Friends & Family

Step 36 - Christmas Spirit

The Christmas spirit is something beautiful. When the stress subsides, you get home earlier. Outside the cold snow lies and falls and conjures up a beautiful white landscape. The house smells of biscuits and orange peel, as well as vanilla. Candles burn and spread a warm, pleasant light, not like these normal lights that shine white from the ceiling, while a small fire burns in the fireplace. Such times just invite you to cuddle up together in front of the fireplace, put on a cozy sweater and a cup of cocoa or warm tea. Even if you feel lonely as a single, you solve this problem with friends and family, with whom you can spend a few nice hours.

The sudden ringing of the doorbell echoes through the silent house. The disturbing sound makes the black haired man turn on his side with a deep growl and put his arms around his wife, to pulls her against his chest. "Sasuke. The bell is ringing.“ the pinkette too grumbles and tries to get out of his grip, but he doesn’t seem to care much about the person waiting outside the house. All he wants is a fulfilling amount of sleep and his wife in his arms. No more, no less. "Don't get up." The Uchiha replies softly and hugs her a bit tighter than before. "That's Itachi." The pinkette then tries again and manages to free herself from his hug. Sasuke blinks briefly at his wife. Her oversized shirt hanging loosely over her shoulder and exposing it a little. “What is he doing here so early in the morning?” The question leaves his lips in nothing but a quite growl, while he lets himself fall back on his pillow. Warmth spreads inside of him and makes him sigh comfortably. “He is going to help me count the donations. You in the other hand can go back to sleep." He now hears his wife walking towards the door and opening it, before leaving him alone in the room. His dark grey eyes close again and his throat leaves a brief and sark hum, as he goes back into the land of dreams just as he was told to.

The Haruno walks down the stairs with a slight shiver, rubbing her upper arms as if that would make her get a little warmer. Still all tired, she then unlocks the front door and opens it, but at the same time hides behind it like a shield against the cold. "Good morning." Her brother in law smiles at her, while entering the house and getting out of his out door clothes. “Are you still asleep?” He then explores, a little amazed, when he notices her looking as if she just got out of bet. "Unlike you we couldn’t leave early. We had to stay awake till 5am." She grumbles at him a little out of tune and closes the door to let the freezing cold outside. "Did the gala really last that long?" Itachi stares at her in disbelief, while she keeps rubbing herself over her arms. "A few of the guests just didn't want to leave until 4am. The donation box is in Sasuke's car, by the way. Could you pick it up while I quickly go to the bathroom?" Itachi nods understanding at her and takes his little brother’s car key, which Sakura extends to him. So as he is walking towards the garage, in which Sasuke had parked his car hours ago to protect it from the freezing weather, Sakura immediately turns around and quickly walks back up the stairs to the bedroom, to grab herself a jogging suit and a pair of warm socks. In the bathroom, she then changes into the chosen clothes and washes her face with warm water. After doing so, she wants to sneak back out of the room unnoticed, but her husband's sudden grumbling makes her flinch and look back at their bed. Sasuke is laying there, cuddling onto his pillow and blinking sleepily at her with a tired hum. "Sakura." Her name leaves his lips only in a soft mumble, but still loud enough for her to understand, while he reaches out one of his arms towards her. It makes him look as if he is trying to beg her back to his side, while his hand keeps leisurely opening and closing in addition.

The young woman walks over to the bed just as her husband wishes and bends over to his side of the bed. “You go back to sleep, i will come back later." She then starts to whisper and gives him a brief kiss on his lips. To her surprise, he isn’t thinking of letting her do so and starts wrapping his arms around her shoulders, in order to pull her down to himself. When he can hear her giggle at his move, he too lets the corner of his lips lift up. Only until she manages to actually free herself from his hug. “Later Sasuke. Itachi is waiting downstairs." She smiles gently and brushes one of her grumbling husband’s strands from his face, before walking back down and into the kitchen. Her brother in law is already sitting there on one of the bar stools, with the donation box and the checks next to him on the kitchen table. “Can i offer you something?” The pinkette immediately starts to explore, while she is already on heating some water for her tea. "If it’s from you, I’m not gonna say no." Itachi smiles charmingly towards her, which animates her to smile as well. "Well, what do you want? Tea, coffee, or maybe something else?” She then starts to suggests and looks at him over her shoulder. "Green tea would be nice."
 

Sakura immediately nods in understanding at his request and takes out a box from one of the cupboards, in which she had stowed the matcha tea powder. "Here, have some cookies. But don’t tell Sasuke." The pinkette places a plate with Christmas cookies on the kitchen counter, which the Uchiha already reaches out to. "Woo cookies! Are those homemade?” His words escape him rather happily, as he is already letting the biscuit disappear into his mouth. His dark brown eyes meet hers questioningly, as she raised an eyebrow with scepticism and watches him a little dumbfounded. “Is that a family thing, or something?” The question blurts over her lips with out a second thought, which make her brother in law stare back at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?" He doesn’t understand what she is trying to say. Not in the slightest. Silently Itachi watches her place his tea cup in front of him on the table with a shrug of her shoulders. "Sasuke always gets super happy about cookies as well and when we don’t have any left at home, he keeps sulking until we get new ones. He also hates to share his cookies with others, so I have to buy extra packages for our visitors." Slowly she takes out the tea bag from her tea cup and throws it into the sink, before letting herself sink down on the bar stool across from him. "He really does that?" He stares at her with big eyes, as she is resting her chin on her palm with a slight smile. “Yep.”
 

~ > * < ~
 

With a radiant smile on her lips, his wife bends over him and lowers her head to his. His hand finds its way into her hair, which he carefully holds back while he lifts his head a little up to make their lips touch. Her sweet breath brushes his lips and he slowly starts closing his eyes with a soft and satisfied hum, while her warm and soft lips keep remaining on his.
 

Timidly he opens his eyes and looks into the darkness of his bedroom with a deep hum, when he realizes that what he just saw was not real. Just a dream, huh? Sullenly, he turns himself to the side with a sigh, to take his wife back into his arms. However, his hand only makes contact with the empty and cold sheet. It takes a moment for him to actually remember that Sakura has already gotten up and is sitting downstairs, alone with his big brother. A soft grumble escapes his lips at the thoughts, before he already starts pulling the bed covers aside in oder to get up from his warm bed. He disappears briefly into the bathroom, in order to wash his face and put on a comfortable jogging suit. When he steps out of the bathroom again, his attention lays on his suit, which he had been wearing the previous evening. After a brief look inside the suit jacket, he notices that the important document, which Sakura had entrusted to him the previous night, is still inside it’s inner pocket. So he decides to take it out, before leaving the dark bedroom, which is inviting him to go back and disappear underneath the warm sheets instead. His lips leave a yawn, while slowly going down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he can find both his wife and brother sitting and busily counting and scribbling the numbers into a note pad. "Hey, little one!" Itachi immediately greets him, lively as ever. Sakura looks around at him a bit surprised, since she didn’t see or hear him coming, as she is sitting with her back towards the entrance of the kitchen. The younger brother grumbles out of tune in response and makes himself a cup of tea as well, standing right next to the two at the kitchen counter. "Here." His exclaim resembles that of a soft mumble, while he puts the paper roll on the table and pulls his wife down from her bar stool. The confused pinkette watches him doing so and seating himself down on it instead.

Only after putting his cup down on the counter, he then looks down into his wife’s confused, emerald eyes and pulls her back up and onto his lap. His throat leaves a deep and satisfied hum, his arms wrap around her belly and cuddles himself against her back. "Didn't you want to sleep?" He hears his wife ask after a moment of silence, feeling how he cuddles up his cheek against hers. "My bear was gone, so i went on search." His words come out in nothing but a mumble, as if he is still half asleep. His lips press onto the crook of her neck, before he beds his head on her shoulder and closes his eyes with relish. "Your wife has been pretty successful so far." Itachi suddenly says into the round and gets his little brother to grin leisurely with satisfaction. Sasuke is simply enjoying the warmth that is radiating from his beloved wife and which has spread inside himself as soon as their bodies came in contact. "It's my wife we are talking about, after all." He then replies quietly, while letting his thumb move over her belly in circles. He can hear his brother's soft laugher, but doesn’t pay it any attention, as he just keeps cuddling himself more to the warmth in his arms. “Tell me, what is that rolled paper now? You haven’t told us when i asked you last night either." Itachi is inspecting said item from afar with curiosity and perks his younger brother's curiosity as well. He lifts his head from Sakura’s shoulder tiredly and looks at the rolled paper, which he has placed on the table a few minutes ago. In fact, they are all quite interested in what mr. Domoto gave her there, but she hasn’t even told him about it’s purpose.
 

