Friends & Family   von dragonfighter
                           (The Clumsy & The Lonely)
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                          Kapitel 35: Step 35 - Maybe
                          ---------------------------


Maybe is a strong word. We generally do not attach great importance to this
word, but actually this maybe can mean much more. We use it as a synonym for
possibilities or to give estimates. But some sentences can be given a much
greater weight, a much greater meaning than one could ever suspect. This maybe
can sometimes bring something not so beautiful to light. Maybe this word can
trigger the end of a relationship. Maybe things could have been different or
worse even. And maybe things are actually good exactly the way they are now.
 


The music of the live band echoes through the hall, which is also filled with
many voices. The hall is reminiscent of the throne room of a castle, which are
known from disney movies. Many guests have already gathered here, laughing in a
good mood and talking to acquaintances and friends. Everyone is wearing the most
magnificent dresses. Short or long, simple or extravagant. The richest people
try to show off their outfits, while the waiters walk through between them, in
their simple black trousers and sleeveless vests, with a red tie over their
shirt and provide the guests with drinks. But also in front of the hall, in the
first foyer, the guests cavort on the red carpet, which is surrounded by
reporters and leads inside.
 
It looks like a perfect movie scene, inside the old castle the guests slowly
gather for the solemnity of the evening, while outside thick flakes are falling
from the clouds and the city's lanterns make the snow glisten brightly in the
dark night. A smile lies on the lips of the pinkette, the hostess of this
occasion. Her concentration is directed on the surroundings outside the hall,
but she redirects it and looks at her glass, in which she is slightly reflected
and discovers her husband, who is walking towards her with that charming smile
of his. "I know that this is like a dream out there for you, but you should
perhaps slowly step among your guests and greet them, after all, you are here to
get them to donate a good sum of money." His chest lightly touches her shoulder,
when he closes up to her to whisper those words into her ear. Sakura turns
around to him with a smile, touches one of her husband's cheeks and gets up on
her toes to reach up to him. Sasuke bends slightly down in response to her
silent plead and kisses her gently on the lips, even if only briefly. "And again
you have to be satisfied with this one kiss and with not being allowed to do so
again for the rest of the evening." She smiles and then takes his hand, which he
is extending towards her with a smile of his own. A soft chuckle escapes his
lips at her words, just to glance at her with conviction. "Don’t worry about
that, beautiful. I'll find enough chances and use them." The Uchiha lets his
finger run over her wedding ring. So often has he felt it on her hand through
their marriage and still he never really took notice of it until this very
moment.

After a moment of silence, he then lifts both of her hands up and lets his dark
grey eyes wander over her wedding ring. The five small diamonds, imbedded next
to each other in a row, sparkle towards him in its beauty and he looks at it
some more as it perfectly fits her beautiful hand. Only when she withdraws her
hands from him, he looks up again a bit startled. "Good evening. I'm really
happy that you attend to my invitation." Sakura has turned away from her husband
and smiles at an older couple with a slight bow. Sasuke too greets them
immediately and after a short conversation together with his wife, he then makes
his rounds with her through their other guests. Both of them meet some of the
most important personalities and of course, the entire upper class. After all,
it is the dream woman of Japan who has invited them to come and attent her gala.
Politicians, singers, actors, models and a lot of big company bosses have
already arrived and there will be more to come soon. Over time the hall fills up
more and more and the music is slowly pushed into the background by the mass and
volume of voices. But of course, the music is still loud enough for everyone to
understand it’s lyrics.
 
The young Haruno meets many familiar faces in the hall, as she and her husband
keep walking through the crowd of guests, some of whom she had meet at their
wedding, or even spoke to them briefly. Whereby she mostly knows the company
bosses. Of course, she also knows the singers, actors and models. After all,
they all belong to the high society of Tokyo, just like herself. She just simply
never got the chance to meet them in person before. Sasuke next to her also
seems to know many of these people, which doesn’t surprise her at all. On one
hand he always has to meet with business partners and on the other hand he has
been regularly at such events ever since he was young.

“The dress is really a dream, ms. Uchiha. It really looks so beautiful on
you!” A man smile’s charmingly towards her, which makes Sasuke, who is
standing right beside her, snort softly. Looks, like this man is giving Sakura
right now, never escape the Uchiha’s sight. He knows such men, even if they
try to make it look innocent. He could always distinguish those looks.
Especially when those looks are meant for his wife, or when it’s that
Kaseguchi gawking at him. It pisses him off all the time and still he is forced
to stay calm and maintain his professionalism. "Thank you. After all, it was
chosen for me by my husband.” She gestures towards the Uchiha with a smile,
who is forced to smile at the man as well. "Indeed?" The gentleman looks
astonished into her emerald eyes and slowly starts to get on Sasuke’s nerves.
Sakura in the other hand bends up to her husband and kisses him on the cheek,
when she takes notice of his stiffness. "Well then." The gentleman exclaims with
a slight bow and starts walking away from the couple. "Such guys annoy me to no
end." Sasuke lets out a deep and dissatisfied growl, while putting his arm
around his wife's waist and gives her a gentle kiss on her temple, before
continuing to walk with her through the crowd. 

“The perfect dress for an angel!” A familiar voice sounds from the crowd,
which makes the couple stop and look to the right with surprise, watching as
Fugaku steps out between the conversation groups that have gathered together.
Sakura immediately blushes and smiles sheepishly at her father in law’s
compliment, while playing with one of her pink curls. "Thank you, Fugaku." Right
after that she greets the oldest Uchiha with a hug and a kiss on the cheek,
which makes him laugh out in amusement. "I'm only telling you the truth." He
gives her a gentle pat on her head, before deciding to turn towards his son and
also briefly greet him with a hug. "Your son knows what suits his wife the best,
after all." Sakura now too agrees with her father in law with a smile, before
another voice sound at them from the side. "The dress is supposed to be chosen
my brother?" They look around to the newcomer, who comes to a halt right next to
Fugaku. His features are showing disbelief, as he looks at the two, while his
wife can only shake her head at his behaviour. “Be nice to your brother for
once, Itachi. It's Christmas and besides, you seriously should stop teasing him
every time you get to see him!" The brunette immediately reprimands him, which
is why the older of the two brothers pulls a little pout at her. "Hello." Misuki
now looks at her in-law’s and hugs Sakura with a bright smile on her lips.
"Hey. You look amazing, Misuki." The pinkette immediately returns the hug with a
giggle, before stepping back to look at her growing belly. 

“And how is the little one doing in there?” Sakura then explores further,
while giving the pregnant belly a gentle and loving pat. "Quite well, actually.
It seems to feel pretty comfortable in there.“ The brunette replies with a
slight grin, which makes the hostess giggle, before taking another quick look at
Misuki's dress. Blue, on floor length and strapless.

