Song Inspiration: There's no way (ft Julia Michaels)- Lauv
He expected a bad reaction from her. Of course, he was a jerk, his brother had pointed it out about a week ago when the younger Uchiha decided to seek out his Nii-san's advice. He had always tried to set aside personal feelings and always, always thinking-more often overthinking. Because for him, emotions get in the way, just like what he was doing now.
His mouth slightly opened in shock after she had punched him in the face. He tried to find the right words but he ended up glaring at her in return while touching his probably bruised jaw. Oh yes, that is right, he was punched by none other than Sakura Haruno, the girl who had loved him ever since.
The last few months had gone crazy, he never bothered to contact her at all, thinking things would have been easier for both of them. But he had received plenty of missed calls, text messages, e-mails from her every day. At first, he was mad. Could she not see what she was doing to him? He was trying and miserably failing to keep himself intact. She has a different life now; she is finally going to fulfill her dreams, and the least he could do was not to get in the way.
So when he tried to avoid her, days prior to her departure, she had the nerve to be confused by his actions. And that led to a fight a day before she left and now here they are. He could not understand her at all. What does she want from him? Could she not even consider what he must've felt after she left so suddenly?
He was trying to be a good guy. He was trying to support her in what she wants in her life. But damn her, not a single day did Naruto berate him for not replying to her messages. How could she be so dense? And now that he is here, she gets what she wants. But then she never fails at surprising him-she punches him. Who could really understand women and their logic?
And now, great, she is crying. He sighs internally.
"Is this a dream? I-I need to wake up now." She murmured, avoiding his eyes.
"Tch. You think you could get away with punching me?" He was glaring at her again.
She looked up and now, more tears had rolled down her cheeks. "How could you just show up and act like nothing happened?! How could you just ignore me for the past three months! I could not think straight worrying about you!" She was breathing heavily; other students who were living on the same floor had taken notice of them, but she seemed unbothered with that.
"I am so so mad at myself for leaving so suddenly! For not seeing you one last time. I apologized numerous times! How could you be so cruel?" Her voice had grown softer; she was crying nonstop now.
At the sight of her so broken, so not her, his earlier tension vanished into thin air. He slowly reached out to her right hand to pull her into her room. He was relieved when she did not show any signs of protest.
And as soon as the sound of the door closing, she had cried harder, but this time, she had buried her face into his chest. A little uncomfortable, he stared down at the pink-haired woman; he took his time to assess her, and he frowned when he noticed her getting slimmer. An exasperated sigh escaped his lips. Having the feeling it was his chance to explain himself, he cleared his throat. "I thought..you wanted nothing more to do with me. I- I wanted you to be a doctor; I don't want to be a hindrance to that dream."
It took a lot for Sasuke to say those words; he felt that he already reached the quota for the whole month for showing feelings on those three sentences alone. She removed herself from him-emerald eyes stared at his onyx ones; her eyes so glassy from her tears. "But you are a part of that dream."
And then before he knew it, his lips touched hers for the first time.
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She was babbling again. He smiled at the thought that she was back to her normal self. They were in her dorm watching an old Korean drama while she mostly updated him with what she was up to the past few months. Apparently, she was sharing a dorm with another Japanese who was studying a business course, Hinata Hyuuga.
She also was preparing for upcoming exams when he came over. He frowned when he heard that, but she was quick to reassure him that it was going to be okay-that she still has a lot of time to study.
"The people here are really different, Sasuke-kun. The weather, the food. It was hard at first, but I can say I am getting used to it." She beamed at him, looking sideways. "So, how's everyone? Did anything interesting happen? How is Naruto?"
"He's the same idiot." He replied shortly which earned a giggle from the pink-haired woman.
"Oh come on, he's your best friend." Her smile had gone wider, teasing him.
He frowned at her once again. "Tch. He's not."
She scoffed at him. "Then what is he to you? Your boyfriend?" She laughed at loud.
If not for the fact that her laugh was like music to his ears, he would surely glare at her. He had not seen her for so long and looking at her now, he could not help but focus his attention solely on her. Her voice, her laugh, her smiles, just everything about her. So instead of giving in with her usual teasing, he settled to flick her forehead. "You're annoying."
She rubbed her forehead and pouted. "You always say that." She must have noticed the look he was giving her for her teasing demeanor changed into a nervous one. Her cheeks had reddened and she tried to avoid his eyes. It was as if he was seeing her for the first time. His onyx eyes had never been so intense; it was as if she would melt with the way he was eyeing her.
