Chapter Text
Babylon-02089 had once been an exo-planet with promise. After all, it held the soil and atmosphere properties closest to mankind's home planet, and was of a similar enough size that its gravity was a minor issue.
Located only four hundred light years away from the galactic empire's capital system, Ignis Novus, it was the perfect planet for a farming colony. At a distance of only four hundred light years, the travel and delivery costs would be cheap, the planet's environment was comfortable enough for workers to not require any special equipment to their work, and, strangely enough, the planet held no higher life forms other than bacteria.
However, when the Galactic Emperor gave his go ahead to begin the annexing of Babylon-02089, the researchers quickly came to find the reason behind this strange lack of higher life forms: there was not a single earth-origin plant that bore fruit that would grow.
Every manner of fruit tree was attempted. From the winter-loving cherry trees, to mangoes that sought out heat, and ground-crawling watermelon and grapes- the fruit would either and die.
Leafy vegetables, however, thrived. Spinach, kale, lettuce- these were all harvested with gusto. The issue arose when these vegetables landed on the plates of the nobility residing on the colonies of Ignis Novus. Complaints of all the leaves being bland, tasteless, or the worst crime of all- tasting off.
And thus, Babylon-02089 fell out of favor as a farming colony.
The planet had been seeded, and three billion workers stood around, scratching their heads. The parent company, owned by the Yamanaka clan, fell into despair at the billions they'd spent investing into the planet.
One day, one of the farmers threw up their hands.
“Fucking peach blossoms,’ the worker muttered, and kicked a pebble. “All bright and pink. What's the point of those flowers if there's no fruit?”
“At least they smell good,” Ino Yamanaka had said.
The worker’s face turned a bright red.
“Ma'am, I didn't see you there, forgive me-”
“They… smell good,’ Ino Yamanaka said, her blue eyes starting to glitter. She pulled out her PAAD and started typing. After a moment, a hologram appeared, bearing the image of the Yamanaka Co.’s CEO’s face, wiping sleep from his eyes. “Oh my golly. Daddy. I have an idea.”
It came out later that Ino Yamanaka had been bored one day, scrolling through her long list of investments, when she'd noticed a spare forty billion in her bank account. She'd nodded off, tired from a long day of business meetings, and when she opened her eyes, she'd put in an order for forty billion worth of stock in KUZU.
After some searching, KUZU turned out to be the stock name for K. Uzumaki, a perfume brand that had propped up in recent months. A few holo-calls with her finance advisors later, Ino had found that K. Uzumaki’s CEO, Karin Uzumaki, was still on the hunt for a good, proper planet for manufacturing.
"No!" Ino wailed, clutching her hair. "My forty billion!"
After a few taps on her PAAD, it started to ring.
Calling Sakura's Hot Friend…
Ringing…
Ino began to tap her foot.
Call declined.
Ino pressed call again.
Calling Sakura's Hot Friend…
Ringing…
Call declined.
Ino let out a squeak.
Ino Yamanaka
Sasuke you asshole pick up the phone
Sakura's Hot Friend
No
Ino Yamanaka
it's an emergency. I need you to send me forty billion rn
Sakura's Hot Friend is calling…
"Ino," Sasuke Uchiha's familiar, bitchy expression said, dark eyes glaring from the PAAD's holo-display. "I am not sending you forty billion at three am."
"What, is that earth hours?" Ino asked.
"What other kind of hour- I'm hanging up."
"Wait!" Ino said. "Please! I needed that forty billion for Sakura's birthday!"
"Forty billion," Sasuke said, his brows raising. "For Sakura's birthday. And you want me to send it."
"Yes," Ino said, nodding. "Because you're my friend, and friends help each other."
"We are not friends."
"You're my girlfriend's friend. That makes you my friend in law. Give me forty billion."
"What are you even- for her birthday?"
"I'm buying her an x-ray," Ino said.
"What the fuck is an x-ray?"
"Medical equipment they used to use in the earth days," Ino said, waving her hand. "I don't know what it does, but Sakura's going to be hyped. You know she's a nerd about that stuff."
Sasuke hung up.
Ino Yamanaka
PLEASE
Sakura's Hot Friend
What did you even spend it on
Ino Yamanaka
I accidentally bought 40 billion in KUZU stock
lolll
Sakura's Hot Friend
KUZU?
Ino's eyes narrowed. After a moment of thought, she switched back to the stock app.
Ino Yamanaka
K. Uzumaki Scents
Sakura's Hot Friend
that's Karin's company
Ino Yamanaka
Great. That means you'll want to buy the stock from me in exchange for 40 billion right
Sakura's Hot Friend
If I say sure, will you finally let me sleep?
Ino Yamanaka
Yeah
Ding.
You have received 40,000,000,000 from UCHIHA S.
One message to her financial advisor later, Ino watched with a pleased smile as the stock disappeared from her account and was transferred to Sasuke's.
Ino Yamanaka
Love u sas
Sakura's Hot Friend
Yeah we're not close enough for that
Ino Yamanaka
My financial advisor said Karin's still looking for a manufacturer planet
Sakura's Hot Friend
Awesome
Since I did you this favor and I'm such a good friend, that means you'll help her find one, yes?