"This is a deed of ownership for one of mr. Domoto’s properties." A gentle smile lies on her lips as she picks up the next check and unfolds it. "What?!" Itachi exclaims loudly, his chin almost dropping down on the kitchen counter in disbelief. Sasuke growls out of tune at his brothers volume, but is still surprised himself at the piece of information. "The Domoto Kasuki has given you one of his properties? For real? No joke?" The older of the brothers continues to stay loud as he asks her so in utter disbelief. She, in the other hand, just looks back at him in confusion, unable to understand why he is so extremely shocked about it, while Sasuke growls at his brothers growing volume. He clearly doesn't like how his brother is so loud. “What do you mean by; he gave it to me? It’s not for me. He donated it for the orphanage.” The pinkette looks at the man across from her a little irritated, watching how he catches his breath for a moment to recollect his thoughts. "How did you do that?" Itachi then asks, a little more calm now than before. Sasuke hums appreciatively at that, while secretly also looking forward to the answer. After all, everyone knows exactly that Domoto Kasuki doesn’t give away his land so simply and never gets impressed of any amount of money, no matter how much of a fortune people keep offering to him. "He said that I have won over his conviction with the gala and my commitment to the orphans. He was of the belief that the property would be in much better hands with me, than with any other." She can’t help but smile when she thinks back at the previous evening. How Domoto Kasuki said that she is so similar to her mother. Does that man even know how much these words actually mean to someone who has lost their parents?

“Sasuke, your wife is simply amazing! You have to take good care of her!" The older Uchiha smiles at his brother. Sasuke too smiles and presses his lips on her neck, before letting his nose disappear back into the crook of her neck and closes his eyes with pride swelling deep in his chest. "You don’t need to tell me that." He will certainly not give her up voluntarily. His gaze moves back over the table and on the open collection box of the donation gala, which is still quite full. “You should continue to do what you came here for, so that Sakura can get some more rest, before we go to the Christmas gala tonight.”
 

“Aye, Aye, sir!” The man with the dark brown eyes salutes, brimming with motivation and immediately turns back to the checks. "Do you have a pad and a pen for me too?" Sasuke then starts to explore near his wife's ear, not missing her reaction at his warm breath. But she tries to cover it, by looking around briefly before she finds another pen and Itachi pushes another note pad into their direction. With a soft sigh, the youngest Uchiha then picks up a check and does the same job as his brother and wife. Still embracing her, he writes down the sums of the checks on his pad.
 

After some time the eldest in the room has to smile, when he sees his brother and sister in law like that. Sasuke is still cuddling up against her back, with his cheek on her shoulder, peering over it at the checks and the pad.
 

The three of them work in silence. The minutes go by, the box slowly empties and at some point the checks are removed from it and added to those which have already been processed. The pinkette reaches out for her teacup with a sigh, but stops in her attempt when suddenly a light flashes and brightens her view, which animates the young woman to look up with surprise. She looks at her brother in law, who is typing around on his smartphone with a grin on his lips. "What a nice pic." He then remarks with a smile on his lips and shows her the pic he just shot. "The little one fell asleep." Sakura looks at the phone’s screen and gets to see a picture of her sleeping husband. She has to smile and her cheeks warm up a little when she notices how cute he actually looks on the pic. His cheek is slightly pushed forward, due to it being squished against her shoulder by his heads weight, while his eyes stay closed. He looks so content and relaxed, that she can feel a warmth spread inside her chest. "I've already sent it to you." Her brother in law starts to explain and winks at her with a slight smile pulling on the corner of his lips, before putting his smartphone back into his jeans pocket. A small smile settles on her lips as well, as she can feel Sasuke’s breath brush her cheek, while her eyes catch the check and the note pad in his hand. His hand is still resting on it, the pen lying loosely between his fingers and the tip of the pen is still placed at the end of the circle which he had drawn before falling asleep.

She carefully takes the pen and check from him in order to put both of them aside, before turning back to the last of the checks in the box. Itachi meanwhile pulls his brother's pad towards himself and begins to calculate the sums. Less than twenty minutes later they finally have the sum’s result of all donations. "Well then. I'll leave you two alone now, so that you can rest a little longer too." Itachi get up on his feet, and pats his legs with a slight sigh. Only when he looks back up and watches the two for a moment, he decides to nod towards his still sleeping brother. "Do you want me to help you with getting him upstairs?" She smiles appreciatively at his suggestion in response, but shakes her head. "No, thanks, I will manage it on my own somehow." The pinkette waves him good bye and watches as he leaves the kitchen and soon after also the house.

~ > * < ~
 

"Sasuke." The Uchiha can feel fingers playing with his hair and petting his head lovingly. It makes him hum simply with relish at the feeling. "Sasuke. Come on, let’s go back to bed.” The heat source from his stomach disappears at that, just like the warm support for his cheek, which ends up in letting his head fall slightly forth, until he lifts it back up in his unconsciousness. He growls out of tune at the sudden lack of support and besides, he really liked the gentle fingers on his head better. He feels someone starting to slowly pull him up by his arm and makes him slip down from the object on which he was sitting. He hums again a little disturbed when he feels the heat source in front of him trying to move away from him and so he quickly wraps his arms back around it to prevent it from leaving. With slow and unconscious steps, he starts to follow the moving warmth in his arms, while this lovely scent in front of his nose is keeping him in this dozy state, preventing him from waking up. As if he were sleepwalking, he follows the heat source on his chest, which he has surrounded with his arms protectively. "Be careful with the steps, Sasuke." He just hums back at the warning and keeps letting himself led further. It’s not like he was taking really notice of anything except the warmth in his arms anyway.
 

After a while, while still in trance and half asleep, his unconsciousness takes note of something cool and fluffy underneath himself and his head. He can’t stop himself from humming at the feeling with satisfaction. With this, he pulls the source of heat, which he had been clutching to all along and even closer to himself, before he rolls slightly onto his side. A chuckle sounds next to his ears and he can’t but smile at the soft sound, letting his nose burrow into the warmth with a deep sigh, as a pleasant warmth goes through his whole body. It is quiet around him and also dark. The only thing he can feel is the cuddly warmth he is holding against his chest and a gentle pressure, which makes him open his eyes hesitatingly. His sight is blurry and everything is dark around him, so it takes a moment for him, before he can make out his wife, who is laying in his arms with a gentle smile.
 

~ > * < ~
 

A sigh of pleasure comes over Sasuke’s lips when he wakes up again next and takes a look around the room for a moment. A little confused, he looks into the darkness. Hasn't he been in the kitchen together with Sakura and his brother? So how on earth did he end up in bed? His eyes move around to the alarm clock, which is standing right opposite of him and shows him the current time with luminous numbers. Briefly he rubs over his eyes, noting that he doesn’t have to get up yet and that they still got another hour, before they need to get ready for tonight’s gala. The gala, which he and his family are invited to every year. The Uchiha gazes back at his wife, who is still held and trapped in his hug. She lies there relaxed, with her face turned towards him and her hands nestled between her and his bodies, while one of her hands is being held by his. With his free left hand he carefully caresses one of her pink strands out of her sleeping face. He would love to kiss her right now, but he's scared to wake her up like that and that's exactly what he doesn't want to happen. They both were pretty tired and so he wants her to sleep some more as well. So instead he keeps watching her sleep so calmly, as a memory from the previous evening suddenly appears in his inner eye. It is the moment he saw her looking at him with that beaming and happy smile on her lips, while she was holding that toddler in her arms. And suddenly he can feel his heart beating faster again, while his gaze and the smile on hid lips becomes even gentler.
 

His hand rests on her side and his thumb slowly moves over her skin, which is exposed to him. A quiet sigh escapes her lips at that, cuddling herself more into the pillow and it makes it unable for him to stop his lips from curling up into a gentle smile at the sight. He keeps watching her slumber some longer in silence, until she slowly starts to wake up as well. "Hey." The word escapes her lips only in a soft mumble, as she closes her eyes again with relish. "Hey." He too whispers, his thumb now moving over her rosy cheek. "You can still get some sleep. We still got an hour." Sakura’s eyes open again at his words and starts shaking her head in response, as he comes even closer to her. "No, no. I’m fine." Her fingers move and rub over her tired eyes, feeling his hand wander back down and underneath her sweater, where he returns to touch and caress her skin. "If you say so..." With gentle force he then decides to pull her flush against himself and back into his arms, only to press his lips greedily against hers for a deep kiss. He can’t but smile into the kiss, when she responds immediately and allows him to enter with his tongue. With a swift and easy move, he rolls himself over his wife, to burry her underneath himself like a predator. As soon as he does so, he can hear her giggle into the kiss and moan. Slight goosebumps form on is skin at her reaction, animating him to caress and touch her skin further. His heart is beating fast and his breath goes erratic, as he breaks the kiss to look deep into her emerald eyes. He can hear a slight eep escape her pink lips. His hand is resting on her breast and slightly massaging it, while he watches her reaction. She isn’t wearing a bra underneath her sweater, since she always takes it off before going to bed. A soft moan escapes her pouty lips at his soft squeeze, on which she bites down slightly and suddenly he feels the urge to kiss her again. However, he wants to watch her reactions some more as he touches her. Her cheeks turn slightly pink and her lips escapes another shy moan.
 

