AN: Onto the chap.
Sakura was having a dilemma.
The dilemma being 'What to gift a guy on his birthday?'
Sasuke Uchiha is a guy, who had pretty much every materialistic, giftable things a college student would wish for; Cars, expensive watches, designer shoes, latest electronic devices. And she didn't even have the money for anything expensive.
What can she gift him that would actually be of a use to him? Answer was that she still didn't know, and she had less than four days to find a gift.
A defeated sigh left Sakura's lips as she tied her shoelaces and locked her door and took off toward the bus stop, her mind still going over her options for possible presents.
She could just say 'screw it' and gift him chocolates, but he hates sweets, even dark chocolates. She could gift him cologne, but his perfumes always smelled like boiling crap money, and she didn't have as much to spare. A hoodie, or t-shirt, but all the tags on his clothes speak of nothing less than hundreds of dollars.
With the way she was acting, no one would believe she was brought up in nothing but luxury. But she was just a desperate college student right now, so she will need to be conscious of her spendings.
Sakura ran on autopilot on her way to her university, barely conscious of getting on the bus and taking a seat, staring out of the window and getting off the bus at her stop.
'I'll think about it later', she gave herself the benefit of the doubt as she swung her classroom door open.
"Sakura- chan!"
The pop of colors and huddle of oddities drew her attention to their usual seats in the lecture hall. Sakura smiled in greeting as she took her usual place between Naruto and Ino and in front of Sasuke.
"Hello everyone."
Everyone gave their usual greetings, minus Shikamaru who was giving the greetings with his soft snores. Naruto and Ino caught her up on the latest gossip. Apparently, a guy from varsity team cheated on his cheerleader girlfriend with an Olympiad girl, and when they both found out, well, let's just say poison ivy isn't very forgiving to the more sensitive body parts.
Also, he found out that his PS5 isn't exactly waterproof.
And they are also shifting their movie day out to the next weekend.
"That's a bummer." Sakura murmured as the classroom door creaked open to let in professor Hatake, a whole half an hour late, his usual erotica literature glued to his face.
"Yeah, but it was a day before teme's birthday, so were shifting it. Otherwise, we might be too tired in his party. And you know how bitchy he gets." Naruto answered, leaning back on his seat with his arms folded behind his head, not even bothering to take out his book.
Speaking of the 'teme', he has been oddly quiet throughout the whole conversation.
Sakura peeked over her shoulder to find him staring intensely at the back of her head, but his eyes cloudy and unfocused. She snapped her finger in front of his face, eyes blinking into focus and he gave her an annoyed look.
"Got your head in clouds so early in the morning."
Sasuke huffed as he tugged on a strand of her hair, smirking in satisfaction as she turned around to glower at him with all the ferociousness of an annoyed kitten.
"Would you rather I focus on something else." He smirked, " 'Cause I have an idea where I could pay attention to instead."
Sakura would've given him a scathing response had her attention not been caught by the professor clearing his throat to begin the lecture. "Hope your alternative point of concentration is the book."
Her attention, though away from the young Uchiha, wasn't on the lecture either though. The voice of the professor droned on and on, but she only felt like honeybees buzzing in her ear, her mind, again and again, going to the top drawer of her bedside table. She hadn't received another letter since the one a couple days ago.
Her feet tapped softly against the floor, her mind trying to hum a tune, or think of words that rhymed, or an imaginary story with characters that didn't make sense.
Anything to keep her mind off the top drawer of her table.
She was ignoring her thoughts so intently, that she didn't even notice the burning, intense stare that was being holed in the back of her head by one Uchiha.
Sasuke stared intensely on the pink tresses in front of him, resisting the urge to reach out and tug at her hair again, so that she will turn her jade eyes to him again, and focus her undivided attention on him again.
Only on him again. So that he can make sure that her attention doesn't steer towards anyone else.
Especially that Shisui, or worse, his uncle.
His fist clenched beneath the table and his eyes glared at the space above pink head as his brain reminded him of the lunch scene two days ago.
Expensive silverware and ceramics softly clinked and a mouthwatering smell wafted through the air as the Uchiha family sat around the large table for lunch.
Madara Uchiha sat on the head of the head, Fugaku Uchiha sitting on the seat closest to him with his wife, and Izuna flanking his other side, the rest of the of seats filled by Sasuke, Itachi and Shisui.
