Chapter 2 : Bland

Sakura woke up in a big king-sized bed with lace curtain surrounding it. She was wearing a soft pink silk night gown and the sheet felt incredibly soft, the softest she had ever experienced in her life. A middle-aged woman wearing a traditional blue-colored Fuuga outfit and a braided blue band around her head that ended with feather opened the room's curtain, exposing the pink-haired woman to the ray of sunlight.

"Good morning, Lady Sakura," The woman greeted her. She then opened the bed's curtain and helped her in bathing and dressing up. The middle-aged lady even helped her in putting on a soft-pink Han Bok, powdering her face, painting lipstick on her lips, doing her hair and spraying her with sakura-smelling fragrance.

"Last touch," She smiled before giving the braided soft-pink headband with feather and pearl at the end of the headband and told Sakura to put them on.

She walked outside her bedroom. It was a palace, a traditionally designed palace with wooden floor and it was a sunny day. Sakura could feel the warmth of the rays and it was the perfect weather for her.

"Come, Lady Sakura, The general is waiting for you," She was being led to the training ground by the middle-aged lady.

When she reached the training ground, there he was, the guy who made her heart beat faster, swinging his huge glaive to the other Wind tribe men, training them. He was wearing his dark blue traditional outfit.

He was sweating under the sun but that did not reduce his appeal at all. His blue eyes look even prettier under the sun and him leading and training his soldiers only increased his masculinity, in which increased his sex appeal.

"That's all for today!" The man commanded. The man looked at Sakura and he smiled at the sight of her. The smile only made her blush. He was so handsome, or just like how other girls would describe him "hot as hell".

"Good morning, the lady of wind tribe"

He walked towards her and called her name. She felt like she came back being a teenager again with that sight of him and the playfulness in his voice. Hak's body was towering hers, he was tall and big.

"Let's have another round before we see the queen," Hak moved his head closer to her and whispered to her ear. She knew exactly what "round" meant and it made her blush.

When they both reached their bedroom, Hak bathed, and when he came out of the bathroom naked, only with a towel covering his private part, he pushed Sakura to their king-sized bed, stripped her off, taking off her Han Bok with his hands and leaving her naked on the bed, with nothing but the wind tribe headband and the wind tribe beads necklace. He then proceeded to kiss her lips, with a slip of his tongue in her mouth. The softness of the sheet, the wetness of his lips and the weight of his body on top of her already aroused her.

But, suddenly it all turned black.

Sakura woke up from her slumber. It was all just a dream.

The curtain was still closed but it was obvious that it's still morning. She woke up in their bed. Sasuke's and Sakura's bed. Her husband was still sleeping beside her. She did not want to wake him up. He had just came home after a long tiring journey. She had not have sex with him for a long time. It's often for him to come home just to see her and his daughter but then he would refuse having sex with her because he was too exhausted to do so and Sakura was so accustomed to repressing her feelings, her sexual needs.

She realized that her dream that involved Son Hak and her one night stand with him were the facts that her marriage definitely turned bland for way too long, that it was not like how it was.

It had became just a partnership at that point, not more than that. Her romance adventure with Sasuke had ended at least two years ago. Sometimes Sasuke would fuck her. But, it was not as passionate as it was. Their marriage life, especially their sex life had became really boring. She had refused to admit it but at that point, she admitted it. Her steamy encounter with Hak at Kouka might already indicated that the "crazy in love" phase that she had had since childhood had slowly declined and then it had ended the moment Hak made her back arched, her toes curledn and her tension released few days before.

They had been married for at least 16 years that year. But, Sasuke was still the same Sasuke who still chose to take those missions outside Konoha instead of living a normal life with his wife and child. She understood his choice, he always felt the need of redemption because of what he had done in the past and he was the only man who had the ability to do it. He had told her before they got married about his choice and she agreed. She could not just complain about something she had agreed upon.

"Mama!i need you to sign few papers," Sarada, her teenage daughter, opened the door without any knocking and it woke Sasuke up and stopped Sakura's rambling.

