Step 8 - Knowledge
In a marriage, a person knows their partner well, maybe even better than their own selves. Throughout the time of getting to know each other and in the time of their previous relationship, they have gathered all the important knowledge about one another. About what their favorite food is, what they dislike, if they are allergic to anything, what their favourite colors are and more. They know each other as if they are one and the same person.
With a still tired yawn, the green eyed woman caresses through her pink hair and looks at the lush green grass next to the cobbled driveway of her villa. She smiles slightly when she can make out one of the colourful butterflies that always flutter around in the summer. It is now Friday. She has been married to the Uchiha for a week now and no matter how she turns it, she has come closer to his family than him in this one week. Every day he goes to work early in the morning and comes home late. She doesn't see him all day, so how is she supposed to get to know him? With a sigh, she shakes her head. What was her brother thinking about by betrothing her to the Uchiha? A seemingly cold man who only thinks about work. He doesn’t even go to have lunch with his family.
She rolls her eyes a little annoyed. The days alone in this house are kind of boring. Since the theses are currently being assessed, she has nothing to do as a student and so she sits around in the house alone all day. With a sigh, she turns away and goes into the living room. Though, a sudden whine catches her attention. Confused, the Haruno approaches the door to the terrace and steps out into the bright sun. Her eyes slide across the lush grass of her large garden. The splashing of water drawing her attention towards the pool. She breathes frightened before running towards the water in which a small dog desperately tries not to go under. Since she is running around in her bikini anyway, she immediately jumps into the pool to fish the little brown and white beagle out of the cool water. It whimpers softly as she swims back to the edge with the dog in her arm and climbs out of the water. "What are you doing in my pool?" She asks with a loving smile and wraps the bath towel, which she had prepared for herself, around the beagle to dry it.
He looks at her with his sweet dog eyes and lets himself dry. She emits a tone of delight and then strokes the little boy's head. "Now I have to dry myself and change. Then we will find your home.“ She smiles at the dog before lifting him onto her arms and entering the villa. Sakura smiles melancholy. As a child they had a dog as well, a spaniel, but it poorly died from cancer. She gently scratches the dog, which still seems to be a puppy, behind the ear and then sets it down on the floor in her room. With fresh summer clothes, she disappears into the bathroom for a few minutes. Slipping into her ballerinas, she looks at the dog. Inevitably the question arises that if she and Sasuke had a dog, would he perhaps be more at home then or would she have to take care of the animal alone? With a sigh, she shakes her pink hair. She doesn't even know if Sasuke is a dog or cat type.
"Come here, little one!" Smiling, she kneels and taps the floor in front of her with her fingers. The puppy approaches her with interest and sniffs what makes her laugh. "Will you show me where you belong to?" She asks the beagle and looks at the pendant on the collar. "You must have made a wrong turn." She says amused after a moment of silence and lifts the puppy onto her arm to go down with him. She quickly locks the door to the terrace before she leaves the house and locks it behind her. Petting the dog on her arm, she leaves the driveway behind and looks briefly down the street to the right and left before crossing it and heading towards the villa opposite her. "So now you're back home." Sakura tells the beagle, who sniffs around the garden. The Haruno smiles slightly amused, because the puppy belongs to their new neighbors from across the street. The dog sits quietly on her arm as she rings the doorbell and waits for it to be opened. "There you are Coco!" A young, dark blonde haired woman appears in the door and immediately takes the puppy from the Haruno. "She hopped into my pool." the pinkette explains briefly, watching the woman put the dog down behind her and then straighten up. "Thank you, I take care of my mother's puppy for two days and he just escapes me like that. My mother is so fond of the dog that she even has a collar for him when he's with us and-” When the blonde straightened up completely and looks at Sakura, she pauses. "You’re the last person I wanted to see." it escapes the lips of the villas owner. The Haruno looks perplexed at her. "Did I say something wrong?" She asks uncertainly. The blonde sighs. "No no. It's just that my fiancé's mother has something against me and you would practically make a perfect daughter-in-law in her eyes.” Explains the young woman, who is maybe an year older than her.
