Chapter 3: Rapunzel, Rapunzel, you're too sentimental

Her once vibrant emerald orbs, now dull and twitching with annoyance stare at the large mansion, her mind slowly processing the sentance that was spoken by Deidera. The sentence repeated in her mind like a broken recorder, going on and on and on until it clicked in her mind.

"Oh, hell no..." she murmurs with an indignant scowl.

The large silver gates stood tall and proud, the sunlight reflecting off the gates with a glaring shine. She squints at the bright light, sending a look of displeasure towards the large Uchiha symbol on the gates.

"This is a nightmare," she grumbles to no one in particular as Deidera walks up to the intercom and presses the button. The machine makes a buzzing sound before being answered by someone. Sakura watches in distain as Deidera communicates with the person on the other side of the intercom, saying that they were to asked to paint a mural for the Uchiha's garden, courtesy of the Mistress of the Uchiha household, Uchiha Mikoto.

"Cheer up, Ugly. Maybe he won't be there," Sai tells her in an attempt to reasure her. But by judging on the look of his face and that annoying smile of his, Sakura would say that he was enjoying this a lot and she was certain her patience for him was running on thin ice.

"Sai, I might as well have run into a black cat with the way my luck has been treating me," she growls out lowly as a warning to the cheery dark haired teen. She kicks a near by pebble and watches as it rolls off the curb and bounce off a tire of an expensive looking car. Sai smiles and shifts his hold on some paint buckets as Sakura turns back to him with a pout.

A loud buzzing sound catches both their attention and they both turn to see the large gates opening for them, Deidera and Sasori already waving at them to hurry in. They both scurry after the blonde and the red head, the paint cans clanking against each other violently at their hurried steps.

They enter the estate with awed expressions, all four heads turning to look at different unique architectural designs of the western styled front garden. The porch stood a few feet away, standing tall and pround with its large white columns supporting the overhead roof. The more they got closer the more Sakura wondered how Konoha even managed to accommodate such a fine looking place. She knew the Hyuuga's stuck to the old traditional Japanese styled house with sliding paper doors and large gardens, a very calming place to be in her opinion. But the Uchiha's place was just plain intimidating to her.

There on the steps of the porch stood the lady in midnight blue, in all her radiant glory, Uchiha Mikoto welcomed them with a dazzling smile. She walks down the steps so gracefully that one would think she was dancing, she stops in front of them and pauses to asses them before gently sticking her hand out for a handshake. Deidera and Sasori both give each other a nervous glance before Deidera takes her hand in his and shakes it firmly before quickly letting go.

"You must be Deidera-san I persume?" Her angelic voice rings in their ears and Sakura tries her hardest not to let the raven head beauty notice her presence. But seriously though, anyone would be blind to not have notice her bubblegum pink hair and large forehead. "Sakura-chan! Is that you?! Oh, how you've grown!" She exclaims happily and rushes over to hug the frantic pinkette, the cans of paint she was holding dropping to the ground loudly.

"H-hi, Mikoto-sa-" she stops abruptly at the cold glare. "I-I mean Mikoto-chan," she quickly corrects herself and earns a blinding grin from the overwhelming presence of Uchiha Mikoto.

"How are you? It's been awhile since I last saw you," she tells her sadly, effectively giving Sakura a guilty punch to the gut.

"Haha...well, four years is quite long," she mumbles nervously, earning a disapproving stare from the Uchiha Mistress. Sakura inches back a bit and gives her a sheepish laugh. Mikoto could only sigh and lightly pat her on the head before eyeing the three other males.

"We'll talk about this some other time, dear," she tells her over her shoulder and turns to face a nervous Deidera. She beams at the three. "Now, let's talk business," she chirps and leads them to the garden. Sakura follows behind the group, a look of contemplation on her face as Sai looks back at her every once in awhile.

They stop when Mikoto announces of their arrival and Sakura had almost forgotten how beautiful their main garden was. A flash of memories crosses mind, leaving her at a standstill and awe. The hedges were tall and made up a maze, and if she recalled properly there was a fountain in the middle of it all, a dainty tool shed was surrounded by small pots of plants, trees with fruits that looked so full and ripe, a greenhouse filled with exotic plants, a white wooden arbor with vines of flowers surrounding it, there was a large yet plain white wall and a large cherry blossom tree with a lone swing on it. A very classy garden.

She stares at the lone swing. A pained smile etched onto her face as the sound of laughing children echoed in her mind. A nauseating feeling in the pit of her stomach twisting violently, weakening her already weakened state of mind. She takes slow and deep breaths to calm herself down, this wasn't the first time this has happened to her. After all, this was still a painful place to be.

"Are you alright?" A voice startles her as she glances up to meet Sai's gaze. She nods her head slowly and he doesn't press any further.

