Step 31 - Just Like Them
The same way as they did. It can be meant in a good or bad context, depending on how the story ends, but sometimes what they did can be seen as a guide. As a kind of role model. It's not a bad thing if it ends well, right? Besides, if it has helped others, why shouldn’t it also help yourself? Of course, you should always think carefully about whether you should really do take someone as an example, but you can still try things out. Perhaps it helps to do it the way as they did.
"I can hardly believe it! There’s even less than a week left until Christmas.” Natsuki whistles in a good mood when she hears one of the Christmas songs on the radio. Sakura to smiles at her words and looks out of the window for a moment. A lot has happened lately. Her planner was completely full and everything was pretty stressful, but hopefully it will be worth all the more. She ran from A to B and back to A, was in the orphanage and then again somewhere else. Her project meets with support everywhere and yet she had a lot to do and even now still has so much left to do until Christmas. Before everything starts before Christmas, she has to attend an event every day, first the company Christmas party on Saturday, the donation gala on Monday and the Christmas gala on Tuesday. Not that you might think, that she can relax in the morning. No, the donations have to be counted and then a few gifts have to be bought for the children. Hopefully they will be able to collect enough money from the donators. Hopefully she will manage to sensitize the people to the fate of the orphans. Just because these children have lost both parents, doesn't mean they are worth less than the other children. Every single one of them should be given the same opportunities as normal children have. But until now this has not been taken into account. Orphans are constantly being avoided and it just hurts her deeply. She just doesn’t understand why. It’s only the social status, which separated her from all the other orphans. She lost her parents, but she didn’t loose her social status and was pitied by everyone. It’s just not fair to separate people with the same problems, just because one has a fortune and the other doesn’t.
The young Haruno sighs slightly. She shouldn't worry about it now. Or rather, she does have the time for it now. She can only hope that everything will turn out well in the end. Instead, she decides to open a different topic to her collegue, which she watches humming with a smile. “Did you already buy your dress for Saturday?” Neither of them really has to work properly. At the moment, the priority is the completion of the models for the meeting on the next day. The meeting in which will be decided on, which employee’s project will be chosen. "Yes." The brunette exclaims with a beaming smile on her lips, as she already starts to explain it’s design. "The dress is blue and relatively simple, but I still hope that Takumi will like it." Sakura has to laugh softly at her words. When it comes to that, Natsuki always reminds her of her blond friend. She sighs again. Ino and Kiba. The two haven’t spoken to each other ever since the party. A week has passed since that day, a disaster in Kiba-and-Ino-years. Hopefully the two of them will get along soon, or at least clear things up. She really wants to have a nice holiday and above all a nice vacation. She wants it and she seriously needs it too after all that happened the last months.
"Will you finish your model today?" Sakura gets pulled out of her thoughts by her brunette friend, which animates her to look up in surprise, before she looks back at her model. "Yes." Smiling, the young Haruno gives her a nod in response and concentrates again on the pile of clay in front of her, which has already taken shape. All that is missing are the finishing touches and she can relax a little more again. Again, she is just delighted with her ability to concentrate on work, even when her mind is somewhere else. The blue eyed girl hums to herself in a good mood and continues to work on her model, while Sakura takes another look out at the sky. Thick gray clouds cover the light blue of the sky while the cold winter temperatures keep people busy. But no matter how cold it is, whether at the 0-degree limit or 1 degree below, it does not snow, everything that falls out of the clouds is rain and the young Haruno feels kind of sad, because she had hoped for a white Christmas. "I'm dreaming of a white ... christmas." She suddenly hears her friend hum softly to one of the songs, which is currently playing, making her look up with surprise before a soft laugh escapes her lips.
She turns back to her model, but gets interrupted when the door suddenly opens. Surprised, both women look up and at the door. Nobody dares to enter the office without knocking, even Sasuke knocks before he enters. The Kaseguchi appears in the doorway. With a sigh, Sakura then rolls her eyes and looks towards the floor, where she spots the red-haired woman's shoes. Red boots with rhinestones, which show the shape of normal high heels, but are laced at the front like hiking boots. But it is much more the heels of at least 10 centimeters, which is to blame for Karin's picture. Inevitably, Sakura wonders how often the redhead slipped on the smooth floor on the way to her car and it is exactly that thought which makes her grin in amusement.