Sasuke sat with his hands beside his almost empty plate and head low, eyes on his cell phone, waiting impatiently for a text back from a certain pinkette, focused so intently that he almost missed it when his uncle started talking.
"Shisui." The addressed man looked up from his plate, mouth stuffed with rice and salmon, "Do you have the intel I asked for?"
Shisui looked startled for a moment, his mind undoubtedly reeling to find 'what intel', until it landed on the correct slot, but that didn't make it any better. "Well…" he laughed sheepishly, "I didn't get much, she was very cryptic."
'Who's she?' Sasuke wondered in befuddlement, his eyes shooting across the faces around the table. For now, everyone seemed to be just as confused, other than Madara, Shisui and, weirdly, Izuna.
He could sense Shisui panicking as he saw Madara's eyes narrowing, patience thinning rapidly. Shisui scrambled as he tried to answer the rest before his uncle exploded, "B-but, I did get some very interesting info."
'Who are they talking about?!' Sasuke wanted to ask, but didn't, lest he be chastised, but thankfully, his father had the same questions too.
"Who are you talking about?" Fugaku asked, raising at eyebrow at the pair.
"Some girl." Izuna sighed, rubbing a hand on his forehead, wishing for Shisui to just spill.
'A GIRL?!' Sasuke almost choked on the piece of mushroom he was chewing on, slamming down his bowl of rice on the table and waking in a fit of coughs, wheezing and beating a fist against his chest.
"Oh dear." His mother, Mikoto, whispered as she hurriedly handed him a glass of water, patting his back soothingly, eyes cast worriedly on him as he gulped down the water in a rush.
"I'm fine." He croaked in a hoarse voice, breathing deeply before coughing once more to steady his voice and waved his mother's worried hands away, "I'm fine."
"Anyway" Shisui began after an awkward pause, "I found an interesting source to more information."
"And that is?"
Sasuke could feel the hair on his neck rising in attention as Shisui turned his mischievous and certainly evil smile towards him, his eyes glimmering at the mere thought of shit ton of trouble he was going to be in, even though Sasuke had no idea 'what trouble' or for what reason.
"Sasuke." Shisui cooed, as every pair of eyes fell on his form, "I'm sure he can provide you with all the information."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke finally got to ask, his annoyance now also paired with wariness, his skin prickling at the contemplating look his uncle was giving him, "Can someone tell me what is happening?"
Shisui gave him an amused chuckle, cradling his face in his palms and giggling like he just found the juiciest school gossip, and the question he asked, made Sasuke's stomach drop.
"You know Sakura?"
'HOW DO YOU KNOW SAKURA?' he immediate thought was to yell that at him, before he tampered down his reflex, choosing to play dumb for the moment, hoping it would give him enough persuasion to leave him and her out of the box.
"Who?" he managed without dissolving the shock and nervousness in his voice.
"Sakura. Pink hair, green eyes, cute face. You know, your adorable little friend from Uni."
"I don't know what you mean." He inwardly cursed himself at the too quick answer. That was not at all convincing.
"So you know her." Just his cursed luck, Madara was the one to ask that. And if he lied to his face, he's done for.
Sasuke took a deep breath and prayed to whichever ancestor was listening, to bless him with enough luck for him to make it out alive of this one, safe and sound. "Yes." He murmured, trying to make as inaudible as possible, refusing to take his eyes away from the ceiling, "I know her."
"What do you know?" Madara asked again, his voice sharp as a whip, making Sasuke wince and demanding him to look the leader in his eyes when responding.
"She's in my literature and poli-science class."
The only people showing any positive interest in this conversation were his mother, and Itachi, who looked much too amused at his little brothers expense.
"Who's this girl we're talking about?" Mikoto asked with barely concealed excitement in her voice, eyes sparkling with delight at the pleasant discovery of a girl, that her son was friends with! "And you're friends with her?! How is she? And what was her name that you said?"
"Sakura." Shisui provided excitedly, taking too much joy at his little cousin's obvious embarrassment.
"Ahh Sakura. What a pretty name. I bet she is just as pretty."
"Oh she is."
Sasuke groaned, hands covering his eyes and head turned towards the heavens. He could feel his ears and neck heating up from the obvious and very loud cooing his mother was subjecting the whole table to.
