Friends & Family   von dragonfighter
                           (The Clumsy & The Lonely)
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                         Kapitel 33: Step 33 - Appeal
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There are two kinds of attractions. Physical and emotional attraction.
Attraction is a strange magnetism that makes you unable to think straight, but
this kind of magnetism mostly doesn’t last long. The thing is, people often
mistake attraction for love and misunderstand love for attraction. Who says that
it's love at first sight clearly never heard of attraction before. You might be
attracted to a person but it does not necessarily mean that you are in love with
them. Attraction can happen any time of the day, while love is something that
takes time to grow. To put it simply, love does entail attraction, but
attraction can exist without love. You can simply say you're attracted to
someone because of their beauty, talents and or personality, but love goes
beyond that. Love doesn’t need a reason. But hey, attraction is a step towards
love too. It takes time to fall in love, yes, but the more you open your heart
to the possibility, the greater chance it is for you to make it grow to
something more meaningful than just a plain lure of your carnal instincts.



Music echoes from the speakers through the hall, mingling with the many voices
of the people present. Many are having conversations with other colleagues,
while a few are on the dance floor dancing. There are also some standing outside
on the snow-covered balcony to smoke. "Yeah, yeah. We have never had this much
snow at any of our company’s past Christmas parties.” Fugaku is sipping on
his drink, while taking a look through the crowds. As it is usually the case
with company celebrations, he is either with his family, or with the board of
directors and the department heads. "Well, it makes the whole atmosphere even
more Christmas-like." Misuki smiles and looks around too, searching for a
certain person. "Sasuke, where did you hide Sakura anyway?" The oldest Uchiha
turns to his younger son, watching him sigh with a slight shrug. "I don't know
either. I haven’t seen her ever since we handed in our coats. It seems to me
as if she’s making a complete secret of her dress.” He too starts to look
around the place in silence, searching the crowds for his wife’s pink hair.
 
"Wow." It suddenly leaves Fugaku’s lips, his eyes fixated past his youngest
son. Sasuke turns around in surprise at his reaction, as does his big brother
and sister in law. Everyone's attention is focused on the Haruno, which is
approaching them in her white evening dress with a smile on her lips. "Hey." She
greets her relatives in a good mood, coming to a halt right next to Sasuke, whom
she then gently pulls down by his arm, to give him a kiss on his cheek. "Sakura,
your dress is a dream!" Misuki immediately compliments her with a wide smile.
Said woman looks around at her sister in law too and lets out a slight laugh.
“Thank you, Misuki. Yours is also beautiful!" Sakura looks once more over her
in the pink dress, which also slightly covers up her growing belly.

"You look so beautiful again today." Sasuke has leaned himself slightly towards
her, whispering those words into her ears, which makes makes her blush. "Well,
Sakura, I heard that you are the one who designed the product which we will be
marketing in the new year." Fugaku then diverts her attention to himself, making
the said woman smile in slight embarrassment. “Well... Yes, it seems to be
like that.” She scratches the back of her head, watching her father in law
giving her an earnest smile. “Tell me and Misuki about the product.” The
oldest Uchiha then demands with interest, looking at said woman and then back at
Sakura, who nods in understanding. “Well, i thought that for those who have a
baby, it would be hard to vacuum clean the house and take care of the baby in
the crawling space at the same time. So that's why I thought that a vacuum
cleaner in form of a car would be nice. It can be used with remote control or
per steering wheel too.” Fugaku smiles proudly at her explained product, while
Misuki seems quite impressed. 
 