She laughed nervously, looking elsewhere. "Uh-uh, so until when are you going to stay here?" She changed the topic for she was unsure what would happen if she could not cut the tension in the air sooner.
"I-I don't know." He was embarrassed by the fact that he hadn't really thought about anything before he was just packing his clothes and booking an Uber to the airport.
She frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
"I stormed off." His voice barely above a whisper, hoping she would not be able to hear him. But of course, his luck had run out.
"What?" She was shocked; her face says it all. If Sasuke was not sure a second ago if she understood what he just said, now he was a hundred percent positive.
Sakura stared at him as if he grew two heads. "Are you serious, Sasuke-kun? What happened?"
"Itachi does not want to be the successor of the company and I-" He swallowed hard unable to continue. Sakura took that as a cue for her to sit beside him holding his hands in the process. He looked at her and nodded. "I confronted him about it. I asked him if he was just doing it for me and I don't want his pity."
Sakura sighed. "You know how much your brother loves you, right?"
"I know. That's why I was so angry. I overheard him telling Mother and Father about switching to law school. And before I knew it, Mother was crying trying to calm us down. And I just had to leave." He looked down to see their intertwined hands, and surprisingly, it helped him to keep his composure in check.
"And you just booked a flight without thinking about it?" Sakura tried to say it calmly, but he knew what she was trying to say.
"No, I was already planning to see you. I even talked to Itachi about going here a week before. I just-" Sakura looked at him expectantly when he paused. The smile on her face was starting to disappear, clearly not believing a word he had spoken. "I just had to see you now." He turned his head in the opposite direction out of embarrassment.
When he looked at her again, he was rewarded with the widest smile he had ever seen her worn, the smile she reserves only for him. He was beyond glad he made the right decision of seeking her out.
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During his stay, Hinata had left their dorm and stayed with their other friend, Tenten. Hinata winked knowingly at her friend's direction before leaving the place much to the flustered expressions of the two.
Sasuke tried to object at first, saying he could just stay at a nearby hotel, however, Hinata insisted and left them in a somewhat awkward atmosphere. They haven't been left alone in a room since they were twelve. But, contrary to what people may expect, because of the upcoming exams, they were not able to talk about the kiss they shared.
Most of the time, the Uchiha genius was left alone in the dorm sulking. He was naive- of course, she has a different life now; she is busy. What did he expect coming to the USA unprepared? He had been already staying with Sakura for a couple of days when he decided to check his phone. Unsurprisingly, he got a couple of missed calls and voice mails coming from Naruto saying he was indeed a bastard- he rolled his eyes at that- over a fifty from his mother demanding him where he is, one from his father, and none from his brother.
It bothered him. He had always respected and admired his brother the most. He was his role model. Itachi is the best at everything he does, more so than his father. The Uchiha clan highly praises him. Sasuke could not remember the last time he had a fight with him. Whenever things go awry, his older brother would always be there behind his back.
He was mad. With things not going well with Sakura, hearing Itachi shifting to law school made him see red. It only added fuel to the fire when the elder Uchiha practically proclaimed that Sasuke was doing his best to make the Uchihas proud.
He contemplated whether to message him and that was when the door opened and Sakura entered with a somehow sullen look. His earlier thoughts vanished, and he stood up to welcome her, concern overtaking his features.
"What's wrong?" He asked right away.
He got more concerned when the usually bubbly girl refused to meet his eyes. She kept looking at the floor and her right hand was fidgeting on the hem of her skirt.
"Sakura.. look at me."
She raised her head slightly before looking down once again. "Your mother has been calling me and I just had to answer. She's so worried about you."
The Uchiha sighed upon hearing that. Of course, his mother would do something like this. He exhaled loudly before putting his hand on his temple.
"Did you tell her?" He did not mean to sound guilty, but his mother is the last person he would want to hurt.
"No." She said softly, shaking her head in the process.
Sasuke turned around, unable to think. This had turned into a serious mess. Now, he did not know how to face his family. A minute of silence had gone by before Sakura chose to speak.
"Sasuke-kun, go home."
Dumbfounded, Sasuke took his time to process what she had just said. He had turned to face her, not believing what he just heard. She had her eyes cast down; she was chewing her lips-she was completely uneasy, nervous even.
"What did my mother tell you? What is it now they told you for you to stay away from me?" His eyes squinted fractionally out of his anger towards his family once again.
She shook her head seeing his reaction. She reached out to him, putting both of her hands to cup his cheeks. "No, no. Not your mother. Never her. You know that."