“What are you grinning so stupidly?” The Kaseguchi lets out an arrogant hiss, which makes her look up at her in annoyance. “I can smile as stupidly as I want in my office. Which brings me to the topic. Have you ever heard of knocking on before you walk into someone else's office? it’s called manners.” She stays calm in her words, while putting her modelling tool aside. “I just wanted to see how far you are with your models.” Karin ignores the question of the pink haired woman and takes a quick look at Natsuki's work, before stepping closer to Sakura’s table. She supports her hands on the table top, while Sakura skeptically raises an eyebrow and throws a questioning look at the Hondo, who just as unsuspectingly shrugs her shoulders. That woman sure has some nerves for still playing the boss after all the warnings she got. "Hmm." It suddenly sounds from the Kaseguchi, whose fingers have slipped underneath the board, on which the model work is based. She lifts the board higher on one side, whereupon it slides over the edge of the desk, as the model falls on the ground together with the board. "No!" Natsuki yells in disbelief, while the young Haruno jumps up and looks at her work with surprise, which is now sticking to the floor like mud. “Are you crazy?” She yells at the redhead in front of her, which only shrugs her shoulders innocently. "Whoopsies." The Kaseguchi whistles hypocritically, while playing with a strand of her red hair.
"What's happening he-" Kakashi immediately appears in the doorway, as he was apparently across from the office and got alarmed by the scream. Startled, the redhead turns to him and exposes the picture of her crime, looking at her supervisor with big eyes in panic. "What happened here?" A deep frown shows up on his features, while he asks the question with a snort. He seems to be angry and that suggests that he can already guess what happened. "Karin came in here and willfully destroyed my model for tomorrow's meeting." Sakura immediately reports the crime, her green eyes seething with anger. The redhead immediately tries to deny this, however, before she can even open her mouth, she immediately gets interrupted harshly by the grey haired man. "Ms. Kaseguchi you are leaving this office IMMEDIATELY! You will sit down at your desk and every time you want to get up, you will first ask ME for permission!" He almost yells out his demand and raises his hand in the direction of the hall. The redhead leaves the office immediately like a huddled puppy, although puppies are far too cute to be compared to her.
"Should I talk to Mr. Uchiha?" Kakashi explores, realizing that she can hardly model the same model once again until the next day. "Not necessary. I will manage it somehow." The Haruno kneels on the floor with a sigh in order to pick up the mess which Karin created. Natsuki also lets herself sink down next to her, in order to help her and lifts the board from the clay. "Please let me know if you should change your mind." Sakura looks up at him, watching as he is already intending to leave the office again. “Can we at least throw the clay at her now?” He can still hear the anger in her voice as he can already see her dig her fingers into the pile of clay, which is still sticking to the ground. "I didn't hear that question." Her supervisor smiles innocently and raises his hands up, before finally leaving them and the office behind. A dark and malicious smile pulls on her lips and takes two handful of clay, before she gets up and walks to the office door. Natsuki follows her through the door, also armed with clay. As soon as they arrive, both of them start throwing the clay at the redhead, who is stumbling with her boots towards the open plan office. Both clay balls hit her in the back. Before she can turn around, however, the two of them throw the other two clay lumps at her as well.