"Who's your fiance?" The green eyed woman asks still confused. "Shikamaru Nara." The answer comes only briefly. The Haruno looks surprised at the blonde in front of her. "Shikamaru lives here? I haven't seen him for a long time, we were at university together.” The Haruno explains and still gets eyed completely annoyed by the dark blonde woman. "Do you also know his mother?" It comes derogatory from the blonde, the fact that Sakura knows her fiance doesn't make things any better. "Yes, I could persuade Shikamaru to go to a party. Where he met a very special girl. I think she was a model and was called Tema... Tamara?” The pinkette explains after a moment's thought. Though she was a little confused about the correct spelling of the girls name since it had been such a long time. The blonde immediately turns red at her words. "I'm sorry." she begins embarrassed. "I'm Temari Sabakuno. Glad to meet you.” Sakura can see it written in the Sabakuno’s face, how uncomfortable she feels for being so rude to her without even knowing the background story. "I'm happy too. I have to go now though. Why don't you and Shikamaru come over some time?” Suggests the pinkette with a smile and takes a step back. "I would be glad to do so. And thanks again for bringing Coco back to me.” Temari calls after her.
When the Haruno is walking down the driveway of her neighbor, a car she knows only too well comes along the street. A smile steals on her lips and she quickly jogs down the driveway, across the street and to her front door. "Hey Ino." Smiling, she stops in front of the blonde and hugs her. "Hey sweety. I'm coming with important informations!” The Yamanaka says happily as they break the hug. "Nice. Let's go in and then you can give me this informations.“ The green eyed woman smiles and unlocks her front door to enter with her friend. "Wow. Beautiful villa!” The blue eyed girl whistles in approval. "Let's talk in the kitchen.” The pinkette suggests and walks towards said place. "Sure. It is so hot. I need something to drink anyway.“ Ino agrees in a good mood and follows her friend into the kitchen. "Sasuke is working?" She explores after looking around for a moment. "What else do you think? He wanted to go to work on Monday rather than coming here with me. Work is everything to him.” The Haruno says rather derogatorily and opens the fridge to take out the cool sprite and fills it into two glasses.
"Here." The Haruno says and looks amazed at her friend, who has taken at least 20 magazines out of her bag. "Thank you." Ino smiles and immediately empties half of her glass, while Sakura looks at the sources of information. ‘Sasuke and Sakura Uchiha, secret lovers for months. Would she be the right one for Sasuke Uchiha? Sakura Haruno - company heir or top model?’ The pink haired woman looks up in shock from the magazine articles. "What happened? Did I become a celebrity when I married Sasuke? What is this, company heiress or top model, stuff about? I don't even have model measures.” It comes confused from the Haruno. Her best friend just shrugs with her shoulders. “All these tests of whether a girl would fit him are based on characteristics. And you are seen as the new benchmark for women. In everyone’s eyes you are a Cinderella story that has come true. You almost appeared out of nowhere a year ago and are now married to Sasuke Uchiha, the most popular and wanted ex-bachelor.” Says the Yamanaka and opens the articles in the magazines. Smiling, she puts one in front of the Haruno's nose, which then groans in annoyance and would like to faint at the sight.
‘Sasuke and Sakura Uchiha, the new dream couple of Japan.’
~*~
The black haired man yawns tired and stretches in his work chair. Slowly the sun begins to approach the horizon. The evening will soon come. The companies are closing their offices and go into their well deserved weekend. The Uchiha sighs and rubs his hair. The time has come. The first weekend with his wife is coming. So far they haven't had much contact. When he gets up in the morning and goes to work, she usually is still sleeping. She seems to be a late riser. He smiles amused at that fact. Actually just like him, but unfortunately as the companies boss he can't afford to stay in bed as long as he wants. In the evening when he comes home, the sun is usually about to disappear behind the horizon and with it, he disappears in his study.
Sasuke looks at the workbooks and finally rises. With the back of his knees, he immediately pushes the armchair back and can walk away from the table undisturbed. He approaches the shelf again and divides the folders in it. He looks at the shelf in silence. He doesn't even bring work home. He has worked everything through the day so far and so he will be able to have a free weekend. He can enjoy the sun and swim in the pool. Sasuke smiles lightly and shakes his head before turning away. If he hurries, he can still jump into the pool in the garden today. He returns to his desk and shuts down the computer, stows away the tablet and also his cell phone. With his work bag and suit jacket hanging over his arm, he gets ready to leave the office.
Finally the Uchiha leaves the office and walks through the long corridor to the elevator. The offices to his left and right are all already empty. Once again, he's one of the last, if not the last, to leave the office. He immediately enters the elevator and heads down for the underground parking lot, which protects his car from the sun rays on hot days. With the remote control, he unlocks his doors while he gets out of the elevator. His car is the only one which is still present. The reserved parking spaces for his father and brother are also already empty. His gaze briefly falls on the board with his brother's car license plate, which shows that only he can park with his car there. His eyes turn back to his car, where he opens the door to the back seat and places his bag and jacket on it. Now he is only minutes from his villa and his wife away, who definitely was again in the sun all day.
