Step 28 - Support
Everyone needs support at some point. Support doesn’t always mean help. It doesn’t always have to be material support in form of money or the like. It can be emotional support too. Someone who backs you up and encourages you in something which everyone else thinks is stupid. But it can also mean assistance. Someone who is there and supports with their presence. One always hopes for support from friends and relatives, the family. Sometimes they disagree with your way of thinking, but it is all the better when they are of the same opinion and support as you.
Thick fog has been hanging over the city since the early hours of the morning and even now that is has turned afternoon, the weather hasn’t changed one bit. The car door is thrown shut with a soft thud, while the driver has long since encircled his car and walks towards the front door of the villa. He briefly rings the bell and immediately looks at his smartphone to see whether there has been any calls or messages, but there were none. Sighing out loud, he lets the device sink back into his pocket again. When the door opens, he looks up and into his big brother's surprised face. "Sasuke." The older of the two brothers exclaims, surprised at his sudden visit, before he takes a step to the side to allow his little brother to enter. "What are you doing here?" Itachi then starts to ask still in surprise and closes the front door behind the younger man to keep the cold out of the house.
The temperatures hardly exceed 12 degrees and the next few days aren’t expected to get any warmer either. You'd rather spend the weekend at home in intimate togetherness with your significant other, in front of the TV and with a nice warm mug of tea in your hands. The weather is exactly as it should be in mid-November, just two weeks before the start of winter. Cold wind, low temperatures, rain or fog are currently standard, whereby the fog could even be described as fair weather even.
"Is Sakura with you?" Sasuke suddenly explores instead of answering his brothers question and looks around briefly through the foyer, where he sees his sister in law come out of the living room and approaches them with a smile. He can see her wave at him in greeting, which he replies to with a nod, before she responds to his counter question. "No she is not here. How so? Did you two have a fight?” Misuki explains calmly and puts her hands on her little baby bump. "No, we have not. But she isn’t at home and doesn’t answer my calls either. I've already tried to reach her ten times, I think. I've also been at Ino, Ryosuke, dad and Hinata. I talked to Neji and Tenten, but neither of them saw or even heard of her.“ The youngest Uchiha explains in obvious worry, while he lets his fingers run through his hair. "Maybe she went shopping." Itachi suggests in hope that it would calm him a little, but Sasuke only shakes his head. “She would answer my calls if this was the case. What if something happened to her?” It escapes his lips desperately, showing them how upset and worried he actually is. "Why should something have happened to her?" The pregnant Uchiha explores with empathy. She understands that he is scared. She would feel the same if her husband would suddenly disappear without a trace and unable to reach.
Sasuke sighs and runs his rigid fingers through his hair anew. “Last wednesday would have been her father's 49th birthday. She was totally off because of it. I don't know, maybe something happened today that reminded her of the death of her parents. I have no idea. I haven't seen her ever since this morning.” Desperately the young man pulls on his hair while he tells them this, before he loosens his grip again. "Sasuke. Calm down. Surely nothing happened to her." Misuki starts and gently puts her hand on her brother in law's shoulder. "She may have just stopped at a park and is taking a walk. She probably left her phone in the car, so that she can have a few minutes to herself." She then continues, while encouragingly smiling at him. Sasuke nods only slowly, letting her words seep in and hopes that she’s actually right.
“You should go home and wait for her. Not that she comes home soon and goes on search for you too." He hears his sister in law suggest, which makes him sigh again. He tries to collect himself, before he gets up the strength to nod once more. "Yeah i will do that. Thanks." He mumbles and takes a step back towards the front door. “If she's still not back in an hour, please let us know, okay? We'll make sure to come over to you then." Itachi now too raises his voice again. Sasuke nods again, showing his appreciation, before he disappears from his brother's house, noticing that his brother and sister in law have decided to wait at the door until he went off completely.
Sasuke breathes the cool autumn air in deeply. Misuki is right. Everything will be okay. Sakura must be taking some time for herself to go through thoughts and clear her head. After all, a lot of things have happened this year. Much that she would have liked to tell her parents about, or would have liked to experience together with them. The black haired man gets back into his car and takes another deep breath, before he starts the engine and fastens his seatbelt. So many things have happened this year. Not only for her, but for him too, so he can understand. Half a year ago he wouldn’t have thought to react like that, just because Sakura is not at home. it’s not like he wouldn’t have cared about her at all, since they are married after all, but at that time they were still so distant and living like two ghosts under the same roof. He probably wouldn’t have even noticed her absence, since he always came home so late anyway. Half an year ago he never expected her to become his dearest and best friend, or that he would worry about her this much. He is just overreacting. He didn't even have to get out of his car and ring peoples doorbells, since he would have found her car standing at one of the driveways, if she really happened to be at one of their friends or family. He lets out another sigh and then starts driving out of his brothers property, back to his own home.