"Oh, Papa's home," Sarada commented. She grew up becoming a strong shinobi, her hair's even shorter than when she was a child. She grew a little taller than Sakura and more muscular as well. She brought few envelopes with the Konoha Official Stamps.

Sarada's used with Sasuke's inexistent presence in their house, especially when she's older and she knew exactly how important his missions were. Sasuke made sure that his family could communicate with him, even if it's through his hawk.

"Nanadaime will do a joint training with the Kouka soldiers. I think he wants you to send few medics in case bad stuff happens in the training," Sarada sat on the edge of the bed and gave the envelopes to her mother.

"What's Kouka? Naruto never tells me anything about it," Sasuke sat up and moved closer to take a peek on the letters.

"It's a country that we had an alliance with. Mom ever worked with people from that country," Sarada answered, explaining to her father. "I remember now that it was that few months mission Sakura had few years ago," Sasuke added.

"I'll be one of those who will train the soldiers at the joint training though, along with Shikadai, and Sumire. Uncle Sai, uncle Choji and Rokudaime will supervise us though,"Sarada said. The girl had grown up, she's a trusted kunoichi of Konoha then. She cut her hair even shorter than what she had few years before, and she grew a lot taller, she's even taller than Sakura and her body's more muscular as well.

"So, does mama have any tips for me?" Sarada said playfully.

"Hmm ... stick with the basics. I believe a lot of them had already known how to use chakra control and stay away from Jaeha. He likes to flirt with young girls," Sakura answered. The girl only nodded and smiled.

"Papa, i almost forget to tell you that Nanadaime told me that he wanted to include you in the Kouka training but you have to meet him and sign some papers first," Sarada added.

Yamanaka Flower Shop.

"The queen of Kouka Kingdom is visiting Konoha ,queen Yona is planning to have her soldiers trained in more extensive training," The female news reporter said on tv. The tv frequently displayed the image of Naruto, Shikamaru, Yona-joo and her generals.

"Mannn all of that queen's generals are such lookers. Especially that one with dark hair and blue eyes. How nice it is being a queen, you get to do whatever you want and choose whoever you want to be surrounded with," Ino commented while arranging the flowers for Sakura.

Sakura stayed quiet even when she realized that Ino had the similar taste when it came to men with her. She also thought Hak as the most handsome one.

"Wasn't you one of those who went to Kouka for a mission before?" Ino asked the woman in front of her. Sakura nodded.

"How were they? How was the queen and her generals?" Her pupils were dilated, exposing at how curious Ino was towards those royalties.

"Ting!" The sound of the bell disrupted the women's conversation. It was a familiar face who came inside the shop. A tall man with dark hair, blue eyes and tanned skin they had just seen on tv. He wore a white fur coat over a dark blue kimono top and black sweat pants. He wore the braided band on his head with the feather at the edge of it. The man took off his fur coat.

"Speaking of the devil, that queen Yona's general really is a ten out of ten hottie," Ino whispered to Sakura. She quickly moved out of the counter and walked towards the tall man. Sakura hid her face from Hak. Her husband's in the city, all the guilt crept inside her belly and she couldn't face Hak without feeling uncomfortable.

"Excuse me, mister. I'm the flower shop owner, Ino Yamanaka. What can i help you with?" Ino offered her help towards Hak. She was being a little flirtatious. Ino was always good in using a little seduction to her what she wanted.

Sakura's pink hair was always outstanding. Even when she wasn't facing Hak, Hak knew that it was her. He purposely teased Sakura with "I want an custom bouquet with a lot of cherry blossoms in it," Hak said to Ino. Sakura was blushing when he said cherry blossom. She tried to hide it. She chose not to face him though she wanted to see his face so badly.

"Cherry blossoms do not bloom in winter but we have fake cherry blossoms. Is it okay, Mister ...?" Ino said, at the same time asking for his name.

