• WHEN YOUR AUTHOR SUDDENLY APPEARS FROM THE GRAVE, YOU SAY YAY! •

It's about time we continued this story, right? Just a few chapters more and we're drawing the curtains over this wannabe Cinderella story, aren't you glad?

Sakura got a text from Sasuke saying he had somewhere he wanted to take her to and that she should wear something nice. It had to be a date, right? Ino also thought it was a date, even Hinata agreed that it was a date so it had to be a date, right?

If the pink haired girl was being honest with herself she was kind of nervous, after all this was the first time Sasuke was ever inviting her to anything other than teaching him how to make a special dango which she never understood the purpose of. But hey, now she could make dangos perfectly! The amount of trails and errors she had teaching Sasuke– actually it was the other way round but heh!– had forced her to master the art.

However Sasuke wasn't satisfied with every dango they made together. According to him there was something missing. Sakura knew that there was something missing, after all the recipe book mentioned a secret ingredient (and if it didn't in the previous chapters, well now it does!). But she didn't know what the missing ingredient was, and she couldn't shamelessly ask Hinata about it either.

Did Hinata know just how much the night at the masquerade ball meant to Sasuke? She said she was happy as long as her food got promoted but was she, really? Sasuke didn't even know that he was going out with a fake, that she wasn't the one he fell in love with on the night of the masquerade ball. What will happen when he eventually finds out?

Right now Sakura was in her room with Ino and Hinata, preparing for the date with Sasuke. She was sitting on the edge of her bed deep in thought while her blond friend was busy picking out clothes for her and Hinata just ended up being the one to carry everything she selected. Ino waltzed out of the walk in closet holding a dress while Hinata followed behind with several clothes hanging off her like that one chair we all toss our clothes on.

"You aren't looking like somebody who's got a date with her prince charming." The blond girl remarked as she made her way over to her friend's side. "Oh I get it, you're nervous huh?" Ino giggled.

"Yeah I guess?" Sakura shrugged half-heartedly. Well what did it matter? Hinata didn't love Sasuke the way she did anyway. She just had to make sure Sasuke never found out the truth and make him fall in love with her on this date and everything will be perfect.

"Don't be. You've been waiting for this for ages!" Ino squealed as she dropped the dress she was holding on the bed and shook Sakura's shoulders excitedly.

"I thought you had a thing for Sasuke too, Ino." Hinata quipped from the sidelines and both girls narrowed her eyes at her. "What? You two were always in a competition to see who'd get Sasuke first, weren't you?" She asked innocently.

Sakura scowled at her stepsister. What was she getting at, reminding Ino of her crush on Sasuke?

"Well that's true..." Ino began, a pink blush appearing on her cheeks. "But I'm way over Sasuke now." The blush had blossomed into a bright pink colour by the time she finished talking.

That took Sakura and Hinata by surprise. "Eh?!" The sisters exclaimed at the same time. Then Sakura's face slipped into a sly grin. She knew that the only reason Ino would move on from Sasuke would be that she had another crush. She nudged her friend in the abdomen. "Who is he?" She wagged her brows.

"H-hey today is not about me!" With a dark blush, Ino evaded the question and slammed the dress she abandoned earlier on Sakura's chest. "Now wear this, let's see how it looks!"

"That's cheating." Sakura complained.

"Sasuke will be here in an hour to pick you up. You don't want to be late on your first date with him do you?" That got Sakura off Ino's back for the meantime.

Ino ended up making Sakura wear that initial dress which made Hinata wonder why on earth she chose so many clothes in the first place. Great. Now she had to hang them back in the closet. Sakura's makeover was completed just at the nick of time. He was already downstairs having a pleasant conversation with her mum by then.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called excitedly as she descended the staircase with Ino not too far behind her. Hinata was upstairs cleaning up which was for the best anyway, since it wouldn't please Mebuki to know that her step daughter and son in law prospect were close acquaintances.