~ > * < ~
Her gaze is fixed on her passenger seat, where her smartphone is lying and moving around due to the vibration it makes. The picture of her husband and his name pops up on it’s screen, but she doesn’t really pay attention to it. A child's laughter can be heard softly through the closed windows and doors of her car, making her look up. Searching, she directs her attention out of the window and lets it wander over the surroundings. Her eyes catch sight of a group of children of primary school age, who have formed a group at the way home and are just crossing the street. The young woman smiles gently and follows the group with her green eyes until they have disappeared into a side street.
Children's laughter can be heard again and animates her to look around to her right. Children of different ages run out of the house onto the lawn, kick a ball around or climb around on the climbing frame. the young Haruno's smile turns into a bitter one. There is a difference between normal children and orphans. If you ask a normal child in this regard what they want for Christmas, they would immediately come up with a long list of material goods that they would like to have. But when you ask an orphan the same question, there are only two specific kind of answers. One is, “I would like my parents to come back and take me back home.” or the other would be, “I would like for a nice couple, which would love and care for me, to come and take me home.”
These orphaned children can also be distinguished between those two statements. Those who would like their parents to come and pick them up, are still young and maybe only recently orphaned. The others who would like for a couple to come and adopt them, have been orphans for a long time, or have never met their parents at all. But these children, the orphans, know that it’s not about wonderful gifts to show off to friends, but about love and family. They just want to have a home, to be loved and feel safe. They just want an intangible asset - feelings. Normal children always want material goods and don’t know the word modesty. Of course, children are able to understand, if they are properly educated about it. But the thing is, that it’s too rare that parents teach their children about what is really important in life. Being with their family doesn't count for these children. It’s more a though in the back of their heads, since they rather want to be showered with lots of toys and gifts.
The pink haired woman quickly wipes the tears out of her face and takes a deep breath, pressing her head against the headrest and looks up at the beige fabric of her car cover. She knows what she's talking about. After all, she too was once an orphan and still is, even if people are no longer referred to as orphans when they are of legal age. But she is lucky. She has friends who love her, even if they cannot give her the feeling of parental love. She has a home and she has her soulmate, her husband and best friend with which she feels content and safe. She rubs over her cheeks again, when her smartphone begins to vibrate again. She looks at it in surprise and feels her lips curl up into a gentle smile. This is his eleventh call. He's probably really worried about her and she'd be too, if she wouldn’t be able to find or reach him for hours. Smiling, she reaches for her cell phone, on whose screen the eleven missed calls light up. Calling her own number, she checks on the voicemails which her husband left for her. "Hey, cupcake. Where are you? Uhm... I'm worried about you. Are you all right? If not, let me know and I'll pick you up, no matter where. And... I am here for you. Please come home soon, Sakura.“ She hears his worried and dark voice. With a warm smile, she throws her phone back onto the passenger seat next to her and starts the engine to drive back home.
Driving over the highway, she tries to get back home to her worried husband as soon as possible. Almost an hour later, she leaves her car in front of the front door and enters the house uncertainly. Who knows if he's mad at her for worrying him unnecessarily? Carefully and with a soft sigh she closes the door behind herself, already hearing quick footsteps approaching her from the kitchen. Sasuke appears and immediately pulls her tightly into his arms, one of his hands finding its way on her head. "Are you okay?" He whispers as she puts her arms around him as well. "Yes. I'm sorry for worrying you so much. I was driving around and didn't answer the phone because of it." She whispers back against his shoulder, before pressing her lips against it. "The most important thing is that you are fine." She hears him whisper with relief and her fingers dig lightly into his suit jacket, lowering her face to hide her eyes on the fabric. He was so worried, he didn’t even change into more comfortable clothes.
~ > * < ~
Pleased, the young Haruno lets out a sigh and leans back in her armchair. She puts her hands behind her head and plays with her ballpoint pen by pushing the refill in and out. A small smile lies on her lips as she looks at the calendar in front of her, on which the current date has been encircled for an important meeting. "What is it?" Natsuki explores with a slight smile at her content sigh and lifts her head to look at her. "This calm." Sakura explains with a contented smile and leans her head back a little. Her brunette collegue raises an eyebrow questioningly and briefly looks around the office, making her laugh. “i don’t mean our office. I just thought about how Karin hasn't bothered us for three whole weeks. The fact that she was also put back into her place by Fugaku at that time, probably made her fall silent completely. She doesn't even dare to make comments in the hallway." Explains the pinkette, watching her immediately join the smile. "You definitely have to enjoy that." Natsuki says with a nod of her own and places her pencil on her table.
