Ball and chain|| Sasusaku

Chapter 3

"Okay! It's time you tell me what's wrong with you?" Sakura flinches as Ino dramatically slams her fists on the work desk, her brows crossed and voice raised. Ino finds it more irksome than amusing how a woman who was crying floods just the other day has been grinning to herself all morning. She keeps her eyes in contact with her friend's, trying to seem as gruff as possible, only to get a modest eye roll from Sakura.

"It's nothing..."

"Oh, yeah?" Ino leans back, taking a bite of the cheesecake she sneaked out for. She hangs on to the tail of her question, noting how it dangles in the silence of their office, before she adds, "Is it just me then? I thought you looked precisely happy for someone depressed about their married life."

"Well, things happened..."

Sakura nudges her hair back behind her ear, her lips twitching from trying to hold the grin threatening to come, and Ino chokes on her cheesecake, the strawberry flavour charring against her throat. Her eyes water and she squeezes the bite down by force, coughing as she stares at her best friend zoning out into her own world. What could have happened in one night with a husband who loves someone else and has been apparent about not wanting anything to do with his wife?

Did she seduce him?

With a shake of her head, understanding Sakura's not the type to do that, Ino curiously taps her fingers on the cold metal of her desk. "Why? What happened?"

"Well...," Sakura swerves in her chair to face Ino who gawks at her with anticipation similar to a disclosure of a crime, nibbling on her lip before saying, "Sasuke-kun and I agreed to go home together."

"What?"

Sakura smiles in glee as Ino sticks her lower lip out in amazement.
"I can't believe a guy like that agreed to pick you up."

"No." Sakura interrupts with a shake of her hand. "We're just going to meet up somewhere near his place. It's just to keep Mikot— mother from being suspicious."

Sakura grabs a sip of her espresso as Ino squints her eyes in disbelief.
"And that's what got you grinning? Are you silly?"

"Well. It's better than nothing. Sasuke-kun also asked me to call her mother. Isn't that development?" Sakura frowns and follows the irritation rising on Ino's face as she dumps a frustrated sigh.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but not in the least." Ino sets her empty plate aside. "Sakura, I told you that hoping will only get you hurt. Didn't I?"

"Yeah but—" Sakura rises in her seat, lips tugged down and fists clenched, before gradually sitting back down with head drooping low, "—but it's not that bad. Even if he doesn't love me, it's not like he's treating me bad. And didn't we used to have arranged marriages all the time?"

"This isn't the Meiji era. And it's not like you can't live. Of course, you can. But in your life, have you ever done a single thing that was solely for you? Have you ever put yourself first? In this marriage too, you're sacrificing what you want because you're too scared of changes." Sakura chooses to ogle at the floor, half-lidded eyes holding up the weight of all the needless responsibilities she was handed by people who don't turn their heads to look back at her. Ino seizes her hand into hers, making Sakura slowly look at her face, "This once, reflect on what you want to do the most. Without fear or carefulness. Just what you want. Is it the marriage or your dream of studying in Tokyo?"

Sakura purses her lips, closing her eyes and letting the question sink in. Ino's words aren't false. But Sakura's heart is drifting between two routes with very different outcomes. On one side is her dream, her fantasized life she has always wanted and which can be credible if she overlooks the surrounding people. On the other is hope and connection of the heart.