Sakura couldn't help but look around at all the people who were left—the potential couples of the night—dancing and talking under the late night sky. The stars seemed to twinkle brighter as Hinata spun around, Naruto twirling her, laughing. A few weeks ago, Naruto finally popped the question. She said yes, of course. Sakura cried so much after hearing that news; she loved them both so dearly…and it was honestly about time.
A few feet from them, she spotted Sai and Ino standing close…too close, near the small pond. That wasn't too much of a shocker, but it still managed to strike a nerve.
Sakura sighed, turning away to take another shot. She muddled in her thoughts, letting time pass by.
She was happy for her friends, I mean, why wouldn't she be? Ino deserved to be happy and it was the most important and most wonderful day of Naruto's life. It warmed her heart knowing that he would have such an amazing woman to cherish him forever. But, it all still brought a pang of jealously Sakura just couldn't shake.
"Oy, Sakura!" Ino's voice called. She came over to sit in the chair beside her at the mini-bar. "Need some company?"
Sakura almost believed Ino saw through her guise, but seeing as how her friend was now giddily spinning around, the chair squeaking in sign of protest, she changed her mind.
"Everything alright?"
The chair stopped. Sakura and Ino both looked over to see Sai, Kakashi, and Sasuke standing about arm's length away. It didn't seem as though either of the raven-haired boys were very happy, but Kakashi looked content.
Ino hopped up, as quickly as she sat, grinning widely. "Oh, Sai," she flung herself on him, practically knocking him down as she nuzzled her face into his neck. His drunken blush didn't go unnoticed as Sakura watched him wrap his arms around her, his head resting, if only slightly, on top of hers. Their faces met intimately and Ino leaned up for a sloppy kiss.
Sakura wanted to vomit. All this romance was going to be the death of her. "Seriously…" she mumbled. Ino shot her a glance that was probably meant to be menacing but came out looking mental before the two stumbled away.
Kakashi laughed, grabbing a beer from the bar table. "Oh, Sakura, don't rain on their parade."
"I'm not, I was just commenting on the abrasive porn show that was about to start," she mumbled back, smiling slightly, "That would have been awkward to watch.."
She squirmed a bit as he ruffled her hair. "That is not a topic I am willing to discuss with you. But, isn't that what weddings are for?" He said and winked before turning to Sasuke, who sat in the now empty chair. "Am I right?"
"Hn," Sasuke mumbled, shaking ice from the beer now in his hand and sitting in the chair in front of him.
Sakura stole him a glance, acknowledging his presence before looking back at her sensei. "Oh, well then I guess I should try to find someone to help me do that beach thing under the stars like I always wanted," she laughed.
Kakashi's face blushed for a moment before he burst out into heavy laughter, "I'll pass the word to some potentials."
She shook her head, "I don't know if I trust you with that."
"Well then, I guess you will just have to see who meets you under said stars tonight." He stalked away, chuckling, leaving the other two alone in light of the conversation.
Sakura couldn't believe that had actually happened. But, she argued with herself that it could have been ultimately worse. So, she shook her head, smiling slightly. Her head turned slightly, as she heard a small cough, her eyes moving to look at the source…Sasuke.
Just like that, her good mood vanished.
The look on his face was priceless. There was a mixture of concern and anger that the alcohol was allowing to slip through on his normal stone-faced expression. Well, at least that is what Sakura believed. In any case, it would have, should have, been nice to see, considering emotion was rare for him. Yet, it pissed her off. She was not his concern, not anymore. He made that abundantly clear.
It was silent. No one spoke. The only sound coming from the clink of bottles, crickets, and the light music in the background.
Sakura began to feel suffocated from the awkward tension. What was she supposed to do now, play nice? Okay. "Oh, you're still here," she mumbled.
"Aa."
"Figured this kind of scene was never your style."
He just looked down, fingers meddling with the table-top.
"I suppose that was a joke. Still not much of a talker I see. Well, glad to see something stayed the same.."
"Tch. Whatever."
She sighed.
It went awkwardly silent again, for what seemed like forever. Not that this was anything new. The tension between them never eased for as much as they had seen each other these past few weeks. With that in mind, one would think they would be able to get past this facade they have been doing, but it was obviously going nowhere. In fact, Sakura wasn't even sure why she still sat here. He didn't deserve to sit next to her like nothing ever happened, like they didn't have anything to talk about.
She became frustrated. "I'm surprised you even came here at all, considering everything that happened. Don't you think you'll just suck the happiness out of everything…" she blurted, without thinking. A twinge of regret washed over her as she watched his face muscles tighten, but it passed as quickly as it came.
He deserved it.
"Well, not everyone is as unforgiving as you are," he growled back. She could feel the venom dripping from his words.
Well then.
She looked away, went to grab a bottle of something, anything, to get her mind away from the fact that Sasuke was literally five feet away from her and she could feel his stare burning through her core. She wouldn't let his words get to her despite her sudden urge to cry. She could be so emotional sometimes. Thinking about it, she figured it would be better to just spit in his face. And now, well, now she wanted to hit him.
"Sakura. I'm sorry, I didn't mean…" he stumbled over what he wanted to say, almost as if he knew he was the source of her anger. "Look, I…"
"Don't." She knew he was hurting, his voice gave everything away. She didn't know if he knew he was never good at hiding such facts from her, but he was. To be honest, knowing he felt these things tore her apart inside. But today, she didn't want to hear it. She couldn't hear it, for the sake of her sanity and stubbornness. "I already know what you're going to say and it won't change anything. It…"
What was she thinking; talks were stupid anyway.
She knew being along with him would only allow repressed memories to resurface. She knew it was going to be hard, so she tried everything she could to stay away, to avoid it. But, without fail of course, even if her head said no, her heart still reached for him.
Sakura got up, practically stumbling out of the chair. She soon caught her balance though and began to walk away—bottle of the strongest vodka she could find in hand. His presence was just enough to send her nerves over the edge.
She wanted to scream; to punch him, to cry, and despite everything she told herself at this very moment, most importantly, she wanted to fall into his arms.