Smiling, she too leans back and makes herself comfortable in her chair. “It really is so beautifully nice and quiet.” The Honda now agrees end exhales with relish, as the two of them listen to the song on the radio that is playing in the office. Sakura lets her arms drop into her lap and directs her gaze out of the window. The morning fog has cleared and reveals the thick clouds, covering the whole sky. This Fall is in general pretty dreary, with a little sun and a lot of rain. Although she hardly noticed or realized anything about the weather in autumn. Too much happened during this time of the year. Miktoto's death, the company party where she went overboard, her dates and slow progress in her relationship with Sasuke, the announcement about Misuki’s pregnancy, the announcement meeting and Sasuke’s breakdown with the flu that followed right after. The months were filled, as there has always happened something weekly.
Sakura only hopes that the winter will be all the more beautiful and quieter. Especially since there is usually little snow in Tokyo. The time will come soon and she will start her first winter with her husband. "It's about time." Natsuki suddenly raises her voice and pulls her out of her thoughts. “What?” She asks in confusion, as she gets pulled back into reality. "The meeting. We should slowly go." The Hondo replies to her with a smile. "Oh, yes." The Haruno immediately exclaims and gets up after a quick look at the clock and walks towards her colleague, who is already standing at the door, waiting. She pauses for a moment, before she walks back and grabs her smartphone from her desk before she approaches Natsuki once more and leaves the office with her.
"And how are things going with Takumi?" The Haruno explores with interest, while they approach the conference room, in which the whole department is slowly gathering, in order to take part in the meeting. A month has passed ever since the entire department was commissioned to create a new product, based on their own ideas. The next steps will be explained in the upcoming meeting, to which they’re all heading right now. The hondo on her right blushes slightly at her question. "Well..." She mumbles embarrassed, but doesn’t really get to answer from shyness. "Are you a couple now or not?" Sakura asks calmly, while Natsuki keeps blushing. "Yes." She then mumbled softly and stares at the floor. "That's great! Since when?” Sakura continues to research, while looking forward in order to make sure not to collide with anyone. "For almost two weeks now." The blue eyed woman replies obediently, making Sakura look at her in surprise. "Two weeks already! And why didn't you tell me that?" It comes astonished from Sasuke’s wife, but doesn’t really wait for an explanation, as she already continues to investigate. “Well, is he nice to you?” Smiling, Natsuki nods at her question, while pushing open one half of the door to the conference room. "I know that you are older than me, but I have the feeling that I have to protect you from bad boys like a younger sister." The Haruno then says with a laugh and looks around the large room, as she can hear her colleague chuckle lightly.
They step through the room and lean a little further forward against one of the walls. Most of the designers are already here and form discussion groups, while the rest of them are slowly coming in. The room slowly fills up and in the next moment the door opens again, as Kakashi enters the room together with Sasuke. Both men walk straight to the top of the room, where everything they need for the presentations is already prepared. The Uchiha's gaze wanders across the room and comes to a halt when he finds his wife, who smiles and waves slightly towards him. Next to her, as usuall, stands her brunette collegue. "Is everyone here?" He explores while looking back at the head of the assembled department. "Not quite yet." Kakashi replies obediently, who has already counted the people present. The door opens and the Kaseguchi comes in, strutting through the crowd with her head held unnecessarily high and takes a seat in the front. "Now everyone is here." Kakashi utters and smiles politely at his boss. "Good." Sasuke nods and looks at the crowd in front of him.
"Good morning!" He starts a little louder to draw everyone's attention to him. Immediately the conversations in the room fall silent as everyone turns to him obediently. “Today is November 17th and as agreed, I will explain the further process of the project to you. In the meantime, all the drafts have been given to me and I have already given most of them back to their owners. If I have placed my usual post-its on anyone’s work, then it is only because of inaccurate lines or errors in the scale. I ask for those drawings to be corrected and submitted to me within the next two days. The drawings that I received yesterday or today, will be examined by me in the course of the day and will be given back to you before the end of the day.” Sasuke explains calmly and puts his hands in his pockets. "In the next four weeks until December 15th, you will model your designs. Since the Christmas season is approaching, there are fewer improvement orders anyway and so you have enough time to concentrate on the modeling and make it as detailed as possible.” The Uchiha lets his gaze wander through the crowd for a short moment in silence. “We will rate the models in the week of December 15th. Of course, each of you will briefly present your idea, before all of you have the right to rate each other's model. Colleagues from a few other departments will also come and rate on the models, so that we all can decide together which idea will be chosen after the company holiday and which will come onto the market next year.” Ending his speech, he gives them all a slight smile.
“Mr. Hatake and I will set a date on which the models will be accessed and you will be informed by email as usual. I wish you all the best of success in realizing your idea.” The Uchiha looks at the man next to himself with a nod, thus ending the meeting. Murmuring fills the room from all sides, as the staff slowly leaves the room. His gaze moves back to his wife, who is currently looking at him. Smiling, he gestures her to come to him, watching her touch the Hondo's shoulder and talks briefly to her, before she stops and waits for her colleagues to leave the room. When only the two of them and Kakashi are left in the room, Sakura starts moving again and walks up to him.