"Where have you been for the last hour and a half?" Itachi then interjects after
a moment of silence, since the pink haired woman has not been with them ever
since she arrived to the party together with her husband. "Because, unlike you,
I have actually other friends here." She pretends to be cocky while making her
statement into the round, which makes her husband snort in amusement. Her head
wipes around at the sound, grinning just as amused. "It is true after all. I
have definitely more friends than you and the department heads don't count.”
She slightly hits her husband with her elbow against his ribcage, watching how
he touches the place with surprise, before he too looks at her and suddenly he
feels this deep desire to kiss her again. He's buzzing inside, because they are
still keeping their relationship about being husband and wife, a secret as much
as possible in the company. All because she doesn’t want people to think that
she got her job because of her marrying the creative department’s boss and
because of that red haired woman, who would give her even less rest than she
already does. Itachi laughs amused at her statement to her husband. “And how
many friends do you have in the company?” His wife then turns to her laughing
brother in law with a wide grin, which makes him fall silent again. Sasuke has
to chuckle at that. "Definitely less than I do." He has fun, watching his big
brother clicking his tongue and look almost offended away from them. “I wonder
how your child will be, if they are like this. Do you already know when it’s
time?” Sakura then redirects the topic with a sigh, which he sister in law
responds to with a nod. "In April." Misuki smiles and caresses her
5-month-belly. "So there is a high chance for it to be an Aries like me,
that’s nice! But the bad thing is that I'll be an year older by then." The
pinkette lets out a soft and annoyed grumble at her own note, making her husband
look down at her in confusion. "What's so bad about it?" She shakes her head
with a sigh, while slightly gesticulating with her hands. “You see, I'll be 24
years old by then.” his wife lets out another grumble, but when she sees him
still as confused as before, she turns towards him with a pout. "It means that i
will be an years closer to 30!" Her words elicits an amused laugh from all of
their relatives, which makes her pout even more.

only when Sasuke takes notice of red hair, he lets out a grumble. "Over there is
the Kaseguchi." Everyone falls silent at his words, the laugher in the round
completely dying out in an instant. "Well then, i'll go over to her now and let
her know. Itachi.“ Fugaku looks at his older son, to make him come as well.
"I'll come with you too." Sasuke then says and walks with them away, leaving the
two women behind. "What does he want to inform her about?" Misuki looks at her
sister in law in astonishment, who just shrugs her shoulders with a smile. "She
thought it would be cool to play the center of attention again and destroyed my
model one day before the deadline. I had to work overtime because of that, so
they decided they would pay me with her loan." A slight laugh escapes her lips
at her own explanation and takes a look around for one of the waiters, which are
walking around with various drinks on their serving trays. When one of them
finally walks past her, she immediately takes an iced tea from his tray and
hands it to her sister in law, who gratefully accepts it.
 
Sasuke turns his attention to the front again and ends his brief look over his
shoulder at the Uchiha women, even if his name hasn’t left either of their
lips. The three men slowly come to a stop in front of the redhead, who of course
has chosen a totally inappropriate dress for the evening. Fortunately, she's not
invited to the Christmas gala or the fundraising gala, because the dress would
be a total scandal and would put the Uchiha name into a bad light. Extremely
short and tight, as well as revealing. It’s like she came to a club, or even a
brothel. She just doesn’t know where the limits are and it pisses him off so
much. He really would love to badmouth her, saying what she is in his eyes, but
by any means, he doesn’t want to degrade himself to her level. "Ms.
Kaseguchi." Fugaku raises his firm and serious voice and it’s a miracle that
she doesn’t even flinch at all. "Yes?” The woman immediately turns to the
three men with a suggestive smile, making the youngest of the three men cringe a
little. The eldest of the Uchiha’s clears his throat briefly before continuing
with a stern look. "Feel informed, that the overtime worked by Ms. Haruno will
be deducted from your loan." He then announces with another piercing look.
It’s obvious that none of them could stand her and her behaviour in the
slightest, but she’s just too stupid to see it. Or rather, she just shuts her
eyes, because she doesn’t want to see it. "I hope, this won't happen a second
time.” He only adds with a bitter tone in his voice, before they turn around
again and leave a stunned redhead behind. She can only see Sasuke’s
disparaging look, while he too turns around to walk back to his wife. She only
lets out a loud hiss, before the sound of her heels come up on the floor with
loud and fast sounds, as she tramples her way towards one of the bars.
 