“Sasuke...” He stops when he hears his wife moan his name so softly and looks back into her eyes. The brightness of the day peaks out from the underside of the curtain and gently illuminates the room. It is enough in order to be able to see each other’s face’s. Her slightly disheveled hair lies like a carpet on the mattress and pillow, her emerald eyes are glistening slightly and her breath is kind of uneven from his touches. She too looks up into his dark eyes, with a beautiful and slightly shy smile on her lips. With her hands she cups his cheeks, only to pull him back down and to get his lips back on hers. A soft chuckle escapes his lips, as he returns the kiss gently, tightening his grip on her back and pressing himself closer to her. So that’s why she had said his name. He gives her another kiss on her lips and then up on her cheek, before he moves lower again in order to caress her neck with lots of kisses. "No hickeys today, Sasuke." She can’t stop smiling while telling him this, but she also can’t stop herself from completely submitting herself to him and enjoying his lips on her skin. "Exceptionally." He smiles back at her, while pulling down the zipper of her sweater just a little and kissing her left collarbone. She giggles softly at his behaviour and looks down at his black hair, which is standing up in all directions. She has to admit that he looks super cute and hot at the same time with his bed hair. Her lips curl up into a smile and her fingers start playing with his messy hair, as she takes notice of him bedding his cheek on her chest with a hum. “Am I that cozy? You fell asleep in the kitchen earlier while leaning against me too.” His eyes slowly start to fall shut again, while he listens to her silent question. Another hum escapes his lips and he cuddles himself more into her chest with relish. “You are my bear after all. My plush bear.“
 

It becomes quite after that. But only until the silence between the two is disturbed again by the grumbling of his wife’s belly. It makes him smile crookedly. "A hungry bear." He looks up at her with a smile on his lips, watching her turning slightly red and turn to the side in embarrassment. The Uchiha suddenly moves and before she can see what he's doing, he gently kisses her cheek and pulls her up from the bed with himself. With a small grin on his lips, he crouches down, only to embrace her thighs and get her up on his arms. His sudden and unexpected action makes her screech with surprise and hold herself onto his sweater. "Sasuke!" His name leaves her lips with a soft whine, because he has never done anything like this before and she has no idea what he is planning to do. “What are you going to do?” As if he didn’t hear her question, Sasuke just stats to move and exits the bedroom with her on his arms. The door’s are high and so she at least didn’t have to worry that she would hit her head in the process. "Sasuke!" She tries to get him to talk once more, while he leisurely walks down the stairs, like no care in the world. "Sasuke!" She repeats his name once again when she is being carried further and into the kitchen, where her husband finally puts her back down onto one of the bar stools. All he does after that is smile at her and brush one of her pink strands behind her little ear. "Feeding the mistress." He then starts to whisper agains her lips, almost seeming like he is going to kiss her again. But when her lips start to close, he suddenly moves away, leaving her completely baffled.
 

He walks towards the stow and searches for one of the pan’s, but when he notices how there is coming no sound from her, he decides to turn back towards her. His lips curl up in amusement, watching her sit there completely baffled and her cheeks tinted slightly red. His throat escapes a slight chuckle and his feet starts moving back the few steps towards her. “What is it? Did you expect something else to happen?” Her cheeks turn a shed darker at his question and it makes his heart jump with excitement. Before she can avert her face from him, Sasuke cups her cheeks and makes her look back into his dark grey eyes. Slowly he bridges the gap between himself and his beloved wife and watches her trough half lidded eyes. Alone the fact that she was expecting more and her breath becoming slightly erratic, makes goosebumps form on his skin. Even the hair on his neck does get up. Slowly his lips press against hers. First gentle and then with more pressure. He pushes her back, almost ending up pushing her down onto the kitchen island, while his hands would move down and roam over her body. His tongue breaks through her lips with ease and his hands cup her mounds from below, which elicits a soft and cute moan from her.

Only after a long and passionate make-out, the Uchiha dares to slowly break the kiss again and let’s her sit back up properly. With bright red cheeks and heavy breaths, Sakura watches her husband move a step back with a slight grin on his lips, before he turns around and approaches the refrigerator. Every time she had teased him at the beginning and thought that she had him around her little finger, she now fully understands that in reality it had been him who had her under control all along. He let her think that she had the upper hand all the time, but she got painfully aware that this wasn’t the case. Already back on their second date he had demonstrated it to her. But back then she still couldn’t believe it and thought it had just been sheer luck. “What does the mistress want for dinner?” Sasuke’s question makes her jolt out of her thoughts and look at his back. “You can cook?” She watches him with astonishment, as he turns back towards her with a slight grin on his lips. “I can do rice, pancakes and eggs. I think searing some piece of meat is no big deal either.” The Haruno giggles for a moment and leans herself back against the island, where she lets her elbow rest on the countertop. "Well then, convince me." Sakura keeps watching her husband as he puts on the rice cooker to cook the rice and prepares the pan with some butter. After washing some vegetables, he gets himself a knife and a kitchen board, before starting to chop the vegetables. Sakura smiles slightly at this. It's the first time that he is cooking something for her. Let alone him cooking in the first place. And somehow, since last night he has been, how should she put it? It’s not like he is different, or like he changed. Rather than that, he has become much softer towards her. “Is everything okay?” She then inquires quietly and watches him pause in his cutting.
 

Sasuke looks back at her and into her emerald eyes. Did she notice? "Sure, why are you asking?" His reply comes with a slight hesitation, as she lets her chin rest on her palm. "Well, you suddenly got even gentler towards me. You haven't caught a cold again, have you?" For a moment she looks at him carefully. A little embarrassed, he looks back down at the vegetables. The fact that she is suddenly watching her so intensively makes him almost uncomfortable. He isn’t exactly used to such a thing.
 

"No. Everything’s okay. Is it bad that I behave like this?“ The Uchiha continues to cut the vegetables while he asks her this, unable to see her shake her head in response. "No, I was just a little surprised." She smiles and watches him turn to the pan with the cut vegetables. “I'm just in the Christmas spirit. That’s all.” Obviously that was just an excuse right now. He isn’t in the Christmas spirit. Not in the slightest. Fact is, he is in love with her. However, it seems to him that this feeling of his isn’t mutual. That his love for her is only onesided and that thought kind of hurts him. “Suddenly at a fundraising gala?” He then hears her questioning further and he can clearly imagine the smile on her lips. “I just saw an angel. How did you actually get me up into the bedroom?” He immediately changes the subject, while stirring the vegetables. "You clung to me as if I were a cookie." The pinkette grins and looks to the side and out of the window. Sasuke looks a little bitterly at the vegetables. Maybe he should try keeping it a secret. Especially in front of his friends and family. He should be content with her being around for now and who knows? Maybe he’s wrong. Maybe his feelings will turn out to be just some infatuation, which ends just as quickly as it started. But just as he thinks so, something in him hurts. He doesn’t want it to leave again. It already happened once. They meet only once and she already occupied his mind. But over the time he forgot her and he got emptier again. It like when they meet again and got married, this emptiness was filled again too.

It sizzles softly as Sasuke puts the meat into the pan and starts searing it. At the sizzling sound, Sakura turns back toward her husband and looks at his back. "Actually...” she then starts to speak, sounding a bit nervous and uncertain if she should tell him or not. She doesn’t want him to misunderstand her words and end up stopping his behaviour. “I think it's really nice when you are so kind and gentle towards me." Her words are only a mumble and towards the end she becomes even quieter. The Uchiha looks around and at her with surprise, trying to decipher in his head if he heard her right, or if it was just his imagination. She lowers her gaze to her fingers and he can see a gentle but also slightly sad smile on her face. "I mean... when you do that i kind of feel like I'm special and not alone." She keeps mumbling, more to herself than to him. The Uchiha looks back at the meat and he can’t stop his lips from lifting up into a smile. So he didn’t just imagine it. She really said that. Maybe... yeah, maybe at least when he’s alone with her, he can let his feelings run wild. Even if she doesn’t feel the same as him. He quickly puts the meat on the plate, with some of the vegetables and a portion of rice right next to it, before turning towards her and putting the plate down in front of her. "That’s because you are special. But above all, you are not alone." He smiles warmly at her and hands her the cutlery. She looks up at him a bit perplexed, as he gets back to the stow to get himself his own food. She didn't think that he would hear that.

~ > * < ~
 

The young man adjusts his shirt and suit sleeves, just as the cufflinks, before turning to his other arm. "Are you ready? Do you need help with anything?" His gaze turns towards the door to the bathroom, behind which his wife is preparing herself for the gala tonight. "No, thanks. You can wait downstairs! I'll be right there." Her answer makes him raise one of his perfect eyebrows, unable to understand why she would want that. “Why should I go down? I can wait here too.” Letting go of the ends of his sleeve, he lets both of his hands disappear into his suit pockets. The bathroom door opens and he can see how his wife’s head pops out through the little opening. Her pink hair is pinned up elegantly, as if she had been to the hair saloon for it. "But I want that wow factor when I come down the stairs, so could you please wait downstairs for me?” She smiles innocently into his direction and all he could do in response is letting out a low sigh, before nodding in response. After that he starts to turn around and walks out of the room, down the stairs.
 

When the door is closed, the pinkette quickly gets out of the bathroom and to the wardrobe, from which she takes the dress, which is still safely wrapped in a garment bag. A satisfied smile pulls on her lips when she has taken out the dress from it’s bag and gives it one more glance. If this dress doesn't achieve the wow effect that you know from movies, where the woman comes down the stairs into the ballroom and impresses everyone, she doesn't know either. She carefully steps into the dress and slips her arms into the short lace sleeves. With a bright smile on her face, she looks herself over in the mirror on the inside of one of her closet doors and she seems quite satisfied with how she looks. Due to the makeup and the dress she has chosen, her eyes also appear slightly bluish, but it still perfectly matches her eye colour either way.