The anger that was building inside him eased up a bit from her touch, but that did not mean he would just let this go. "Then why." He asked her, with a calmer voice this time. He looked into her green, green eyes, searching for something. When she was about to pull away, no doubt unable to hold his gaze, he encircled his arms around her waist to pull her closer.
She gasped. When she looked up, his eyes were no longer angry. It was the first time she saw his eyes look so emotional..so devastated. After a minute, Sasuke loosened up his hold on her. "You don't want me here." He said flatly before turning around and walking away.
Perplexed, Sakura stood there dumbly looking at the back of his head. Before she could even take in what he just said, she heard the rustling of clothes on the other side of the room. When it dawned upon her what he was doing, she was not able to overcome the urge to facepalm.
"Seriously, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura followed him into the room before she knew what she was doing.
He did not bother to turn around and just continued packing his clothes. It slowly occurred to him that he was staying in Sakura's dorm for almost a week now- all of his savings almost spent. Sakura, on the other hand, was getting impatient.
"What are you, 5? Are we seriously fighting over your baseless assumption? Because gosh, of course, I do want you here. More than anything, I want to fulfill my dreams with you by my side. God, you have no idea how much I missed you." Sasuke stilled. They hadn't really talked about what they are to each other, but for her to say those things- he still hadn't expected it.
"But your family is worried sick about you, you can't just leave them like that and decide that you'll try to enter Harvard. Not when your father will surely disapprove of it." She continued, her voice cracking trying not to cry over their situation.
"Fine." He said, turning around to face her. "I'm sorry." He whispered.
She threw herself at him and he was quick to catch her. With her feet off the ground, he slowly swayed before burying his head on her shoulder. "I will miss you." She whispered in his ear.
He raised his head, looked at her. He was savoring the feeling of her in his arms. Her lips turned into a pout and he knew she was trying not to cry. Before he knew it, his lips brushed hers.
She pulled away to look into his eyes before whispering "I love you". Sasuke lost it. He kissed her hard this time.
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Sasuke drove in the direction of Sakura's apartment. They were both silent the whole ride. Both parents were anxious as they entered the small house. They were greeted with a sight of Itachi sitting comfortably on the sofa. Sarada, on the other hand, widely smiled as she welcomed both her Mama and Papa, no doubt happy they were together.
Sasuke hugged Sarada whose smile turned into a pout as she remembered him leaving early in the morning without a goodbye. "Papa is sorry; something urgent came up with work. Promise I will make up to you." The little girl hugged her Papa once again. "I'm just so scared, Papa. I love you so much."
"Me too, Sarada. Me too." He responded softly, rubbing his daughter's back.
Sakura, on the other hand, looked anxiously towards Itachi. The older Uchiha excused himself knowing both of the parents will have some explaining to do to their daughter. After Itachi left, the young medic joined the father and daughter on the sofa.
"Sarada, your Papa and I have something to say to you." Sakura looked at Sasuke nervously before nodding.
"Okay." The little girl responded.
"Papa and I are thinking if we can spend time together on a trip. Far away from here. You said you want Papa with us, right?" Sakura started. "I know that you will probably miss your Uncle Itachi, Aunt Ino, Grandma, and Grandpa, but I promise we will have so much fun just the three of us. Like a family, Sarada. You want that, right?"
Before Sasuke can even add to that, Sarada started crying. The 25-year old Uchiha looked at his companion in alarm. Sakura, however, judging the shock on her face, had no idea what to do as well.
"Baby, what's wrong?" The pink-haired doctor asked her daughter. "Are you not happy?"
More tears came, and Sakura was already scanning up and down her daughter's body just in case she was hurt somewhere. "No, I'm crying because- because I'm very happy. So very very." Sarada struggled to say the words, and the relief on the faces of her parents was such a sight.
"Gosh, Sarada, don't scare us like that." Sakura pulled her daughter in a tight embrace. "Sorry, Mama. I'm just really happy. I love you, Mama. I love you, Papa."
Sarada had absolutely turned into an emotional wreck just like Sakura mentioned. He will do everything in his power to protect her, he silently vowed as he looked at the mother and child embracing. Before he knew what he was doing, he pulled both of them in his arms. He could feel Sakura being frozen in her spot, but she relaxed after a while as soon as she heard Sarada crying once again.
He kissed both of their foreheads. And the pink-haired woman started sobbing in his arms as well.
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A/N: So that's how Sarada was made lol
I know I haven't updated for almost a year now. Too much stress at work led up to anxiety and now I am having a 5-day vacation leave. Writing actually took my mind off work.