"Wow, someone will have to drink herself wasted now." Misuki shakes her head at
the sight, when the men have arrived back at the two women again. Confused,
everyone looks into the direction in which she is looking and discover the
Kaseguchi standing at the bar, furiously cursing and screeching around. Sasuke
just shrugs his shoulders and then puts his hand on the waist of his wife to
pull her closer. It’s her own fault. He can’t stress enough how lucky that
woman is, that Sakura just won’t let him kick her out and report her to the
police already. He would have done so with pleasure and he can’t deny that
internally he’s just wishing that he could finally give her the third warning,
so that they all can finally get rid of her for good. Not only is she behaving
poorly, by bullying and harming his employees, no. She’s also harming the
Uchiha name and the whole company with her behaviour and clothing style, putting
them more and more in a bad light. That woman doesn’t even want to understand
that such occasions aren’t founded to get drunk until wasted, which makes
Sakura’s ’she wouldn’t have pushed me overboard if she wasn’t drunk”
excuse invalid too. That woman disgust him more and more with each day. She has
been stressing his nerves long enough and he just finally wants his peace for
damned sake. "How about Naruto and Hinata?" His father’s question pulls him
out of his annoyed thoughts and back into reality, animating him to shrug his
shoulders. "I'm not sure. At least they're here together today.” Itachi takes
a look around the place at his words, but doesn’t seem to find them. "And
where?"
 
Everyone else too now looks through the place, from the bar to the dancing crowd
and through the seated employees. "Maybe they went to one of the other rooms."
Misuki remarks thoughtfully after a while of silence. “They're out on the
balcony.” The pinkette finally discovers her friends standing outside and
looking at the huge garden in the back. "They seem pretty close, actually." The
oldest Uchiha then remarks, while they all watch the couple who are talking to
each other. They can see how a smile creeps on Naruto's face, before he leans
slightly over to the Hyuga for a kiss. "What is that exactly supposed to mean
now?" Itachi asks through the round in surprise of the sudden scene unfolding on
the balcony, which is probably the main thing floating around in each of their
heads. However everyone is too astonished and surprised to even register his
question. Neither of them had expected to see this happen so suddenly. Sakura is
the first to slowly wake up from her trance, her lips pulling up into a slight
smile. "I guess, we will learn it in a moment." She walks towards the balcony,
watching as the Hyuga looks after the blond male walk back inside.
 
after a while and when she’s sure that Naruto is gone, she approaches her
friend with a smile. "Hey, Hinata." Surprised, said woman look up at Sakura,
watching as she throws up her arms with a smile. "Tell me something I don't know
yet!" The Haruno demands with a happy smile, which startles and confuses the
blue haired woman. “What do you mean?” The question makes Sakura shake her
head with a laugh. "Come on, Hinata! I saw you two kissing!" She explains to her
friend. "So?" Hinata suddenly turns all red and looks embarrassed at the floor.
Her shyness is showing itself again after a long time and it makes the Haruno
smile with relief. It seems that her friend hasn’t changed after all. "Does
that mean that you two are a couple now?" She then asks the question that has
occupied the Uchiha’s minds. However, due to her friend's sudden shyness, she
can figure out the answer by herself. Actually, Hinata doesn’t even get up the
courage to say it out, ending up just nodding in silence. Just as Sakura is
about to say something about it, to express her congratulations, she sees the
blonde come back. "Speaking of the devil.“ The pinkette lets out a slight
amused laugh, looking at her husband's best friend.
 
He looks at her in confusion and stops right next to the two women. “What?”
He explores, perplexed. "Nothing. Congratulation you two! " She smiles slightly,
whereupon the Uzumaki turns red as well and looks to the side. "Then i won’t
bother you two lovebirds any longer." She then announces with a nod and turns
around to quickly leave back to her husband and relatives. She smiles softly as
she comes to a stop at her husband’s side, giggling at their expectant looks.
"Well, are they a couple now?" Itachi persists to finally get the news, watching
as she nods with a smile. A small grin settles on Sasuke's lips at her
confirmation. So he finally manned up, huh? “So, whom does that make the
winner of the bet now?” His father ask through the round, to get everyone’s
attention.