:)
Ino Yamanaka
OK I walked right into that one
Three months later, Ino was jumping up and down, her smile victorious. All it would take was one simple transfer of Babylon-02089's ownership from Yamanaka Co. to K. Uzumaki Scents, and Ino was freed from her little debt to Sasuke Uchiha.
That was the tale of how Sasuke Uchiha found himself stepping out of Yamanaka Co. spacecraft and onto the lush grasses of Babylon-02089, squinting beneath its sun's glare.
"I can see why this star's called Allegra Luna," Sakura said, her pink hair whipping against her cheeks as she squinted up at the sky. "The sun here is just as warm as Ignis Novus, but it sure is…"
"Whiter?" Sasuke said, pushing his sunglasses higher up his nose.
"I was going to say it was a cooler color," Sakura chuckled. The airlock door gave out a huff as it slid shut behind them, the ramp receding back into the spacecraft as their shoes found the planet's bluish-green grass. "But whiter would be the simpler way to put it, yes."
Behind the lenses of his sunglasses, the burgundy satin of Sakura's dress looked almost black.
"Oh," Sakura gasped, looking past Sasuke's shoulder. "It's beautiful."
Before Sasuke could stop her, Sakura was rushing past him, hair flapping against her face, bluish grass crunching beneath her sandals.
"Madame, please be careful-" a Yamanaka Co. attendant said, looking rather stiff in his purple uniform.
Sakura ignored him. Sasuke followed, the breeze warm on his cheeks, the air carrying the faint scent of magnolias.
Sakura had found the cliff side. A smile was blooming over her face.
Past the cliff side's edge, miles beneath them, was an endless sea of flowers.
White magnolia blossoms, pink peach blossoms, the hiss of their branches rustling beneath the wind. A pastel rainbow of flowers crawling over the side of a distant mountain, miles of purple bougainvillea crawling up towards the cliff where they'd landed.
"I can't believe Ino gave this up so quickly," Sakura said, shaking her head. "I can't imagine anything she'd love more. To Karin, too."
"Well, it is technically mine more than Karin's," Sasuke said, his eyes narrowing as he crossed his arms over his chest. A white petal fluttered in the air, and despite the miles of grass it could have landed on, it chose to land on his nose. He brushed it off. "Since I'm now the major stakeholder of K. Uzumaki Scents. Apparently."
"Second Prince Uchiha," Sakura mused. "Owner of a flower planet."
Sasuke frowned.
"My clan hasn't had those sort of titles for generations," Sasuke said.
"I can imagine it though," Sakura said, grinning. Her red dress glimmered beneath the sun's white light. "A castle, and this sea of flowers for you to rule over. What a lovely painting that'd make."
A snort left his lips.
"Let's go find the others," Sasuke said.
"How many workers are here again?" Sakura asked as they descended the mountain, the path made of smooth cobblestone and lined with wrought iron railings, lightly warm from the sun.
"Three billion," Sasuke said. "But they weren't direct Yamanaka Co. employees- these were farmers from the Ignis Novus's agricultural resource bureaus."
"Government employees, funneled to a Yamanaka Co. planet," Sakura said, her brows raising as she took another step down the cobblestone steps, knuckles white as she held on to the railing. "The Emperor's."
Sasuke's lips twitched, wanting to smirk, a smirk he suppressed. "Three billion farmers four hundred light years away from home, only to find that no one at Ignis Novus wants the produce of this planet."
"Three billion people who got lucky Ino accidentally bought those KUZU shares," Sakura said, shaking her head.
"Was it?" Sasuke asked.
"What do you mean?"
Sasuke's lips twitched again.
"Three billion employees, far from home, annoyed with Ignis Novus," Sasuke said. "And your girlfriend's little sleepy accident lucky enough to stumble all three billion of them under the employment of a private perfume company- and we all know how much private pays better than public."
Sakura blinked, her eyes widening.
"And it just so happens to be a private company owned by an Uzumaki," Sasuke tutted. "Prince Uzumaki's very own cousin. When the Emperor realizes he accidentally lost three billion workers to that little Uzumaki rebellion, is he going to be happy?"
Sakura's mouth opened, then shut again.
"…when you put it like that," Sakura said.
"Tch," Sasuke said, gripping the railing tight as he went down a rather steep step. "I'll be selling those shares soon."
His father wouldn't like Sasuke being involved in that rebellion nonsense- whether indirectly or not. And, frankly, Sasuke wasn't either. The wrinkled turd who sat on that Galactic Throne would come swooping down if he heard even the tiniest hint of an Uchiha being involved.
"Forty billion, right?" Sakura asked. "I'll take those shares off your hands if you really don't want them. Just look at this place."
Sasuke looked down at the endless sea of white magnolia beneath them, and then shrugged.
"Do you even have forty billion?"
"Er," Sakura bit her lip, and let out a laugh. "Fine, you caught me."
Sasuke let out a sigh. Finally, they neared the bottom of the steps, the scent of magnolia growing stronger. He inhaled, closing his eyes for a moment.
Sweet and light. He'd always preferred the muskier base notes in his perfume blends, but there was something rather refreshing about the magnolias surrounding them. Just beneath was the scent of bark, crisp and fresh.
"How much do you have saved?" Sasuke asked.
