A Waltz For A Night (Modern AU SasuSaku)

Chp. 07 : Together Again

7.

Panicked, Sasuke emerged from the hotel, traversing the familiar pathway they had treaded earlier, urgently calling out his wife's name. The darkness of the night heightened his anxiety, but eventually, Sasuke's determined search led him to Sakura, seated near the same table where they had witnessed the sunset.

Approaching slowly, with breaths marked by tension, Sasuke couldn't conceal the relief that subtly adorned his face upon seeing Sakura, her countenance somber as she gazed at the gentle waves in the vast sea.

"Hi," Sasuke softly greeted his wife.

"I don't want to talk right now," Sakura indifferently rejected.

Faintly smiling, Sasuke assumed the role of a stranger who had coincidentally come across her. "Are you by yourself? Are you waiting for somebody?" he inquired.

"Yeah, I'm by myself and happy to be. I'm an angry person, and I hurt my kids, my work, and everyone I love," Sakura curtly responded with a sullen face.

"Oh. Well, just my type," Sasuke playfully murmured while slowly taking a seat across from her.

"I'm not in the mood - I came here to be alone," Sakura tried hard to turn away her face from Sasuke, her irritability palpable.

"Yeah, listen. I've just been checking you out from across the cafe, and I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but you're by far the best-looking woman in this place," Sasuke faintly smiled.

"Thank you very much," Sakura sarcastically remarked, rolling her eyes.

"I'd love to buy you a drink, maybe talk to you, get to know you a little bit... you know. Are you here on business?" Sasuke asked again softly.

Sakura gave nothing, only an angry sigh.

“Ok… You have a husband?” Sasuke continued the charade, pointing at Sakura’s wedding ring with a ruby diamond on it. It was easier to pretend to be someone else than his usual blunt and aloof self, which often provoked his wife’s anger.

"Not anymore," Sakura sadly responded.

"Sorry to hear that. God, you want to talk about it?" Sasuke shifted his chair closer to Sakura.

“I don’t talk to strangers,” Sakura curtly responded, folding her arms.

“But that’s the thing, I’m not a stranger. No, we’ve met before… summer ’03,” Sasuke felt tenderness when recalling their past memory at Nogawa Park when they were thirteen years old.

“You are mistaking me for someone else,” Sakura scoffed.

“No, we even fell in love,” Sasuke looked at Sakura intently.

“Really? I vaguely remember someone sweet and romantic, who made me feel I wasn’t alone anymore. Someone who had respect for who I was,” Sakura instead mocked him.

“That’s me. I’m that guy,” Sasuke leaned towards his wife. Sakura, on the other hand, slightly shifted her chair, widening the distance between them.

“I don’t think so,” Sakura coldly replied, her face scowling.

Sasuke sighed in frustration, but he didn’t give up.

“Well, see, I know something about tonight that you don’t know,” Sasuke delicately whispered.

“Really. What is that?” Sakura replied with a condescending tone.

“Something important. See, I know because I’ve actually already lived through this night,” Sasuke, being serious in this playful pretense.

“How?” Sakura for a second stole a glimpse at her husband before quickly averting her gaze again.