The Uchiha sighs, somewhat tormented. Why does she have to make such a secret of the dress? Why the unnecessary wish of showing him the dress while walking down the stairs, like in fairy tales or movies? It’s not like her walking down the stairs, will magically change his opinion about her in the dress. Either he will love it, or love it. There is no other option, because it’s not the moment or the dress which makes her so attractive and beautiful to him. He thought she already knew that. With another sigh he turns around and goes back that little bit to the stairs, when he can hear his wife finally coming down. Overwhelmed, he stares at her when she stops on one of the steps and turns slightly to the side, with an inconspicuous little handbag in her hand. The blue-green dress reaches down to the floor. It looks like a layer of lace has been attached over a strapless, white dress, which also forms the sleeves of the dress. The Uchiha opens his mouth to say something, but in the end no sound comes out of him. “What happened? The cat ate your tongue?” She explores with a giggle. Sasuke closes his mouth again and swallows lightly, unable to say anything. It feels like his heart has stopped for a moment. Still speechless, he watches her as she descends the stairs and approaches him with that bright smile on her face. She stops right in front of him and looks up into his dark grey eyes. Now she’s still quite smaller than him, but when she gets into her high heels, she will no longer be as small and still she won’t be too tall either.
 

"Why don’t you ever make yourself so beautiful for me?" The question blurts over his lips all of a sudden, which makes her stare at him with surprise. "I already made myself pretty for you too." Sakura then replies and looks at him with wide eyes. She hasn’t expected him to say such a thing at all. “When?” The Uchiha lets out a low growl, while leaning a little forward to her. "At our wedding." Her reply is quite and for a moment she even surprises her husband with her words. “But that was only once!” The pinkette looks down a little sadly at his words. She hadn’t expect his reaction to turn out this way. "I keep making myself pretty for you all the time." She then reports to him quietly and a little dejected. She had thought that he already would have noticed that she is always tying hard to look good in his eyes. “It's always just because of me?” Sasuke looks at her in astonishment, watching her look back up with slight tears forming in her eyes. "Of course! Whom else do you think I’m doing it for? I don't care what all of Japan thinks about me! You made me Japan's dream woman, not me! I want only my husband to think I'm pretty and that’s all. I thought that you had understood that by now, but i guess i was wrong!" She hisses angrily towards him and wants to go to the door, about to get into her high heels.
 

"No." His hand grasps her wrist with the silver bracelet, only to pull her back to himself with gentle force and put his arm around her back. "You are the one who still doesn’t seem to understand." His words are nothing but a soft whisper against her lips, as he lets his thumb gently move over her cheek. “I don’t care about princesses walking down the stairs, or trying to find and wear the most beautiful dresses to impress men. To me you are the most beautiful woman, no matter what dress you are wearing. You are the only woman next to my late mother, who never even needs to try, in order to impress me. You are beautiful no matter what you wear or do, especially when you're not wearing any makeup. This includes even every morning, when you still look totally sleepy and your hair is sticking out in all directions. Just look at Karin desperately trying everything possible to look good in my eyes all the damn time and still i don’t care what ever shit she is wearing, even if you happened to give her your dresses. Because it’s her that i don’t care about." He smiles honestly, giving her a peck on her cheek.
 

Sakura stares up at him with widened eyes, unable of knowing what to say. She never knew that he actually thought so about her and she can see in his eyes that he is serious. A small, crooked smile shows up on her lips. All this time she was trying so hard, only to be told that she doesn’t even need to. She has to laugh lightly at the irony. The fact that he just called Karin desperate is kind of funny too. It makes her so happy that he thinks like that about her. That he likes and is taking notice of every single thing she does, without her needing to try so hard. She always thought that she had to prove herself to him in order for their marriage to work, but in the end he likes her the way she is. Sasuke smiles and leans his forehead against hers, only to give her a kiss on her lips. "By the way, in the mornings you not only look beautiful, but also particularly cute." He whispers those words into her ear, when she responded to the kiss with a hug. "I really like this Sasuke in Christmas mood." Sasuke’s heart beats a tad faster, unable to say anything in response. If she just knew that this has nothing to do with the Christmas spirit. Just what is she doing with him? His heart will overwork at this point if she continues like this. "Let’s go. The limousine is waiting.” He smiles at her, before stealing another kiss from her. The Uchiha holds out his wife’s faux fur stole, while watching her get into her high heels, before she gratefully puts the fur around her upper arms. After that she nods once in order to show him that she is ready to go and walks with him towards the door. The cold of the winter night makes her shiver, while she takes notice of the already waiting limousine in front of their property. The chauffeur is also there, waiting in front of the vehicle to welcome them. Sasuke locks the front door behind himself and puts the house key in the inside pocket of his suit jacket, before walking with his wife down the driveway, which is definitely not made for limousines. With her dress slightly raised, in order to make sure that it doesn't get wet and dirty because of the snow, the Haruno walks down the driveway while holding onto her husband's arm and towards the gate through which they step.
 

The driver immediately greets them with a polite bow and opens the door for them both. "Good evening. Did you have to wait a lot?" Sakura then replies just as politely, which animates the driver to smile back. "Don't worry about me." The man watches as she gets into the limousine and shortly afterwards Sasuke too is already sitting next to her, giving the driver the signal that he can close the door. The pinkette looks around for a moment, which makes her husband smile slightly. He looks down at her hand and gently takes it in his, before crossing his fingers with hers. He seriously likes this feeling, which is triggered every time as soon as he touches her. The car starts moving slowly and Sasuke decides to look ahead, where the partition to the driver's cab was let down and he can see the chauffeur, who keeps glancing at them both from the rearview mirror. Of course, the Uchiha does not miss the glances which is meant for the both of them and he also understands why the man does it. They both got married so quickly, especially without anyone even knowing if they had a relationship before or not, that most of Japan thinks that their decision was too premature. After all, the couples run out of breath quickly after the wedding and just end up divorcing soon after. However, he doesn’t even think of doing that. He never was planning on doing so. At first it was only because it was his mother’s wish, but now it’s not just because of that, but also because he truly wants Sakura to stay by his side.

"I only said that because I think you might have made yourself a bit too beautiful and men would end up looking at you in a wrong way." The Uchiha suddenly explains his earlier behaviour without being asked, which makes his wife look at him with surprise, before a warm smile spreads over her face. He can even see it in her emerald eyes. "I don't care about the other men." With those words she slides closer to him, if that's still possible and he too moves closer to her face. “That doesn’t change the fact that i don’t want any other man gawking at my wife.” He can feel her breath shakily against his lips and it animates him to press his lips against hers. It’s so impossible. He can't get enough of her at all. Only reluctantly he breaks away from her and stares into her eyes with a slight grin. She too smiles shyly and lifts her thumb, in order to place it on his lips. "You got lipstick." She then explains and wipes the reddish color from his lips.

Sasuke let’s her do as she pleases and closes his eyes, listening in to her giggle. When she is done, he starts wrapping his arm around her and hugging her against his side, while gently caressing her stomach. A few minutes later the journey already comes to an end and the car stops at a huge property. Several limousines are standing in front of them and and are letting out the guests of the gala. Therefore it takes their limousine a moment until they too reach the entrance to the huge building and the door on their right gets opened by the chauffeur. Countless flashlights blinds the married couple’s sight as soon as the door opens. Sasuke sighs soundlessly at that, before he gets out and briefly adjusts his suit, then extends his hand to his wife to help her onto her feet as well. Somewhat surprised at the crowd, she looks at her husband, who smiles comfortingly, puts his arm around her waist and then leads her the short distance over the red carpet inside. Inside the building they are immediately greeted with bows, before they are redirected towards the cloakroom to their left. “Do you want to hand something in?” The Uchiha glances questoningly at his wife, who nods in response and walks with her husband by her hand to said place. They are greeted there as well and looked after in a friendly manner. The pinkette hands in her stole and receives a number, which she puts into her mini handbag.
 

"There will be more reporters around, so don't be alarmed." The Uchiha brielfy explains to her, as they keep following the red carpet that leads around a corner. “This time we also have to pose a little. It's really like on TV here.” As soon as he says those words and goes with her around the corner, they already get caught up in another downpour of flashing lights. Some paparazzo’s pay their attention straight away, while others still take pictures of the guests in front of them. Sakura looks around a little uncertainly, as she keeps following her husband. The Uchiha comes to a stop, puts his arm around her waist and gently presses her against his side, to give the reporters their food. She looks up at him with surprise. Everything here is so new to her, it kind of overwhelms her. She hasn’t been surrounded by reporters like this ever since the wedding. Sasuke notices her uncomfortableness and starts smiling gently at her, which makes her smile too. Then he turns his gaze back to the cameras, whereby his smile fades. The pinkette does the same as him, but keeps her smile up anyway, before they decide to go on. “Miss Uchiha!” Sakura then suddenly hears someone call out for her and looks back over her shoulder with a smile, before looking back at the reporters and poses once more with Sasuke.