This was the exact reason why he never talked about Sakura. He had mentioned that he had friends at Uni, and there were some girls as well, and only that they were annoying, but tolerable enough.
But he never mentioned Sakura specifically, because it was firstly impossible for him to genuinely mean to say that Sakura was annoying, and even if he did, for the sake of shaking off his mother's interrogation, she was like a bloodhound at sniffing out underlying feelings.
So the safest option was to never mention her. For the sake of all of them.
Well, that just wasn't an option anymore.
But his mental fist banging against the floor stopped when Madara cleared his throat loudly, effectively silencing the whole table. He casted a glance towards Sasuke, the silent question hanging in the air.
"I don't know her well, okay." Sasuke sighed, attempting to once more just straight up lie to the head Uchiha's face, "We're acquaintances, and have mutual friends. That's about it."
"And that's a lie." Sasuke's eyes snapped to a glare at Itachi's smirking face, his amused teasing flying out in smooth tones, "I see you following her around the halls all the time."
'I will murder him in his sleep.'
Sasuke had only a moment to brace himself as the words left Itachi's mouth, before his mother broke out in a squeal, her eyes wide and palms clamped down on her reddened cheeks.
'Oh boy.' Sasuke grimaced as his mother practically shook from the excited tremors wracking her body. He could just see the wedding bells ringing in her head.
"Mikoto." Madara called calmly, chewing on a piece of fish and waved his hand toward his sister-in-law. He really did love his sister-in-law, but she was a bit overbearing at times. "Calm down." He calmly provided before turning his sharp eyes towards his youngest nephew, his patience on it's last thread after he sat through all the squealing and gushing.
"Sasuke." Sasuke flinched at the sharp call of his name, "Answer me correctly boy. What do you know about her?"
'Why do they want to know? What matter do they have with her? Are they-' Sasuke's eyed widened as the final option came to his mind, his heart stopping for a moment in horror, 'Are they going to hurt her?'
Before he could process the horrifying possibility further, the placating voice of his other uncle came to his rescue, "Before you start hyperventilating," Izuna provided calmly, his words softer and much more comforting than his brother's, "No, we are not going to hurt your friend. We just want to know about her."
'Why?' he wanted to ask, first and foremost, but held in the reflexive question from spilling past his lips, lest he wanted to bopped on his head. It was rude to question the 'oh-so-great-his-majesty' Madara Uchiha.
"She is in my classic literature, poli-science and world history classes, and we are friends, if you want to call us that." He answered with the most nonchalant shrug he could manage, hiding his feelings of how much not okay he was with this situation.
"And what is she like?" Madara prodded further, his unblinking stare fixed on Sasuke, making his skin prickle uncomfortably.
"She's fine. She's smart, in the classes. Kind of annoying, a little and…" HE chose his words carefully. Sasuke tried of think of something else to say about her personality that did not end with him straying into the realm of aspects about her that made him obsess over her shadows and trail his eyes continuously along each strand of her hair.
Or how he rearranged his entire schedule so that he will have one study break with her every other day. Or how he memorized every page of a fantasy novel to act like a specific character because she mentioned that she liked the male lead. Or that one time he bought a thousand-dollar worth of hair products because she said his hair looked nice.
But in the end, he just shrugged and said nothing else, "She's not much special." 'So leave her alone.' He wanted to add along the lines.
But his father, thankfully, asked the prodding question that has been bubbling within him since the beginning, "But what's the interest?"
Madara thought over the question, probably weighing whether it was worth the breath of answering or not, "She's quiet peculiar."
Izuna prompted to elaborate when his brother's answer confused the spectators even further, "A few day back, we went to the café she works at for brunch. Kawarama started quite a ruckus along the way, and she, had quite the guts to stand against Madara even after he intimidated her."
"Oh my." Mikoto gasped, a hand coming to her lips, "Quite the brave girl she is."
But Sasuke could only stare at his forgotten plate of food in silent horror as he soaked in the information of 'just what the fuck Sakura has done'. He could feel his heart thumping louder by the second as he took in the expression of Madara's face, which can only be termed as scheming.
But that wasn't even the worst one. His uncle has always had very fleeting interests in anyone or anything, let alone women, so he could only pray to God that this would end up being the same.
But no, the worst was the hazy look in his cousin's eyes.
Shisui had his cheeks leaning on the palms of his hand and the dreamy expression in his eyes, light redness on his cheeks and ears and the almost giddy smile on his lips just screamed 'lovestruck'.