"You all bet on us?" A stunned voice sounds from behind the youngest Uchiha,
which animates the group to look around to the person in surprise. Naruto and
Hinata are standing there together. Holding hands. The blonde stares at them all
in disbelief, while Hinata seems to find the floor quite more interesting.
"Yes." Sasuke answers shortly, before he turns back to his family. "Itachi was
completely wrong, what had you bet on again?" The youngest Uchiha then asks and
turns to his brother, completely ignoring his friend behind him. “Half a
year.” The older brother answers with a chuckle, which obviously isn’t to
Naruto’s liking, since he immediately makes his complaint. “I said that he
would take until January. Dad, what did you say again? 2 months, right?“
Sasuke continues the conversation, completely undeterred. "Exactly." Fugaku nods
in agreement, watching as his youngest son turns to his wife now. "Sakura and
yours was closest to Christmas." The addressed woman looks up and smiles back at
him. "I said that he would take until the end of the year, actually." She then
corrects him, watching as he shakes his head. "No, you said Christmas." The
Haruno can’t stop herself from smiling at his attitude, shaking her head as
well. "It was the end of the year, Sasuke." "Christmas." Sasuke lets out a
slight grumble and leans closer to her. Actually, he doesn’t care about when.
He already knows that she’s right. He just seriously wants to kiss her here
and now. “It doesn’t matter. You two were the closest and so you both
won.” Fugaku has to smile at the two, who are now looking back at him. "But
what about you? You said two months and that’s right!" Sakura then interjects,
trying to suppress a grin. The plan behind all this had solely been to piss
Naruto off anyway. They never really took this serious. "Yes, that was October
4th, so my deadline was December 5th and the end of the year is nearer."

"I still can't believe that you all bet on us!" Naruto intervenes and pushes
himself a little closer to them into the circle. The oldest Uchiha laughs out
loud at his grumbling. “It was clear from the start that there was something
between the two of you. Everyone could already see it at the wedding.” Sakura,
who is still standing close to her husband, nods at her father i law’s words.
"Actually, after you carelessly jumped over each other while you were drunk,
instead of just dating and learning to know each other, i had thought for a
while that it just had been attraction. But when you finally decided to man up
and date her, i was confident in you again." Itachi too nods in agreement, only
for Naruto to raise one of his eyebrows. “There’s no difference in being in
love and attracted.” A groan of disbelief goes through the group, while Sasuke
shakes his head with a snort. “It’s obviously not the same, idiot. Are you
really the one who had already countless dates in the past? Oh wait, they never
lasted more than 3 months for a reason. Idiot." The Uzumaki watches in complete
disbelief, how his best friend diverts his attention back to his family. Only
Sakura lets out a giggle and gives him a pat on the shoulder. “Well, you
better do it better with Hinata.” The blond man turns to her, just as baffled,
watching how they turn all back to the conversation from before. “Well? What
do the winners get?” Itachi looks at his father’s dark brown eyes
questioningly, which he inherited from him. Said man looks around, just as the
younger couple. “Wasn’t this just a joke bet anyway?” Sakura seems
surprised, since she didn’t really expect them to really take the bet so
serious. Fugaku laughs at her question, with a shake of his head. "Ever since
you two married you had no vacation together yet, so the outcome of this bet is
just an excuse. So i think we could pay your next vacation." Itachi laughs in
amusement at his fathers suggestion. "Yes we'll do that. That will probably
never happen anyway, with that workaholic over there!" He sound so enthusiastic
while looking at his little brother, who glares slightly back at him.
“Actually, Sasuke was the one who suggested to me a few months ago to go on a
vacation and therefore we already made plans to go on winter vacation with or
friends on the 25th.” Sakura smiles innocently at her brother in law, whom’s
facial features derail at her confession. Sasuke in the other hand smirks
satisfied at his big brother, while the rest of the group starts laughing in
amusement.
 
"Misuki, do you want to go on search with me to find Natsuki?" Sakura then
suggests after a few minutes, when the men have changed the topic and are now in
a deep conversation. "Of course." The brunette woman nods with a smile, eager to
see the Hondo again too. "Come on, Hinata. Let’s go together." The Haruno
smiles at her blue haired friend and together they go on a search and leave the
men behind. Meanwhile some time has passed and the night has begun, a buffet has
been set up for the hungry people, which is already looted by some by some. The
bartenders are also very busy and serving the guests.
 
Sakura and Misuki look around searchingly for the Hondo, while Hinata, who
doesn't know the brunette yet, simply follows them in silence and instead looks
around the large hall. “Is that her over there?” The brunette woman raises
her voice after walking around for a few minutes and points to a young woman in
a blue dress. "Yes." The pinkette confirms her sister in law’s suspicion with
a nod, before they head towards the single woman. "Hey Natsuki, why are you
standing around here by yourself?" She immediately greets her colleague and
friend, who looks back at her with a smile. "I just wanted to look at the snowy
landscape a bit.” After her statement, she turns her head and takes notice of
Itachi’s wife too now. "Hello Misuki, it has been a while." She then also
greets the Uchiha, before she takes notice of her stomach with wide eyes.
"Congratulations!" Misuki laughs slightly at her reaction, giving her her honest
thanks. “I want to introduce you to my school friend Hinata. Hinata, this is
Natsuki, friend, colleague and constant support in the fight against Karin.”
Hinata smiles shyly at her and is about to say hello, however, gets interrupted
immediately. "Oh my God! You were the wedding planner for Sakura’s wedding!”
Natsuki suddenly exclaims in awe, eliciting a laugh from the married women of
the group.
 