Sakura’s clay ball hits her head, while Natsuki hits the back of her knee, making her kiss the ground. “Headshot!” The Haruno exclaims happily, which elicits a laugh from her friend as well. "Right on the knee!" They give each other a high-five and grin widely at the flattened Kaseguchi. “Mr. Hatake! They're throwing clay at me!” The Kaseguchi complains out to her superior like a spoiled brat, when she has identified the bullets and sees the grey haired man walk past them in silence. "I didn't see anything." The man just explains, his voice sounding bored, while the two women in the back know exactly that he is actually enjoying this jus as much as them. She deserved it and everyone knows that. His gaze wanders from the redhead to the floor, before he looks back at the other two women. "Clear away the dirt and then go back to your office." He then continues, pointing to the clay lumps on the floor, before disappearing into the open plan office. “This is bullying!” Karin stomps her foot on the floor like an offended little brat who doesn’t get things the way she wants, which makes the Haruno laugh even more. "Isn’t that exactly what you always do? Is hard, isn’t it, getting delivered back by someone else tenfold? Maybe next time you will think before acting, bimbo." Bemused, she makes a hand sign to her friend and then turns around. “Would you like some tea?” The Hondo then asks her with concern, which the pinkette responds to with a smile. "Sure. Now that you mention it, i could really need one now, before I have to clear away that woman’s filth from the office." Natsuki laughs amused at her choice of words, while they already make their way towards the kitchen.
~> * <~
Sasuke closes the folder with a deep and tired sigh and leans back in his armchair. He pauses for a moment before turning slightly to look back and out of his office window. The darkness has long since spread over Tokyo. Like almost every day when he leaves work. Now in winter it's not very surprising either, but a look at the clock confirms his suspicion that it is shortly before 7.30pm, animating him to get up and distribute the stack of processed folders in the filing unit, before preparing himself for his departure towards home.
He's been going home early the whole last week, but there was a lot of work for him to do again today. Even if they have now hired someone who will help him with his job so that he can go home earlier, if only by an hour, he still has a lot to do. But at least, an hour is still an hour more to relax. In addition, the training of this employee took a lot of time last week, which had been the main reason as to why he had to do some of the pent-up work today and now it has become so late again. Sakura would be waiting for him at home with the meal now, if she wasn't so busy with the preparations for the fundraising gala. A smile pulls on his lips. He feels a little pity on her. Normally she puts her legs up as soon as she gets home and cooked the meal, but lately she’s going through a lot of stress as well and keeps working and planing even at weekends.
He sighs again and then shuts down the computer, while stowing his tablet into his work bag. After the company holidays, over Christmas and New Year, everything should have been integrated and he should be able to leave the office more early in a regular patern. Even if it’s only by an hour, it will still be one more hour that he can spend together with Sakura. He also prefers to watch something with her in the evening, than to go to his office after dinner and continue working there. He snorts at himself in amusement, since he wouldn’t have considered such thoughts a year ago.
The Uchiha then finally takes his winter coat and his work bag, stows his smartphone in the inside pocket of his suit and then walks towards his office door to switch off the lights and lock the office door behind himself. His legs carry him through his secretary's empty office and out into the empty hallway. The hallways are only lit by a few lights, which serve for the security camera, while all office lights are switched off as well. As always, he's one of the last ones at work, but probably not just on this floor, but in the entire building. The night watchmen would be the only ones which are still here besides him. His gaze is fixed on the floor, but comes to a halt again when another light source catches his attention. Surprised, his head moves to the right passage, where he can see an open door to the right, from which he can see light and even hear music playing.
He slowly approaches the office, which is clearly that of his wife. Probably the two women just forgot to turn off the light and simply overheard the radio at their departure. Which doesn’t surprise him in his wife’s case. After all, she has been overwhelmed with tasks lately. He looks carefully into the office, intent to close the lights as he stands in front of it. But instead of finding an empty office, he discovers his wife sitting at her desk with some modeling tools in hand. “What are you still doing here?” He enters the office in silence, the surprise clearly written on his face. A tired sigh leaves her lips in response to his question, but she doesn't turn her gaze to him and continues to concentrate on the model. “Has it really gotten that late?” She then instead asks a counter questions, while he walks closer to her desk. "It's already half past seven." Sasuke puts his bag on the sideboard behind him and his coat next to it, before watching her in her doings again. “Weren't you long since done with your model?” He then asks the most obvious question, eliciting another sigh from her. She doesn’t really sound annoyed. More than that it was the tiredness which is written in her face. "I would be finished already if that red bimbo didn’t decide to barge in this morning and willfully destroy it." His dark eyes widen in disbelief at her words. Letting her words go through his head a few more times before he could actually grasp that woman’s actions. "She has what?" She can clearly hear the shock in his voice. Of course. After all, no one had expected for that woman to go as far as to do such a thing on the last day before the deadline. "She just threw my model on the floor." Sakura then decides to explain to him in more detail, which makes him frown. "This woman is so, so..." An angry growl leaves his lips, while shaking his head in anger. There are just no mortal words to describe how much this woman disgusts him. “Kakashi has already put her back into her place, since he was in the office across from here when she played that stunt. She isn’t even allowed to go to the bathroom without his permission and Natsuki and I shot her down with the remnants of my former model.“ She lifts her gaze up and smiles at him towards the end of her explanation. It’s written in her face how much she had enjoyed doing that.