'This is bad news…' he could only watch the scene unfolding like a trainwreck, his mother gushing about this new 'pink fairy' that she's going to obsess over for the next week, or year. His father, Madara and Izuna discussing something in hushed whispers, his cousin still staring into the space with cloudy eyes and, as lastly his eyes fell onto his brother, watching him with a smug smirk and gleaming eyes, he knew he was doomed.
'Sakura, what have you done?' he could do nothing but mentally whine as his attempts at swaying the pinkette just became a million times harder.
Sasuke didn't get a blink of sleep that night, even when he chatted with the pinkette on his phone and wished her good night. And he could only beat on his mattress in frustration.
"Sasuke, earth to Sasuke. Sasuke!"
The said boy snapped his eyes to the blond girl screeching near his ear. He glared at the Yamanaka snapping her fingers in front of his eyes.
"Stop screaming like a banshee, you're hurting my ears."
"Well, I wouldn't have to if you weren't sleeping with your eyes open." Ino huffed as she flipped her long ponytail over her shoulders.
"What a drag." Shikamaru grumbled, having just woke up from his nap from all the screeching, prompting Ino to hit him over his head.
"Oh, a notice just came in." Sakura wondered out loud and everyone in class turned to see a man coming in to hand a notice to the professor, the ivory parchment spewing followed by curious eyes.
"The auditions for this year's college fest have begun." Kakashi called out loud over the curious murmurs of the occupants present, his tone, though, suggesting he would rather be anywhere but here as the sounds from the occupants suddenly spiked from the new information. "Anyone interested in the categories for the concert may write their names on the form. The notice will be pinned on the bulletin board beside the reception."
'The college fest!' Sakura's eyes widened at the new information. The Konoha University annual concerts were a big thing. So many musicians, dancers, actors got recruited by talents agencies during these fests. An impressive performance on that one evening can shape someone's whole career in the entertainment industry.
It's called Konoha central university of Humanities and performance arts for a reason.
But her excitement over getting to perform on the stage was not for reasons such as catching some agents eye and making her shining debut in the music industry. She knew what was in for her in the future, and it was not stardom.
But reasons such as a long made promise. A promise of remembrance and understanding.
A promise made to her mother dearest.
However, a loud bell interrupted her train of melancholic thoughts. The occupants of the room collectively rose up in a rush, impatient to get the hell out of the room. Sakura was leisurely putting her book away as well, absentmindedly listening to Ino rambling about the newest episode of some show she was watching.
Sakura hasn't watched a minute of the series but she knew all the characters, the plots, side plots and all the drama just from Ino talking about it every waking minute of the day.
She was so busy punctuating every sentence about the new episode for Ino with a nod or hum, she almost didn't hear her professor calling her name.
"Miss Sakura." Kakashi called loudly over the chatter of students pouring out from the class, his eyes searching for the familiar pink head.
Sakura whipped her head when she heard her name being called, her eyes finding the shiny mop of silver hair and masked face. "Stay back for a minute. I have something to discuss with you about your last assignment."
'The assignment?' Sakura thought in confusion as she motioned for her friends to go without her with a promise to catch them up in a bit. If she remembered correctly, there certainly was an assignment, but there wasn't anything wrong with hers that was worth staying late.
As the class finally got emptied of students, Sakura took her place in front of the teacher's desk and patiently waited to get chewed out for whatever it was on her assignment that offended Mr. Hatake.
"Miss Sakura." Kakashi addressed the pinkette as he shut the door and took his place on his chair, thought strangely, no stack of paper in his hands. "How have you been?"
Sakura stared at him cautiously, though her mind was buzzing with confusion. What is it about? "I'm… okay?"
"You don't seem very sure." He chuckled, his eyes creasing in fondness. "Have you been, okay? Restless? Trouble sleeping? Paranoia? Nothing?"
Sakura's face now visibly showed her befuddlement and caution as he started listing off symptoms of something that strangely sounded like trauma response. "This meeting is not about my assignment, is it?" she had to clench her fists to reign in the nervousness that wanted to creep into her voice.
And her mind screamed shitshitshitshit as she saw Kakashi's eyes closing and his fingers interlacing in front of his face, eyes opening again to stare straight into her soul, as if wanting to see everything she wants to hide.