"I have twenty in my savings account," Sakura said. She paused at the bottom of the steps, a smile blooming on her face as the mottled shadow of the magnolia branches covered them. "When my next salary comes in, I'll be able to put in another five. Then another five at the next one."
"You're really going to wipe out your savings just to take this planet off my hands?" Sasuke asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Sasuke, look at this place. It's gorgeous," Sakura said. Her eyes dimmed, and she paused in her steps, forcing their Yamanaka entourage to pause along with her. "Ino's been hounding me… for a ring."
"You don't want to propose?"
"I do!" Sakura rushed to say, her cheeks turning red. "It's just that…"
She ran a hand through her hair.
"You've been looking for the right time and place," Sasuke said, his brows raising. "And you're willing to spend forty billion for it."
"Laugh it up," Sakura sighed, but there was no heat to it.
"Romantic," Sasuke said, rather dryly.
A snort left her, and then Sakura's arm was curling around his bicep. He thought she was going to say something sarcastic in response, but even years after leaving the Academy at Ignis Novus, Sakura still couldn't quite bite back at him, it seemed.
"There they are," Sakura said.
Just ahead of them, standing where the cobblestone path twisted and disappeared between magnolia branches, two figures were gesturing at each other, hands flying in quick conversation.
"Sasuke!" Karin said as they approached, waving her arm over her head, as if her shouting at the top of her lungs from ten feet away wasn't enough to get his attention. "Over here!"
Within seconds, he had his arms full of screaming, redheaded banshee. Arms wrapped around his waist, arms that he ignored until one of the hands slid down a little too far below his waist.
"I can't believe you found me a planet," Karin said, her hand bright red from Sasuke's slap. Stepped back, her face wild beneath the force of her grin. "All old-Earth scents, too, these flowers- I'm going to be making gadjillions!"
"I'm not sure that's a real unit of measurement," Sakura chuckled, Ino stepping into place next to her. Ino reached up, tucking a lock of hair behind Sakura's ear, and Sasuke tore his gaze away.
"I have to show you something!" Karin said, her hand wrapping tight around his wrist. His bones creaked under her grip, and then he was being yanked off somewhere.
The footsteps of the Yamanaka entourage thundered over the cobblestone, struggling to keep up, but Karin wasn't deterred. Magnolia flew past them, blurs branches and white. He was yanked this way and that, his feet almost losing their grasp on their ground a few times, and the trees broke away to wide, blue sky
Another cliff side. Just how many levels high were they, exactly?
"Look!" Karin squealed, spreading her arms out wide. "The workers call it Heaven's Gate."
"Woah," Sakura said, somewhere behind him.
Past the cliff's edge, past the cobblestone and blue-green grass, was a lake.
The water was glittering beneath the sun's white light, so much so that he had to blink away the spots of color that stung his eyes. Littered across the lake's surface were-
"Lotuses," Karin said. "Pink, white- every color. And damn, those mountains."
As if the lake of lotuses wasn't picturesque enough, framing them were two mountains, covered in bright purple bougainvillea.
"Beautiful," he heard Sakura whisper.
"Tch. It's making my eyes hurt," Sasuke said, turning away from the sight.
He heard Ino rushing forward, the familiar sound of a PAAD's camera app turning on. Next to him, Sakura was placing her hand on his shoulder.
"I think," Sakura said. "This is where I'm going to propose."
Sasuke could see it, clear as day. Sakura, going down on one knee on the cliff side, Babylon-02089's sunset coloring the sky golden and pink. Behind her, the lake of lotuses, the bright purple mountains fo bougainvillea. And across from her, Ino, probably wearing some expensive, flowing white designer gown, blinking back tears as she accepted.
"I'm going to throw up," Sasuke said. Sakura barked out a laugh.
In front of them, Karin was posing, her hip jutting out into a seductive pose as Ino took picture after picture.
"Not a romantic bone in your body," Sakura said, shaking her head, her eyes soft as they looked at Ino. "That's what made me crush on you so hard back at the Academy, you know. All broody omega."
Sasuke let out a sow exhale, the corners of his lips twitching.
"Good thing you wised up," Sasuke said, but Sakura's eyes were already far away, her smile soft. "Sakura."
"Huh?" Sakura said, blinking.
"A ten percent of shares isn't as much of a problem as fifty," Sasuke said, shrugging. "Send me your thirty billion. Don't worry about the rest."
With that, the sky began to dim, the clouds above taking on a hint of pink.
"Just do it," Sasuke said.
"What-" Sakura's head snapped back to where Ino was bending, her PAAD's holo-display moving with her. The camera shutter went off just as Karin pursed her lips together and closed her eyes.
"You're joking," Sakura said, her voice lowering into a whispered hiss. "I don't have- I haven't even bought a ring-"
Sasuke reached down, and started twisting the ring that sat on his index finger off.
"This one's earth amethyst," Sasuke said, and Sakura started shaking her head. "Look. You're going to keep planning, and planning, and it will be very annoying."
"B-but-"
Sasuke held up the ring, and Sakura started to gape, like a fish.
"If you mention me during the wedding toasts," Sasuke said, and Sakura yelped as he tossed the ring at her. She jumped back, fumbling to catch it. "I'm going to kill you."
Sakura's mouth opened, then closed. It opened again.
Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest, and felt his face settle into a glare.