"Good." He replies to her with a smile of his own, giving her the impression that he was even proud of her for doing that. "But it can't go on like this either. You need a break. We'll just postpone tomorrow's meeting for a few more days. You deserve at least as much as that.” His hand covers hers, in order to prevent her from continuing. “Come on, we're going home. That's it for today." He stays gentle in his words and carefully removes the modeling tool from her hand to set it aside. She sighs resignedly in response and arranges the board with the model on top, then turns to the computer to turn it off. Sasuke watches her in silence as she packs her things up and turns off the radio and gets up on her hurting feet, which stem from sitting and not moving for too long. “You must be completely tired.” He then remarks silently, while she pulls her coat off the backrest and hangs her purse over her shoulder. A slight and tired smile pulls on her lips, while walking around her table to lean herself against his chest with a sigh. “Yeah... I’m sorry for ever saying that you are married to your work.” A soft chuckle escapes his lips at her apology, before his arms wrap around her body for a hug and presses his lips on the top of her head.
Sasuke rests his cheeks on her head and studies her work for a moment. "Actually, i'm really looking forward to your presentation now." Sakura has to smile at his confession, before he breaks the hug, to take his belongings. “Your model is clearly representing a car. Or did you actually mean it seriously at the party, when you said that you would much rather design cars?” He explores and takes her hand in his, which she responds to with a smile. “No, that was just a joke. Maybe sometime later. But at the moment I'm satisfied with my place in here.” He nods in understanding, before they leave the office and Sakura switches off the lights. “Can I really leave the model here like that? What if Karin destroys it again tomorrow morning?” She tells him about her concerns, which makes him smile with a shake of his head. "Just lock the office up." Not letting him repeat himself, she follows his advice and locks the office, before putting the key into her handbag. They set off and walk towards the elevator, which quickly arrives and opens it’s doors for them to enter. "But somehow Kaseguchi has to be punished for this nonsense. I can’t let her get off so easily. She has violated too much for me to close an eye on this." Sasuke starts with the previous topic and thinks about it briefly, while both of them enter the elevator and turn to face the doors. "I know. I will just pay the hours you worked overtime for the model, with her loan." He smiles towards his wife, who looks at him in disbelief. “That's bullshit!” She laughs slightly while shaking her head, but he isn’t the same thought as her. "No I do not think so. She was the one who willfully destroyed the model you worked on for weeks, so she can just as willfully give up her loan to you for your overtime’s. It’s her own fault if she acts without using her head.” Sakura has to laugh in amusement. She has to shake her head, but in the end of the day it’s his decision. After all he is the boss and he can do whatever he things is right. However, she can’t deny that she likes his idea. She would really love to see that woman’s face when she realizes how deep she has cut herself with her own stunts. She’s just too stupid for her own good.
“Go home with me. We'll just leave your car here.” He gently puts an arm around her waist and pulls her close to his side. “You have concentrated so much on your work all day, I don't want to put you up with that traffic now.” Leaning his cheek against her head, the corners of his lips pull up when he can feel her nod in response. The elevator doors open again at their destination, letting the two of them step out. With his arm still wrapped around her waist, they walk towards the underground parking lot, where he unlocks his car and sinks into his seat. "How about if we order something to eat? They should arrive just about the same time as us, so we won’t have to wait any extra time." He suggests to her, since she must be pretty tired. After all, he knows exactly how tired a person can get from concentrating on work all day. "What do you want?" Sakura already pulled out her smartphone, ready to order, while he drives out of the underground parking lot, which is already empty. “What do you feel like eating?” He then just asks a counter question and gives her a quick side glance. “Chinese?” Sasuke nods with a smile, while driving onto the street. He doesn’t need to tell her what he wants. After all, she already knows his favourites anyway.