A few minutes later they finally arrive in the actual hall of the festival. “You are a natural talent.” The Uchiha starts whispering near her ear and gives her a kiss on the cheek. Sakura laughs a little embarrassed and then takes a look around. Today it's her friends turn, since she had so little time for them the previous night. Her husband takes her hand again and crosses their fingers. His thumb moves over her wedding ring again and he is grateful. Grateful that his mother went to Ryosuke and grateful that Ryosuke agreed. for him this marriage is the most right thing that could have happened and he doesn’t care what anyone speculates out there about him and Sakura. "Sakura!" They both can immediately make out the familiar voice and turn around into the direction, in order to greet them. Shikamaru and Temari are standing there, while Temari waves happily towards them. Sasuke sighs unnoticed as they approach them. He had hoped to have Sakura all to himself for a few minutes longer. The day with her wasn't enough, especially since Itachi was there and they slept through most of it. “Hey!” Sakura immediately greets her neighbors happily, when they are only a few more steps away. Temari immediately greets her with a tight hug, before she lets her go again to let her hug her fiancé. “Wow, what a dress. One more beautiful than the other." The dark blonde then notes, after greeting Sasuk as well. "Oh nonsense! Yours is way more beautiful." Sakura immediately waves off her friend’s flattery with a giggle.

"It's not the dress that makes Sakura pretty, it's her that makes the dress beautiful." Sasuke suddenly starts to explain to the Sabakuno, which makes his wife look down with bright red cheeks, while the model sighs, completely touched. The Nara sceptically raises one of his eyebrows at his old friend’s choice of words and stares at him questioningly. "Please tell me that you read that somewhere and didn’t just came up with that on your own!" Temari turns towards the husband, almost close to tearing up from the cutesy, but Sasuke just looks back at her in silence, while inwardly scolding himself for his loud mouth. He wanted to be like usual in public and now he ended up being too open again instead! "Does he keep saying things like that to you?" The model in her black dress looks back at Sakura with interest, however, Sakura just shakes her head. “No, not all the time. He seems to be in Christmas mood." The Haruno takes a brief look at her friend’s dress and quickly changes the subject to close the conversation about Sasuke’s sudden behaviour. She doesn’t know if she could handle any more cute words from him today. “Did i already say that your dress is beautiful too? it really is an eye catcher. Are you really as slim as you look?" She then explores with fascination, which makes the blonde woman look down on herself, before looking back at the woman opposite from her. "How thin do I look?" Temari replies with a question, which makes Sasuke grin slightly. "Women." Shikamaru grumbles in agreement at his friend’s whispered words, as they keep following the women’s conversation. "I think i wouldn’t have discovered you behind a broomstick." Sakura then replies, making the model giggle. "What? Come on now, please stop!"

“Where are the others?” The Nara now inquires, bored of the conversation between the two women, making Sasuke reluctantly look away from his wife. "I have no idea, we just arrived here." He shrugs his shoulders and then looks around briefly, to look for his friends as well. “But all of this is pretty prestigious, don’t you think?” The Haruno suddenly notes, which gets the men’s attention back. "Yes. Almost a bit exaggerated, actually." The Sabakuno mumbles back, a bit unconvinced of all the hoo-ha and tam tam. “That's because it's not an ordinary gala. The one who hosts this gala every year is one of the richest men in Japan. He just wants to show off his wealth and power and therefore tries to outdo himself every year. There are several live bands playing and there will even be various show acts.” Sasuke then explains quietly to his wife and Temari, who nods in agreement. "Like you can see, this gala doesn’t have any noteworthy purpose. All the people here only attend the invitation to this gala, because it is treated as the most important gala of our social class. All the important people are here and if you don’t come, it could actually put you in a bad light.” The Nara then adds to Sasuke’s explanation and Sakura nods in understanding. She can already imagine what he is trying to say. If they don’t attend the occasion, no matter what the reason, they would end up being the gossip number 1. Everywhere would be said and written that they were ‘too smug to even attend to a simple and important invitation like that’. And all this is exactly why she doesn't feel particularly comfortable here. She really can’t stand those overly wealthy show people, who do all of this only to show off their wealth and make other people down, just because they are pissed when their invitation gets declined.

Immediately she steps aside, in order to get closer to her husband, her hand searching for his. Surprised, Sasuke looks at his wife, who is obviously feeling his arm for his hand. So he pulls his hand out of his trouser pocket and encloses her hand, watching her look around uncertainly. "Shall we look for the others?" He then suggests, which makes everyone look around at him with surprise. "Yes." Sakura smiles happily and enjoys her husbands protective hand around hers. Shikamaru and Temari too agree with the idea, as the small group start to walk through the hall, to look out for their friends. "You don't feel comfortable here, do you?" The Uchiha quietly utters his guess and gets a shake of her head in response. Just as he had thought. He smiles encouragingly towards her and she bravely returns the smile, before continuing to look around. Although the hall is quite large, the guests are all standing close together and make it difficult to find anyone in particular. A while goes by in which they keep searching and they are almost giving up, as they walk along the stage to the left. There are large windows, extending behind the crowd. The clear dark blue sky can be seen through the windows and they can even see the stars shining.
 

The mass becomes sparse until it dissolves completely, as they could finally make out their friend further in the back. Sakura looks around with relief and amazement, as there is a wide, open area in front of her. No wonder that their friends were no where to be found. Barely anyone is standing in this place, which makes it more comfortable. "Sakura! Your dress is stealing my spotlight!“ The Haruno immediately looks at her blond best friend in the group, in which she also discovers her brother. The blonde stands in the middle with her arms crossed, in a dark blue one-shoulder dress. Sakura has to smile at her friend's statement and comes to a stop next to the group together with her husband and her neighbours. "She's the dream woman in Japan, do you really think you can have the spotlight at this point?" Temari starts to explore with a small grin on her full lips and makes the Yamanaka pout even more. Sakura in the other hand walks up to her brother for a hug, who accepts and returns the gesture with a smile. They both seem quite happy to see each other again so fast. In the mids of her friends, Sakura immediately feels more comfortable and relaxed and starts greeting everyone in the group.

"Hey, Sas!" Ryosuke starts greeting his brother in law with a handshake and a half hug, which Sasuke replies to, before turning back to glance at his wife. "You did right by not taking her here with you." The Uchiha then notes quietly, making his brunette friend look at him questioningly. Sasuke too looks back at him and puts his hand back into his pockets. "She feels completely uncomfortable here." After that he too starts greeting the rest of the group. Only after a while he looks back into the crowd in front of the stage, from which they just came. "Like squashed sardines." Everyone giggles and chuckles at his comparison, while he keeps his eyes on search for his family. That’s when he sees Kiba appearing from the crowd and immediately looking at the men with a slight grin. "Gentlemen. If only you would accompany me to the bar to get drinks for the ladies. They have to talk about their clothes anyway.” The Inuzuka starts to play elegantly, which brings the group to laugh once again, while the men immediately agree. "What do you want?" Sasuke now glances back at his wife, who puts her finger thoughtfully against her lower lip. “let me guess. It has to be something elegant, right?" She just asks back, just as questioningly, making him grin with amusement. "I'll just bring you something."
 

The men turn and leave the women behind for them to discuss their female topics in peace. "How long did you stay up last night?" Neji is the first to open a topic, which makes Sasuke only sigh once again. "Don’t even ask. They just didn’t want to leave and by the time we finally got home and went to bed, it was already past 5am.” The Uchiha lets out a deep growl. “But it was also a great evening!” Kiba is intending to cheer him up, however, it doesn’t seem to affect the Uchiha in the slightest. "Yes. If you can control whenever you want to go home, that is." Sasuke growls again and gets his brother in law to pat his shoulder in a friendly manner. "Don’t worry, you can catch up on that from today on." Sasuke has to grin crookedly at his words. He noticed that Ryosuke always uses comforting words like these a lot. "Let's see about that." The Uchiha simply shrugs his shoulders as they fight their way back through the crowd in order to reach the bar. "I wouldn't even be surprised if someone ends up dying here in the crowd." Shikamaru interjects into the round with a grumble of his own, it makes Sasuke chuckle in amusement. That's how he knows the genius, almost constantly annoyed and bored about everything. When they arrive at the bar, they start to line up one after the other.

"Sasuke?" The Uchiha had just gotten his wife’s drink, when he was called out from the side. He immediately looks around at the person with surprise, only to discover his sister in law walking towards him with the same uncomfortable look as his wife earlier. She comes to a stand still right in front of him. "Hey, Misuki." He starts greeting her with a slight smile and a quick hug and that’s when he can feel her relax her tensed shoulders. "Could it be that you lost Itachi?" He then continues to asks, which she responds to with a helpless nod. Of course she feels that way, in this large crowd, alone and pregnant. There is no way he would leave her alone in such a situation. He know that Itachi would neither, when it were to be Sakura. No matter how much they keep bickering, they are still brothers after all. "Come here. Do you want something to drink?” He keeps continuing to explore and pulls her carefully between himself and his brother in law, who too greets her a little surprised. “A cola, please.“ The brunette female immediately answers to her brother in law’s question with relief and watches as the bartender nods and already hands her a glass with the dark liquid. Shortly afterwards he also puts the other drinks on the counter, which the men pay and then take them with themselves on their way back. "Just hold on to me." Sasuke turns back to his sister in law, who nods understanding into his direction and hooks herself lightly on his right arm. Ryosuke walks on her right side, while Kiba walks with Neji in the front. "Like bodyguards." Misuki then starts to mumble softly, but still enough for Sasuke to hear and chuckle in amusement. A little bored, Shikamaru trots after them until they emerge from the crowd and discover that the free space has still not filled in the slightest.
 