"Unfortunately we have to continue and greet a few more guests." Sasuke
immediately apologizes to his family and takes his wife’s hand in his, to walk
with her through the big hall. Some guests will be greeting her personally,
especially the big donors, before she can finally go on stage and open the gala.
"Good evening Mr. Domoto!" The Uchiha raises his voice a little later and stops
with Sakura in front of an older gentleman with gray hair, who has been strictly
observing everything. "Good evening. Thank you for attending and being with us
today." The Haruno smiles politely at the grey haired man, who is now looking at
them with that stern look and seems a little as if he has forgotten his glasses
at home. "Good evening." Domoto grumbles back and sounds a bit out of tune. His
gaze falls on the pinkette, which he examines briefly. "Thank you for the
invitation." After that he looks back into the hall and keeps examining
everything critically. "I'm curious what the evening will bring." Finally mr.
Domoto starts to say with a nod and then turns around, to walk away and slowly
disappear into the crowd. “Did I say something wrong?” Sakura directs her
question toward her husband, while continuing to looks after the grey haired
man. “No, don't worry. He's an investor and owns some of the best real
estates. He just seems pretty strict because he pays close attention to whom he
entrusts money or sells his property to. Many companies already tried to buy his
land from him, in order to build new company buildings on it. Most invite him
simply because they hope he will donate a large amount, but he is hard to
convince. He is sceptical about his donations being used for what they were told
to be collected, or if the whole thing was just an act. After all, many people
lie without any shame, in order to get what they want." Sasuke looks at his wife
with a slight smile, watching her as she nods in understanding.
 
"Sakura!" A female calls out to her and shortly afterwards comes up to her in a
pretty lavender colored dress. "Hinata." The pinkette smiles at her blue haired
friend, who is also her helping hand as the organizer of this event. "It's about
time to open the gala." Sakura nods in understanding at her friend and takes a
brief look around. While she immediately follows her friend to the stage, Sasuke
decides to silently follow them as well to the stage on which a small desk is
standing for her presentation. The band stops playing and the music fades away,
while the Haruno enters the stage and walks towards the desk. With a smile on
her lips she walks behind the pedestal, which is resembling a music stand.
 
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Sakura Uchiha and i'm looking
forward to welcoming you all to my fundraising gala." Sakura smiles at her
guests, which are all looking and listening to her attentively. “Before I
begin, I would like to thank everyone for coming and attending this gala, and my
husband, who supported and encouraged me with the organizations of this event
and making all of this become reality.” The pinkette smiles gratefully and
happily at her husband, who is also standing in the massive crowd in front of
the stage, while the guests applaud. Sasuke in the other hand returns her smile
with a slight grin.

“We all gathered here today because we want to help someone. To be more exact,
we want to help orphans. I know that all of you must be asking yourselves now;
why any of you should trust me with your money? Who can guarantee all of you
that i won’t treat myself to a luxury vacation instead?” The young Haruno
looks briefly through the crowd, not forgetting to smile, before continuing in
her words. “After all most of you didn't even know that I exist until I got
married into the Uchiha family. I already asked myself all those questions
before as well and then it occurred to me, that my husband is the owner of one
of the largest houseware manufacturing companies in the world and that the
Uchiha products are certainly responsible for keeping your home clean as well.
So we have enough money in order to afford several luxury vacations, without
having to beg for it from others.” She watches her guests laugh at her little
joke and smiles with relief. Things are going just as she had planned. She was
able to break the ice. Sasuke too smiles, but more out of pride than anything
else. She is doing very well for her very first donation gala. It’s as if she
is a real natural talent.
 
"We all want to urgently help the orphans." She begins again and a picture
appears on a screen right next to her. “What you see here is the Edogawa
orphanage. They currently accommodate around 30 children, while there are only
18 beds and the smallest are shared by three children at once. The roof is
broken and so are the heaters. Some of the rooms have broken windows as well,
making them completely uninhabitable. I don't know about you, but I don't feel
comfortable at all, celebrating Christmas when these children have to freeze
like that.” Sakura has to pause for a moment and swallows silently. No matter
how many times she has already seen and talked about it, it is still hurting her
like on day one.
 
“Orphans lose both their parents and their home. They cannot help that they
have been abandoned, given away as babies, or that their parents died and yet
they have to live in such conditions as if one wanted to punish them for their
fate as well. But the thing is, aside of all this, orphans don't have it easy in
the world of work either. They cannot go to the best schools, or get a good
education, most of them ending up neglected and bullied and in later
professional life they don’t have it easy, because they are rarely hired due
to prejudices.” The pinkette takes in a deep breath as she continues in her
speech.
 
"Can you tell me, whom of you would hire an orphan for your job?" She looks
questioningly into the crowd of her guests and she can see a few hands rise,
among these few hands the hostess discovers Fugaku and Itachi, as well as her
brother, Ino together with her parents and of course, Sasuke. "And which of you
would hire me?" She then continues to explore and almost everyone in the whole
hall starts raising their hands. Sakura nods, the sadness visible in her
glistening emerald eyes. “Why would you hire me? Is it because of my
qualifications, or because I come from a good family?” She then asks further,
to which she doesn't even want to hear an answer. “I know, you all don't know
much about me. You know that I come from a good family, that my family has their
own company which my older brother is running on his own. But you do not know
anything about my qualifications and which degree I have completed. But aside of
all that you don't know something fundamental, because as i know there haven’t
been released any articles about my life and generally do my husband and i
barely give any interviews. Rather than that we are being followed on our
dates.” The hostess smiles and the crowd starts to laugh again.

"In any case, I would like to tell you something about myself that none of you
would be expecting now." She takes a brief look at her cards with her speech,
starts to play around on it’s corner and wets her lips once. "As many of you
surely know, my parents died years ago. It was one month after my 16th birthday
when they both died in a car accident.” She takes a look through the crowd and
she knows that the reason as to why her guests start to whisper amongst each
other, is because her words are containing the hidden message. “I was 16 years
old and therefor not of legal age. I was an orphan." She swallows briefly,
before taking in another deep breath. Her emerald eyes keep wandering through
the crowd in silence. "But I'm only up here today, because my brother was of
legal age and therefor lost my parents, but not my chance of a good future.”
 
Sasuke looks at her a little worried, while the murmuring stops again and
everyone looks back attentively at his wife. “I'm up here today and I will
stand up for the orphans who have lost their chances of a promising future and
their dreams. Because orphans can only hope for scholarships and they have to
prove that they can do something, although being an orphan doesn’t
automatically make you incompetent. Therefore we have to support and help them,
so that they can have a warm home, clothes and food as well. We have to give
them the chance to discover something for themselves. Be it an instrument, a
kind of sports, sewing, or painting. And if we have to build them a castle with
a music room, kitchen and a sewing room, with a sports ground in the backyard
for it. We have to give them the chance and who knows, maybe in 10 years an
orphan will be standing up here in my place and stand up for something else.”
She watches as her guests applaud enthusiastically for a while, while putting
together her next words in her head.

"You know." She then says when it gets quieter again, before continuing in her
beliefs. "If we can’t fulfill their wishes, we should at least make life
easier for these children." Sakura looks back at the screen to her side, on
which the face of a little girl appears. Sasuke immediately recognizes her. He
could never forget that face, or any of the other faces, after the things he had
heard and seen happening right in front of his eyes. It is the girl which he
asked the question about what she wants to have. "For Christmas I wish..." The
girl in the video starts to mumble and looks at the broken stuffed animal in her
hand, which she so dearly cuddles to her chest. "I want Mommy and Daddy to come
back and pick me up." The short video ends, as complete silence overcomes the
whole hall. No one dares to make the tiniest sound, staring at the screen in
loss of words. The youngest Uchiha slowly approaches the stage to wait for her
in front of the steps. “I now ask you to help me, in order to help these
children together. I have also prepared a presentation with the children, who
are currently living in this orphanage, how old they are, since when they have
been living in the orphanage and why. The presentation also contains my ideas
about what I want to make possible for the children with your donations." The
hostess then ends her speech and looks once again through the crowd, to open
another topic. 