The music sounds silently from the radio, while he is steering his car through the streets. After ordering the food, Sakura has snuggled herself deeper into the heated seat and closes her eyes. He can't even blame her if she falls asleep now. What the Kaseguchi did there again is simply irresponsible and he can’t believe how many times he had thought this in the last few months. You can't just destroy a colleague's work. Itachi and his father will agree and pay Sakura's overtime with the redheads' salary. It sounds only fair to him. She wouldn't even have to work the overtime if the Kaseguchi hadn't decided to destroy the model just one day before the meeting. She shouldn’t have done it in the first place. Actually, she can ascribe it all to herself. It’s her own fault that she won’t get paid this month. He sighs in silence, but annoyed. This woman strains his nerves to a degree where he just can’t take it any longer. After his father had throughoutly put her back into her place, he had thought that she would finally be quiet and get more serious about work, but even that didn't help. She probably just took a break from being a bitch. Yeah, he isn’t sorry for addressing that woman that way. He can understand all too well why she now always has to get permission from Kakashi, even if she just meant to go to get herself a coffee. He himself would pin a guard on her heels who watches her every step, but at the same time she isn’t worth the extra costs at all. If he hears her name being brought up to him one more time, he won’t hesitate to kick her out this time. He just has enough of that woman and her actions. Not only does she walk around like a slut, when in fact his family has strict rules about clothing at the company, but she also bullies, harasses and physically harms her co-workers. He would have long since reported her to the police, instead of just giving her some stupid warnings, if it hadn’t been for Sakura being too good to that woman.
After a few quiet minutes, he then steers his car into the driveway and opens the garage door through remote control. Leaving the car outside would not even occur to him in a dream. He really doesn’t have the nerve to scrape the ice off the windows first thing in the morning. When the car rolls backwards, his wife opens her eyes and looks around briefly. A quiet sigh escapes her lips, waiting as he switches off the engine, before the two of them leave the vehicle, take their things and walk towards the connecting door, through which they enter their warm villa. "Somehow fresh here." She notes, while entering the actual foyer and peels herself out of her coat and shoes. Sasuke too hangs up his coat and puts his shoes aside, before letting out a sigh of relief. Finally home.
Suddenly the loud growl of Sakura’s stomach disturbs the silence of the house, which makes Sasuke laugh out laud. "The food is coming soon." He then reassures her and walks towards the stairs. Sakura quickly follows him with bright red cheeks, to put on warmer clothes. On the upper steps she finally wants to push past him, which he of course notices and laughs softly, wraps his arms around her stomach and prevents her from running away. "Don’t move." He then whispers softly next to her ear and presses her back closer against his chest. The two go on laboriously. Just a few steps later his wife makes him stop in his doings and stands on his feet. Just like little children standing on their parents' feet to take their first, not their own, steps. "Okay, continue!” She then says with a nod, which makes him laugh again. He cuddles himself even closer to her and then slowly and carefully continues on his way, while carrying her on his feet and into the bedroom. Sakura gets off his feet again when he has arrived and heads straight for her closet.
Sasuke shakes his head with a slight smile and then pulls out his sweatpants, shirt and sweater. They change clothes next to each other and when the pink-haired girl tries to find one of her jogging sweatshirts, he simply puts his over her head. She laughs and slips into it’s long sleeves, while he puts on a sweatshirt too. Smiling, she then shakes her head and goes ahead, because Sasuke is still changing his socks. Quietly humming, she walks back down the stairs and goes on search for her smartphone, in order to sit down with it in front of the television. It's relatively fresh, which is why she takes a look around in order to see if they might have forgotten to close one of the windows this morning.