Eventually they slowly come back to the group of ladies, which shortly afterwards become aware of the men approaching. "Look who has found me at the bar." Sasuke smiles at his wife, when he and Misuki have arrived right next to her. The pinkette immediately hugs her sister in law with a beaming smile, welcoming and asking her of her and the baby’s wellbeing. Sasuke just watches the two with a smile, while pulling out his smartphone from his inside pocket. After unlocking it, he quickly taps around the screen, before holding the device to his ear. He has to smile crookedly, when his call is being answered to and looks at his sister in law, who is now talking relaxed with his wife. “I picked up something on the way. White, floor length, with a flower holder. We are on the left side of the stage, right next to the windows." After giving off the location, he hangs up again, without even letting his brother speak. His gaze returns to his wife and can’t stop himself from smiling.
 

"Misuki!" The group turns around to look at the person who is calling out for the pregnant woman, only to be meet by the older of the Uchiha brothers. Itachi is walking towards the crowd with quite fast steps, as if he had been worried to death just a moment ago. The brunette woman smiles at her approaching husband and already holds up her arms, already expecting him to take her into his arms for a hug. "I've been looking everywhere for you." Sakura has to smile when she can hear the relief in her brother in law’s voice. It must have been hard on both of them. Misuki must be feeling just as uncomfortable as her in this place, but in addition she is also pregnant too. So it’s no wonder that Itachi seems as if he almost freaked out when he lost her back in the crowd. "It's good that you found her, Sasuke." Her eyes meet those of her husband, who is standing right next to her and watching the reunited couple just like her. Itachi, who has overheard the pinkette’s words, now turns around to them with a nod. "Sakura is right. Thanks for finding her, little one." Itachi smiles at his younger brother with relief, but Sasuke can just shake his head in slight amusement. “It wasn’t me who found her. She found me when i was getting Sakura something to drink." Sasuke starts to slightly wave his hand, in order to show them that it wasn’t a big deal at all. After all, that’s what brothers are for. "I’m still thankful that you didn’t leave her on her own." In order to strengthen his words, he then walks up to his younger brother and gives him a short but strong hug.
 

"And how did things went? Are you well rested now?" The older of the two now starts to explore, with a slight grin pulling on his lips. The younger Uchiha just raises his eyebrow in response to his question. There goes the mature big brother. Whenever he grins like that, it always means that it’s time for his teasing and annoying routines. "You fell asleep leaning against Sakura earlier." As soon as Itachi says those words, he already pulls out his smartphone in order to show him the picture he shot earlier that day. Sasuke just hums softly at the pic. Of course he had to take a picture of that and just like he knows, Itachi will soon pass it through the whole group too. Just too good that Naruto isn’t here tonight to see it, since only celebrities and other important tiers are being invited to the Christmas gala. And just as he has suspected, their friends immediately start asking if they can see too and just as generous as Itachi is with giving out private informations, he immediately gives his phone away with a wide and proud grin. Sasuke can’t stop himself from rolling his eyes, while everyone looks at the phone screen with interest and keep passing the smartphone through to each other. "You are really cute here." Ino immediately reviews on his sleeping face, which makes him snort with annoyance. Sometimes he really wants to take his brothers stuff and just smash it against the next wall, only so that he will stop doing such nonsense. It’s no one else’s business how he looks when he sleeps. He guarantees, that not even Itachi would go as far as risking his phones getting demolished every time he does such nonsense. But just as soon as those thoughts start crossing his mind, he can feel his wife’s fingers on his neck where she starts fondling his hair. Sasuke closes his eyes with relish at the feeling and he gets carried away by that in an instant. It almost got him as far as to purr out loud, but he is glad that he could restrain himself from it in the last second. The power his wife suddenly has over him is a disaster. Even a single touch already makes him go so weak.
 

“How do things look for tomorrow? Did everyone manage to get their presents ready already?“ The Haruno takes a look at her brother in law and his wife, while leaning herself against her husband. "Yes. I think we'll already be with him in the early afternoon." Itachi nods at her with a warm smile, which Sakura responds to with an excited nod. "We will pick up our present on the way, but don’t worry we won’t let you wait." Sasuke too starts to explain, which perks everyone’s interest. "What are you talking about?" Neji looks at the younger Uchiha with interest. The other too seem to want to know. "We bought a sweet little present for Fugaku and we think he will really like it." Sakura smiles happily at her own announcement. She really can’t wait to see his reaction. He will be so happy. “What about me?” An elder voice suddenly sound right behind the youngest couple in the family, which animates them all to look around. "There you are, father. We were already starting to wonder where you left." Misuki explains with a beaming smile on her lips and already approaches him to give him a hug. Sakura too quickly walks up to him for a hug, which makes him laugh slightly. "You have found yourselves a nice and quite place." The oldest Uchiha notes into the round, while letting go of the pinkette. “Hello Sakura, Misuki. You two look so lovely again.” Both women smile appreciatively at his compliment, before indulging back into their conversations.

"I think the nice and fun time in the company is over now." Sakura lets out a sigh of sadness, when she notices one of the photographers who is taking photos of the guests inside the hall. Of course there will be such allowed inside too. “Why?” Her husbands question makes her look up into his slightly surprised face. He must be confused as to why she would say such a thing. "Well, with all those paparazzo’s and photographers around, there is no way Karin won’t know that it’s me who got married with you." Itachi and Fugaku look at her with surprise, while Misuki seems to be rather amused. "How? She still doesn't know?” Sakura has to giggle at her sister in law’s question and starts shaking her head. “Not even in the slightest! She’s just stupid, that’s all. She probably saw our wedding pictures, but there were no articles about me starting to work at the company and that's probably why she forgot my face. The last time something about us came out in the magazines was on our first date, but Kakashi confiscated it along with all the others after she made him furious. And well, she’s just too dumb to actually google Sasuke’s wife for once. Because, why should she, right?” The Haruno giggles in amusement. Ino and Misuki join her in as well, while Sasuke and Fugaku just grin in amusement. That woman really is a hopeless case. "Seems that it will really be over now, huh." Itachi glances at one of the reporters around the place, before he too cracks a smile. Tomorrow the magazines will be full of Japan’s most desired ex-bachelor and Japans dream woman for sure and just like Sakura said, it would be more than weird if Karin wouldn’t get her hands on that magazine.
 

The eldest in the group clears his throat for a moment, before shoving his hands back into his trouser pockets. “Itachi, Sasuke. It’s time for us to go and talk to a few business partners.” He then remarks with a gesture towards the crowd, which makes the two brothers sigh out in agony. “I already did that all previous night long. Please give me a break, dad.” Sasuke growls annoyed, but everyone knows that his sudden foul mood isn’t directed to his father in particular. "You know, we still have to." Fugaku then replies with a smile and a shrug of his shoulders. All Sasuke can respond to that is another sigh. "I should make my rounds too." Ryosuke now too agrees, which Neji nods to in agreement. So all men except Kiba start walking away. Even Shikamaru decides to talk to some people around, but Sasuke doesn’t think of leaving his wife before giving her a peck on the lips.
 

Some time goes by. The men have long since left the group for business talks and now, Sakura is standing alone with the Ama by the windows. Temari has also walked away to met a few of her model colleagues and Kiba is going on with Ino, while Honoka and Misuki apologized a while ago to go to the toilet. "Say, Tenten." Sakura then starts to raise her voice after a moment of silence, in order to get her only left friend’s attention. "Hm?" The brunette woman lowers the glass from her lips, in order to look questioningly into the Haruno’s emerald eyes. "How are you doing, actually? Now that Ino is somehow taken, you’ve become the only single among us women." The pinkette takes her eyes from the large crowd of guests, which has gotten larger and the nice free space has been minimized, in order to eye her friend with a slight smile. "Don’t worry about me, i'm fine. At least I have Neji." The brunette smiles at the Haruno, waving off her question. “Are you sure?” Sakura tries it again, however, Tenten doesn’t seem to change her mind and therefore gives her a nod. "Yup." Again, the older of the two smiles and takes a quick look around, before turning back to the Haruno. “Will you excuse me for a moment?” All Sakura can do is look after her friend with a sad look and watch her disappear in the crowd.
 