“Finally I wanted to say; that I originally planned on wearing a simpler
dress. I didn't want to literally look like an angel, but the sponsor of this
dress insisted that it has to be this one. What had you said again?" Her emerald
eyes find the onyx coloured ones of her husband, who comes up to her on the
stage with a smile of his own. "I said that i don't understand what is your
problem. That the dress is already simple and doesn’t have anything, but the
silk and the slight decorations on top. You were working so hard for those
children day in and out and still you didn’t even let me free you from work.
For these orphans you are an angel. The dress is perfect for you and for the
fundraising gala as well." Sasuke smiles warmly at her, while a touched murmur
from the ladies, can be heard through the whole hall. Sakura in the other hand
blushes slightly. She didn’t expect him to go into details, when she asked him
to tell the crowd, what he had told her back then. "The children of the
orphanage have prepared something for tonight as well." Sakura then points with
a smile at the screen, where the children can be seen in school uniforms, before
Sakura bows at her guests. "I wish everyone a nice evening." Her guests start
applauding again, which makes her look at them with a relieved smile. "Thank you
very much." The young Haruno says one last time and leaves the stage together
with Sasuke, while everyone keeps applauding her a little longer. The video then
begins to play and shortly afterwards the children start to sing and the song
Joy to the world sounds through the whole hall.

Many of the guests look at the screen and examine the children singing, while
others discuss Sakura’s speech and its content. "You did well." Sasuke smiles
at his wife with pride, while putting an arm around her waist and presses a
gentle kiss on her temple. The pinkette closes her eyes with a relieved sigh and
leans her forehead against his cheek, before they continue walking through the
crowd. "Sakura!" A joyful cry can be heard from in between the crowd before the
Yamanaka’s arms are already around the pinkette’s neck. If Sasuke hadn't
been standing right behind his wife, the two women would have fallen to the
ground. Kiba too walks towards them. "That was crazy!" Ino immediately starts to
chat happily, which makes the Uchiha raise one of his perfect eyebrows in
skepticism. Although this is Sakura's first gala, she knows how to behave way
better than Ino. "And all of those who don't donate are heartless idiots."

"Okay! Stop right there, Ino!" The Ama and Neji approach them from the side,
while the brunette woman continues in her lecturing, with her fists stemmed on
her sides. “You act like a teenager. Did you forget that we are at a gala?“
Sasuke lets his dark grey orbs move briefly over his friend in her beige-brown
dress, which actually reminds him of those Chinese style dresses, and then he
looks at Neji, who is wearing a matching Japanese style suit. He can’t believe
they are even walking around in matching clothes now and still deny their
feelings for each other.

"But now something else." Sakura then changes the topic and pulls her husband
out of his thoughts, making him look questioningly back at her. "What is
actually going on between you two now?" The pinkette then inquires of her
childhood friend, which instantly turns red and looks down in embarrassment.
"Well." Kiba then begins and scratches the back of his head, just as
embarrassed. "We came to a conclusion and agreed that there is more than
friendship between us after all, but it's weird to suddenly kiss your best
friend." The blonde mumbles with a slight pout, which Kiba nods to. "We just
need a few more days, I guess." The Inuzuka now agrees, while Sasuke lets his
gaze wander through the guests, until he can make out his father, who hand signs
him to come over. "Please excuse me." He holds up his hand towards his friends
briefly and then moves away to go to his father, where he also meets Itachi and
Misuki. “I have to look after my guests from time to time as well. See you
later, guys." Sakura smiles apologetically into the round and then turns away
from her friends, to devote her attention back to her guests.
 
The happy laughter of children reaches her ears and it steals a little smile on
her lips, when she glances to the right into a separate room and sees her
guests’s children. Some of them are playing catch and laugh wildly together
and this is exactly how she imagined things to be. That the children could play
together, while the parents would celebrate and donate. Normally the children
are looked after by nannies on such evenings, but since this gala is about
helping children, why leave their own at home when they could be playing
together with others? The pinkette has even arranged game consoles, which are
eagerly used by the older children in the next room. “Miss Uchiha?” She
hears a woman and looks at the voice’s owner in surprise. She still has to get
used to being addressed as an Uchiha, since she never went to such celebrations
with Sasuke yet and she has not yet taken over her husband’s last name either.
Her emerald eyes meet those of an older woman who comes up to her. Her friendly
and soft face is framed by beautiful, brown and slightly curly hair.
 
"Miss Uchiha, I'm so impressed!" The woman then raises her voice again and stops
right next to her. “It is remarkable how you stand up for these poor children
and at the same time make sure that all your guests do not forget their own
children. If you want to see your child you can simple go and get it. Such a
nice idea.“ The brunette woman smiles enthusiastically, who Sakura then
recognizes as ms. Tomodachi and looks at the children playing. “Children are
such a blessing.” The woman then mumbles softly, before turning back to
Sakura. “How about you? Are you already planning to have children? After all,
you're going to be an aunt soon.” Ms. Tomodachi smiles at her, which makes the
young Haruno laugh briefly. “We want to wait a little longer, since we've only
been married for six months yet, but I definitely want to have children in the
future. At least two. And since I'm going to be an aunt soon, I can also
practice a bit." At the end, she cann’t help herself but grin slightly, before
she looks back at her conversation partner. "How about you? Which one of them is
yours?” Sakura looks at her guest with curiosity and then back at the playing
children. A sigh escapes the woman’s lips, before she decides to answer her.
"None of them. I am not allowed to have children." The woman looks at the
children with so much sadness, while Sakura looks back at her apologetically.
"I'm sorry. You'd have been a great mother.” The hostess smiles slightly,
watching her nod and look longingly at all the children. Sakura can’t imagine
how painful it must be to never be able to have your own child. Especially since
she wants to have children of her own in the future as well. It would be so
devastating to find out to be unable or not allowed to have babies.

"In the video with the children’s presentation i noticed a little blonde girl,
standing apart from the other children and not singing along." Ms. Tomodachi
then continues and shares her observation with her. A smile settles on Sakura's
lips and nods slightly in response. So people noticed it after all. “Yes, that
is Hotaru, a little sunshine.” She then finally explains. “Why didn't Hotaru
sing along with the others?”

“Hotaru hasn't talked ever since she came to the orphanage. The children in
her school also bully her for it.” Sakura lets her hands move over her dress,
while ms. Tomodachi looks at her with worry. “What happened?” The Haruno
sighs slightly at her question. She’s glad that someone is seriously concerned
for the little Hotaru and wants to understand her. "Hotaru is in the orphanage
because her father shot her mother first and took his own life right afterwards.
All right in front of her eyes." Sakura replies to her sadly and hears how her
guest gasps in shock, while putting a hand on her own chest. "That's terrible!
That poor girl!” The older of the two women exclaims in shock and despair.
“Yes, and after such a terrible event, the children have to live in such a
rundown orphanage and I don't think that's fair. Everyone deserves a nice home,
encouragement and support.” Sakura smiles at the woman next to her. "You are
right and I think it's great that you are so committed to these children. Your
husband is right, you really are like an angel for them." She then agrees, which
makes the hostess blush and look to the ground in embarrassment. 