Sasuke looked up at the mention of his name and froze. Sakura was beautiful in her light blue sundress and lightly permed hair. There was light make up on her face but the simplicity of it all made her glow beautifully. Sakura giggled at his gaze and that seemed to snap Sasuke's attention away from her. There was a frown on his face for a moment but it didn't last long enough for anybody to ask about it. Instead he smiled softly at the girl.

"Sakura. You look really nice." He complimented once she got down the stairs.

"Thank you. You do too."

Behind them, Ino faked a gag and started pushing them towards the front door. "Alright enough of the PDA, get yourselves going now." The blond didn't even allow Mebuki to have another word in, she pushed the couple out the door and yelled crudely at them to use protection.

Sakura's mother didn't like Ino's rudeness one bit but she said nothing because Ino's family was of a higher social standing than hers. Befriending the blond was the best thing Sakura ever did after catching the attention of the Uchiha boy. She would use her daughter's connections to these rich families to climb higher and higher on the social ladder. The evil grin that had slipped on to Mebuki's face was wiped away by Ino's high pitched voice.

"Mebuki I crave chicken wings."

Mebuki's eye twitched in annoyance. "So?" She asked the young one.

"Well you're the only one around that can get them for me." Said Ino as if she was stating a fact. Mebuki fumed. The nerve of that spoiled princess to order her around! She hid her annoyance with a twitchy smile though.

"W-well I could get Hinata to do it for you -"

"-but I want it now." Ino interrupted. Mebuki's smile got twitchier.

"A-alright, anything for you dear!" She said with a fake laugh.

Ino was blind to the dark aura around the woman as she grinned happily. "You're the best Mebuki!"

Mebuki chuckled darkly. Just wait till I reach the top, she thought to herself, I'll make sure you suffer, you entitled brat!

Meanwhile the car ride with Sasuke was awkwardly silent and nerve wracking. The dark haired beau hadn't said anything since they left and it was beginning to get to her. "Uhm...where are we going, Sasuke?" She asked in hopes that a conversation would grow from there.

"A flower shop." Sasuke said tersely.

"Oh." Sakura was silent for a while. She wondered what they needed flowers for. "We could have ordered from Ino's company then..." She started but Sasuke shook his head. Huh?

"I wanted you to pick them." Sasuke was always so short on words, taking the slow to speak and swift to hear principle a bit too seriously, but it was one of the things Sakura liked about him. He was silent but a good listener and when he said something he usually meant them. This time though, Sakura was just confused at his choice of words

"Oh okay." She answered softly. "Why though?"

Sasuke grunted as they pulled up I front of a small flower shop. "I want you to meet my brother."

Brother? Sakura knew of the eldest Uchiha son via news tabloids but suddenly there ceased to be any more information about him. She didn't see him on any of the occasions she went over to Sasuke's place either, and the dark haired boy didn't even bring him up in any conversation until now.

"I... thought he was away on a business trip?" Sakura said carefully as they got down from the car. Sasuke said nothing in reply, only gave his usual grunt.

Being Ino's friend made Sakura to be at least a little bit knowledgeable in the language of flowers so aside from getting the older Uchiha his favorite flowers, daisies as Sasuke informed, she got him some other flowers symbolizing good health and happiness too (author's way of going around the fact that she doesn't know jack about the language of flowers).

Sakura's anxiety increased. Somehow this was far worse than when she met Sasuke's father for the first time. What was his brother like? Would he be stern? Friendly? A bigger version of Sasuke?

"We're here." Sasuke announced, bringing Sakura out of her thoughts. Her mouth opened in a gasp though when she looked up and saw that Sasuke had pulled up in the driveway of an hospital. What? What was going on?

***

Ah it feels good to write again! Happy new year everyone, even if it's already late for that. I pray this year will be pleasant for everyone! Please vote and review if you liked the chapter. Till next time.

-Star.