And now that she is standing all alone, she feels so unbelievably uncomfortable again. She doesn't like to stand here alone, but she doesn't want to try to look for Sasuke or the others either. She would either just get lost on the way, or run past them all the time. Her gaze moves over the other guests in front of her, who are talking to each other in a good mood and over to one of the waiters. Even they are wearing golden vests and balancing golden trays on their hands around the whole place. Everything is screaming with pride and power, it literally disgusts her. "That guy should have built a hospital in Africa with all that wealth, instead of having unnecessary gala’s like these each and every year." Sakura growls sullenly, unable to understand such power hungry bastards. And to be honest, she’s happy she can’t understand them. For her it’s unthinkable to live like this and do absolutely nothing productive, all while being aware of the condition of the poor. This man keeps bragging with his wealth, while out there are 25.000 people starving to death every single day. Just thinking about it makes her stomach churn. she doesn’t want to be like that. Now that she isn’t alone any longer and has others who support her, she want to make sure that a lot of people can be saved with her donation gala’s. Yes. Soon after her first project has succeeded, she wants to do another gala and she knows that she has a lot of people who will support her again.
 

"Unfortunately, not all people can be as charitable and good hearted as you, Miss Uchiha." Suddenly, the voice of an elder man sounds from her left, which makes her look up with sincere surprise. "Mr. Domoto!" She is so astonished and happy at the same time to be able to meet him here again and that so soon, too. "Good evening." She greets him with a bright smile on her lips, as she watches him approach her with a respectful nod. But it’s not just that. She can also feel relief wash over her, now that she is no longer alone. The grey haired man smiles back at her and then turns his head slightly to the side, where he takes a quick look over his shoulder. “It’s really such a shame, having to see all this. With all this wealth, Mr. Kitsuwa, just like so many others, has unfortunately not stayed on the ground and now is organizing this gala every single year, in order to show off what he has and that he is the best.” With those words, mr. Domoto lets his hands sink into his suit pockets and looks back down into her emerald eyes. His look sullen and rather disappointed, which doesn’t surprise her at all. For her, wealth wasn’t given to humanity to brag about. It’s a gift that was granted in order to help those in need. In the end everyone will die and leave this world and with it, all the belongings. This life is like an exam. Nothing will stay ours and that’s why we need to use and invest our money wisely. Bragging will give you nothing. Everyone will just talk behind your back, while money can buy everything, but not the most important things in life. Trust, respect and love doesn’t grow on trees and no amount of wealth can achieve that.
 

“Unfortunately, not all of them are as generous as you, Mr. Domoto.” The pinkette smiles earnestly at the older man, which replies to her with a soft laugh. "Just call me Kasuki." The young woman has to smile. Everyone calls him strict and unapproachable and here he is, being so friendly and open. In the end it just depends on how you act yourself. "Only if you call me Sakura." The Haruno then conditions to him, which the man accepts without a word. "Oh well. I may be generous, but only when I am convinced that my properties wont be used for unacceptable and irrelevant stuff like this here.” He gestures around the place, which animates her to nod in understanding. "You must have been pretty convinced of me. In addition to the property, you also donated a large amount of money. We are all truly thankful for that!" The Haruno bows towards him, in order to show him how indescribably grateful she is for his help. Kasuki just smiles at her politeness. "There you are." The sudden sound of a male’s voice makes the both look to the newcomer with surprise. Ryosuke approaches them with a slight smile and stops right next to them, while looking directly into his sister’s eyes. “You must undoubtedly be miss Uchiha's brother. You are truly like an image of your father." Mr. Domoto starts the conversation and extends his hand to the elder Haruno. The brunette man returns the handshake a little confused. He doesn’t seem to know the man, as Sakura immediately notes from his reaction. "Yes, this is my older brother Ryosuke. Ryosuke, this is Mr. Domoto." Sakura briefly introduces the two men to each other, before turning back to her big brother with a bright smile. "He knew our parents." She then starts to explain the man’s words to her brother, who nods briefly, but still seems to be quite confused. "Where from?" At his question, Kasuki lets his hand sink back into his pockets. "We were neighbours, before they moved into that house."
 

~ > * < ~
 

The youngest Uchiha looks around searchingly. Up until now he had talked to his father and brother and a lot of business partners, but then he could make out Ino with her boyfriend in between the crowd. And when he discovered Neji with Tenten, he slowly began to worry. If his friends are all scattered in the crowd, who in the world is with Sakura? So in order to make sure that she won’t stay alone any longer, he decides to go back to the place where he left her in the presence of her friends. On the way there, he finally meets his sister in law and Honoka and the assumption that Sakura is standing there alone by the window is slowly being confirmed more and more. Sometimes he would like to scowl at his friends. He only left Sakura’s side because he was content knowing that she was with the others. What worries him is the fact that his wife feels totally uncomfortable here and everyone just seems to have left her alone for whatever reason.

Sasuke sighs with relief when he steps out of the crowd and finds his wife, together with Ryosuke and Mr. Domoto. He is so glad that she's not alone. He slowly keeps approaching the three, while he is a little surprised to see Domoto Kasuki with his wife. Sasuke can immediately see the happiness in his wife’s eyes, when she notices him coming closer. Her lips adorns a warm and beautiful smile, which makes his heart rise for a second, animating him to put his arm around her waist and gently press his lips on her cheek. "Mr. Domoto." The Uchiha turns to the elder man with a polite nod and shakes his hand in greeting. "Mister Uchiha. You are really lucky to have a wife like Sakura." Kasuki immediately states as he returns his handshake. “I am, mr. Domoto. I am." Sasuke is rather surprised about the fact, that mr. Domoto and Sakura seem to be on first names. It makes him wonder what exactly happened, that could have made them become like this towards each other. After all, no one ever really saw the Domoto Kasuki being this familiar with someone before. "If I had children or grandchildren, I would like them to be like Sakura, or have a wife like her. She is truly noble and kind hearted." The elder man can help but smile at the couple. "Have you ever thought about adopting a child?" The pinkette eyes him, trying to stay careful in her wording. "Adoption in my age? Oh, no. The kid would have an old geezer as their guardian when they get into puberty.” Mr. Domoto can’t help but laugh at his own words. No. He really doesn’t want that. “I was thinking more of a teenager, rather than a child. You can still adopt that too. But they are rare, because everyone always wants babies and toddlers and well, someday you could have a heir or heiress, who would continue on working with your ideals. That way you wouldn’t need to worry about your properties getting into the wrong hands, even in distant future." Kasuki looks at the only women in the round with surprise. He did’t expect such a thoughtful response, but it just made his respect for her grow a lot more than she already did. This woman is really getting more sympathetic with each day and he only knows her since the previous night yet. A smile pulls on his lips. Uchiha Sakura doesn’t only seem to be incredibly kind and warm hearted, but also pretty intelligent as well. He is glad that Uchiha Sasuke does seem to be aware of it and appreciate this facts as well. Sadly, a lot of people stay unaware of what gems they have married. “To be honest, i've never really thought about that. Especially not that far.”
 

A sudden melody reaches the Uchiha's ears, which he immediately recognizes and animates him to smile at an instant. Slowly he moves down to his wife, in order to whisper into her ear. “They're playing our song. Shall we dance?” His dark grey eyes meet those emerald one of his wife questioningly, who responds to him with a smile and agrees, by putting her hand on his extended one. "Please excuse us, mr. Domoto." The Uchiha smiles at the older gentleman, before he walks away with his wife and goes to an open area, where he holds her hand gently a little more up and gets with her into dancing position. Shortly after the singer begins to sing, both of them begin to move and dance to the music. Sasuke’s eyes lay on his wife with a smile, as they move to the wedding song that his mother had chosen with deep care. If he thinks about it, his mom had picked the perfect song. The song is about the red rose that is associated with love. They are being planted and when spring comes, the flower start sprouting out of the earth. It's kind of like the two of them. His mother knew from the start that he would fall in love with Sakura. She already told him that she saw something between them when she first saw him together with Sakura at the Tokiwa towers. She said that they were already harmonizing perfectly too. She saw it all only in the time span of a single night and all this makes him smile and at the same time he feels like wanting to cry as well. He misses her so endlessly. He wishes that she could see him now. See that she was right with her observations all along and see, how happy he is now all just simply because of her trust in him and Sakura’s bond. All she did was give them a push to strengthen their bond and he is grateful that she did. He needed it.

With a slight smile, Sakura releases herself from the dance position and simply let’s herself fall into his arms. Sasuke too, doesn’t hesitate and puts his arms around her and buries his nose into her pink locks. He can’t stop himself from breathing in her breathtaking scent, while he somehow hopes that she won’t take notice of his heart beating so incredibly fast. Sakura sighs silently on his shoulder, her eyes closed with relish. She doesn't care that the two are the only ones dancing. The few minutes that the song lasts fly by, but even when the song is over, the two are still dancing on the same place, taking small steps and within a circle.

"Somehow..." They then suddenly hear the Yamanaka’s voice next to themselves. Sasuke lifts his gaze and towards the blonde woman, who stands there smiling and watching. Sakura too opens her eyes and looks at her best friend questioningly. "You two are always the only ones dancing." Sakura just shrugs her shoulder in response to her friend’s observation, while the couple still waits for her to explain, why she actually disturbed their little alone time. "Actually, I wanted to borrow you for a moment, Sakura. Could you come with me for a second?" The Uchiha sighs quietly at her request in agony, before letting go of his wife. "Just this once." Actually, he didn't want to let go of his wife for the rest of the evening, but now he has to watch his wife and her friend walk away into an unknown direction. He sighs again before looking around and taking a few steps back to lean against the side of the stage.