"And you are the lucky one who can see how Sakura makes this Kaseguchi woman
livid with rage." The Hyuga replies with a smile as the two briefly shake hands.
Natsuki gives a short laugh at the Hyuga’s note. "Yes and it makes the day
more beautiful every time." She says afterwards and smiles with satisfaction.
Seeing that woman dig herself her own grave is just too hilarious and
satisfying. "Karin seems to be famous already." The brunette co-worker then
continues with a chuckle. "When it comes to scoring an own goal, then yes." The
Hyuga nods and all four start laughing again. "Sakura once said you made a video
of it." Hinata then explains, perking Sakura’s memories. "Ah right! You still
have to send me that, so that I can show it to all my friends too.“ The
pinkette then reminds her collegue thoughtfully, while taking out her
smartphone. "Of course!" The Hondo immediately agrees and also takes out her
phone to send her the video immediately.
 
"Sorry. Can I borrow my girlfriend?” A man's voice sounds behind them, making
the women look up at him. "Of course. You can keep her too. But you better
behave, young man!" Sakura winks at Usui, who laughs slightly in response and
puts an arm around Natsuki to lead her away. "Huh. How time flies.“ The Haruno
let’s out a sigh as she watches the two leave. Misuki too sighs, approving to
her sister in law’s statement.

"I can't believe that Ino and Kiba haven't spoken to each other for two weeks
now, though!" The Haruno turns to Hinata, who turns back at her with a nod. "Ino
and Kiba?", Misuki explores confused, glancing back and forth between the two.
“My first bridesmaid at the wedding, who gave the post-Naruto speech, and her
best friend. I don't think you had much to do with them.” The Haruno explains
to her sister in law briefly, getting a nod in response. “What has happened
that they haven't talked to each other?” The Uchiha then decides to inform
herself further. Sakura in the other hand starts to think about how best to
explain thinks to her and holds up her pointer finger. "Well... do you know Neji
and Tenten?" She asks after a moment. "Do you mean the couple with whom Sasuke
is friends?" The blue eyed woman let’s out a thoughtful hum, making Sakura
laugh with a shake of her head. "Yes, but they are not a couple." Misuki looks
at the two in confusion, before putting a finger on her lips with another hum.
"But they look like one." “And it's the same with Ino and Kiba. When you see
them, you know that there is more between them than friendship, but they don't
want to admit that. The thing is, while Neji and Tenten keep staying together
like velcro’s in denial, Ino and Kiba keep being jealousy’s in denial." The
brunette woman giggles slightly at Sakura’s explanation, and shakes her head
in amusement. “You’re seriously telling me that they are denying each other,
but get jealous when the other get’s a new date?” 
 
“Yeah...but lately it has kind of gotten worse. Kiba recently got a new one,
but she dumped him because she saw that he’s actually into Ino and he blamed
the outcome all on Ino. Recently, however, Ino spent the whole evening talking
to an old friend of ours, whom we haven't seen in years and Kiba freaked out.”
Sakura let’s out a tired sigh, feeling how the Uchiha pats her back in
comfort. "I understand, that must be hard to handle." Misuki obviously tries to
cheer her up, intent on changing the topic to lighten the mood.
 