A shiver runs down her spine and she whips her head towards the behind of the mansion. Onyx meets emerald, the former with a cool expression and the latter with a shocked one. She narrows her eyes at him, tauting him. His signature smirk makes its way up to his face and one thought remains in her mind.

That bastard.

Sasuke was not a morning person. It was a simple concept that he made sure to remind his family every morning when they so persistently knock on his door at an ungodly hour. 'Eight in the morning is not an ungodly hour, Sasuke-chan,' his mother would scold him with a light frown and he would listen to her begrudgingly and get ready for the day.

It was Itachi's turn to wake him up today, unfortunately. Loud and firm knocking had caused a loud groan and incoherent grumbling from the slumbering teen as he rolls over to his side and uses the pillow to block out the disturbance. The persistent knocking continues and Sasuke couldn't help but throw a pillow towards the door in utter frustration. He gets up and stomps over to the door and yanks it open, the door hinges squeaking loudly in protest of his brute force.

"I'm awake. Now, what do you want?!" He practically growls in his brother's face.

Itachi, unlike his brooding brother, was a morning person who insist on waking up before the sun even rose. Sasuke never liked that part about his all-too-perfect brother, always the crowd pleaser while he was stuck in his shadow. As much as Sasuke craved for attention sometimes, he found that maybe being stuck in someone else's shadow was good way to hide from the blinding sunlight and that maybe the sunlight wasn't always good for people.

"Good morning, Itachi. How did your day start out? Did you have your breakfast? Good morning to you too, Sasuke. My day started out fine, thank you. And no, I have not eaten my breakfast as I was waiting for mother, father and you," he remarked sarcastically as he sent his younger brother a pointed look.

Sasuke picked up the discarded pillow on the ground and shoved it into his brother's face before slamming the door shut.

Peace.

He turns on his heel and heads towards the bathroom connected to his room to get ready for the day.

He could feel his mother's gaze from across the table, there was a pout on her face and he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at her. Uchiha Mikoto, at the delicate age of-ahem-still acted like child in terms of endearment towards her family and a few close friends of her's, or in this case when she doesn't get what she wants. As much as he loves his mother, the stubborn teen still refuses to tell his mother his class's objective during the school festival that was taking place a few weeks from now.

Fugaku clears his throat. "Mikoto, care to explain why you are sending death glares towards our youngest son?"

Itachi chuckles at the sudden predicament and Sasuke glares at him.

"Saaaasukeeee-chaaaaann," she whines, the pout still evident on her face.

A loud sigh comes from the teen as he quietly places his utensils down and faces his mother. "Yes, mother?" He speaks lowly, trying his hardest to hide his discomfort.

"Oh don't 'yes, mother' me! You know exactly why I'm in such a foul mood!" She scolds with a frown, her hands lightly slaming the dinning table.

At this, Itachi bursts out laughing and Fugaku sends his wife and two sons a look of confusion.

Sasuke bumps the back of his head against his chair and prayed to the merciful gods to spare him from the embarrassment. How the hell was he going to prevent them from finding out about the stupid play?! It was bad enough that Itachi knew the date of the event (how he ever find out would forever be a mystery to him), if Itachi found out about the play and word reached his mother... he would die from embarrassment.

Mikoto crosses her arms with a huff. "I guess I'll just have to interrogate you some other time," she exclaims dissapointedly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to meet with the mural painters. That hideous wall will finally be covered up!"

"Was that today?" Fugaku questions, a brow raised.

"It was suppose to be next week, but one of their staff members will be busy. I thought it would be better to get a head start," she explains with a confirming nod.

The conversation ends there along with their breakfast and Sasuke finds himself wandering around the empty halls of the mansion, bored. His phone chimes to alert him of a messege and he digs it out of his pocket to find a messege from Naruto with a picture attachment. The picture showed the blonde eating out with a blushing Hinata and a glaring Neji, the messege read 'join us for ramen?' in which the raven head quickly types back a his reply saying that he has already eaten.

He frowns and stuffs his phone back in to his pocket before catching a glance of pink form the corner on his eye. He shuffles towards the window that was over looking the garden and pauses when he notices the object that caught his attention. Sakura stood down in the garden along with three other guys Sasuke couldn't really bring himself to care about and his mother.

His gazes remains on the pinkette for awhile, questions of why she was here swarming his mind and giving him a headache. He stares and stares and stares until she visibly shivers and whips her head to meet his gaze. Her eyes narrow and he sends her a cocky smirk.

What an interesting turn of events.

Sakura finds herself staring at the sky in a daze. The sound of Deidera explaining about the mural's design drowns in the background as she watches several fluffy white clouds, all in different shapes and sizes swim through the sky along with the gentle breeze. Her hair gently glides along with the wind, pink tresses tickling her cheeks and nose.