Sasuke sighs in relief as the cool air in his car surrounds him. Sometimes he really hates being the owner of the company. He misses university, when he had no problems and he was able to concentrate on his studies, was not responsible for several departments and employees. But now he is the owner, responsible for his employees and next to that he’s now also married. Yet, they are still at the same state of relationship like they were an week ago. They don't know each other any better than the day they married and that was exactly a week ago. The youngest Uchiha sighs and rubs through his hair. How can he do it all? Do all the work in the company and get to know his wife at the same time and, above all, learn to love each other - as his mother wishes. And that’s the problem. He cannot love. He doesn't know how to do that. He had never learned that from anyone. He never heard or talked about it. So how should he fall in love with his wife if he has no clue about romantic stuff in the first place? He never did have a relationship with a woman before. So Sakura is actually his first - in many ways.
With a sigh, he shuts the car door and then locks the car as he walks out of the garage and to the main entrance to the villa. The sun shines down on him unbearably hot and he starts to sweat immediately. Sasuke would like to drop into the pool with everything still on, but the substances which are keeping the pool water clean and clear would certainly not do his suit any good. He slowly closes the front door behind him and sighs with relish when he feels the cool air. The Uchiha briefly looks around for his wife and slips out of his shoes before heading towards his room. His bed laughs at him untidily, like he had left it in the morning. He carelessly throws his work bag onto it and hangs his suit on one of the hangers.
The black haired man briefly goes through his swim shorts, to grab one of them and goes to the bathroom to swap it with his boxer shorts. Finally, armed with a bath towel, he goes down and out to the pool. He sees an air mattress drifting back and forth on the water and his wife laying on it in a black bikini, dozing off. He smiles slightly and throws his bath towel on one of the loungers, while he can already mentally hear the water calling for him. With a smile he stands on the edge of the pool and finally dives into the water. A satisfied smile is on his lips when he shows up again and brushes his hair out of his face. His eyes moving towards the mattress that is floating past him, noticing a strand of her hair hanging in his wife's pretty face. He briefly shakes the water from his hand to gently brush the hair out of her face and behind her ear. He gently places his hand on her cheek as she gives out a little grumble.
She blinks wearily and looks at him. "Hello." It comes quietly over her lips. "Hey." He replies just as quietly, pulling his hand from her cheek. "What time is it that you are already home?" She explores and wipes her eye. "It is only shortly before 6:00 pm." He says and looks up at the sky, which will soon change to the colors of the sunset. "And you are already home? Are you all right?” She asks slightly worried, catching his attention again. He raised his eyebrow skeptically and eyes her. "It's weekend.” He says only briefly. She smiles cheekily at his exclamation. "That word actually exists in your vocabulary?" She grins slightly, his slight frown still in place. "Whatever, then I'll go to the kitchen to cook something." The pinkette raises her voice and leans backwards, immediately falling from the mattress and into the water. The dark grey eyed man grins in amusement and pulls her back up to the surface of the water.
Sprushing, she wipes her face and her hair to the back of her neck. "You could have said something! I thought I was lying on the edge of the pool!” She says outrages and puts her hands on her hips. "At least now you won’t fall asleep while cooking." He grins at her and floats on his back in the water. "But at least you want something to eat now. Is it true?” Sakura asks, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't need anything." Sasuke shrugs his shoulders and nudges his foot at the edge of the pool in order to push himself off and drift further into the pool, while Sakura gets out. "Did you have lunch today?" it comes curious from the Haruno, while she dries herself up with a sigh. "No.” he replies truthfully, already closing his eyes and enjoying the cool water to the fullest. Maybe he should set up a paddling pool in the office, then he can sit there every few hours. Amused he snorts and turns on his belly to bathe in the cool water.
He would prefer not to get out of the water at all. The youngest Uchiha sighs with delight and looks up at the sky. He keeps looking up into the sky for a few more minutes before thirst begins to nag on him and he swims to the edge to get out of the water and dry off. He looks briefly at his still slightly wet shorts before going into the house. In the living room he can already hear the sound of sizzling oil and a knife. He follows the noises and takes a quick look at the kitchen, where he can see his wife in a beige bikini and white, almost see-through shirt. Sasuke makes a quick trip to his room, where he puts on dry shorts, puts his smartphone into it’s pocket and finally goes to the kitchen to meet his need for some liquid. He takes the bottle of iced tea from the fridge in silence and then sits at the table where the dishes for both of them are already placed. He picks up one of the glasses to pour some of the liquid into it and then emptied the liquid inside the glass into his throat. The glass is actually unnecessary in his opinion, but out of manners he decided for the glass. So while he sips on his drink, he looks at his wife, who is standing with her back to him and cuts the vegetables.