"Yes. It's okay. Just call me Hak, Ms. Ino Yamanaka," he replied her with a smile in his face and he shook her hands. His hand was big and his handshake felt sturdy.

"And i certainly trust Mrs. Yamanaka's taste in arranging a beautiful bouquet," Hak said. Ino walked quickly to the spot where she usually did her flowers and told her maids to create a bouquet with the combination of fake cherry blossoms and some winter flowers.

Hak purposely walked towards the counter where Sakura was. He could smell her sweet floral smell, Sakura always wore the same perfume, the same smell he had smelled few years ago.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Uchiha," Hak greeted her, emphasizing the Uchiha part. Sakura had to face him, even when she did not want to, her heart beat fasted when she saw his blue eyes gazing at hers.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Son Hak," she was being very giddy, like a teenager, trying to divert her gaze from his.

"What are you doing here, Mrs. Uchiha?" Son Hak teased her. He had fun seeing her being all giddy like that.

"I'm just visiting a friend. But, i think i have to go now," Sakura couldn't contain the feeling and the discomfort she had to experience every time their gazes met each other's.

"Ino, thank you for the flowers, i'll pick them up after work, see you at the hospital tonight!" Sakura quickly took coat and bag then walked out of the shop.

Hak only smirked when he had seen Sakura's reaction. She certainly liked him.

Sakura was alone inside the doctor's lounge. It was a small room that had bunk beds, sofa and table in it, along with water dispenser and coffee machine.

Sakura had just finished performing a surgery that moment. Sakura was sitting on the couch and drinking a glass of water.

Every time she stopped doing something, and every time she was being alone, that blue eyed man's face came into her mind. It was like when she fell in love with Sasuke back then but the man she fell in love that moment was not her husband, he was a Wind Tribe general from Kouka who was only staying for a joint training.

The thought of him already made her felt aroused. She could never forget his broad shoulder, his muscular body, his scent and the way he treated her in bed. He would ravage her like a beast. He would always make her feel desired.

She then remembered that she had to sign those papers Naruto had asked her to sign about sending more medics for the joint training. She took out the papers out of the envelope and she read his name in the paper. It's like Son Hak always had his way not to leave her mind at all. But, of course, she had to sign it off about sending medics and sending some of the medical jounin to share experiences and knowledge with the Kouka medics.

Few days had passed and every TV in Konoha was still reporting about the alliance and the profiles of the Kouka royalties, including the generals. Sakura could not escape from not seeing Hak's face everywhere.

The medical jounin took turns in supervising the medical meet ups and the joint training between the soldiers and it came to the moment when it was Sakura who had to supervise the joint training.

That man appeared again. At that time in front of her with wounds on his arm. He requested that he wanted go see the doctor in private. He was lying there, topless, with open wounds on his arm. The sight of his muscular body caused her to blush and it reminded her of their heated nights together. Especially, the one at the forest when they were doing it outdoor under the stars, with sweat all over their bodies and how he looked like when he moaned and when he came inside her.

She tried to keep the conversation to minimum.

"I'm going to stitch these wounds, i will anesthetize them so you won't feel any pain and i'm gonna put ninjutsu on so it will heal faster," Sakura explained while putting her gloves on. Sakura then stitch them up.

"You look beautiful in white, head doctor," Hak flirted with her. She continued stitching his wounds, ignoring Hak.

"You know, i crave for you, Sakura," Hak whispered in her ear. She was startled by him doing that to her that she pulled the string stronger than she should.

"Ouch! Sakura! Be careful!" Hak whimpered in pain. She did not apologize. It was his fault for teasing her like that.

When she had done stitching, she then used her restorative chakra to accelerate his healing process.

"Who had inflicted these wounds on you, Son Hak?" Sakura asked while healing him.

"I think it was a man named Sasuke? Pale skin wih black hair, black cape, he's just dark, he exuded darkness," Hak explained. The man's name sent a jolt to Sakura's spine. What was her husband doing at the training camp? Naruto forbid him to be at the training camp.