"Yes. You have always stood up for children. Especially ever since you got of
legal age." A male suddenly agrees to ms. Tomodachi, which makes the two women
look around with surprise. "Please excuse me, ms. Tomodachi." Sakura quickly
walks up to her big brother and hugs him briefly, but tightly as a greeting. Her
face is beaming with happiness to finally see him again. "Hey, how are you?" The
brunette man explores with an amused huff, when she breaks the hug again and
looks up into his eyes. "Pretty good and what about you? Are you nervous
already?" The younger of the two siblings looks at him with a bright smile, just
as questioningly, while stroking his reverse where even a red rose has been
draped. "A little, yes. Honoka is with Misuki right now. Could you send her to
me into the room in around twenty minutes?” Sakura can see the uncertainty in
his eyes at his question, deciding to sooth him a little with some uplifting
words. "Sure, i would love to do anything for my beloved big brother. So just
relax and go with the flow. She isn’t going to say no." The pinkette has to
giggle when she notices, that her brother is way more nervous than he pretends
to be. She gets a slight nod in response and then watches him walk away and into
the direction of the mentioned room, which Sakura has specially prepared for his
proposal. Red rose petals are scattered on it’s whole floor, while a radio
will play a song. Sakura has planned everything carefully and she certainly
doesn’t have any concerns about Honoka saying yes. After all, she was the one
who caught her bouquet at the wedding.
 
"I can’t believe you're holding a gala and don't even say hello to us."
Another male notes next to her, which makes her look around at the person and
smile, when she sees Shikamaru, together with his fiancée. "Hello, you two.
Thank you so much for coming!“ The hostess holds her hands happily together,
before giving her old friend a quick hug and then turns to the blonde model.
"Wow, Temari, that’s such a nice dress!" She looks impressed at the dress a
bit more, before hugging the Sabakuno in her ivory one-shoulder dress, which
reaches down way to the floor.

“That may be true, but it can't compete with yours at all." The Sabakuno lets
out a giggle, while Sakura takes notice of her childhood friend coming towards
them as well. "Ryosuke has really dressed up nicely for this evening. There’s
even a rose." Ino then throws into the round and looks after the older Haruno in
astonishment. Smiling, Sakura also looks after her brother with a nod. "Yes.
After all it’s a big day for him too.” She then agrees and makes them look
at her questioningly. Especially the Yamanaka. "Really?" All her other friends
gather around her as well and look at her just as confused. They all heard her
little statement and want to know the details now, which makes the pinkette
giggle again. “He wants to go by the rules of the bridal bouquet.” Sakura
grins happily, while the others look from her at her brother in astonishment and
back at her. "So he is actually seriously planning on proposing to her? Here?"
The Yamanaka stares at their hostess with big eyes, which nods in response with
an amused giggle. It makes the blond girl sigh with envy. "I always thought that
I would be the one to get married with him someday." Her sudden words makes
everyone turn around to her with big eyes, while Sakura looks at her even
dumbfounded. “What?” Her childhood friend laugh out aloud in amusement at
her stunned face and shakes her head while wiping a tear from the corner of her
eye. "Oh, Sakura. That was just a joke! Ryosuke was never really my type!"
Sakura immediately turns towards the Inuzuka with a skeptical look. Her friend
is just acting way too suspicious. “You haven't had sex yet, have you?” She
then asks, which makes her brunette friend blush and shake his head wildly.
“So you can't have screwed her brains out either. Then why is it that she is
so crazy today?” The hostess presses her pointer finger against her lower lip
with a soft hum, indicating that she is seriously trying to find an explanation
for her best female friend’s behaviour. "Or maybe it's exactly because he
hasn't done it yet." Neji then tries to suggest his own thoughts, which animates
his friends to start to grin. Only Kiba glares at him, while Ino is already on
trying to kill him with her sharp look. Sakura in the other hand steals herself
away with an amused grin and goes on search for her soon to be sister in law.

On her way she discovers her husband, who is talking to some business partners,
and Fugaku, who is having a conversation with Mr. Domoto. The two actually seem
to get along well, which makes the Haruno feel a little relieved. After a few
minutes, Misuki and Honoka come into her view, which animates her to walk up to
the two women a bit faster. "Hello, Honoka!" Sakura greets her as soon as she
comes to a stop next to them and discovers Itachi also standing with them. The
pregnant Uchiha smiles happily, while the pinkette steps closer to hug her
brothers girlfriend. "Sakura you look so pretty in that dress!" Honoka
immediately compliments her, while her ice blue eyes study her with interest.
Sakura can’t stop herself from laughing heartily at her compliment and winks
at her. "Thank you, yours is also really beautiful! But to be honest, neither of
us can compete with the radiance of the pregnant beauty here." Honoka chuckles
and the two look at said woman, who smiles and looks down with a slight blush.
"Anyway, Itachi, take good care of your wife. Unfortunately I have to take
Honoka with me now. My brother would like to speak to her." Sakura smiles
apologetically at the couple and finally walks away with a wink, with her soon
to be sister in law by her hand.
 
“Where's Ryosuke?” The brunette then explores after a moment of silence and
Sakura looks back at her with a slight smile. "I am leading you to him, don't
worry." Together they make their ways through the crowd of guests and head
towards one of the closed doors, a room, separate from the rest of the whole
event. "He's in here." The hostess then explains and opens the door for the
brunette. Soft music immediately hits their ears and Honoka hesitantly enters
the room, only to be surprised by her boyfriend. Smiling, the pinkette leans
against the door frame and watches them both through a small crack which she
leaves open, so that she can peer inside. Ryosuke is standing in the middle of
the room with a smile, his hands hidden in his pockets. Sakura can't understand
exactly what the two are saying, but she doesn't mind.
 
"Are you stalking your brother proposing?" Her husbands voice suddenly sounds
from behind her and close to her ear, as she can feel his chest press against
her back. His arms wrap around her and pull her further against his chest for a
hug. Sakura keeps watching her brother and Honoka inside the room, as her
brother start kneeling down and opens the box with the ring. From the beam in
Honoka's eyes and her smile, she can already read the answer, with which she
throws herself into his arms. Sakura leans back in her husband's arms more and
lets out a slight sigh. "He arranged my engagement and i'm stalking his. It’s
only fair, i guess." Her whispered words turn into a giggle, before she then
turns around in his arms and looks up into his dark grey eyes and cups one of
his cheeks. Smiling, Sasuke leans himself closer towards her and steals a kiss
from her pink lips. "I should go on then." He nods at her statement and lets her
go, even if only reluctantly, before watching her walk back into the large
crowd.

With a smile on her lips, she keeps walking through the crowd of guests. Only
when she can hear a little louder conversation near herself, which catches her
attention, she takes a look around at a few men. "How much do you want for the
property?" Two men, to be exact, are standing next to mr. Domoto and talk to
him, while he has turned away in denial and sips on his glass in silence. The
scenery makes her sigh in disappointment. So someone is actually trying to buy
something from him again and she slowly needs something to drink again as well.
"Gentlemen." She immediately raises her voice at the three men and walks up
closer to them. "Ah, ms. Uchiha." One of them immediately greets her, seemingly
pleased to see her. "I am sorry if i bother you." She begins and stops at the
three. "Oh, do not worry about such a thing." The other immediately responds to
her with a smile and holds up his hands to show her, that they seriously don’t
mind. "I am glad and thankful that you came to my fundraising gala, but I don't
want to have any sale agreements at my gala.” The hostess explains her
intentions with a serious look, to get the message through. It’s just too
inappropriate for people to do such a thing, while she is here desperately
trying to get others to donate for the poor children. "Of course, we understand.
We're truly sorry.“ The other starts to apologize, while both of them bow once
to show their sincerity. Mr. Domoto in the other hand just stands by and watches
the scene unfold in front of him in silence. "Thank you. If you'll excuse me
now.” The pinkette smiles friendly again and then turns around, in order to
continue in her previous doings.

