bobbing up and down trying to remain awake.
In the end, the two of them had to be carried by Sasuke and Sakura. While they were walking out of the restaurant, several people commented on how adorable the children were. Sasuke and Sakura were walking next to each other when one old lady's comment threw them for a loop.
"The two of you have the most adorable twins," she cooed as she smiled at the sleeping kids.
Both Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other uneasily. "Oh… thank you," Sakura replied, chuckling uncomfortably. It was easier than stopping to explain anything anyway.
They all left the restaurant and stopped outside the entrance. Shikamaru and Ino went one way and Sasuke and Sakura both walked toward the back parking lot.
"Well… that was a little awkward. But I guess they just made assumptions because of their black hair," she supposed.
"Hn. Thanks again… for Suki's cut I mean," he clarified as he shifted Suki in his arms.
"It was no problem at all. She's the cutest little girl I've ever seen. I'm just surprised that she got hurt today instead of this one here," she joked, placing her hand on Sora's head. His head was currently resting between Sakura's neck and shoulder.
"Does he get hurt often?"
"He doesn't get hurt badly," she began. "He's just a little on the clumsy side but I'm hoping karate will give him more coordination. Anyway, we should get going. It's getting chilly and I don't want them to catch a cold. Flu season is approaching you know."
He nodded and smirked. "I'll see you on tomorrow then Dr. Haruno."
"Maybe… Mr. Uchiha," she returned with her own smirk. She chuckled and walk to her car. As she turned Sasuke could see that Sora was not asleep but wide-awake and glaring at him. His small arms went to circle Sakura's neck tighter, as if he marking his territory.
"What is with that kid?" he thought. He turned and walked back to his own car with Suki still asleep in his arms. He opened the car door and strapped Suki into her car seat before pulling out of the parking lot. It was another fifteen minutes until they reached the house. After he tucked her into her bed, Sasuke turned her night-light on and gave her a kiss on the head. She opened her eyes blearily as he did so.
"(Yawn) … Daddy…?" she mumbled sleepily.
He crouched down next to her. "Yes Tenshi?"
She turned over to face him with sleepy eyes.
"I like Sora's mommy. She's nice … (Yawn)… and pretty… and she kissed my cut to make it better… (longer yawn)… and she has eyes… like… me. I really like her," she finished before dozing off again.
Sasuke watched as her beautiful green eyes slowly closed for the night. He was at peace when he saw Suki sound asleep in her bed after enjoying a nice day out. It was a complete turnaround from her breakdown the other night. He knew it was mostly because of Sakura. Suki was obviously fond of her. He appreciated it, but what did that mean for him?
He couldn't have Suki expecting something that wasn't there. The last thing he wanted was for her to get her to her hopes up with the possibility of having them shattered. He will not see his little girl cry herself to sleep ever again. Not if he could help it. As he got up and left Suki's room to head to his own, he couldn't help but think more about the idea.
Sasuke was a man and he was no idiot. He knew that Sakura was a very attractive woman. She was smart, kind, loving, hardworking, and a great mother. He could tell all of this from just two days of knowing her. But this was just a fact. This didn't mean that his observations could be translated into any kind of action or feelings.
He still knew nothing about her or her past; however that was all grounds to get to know her better, which he was actually willing to do. He wasn't afraid to admit that she had captured his interest. What really intrigued him was probably the fact that she was the only other woman that could relate to him on parenting. Being a single parent is never easy. Sasuke had a wealthy family that had been around since the day he was born. Sakura on the other hand was different on some levels.
But it was those levels that interested him.
Back at the parking lot, Sakura was surprised when she noticed that Sora wasn't asleep. He was glaring at Sasuke again.
When they got home, she tucked him into his little racecar bed and pulled the covers over, even though she knew they would just end up discarded on the side.
She sat on the edge of his bed and kissed his cheek. "Sora… sweetie, do you want to tell me why you were so upset today?"
"I don't know…," Sora muttered with his back turned to her.
"Does it have anything to do with Suki's daddy?" she asked. She knew her son well. Sora shifted and turned to face her.
"Do you like him?" he blurted out. Sakura looked stunned.
"What? Well... I mean, yes I do. He's my boss Sora and I work with him. He's a nice man. Sweetheart, what's wrong? Why don't you like Sasuke?"
"… I don't know," he mumbled. In all honesty, he really didn't know why he felt strange around Sasuke.
"There has to be a reason why you don't like him. He's Suki's daddy and he seems nice. What are you so worried about?" she asked as she ran her hand through his soft black hair.
"I don't know," he repeated.
Clearly they were getting nowhere tonight. It was getting late and he had school tomorrow. Sakura decided to just drop it for now. Besides, it wasn't like she would be seeing Sasuke on a regular basis now that the evaluation was over. How many times can you go out with your friends and boss at the same time?
"Okay sweetie, we'll talk about it later okay?" she offered as she kissed him on the cheek. "Goodnight sweetheart," she whispered before she closed his door.
Sora yawned "Goodnight Mommy," before falling asleep.
Sakura went into her room and changed out of her scrubs. She went to her closet and picked out a random black silk nightdress and slid it right on. She tied her hair up in a loose bun and lay down on her side of the bed. Even though she slept alone now, out of habit she still tended to curl up on the side facing the window and stared out at the moon. There weren't any stars out tonight, just the moon in all its glory. She started to get lost in her thoughts.
She was really troubled by Sora's behavior today. He's never before behaved so… territorialfor a lack of a better word. Did he see Sasuke as some kind of threat to them? For the life of her she just couldn't understand it. He was a wonderful, loving boy and an aspiring artist just like his father.
After thinking about her late husband, she turned to face the empty side of the bed. She ran her hands along the pillow and the mattress where he slept many times before. She missed him in so many ways. She missed his drawings and awkward remarks. She missed his sweet kisses and tender embraces. She missed the way he would hold her at night and keep her safe and warm in his arms. She missed making love in the middle of the night and the way he would play with their child and try to teach him to say 'Daddy' before 'Mommy' just to annoy her. She missed him following her around and snapping pictures like he was a stalker or the paparazzi. She missed waking up to see him staring at her and caressing her hair lovingly.
She missed Sai.
She had pretty much accepted the fact that Sasuke was a close resemblance and nothing more. It was quite a shock to see him at first. But now, after spending a little time with him, Sakura realized that Sasuke could end up being a really good friend to her. After all, he was the only one she could relate to when it came to raising a child as a single parent. But it was better not to think too much into anything regarding Sasuke. He was her boss and the likelihood of them ever coming into close contact again was very slim. It's not like he was going to check up on her every day at the hospital.
To top it all off, her son made it clear tonight that he didn't like the man. He must have his reasons and whatever they were Sakura would try her best to understand them. But for now, she would let it go. Tomorrow is another day full of patients that would need her and she had to be ready for them.