She was holding the ring to her chest. Her knuckles were white.
He watched her eyes, wider than he'd ever seen them, moving down. He watched them take in the amethyst, her trembling fingers turning it over, the platinum band shining as she did.
Her face softened again, and her shoulders slumped.
"Sakura, we need to take a picture-" Ino said, turning to them with a wide smile, a smile that fell away as she took in Sakura standing there, a ring clutched to her chest. "To… gether…"
"Oh my," Karin started to gasp as Sakura sank down on one knee. She reached into her purse and started fumbling for her PAAD. "Sasuke, my handsome darling, we need pictures-"
One of the uniformed Yamanaka lackeys stepped forward, took the PAAD out of her hands, and started snapping pictures.
Ino didn't weep delicately, as Sasuke had expected. It was so much worse than that.
First, her face turned red.
Then, her eyes began to shine.
The PAAD fell out of Ino's hands and landed with a soft thud on the grass.
Ino buried her face in her hands, and let out a long, high-pitched wail.
—
Mortification was still rippling through him by the time they finished climbing the steps back up to where the Yamanaka spacecraft had been parked.
Sasuke had expected, somewhat, the discomfort of walking his newly engaged friends back to the spacecraft.
What he had failed to remember was that this was Ino he had just goaded Sakura into proposing to. Ino, who had called Sakura "forehead girl" when they were twelve, a glint in her eyes and menace on her lips. Ino, who had pretended to have a crush on Sasuke for years, and had gotten snot all over his brand new designer sweater during their class field trip touring Jupiter's moons while admitting her long, everlasting love for Sakura.
Not even the newly developed Hyuuga nanotech washing machine had been able to get the stains out. It hadn't helped that one point, Ino had thrown up, and she'd been yanked out of Sasuke's lap by-
"Baby, it's so b-beautiful," Ino said as they reached the top of the steps. Sasuke looked back, expecting to see her holding up Sasuke's ring to the sunlight. Instead, she had her face buried into Sakura's shoulder. "Waaaaah!"
Sasuke let out a small, disgusted sound, and Sakura gave him a weak smile.
"We have to celebrate," Karin said, slinging her arm over Sasuke's shoulders. "First, my handsome darling finds me a manufacturing planet for my perfumes, and then I witness the most romantic proposal I've ever seen-"
"How many proposals have you witnessed, exactly?" Sasuke asked.
"-say, have you ever eaten at Akimichi? In the Urbs Stellaris branch?" Karin continued, as if she hadn't heard him. "It's only a few light years from here, I think."
"I can't go to Akimichi's looking like this," Ino whined. "My make-up's all gone."
"Their pork's Earth-raised. Horrifically expensive. Exactly what you want, isn't it, Ino pig?" Sakura chuckled. "Oink, oink."
"I'm going to chuck this ring back at you," Ino said. Her cheeks started to redden again, and Sasuke suppressed a groan as a fresh wave of tears started rolling down her cheeks. "Oh my god. 'Ino-pig'. That's what you used to call me, back when we first met-"
When they reached the top of the mountain, instead of one spacecraft, there were two- two ramps spread out over the grass, two sets of personell. The light heat of the engines, the slight buzz of the warp cores that would soon be tuned out and ignored as his brain turned to other matters, and the artificial gravity pulling at his belly button were all doubled as they neared.
There was a tall man standing on the ramp of one of the spacecrafts, his shock of orange hair clashing with his deep blue uniform- the Uchiha uniform. Judging from his height, the excessive muscle, and the even more excessive gruff expression, the man was an alpha.
"Sir," the man with orange hair grunted, and gave a short, quick bow towards Sasuke.
Sasuke raised a brow, glanced at the man up and down, and then at the spacecraft behind him. Sleek and grey, just a tad larger than the Yamanaka craft, hard edges where the Yamanaka was smoother, rounder.
"Did my father send you to come pick me up?" Sasuke asked. "Or was it my brother!"
"Sir," the man grunted again. "Yes, sir."
No answers from this one. Definitely an Uchiha employee.
"He didn't need to bother," Sasuke sighed. "All I did here was sell my company shares."
"Mr. Uchiha was hoping you would be back at the compound in time for dinner, sir."
"Is that what he told you?" Sasuke said. His lips twitched. "Well, I'm having dinner out. My friends just got engaged. We'll be celebrating."
The man just blinked at him.
"And would Mr. Uchiha mind that terribly?" Sasuke asked. "If it makes Mr. Uchiha feel better, we can take my friends and I to Urbs Stellaris in the spacecraft."
The man stepped aside, bent at the waist, and and held his arm out towards the ramp.
They settled inside, on plush, deep blue sofas that circled a small coffee table, a cooler just beneath the polished wood.
Ino still had that dreamy smile on her face even as the spacecraft shuddered and Sasuke's stomach swooped with the rise of the spacecraft into the air, the flowers of Babylon-02089 turning into a blur of color in the windows. The craft rose in the air, the scent of artificial oxygen sharp, and once the blue of the planet's sky turned into blackness of space, the pilot's voice ran through the speakers.
"Entering warp drive," the pilot said. "Please stay seated."
Despite the warnings, the seat didn't shudder under him even as the spacecraft settled into its warp speed, like it had in the Yamanaka craft.
