In a dusty old bar filled with cigarette smoke and filthy men, reeking of alcohol, she drank her double Jameson without ice after a long shift at work. There was an old tune playing, Jazz or Soul, she didn't know the difference, honestly, but when he strode in, strutting like a peacock, in all his brooding and dark glory, the music stopped.
Her cigarette burned in her fingers, and a fire burned in her throat as she felt hunger eating her whole.
"Sasuke-kun" She greeted him, eying him carefully over her almost empty glass. He sat beside her without a word, acknowledging her presence with a simple nod.
'Figures' ,she thought.
And she thought of Bukowsi as she ordered another drink, Sasuke told her that she should stop, that she is developing an addiction.
She licked her lips at the word. She was always prone to addictions. Cigarettes for an example. The trick is to find something that can kill you, and give it the power to do so.
She looked at Sasuke. He was so similar to the cigarette she was lighting up at the moment. Expensive, long-term deadly, a fleeting pleasure made more enjoyable by the fact that it is fleeting.
After the sixth glass of her double Jameson, and his third glass of vodka (he could never hold a drink) he took her by her hand and took her to his room.
First he would undress her with his eyes, as usual, and then with his hands, and then with his mouth.
It was almost love, she thought, as he hastily pushed inside of her and whispered dirty words in her ears.
She felt nothing.
And for the first time after so many years, she felt nothing. All she could think of was sunshine and a smile.
As he came and muttered a "Thank you, Sakura" in her ear and something that sounded like a "I love you" muffled by tiredness, all she could think of was gold and cerulean blue.
The very next moment after he crashed next to her, falling asleep immediately, she had disappeared into the night, ending up at the same old bar again, with a glass of double Jameson twirling in one hand, a cigarette in the other, watching a tanned blonde man walking in.
The jazz, or soul, maybe even blues, she honestly couldn't tell, stopped as he walked in and lit up the place.
And she thought of Bukowsi as she ordered another drink,Naruto told her she should stop drinking, it was bad for her health. She was prone to unhealthy habits, caffeine and cigarettes made her day. Naruto was an unhealthy habit. Watching women flounder around him after he becoming head of Konoha, he kindly accepting advances. She felt something dark and twisted in her stomach. He was similar to caffeine, stringing her up, keeping her awake, slowly filling her veins.
After his third glass of double whiskey and her second glass of double Jameson, he asked her out and she said no, it was too soon, she was too dirty, she didn't regret it of course.
First he kissed her with his eyes, as usual, and then with his hands on her face, and finally with his lips on her cheek.
It was almost love, she thought, as he hugged her and she hugged back, whispering words of reassurance.
She felt everything.
And for the first time after so many years, she felt everything. All she could think of was gold and seas.
She spent the night at his place, she couldn't hold the liquor, it seems. And as she crashed next to him on his bed, she hugged him and fell asleep with a "Thank you, Naruto" and a muffled noise that sounded strangely like an "I love you."