An amused laugh makes the dark grey eye’d man look up and turn around. His
wife, accompanied by her friend and sister in law, are all walking back towards
the group. He silently looks away from the three women and instead takes a look
around the huge room. They rented a large and old castle-like building for the
company’s Christmas party. The whole lower floor is available for the
celebration. Several large halls are lined up and offer a wide variety of
things, such as a balcony, a dance floor and a bar. "Hey." Itachi smiles happily
at his wife and holds out his hand, puts it on Misuki's back and kisses her
gently as she comes to a stop next to him. Sasuke too looks at his wife, quite
expectant, but she only looks up at him with a shake of her head. "No, not
today. Karin is always around." She then whispers to him with a smile, making
him understand that they could be seen. However, it only makes him frown. He
can’t stand how that woman keeps stalking him and his wife literally all the
damn time and gives them no breather. If this keeps up, he fears to be unable to
withhold his temper much longer. No matter what the topic, somehow that woman is
always part of it and it’s so unbelievably frustrating. "She's confused that
she’s never able to meet your wife." A small grin steals itself on his lips at
her words and suddenly his mood is back up again. That woman is seriously so
stupid for her own good. He can’t believe that she still hasn’t understood
anything, even though she even keeps reading those magazines. Only when it comes
to teaching that woman a lesson, he always likes to play along with his wife’s
games. Those revenging games of Sakura are the only thing that makes the Karin
topic enjoyable.
 
“Aren’t we going to get something to eat too already? I’m starving.” It
suddenly comes from Naruto, which is typical of him. "Sure." Fugaku nods in
agreement, before the group starts moving to look for a free table and
immediately occupy it. Everyone chooses their place, as Naruto is already
storming off to get himself enough of the food. A little ashamed, Hinata shakes
her head at her now boyfriend’s behaviour and slowly starts follows him.
Itachi and Misuki also go out to fill the pregnant woman's stomach. The youngest
Uchiha just looks around the room in silence. Some of the employees have already
sat down at the tables and are eating. In the meantime it has gotten late and
the night has long since set in.
 
A little later the Uzumaki comes back with a fully loaded plate and takes his
place on his seat with a wide smile. With a smile, Sakura looks up at her
husband, after seeing his best friend like that. "We should slowly get up and
get ourselves something too, otherwise Naruto will finish the whole buffet on
his own." Sasuke has to snorts in amusement at his wife’s remark and gets up
as well now, since that can really be possible with his best friend after all.
"Hey!" The mentioned man complains again, however, just gets ignored by his best
friend, who gets up together with his wife and father, walking with them towards
the buffet. Sasuke examines all the food for a moment, before he takes a plate
and puts some of the food on it. At about the same time, Fugaku and Sakura
already go back to the table, while having a conversation. "Is there something
to eat at your party too, Sakura?" Naruto explores immediately, while cutting
off a large piece of hi meat. "No. My celebration is also a gala and apart from
small finger food there won't be anything edible. The goal is to collect
donations and not to feed the guests. Besides, it will take place at a time when
you should have eaten a long time ago." The questioned woman shakes her head
with a smile and sits down on the chair.
 
A while later they all are sated, sitting next to each other in quiet company
and listen to the band's music. “How are you, Fugaku?” Sakura’s voice
suddenly breaks the silence between the group, getting Sasuke to focus on his
father's face. "It's okay... Thank you for always caring about me, Sakura. But
I'll be fine.” He smiles just as thankfully at her and pats her hand lightly.

For a moment, Sasuke wonders if maybe his mother chose Sakura for him as well.
As if she knew that she would care about his father too? Of course it has not
escaped his attention, how Sakura keeps being so worried for his father every
time they have such an event. After all, his mother was always his companion in
all occasions, but now she is no longer here and he is all alone. He is slowly
starting to understand his mother’s wish. He already started to understand
through his own marriage with Sakura, little by little, but now that he sees his
father so lonely and alone, it dawns on him even more. She knew she would die
someday and she just didn’t want him to end up all lonely, like his father had
to. To his surprise, Sakura starts speaking out his thoughts, making him startle
out of his thoughts again. "And how are you doing alone in that big house? After
all, Sasuke and Itachi don't live with you any more.” His father laughs softly
at her question and for a moment he smiles rather sadly. "I'm not really alone,
I do have my housekeeper. But it has gotten pretty quiet." Sasuke opens his lips
to say something, however, Itachi is faster, cutting him off in his attempt. "If
it's too quiet, bring Naruto over to you for an hour, then you'll need another
two months of vacation!" His brother laughs in amusement, while Naruto just
pouts.
 