"He was so strong, he fought like he was going to kill me. I was lucky because a silver-haired man pulled Sasuke back and prevented him to attack me more," Hak explained.

Sakura could imagine how her husband released his susanoo to attack Hak. She knew her husband was very strong, perhaps a lot stronger than The General of Wind Tribe.

"We're done now," Sakura's done with her healing jutsu. No more bleeding and the stitches were merging with the skin, what's left was only scars.

"You know, we still have an hour before i have to go back to training," Hak stood up and moved closer towards Sakura, he grabbed the back of her coat and pulled her closer to him.

Sakura could feel his warm breath behind her ear and his hand travelled to her chest and his other hand was on her belly, unbuttoning her white coat and her pink shirt. His hand was fast. His soft lips touched her neck. Whenever he seduced her, she felt like she fell into a trap that she could not get out from. Her movement froze and her body went hot, her breath was faster and her heart felt like it was going to explode.

Son Hak was going to make love to Sakura Uchiha inside her practice room.

His hand slipped inside her shirt, she could feel his fingers caressing her chest and and that made her softly moan. With his mouth, he lightly bit her ear. His other hand slipped inside her pants. She felt like she was electrocuted with pleasure.

"Kiss me," The man commanded her. His voice was low and that only added more masculine touch. Her body could not reject his command. She kissed him. Her soft lips and her light moan aroused him.

But few knocks at the door stopped them from their activity. Sakura quickly buttoned her shirt and coat and tidied up her hair.

A blond boy with pale skin and blue eyes with white coat opened the door and appeared in front of them.

Sakura cheeks were still flushing, her hair was unruly and her outfit was definitely not tidy. The general of wind tribe's hair was also messy and he was still topless.

"Uchiha-sensei, i'm sorry ... i'm here to bring the forms you've asked me to bring," the blond boy chose to come inside despite the awkwardness he had seen. In his arms, there was a blue colored folder.

"Excuse me, Uchiha-sensei and General Hak," the boy bowed down and exited the room.

If only Inojin hadn't interrupted them, Sakura and Hak would have fornicated in that practice room. Hak quickly put on his kimono and robe and whispered to Sakura "6065, that's my hotel room number if you want to meet me, i'll be there every night at 10 PM"

"We should stop doing this, Hak. I have a husband and a daughter here," Sakura replied Hak. He was her temptation. She did not want to hurt Sasuke.

"Then just leave. You can bring your daughter too," Hak said to her with her fingers intertwined between his fingers. Her eyes were filled with doubt and he knew it.

"Hak, i think you should leave my practice room now," She pulled her hand and pushed him out of her room.

Yamanaka Residence.

Inojin came home that night with heavy heart. He knew what was going on between Sakura and Hak. He came back to have a dinner only with Ino that night. Sai had not came home because of his duty, the Kouka joint training had taken more time for the officers.

Ino was always good in reading her son. She knew when there was something that weighed his son's mind. The blonde boy became very clumsy and that night, during the dinner, he was clumsy. He dropped his chopsticks to the floor during eating and he dropped water to the floor.

"Inojin, is there anything you want to tell me?" Ino asked her son while she dipped more to the fish using her chopsticks.

"Hmm ... nothing," Inojin replied but then he dropped another chopsticks for the second time. His mother could only observe her child.

"I'll wash and reuse them," Inojin picked them and washed them. His back was facing his mother's face when he was washing the chopsticks in the sink.

"Inojin, i know there's something in your mind," Ino commented on her son.

"Mom ..." He stopped talking for a while but later on he continued talking "I think i saw General Hak and Sakura-sensei kissing and his hand was inside her clothing"

What his son had just said caused Ino to cough and dropped her chopsticks on the plate. She was surprised at her son's words.

"Are you sure?" She asked, only to be replied with her son's face facing her and a nod from him.

That night, Sakura came back to her own house. Sasuke had already came back home earlier than her. He and Sarada cooked her the night's dinner.