With a smile on his face, he puts his arms around his wife and hugs her tight. His lips leaving a sigh in relish. "Do you have a packet of cookies with you?" He asks after a moment of silence and cuddles his cheek against hers. "No, how come? Are you getting sick again?” A soft laugh escapes her lips, being a bit amused by his sudden question. "No. Do I have to be sick in order to get some cookies?” He replies questioningly, watching her laugh with a shake of her head. "I don't have any cookies with me." A disappointed sigh escapes his lips at her words, closing his eyes with a soft pout. “that's a shame.” He steals a brief glance at his wife, before he loosens his hands from her waist and cups her cheeks. Smiling, he pulls her closer and steals a gentle kiss from her. Only after that he pushes her towards the door and lets her free. "Back to work." His dark grey eyes follow his wife walking away, seeing how she looks back over her shoulder at him and sticks out her tongue.
When he arrives in his office, he immediately lets himself fall back into his armchair and starts working on the drawings, which he still has to check for the project. When he's done with that, it will soon be time for lunch too, so he has to concentrate properly on it. Hopefully he won’t be disturbed until then at least.
Sighing out silently, Sasuke looks up from his work after a while. To his luck he has finally managed to go through his work, letting his pen down onto his desktop with a satisfied smile. Glad that he could make it on time to his well deserved lunch break. Now that he doesn’t have to do as much as he used to, he feels so much lighter and relaxed. After all, he had never liked the burden that had been weighing on his shoulders as the creative department’s boss. Picking up the folder with the last drawing, he closes it and puts it on top of the pile with all the other drawings as well. The youngest Uchiha then gets up from his seat and pushes it aside with the back of his knees, taking up the whole stack of folders in order to put it into the shelf in which he always stows his finished work, so that Ayame can get them later. His gaze wanders to the clock on the wall, thinking about it for a moment, before taking his jacket and smartphone and leaving the office. When he walks out of his secretaries office and is standing on the corridor, he sees some of his employees armed with jackets, as they too are starting their lunch break. Observing his surroundings for a moment, he then finally starts walking again and moves down the hallway, while pulling his jacket over his suit. He can see the Kaseguchi, who immediately stops when she spots him and watches him. He in the other hand just prefers to ignore her and continues his way and turns into a side corridor, knocking briefly on one of the office doors and opens it right after to glance with a smile into the room.
"Sakura. I have to go to a business lunch and I need a designer by my side, please come with me." It comes pleading from his lips, which makes his wife look back at him a bit surprised. “Am I even suitable for that? I mean, there are definitely other people who could assist you better, so shouldn’t you ask someone else?” The young woman utters back a bit hesitant, still a bit perplexed about his sudden request. "If ms. Haruno doesn't want to, then i would be happy to accompany you, mr. Uchiha." Suddenly another female voice sounds from behind him, making him look over his shoulder briefly, only to see that Karin is standing in the door frame. Annoyed, he looks back around to his wife with a huff. He can’t believe that this woman really followed him all the way to this place. What a freak. The best would be if he just acts like he hasn’t heard her offer in the first place. When his eyes meet those of his wife once more, his features turn softer again, looking at her with a smile. "I don't think there is anyone more suited for this than you, so i would be happy if you could assist me." He then continues and responds to his wife’s earlier unsure question. "Maybe there is. After all, I'm the senior of this department." The uninvited woman tries to gain his attention once again, which makes him growl silently. “That may be the case, but how much experience do you have with business lunches? Do your parents have a big company too and took you with themselves to company lunch meetings when you were younger? Besides, even though you are a senior here, i still don’t see you suited for this at all. Not before i finally get to see some improvement and more consistent and tidy work from you." Another growl leaves his lips while he tells her this and doesn’t even take the time to turn around to her properly, just giving her a warning glance over his shoulder. "If you don’t take work more serious, the third warning won’t be too far either. Besides, I don't want to end up being pushed into the water as well. So just go back and work on your errors instead." He continues and then turns back to Sakura, who has to suppress a laugh, trying to stay professional. His lips pull into a warm smile, when his eyes meet those of his wife once again. “Now that this is cleared, would you come with me, Sakura? Please.” Her lips too pull up into a smile, when he hears him add the plead in the end of his question like that. How could she say no if he is begging her like that? Reluctantly, because she would rather not go to a business lunch if she didn’t have to, she gives him a nod and packs her handbag. Picking it and her jacket up, she then follows him out of the office and past the Kaseguchi, who stares after them with an evil glare. But Sakura doesn’t let herself be bothered by that woman and catches up to her husband to walk next to him. It’s that woman’s own fault that he thinks so poorly of her and does nothing but giving warnings.