"I'll make a fire." She suddenly hears her husband's voice behind herself, which makes her look up. Her head nods once, before she decides to cuddle herself deeper into the couch, from where she also has a direct view of the fireplace, which he is now approaching. "Then let me go look if we forgot any windows open somewhere.” She then suggests and shortly afterwards walks through all the rooms, only to find out what she knows anyway. All windows are closed. Sighing, she comes back into the living room and looks up when she hears the crackling of a fire. “It's gotten pretty cold. I'll turn the heaters up as well." He watches her walk back to the couch with a nod, before he himself walks downstairs.
Just as the Uchiha is about to go back into the living room, the doorbell rings, giving him the message that the food has finally arrived. He quickly fishes his wallet out of his work bag and then opens the door for the delivery man, quickly pays for the food and then takes the food from the man, before he closes the door again and thus locks out the cold. The ringing of a cell phone catches his attention, which causes him to pause briefly, before recognizing it as his wife's and walking back towards the living room. "Hey, Ryosuke!" He hears his wife answering the call. She hasn't talked to him for a long time and if only because of the fundraising gala, that's why he decides to wait in the door and allow her to be with her brother. "You want to take Honoka into the family?" He hears his wife say, after a moment of talking, which perks his interest "Sure, I always wanted to have a big sister!" A small grin pulls on his lips when he hears her obvious teasing. "I know that you were trying to say that you want to marry. I was just teasing you." She laughs, amused, before continuing to investigate. “So it’s finally time, huh?” He notices how she suddenly falls silent for a moment. “You want to propose to her. You mean something I never got?” This sentence makes the black haired man look down.
Right. A proposal is something every woman wants, isn't it? And she never got one, because she got engaged to him. They never had an official engagement party. He couldn’t even at least put the ring on afterwards. They didn't meet again until the wedding. But what if they had been put in an apartment together right after the engagement? Would things be different now? "Sure I'll see what I can arrange for you." Sakura's voice tears him out of his deep thoughts and back to reality. "Okay, see you then.“ Only when he hears her say those words, he dares to enter the living room again and sinks down on the couch next to her. "Here." Handing her the food that is meant for her, he gives her a genuine smile. "Thank you." He watches her as she takes the food box and on the table, placing the chopsticks on top of it. She briefly disappears from the room, only to come back with two glasses and a bottle of Sprite. “Ryosuke called. He would like to propose to Honoka at my fundraising gala.” She then starts to tell him about her phone call and pours some of the liquid into both glasses. "Oh yeah?" He asks, surprised by the day and the place which his old friend chose for it. Sakura nods slightly and leans back against the couch, while opening her food box.
"In moments like this... Do you regret having agreed to the engagement?" His question is hesitant, while he leans back right next to her and looks into her face. “Sometimes for a moment, but in the end we can't change it and now, in retrospect, it's also nonsensical. Besides…” She pauses for a moment. “If i got a proposal, would i have gotten something like I have with you now? Would I then also sit with my spouse in front of the television with an ordered Chinese meal and at the same time in front of the fireplace? At some point, i can’t even imagine anymore that it could have been someone else than you. I can’t imagine someone else being my best friend for life. There is just you." Sakura smiles gently at her husband, who looks at her with widened eyes. "I think that it is as good as it is. They both will know what they are doing when they get engaged. And we... i like how we are right now. Even if there is no romantic love now, who cares?” Sasuke too smiles at her words, before he moves closer to her and let’s her cuddle herself against his side. For a moment he leans his cheek against her head again, while she puts her legs over his and both divert their attention back to the television.
