The news of Son Hak's wedding shocked Sakura to the core. But, she really couldn't stop looking at the television.
"It was a big wedding, they also invited the Hokage of Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki and his wife, Hinata Hyuuga, it was the Hokage's first appearance in Kouka," The reporter said while the camera moved to Naruto and Hinata with black suit and a purple kimono.
"Sakura, he lied to you, didn't he?" Kizashi interrupted his daughter.
"You should clean your foot, it's bleeding," Mebuki said while she was cleaning the broken glass' pieces.
Sakura fell on the sofa. She couldn't contain her tears.
He lied to her. He had already had someone in Kouka. She was just his plaything in Konoha. Someone to have fun with. It wasn't love. It was just lust. She felt so betrayed. No one fell out of love in a month and then continued marrying someone in such a short time. She concluded that he had already had a relationship with that Soojung lady before he went to Konoha.
That morning, Sakura decided to come home.
Uchiha Residence. 10 AM.
Sasuke who was having breakfast with Sarada was surprised to see Sakura with swollen eyes and face. She looked lifeless. She dragged her luggage to her bedroom and then just lied on her bed.
"What happened to Mama? How was yesterday night?" Sarada whispered to her father. "I guess ... the news had already reached her," Sasuke said. "What news?" Sarada was confused. "Son Hak's marrying someone in Kouka," Sasuke replied. "Ah ... she must feel so betrayed," Sarada exhaled. Sarada was grateful that her mom saw it. She would probably start hating Son Hak then, Sarada thought.
Sakura slammed the door and locked it. She heard their conversation.
After an hour of Sakura being alone in their bedroom, Sasuke brought her anko dumplings and umeboshi, her favorites. He knocked the door and she opened it before she came back to lie down on the bed.
"Are you happy now?" Sakura scoffed at Sasuke. "Just like you said, I'm just a cheap cheating whore," Sakura said.
"No, you're my wife, i am sorry for saying that to you," Sasuke tried to touch his wife. "Sakura, i'm willing to stay this time," Sasuke explained. But, she slapped his hand.
"I haven't forgiven you for all those years you were traveling the world and leaving me and Sarada and now i'm just so heartbroken over some bastard who has young pretty lady wife over there," Sakura muttered. "If you weren't being such an asshole for leaving me for that Sand village mission, i'd probably not become this cheap cheating whore " Sakura huffed.
Sasuke wanted to lash out to her but then he refrained himself from doing it.
"What do you mean?" Sasuke wasn't baffled.
"If you didn't go to that Sand Village mission, i wouldn't have gone to Kouka, i was so disappointed that you chose that Sand Mission over me," Sakura said.
"I'm sorry," Sasuke said, holding her hand. Sakura was surprised at how Sasuke did not defend himself. He truly wanted to keep her as his wife. He's willing to lower his ego, even if she's the wrong one at that time.
Sakura sobbed louder.
Sasuke couldn't help but hug her. She leaned her head on his chest, sobbing even louder.
"Sasuke, i'm also very sorry," Sakura said, almost inaudible.
Sasuke was surprised at her words. He hugged her tighter. He was happy that there was hope for their marriage.
His plan was working well. His wife apologized to him. But, the relationship still felt really odd.
Sakura still refused to sleep with Sasuke. She even chose to sleep in another room.
She didn't even try to fight him anymore, she just went cold. Colder than she ever was.
Even when they ate together, she didn't even talk to him. When he touched her, she shrugged his hands off.
"I need some time," Sakura only said such thing.
The whole thing made Sasuke wonder if she was punishing him for all the things that he had done during their marriage.
But, the affair that Sakura did was also very painful for Sasuke. Sasuke also always felt tightness in his chest and every time he tried to touch Sakura, he was always reminded by her adulterous action that he had witnessed with his own eyes.
Fuck. It still felt like torture for him.
That evening, Sasuke met his teacher in the bath house.
It was not crowded, only them and some old men. Sasuke was inside the warm pool and Kakashi walked inside the pool.
"You're here for quite long time this time," Kakashi said, not wearing his mask. It wasn't the first time Sasuke saw him without the mask but whenever he saw his bare face, he could never get used to it.
"Yes," Sasuke replied. There was pregnant silence between the two of them until Kakashi blatantly asked him "Is it because of Sakura and that Koukan man?"
Sasuke's pupils were dilated as he gazed to his former teacher. "You knew," he said.