"So, you're okay?" He asked, voiced low and serious, "No envelopes, no letters, no news?"
Sakura's heart jumped to her throat as she heard his question, feeling like a bird was thrashing in her chest and it hurt. "H-How do you-?"
Kakashi gave a humorless chuckle, leaning back in his chair but still keeping his unmoving gaze trained onto her eyes, "I think you sometimes forget who I actually am." And just for good measures, he added,
"Princess Sakura."
'Oh' That's all Sakura's brain could think of before it had to shut down and restart for it to work again. 'Yeah.'
She remembers it now, she always did. Just, she sometimes forgets that the man in front of her hasn't always been the professor that she knows.
She remembers it now, more vividly this time, that the silver hair weren't always this coarse and spiky, the black mask didn't always cover the sharp jaw, the lazy posture was once rod straight and the hands that held nothing more than chalk, once held daggers and guns.
She could breathe now.
Sakura chuckled a broken laugh, slouching in her chair as the relief washed over her form. Her chest felt much less tight and her throat wasn't logged anymore. "Of course, I didn't forget." She took a deep breath, running a weak hand through her hair, "I just remembered it… slightly foggy."
"Of course." Kakashi echoes, sliding a bottle of water towards her. "So, I'll ask you again. Are you okay?"
Sakura wordlessly unscrewed the bottle cap and took a big gulp, the water refreshingly cold through her dry throat. She thought over what she was asked; 'was she okay?'
"I'm…" She started, unsure, "managing."
"How well are you managing?" Kakashi took in her features, eyes downcast, hands fiddling with the bottle and posture drawn. From what he could tell, she wasn't managing as well as she wanted him to believe.
"I'm not sure what to say." The pinkette sighed, "I'd like to believe that I'm doing okay. Maybe not great, but okay."
Kakashi paused as he watched the pinkette, her mind undoubtedly reeling with a million thoughts, "And, have you read any of them?"
Sakura paused her fiddling, eyes shooting to the man in front of her, before she sighed and shook her head.
"Thought so." Kakashi murmured before, he stood up from his seat, prompting Sakura to follow his motion as well. "Read them as soon as possible. They are important." He tried to say that as gently as possible, not willing to scare her more than she was probably already was.
"I will open them. Just, not now."
Kakashi nodded in understanding with his signature eyes crease, the air in the room much less somber than a few moments ago. "And whenever you feel like you need an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on, let me know."
Sakura laughed, with more light humor in her voice, "You know, Mr. Hatake, with how indifferent and uncaring you are in the class, no one would've guessed you're such a good therapist."
Kakashi gazed at the laughing face, fondness warming his dark eyes. She might think that his aloofness would make him cold or uncaring to understand anyone's problems. And she might be right, to everyone else. But not to her.
Never to her.
He remembered the young teen princess, making dandelion tiaras for him and baking him vanilla cookies, whom he was tasked to guard when he was just blooming in his teens as well. The floral hair and sunny smile that would never fail to brighten even his darkest days. The green eyes and soft hands that would drag him through the gardens and around the fountain.
So pretty, so sweet, so warm.
But he also remembered a broken girl, crying helplessly in pain inside the cold ballroom and in the corner of the library. He remembers dainty bloody feet in his calloused hands as he desperately tried to take away all her pain, but failing.
Always failing.
But most vividly, he remembered the promise he made her. To always be there for her, to shield her from all the darkness that would threaten to swallow her, to be her knight in shining armor, to be her sanctuary.
She might've forgotten about that. But he will never.
How could he when he repeated those words to the winds, every day before going to sleep.
And for that, he will be everything for her.
"What can I say? Maybe I should charge people to listen to their problems." He drawled lazily, shoulders rolling back and hands in his pockets. "You surely won't have a problem with that." He stated with humor, picking up his hand and placing it on top of her head in a soft pat, letting it rest there for a second more before returning it to its previous place.
Sakura chuckled when she suddenly remembered a funny memory, "I still remember when I said you were my favorite brother. Kimi wasn't too happy about that." As she voiced her thought, Sakura pointedly ignored the sharp twinge in her chest from the name.
Kakashi internally winced at her admission, thought his face revealed nothing in his eye crease. That wasn't a pleasant day for him.
"And what about now?" He really hoped her answer was different.
Sakura thought for a moment, before she smiled brightly at him, "You are the closest brother figure I have here."