She glances towards the direction where three of her co-workers stood and purses her lips in thought. She never wanted to come back to this place, it gave her a headache to how much nostalgia the memories gave her. It made her throat feel dry, she had to keep swallowing repeatedly to prevent her throat from feeling like sandpaper was scrapping against it. A loud cuss from Deidera catches her attention and her head snaps in her co-workers direction once again. The usual sight of a red head and a blonde arguing seemed quite normal to her already, along with the smiling pale teen who seemed to be more amused than concerned about the situation.

She sighs heavily and stands up from her place on one of the many wooden benches around the garden and walks over to them. "Get any more closer to each other and both of you will end up in a lip lock!" She calls, a smirk on her face.

Sakura remembers a time in her middle school life in where she had accidently confessed her feelings to Sasuke. She had tossed it out at him so casually like she was talking about the whether. She remembers the look of absolute shock and bewilderedness that momentarily crossed his features before he, in turn, replies with a simple grunt.

The ghost of a smile that he tried to hide from her still makes her giddy till this day.

It started when she caught him in the Uchiha's luxurious garden. Him being the loner he was had decided to skip the planed lunch their little trio had planed the day before, but Sakura knows that he just overslept and was too embarrassed to admit it to them, especially to Naruto. She had decided to visit him after their lunch date (never let it be known to Naruto that she refered their little get together as a date) and maybe tease him a little for his carelessness. She never knew that the small visit, the visit she decided to go on a whim, would spark up something like that.

He was seated on one of the many benches around the garden, specifically under the cherry blossom tree, the green leaves rustling gently with the wind. She walks up to him, albait the little flutter of her heart and stands before him. His attention is forced away from the book with a loud sigh from his lips as his gaze shifts to her's, she grins when she notices the slight twitch from the corner of his mouth.

"Hi," she whispers, the sunlight catching on her cheeks and nose.

"Hi," he replies, a small smile gracing his lips, shadows caught in the left side of his face and the tendons of his neck.

A hearty laugh escapes her lips as she planted herself right beside the amused teen, her ever bright smile still present on her face. "So.." she starts of with a giggle, issuing a an eyeroll from her companion. "This is a guess, but...I think that rather than ditching us, you actually overslept?" She questions, mischief written on her expression. "Not that I think you would do that or anything."

"Hn," he grunts the usual reply and turns back to his forgotten book.

She hums in satisfication with his response and tilts her head up to look past the sailing clouds and ever blue sky. She thinks to herself that today is a beautiful day and that she doesn't mind spending her time like this, side by side with the boy she thinks she likes, in the garden that held so many happy memories.

"I think..." she starts off with a whisper and turns to face him, his onyx eyes following her movements with anticipation. "...I think I like you..." she says and there is some playfulness in her voice and the dazzling grin she sends him.

Her confession catches him off guard, but it wasn't enough to show on his face. Instead of a proper reply, he chooses to answer her with his usual go to answer, a simple "Hn," before breaking eye contact with her and returning to his book. She would always remember how his eyes had momentarily widen in shock and how that tiny blush he thought she didn't catch invaded his normally stoic expression. Embarrassed Sasuke was her favourite Sasuke, mostly because she could tease him. She didn't fail to catch the small smile that threatened to cut through his expression as well.

She laughs a good hearty laugh and she has never seen Sasuke's facial expression so soft in her entire life.

They stoped sketching the design on the wall when Deidera announces their break time. Sakura was quite satisfied with the progress of their work and chooses to voice out her thoughts to her co-workers, she earns herself some hair ruffling from Deidera and viciously growls at him.

Deidera and Sasori both volunteers to go grab them something to eat while Sai volunteers to get them some beverages. Sakura was to stay and and make sure to tell their employer that they weren't infact slacking off and that they, like any other human beings, need food and water for survival. She was choosen because their employer 'seemed to like her more', in the words of Sai, and now she was stuck in this God Forsaken place with absoloutely nothing to do.

A walk would be nice, she finds herself thinking and decides to wonder the place. She knew this garden like the back of her hands, although it might be because of the years that had gone by, but the garden had change quite a bit, it was the same one none the less.

She finds herself fascinated by the little things, like how the metal fences that surrounded the many beds of flowers were new to the garden and how it wasn't there before. The wooden benches seem to have a new coat of colour as well, it was now white instead of red. Sakura knew from experiance that Mikoto took really good care of the garden, it was treated with as much care as her own family. Then again, Mikoto was always a loving person, even more so now that Sakura got to see her again.

Her sneakered feet came to a stop when she notices the familiar figure sitting on the wooden bench under the cherry blossom tree. An annoyed scowl decorates her features when she catches his attention. A smouldering look is sent her way and she couldn't quite help the embarrassed blush that slowly makes its way up her face.

Oh how the tables have turned.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: My mind has been a mess these past few weeks...just, thanks for the support.

Special thanks to thoses who have reviewed: Guest, Guest (Neko), Aquarian Charm and IheartSasuSakuIta. Seriously, thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites guys.

-Y