"Everyone knows, Sasuke," Kakashi rolled his eyes.
How embarrassing.
Sasuke thought. He felt like a loser for getting his wife shamelessly fucked by that bastard. He's getting cucked.
"So, how is your relationship with Sakura now?" Kakashi whispered. Sasuke sighed.
Should he tell Kakashi? He was confused.
"We're working on it," he answered after a quite long pause. Kakashi giggled.
"You should finish Icha Icha Paradise, you might get some tips to get her to like you again," Kakashi said
"Please be serious," Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"All those years together ... feels like it's going to drain because of a single affair, no?" Kakashi asked.
"You know it's not just the affair ... everyone just doesn't want to say it in front of my face," Sasuke replied, which surprised Kakashi.
"You're barely here, you're barely there for her," Kakashi replied with no hesitation.
"Yes, i feel so bad," Sasuke chuckled in his desperation.
"I still love Sakura so much but it's been so hard for us, like our relationship will never come back to the way it was," Sasuke explained.
"Sasuke, you can always leave the relationship," Kakashi said. The words felt like jab to Sasuke's cheek.
"And she won't be with Son Hak anyway, he's married to another woman, and he can't come back to Konoha," Kakashi replied. Sasuke knew that.
"I've thought about it but then if we got divorced, but i just can't, i love her, i can't bear seeing her with another man, again, not anymore," Sasuke said.
"Then you should work for your relationship then," Kakashi said. He knew Sasuke wouldn't want to lose Sakura.
"Easy to say but hard to do, that kind of suggestion feels so abstract to me, what kind of "work" should i do?" Sasuke asked.
"That's why you should finish Icha-Icha Paradise, to find out what women yearn for," Kakashi chuckled.
"And ... you two might want to see someone who can be your marriage counselor," Kakashi added. That piqued Sasuke's interest.
Uchiha Residence. 8 PM.
Sasuke cooked that night. He prepared Chinese foods for the family, Sakura liked dumplings. It was really hard for him, he wasn't used to cook something so intricate. Luckily for him, Sarada helped him.
"Welcome home, Sakura," she just came home from the hospital, looking pretty worn out.
Sasuke tried to be a good house husband. It's something he never did but he's willing to do. He wanted to be nice to her, so somehow it could fix their broken marriage.
"Hello, Sasuke," Sakura replied, she sounded really unenthusiastic.
"You must be hungry, let's eat, we have dumplings today," Sasuke said.
"You cooked?" Sakura was so surprised to see dumplings on the table.
She walked slowly to the dining table and sat on the chair of the dining table. She didn't say anything, she picked a pair of chopsticks Sasuke served and picked the dumpling and ate it.
Her expression changed, her pupils were dilated.
"It is ... good," she was very very surprised.
"Sakura, how was your day?" Sasuke asked.
Sakura froze. He hadn't asked her that question for a very long time.
"It's fine," she answered.
"Did you handle patients today or did you only handle the bureaucracy?" Sasuke asked.
"I handled patients today, some surgeries, nothing exciting honestly," Sakura said.
It was so awkward, Sasuke could definitely catch how odd their situation was.
"Sakura, do you want to drink some wine?" Sasuke asked. Wishing that some liquor would make their situation less awkward.
"No, Sasuke, tomorrow i have to work again so, no, thank you," Sakura replied.
It was a quiet dinner for both of them. It felt so awkward too for both of them. They realized that they hadn't eaten dinner together, just the two of them, for a very long time.
"Sasuke, thank you for the dinner, it's good," Sakura complimented her husband.
"glad you like it, what do you want to eat for tomorrow?" Sasuke tried very best to be a different man, a more attentive man.
"Chicken curry katsu would be nice," Sakura replied, choosing menu that would be easy to cook for Sasuke. She always tried to make things simpler and easier for Sasuke. It just sticked with her, how she always tried to perform as a good wife for him. Like it's just automatic for her, like Hak leaving her reseted her back to her original setting, although deep inside, she still yearned for someone like Hak to make her life more vibrant.
"I'll cook it for you," Sasuke smiled.
That night, although Sarada's not home, Sasuke and Sakura slept in separate rooms again. Sasuke wished he wouldn't seem so pushy towards Sakura. But, he wished not to be annoying to Sakura, he wished he could mend this broken relationship they had.