"Anyone want anything?" Karin asked, bending to open the cooler as if she owned it.
"I'll have tea," Sasuke said, closing his eyes. He let his head fall back against the seat. As it did, the soft vibration of the craft thrummed through his scalp. He'd always found that soothing.
"Oh," he heard Karin say. "You- What's your name?"
"Juugo, ma'am." The orange-haired man grunted.
"You're…" It wasn't like Karin to sound so hesitant. "Did you stock the cooler?"
Sasuke opened his eyes.
The cooler had only two shelves. Water, sparkling water, juice, iced green tea, beer, and a collection of sodas.
"Yes, ma'am," the man-Juugo- said. "I was instructed to make sure Mr. Uchiha's ride was comfortable."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ino look up from Sakura's shoulder, a frown settling on her lips.
"You're new, aren't you?" Sasuke said. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the seat again. "Give me the tea, Karin."
He took soft sips of the tea- bitter and thick, just how he liked it.
At some point, as the buzz of warp speed settled and turned smooth, Ino's head dropped onto Sakura's shoulder, and Sakura's dropped back against the seat.
"Sasuke," Karin said, dropping down next to him, her PAAD's holo-display glowing over her sweater. "We have so many options, I don't even know where to start. I already had my ten base products in my line-"
"Too late," Sasuke said, taking another sip of his tea. "I only own ten percent of your shares now. Sakura's now your major shareholder."
"Yes, yes, Dr. Haruno," Karin said without glancing up from the holo-display. "But with Babylon, we now have so many more old-earth scents to play with! Not just florals- we can work with bark, with leaves. According to the report summary, the fruits do taste off, but the smells- the smells are the same! I have so many ideas."
She waved her hand, the display flashing several colours as she flew through her apps. On the display, there were several names listed: magnolia, peach, cedar wood, lotus, saltwater. She waved her hand, a hundred more names passing by.
"Last week you commissioned that magnolia scent," Karin said. "Earlier, when I arrived, I noticed a grove of orange trees. I think those would pair nicely for a good middle note. What do you think?"
"It will need something to balance it out in the base notes," Sasuke said, giving his van of green tea a shake. "Something musky."
Karin nodded, her expression stern. "See, this is why I talk to my ten percent shareholder, and not my major one."
"I didn't invest on purpose, you know," Sasuke said. "Blame our bride-to-be sitting over there."
Ino let out a snore.
"She accidentally gave you a problem," Karin said. "But at least you fixed it quickly. Ten percent of shares into an Uzumaki company isn't as much of a problem as majority. I'm sure the Emperor will still be pissed, though."
"Who cares about him?" Sasuke said, a soft exhale leaving him. "No matter what my father or brother say, the Emperor has gotten what he's wanted. We have enough resources that my father could go and have our workers produce enough [torpedoes] to take over the galaxy tomorrow, we can't actually move any of them."
Karin let out a soft grunt. Out of the corner of his eye, Sakura was raising a pink brow.
"I see," Sakura said, her fingers running through Ino's ponytail. "If you held on to those shares, Uncle Fugaku would be hounding you again, and you'd be annoyed."
"Yes," Sasuke said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Weren't you paying attention earlier? I laid it all out pretty clearly. If Father thinks the Emperor's paying attention to the Uchiha clan again, it's going to be my fault, no matter what the truth is. Besides, Karin- when the press finds out your perfume shop is partly owned by a known arms dealer, you'll be the one with a problem on your hands."
Karin shrugged. "I'm already an Uzumaki, Sasuke. I was going to have some sort of problem with the Emperor regardless."
Sasuke let out a breath.
"Sasuke," Sakura said, her voice gentle. "You're allowed to not stress about the fate of humanity and the weight of the universe for a few hours."
Sasuke felt his cheek twitch.
"Come on," Sakura said, her cheek dropping to rest against Ino's hair. "We're going to Akimichi, we'll all order those red pastas you like, and after that, we'll go ring shopping, you can sneer at everything Ino picks."
"Fine," Sasuke murmured, and Sakura let out a giggle.
"She's right, you know," Karin said, still looking down at her PAAD display when Sakura excused herself to the bathroom. "You should listen to our good doctor more."
In truth, it had been years since Sasuke had stepped foot on a real planet- real gravity keeping his feet flat on real soil under his feet, and real sunlight warming his cheeks.
Ten years ago, the previous Galactic Emperor had instructed his doctors to turn off his life support and signed over the throne to his good friend, the pile of human turd named Danzo Shimura, a pile of human turd that some poor omega had pushed out and had probably named with tears in her eyes. Ugh.
When the new Galactic Emperor had ascended the throne, he'd immediately set his beady little eyes on Amaterasu, one of the many planets circling Ignis Novus's star, and where Sasuke's family had mined the iridial needed for crafting their torpedoes and missiles for generations.
It later turned out that, to the Galactic Emperor's displeasure, that Iridial was rather useless without the formulas or the Uchiha-loyal scientists needed to craft spacecraft weapons, and the Uchiha clan was henceforth unofficially banned from entering Ignis Novus.
They'd packed up their lives, the clan and the corporation, and had receded to their old base in the Mangekyou-Stellae system without looking back.