Kakashi struggled to not let any of him dismay show on his face. After all this time, she still thought of him as her brother figure.
Well, that just won't do.
But he didn't get to do much before Sakura opened the classroom door, signaling her departure. Kakashi followed her and stood at the doorway to see her off, but then suddenly, she paused and turned to fully face him, with the same, warm smile on her face that he loved so much.
"And just for the records," Sakura took a deep breath and her words and smile was what his mind registered that made him nearly giddy.
"Thank you, Kakashi."
Sakura walked to the cafeteria with her head low and eyes glazed, not particularly from tears but more so from not blinking. Her mind was still reeling from the conversation she has just had with Kakashi.
He has advised (more like ordered) to open the letters, they're important.
And she knew that.
She knew that there must be a very good reason to send her a letter after so years of leaving her to her own devices. She knew that it was important, maybe even very urgent. But that did not make it any less terrifying.
She is not a doctor, but the way her heart lodged in her throat and drummed behind her ribcage so hard that it physically hurt, or the way her hands forgot how to hold even the lightest weight and shook like an earthquake, was not normal. Doctors advised to stay away from things that triggered such a visceral response, right? So that was the narration she was running with right now.
And like she told him, and herself, that she will deal with those, surely, eventually. Just not now.
Sakura sighed and blinked into an active state when the bustling of the cafeteria reached her ears. The hall was in full swing, shoes scuffing, plates clanking and students chattering, but the voice that called out to her easily overpowered all the loudness in the room.
"Sakura- chan!"
It was easy enough to find the shock of blond hair and waving hand, accompanied by the loudest beacon that was his voice. Sakura smiled and walked toward the, noticing that Ino already got a plate of sandwiches, crinkle fries and coffee for her.
"Damn Forehead." Ino commented as the pinkette slumped down in the chair between the two blondes, "That was a long lecture you got. What was so unacceptable in your assignment that he kept you behind for so long?"
Sakura rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively, instead opting to unwrap her sandwich to take a huge bite, sighing in contentment. "It's just the professor being a sadist that likes to target students."
Naruto whistled at that, draping his arm across the back of Sakura's chair, taking a big gulp of his chocolate milk, "Kaka-sensei is really slugging it these days, huh." He noted to Sakura, his eyes briefly lingering as her cheeks bulged out cutely when she took a bite too big for her mouth and struggled to chew.
Naruto suddenly felt a very hostile, prickling sensation of being glared at, and looked around to find the perpetrator being no one other than the youngest Uchiha.
Naruto stuck his middle finger to the Uchiha as he continued being glared at, and clasped his hand closer to Sakura shoulder, grinning smugly when the glare darkened.
'Sakura likes me more.' He mouthed to Sasuke, and promptly hissed when he felt a sharp jab to his shin, "What the fuck teme!? What's up your ass this morning?"
"Just you being an imbecile, dobe."
"Can you two just not." Sakura interrupted; her own version of ice glare directed at the two boys fighting like toddlers. She was hungry and their loud chatters were distracting her from her lunch! "Would it kill you to not fight every ten minutes."
Naruto grinned sheepishly at her while Sasuke simply turned his head away with a huff, rather opting to simply glare at each other from the corner of their eyes.
'She still likes me more.' Naruto dared mouth to the young Uchiha again, as Sasuke resisted the urge to jab him again, but instead glaring more violently at the blonde, lest Sakura has to resort to more violent measures.
Sakura pointedly ignored whatever pissing contest they had with each other, instead focusing on her fries after having finished off her sandwich and Ino gushing about the new pie recipe she tried.
"Hey, what's that?" Shikamaru drawled in question, his still sleepy eyes staring at the large screen on the other wall that always aired some or the other news the whole day.
And right now, it was doing just the same.
Sakura almost didn't hear him say anything, too busy fending off Naruto from stealing her fries. But she did hear Ino exclaiming, "What the fuck!"
Sakura raised a brow and turned around in her seat to face the screen, only to get rooted in her spot as ice started creeping inside her chest.
Long white hair and dark teal eyes stared back, as if not at her but right through, standing on the wide marble stairs leading to the large front entrance of a painfully familiar white marble mansion that still haunted her memories like a terrible nightmare. He was surrounded by a number of reporter mics, staring at the camera with a stony gaze.