"Here. I noticed that you haven't had anything to drink in a while.” Sasuke
extents his wife a seemingly alcohol free drink, as she walks past him and
watches her smile in slight amusement. “Am i not normally the one who has to
make sure that you drink and eat properly?” She then asks and gratefully
accepts the drink. The Uchiha just smiles back and presses her a gentle kiss on
the temple, before they both go their separate ways again. “Ms. Uchiha!” A
group of women calls out for the pinkette, who approaches them. "Good evening,
ladies." The young woman looks at the group politely as she stops by them and
looks at one with black hair. “We wanted to ask how you found out about this
orphanage.” Sakura smiles mildly at her question. 

Sasuke is standing in silence at the edge of the action and watches everything
unfold in front of his eyes. His friends are right in the middle of the hall,
chatting, while Ino and Kiba are on the dance floor, dancing and looking like a
real couple. Sasuke looks briefly at the Yamanaka in her dress, before an amused
and crooked smile pulls on his lips. And Sakura says her own dress is
extravagant, because of the slight accessories.

"Hey." Someone to the right, makes the Uchiha startle out of his thoughts and
gets his attention to themselves. "Hey. Congratulations." Sasuke then quickly
replies with a smile and holds out his hand to his brother in law, which he
gives a strong hand shake to. “How do you know about it?” The brunette man
inquires immediately with surprise, which makes Sasuke chuckle. “Come on,
I’m your sisters husband. I knew it as soon as you told her to arrange
everything and i also stood right behind her when she stalked you on your
proposal a while ago. After Honoka threw herself into your arms like that, i’m
assuming that she said yes.” With a smile on his lips, he takes a sip from his
own glass, watching his brother in law stare at him with surprise. "Sakura was
watching us? And wait- you too?" Ryosuke looks at him now completely baffled,
while the Uchiha lets out a slight sigh. One that goes under in the halls music
and conversations. "She would have preferred a proposal, rather than for you to
announce it to her. You are engaged to Sasuke Uchiha." The Uchiha mumbles the
answer, which his opposite barely manages to hear. "I'm not stopping you from
falling on your knees in front of her." Ryosuke replies with a smile, which
makes Sasuke grumble and glare at his friend. "I don't need to propose to her
anymore, so kneeling down in front of her won’t make any sense." His dark grey
eyes rest on his brother in law, who smiles slightly with a shrug of his
shoulders. “Unfortunately, you can't have everything in life.” The Haruno
sinks his hands into his trouser pockets, while he watches his sister with a sad
look. “Maybe she would have got it, if we had known each other earlier, i
mean, if we had meet each other again. Why did you never take her to one of the
galas?” Sasuke looks at his brother in law questioningly, who looks back at
him with a slight smile. “Well, I wanted to give her this life. But she lost
her parents so young and i didn't want her to loose her private life if I take
her with me into our circles here. But well, the plan didn't quite work out
either. After all, you two are the dream couple of Japan.”

"Do you really think that things would have turned out differently if you had
seen each other again three years ago?" Ryosuke then continues to explore, which
makes Sasuke turn silent for a moment. His thumb moves over the glass in his
hand and starts slightly scratching on it with his nail. "I don't know." He then
mumbles back honestly and empties his glass, before he can feel a hand patting
his shoulder. His head turns around questioningly, where he can see Hinata
standing. "Sasuke. Could you please kidnap your wife over there and bring her
here?” She seems to be in professional mood again. After all, she has to be
strict with the time, at her work as an organizer. The Uchiha nods slightly and
then gives his brother in law a slight pat on the back. "Congratulations again."
With those words he starts walking away from the two and gives his empty glass
to one of the waiters, before heading towards his wife in the mids of a group of
women and men.

He fights his way through the crowd in silence, which is listening to his wife
and are seemingly amusing themselves. His gaze wanders over his wife. She has
put her curly hair over her right shoulder, which exposes her back and he can
not help but notice that she must be feeling uncomfortable, after all she is
standing here in public and is not wearing a bra. Or is he just not seeing it?
After a moment he finally comes to a stop at the group with his wife. "Excuse
me." Everyone’s attention turns to him, as they start looking at him with
interested. "Cutie bear, Hinata says I should kidnap you, but I can't just
kidnap you, so would you come with me, please?" He smiles charmingly at her and
immediately gets touched gasps and aw’s from the ladies around him, while his
wife nods back at him with a smile. "Please tell me just how you do that." One
of the women in the group suddenly asks of the couple, which makes them look at
her in confusion. “What exactly do you mean?”

"You both seem more in love, than you already did on your wedding." The woman
smiles almost dreamy, which makes the pinkette play a little embarrassed with
her pink curls and looks sideways at Sasuke, who is still standing right next to
her. He too smiles slightly and looks sideways into her emerald eyes. "We
don’t know. Things just happen on their own." He then explains truthfully to
the woman and puts an arm around his wife, before leading her away from the
group. It seems like they did a really good show at their wedding, if people
keep saying that they really looked deeply in love. But the fact that they seem
even more in love today, is simply because they know each other now, somehow
have a relationship and are used to having the other around them. Because they
have become dear and important to each other.
 
After a few minutes, he lets go of her waist again and takes her hand instead to
pull her through the crowd. He immediately crosses his fingers with hers and
keeps looking back at her while he makes his way through the crowd for the both
of them. After a few minutes they arrive at the stage and approach Hinata, who
is waiting there with a satisfied smile. "She decided to come with me
voluntarily." The Uchiha watches Hinata push his wife further and up the stage,
before he decides to move a little to the side. He can see his wife being
confused as to why she is standing up here again and especially when she sees
his father standing on stage as well. Fugaku stands there with a smile on his
lips, holding the mic in hand and clear his throat briefly. The crowd of guests
is now getting aware of the two as well and the music gets quieter. "Sakura."
His father then starts, happy to announce his decisions to her now. "I am
pleased to inform you on behalf of the Uchiha Corporation, that we will replace
and maintain all household appliances in all orphanages of Tokyo for free." The
crowd applauds enthusiastically and Sakura looks at her father in law in
surprise, while said man continues in his announcement with a proud smile.
 
"In addition to that, we already arranged for the heating and the windows of the
Edogawa orphanage to be repaired and for each child to have their own bed by
tomorrow evening." Sasuke has to smile slightly at the stunned face of his wife
and watches his father take her into his arms to loud applaud. Sakura hugs him
back, before she gets accompanied back down the stage. Sakura looks at her
husband in disbelief, while he just smiles innocently at her and gives his
shoulders a slight shrug. A radiant smile shows up on her lips, as she comes up
to him to wrap her arms happily around his neck. With a chuckle he hugs her back
just as strongly and lets his face disappear into the crook of her neck, to take
a deep breath of her beautiful scent. "You idiot, why didn't you say anything?"
She exclaims, completely touched and presses herself closer to him. “You're
not crying, are you?” He immediately explores with a slight chuckle and breaks
the hug to look into her emerald eyes. "No. I just can’t quite believe it
yet." She replies quietly, which makes him smile crookedly. "It was father’s
and Itachi's decision. I just simply agreed with it, because it was a good idea
anyway." He then starts whispering into her ear and his hand gently strokes her
back and down her bum. "Idiot." The word escapes her only in a soft mumble,
whereby he suspects that it is because he is actually stroking her ass in
public. She step a step back from him and then walks away with a slight blush on
her cheeks.
 