Thing was, the only technically inhabitable planet in Mangekyou-Stellae was covered in ice and Iridial mining drills, and the aforementioned "Uchiha Compound" was more of an orbiting space station.
Which was why Sasuke was much more comfortable these days on state-stations like Urbs Stellaris.
The black emptiness of space from the windows, the weight of artificial gravity, the brilliant florescence- familiarity, teasing at the edges of his vision, making his muscles ease the tension he hadn't known he'd been carrying.
Unlike the Uchiha Compound, however, exiting the spacecraft airlock and entering the main station was exiting a world of bleak greys to an explosion of color.
Tall buildings rose up all around them, their lights arguing with the stars around them for dominance. In the Academy, he'd once told Sakura that in old-Earth, those buildings would have been called "skyscrapers".
Screens on every side, on every building, advertising, cosmetics, food, omega suppressants, luxury heat and rut rooms.
Hinata Hyuuga's elegant features were shining on a massive screen that covered the side of a nearby building, clear from the glass of the elevator that took them up to Akimichi. Glitter was sparkling on her eyelids, framed with long, dark lashes, fluttering shut as her pink lips pressed into the side of a perfume bottle.
"Sasuke, come on," Karin said.
Her hand touched his elbow, and his gaze snapped away from Hinata Hyuuga's perfume ad.
They'd arrived at Akimichi.
Akimichi took up the entirety of the 546th floor of the tower, and its floors were made of real marble from old-Earth, not the synthesised kind that was all the rage among home designers those days.
There were at least a hundred tables inside, covered in white cloth and a smattering of candles, and every single one occupied.
"This way, Madame Yamanaka," the host said with a bow.
"Is Choji here?" Ino asked.
"Yes, Madame," the host said. They where led to the dimmer section of the restaurant, where a row of doors sat, all made of heavy cedar wood, fragrant even beneath their polish. The doors shuddered for a moment before sliding open, revealing a long, wooden table, a plush lounge set, and a glass wall with a clear view of Hinata Hyuuga's perfume ad.
His friends were happy. His friends were engaged. He shouldn't have been standing there, resisting the urge to sneer at a perfume ad, of all things.
After a few moments of staring at the ad, he turned away.
The lights were starting to make his head hurt, so he sat, back facing the window, and tapped on the table until the menu displayed itself in front of him.
"May I recommend our most recent acquisition, sir?" the host asked. "We have a wine from Ignis Novus, aged thirty years naturally, fermented from Earth-grown grapes."
"No, thank you," Sasuke said said, and started scrolling through the hor d'oeuvres.
"Bring Choji out, I have news for him," Ino said, plopping down in the seat next to Sasuke's. She held out her hand, the amethyst glittering beneath city lights. A smile bloomed on her face.
"Of course, Madame." The host said, bowing again.
"We have to get started planning the engagement party," Ino said, reaching over to flip through Sasuke's menu. "Karin, you have to let me commission you a perfume for the wedding."
"What are you thinking?" Karin asked, leaning to look into Sasuke's menu as well.
Sasuke leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest.
"I'll have the steak, medium rare," Ino said. "Sakura, what do you want, my sweet cherry?"
Sasuke winced before he could stop himself, but Ino continued on, scrolling up and down the menu.
"Pasta," Sakura said, placing both hands on Sasuke's shoulders and bending to look at the menu display. "Red sauce."
"That's what Sasuke's going to get," Ino said.
"I wasn't, that's why I'm looking at the menu," Sasuke said, his eyes narrowing.
"Yeah, sure," Ino said. "You say that every time."
Unfortunately, Sasuke had no response to that. The three girls continued scrolling through Sasuke's menu.
Once they'd settled with their orders, they began to chatter. Possible, wedding dresses, the guest list - all flying past his ears.
"We have to invite everyone," Ino said, tears gathering in her eyes again. "I can already hear Shikamaru's voice. He's going so annoyed."
"You should name him your maid of honour," Sakura said, smirking. "Bet he'd love that."
"Who'll be your maid of honour?" Ino asked.
"Oh," Sakura said, blinking. "I haven't actually thought about it. Hinata?"
"No, I already called dibs on Hinata," Ino whined.
"No, you called dibs on Shikamaru," Sakura said, smirking.
"No," Ino said, hands flying up to clutch at her hair.
"I should put Naruto in the wedding party somewhere," Sakura mused. "If he's not involved in my wedding somehow, he'll probably cry. None of us will ever hear the end of it."
"Make him your maid of honour," Ino said. "And let me have Hinata. They'll be a pair. It'll be so cute."
Water had appeared on the table at some point. Sasuke picked up a glass and finished it in a single swallow.
A knock came at the door, and then they were sliding open to reveal a tall, male alpha, brown hair flattened beneath a chef cap.
"Ino," Choji Akimichi said as he stepped through the doors. "Did you get engaged without telling me?"
"Choji!" Ino jumped up, almost knocking Sasuke over in the process. In the blink of an eye, she'd crossed the room, and was wrapping her arms around him.
"Ino, I can't - breathe-"
"Sakura proposed!" Ino said, and started waving her hand in the air, Sasuke's amethyst glittering as it went. "We're getting married!"
"Damn, Sakura," Choji said, stopping Ino's hand. He held her hand up to his face, and nodded. "Didn't think you had it in you. How far back did this ring set you?"