"What happened to his majesty?" Sakura barely heard what the reporter asked, her mind too busy torturing her with images that she would just rather forget. What the hell is happening?
She saw the man open his mouth, words tumbling out his lips with the smoothness and authority expected from his status. Just the way they've been trained to.
"Father is bed ridden. However, physicians have been called and they informed his condition as nothing to worry about." That was a lie, Sakura knew it.
"Then why did he announce the preparation of the coronation ceremony?" Another asked, and Sakura almost patted her ears to make sure that they were working properly.
'Coronation ceremony?! When?!' Is this what Kakashi meant by the letters being important? But there has never been any indication of the coronation ceremony being so soon.
She could read the signs of irritation on the man's face, too minute to be noted by the untrained eyes, but she knew.
She always knew.
"He deems me competent and ready enough to be taking the lead of our kingdom and people."
Another, very daring, reporter took the risk of asking, "What about his second heir? Will we see her on the coronation?"
"Oh hell no." Sakura could not stop the words from tumbling out in a whisper, however, thankfully, no one paid attention to her slight misstep.
This one had some nerves, to ask that. If it was upto her, she would dye her hair red, change her identity and kiss her position as the royal heir goodbye. If she could, she wouldn't even look toward that marble palace with the insignia of a golden rose. You know what, she might not even go now. They will manage without her; she'll be fine here.
But even as Sakura bluffed about staying away, she knew she would go. She would always go there, for him.
The white-haired man twisted his lips in the slightest of scowls, and icily ended the conference, "I do not feel inclined to answer such questions. This conference is adjourned." And the screen went to a different reporter.
"That was wild." Sakura heard Naruto murmur as he turned back to his chocolate milk. Sakura was a little grateful that she has already eaten most of her lunch, because suddenly, the thought of eating literally anything make her stomach turn.
'This cannot be happening.' Her mind screamed in despair as she stared at the few fries left in the basket. 'It's too soon!' She would agree to that, if only she didn't remember that her birthday is in less than five months.
'Maybe it's not too soon then, I guess.' She chuckled quietly and bitterly at that thought, suddenly feeling boneless and so exhausted, like the world was weighing her shoulder, making it hard to get up as it keptpushing, and pushing, and pushing, down.
"Sakura." Ino called, and worry was evident in her voice, "Are you okay? You look really… tired." She finished, with the best word she could find.
"I am a little tired." Sakura sighed. It was true, just not entirely, "I just remembered that I need to shop for groceries on the way home, and I'm also late on my poli-science homework."
"Do you need help with that?" Sasuke was quick to offer, eyes glinting that the thought of spending extra time with the pinkette.
Sakura raised a brow in suspicion, "With the grocery or homework?"
Sasuke shrugged, "Whichever you want."
"You're worse at poli-science than me."
Sasuke glared playfully at the pinkette as she laughed and waved her hand in deflection, "I'll pass."
"Yeah teme, she'll fail if you started helping her in the class." Naruto jabbed at Sasuke as he placed his arm on the previous spot, on Sakura's shoulder.
Sasuke wasn't sure what he was more annoyed at; the arm or the insult. Guess it was both.
"You're the one to talk, dobe. You almost didn't even pass the last semester."
"What was that, asshole!"
Yeah. Sakura decided that maybe she should do her homework first.
The night was cold and it was later than she would've liked.
Sakura had been her way to home from her grocery shopping, when her eye caught something that made her pause. Throughout her whole shopping trip, she kept her mind running around the gift options, yet none of them seemed appealing, but finally, her dilemma seemed to come to an end.
In the main market street of Konoha, a small trinket and accessory shop was fitted between two very tall restaurants, so easy to lose and miss. The shop was managed by a sweet, plump old lady, who teased her like a grandma would when she told her that she was looking for a present for a boy.
"A man would always love the gift you get them with a little bit of your personal touch." Was what she has been told by that lady, but she retorted that that was the last thing she wanted. She did not want him to think that the gift symbolizes some romantic feelings for him.
She would rather not make things awkward.
After much scouring and consideration, she ended up buying a bracelet for him. A plain, thin silver bangle like bracelet, the design of small stars subtly engraved in the metal, which the lady offered to customize for her with the insignia of the Uchiha fan.
"Finally. I can rest." Sakura sighed as she checked the gift to still be present in her bag. The present was nice, but it had taken so long to find and customize, that by the time she was out of the store, it was already pretty dark.