Silently and with a cold look, the youngest Uchiha walks with his wife by his side to the elevator, where he pushes the call button and waits for it to arrive. Almost shyly, she lifts her gaze to her side and examines him briefly, as she has long since noticed how tense he is. After a moment of waiting, the elevator finally stops in front of them and lets the two enter. Stepping inside the empty cabin, Sasuke now presses the button for the first floor, watching as the door slides shut again, before he lets out a deep groan. Startled, she notices him suddenly coming closer, as she could already feel his hand cupping her cheeks and pressing his lips on hers. Closing her eyes, she slowly returns the kiss, feeling how one of his arms goes around her waist to pull her closer and presses her belly flush against his. His touches and his lips stay gentle on her, releasing her lips only after a moment and that rather unwillingly. His lips escape another sigh, watching as she opens her eyelids again to look into his dark grey eyes. "It's a shame that we aren’t home." He mumbles against her lips, before enclosing them with his once more. "I want to do this with you all day long." She hears him whisper in another short pause. She touches his upper arm with a giggle, while she lets her other hand fondle the hair on his neck, making him growl in satisfaction and close his eyes again.
The elevator comes slowly to a halt, letting the doors slide back open, but they don’t let themselves be bothered by it. "Hey guys!" They suddenly hear the good humored voice of the Uzumaki, while the doors slide shut again. “What are you doing there?” The blond continues to ask, which is why the Uchiha lets out an annoyed grumble and breaks away from his wife to glare at his friend. "Tell me, why are you always in the elevator when you're not five meters away from your office?" He growls dangerously towards him, while letting go of his wife completely now. The blonde laughs caught at the Uchiha’s question and scratches the back of his head in embarrassment. With a slight smile, Sakura in the other hand straightens her clothes, which haven’t actually slipped. "Am I bothering you?" They can hear the sound of a clap at his confused question, drawing the Haruno’s attention back up to her husband, who gave himself a facepalm. "Tell me Naruto, just how on earth did you become a software programmer?" It comes doubtful over the Uchiha’s lips, before he turns back to his wife with a huff. "You see what i mean? If we had been home, we would have continued as usual without any idiots getting in the way." Sasuke stops in his words again, when he feels his friend leaning himself against his shoulder and stare at him with interest. “What?” Sasuke asks rather annoyed, making the blond shake his head with a wide grin. "Nothing, nothing. Just keep talking." The Uzumaki shrugs his shoulders, but doesn't move away from the couple either. Disturbed, the Uchiha moves a step aside in order to create some distance between him and himself again, but Naruto just smiles innocently and keeps studying him inquisitively. "I would have buried you underneath myself." Sasuke continues to talk to his wife, staring at her with his dark grey orbs. When he feels his friend glueing to his face again, he immediately put his hand on the blond’s chest and pushes him away. How can someone be so dense and meddle into other peoples business this much? Slowly he moves down to his wife and leans his lips against her sensitive ear, to whisper his next words in there with a smirk. “And i would have kissed you until we fall asleep in each other’s arms.” Sakura’s cheeks turn into a dark shade of red, trying to suppress the shudder she feels because of his hot breath against her sensitive ear.
“Stop! Stop! What the actual- get yourselves a damn room!” The Uzumaki suddenly exclaims, even though he hasn’t even heard his best friends whispered words. He just assumed things from seeing his smirk and her bright blush, making Sakura frown. “Says the one who banged a girl whenever he drank himself wasted, instead of just asking her out! You don’t even know what he said, so keep your disgusting fantasies to yourself!” The elevator comes to a stop as the doors slide back open for the three to leave. Naruto looks at her as if she had poured a whole bucket of water over his head, while Sasuke just chuckles mischievously at him with a wide smirk on his lips. “You- you bastard did that on purpose!” The company owner chuckles again at his blond friends accusation and pushes him out of the elevator, before he too gets out with his wife as well. “Next time you will keep your nose out of other peoples businesses.” Putting his right arm around Sakura’s waist, Sasuke then heads with her to the underground parking lot, leaving behind a stunned Uzumaki. The couple gets into Sasuke’s car, as he already drives out of the parking lot and heads out onto the street. Together they drive across the parking lot in front of the building, which is still fully occupied. "Look, there are Naruto and Hinata." Sasuke points towards the entrance to the building to his left, while he is waiting for a gap in the traffic. "Yes, they seem to be going for lunch too." Sakura nods, watching the two for a while, even after her husband has already driven out onto the street. "So." The black haired man starts, in order to draw her attention back to himself. "What do you feel like doing?" He then asks with a slight smile, making her look up at him in disbelief. "I thought we are going to have a business lunch?" She says, making him smile crookedly in amusement. "No, I just wanted to go out to eat with you." He shrugs his shoulders only once, while he can feel her still staring at him in disbelief. “And you are sure you don't have a fever?” She explores a little skeptically, making him laugh. "No! How do you even get that idea?" He throws a side glance towards her, curious as to why she would even think that. "First you want cookies and now you kidnap me for lunch.” The young woman explains stunned, watching him smile gently, while his eyes are fixed on the street in front of them. “What would you like?” He just replies, making her think for a moment before giving him her answer. "Okonomiyaki?" She makes her suggestion, which he agrees to with a nod. "Then we will go to Chūō." He comments his next steps and drives onto the highway.