Days became weeks and weeks became months and they still slept in different room even though things were less cold because Sasuke's been helping Sakura by truly taking care of the house, cooking her things she liked and preparing meals for her to be eaten during her working hours. Sasuke wished that could change, or at least, make her also want to contribute in mending their marriage.
"Papa, you should consider doing this often, your foods now actually taste better than mama's," Sarada commented when she's eating the dinner that Sasuke made for them. Sakura's coming home late because she had emergency at the hospital.
"She seems to be very calm too lately," Sarada said.
"Calm or cold?" Sasuke replied his daughter.
"Well ... sometimes she gets mad easily though when things are really rough at her job and even though she had so many overtime this month, she still seems pretty chill, so, i guess your tactic by being a good househusband kinda works," Sarada gave him a thumbs up.
Sasuke stayed quiet.
"Have you asked her to go on date with you?" Sarada asked.
"Well, i did but she's always busy so it hasn't been happening," Sasuke sighed.
"It feels like she's drowning herself in her job," Sasuke added.
"Well, there are actually times when she's this busy so i don't think she does that on purpose," Sarada smiled, she seemed very optimistic.
"You know ... i watched Western TV Show few days ago with Chocho and in the story, there's a couple who's trying to mend their relationship and they're seeing marriage counselor together ... do we have such person in Konoha though?" Sarada asked.
"You mean marriage counselor?" Sasuke asked. She nodded.
"Well, not that i know of, people are very private about their problems, moreover about their marriage," Sasuke replied. Sasuke suddenly was reminded by Kakashi's words of seeing someone. Maybe he was referring to someone who would have a role like that marriage counselor.
"How about seeing someone wiser for advice? I mean both of you eventually need to talk about the issue with a someone neutral, right?" Sarada replied.
"Oh, well ...," Sasuke seemed so hesitant about it. He wasn't used to the concept of talking about something so private with someone else, other than Naruto. But, he himself realized that Naruto wasn't that wise to be "someone neutral" in his case with Sakura.
They were interrupted by the sound of Sakura coming inside the house.
"Welcome home," Sasuke and Sarada greeted her at the same time.
"Papa cooked sweet and sour crispy chicken with garlic kailan today," Sarada smiled.
"Ah, that sounds delicious," Sakura put her bag and sat on the chair of the dining table. She actually enjoyed Sasuke's cooking too and she felt weirdly pleased that Sasuke's doing all the chores for her, like she could just fully rest when she came home,
She ate the dinner with Sasuke and Sarada. Suddenly, she said something surprising for both of them.
"Sasuke,Sarada, do you want to eat out tomorrow? You don't have to cook for tomorrow if you want to," Sakura asked. She didn't even remember when they had dinner at restaurant together. Sasuke was barely around.
"Well, i actually have a plan with Chocho tomorrow night ... you guys can go by yourself," Sarada smiled while nudging her dad's leg.
Dinner date. 8 PM.
Sasuke and Sakura chose to eat at an Omakase Japanese restaurant. It's an expensive restaurant with soft ambience and it looked very classical japanese zen. Sakura's treat, of course.
They hadn't talked much. Sakura's been very quiet too. So, Sasuke tried to initiate the conversation.
"Sakura, do you want to see a marriage counselor?" Sasuke's questioned surprised Sakura. She stopped eating her sashimi and drank her sake.
"Sasuke, do you want to see a marriage counselor?" She gasped. She was so surprised Sasuke actually wanted to see marriage counselor.
"Yes, i do, i want to make our marriage work," he specifically said the word "marriage" to Sakura.
"Well, do we actually have a marriage counselor in Konoha?" Sakura put her chopsticks on the plate.
"Kakashi said that we could see someone who's more senior than us and have a pretty solid marriage and is secretive," Sasuke explained.
"And who would that person be?" Sakura squinted, she didn't remember anyone who fit that description.
It was so surreal for both of them, now they're inside the house of someone they had not met for a very very long time. There was the man they're going to talk with, black hair, strong jawline with big nose and the unforgettable bowl cut hair.
He's Might Guy. The mentor of the old Team 3. He welcomed them with smile on his face.
"What can i help you with?"
author's note : I certainly know that cheating is wrong and just like in the story, most would condemn it but now through this chapter and so on, i want to try to focus on the topic of "healing a broken relationship" which is definitely a hard topic but i hope i can write it well. Thanks fo reading and commenting.
and no, i'm not anti-Sakura. I actually like her. I just happen to like writing this kind of marriage drama topic using my favorite anime characters.