Sasuke looks after her for a moment, before a man with long and brown hair
attracts his attention. The Hyuga comes up to him with a broad grin on his face
and comes to a halt right in front of him. "And? Tell me, is her butt just as
tight as it looks?“ The long haired friend of his looks expectant at him and
starts wiggling with his eyebrows, however, Sasuke just stares back at him
without any emotion, before looking through the hall and the guests again. "Come
on now, tell me already." Neji keeps uttering, while he nudges his side with his
elbow. "Tell me, Neji." Sasuke begins to demand of his friend instead and looks
back at him in boredom. “When was the last time you got laid?” As soon as
this question leaves his lips, the Hyuga’s facial expression starts to derail.
"What?" The Hyuga exclaims in shock, animating Sasuke to put his hand into his
pockets and turn properly around to him again. "Do you know what I think? Now
that I'm married, Naruto taken and Kiba is finally in some kind of relationship
with Ino too now, you are the only male in our group who is still single. Only
now you are beginning to realize that we are no longer at university, where you
still had fun screwing around with the girls. You realize that it is time to
bond and that is why you haven't had one night stands for quite a while now and
that's also why you keep pestering and asking me about Sakura's body. And it’s
seriously annoying, that you keep asking me that about my wife. She’s married
and it means you have to hold your horses and fantasies to yourself." The Uchiha
explains his point of view to his friend.
 
"Don't talk shit, Sasuke." The words are leaving the Hyuga only in a mumble,
before he then disappears through one of the doors onto the balcony. A slight
snort escapes the black haired man at his friends reaction. He knows exactly
that he hit the nail on the head, but Neji just doesn't want to accept it. It's
just like it was back in university. "What did you tell Neji that made him leave
in such frustration?" His big brother comes to a stand still right in front of
him, his hands in his trouser pockets. "What he already knows himself, but just
doesn't want to accept." The younger one of the two Uchiha brothers starts to
reply calmly and watches his wife walk through the crowd and start a
conversation with another guest. “And you really don't feel anything when you
see her like that?” His brother continues to explore quietly and Sasuke sighs
softly in response. What does everyone suddenly want from him? "No palpitations?
No tingling in your stomach? No sudden sweaty hands?” His older brother
continues in his research, which makes him shake his head in silence. Now it is
his brother who lets out a sigh. “What are we going to do with you, kid? You
two have been married for half a year and you still feel nothing when you look
at this wonderful woman?” Itachi makes sure to only mumble those words out,
because it would end in a catastrophe if anyone overhears them. Sasuke silently
looks at his wife, not facing his brother while asking his own question next.
“Is that why I am a bad person now? Because i see her as my best friend?”
Sasuke is seriously starting to feel bad about it, but he can't force himself to
love her either. "It’s good that you see her as your best friend, Sasuke.
That’s how marriage should be. You should rather be worried, if you can’t
see your wife as you best friend. But do you think it’s normal to look at and
touch a woman, like you do with her, if you really only see her as a fiend?”

Itachi makes a pause in his words and lets out a slight sigh, when he sees his
brother still standing there in silence. “Just let me tell you one thing,
Sasuke. One small truth. Love can’t come in, if you shut everything up and
don’t allow it in. Don’t tell me that I’m wrong, because i clearly see it
standing right in front of you and animating you to do things you usually
don’t. You just forcefully try to stop that wall in between from braking
apart, as if you want to punish yourself for something. You're not a bad person,
just a rather complicated one. I just thought that you would understand it on
your own, since you could see through your friends’s denial too.” Itachi now
ends his own observation and turns around with a smile, leaving a startled
younger brother behind. Sasuke is staring after his big brother with widened
eyes for a while. His brother is right. Why does he and Sakura keep lecturing
their friends about being in denial about their feelings all the time? That
there is more than friendship between them? Are he and Sakura looking to
everyone just as obvious as Ino and Kiba? Or Neji and Tenten?

A few minutes pass in which Sasuke keeps spacing out, only until he can hear a
door opening and a person approaching him from behind. Silently he looks back
and at Neji, who is coming back into the hall from the balcony. With his hands
sunken in his trouser pockets, he slowly approaches the Uchiha once again, who
has meanwhile leaned himself against the almost waist high stage behind him.
"Was it that obvious?" The long haired man starts to asks in silence, coming
back to their conversation from before, and leans himself against the stage
right next to him. "At least it was obvious that you need it." Sasuke lets out
an amused snort and turns back to his friend who hums silently in response.
"Such a friendship with certain advantages can also be something beautiful."
Neji then remarks quietly and looks down at his shoes, which makes the Uchiha
stay silent for a moment. "Don't you have any woman in mind, who could possibly
be of interest?" Sasuke starts to ask after a while and looks at his friend, who
then immediately lowers his eyes from the crowd. A bit confused, one of the
Uchiha's perfect eyebrows twitch in response to that. "No. No one like Sakura."
The Hyuga suddenly replies, which leaves Sasuke confused. "What do you mean by
that?" His dark grey eyes stare at his best friend a little irritated. Is his
friend indicating to be in love with his wife? "It’s definitely not what you
are thinking now!" Neji laughs at his reaction, while waving his hand to weight
on his words. "What i was trying to say is, that there isn't one that looks as
good and is at the same time as friendly and intelligent as your wife. I'd like
to have someone like that too. But without pink hair.”

“What about Tenten?” Sasuke’s sudden question throws the Hyuga a bit off, 
before he can catch himself again and shake his head slightly. “She's my best
friend, Sasuke. What are you thinking about me?” The long haired man lets out
a grumble and the Uchiha suddenly remembers his big brothers words from before.
Slowly he closes his eyes for a moment of silence, before opening them again and
looking at his friend, who is still frowning at him. “I’m not going to
destroy our friendship.” All Sasuke could do is sigh and pat his buddy on the
shoulder. "I understand." Another moment of silence between them, in which the
Uchiha takes a quick look around. “But you can still have fun with her now.
That's not forbidden, is it?" The black haired man immediately takes notice of
his friend, who questioningly raises an eyebrow at his statement. With a small
smile on his lips, the Uchiha then points his head in the direction of their
brunette female friend, who is standing around alone and seemingly a little
bored. "I think she could need some company." With those words he pushes himself
off the stage and lets his long haired friend behind.
 
Sasuke lets out a slight sigh, while taking a stroll through the crowd, his
guests still having conversations with each other in a good mood. He takes a
quick look at the time, only to see that it is already late. Many of the
children will be asleep by now and therefore some will soon go home so that the
children can go to bed. His way leads the Uchiha past the rooms that have been
prepared for the children and just as he already had suspected, many of the
children have already cuddled themselves together and are sleeping on the
couches, while the older ones still play their games. He smiles slightly and
passes by the big box, into which the guests throw their checks with donation
sums and he is glad to see that it is already filled with large and folded
pieces of paper. He stares at it for a moment, until his attention gets captured
by a small, blonde girl, probably around three years old. Laughing happily, it
walks through the crowd of adults, the white dress making her look like a little
angel. Sasuke stops at that and continues to watch the little girl, until she
runs into one of the adults. It bounces off the woman's dress like a ball and
falls back onto her behind. Her cute face immediately turns into a grimace and
the first whimpers overcome her lips.
 