The journey between the couple goes on in silence. At first Sakura just looks out the window, but then she turns her eyes away and stares at her fingers, with which she starts playing rather nervously. Again and again Sasuke keeps glancing at her, concerned about her sitting there so quietly. She has been looking at her fingers for a long time and seems somehow sad. It’s impossible for him not to notice. "Are you okay?" He finally raises his voice and breaks through the silence. As if he had startled her, she quickly lifts her head and looks around at him with big eyes. "Yes. Yes of course. Everything’s okay." He hears her mumble, before returning her eyes on her fingers. Worry overcomes him again when he notices that she is hiding something from him again, before turning his gaze back to the street. "Sasuke?" She then raises her voice again after a short time, making him look at her a bit surprised. "Yes?" His eyes meet hers only shortly, as he is forced to look back onto the street. All he needs is for her to know that he is listening. "On Friday, when you've been looking for me... do you want to know where I've been? " he hears her asks, making him glance at her once more. "I thought you were just driving around aimlessly?" It’s obvious that he is surprised at her words. After all she had told him that she drove around and therefore couldn’t answer his calls. “I was in the car, but I didn't drive around. I stood next to a sidewalk. I could have answered each of your eleven calls, but I didn't." She then tells him the truth and looks briefly out of the window to her right. He listens to her words in silence, not daring to say a word. Ever since she reappeared on Friday evening, she's partly lost in thoughts. Just like she is now. “Do you want to know?” She then asks once more. A warm smile pulls on the Uchiha's lips, shaking his head slightly at her question. “If you want to tell me, then just tell me. It’s your choice if you want to entrust your problems to me or not." He explains to her with a short glance to his right.
"Can we go to Edogawa for a while before we go out to eat?" The Haruno raises her voice after a brief, thoughtful moment. At first he looks back at her in surprise, before he gives her a nod. “Of course, if that's what you want.” The corners of his lips lift up into a warm smile, before he changes lanes and speeds up a little more. Ten minutes later he already leaves the highway again and drives into the part of town, to which his wife wanted him to bring her. She instructs him the exact way to her destination, which he follows obediently, until she makes him halt next to a side walk, where he parks his car and turns off the engine. The Haruno gets out of the car without a word and closes the door behind her, against which she leans herself with her back. Sasuke in the other hand removes the key, before he too gets out of the vehicle and encircles it, while looking around. After a moment he too leans himself against the car, right next to his wife and stares straight ahead, to where she is looking ever since they have arrived. "Nice environment, but what is that ruined house?” He breaks the silence between them after a while, while he wonders what she was doing in this area. “This is an orphanage.” She replies quietly to his question, getting him to look back at her in surprise. "What are we doing here? Don't you think that we should work on our marriage first?” It comes from him, confused as to why she would suddenly want to come here.
“I've been going to orphanages for Christmas every year ever since five years. I buy the kids gifts, Christmas decorations and a Christmas tree. The day before Christmas I bring over the tree and decorate it together with all the children. I leave the gifts with the carers, with two gifts for each child. I also bring a few presents to other orphanages in it’s vicinities. I play Santa Claus personally for those orphanages, who brings them a few things which they don't even dare to dream of." The Haruno explains her doings of the last five years to his husband in a silent voice, his eyes widening when he hears what she is doing for the children every year. “I was an orphan too, but compared to others I didn't lose everything. We still had the house, the money, friends... but these children lost everything, mostly also their dreams for the future.” She continues to explain sadly, taking a slight pause to take in a deep breath and swallow down a small lump that was about to form in her throat. “But this year I chose this orphanage. What good are presents, if they are freezing at Christmas because of broken windows and a missing roof?” Sakura raises her head and looks at him through sad eyes. He swallows softly, before trying to smile at her encouragingly. “Have you been inside before? Maybe it looks worse out here than it actually is."
Silently she shakes her head and stares again at the building in front of her, which looks so dreary and bleak in this friendly environment. With a gentle gaze Sasuke looks at his wife next to himself, who looks at the house with pity and sadness, and has to admit that he is flabbergasted by what she has just told him. He knew that she’s kind and loving, but he would never have expected such warm and compassionate commitment, when it comes to orphans. She is so selfless, he is sure that going to these houses is always reminding her of her tragic fate when she was only a teenager. Loving, Sasuke puts his hand on her back and caresses lightly over it.