After a while he can see his old friend, Shikamaru, walk towards him with a crooked grin, before he too leans himself against the stage to the Uchiha’s right. "Well, well." The Nara suddenly starts to growl, which does confuse Sasuke. After all that’s not a reaction you get to see of him all that often. "Christmas sprit it is, huh?" Confused, Sasuke lets his gaze turn to his old friend, who keeps looking towards the crowd. What was he getting at? "Does Sakura know what that stands for?" The brunette continues to explore Sasuke’s sudden behaviour, which makes the later snort silently. "I have no idea what you are talking about." The Uchiha tries to fend off, but understands why Shikamaru is exposing himself to the noise in the back. Nobody can overhear their conversation with the volume behind them. “Don’t play the idiot, Sasuke. Of course you know!“ The Nara laughs at his friends weak attempt to deceive him and yet it seems very quiet compared to the noise from the band behind them. The Uchiha simply remains silent and continues to look through the window at the clear night sky. He doesn’t have to justify himself in front of him. He already knows his own feelings, but it’s not like he needs to talk with everyone about it too now. “You act different in her presence. Of course, you have been like that with her ever since I met you again and i noticed from the start that there is something more between you two. But recently you've been behaving even more like that and now i got the proof that i was actually right all along." Shikamaru continues letting his gaze wander over the crowd, while Sasuke just keeps to simply stare out of the windows. He doesn’t need to hear what he already knows anyway. “You are always looking if she is around. When you are annoyed about something, she only needs to touch you and you immediately forget what you were even stressing about. You worry immediately when you know that she is feeling uncomfortable and you have no idea whether she is standing around alone or with friends." Shit. That’s exactly what goes through the Uchiha’s head right now. It’s seriously scary how perfectly that genius observes the situation. That he noticed it all and is quickly drawing the right conclusions. The Nara has simply always been a good analyst. But at the same time, Sasuke knows that most of the fault is still his own, since he can’t control his emotions in front of everyone at all.
 

“Maybe you don't know what to do with all these feelings now, but it's very simple Sasuke. You are in love with her. You already were before, but now you’re literally head over heals for your wife. Even if you don't want to believe it and feel that you are unable to. It still happened. You love her.“ Shikamaru smiles honestly at him and again, Sasuke acknowledges it with silence. He didn't want anyone to notice it and that is exactly what the genius does. “I won't tell anyone. But you should go to her now and protect her." The genius’ sudden note makes the Uchiha raise an eyebrow questioningly, before he looks into the direction, in which his friends is looking as well. As soon as his eyes catch attention of his wife and her company, he is quickly pushing himself up and practically runs to her side. He approaches his wife and the black haired young man who is standing with her. It's not that he is jealous, maybe just a little bit, but it's rather because he knows that man. He knows that that man is never up to any good. Shikamaru knew too and that’s why he told him to go.

"Hey, beautiful. Sorry that I kept you waiting.” As soon as Sakura can make out her husband's voice, she can feel relief washing over her. She looks up at him, who smiles at her and puts his arms around her waist, while giving her a peck on the lips. Ino had moved on to talk with someone else again and so she thought that she has to stand around all alone again. Last time she had the chance to be rescued by mr. Domoto, but this time she wasn’t so lucky and this pushy guy showed up, eventually making the feeling of discomfort inside of her only increase. "Ah, Sasuke, what a surprise. So, she's your wife?" The young and unknown man then starts to explore with a slight grin, but it doesn’t seem to faze the Uchiha at all. "Don't pretend like you don't know." Her husband doesn’t growl, but his voice sounds so cold, she could feel a cold shiver run down her spine. It seems that she was rightly uncomfortable around that man after all, since Sasuke's reaction says it all. She immediately presses herself closer to him, feeling how his hand lightly caress her side. “You sure got yourself a nice toy for the bed. I can imagine it being a lot of fun with her." The stranger grins at the Uchiha and then looks back at the pinkette lustfully and again, she feels super cold, but this time the feeling is accompanied with disgust too. “Unlike some people i’m satisfied with what i have, which makes that word of yours nonexistent in my vocabulary. Coming back to your imaginations now, you'll never find out anyway, so stop chasing what’s out of your league and hold your eyes in your sockets, before they end up falling out. And now disappear, Sai.” Sasuke’s words leave his throat in such a freezing cold tone, while he keeps pressing her protectively against his side, that she is starting to wonder how that man is even still standing. after that, Sai turns around with a lustful grin and walks away. However, she could actually make out a glimpse of delusion on his face too. Sasuke’s words does seem to have fazed him after all.
 

"Are you okay?" The Uchiha immediately turns to his wife with concern, when he saw the bastard having moved away on a safe distance from them. As soon as their eyes meet, his eyes are no longer cold. He looks into her green pools with warmth and deep concern, which makes her smile and nod. "Yes, you came just in time." She is relieved and grateful, seeing how he too relaxes at her words. “Actually, i really liked how you dissed him earlier.” His lips curl into a smirk at her praise. This is the first time she didn’t complain about his coldness. "Don't worry much about him, he's the host’s son and every conversation he has is actually a prelude for him. But now that he's running around freely, I won't leave you alone anymore." The pinkette giggles slightly, gaining his curiouity. “What is it?” Confused he watches her as she holds her hand slightly to her lips in amusement. "You talk about him as if he were a dog." Sasuke snorts briefly at her observation and looks into the crowd, seeing that he has completely disappeared from his sight. And that was pretty wise for a bastard like him. "Because that’s exactly what he is." A slight growl leaves Sasuke’s lips, but to his surprise she shakes his head in response to that. “No, he's not a dog. Maybe he’s a pig, but certainly not a dog.” Sakura smiles in amusement, what makes him look back at her. “I see no difference." Again she responds to his words with a giggle and shakes her head. "Well, if you think that he’s a dog, then he would be just as good as you. After all, you're a dog." He snorts aloud at her claim, although, the music makes the sound go unnoticed. "I'm not a dog."

"Such a shame." With those words she takes a few steps away and turns to the window, where she looks through and into the clear and starry sky. Shortly afterwards, she can feel strong arms close up around her waist from behind, as the scent of her husband penetrates her nose while she can feel his lips on the back of her neck. A soft giggle escapes her lips in response to his gentleness and closes her eyes with a soft moan. "See? You're just as affectionate as a dog." Her words make him growl softly next to her ear and it makes her smile. "And you growl like a dog, too." For those words, he gently bites into her neck muscle and listens in to her squeak in response. "Out! Bad dog!” She laughs again, but she didn’t expect him to let her go with a loud growl. Her lips escape a slight gasp, before she already turns herself around to enclose her hands gently around his arm, in order to prevent him from leaving. "No. Stay here." His dark eyes move back towards her and into her insecure eyes, which look at him pleadingly. He can even see her bite her lower lip as if she were sorry for making him mad. "I didn’t mean to hurt you, Sasuke. I mean that because you’re dear to me. I keep associating you with dogs, because they are loyal and affectionate by nature. Dogs are sweet, which that guy isn’t. I love dogs.” He can hear it in her voice that she is uncertain and he knows that it’s not because she isn’t sure of her words, but because she is scared that her explanation could make him mad. When he looks at her without reaction, she drops her hand and turns back to the window, with a slight sad face. "I'm sorry." Those were the last words he hears of her and even though she only mumbled it out, he could actually hear it clearly. She crosses her arms and starts looking back out of the window.

The Uchiha sighs silently. He just can't be angry with her and sometimes he feels like she knows that and takes advantage of it. He knows that she doesn't necessarily mean her comparison in a bad way. Actually, when she said all those things and that she associates him with dogs because she loves them, he tried to hide it from her, but he actually felt his heart beat faster. She said that he is like a dog and that she loves them. He really doesn’t want to give himself fake hopes by misinterpreting her words, that she might mean that she actually loves him and still, hearing that from her means so much to him. In secret he just wants her to tell him more. Just to be able to listen in to her beautiful voice some more and also hear how she keeps counting those traits she likes about him. At the beginning of their marriage she only kept making fun of him, calling him boring, cold and married to his work. She said so many unpleasant and hurtful stuff, but now...
 

He takes two steps towards her in silence and wraps his arms back around her stomach. His upper body presses against her back, while he blows kisses on her cheekbones in front of her ear. "It's okay." He whispers to her softly and he can feel her relax under his touches again. "Thanks, biscuit." Silence overcomes them at that, while her fingers enclose with his.
 

"Now I want one." He grumbles silently and listens his wife as she giggles at his addiction for the backed goods, before snuggling herself closer into his arms. "If you get tired, let me know and we'll go home." Sasuke then announces after a while of silence, listening to her moan in response. It seems that tiredness is already nagging on her again. “What about the limousine?” His wife then asks instead, which animates him to look at her mirroring through the window’s glasses. "It is waiting at a collection point that was sent by the organizer." With those words he lets his cheek rest against her head, before he too closes his eyes. “Don't you have to talk to business partners?” Sakura then continues, but he just hums in silence. "No, Sakura. Stop chasing me off, I have to take care of my wife.“ His lips pull into an amused smile, before he opens his eyes again and looks with her out into the starry night sky.