The main road was still bustling with crowds of people, but the road by River Heiwa to her house got so quiet sometimes that it scared her. 'I'll just hurry up and get out of there.' She thought with little comfort as she picked up her speed, the quiet of the road making her flinch at every falling leaf.
'Why do I even bother coming via this path?' She asked herself in a panic, forcing herself to slow down from her run to a fast walk, lest she wants her calves to cramp like shit.
And that was a mistake she will curse at herself for making.
Sakura's heart leaped in fright as she heard a whistling coming from behind her, too clear and tuned to be a figment of her imagination.
'No, no, no, God please no!' she panicked, but forced herself from looking back. It was best to keep her eyes on the street lightened road.
Instead, she brought out her phone, clutching her bag pack strap tighter and holding the darkened screen of the device up to her face, and definitely, she saw the reflection of a couple of men walking behind her, one of them rapidly approaching her form.
'Shit.' She cursed herself as she hastily pocketed her phone and picked up her speed, her mind on just one task; getting the hell out of here.
But she didn't make it far but she felt her hand clamping down on her shoulder tightly. She flinched and tried to shake it away, but it held tighter.
"What's the hurry, missy."
'Fuck no.' Sakura jumped away from the intruder, slapping away his hand and turning on her heel to run. But slammed into another body who just shoved her toward the edge railing of the sidewalk.
"Why do you want to get away from us, sweetheart?" the man leered, him and his three buddies closing in on her, pushed back against the iron rails, clutching on her bag and frantically looking around for any exit.
She saw none.
"What the fuck do you want?" Sakura tried to be brave, like she always did, but couldn't stop the slight tremble that got into her voice. There are four of them, and just one of her.
She was grossly outnumbered.
"Aww, don't be like that sweetheart." One of the men got real close to her side, making her shudder in disgust. But stumbling back would only result in slamming into another dude.
For the best chance at making out alive, she strapped her lower strap of her bag across her abdomen and locked it to keep it from flying everywhere during her mad run and tightened her fist.
"Get away from me, you assholes!" Sakura shouted as she slapped away the hand that was creeping toward her waist and pushed him away with as much force as she could muster. The man fell down hard onto two of his friends, groaning as his shoulder hit the pavement.
The fourth one moved toward Sakura to grab at her, but she swerved out of the way and slammed her heel on the guy's hip as he went down with a pained yell.
'Run!' her mind screamed as she took off like devil was on her heel, her lungs burned and her throat felt clogged but she did not dare slow down. The adrenaline made the calf cramps the last of her worries and she sharply turned the corner to get into the better lit part of the road.
Or she would have, had her legs not been attacked by a heavy stone thrown at her, that sent her barreling onto the rough pavement.
"Shit!"
Her cheek impacted painfully on the ground, her left elbow and knee taking the worst of the blow. She groaned as she struggled to stand up and continue her run as fast as possible, but didn't get much further when she was thrown against the sidewalk railings.
"That wasn't very nice, you bitch." The menacing growl reached as Sakura opened her eyes to slits, her head and left knee throbbing way too painfully for her to attempt to stand up again. The four men closed in on her again, forcing her to paste her body along the railings to be as far away as possible, which wasn't anything.
"Get the fuck away from me." Sakura hissed, the tremble in her voice worsening and she watched in disgust as a sick satisfaction flitted through the men's eyes. They were enjoying her terror.
"Let's see what you can do, missy." One of them gurgled a laugh at her fear.
Sakura closed her eyes as she felt the burn in her eyes. She wouldn't cry, wouldn't show weakness, but God it was so hard.
She felt weak, truly weak and helpless and alone. She wanted nothing more than just crawl in a hole and die, she felt terrible. The skin on her arm crawled when one of them put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to heave her up, and she attempted to slap it away again, but felt her arm pinned to her side.
"Let me go!" She thrashed wildly, the burn in her eyes worsening but the only response she got was a louder, sicker laugh and the tightening of the grips.
When she felt another, stronger voice, commanding.
"She told you to let her go."
In an instant, the grip was gone and she heard loud yells as the dude was flung away, more shouts followed when a loud thump was heard.
Daring to open her eyes to slits, Sakura was met with the awe-worthy sight of the back of her big savior.
Her very blue savior.
AN: So that was the chapter.
See you in the next one.
Happy reading.