"How are things going for you at the moment? I mean, do you have less work to do now that it’s Christmas season?” The Haruno asks after a while of silence, as she puts her empty china box on the table. He in the other hand replies to her with a soft hum, while taking a sip from his glass. “I’ve noticed that you came home earlier than usual last week and that even almost regularly.” Her eyes are fixed on her husband, who puts his glass down on the table and returns her gaze. “No… it’s that…” He starts and then turns properly to her, to take her hand in his. “We have hired someone who does a few tasks for me so that I can go home earlier and so that the two of us can spend some time together without me having to go back upstairs for work.” He smiles at her amazed expression, watching her in silence for a while before deciding on continuing to explain. "Today it took me longer again, because I had to train the man and that's why a lot has piled up on my desk again. I try to do it like my father did. He was always at home at 8pm and spend some time with us before we went to sleep. Mum always said that he still worked, but she didn't mind. She said it was enough for her that she could sit next to him while reading a book." The corner of his lips pul up into a warm smile, while he brushes one of her strands behind her ear. "The new employee takes some of my tasks off of me, but not the most time consuming ones. If he did, I would be able to come home every day at 5pm, instead of 7pm." He then continues, watching as she too starts to smile. "You want to spend more time with me?" Sasuke nods and gives her a kiss on her temple.
They turn back to the series they were currently watching, with her on his lap. They sit there in silence, holding each other’s hand and sometimes even unconsciously playing with each other’s fingers. Or in his case, playing with her curls. “Was there something your parents did? As a kind of ritual, or something like that?“ The Uchiha explores when the series is over and the adds are running, watching as she lifts her gaze up at him with a melancholic smile. "Do you remember when I danced with Ryosuke at the wedding?" She replies with a question. “You mean like, when you started to cry?" He then asks a little confused, which she responds to with a nod. It’s not like that was something one could easily forget. Something that makes a woman cry at their wedding. “My parents actually had something like a ritual. Whenever they heard a certain song, they started dancing to it. It was the song I danced to with Ryosuke." Sasuke nods in silence, before considering her words for a moment. "Okay. Get up.“ He pats her thigh gently, watching as she follows his instruction and gets up from his legs in confusion. He switches the television to the radio and pulls her towards the open space in front of the fireplace, which radiates nice warmth. "So. The next song will be the one, we will always dance to from now on. Just like your parents always did.” He then explains his plans to her as the current song slowly nears it’s end. Sakura smiles touched and responds to him with a slight nod. But when the next song starts to play, she can't help but burst out into laugher. "Okay, forget that. We'll take the one after that.” Sasuke then says with an equally amused smile. The song that is now playing is Numb from Linkin Park, which is not exactly romantic.
Smiling in amusement, Sakura looks at the television and simply enjoys standing near her husband and the warm fireplace. Her husband's arm lays around her, while his hand gently caresses her back up and down. A few minutes later the song nears it’s end, making the couple listen carefully. "And now comes a song for the couples in love among you." The moderator then announces happily. Sakura looks up at her husband, who smiles slightly at her, as the first sounds of the music set in. Soft piano sounds fill the room, the Uchiha gently takes her hand and with the singer's voice they start to stand up blues. A small smile lies on the Haruno’s lips, as she leans her head on his shoulder. She just finds it so sweet of him that he always wants to do this for her now. There is also a smile pulling on his lips as he leans his cheek on her forehead. He lets go of her hand, which finds it’s place on his back, just as his is on her waist. Sakura closes her eyes with relish and gently presses her forehead to his cheek. They dance to the music in small, even movements. Turning a little bit with every step.
The fire flickers in the fireplace and is the only source of light in the room, since the television's radio has a black image. It cracks softly as the fire digs deeper into the piece of wood. Sakura smiles sadly as she remembers her parents' dances. She could cry, but the moment is so beautiful right now, she doesn't want to destroy it with tears. She swallows lightly and then focuses back on the regular beating of Sasuke's heart. Only now does she realize that her husband’s hands have long since ceased to rest on her waist and have slid lower. This fact turns her cheeks reddish, making her smile from shyness. Slowly the song, I wanna grow old with you by Westlife, ends and is immediately replaced by another music.