"Welcome home, mama," Sarada greeted her mother. Sasuke smiled at her wife's appearance and said "Welcome home" as well.

They ate like a normal family. Like nothing had ever happened before. Sasuke also chose to stay silent about the flowers and Sasuke also chose not to tell Sasuke about her affair with Hak.

That night, when the light was already dark inside their bedroom, Sasuke initiated to make love to Sakura. But, it wasn't pleasure that Sakura experienced but boredom. She felt like she was only used like a doll. But, she chose to silence herself and not to talk about it with her husband.

After Sasuke drifted off to sleep, with his back facing her back, tears flew through her eyes uncontrollably. She felt awful. She practically lied again. She's a such a fucking coward. She did not want to fight her husband. She's so afraid that once they fought, like a year ago, he would just leave her again for even longer time than his actual mission time. Even when she asked him to stay, he would ignore her request and just went his way. Sakura was so tired to constantly request him to stay longer in Konoha. But, she's also too tired to fight with him just so he'd listen to her.

Maybe, if she had chosen to be a lady of wind tribe, her life would be less desperate than her current life. Sarada's 16 that year, she's almost an adult already. She's also a very independent person as well. Sakura did not have to worry about her wellbeing.

But, she did not want to throw away her effort to get Sasuke to love her and they've been married for 16 years already. She felt so conflicted with her feeling. The marriage was empty but at the same time it was exhausting to stay in it and to fake everything for Sasuke and Sarada.

Hospital. 8 PM. Dinner Time. Shift Exchange.

Sakura had just finished her afternoon shift that day. She was so hungry that she chose to buy the burger from the machine and eat it at the lounge before she came back home.

Sakura ate alone inside the doctor's lounge. She was eating the beef and tomato burger Sarada had made her. Suddenly, a knock on the door surprised her. She opened the door to see her blonde friend snuck inside the room and locked the door again.

"What's up, Ino?" Sakura was bewildered at her friend's action for locking the door again.

"Let's have dinner together," Ino replied, she had a meal box of her own. The ladies then both seated and Ino opened her lunch box. It was a simple mackerel with rice and vegetables. Ino then took out the chopstick from the box and used them to pick the food and put it in her mouth.

"Sakura, did you have an affair with general Son Hak?" Ino's question surprised Sakura that she almost choked on her food.

"Inojin told me, she saw you and him in a very intimate position," Sakura blushed when Ino said it. "Guess it's true then," Ino sighed.

"I guess it's kind of expected knowing how rare Sasuke came home. General Son Hak is really sexy and that's like something that everyone would agree with," Ino added, causing Sakura's expression to change, especially when she heard Sasuke's name being mentioned. "Ino, i love Sasuke, i am staying with Sasuke," Sakura replied, she did not know whether she lied or not. She loved Sasuke but would a person in love sleep with other person?

With her sad facial expression and her words about staying with Sasuke, Sakura herself insinuated that there was something going on between her and Hak. Maybe her once flowery marriage with all those beautiful exciting expectation had been broken. Maybe at some points, Sasuke treated her badly. Which in Ino's point of view, Sasuke was a jerk for leaving her and Sarada, especially when Sarada was at very young age, to do God-knows-what missions. Ino felt extremely grateful that she ended up marrying Sai instead of Sasuke. Just few years ago, Sakura still appeared as a woman who was still crazy in love with her husband but probably after so many things that had happened, her love ran cold. Every couple would have to go through that phase. But, Ino was surprised by the fact that Sakura chose to cheat on Sasuke to "deal" with her "freezing marriage" phase. It was definitely not a wise choice. What's worse was that she cheated on Sasuke with Son Hak, some handsome general from another country whom Ino admitted was dreamy as hell too.

Sakura chose silence. Part of her problems was her sex life and since she was little, she was always taught by her parents that sex life was a private matter between your partner and yourself. No one should know that.