"None at all," Ino said. "It's a placeholder ring. Sasuke lent it to us."
Choji's eyes found Sasuke, and Sasuke pressed his lips together.
"…oh," Choji said. "Hello, Sasuke."
"Hello," Sasuke murmured into his glass.
"You look…" Choji said, eyes glancing at Sasuke up and down. "Good."
"Thank you," Sasuke said.
"How's the…" Choji gestured towards Sasuke. "Arm?"
Ino's eyes dimmed, as did Sakura's.
Sasuke took a sip of his water. "Sakura was so nervous to propose, she turned blue. It was quite funny."
Silence stretched between them for a few moments. Next to him, Karin's teeth dragged over her lip.
"Oh," Choji said. He wrapped an arm around Ino's shoulders. "I should call everyone in. They'll want to celebrate. How does tomorrow sound?"
"We were working all day," Ino said, waving her hand. "Oh, man, mom's going to be thrilled."
The ring glittered in her hand.
The chair slid back with the shriek of wood against marble.
"Bathroom," Sasuke whispered to Karin. She nodded.
He walked past the trio still chattering away in front of the doors, and when they slid shut behind him, he let out a breath.
Sasuke's feet started to move. Where they were taking him, he wasn't quite sure, but the image his ring glittering on Ino's finger was playing over and over, the way the purple gem seemed to glow from within, the happy smile blooming on her face, and the tightness in his chest.
That was the thing. Ino was an omega, just like him. He had never, in his entire life, been attracted to Sakura.
When Ino has first gathered up the courage to take that leap and ask Sakura out, Sasuke had been relieved.
They'd been together for years. They were happy.
Not everything is about you, the voice in the back of his mind whispered.
As he stepped into the elevator, Hinata Hyuuga's plush lips pressed into the side of a perfume bottle once again, her every feature soft, her lashes casting long shadows over her cheeks. Even her fingers were elegant, long and pale where they were wrapped around the bottle.
Sasuke forced himself to look away.
Not everything was about him.
There was something in the back of mouth that tingled. That taste, that itch for a familiar flavor.
When the elevator reached the bottom of the tower, he stepped out onto the streets of Urbs Stellaris.
Lights surrounded him. Bodies, rushing past, eyes fixed on the holo-displays of their PAADs, voices melding together like water.
Sasuke watched it all, his palms turning numb.
His PAAD let out a soft ding from inside his bag.
Karin Uzumaki
You're not back yet from the bathroom
U ok?
Sasuke put the PAAD back inside his bag. It dinged again, then another, before falling silent.
He supposed it had been the romance of it all.
He should've just made Sakura propose without a ring. She usually caved when he glared hard enough. Why hadn't he?
Ding.
He groped in his bag until he found the PAAD.
Karin Uzumaki
Sasuke?
Where did you go?
Sasuke Uchiha
I went out
I needed air
Karin Uzumaki
Okay
When we go back to the spacecraft I'll take the beer out, okay?
I should've had them thrown out right then and there. I'm sorry
Sasuke Uchiha
It's not the beer
I just needed air. That's all
Karin Uzumaki
Okay. Promise you're okay?
He put the PAAD back inside his bag.
The elevator was right behind him. All Sasuke had to do was suck it up, turn around, and be happy for his friends.
His feet took him down the street, padding along until the he came across a wrought iron gate.
Just behind the gate were rows of trees, and the faint scent of grass.
The gates swung upon when he waved his hand, and then shut with a soft click behind him.
A stone path twisted between the trees, lined on each side with wooden benches. A park, in the old-Earth style, complete with gas street lamps, their lights buzzing within above his head, making his ears ring.
Sasuke found a wooden bench, and sat himself down on it.
The trees, the stone, even the wooden bench- they were all imitation. He hadn't minded before, but after seeing the magnolia blooms at Babylon-02089 and felt the crunch of its blue-green grass under his boots, the bench's wood only looked all the more synthetic, the outlines of the hologramtrees seemed all the more fuzzy, and the scent of the grass smelled all the more metallic.
After Babylon-02089, the fantasy of the park at Urbs Stellaris seemed all the more… well, fantasy.
Sasuke closed his eyes, and took in a deep inhale. After a few moments of holding it, he let it out.
"They had real roses the other day at the fair," came a man's voice.
There was an omega man walking down the path, his dark hair frizzing where it rubbed against his companion's coat.
His companion was a tall man- an alpha, judging from the faint scent as the pair walked past. The alpha had pale brown hair, almost blond, but not quite.
"All those old-Earth romance books I've been reading have been emphasizing roses, roses, roses," the omega sighed. "Why? They stink."
"Really?" The alpha asked, a soft smile on his face. Their hands were intertwined, wrapped so tight together their knuckles were pink.
There was the faint edge of a mating bite peeking out from beneath the omega's collar, stark against his pale skin.
"Well, not stink, exactly," the omega man said, his nose scrunching. "They're just… too strong. I started sneezing. I'd be happy never smelling them again."
The alpha chuckled, and shook his head. The couple disappeared behind the trees.
Sakura Haruno
Sasuke?
You good?
Are you okay?