The woman in the dress picks her up and let’s the little girl sit on her
waist. Only now he takes a look up at the woman and discovers that the woman was
his wife all along. With a smile on her lips, she rocks the little one back and
forth, making her laugh happily. He can see a radiant smile on his wife's lips,
which can also be seen in her eyes in a form of a sparkle. She really looks like
an angel with a little angel on her arms. Her emerald eyes meet his and the
smile on her lips becomes even warmer. She takes the little girl by the hand,
waving together in his direction. And then suddenly it is there, for the first
time in a very long time he can feel it again. His heart is beating loudly and
quickly against his chest. This radiant smile on her lips triggers a warmth in
him and a very slight tingling sensation goes through his stomach, which is by
no means unpleasant. A tender smile pulls on his lips, but he doesn't know why.
He averts his gaze from his wife and looks at his chest and stomach. Should it
really be like that? Are these really love symptoms? Was his brother really
right after all? Did Sakura really manage to make him - unable to love - fall in
love with her?
 
Sasuke looks up again with a deep breath and sees the little girl being taken
out of his wife's arms. She turns to him and then slowly starts setting her legs
back in motion. The conversation with Ryosuke from earlier comes back to his
mind, as he sees Sakura slowly walking towards him.
 
Do you really think that things would have turned out differently if you had
seen each other again three years ago?
 
If her parents had been alive, they would certainly have taken her to galas like
this. Or like Sakura said at the pool party, it could have been Ryosuke or
Shikamaru introducing them to each other at some point. There would have been
many possibilities either way and who knows, maybe he would have met her again
many years ago. But perhaps they wouldn’t have recognized each other, or
hardly spent any time together, although he can hardly believe that after his
first encounter with her. It’s just that, there is always that if in the back
of the head. What if everything would have still turned out differently if they
had met again years ago? And suddenly, the more he keeps thinking like this, a
glint of sadness can be seen in his dark grey eyes. If things went like that
instead of the arrangement, maybe they wouldn't be married today and suddenly he
can no longer imagine not knowing her, not seeing her in the company and around
himself every day.

Sakura keeps approaching him with a smile, unaware of his deep and sad thoughts.
The things which he keeps overthinking. He knows that it’s stupid to see it so
negatively and to overthink it so harshly, especially since he knows now, that
back then he had already felt attraction towards her and caught his heart
beating so unbelievably fast the more he thought back at her and their first
encounter. It had been years ago, but now that he feels this feeling again after
over 8 years, he knows he has felt it before. That he has already fallen for her
years ago. She just simply rekindled this feeling over time and Itachi opened
his eyes. "Hey." Her soft and bright voice makes him break out of all those dark
thoughts and look into her smiling face. Right before she can come to a halt in
front of him, he quickly reaches out his hand to her and pulls her closer to
himself with gentle force. His lips gently touch hers, his eyes already closed
and suddenly the tingling in his stomach gets stronger, while he lets his other
hand lie on her waist to pull her as close to himself as possible. If it was
possible, he would never ever let go of her again and just hold her in his arms
for the rest of his life.
 
Her fingers cling to his sides and hold on to his suit while she returns the
kiss with slight surprise. It seems to her as if the kiss is lasting minutes and
she realizes with surprise, that she has never felt such an intensity of
tenderness in any of his kisses before. After a moment he lets go of her lips
only reluctantly, the corners of his lips pulling up gently, while his dark grey
eyes meet her emerald ones. Sakura returns his smile still a bit surprised,
while he brushes one of her pink curls behind her ear. "Are you okay?" She then
starts to explore a bit amazed at his sudden action. She didn’t expect him to
do such a thing in front of so many eyes. "Everything's fine." He smiles gently
at her surprised expression. "Tomorrow you'll have me again for the whole
evening." She seems a bit confused by his sudden change in tone, while she says
those words to reassure him. Just a while ago, when he was talking to Itachi, he
didn't look at all like he was in the mood. "I hope so." His answer throws her
off completely, as he keeps smiling and giving her a kiss an her forehead. Then
he lets go of her, but not of her hand. Only when he starts to walk past her, he
slowly lets her hand slide out of his.
 
She watches him walk off and through the crowd, leaving her behind still
completely baffled. What was that just now? Are these withdrawal symptoms?
Confused, she turns back to the front and goes to the bar to get herself
something to drink. Her gaze falls on the box with the donations, which is
already full to the brim. Pride spreads inside her when she sees this. If the
checks are filled just as much as the donation box, then she can easily arrange
to build a new orphanage and support the orphans just like they deserve it. 

In the meantime it has become quite late. The first guests have already said
their goodbye’s to her. Mainly those which came here with their youngest
children, who are all slumbering peacefully in the playroom under supervision.
So far, in her opinion, the evening has been a complete success. But she too, is
really looking forward to her cozy mattress and her beautiful pillow. For the
most part, people keep asking her the same questions, before talking to her
about another topic. In addition, she has been standing all evening and would
like to sit down again. Even if only for a moment. In her opinion, the guests
can slowly leave, after all, they will all see each other again the following
day anyway. She barely saw Sasuke and didn't have much to do with her friends
either. She couldn’t even see her brother and Honoka, except for the short
time in which she could stalk and congratulate them on their engagement. But
that was it. "Tired?" She then hears her brother ask next to her, to which she
turns with a slight sigh. The pinkette nods to his question and lets her right
and then her left foot rotate a little to loosen her worn out muscles up. "Tell
me, what was that with Sasuke just now?" He then starts to ask his next question
and grins knowingly at her. Sakura in the other hand can only shake her head
with big eyes. "I have no idea!"

Ryosuke laughs at her plate like eyes, before coming back to their earlier
topic. “Everything’s gonna be fine. Soon it’s over and you will be able to
rest.” He pats her shoulder encouragingly, before turning around and walking
away again. Inwardly she sticks out her tongue at him, while pouting and
crossing her arms for a quick moment. It's easy for him to talk, after all he
can go whenever he wants.
 
She surrenders with a sigh to her duty and disappears back into the crowd of
guests, although probably having already talked to each one individually anyway.
She stops in front of the stage and looks at the crowd in front of her, which
has already been minimized a bit. She can discover her friends in between.
Naruto is trying to hold himself back to not attack Hinata in public, while Ino
and Kiba laugh exuberantly like usual and Neji and Tenten are having fun too.
After a moment she also notices her old friend, Shikamaru, kissing his beautiful
fiancée. She can also make out Ryosuke and Honoka in the crowd, with Itachi,
Misuki and her husband, who is less involved in the conversation and is actually
rather looking over at her. She smiles slightly at him and then lets her gaze
wander further.
 
"Miss Uchiha." A dark and elderly voice sound next to her, which makes her look
to her right in surprise. She hasn’t expected him to reach out to her this
evening one more time. "Mr. Domoto." She then responds to the man with a
friendly smile. "Miss Uchiha, I have to admit, you have impressed me a lot." The
hostess blushes slightly at the elder man’s praise and scratches her cheek
with a little smile on her lips. "Thank you, Mr. Domoto, but I would never have
been able to do all this on my own."

