Harmony (Konoha School of Arts)

18. Winter comps; prelude 2

It's been a while, hasn't it?

***

Madara watched Sasuke during his rehearsals. It was the most nerve wracking experience the boy ever had in a while but he made sure he did everything absolutely perfectly. Despite his clear disdain for his choice of performing arts, Madara was adamant about perfection to an almost obsessive level. If Sasuke wanted better chances at convincing Madara it was by being the best in his field.

Although Madara wasn't looking any more impressed than he had been when he found Sasuke interacting with who he considered lowlifes. Sasuke knew Kakashi being his coach had something to do with it. He was good friends with Sasuke's uncle, Obito and from the stories he'd heard Madara didn't like Kakashi too much. Not that he liked anybody anyway but his dislike for the silver haired man increased when Obito gave Kakashi legal guardianship over Tobi in case something happened instead of the Uchiha head like it was supposed to be.

Something did happen to both Obito and his wife, Rin and Sasuke couldn't be more glad for Tobi that his legal guardian was Kakashi and not Madara. He didn't think his cousin would have been able to handle the stress along with the mental torture Madara would have surely put him through.

The man left sometime in the middle of Sasuke's rehearsal, perhaps bored of his dancing, and finally both he and Kakashi had enough air to breathe. Sasuke knew that Madara was going to call a family meeting, most likely not pleased with Fugaku's laid back parenting and honestly Sasuke was scared. Scared that his father would go back to being the dictator he was before.

Sasuke allowed himself a little ray of hope though. There was no way his parents would want to go through what they went through to get to this stage again, and neither did he so Madara was not going to get his way easily. The raven shook his head free of the thoughts. Whatever, he'll cross that bridge when he gets there. For now he would focus on beating Naruto in the winter finals, that was what mattered.

Xxx harmony xxX

Ino turned sideways as she checked herself in her standing mirror. Her hand cupped the little bump that was beginning to show on her abdomen. For now she was hidden underneath her bulky winter clothes but it would only take an amount of time before some people noticed. Shikamaru was already suspicious and sometimes she caught Hinata's stare on her.

What would she do when she starts showing obviously? She would have to withdraw from school and get homeschooled, that was certain, but what would she tell her friends when they inevitably asked about her absence? She didn't want to lie about her baby but she was also afraid of what they were going to say about her. Would they call her names and avoid her at all costs? Would they be cruel and tell her to, God forbid, terminate her baby?

Ino didn't realize she was crying until her father knocked at her door, prompting her to hurry up or she would be late for school. When she didn't answer him immediately he asked if she was feeling alright enough to even want to go to school. Ino wiped her tears and tried to keep her voice as steady as possible as she replied.

"No daddy, I'm fine. I just need to get my sweater and I'll be down."

Inoichi lingered for a few moments as he clearly saw through her but he decided to take her word for it after a few beats of silence. "Well okay. You can still change your mind if you want. I asked Sai for his katsudon recipe so I could make it for you. I noticed you liked it."

Ino's heart warmed up at that. Her father didn't necessarily like Sai but he was willing to put up with him for her. He understood how much she loved him and saw that he loved her too and tried his best to make sure she was happy, even when she disappointed him by being pregnant before she was even eighteen.