His gaze turns to the side as the smell of steamed vegetables and roasted meat begins to creep into his nose. The scent of rice also rises in his nose. The scent reminds him of the past, where he still lived with his parents and his mother cooked dinner in the evening. He can hear the pinkette open and close cupboards, just as the turning of sizzling vegetables and meat. slowly the sky begins to color. He smiles slightly, to be honest, it had been long since the last time he just sat there and looked up at the sky like this.
The Haruno comes up to him, placing the rice on the table. She briefly watches him as he sits there so relaxed and stares out at the sky. She smiles lightly, seeing him like this was such a new sight to her. In order not to disturb him, she returns to the stove and turns the meat and vegetables over once again. “Next Thursday is my graduation. You are coming, right?“ It escapes her lips after a moment and disturbs his calmness anyway. "After all, I'm your husband," he says only. Briefly she looks over her shoulder at him and sees him turning back to the window. She smiles slightly and then opens the spice cabinet.
A sigh of contentment comes from his lips while, to be honest, he has almost forgotten what they were talking about. Suddenly there is a low whistle. The Uchiha looks surprised from the window to the door. "Hatch-auch!" It comes from the Haruno, while he hears how something hits wood. Sasuke looks around at his wife, who takes a step back from the cupboard and holds her forehead. He rises and approaches her. "Careful.” He says quietly and puts an arm around her waist, which totters a bit to the side. He quickly pushes the pan off the stove and puts it out before turning back towards his green eyed wife. With gentle force, he leans her against the kitchen counter in the middle of the room and removes her hand from her forehead. He first examines her forehead before gently pushing her hair aside and scans her head for the painful area. "Ouch!" Sakura exclaims, gritting her teeth. This spot is also examined by his eyes before he smiles slightly at her. "Everything’s okay. No laceration, it will just leave a small bump.” He says and smoothes her hair, which had been tousled a bit.
The Haruno nods briefly and looks into her hunsbands face. They haven't been that close since the wedding. Sasuke looks from her hair down to her face, sticking to her eyes. Her gaze also turns to his eyes, which shine again in their natural shade of grey due to the light. He gently places his hand on her cheek, caressing his thumb over it, while his other hand lies on her waist and presses it against him with gentle force. Her hands are bedded on his sides, where she had been holding him ever since he had examined her head. The hand on her cheek moves up to her ear and hair. They stare into each other's eyes in silence, not even noticing the tender touches they make with their hands.
Sakura feels his breath brush her lips. The inches between her lips are becoming less and less. Her eyes start to close by itself. His thumb gently caressing her waist. A small smile on his lips, he wants to close the little space between their lips.
The sudden ringing of a smartphone makes them both move apart and look to the side, embarrassed. Only out of the corner of her eyes does she notice how he takes his smartphone out of his pocket and answers the call, takes a step to the side, but still keeps her in his field of vision. To cover up her discomfort, the Haruno rubs her hair and finally puts her hand on the elbow of her other arm while he stands in front of her and talks on the phone. She looks at him a little red around her nose, but then turns her head and waits for the call to end.
"Was that the company?" She asks a few minutes later when he drops the smartphone and slides it back into his pocket. "No, it was my mother. Why? You want to continue where we left off?” He asks with a grin. Sakura looks up at him, shy and a little red around her nose, which he thinks looks cute on her. Sasuke grins lightly and leans back down to her. Her hands on his shoulders, she braces herself and pushes up on her toes. Again she feels his warm breath, which slightly smells of iced tea, on her lips. He gently brushes past the tip of her nose. They are getting closer and closer until there are only millimeters between them. But the moment he wants to put his lips on hers, she grins. "For that you’ll have to wait until our next show in public.” She says, immediately getting back down on her heels.
Sasuke looks at her a little surprised, while a small feeling of disappointment spreads through him. Grinning cheekily, she walks past him and takes the pan off the stove to put it on the table with the rice. He watches her silently, even as she stands there and looks demanding at him. "Now sit down already. Otherwise I will call your mother and tell her that you rejected my with love cooked food.“ She says with a sigh and looks at him with a stern look. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke returns the sigh and sits down at the table where she hands out the food with a smile.