She had never slept with anyone else beside Sasuke and she thought that women's part in sex was to please men, just like how her parents taught her and she barely had any climax with Sasuke and she thought that it was normal for a woman to be like that. But, all of her perception changed when she met Hak.

Hak was the second man in his life whom she slept with and he was good, really really good in pleasing her in bed and she was swayed by his flirty manner. Sasuke was the reserved cold cool guy who barely flirted to her but Hak was his exact opposite and his mannerism and sexual appeal was an escape from boredom for her and Hak was the one who taught her that woman deserved sexual pleasure as well, indirectly.

That night Sakura came home and slept with Sasuke again. She wanted to try being assertive in telling him what she wanted, pleasure for her.

They were both lying in bed that moment and the lamps were already turned off. Sakura hugged Sasuke from back and kissed his neck.

"Sakura, i'm tired," Sasuke brushed his wife away, Sakura felt so angry at that moment.

"Sasuke! Why do you never fuck me whenever i ask you for sex but you can always fuck me whenever you want to?" Sakura sat up shouted at her husband.

"Sakura, i'm exhausted! Do you have any idea how tiring my job is?!?" Sasuke answered his wife, not budging from his previous position, sleeping with his back facing her face, did not even bother to look at her face.

"And i haven't climaxed for years! I'm so sick of our relationship getting bland and boring!It's like you never actually care about our marriage at all! You can go whenever you want to go and you barely give us any news and you can go as long as you like to! Do you even care about our marriage? " She was bursting in tears. That moment caused Sasuke to turn his body to face her. He sat up and gazed at her crying face. He hugged his wife but that did not stop her from sobbing. Sakura thought that her husband would comfort her, but, instead, he said something that caused her even more angry "I'm sorry that i can't make love to you tonight. I have to go on a mission again tomorrow."

"Fuck you! I'm going to sleep in another room," It was the first time she ever screamed such curse words to Sasuke. She sat up and slept in another room that's located at the second floor of the house. She hated that Sasuke always prioritized his missions more than his own family and she's too sick for it. She was sobbing continuously before she drifted off to sleep.

Sakura woke up late. When she arrived at the dining room, there was only Sarada. She was eating a sandwich.

"Mama, your eyes are swollen," Sarada told her mother. Sakura's eyes were red and swollen because she cried the night before. Sarada quickly stood up and took the cold pack and gave it to her mother.

"Where's Papa?" Sakura asked her daughter while putting the cold pack under her eyes.

"Papa is back on mission again," she sighed, Sakura grabbing the cold pack like she was going to kill a cat with her hands. She was angry. She wished she could've gone to Naruto and told him to cancel Sasuke's mission so he could stay longer with his family but the last time it had happened, they had a huge fight. He left the house and took another long, even longer mission.

"Mama, you're going to destroy the ice pack," Sarada prevented her mother to grabbing the pack until it's broken, she quickly pulled it from her mother's hands.

Sasuke always escaped with missions every time we had go argue about something. She had put up with it for so long. It stressed her so damn much. At that moment, Sakura knew exactly what it was that could ease her tension.

That night, after her afternoon shift. Sakura did not rush home. Sasuke's doing his whatever mission that was. Her daughter's on a mission too. She'd be alone if she chose to come home.

She went inside the classic Japanese-style hotel and right to room 6065. She pressed the bell. Her heart beat fast again, and her breath was rapid. Imagining his physique and what he could do to her already made her aroused.

"Sakura, i knew you'd come," The tall man opened the door, wearing nothing but a towel covering his lower body part. His black hair was still wet and he smelled like lavender. His blue eyes were gazing at her green orbs and he smirked.

"Can i come in?" Sakura asked, with sternness in her voice, like a woman, not a girl.

"Definitely," He replied her with a flirty smirk.

Once the door was closed. Sakura suddenly transformed into a beast. They both made love passionately that night, it was like a dance when she was with him when both parties were actively participating in it.

"Sakura-chan, marry me," Sakura's eyes widened when Hak said those words to her.