Suddenly both of them hear a dull impact, at the same time as crunching gravel and the breaking of autumn leaves lying on the ground. Surprised, Sakura leans forward to see past her husband and the path down to the right. A couple of children have gathered there and are laughing, pointing with their fingers towards the floor where another child is half siting, half lying. The children start pulling on the old and tattered school bag of the little girl who is sitting on the floor, wearing worn out clothing and shoes. "Hey!" Upset at the scene unfolding behind her husband, Sakura quickly pushes herself off from the car and walks with quick steps towards the children, in order to help the girl on the ground. “Leave her alone!” She says angrily and stops near the group. Sasuke too comes closer, watching her glare at the other children, while he crouches down to the girl. The children look up at her fearfully, scream and run away. The young Haruno shakes her head with a snort at their behaviour. She can’t believe that even in elementary school the children are already so mean, and then to someone like this girl, who obviously has it difficult enough. Most likely, she belongs to the old, run-down orphanage behind her. With a silent sigh, she turns to the blonde girl who doesn't seem to be older than 7 years and her husband who is helping her up. She looks at her sympathetically. "Hey, is everything okay?" She explores carefully and bends down to the little one as well, with a loving smile on her lips. The little girl lets herself helped up, as both of them take her by her hands and pull her back onto her feet. The blonde nods hesitant at her question and then wipes her hands over her eyes, you can tell by the twisted lips that she is crying, even if no tears can be seen.
"Please don’t cry. Everything is okay.” She whispers lovingly while stroking the little girl's hair. "Come, we will take you home." Sakura holds out a hand to the girl, which the girl cautiously embraces two of her fingers and looks uncertainly up at the pink haired woman. She smiles encouragingly at her and then takes the first step forward. The little one also starts moving and they approach Sasuke, who has taken a few steps backwards and looks gently at his wife, with his hands buried into his trouser pockets. His eyes move away from the Haruno and down at the child with sympathy, who looks up at him uncertainly and then pulls Sakura to the right through the broken wooden gate. The partially dried up lawn is mostly covered with death leaves. The gravel from the path crunches underneath the weight of the Haruno and the Uchiha, who follows the two in silence. Without a word, the blonde girl pulls her up the three steps and towards the front door, which she then opens and goes in.
Sakura looks over her shoulder and at her husband, who closes the door behind themselves and then comes to a stop right next to her. A young woman emerges from one of the rooms and looks at the couple in surprise, before turning to the blond little girl. "Hello Hotaru. There you are." The brunette woman smiles and strokes the girl over her blond hair, who has already let go of Sakura’s fingers and has approached the other woman instead. Without a word, the little girl walks past the woman and goes out into the room from which the woman came. "Has something happened?" The brunette woman inquires worriedly at the couple. "A couple of children were bullying and pushing her around." Explains the Haruno, which makes the young woman sighs in disappointment, before smiling at them again. “Thank you for helping her out. Is there anything I can do to help you?” She looks at the couple questioningly, when Sakura raises her voice again. "Well, actually..." she begins a little hesitant and looks around the hallway and she notices that it doesn't look any better than on the outside either. "Actually, I wanted to give the children a nice Christmas, but... What happened here?" Sakura looks at the brunette woman with a sad, questioning look, who starts to sigh and closes her eyes for a moment, before looking back at them.
“The orphanage has been forgotten by the city.” The supervisor of the orphanage starts to explain, before looking up at the Uchiha, who starts to frown at her words. “No repairs and hardly anything else was done. Some of the windows are broken, making some of the rooms uninhabitable. The roof is leaking and the heaters sometimes stops working.” The woman continues explaining and looks around the house sadly. The helpless look of the woman in the middle of this house, makes Sakura feel a pang of pain in her chest. "You need help." The pink haired woman states the obvious, which she knew from the very beginning ever since she discovered the house. The supervisor nods sadly at her statement and looks to the ground. “May we have a look around?” Sasuke suddenly asks, which surprises not only her, but also his wife too. The supervisor nods briefly, which Sasuke responds with an appreciative smile, before he takes his wife’s hand and walks through the house with her to have a look around the place. Each room shakes the two of them to their core. One more than the previous one. You see children playing with old things, next to broken beds and mattresses lying on the floor. A few others are playing tag and run past the shaken couple.