Sasuke Uchiha
I took too long
There is a cake shop in the next building over. I thought it would be faster than this. Sorry
Sakura Haruno
OH hahaha. I won't tell Ino ;)
With that, he had no choice but to make a detour.
The cake shop was on the third floor of the building next over, each wall pastel pink, the uniforms even pinker. The holo-displays on the tables flashed images of cupcakes and sprinkles and all the things that made Sasuke's teeth hurt just to look at.
"I need something to go," Sasuke said as he approached the counter.
"Do you have any flavours in mind, sir?" The woman at the counter asked, sounding bored. Her uniform was a pink princess gown, sleeves puffier than anything Sasuke had ever seen in his life, and her eyes were covered in even more pink glitter.
"Anything that can be ready in," Sasuke glanced down at his PAAD. "Five minutes."
"Alright," The woman said, shrugging. The doors behind her opened as another pink-gowned waitress disappeared behind him, and for a few moments, he was assaulted by the scent of artificial chocolate.
The holo-display behind the counter was showing, to Sasuke's frustration, Hinata Hyuuga's perfume ad. He had never thought he would see Hinata making out with a perfume bottle so many times in one night, but there he was.
"Chocolate raspberry," the woman said, flipping through the apps on her sparkling pink PAAD. "Would you like any writing on it?"
Sasuke shook his head.
The holo-display flickered, switching to a news channel.
"…Once again, the Uzumaki corporation has raised the salaries of their workers, this time by two percent," the news anchor on the screen said. The woman next to him was nodding safely, her eyes cast downwards, no doubt reading from her teleprompter. Below them, text was flashing: 'PRINCE NARUTO UZUMAKI OF UZUMAKI SYSTEM RAISES SALARIES OF UZUMAKI GROUP EMPLOYEES BY 2.5%'
"Not to mention, Sora, that this is already on top of last week's increase of one point five percent," the woman said, still nodding. "In his statement at the press conference, Prince Uzumaki had the following to say."
The holo-display flickered.
Sasuke caught the brief image of tanned skin and bright, blue eyes before he turned away. He looked down at his nails, turning his hand back and forth.
"…Despite the laws that were set in place with the 284-7429 accord," It was stranfe, hearing Naruto's voice being so flat. "Many government employees are paid wages less than half of the mandated minimum wage, in slave-like conditions, several light years away from home."
"Sir," a reporter said, his voice breathy. "What do you make of statements claiming that you're criticizing the Emperor?"
"If raising salaries to something livable and giving my family's employees a decent standard of living is me criticising the Emperor," Naruto said. Out of the corner of Sasukest eyes, he saw Naruto smile, familiar and brilliant. It didn't reach his eyes. "Then I'll criticize him every hour of the day. Does that answer make you happy?"
"The Emperor has mentioned before of the Uzumaki clan being too critical of him," the reporter continued, his voice getting breather.
"Too critical?" Naruto said. "The issue of government salaries is the tip of the damn iceberg. You can go back and tell His Majesty that."
"Sir," another reporter said, cutting in. "There are some camps speculating that the Uzumaki group has been increasing wages due to the reports of the increased manufacturing of warp cores within your manufacturing plants. According to yesterday's financial report, warp core production has increased by ten percent in the last quarter."
The holo-display disappeared.
"Boring as fuck," the woman behind the counter muttered under her breath.
When he entered the glass elevator that led up to Akimichi, the perfume ad was still playing. Sasuke closed his eyes, the white of the ad shining behind his eyelids.
"…spotted leaving a restaurant together in Medea-Nox," came a man's voice, harsh with the feedback of the speakers.
Instead of the perfume ad, there was blurry footage. A dark street, lit by the flashing lights of a dozen reporters crowded around a small, cozy restaurant.
In the footage's pixeled haze, the restaurant doors opened, revealing a tall, blond man.
A mistake. Opening his eyes had been a mistake. He should have, Sasuke should have-
He yelled at himself to move. To turn around, to tear his gaze away from the screen.
The cameras zoomed in on familiar blue eyes, and a pink lips parting into a lopsided grin. Beneath the flashes of the cameras, Naruto's hair was so pale it was almost white.
Blue eyes looked down, blond lashes sweeping over whiskered cheeks.
The cameras zoomed back out, revealing Hinata Hyuuga next to him, her pale eyes finding the camera. There the click of a shutter, and then a flash of white light, and she jerked back, her eyes squeezing shut.
The cameras were zooming in again, to Naruto's eyes, wrinkling at the corners, then turning soft.
Then, Naruto was bending, taking off his jacket to place it over Hinata's head. They rushed through the crowd of paparazzi, and then Hinata stumbled, causing the paparazzi to gasp, but then a tan hand was closing around her arm, steadying her.
Beneath the white lights, Hinata's face froze, and then her lips pulled back into a smile as her pale eyes found Naruto's.
And Naruto…
He was smiling back, his eyes soft, softer than Sasuke had ever seen them, projected on a massive screen, making Sasuke's tiny form cast shadows inside his glass elevator.
Sasuke turned away.
Later, when Sakura asked him why he was rubbing his chest, he told her the truth: that it hurt.
What he didn't tell her, but she likely suspected, was that it had been hurting for years, hurt more than she could ever know, like a scalpel was tearing through the bone and muscle without a care, and there was nothing in the universe Sasuke could do to ever make it stop.