The dark grey eyed man in the other hand lowers his gaze sadly. He knows exactly
what his father means with that. Silence was a foreign word for his mother. She
kept singing around or played some CDs which filled the house with songs. And he
also knows that his father wouldn’t put on any CD’s, because it would just
make everything worse. It would make him remember her even more if he did that
and end up making him feel even more lonely. Sasuke understands that. He gets up
in silence and practically flees to the balcony door with fast steps and lets
his hands sink deep into his trouser pockets. It has never been so quiet as on
Christmas Eve, in the quiet night. Sasuke swallows hard, while opening the
balcony door to step out onto the empty and with snow covered balcony. And now
every night has turned into a quiet night for his father. His eyes are directed
up into the starry sky. It was clear to him from the start that everything would
be different with the death of his mother and that many things would suddenly no
longer be as joyful. But every time it is Sakura who reminds him, that the death
of his mother not only hit him hard, but also what his father lost. The door
behind him opens quietly. Somewhat startled, he turns around and looks into his
wife’s emerald eyes. He can see her eyes laying on him with concern. "Are you
okay?" She then asks, carefully, and he takes another deep breath before smiling
slightly and nodding. "Aren't you cold?" He then replies, equally questioning
and immediately pulls her into his arms to give her warmth.
 
"Shall we stay out here for a moment?" She keeps asking quietly, while her hand
moves up and down his back. His eyes slowly close and he lets out a sigh. How
can she read him like that as if he is an open book? While others don’t
understand him even the slightest? Reluctantly, Sasuke nods and pulls her closer
to himself. Why do these moments always surprise him? She always worries about
his father, but when she asks such questions, it is always him who reacts to it.
He can’t laugh it off like his father manages to do. He is just adamant to
keep his pain a secret in order not to burden everyone else. Everyone has their
own loads to cary and he has his. Sasuke just enjoys her presence in silence and
is even grateful to her for it. He understands now that this is what his mother
meant at that time. She knew that it would be so difficult and that Sakura would
understand and be there for him.
 
The cool air slowly fills his lungs as he takes in a deep breath and slowly lets
his troubled mind find calm. "Let's go back in, otherwise you'll freeze to death
here." He finally murmurs, which she agrees to with a smile. She is shivering
and goose bumps have long since spread over her body. Together they reenter the
hall, where they are met with warmth, that immediately eats itself deep into
their bones and all of a sudden, neither of them feels cold anymore. "Let me go
warm up my hands, before i end up shock freezing someone when they take my
hand." A slight giggle leaves her lips, before heading for the ladies' room to
wash her hands with warm water, while Sasuke just looks after her in silence.
"Are you okay?" Itachi steps up next to him and looks at him questioningly.
"Yes." The younger one nods, still looking into the direction which his wife
left to. "She just got a little cold." With these words he leaves his brother
standing and walks away. Of course he knows that Itachi's question was related
to him, but he can handle it. There is no need to worry about him.
 
With a glass for his wife in hand, the Uchiha goes in the direction of the
toilets, from which his wife is already coming towards him. "Here, for you." He
smiles softly and hands her the drink. Sakura smiles slightly, thankfully taking
the glass to take a sip from it. He watches her with a smile, before turning his
attention to a movement in the corner of his right eye. He takes notice of his
brother, who is standing with the board of directors and gestures him to join
the conversation. "Excuse me for a moment." Sasuke then apologies to his wife
and immediately leaves her alone.
 
A little surprised, she looks after him before turning around and slowly walking
through the hall to look for Misuki. Not even a minute later, she can hear loud
heel sounds quickly approaching her, as if an elephant was intent to run her
over. If she had to guess, she would be assuming that it is Karin wobbling
towards her in order to complain again. Sakura looks around searchingly, the
glass raised to her face with her left hand and her right hand placed in the
crook of her left elbow.
 
“Haruno!” The hissing voice of the Kaseguchi immediately rings in her ears,
making her laugh slightly. "100 points for Sakura Haruno!" The pinkette turns
around, grinning right into her face. “What?” The woman already starts
growling at her as she comes to a stop right in front of her. "Nothing. What do
you want?” Sakura just shrugs indifferently at the woman’s hisses and looks
closely at her. She can't even stand properly on these shoes, maybe she's just
too drunk to stand properly and without wobbling, since the shoes aren’t even
that high for a change. "What is this crap about your overtime being paid from
my loan?? I can't help it that you haven't finished in time!" The redhead again
hisses angrily at her, which elicits a laugh from the Haruno. "You’re
seriously asking me that after destroying my work half a day before the
deadline? Stop bitching around because you cut your own flesh. That’s for your
own stupidity, bimbo." Sakura replies to her with an amused giggle, while
putting her glass on the tray from a waiter who is walking past her. Karin
snorts furiously at her, visibly distraught at being in a disadvantage. “And
what was that earlier? Why were you alone on the balcony with Mr. Uchiha?? Stop
feeling so important! You-” The woman then continues, while Sakura just
watches her in boredom.
 