"I'm dreaming..." He lets out a hum at his own words and grabs his wife's right hand again to hold it tight with his. He leans his cheek against hers and begins to take bigger steps as he moves in a good mood to the music. Sakura has to laugh, because he reminds her more of Naruto at that moment. "And a pirouette!" He then exclaims and stretches his arm up. Giggling, his wife turns on her own axis and falls back into his arms. "You can do better!" The Uchiha too laughs, as she repeats the rotation. He pulls her to his side and puts his arm around her waist, hugging her. With her he takes two small steps to the right, bends slightly on the right and then does the same in the other direction. The Haruno laughs again in a good mood and lets her husband pull her back into his arms. They end up again in the standing blues and listen as the song ends. "Sakura?" She hears him mumble after a while against her forehead, which she responds to with a hum. Her eyes closed. “Do we have cookies?” She sighs inwardly at his question. Actually, she doesn't want to let him go now and stay like this for a little longer. "At least you haven't eaten those from the weekend." She mumbles silently against his shoulder, trying to pull it out a little longer. “Will you come with me?” He then asks briefly, which she just responds to by shaking her head and letting go of him.
He immediately disappears towards the kitchen, where he opens all the cupboards and looks around for his cookies. Another smile pulls on Sakura's lips. He's always so cute when it comes to his cookies. In no time at all, the Uchiha opened all the cabinet doors and drawers, only to close them again in disappointment when he does not discover any cookies. He sighs in agony. His wife is such a meanie for saying that there are still some, only for it to turn out that she actually hid them away from him. He returns to her in the living room and watches her decorating the room. “Do you really want to continue decorating now?” He asks doubtfully. “At some point I have to finish that, but another question. Shall we put up a Christmas tree?” Her green eyes fixate the jewelry in her hand, as he shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know, after all we're celebrating at my father's." Sasuke just ponders, watching as she turn back to look at him. He pulls her into his arms with a smile, pressing her back against his chest and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Sakura smiles slightly embarrassed and looks at the jewelry in her hand. Sasuke averts his gaze from the blazing fire. "Sakura?" He murmurs softly next to her ear, watching her stare at the jewelry with great interest. “Where are the cookies?” He asks slightly pleading, which makes her laugh out softly and gets out of his arms, to put the jewelry back in the box. When she leaves the room he immediately follows her to the kitchen, but gets hold up by her, before he can reach said door. “You wait here!” She smiles decisively and pushes him back into the foyer next to the door, so that he cannot look at the cooking area of the kitchen. He crosses his arms and hums softly as she enters the kitchen, listening as she is opening the door to one of the cupboards and then rummages around. "Here." He then hears her say as she places the package on the counter.
Sasuke slowly enters the kitchen and approaches the counter, briefly looks at the packaging and then at his wife. "You are not a cupcake. You are a cookie bear!" He then says with confidence, making her look around at him in confusion and he has to smile when he sees the doubt written in her face. “My mother used to have a cookie jar. It was a simple, white cookie jar held by a roaring bear. She wanted to prevent me from eating cookies all the time." The black haired man explains to his wife, who then starts to smile in amusement. So his addiction is actually a thing of his childhood. "You're a cookie bear." He then says with a grin, watching as his wife is backing off as if trying to flee from him. "You are a bear." He continues, taking another step towards her. "A sweet little bear." He smiles when he can see her back coming in contact with the wall. His hand rests on her cheek and he bends down a little. "My little bear." He breathes those words against her lips, emphasizing the my in his claim even more, before kissing her gently. His thumb brushes her cheek as he hugs her with his other arm and squeezes her close to his chest. Smiling, she returns her husband's kiss and puts her arms around his neck.
"I have a suggestion for you." He then explains to her, as they break the kiss again with a soft smooch. She looks up into his eyes with interest. "A movie." He begins. "Cookies." His lips curl into a warm smile. "And cocoa." His wife thinks about it briefly, before agreeing to it with a smile. He lets go of her and takes the biscuits to carry them over to the living room, while she would quickly cook a pot of cocoa for the booth of them and follows him back into the living room. She sees him adding some more wood to the fireplace, as she enters the room and puts the pot on the table. "And." The Uchiha then suddenly continues his words from before, stepping behind her again as he puts his arms around her, only to cuddle himself closer with a smile. "I won't let you go for the rest of the evening."