"Don't you even want to ask one of the children what they want for Christmas?" The Uchiha inquires after a few minutes, while he closes one of the doors behind himself again and prevents the cold from entering. He examines her questioningly, watching how she slowly lifts her head and looks at him with sad eyes. "No, I do not want to. You can do so if you want, but I don't need to ask. I already know the answer." She mumbles broken and shakes her head as she walks on. Sasuke watches her in silence, seeing how close this all is getting to her. With a sigh he crouches down next to one of the playing children, which he estimates to be around 5 years old. "Hey." He smiles friendly, making the young girl look up at him from her stuffed animal. "Will you tell me what you want for Christmas?" Sasuke explores and looks at the little girl, who lowers her gaze again to her stuffed animal and ties its little arms together as if it were praying. "That Mommy and Daddy will come back and take me home." The little girl mumbles. Sasuke stares at her stuffed bunny with widening eyes, before swallowing and gently caressing the girl's short hair. He gets up again and walks to his wife, who is leaning against the wall around the next corner. "It tears your heart apart, doesn't it?" She looks up at him questioningly, seeing how he comes closer and puts his arm around her shoulders to take her into a hug.
The two of them walk slowly on and want to go back down the stairs, when a girl comes up to the both from the side, with a little boy by the hand. “You are not allowed to close the orphanage. The house is old and broken, but the supervisors do their best and take good care of us.” The girl exclaims seriously, which Sasuke guesses only having become a teenager recently. Sakura smiles gently at the girl and bends down to her height. “We don't want to close the orphanage. We want to help you.” The girl stares for a moment into her emerald eyes, before she nods and takes the little boy into one of the rooms. Sakura watches after the girl, before the two return to the supervisor in the kitchen, who welcomes them with a smile. “Where are the other caretakers?” Sasuke explores after a moment of silence, when he notices that he only met children. “One is running errands and the other is at a children’s clinic with one of the boys.” Explains the supervisor, as Sakura too starts to ask another question. "How many children are you taking care of right now?" Both Sasuke and the brunette can see how much this all is getting to her. “Almost 30. But we only have about 18 beds, the rest are broken. The little ones have to share the beds with each other.” The young Haruno has to swallow hard. She never thought that it could be that bad. This is worse than she could have ever imagined. "Thank you. We should slowly go then." Sasuke replies with a slight traditional bow and gently pushes his wife to the door, where they say goodbye to the supervisor and then return to their car.
"These poor children." It escapes the shocked Haruno’s lips in a form of a gasp. All the thinks she saw and heard are simply too much for her to process. The Uchiha nods in silence, still in shock from all the heart breaking informations. He doesn't know what to say. He slowly starts the engine, after they have sat down in his car again and then drives into the direction of the previously targeted restaurant. Neither of them said anything through their ride to their lunch break. Each of them deep in thoughts. Only when they enter the restaurant and ordered their food, Sasuke comes up with a different topic in order to lighten up the mood a little and think of something else, but he himself notices how difficult it is after seeing all that. Because of this, the mood between them becomes very gloomy, even when they talk about good news like Itachi’s and Misuki’s upcoming parenthood. “It's all just too much. They don’t need repairing. They need a complete new house, with new furniture, new clothes and everything." The pinkette suddenly utters while eating. Sasuke looks at his wife in surprise, while she keeps talking more to herself than to him. "In order to do such things, one would have to organize an event to collect donations for a completely new and designed house..." Sakura falls slowly silent, the desperation visible in her eyes.
"Why don't you do it then?" It is more of an idea than a question, which comes over her husbands lips. “What?” She looks at him, perplexed, as her food drops from her chopsticks and back on her plate. “I'm supposed to organize a fundraising event? Do you really think so?” Sasuke nods in silence and can’t stop himself from smiling crookedly, when he sees her incredulous and baffled face. "Of course. Nobody can empathize with the children better than you and so nobody can sensitize others to their problems better than you.” Sasuke looks deep into her eyes, examining her as she shakes her head hopelessly. “I can't host a gala. I have no idea about such things. Nobody would be interested in it anyway." She shakes her head once again and this time even more dejectedly. "Are you kidding? Of course you can. After all, you are japans dream woman. People want to know what you are doing and what you think. You already know yourself how fast thinks about you spreed around. Whatever you do, it will be a total success.” He replies with an encouraging smile, unable to hide the amusement when he only imagines how people would fight with each other to get to interview her. "Besides, you are the best thing that could happen to these children. You have ideas and you’re the most creative woman i’ve ever met. You have the chance to change something. You can change something in those ignorant people too, Sakura. you have what it takes to convince them.” Convinced of the idea, the Uchiha smiles at his wife and rubs his thumb over the back of her hand. Even if not all should be convinced, which is near impossible to happen, there will definitely be still enough people who would feel honoured and love to work together with her.
"But who would help me with such a ridiculously mind blowing idea?" She explores, still not completely convinced about all this and he can’t help but smile, while taking her hand into his. "You have your brother with an entire advertising company, you have my father with many good contacts" His smile becomes warmer and gentler with each word that leaves his lips, intertwining his fingers with hers and giving her a gentle squeeze. "And you have me. I will support you wherever I can."