"I knew your parents, Miss Uchiha." Mr. Domoto suddenly begins, which makes the
pinkette catch her breath. "You knew them?" She repeats questioningly and
watches him nod. "You are very much like your mother, Miss Uchiha. But you
definitely have your eyes from your father.” A smile forms on the usually
serious gentleman’s lips and the compliment makes her blush once again. It
surprises her how good he actually is with praises and compliments. Well, after
she has gotten married to someone like that, she should know better to not judge
a person by their looks after all. "Thank you so much for your kind words, mr.
Domoto." Her gaze turns to the floor, still a bit embarrassed off his
compliments. "You have convinced me Miss Uchiha, with your ideas, your
implementation and with your kind, helpful manner. That's why I would like to
give you this." He pulls out a neatly rolled paper from the inside of his suit
jacket and reaches it out to her with an encouraging and satisfied smile. She
reaches out for the scroll a bit hesitant, before taking it from him, which is
neatly bound with a thin and red bow. "Thank you Mr. Domoto." She bows politely
at him, not quite sure what to do with it. “This is the deed of one of my best
properties. It's in a nice residential area and I think it's the ideal location
for a new orphanage. It also has some of the best state schools around as well.
Some wanted to buy it from me to build new residential complexes on it, but I am
sure that it will be in much better hands with you." Sakura looks at his smiling
face in complete disbelief, which makes him laugh deep from his chest.
 
"Miss Uchiha, I would like to thank you for this lovely evening and take this
opportunity to say goodbye." He extends his hand at her in a friendly manner,
which she accepts after a brief hesitation. "I am already looking forward to the
next time i find an invitation to your donation gala in my mailbox and I hope to
be able to support you again." He then continues, which makes her smile happily.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Domoto. You are a truly benevolent man.” The
pinkette bows once more, while holding the scroll to her chest dearly, hearing
how the grey haired man laughs. "If I had a son or grandson of your age, I would
like to have you by his side." The man now turns around to the side, his arms
crossed behind his back. "Goodbye." With these words, he heads through the crowd
to get back to his home. "Thank you so much for honouring us with your presence
this evening!" She then calls after him one last time and bows slightly in his
direction, before he gives her one last polite nod of his own and completely
disappears from her sight.
 
“What do you have there?” She can hear her husband approach her again,
making her look up from the rolled paper in her hand with big eyes. The rest of
her family by marriage also comes up to her, since they must have all seen her
conversation with mr. domoto, who is normally known as strict and reserved.
"That's a big check." Itachi suddenly notes, his eyes just as big, which makes
her shake her head with a slight giggle. “It's not a check, but even more
valuable. Would you take it, please?“ She looks up at her husband, watching
him nod and carefully take the scroll from her hand, before letting it disappear
into the inside of his suit jacket. "Take good care of it." She then asks of him
with a smile and gets him to smile back. 

"Sakura! The evening was amazing! But before we leave now, I have one more
question for you!" Misuki now attracts everyone's attention to herself and
throws her arms around her sister in law’s neck for a moment, before letting
go of her again. Sakura smiles gently at her in response, to show her that she
can do so anytime. Sasuke also looks at his sister in law with interest,
examining her briefly in the dress,  which successfully diverts the attention
from the baby bump. Sasuke has to smile at the fact that his brother will soon
be a father.

"Sakura, after all that you have done and planned for those poor orphans
tonight, we wanted to ask you..." the brunette Uchiha pauses in her words to
take in an exited breath. "Would you like to be the godmother of our baby?" For
a moment the Haruno’s facial features derail, until a beaming smile settles on
her lips. "Seriously? I mean, do you really want that?” The pinkette starts to
explore, completely touched at her sister in law’s sudden question. "Yes.
After everything you have done here for all those children which you don’t
even know, i believe that you will be a great godmother."

"Of course I'll be the godmother if you want me to!" The Haruno holds her hands
together in front of her face, so touched and happy, watching as Misuki suddenly
burst out into tears. "Oh. It’s okay, Misuki." Completely moved, Sakura takes
the brunette woman back into her arms, while turning her eyes towards her
brother in law. "I think it's time for you to bring your wife to bed, Itachi."
Said man nods understanding and takes his wife’s hand, which Sakura then
releases with a wave of her hand. "See you tomorrow." They all watch the older
couple leave with a smile, while Sakura leans herself with a slight dreamy sigh
against her husband.

“Why is Misuki crying, Sakura? What have you done again?” Her brother’s
sudden approaching voice makes her stand back up strait and look at him and when
she turns to look to the other side, she can no longer see Sasuke nor Fugaku
beside herself. It’s as if they both vanished all of a sudden. So she turns
back towards her brother and his fiancée with an amused smile. "Those are her
hormones, you idiot.", She grins cheekily at him. He raises an eyebrow at her,
but she knows that he was just kidding anyway. "She just asked me if i want to
be the child’s godmother and i said yes. That’s why she responded so
emotional." She smiles at the two, while already being hugged by her soon to be
sister in law. "Congratulations!” The brunette woman immediately exclaims
happily, which makes Sakura laugh in amusement. “You should be the ones to be
congratulated here! You soon to be husband and wife.“ With a slight giggle she
then starts to look around for her husband and father in law. Shortly
afterwards, she can spot Fugaku standing with a few other guests, but there is
no trace of her husband. Silently and unnoticed, she then lets out a sigh. She
just doesn't understand. First he's so unbelievably sweet and gentle and then he
suddenly disappears without a word.
 
Sakura turns her gaze back to the newly engaged couple on her right and then at
the ring on Honoka’s finger. “What did he actually say? I only saw that he
fell on his knees and pleaded for your hand in marriage.” The younger of the
two Haruno’s looks at Honoka with a small grin, which elicits a slight giggle
from said woman. "I didn't plead!" Ryosuke immediately grumbles at his sister
and hugs her to cuddle her to death, which makes her laugh aloud into his chest.
Soft piano sounds suddenly reach her ear and make her stop in her laugher and
animates her to pull herself out of her brother’s grasp. Instead she looks up
with surprise, as she recognizes the melody. She doesn’t pay attention to her
brother’s questioning face and instead keeps letting her emerald eyes search
through the crowd, until she can finally see her husband in the mids of it. With
a smile on his lips, he is standing in a free space between the guests and looks
at her. Now she starts to understand where he vanished to. He went to the band
and told them to play the song.
 
Sasuke watches his wife come up to him with a bright smile and slightly fast
steps and when she is only a few steps away, he already reaches out his left
hand to her. She too extends her hand and lets him take her hand in his. He
pulls her gently towards himself, his right hand resting on her waist and begins
to dance a standing blues with her, letting her lean her head on his right
shoulder. The Uchiha smiles slightly in response and presses a kiss on her pink
hair, before leaning his cheek against it and closing his eyes with relish. This
warmth goes through his whole body again and his heart beats loud and fast
against his chest. His wife should actually be able to hear it clearly, but even
if she does, she isn’t giving him any signs. His hand, with which he is
holding hers, and his cheek too start tingling as well, as he can feel his wife
cuddling herself even closer to him. With a slight smile, he opens his eyes
again and looks into the crowd around him.
 
They are dancing together in silence, on this small open space, in the midst of
this crowd of people, who don't even seem to take notice of them. It was the
only way for him to have her to himself for a little longer that evening and so
he took the oppurtunity. That's why he told the band to play the song which they
chose to dance to, just like her parents used to as well. Sasuke wanted to have
a moment to themselves and now he wishes that this moment will never end. Maybe
Sakura was right when she said that everything is good just the way it is.

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