Lately she has given up listening to Karin’s complains. In the past few days
she has even gone over her schedule for the afternoon in her head instead. She
doesn't care much about what that woman says or thinks of her. Over time, the
bored watching becomes more and more difficult, especially because she sees a
few beads of sweat on the forehead of the redhead, which arise because she talks
herself into a rage. And what she says is so pointless. It is exactly this
chatter that makes a friend knock you down so you can regain your senses. This
is exactly what the Kaseguchi now seems to need. Even if they are not friends,
she does not want to deny her that.

The sound of a slap can be heard, which makes the redhead fall silent. Stunned,
she holds her cheek and looks at the pinkette, who had just slapped her right in
the face. "I think you just needed that to come down." Sakura smiles innocently,
which infuriates the Kaseguchi only more and you can see that she is about to
start talking again. "And now, excuse me, I'd better leave before I get a rash."
The Haruno continues to smile innocently and scratches her forearm lightly.
“What is that supposed to mean again??” Karin snaps at her angrily, not even
noticing how she has drawn everyone's attention to herself. "I have a bitch
allergy." Sakura explains with a cute smile and walks away. She can hear Karin
stamping furiously, before trampling away. Probably to drink ten more glasses of
whatever. She has to suppress a laugh at that. That woman is such a victim of
her own self. Suddenly the Haruno’s hand is grabbed by another, before she
gets pulled away. Surprised, she looks up and at Sasuke, who pulls her with him.
“It just doesn't work that way!” The black haired man growls a little
angrily, while he pulls her through a door. Confused, she looks at him and
follows him up the stairs to a darkened floor. "What exactly do you mean?" He
hears his wife ask, while pulling her further into a room, lets go of her hand
and closes the door.

"You are so unfair! You can't just keep making yourself so beautiful all the
time, prance around in front of me, do that kind of scene with Karin and still
have the audacity to kiss-deprive me all evening!" He growls at her
reproachfully and runs both of his hands a little angrily through his black
hair. His wife laughs amused. “What?” He lets out a soft sigh at her
question and takes a step towards her. She can see his pupils dilated and his
breath restless, before he cups her cheeks and in the next second, pulls her
into a deep kiss. She returns the kiss with a slight moan, with her hands
resting on his chest. The Uchiha smiles into the kiss and presses her even
closer to himself. He would love to bury her into one of those beds around and
kiss her for the rest of the evening or even the night. He just can’t with
her. She’s seriously driving him crazy.
 
For a moment they release the kiss to replace it with another passionate kiss.
His lips eagerly meet hers. This is something neither of them can deny. The
attraction between the two of them has already been immense for quite a while
now, but lately it has gotten even stronger. Sakura wraps her arms around his
neck with another moan, feeling how his hands are moving down and lower, until
she feels him gently groping her bum. Sakura gently releases the kiss with a
moaned gasp, and stares into his dilated pupils with a slight blush. “Who said
anything about the whole evening? All i asked you was during the celebration.“
She grins at him with reddened cheeks, making him let out a slight growl, before
she greedily closes her lips with his again. He pushes her back to trap her, not
intending on letting her go for the next half an hour. His wife releases the
kiss with a surprised gasp, when she bumps into something behind her and hears
something shake. Sasuke also pauses until the sound stops, breathing shakily for
air, against her already slight puffy lips. "You should maybe wipe your lips. It
could be that you have some of my lipstick on you." She lets out a slight giggle
and lets go of him to go back downstairs. He quickly wipes his lips with a soft
hum, before following her back to the guests. There goes his plan of having her
to himself a little longer. But if he can not have that, he will get himself
something else. So he pinches her bum with a slight grin, which makes her squeak
in surprise and him chuckle with satisfaction. Yeah, she’s his and that
won’t change. He won’t let anyone change that.

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