Suggested listening:

Fear Of Dying-Jack Off Jill

Akira Yamaoka-Ain't Gonna Run

Dinnertime.

Izuna and Shisui chat amiably, Itachi sometimes adding in a word or two. Sasuke was silent along with his girlfriend, who would often glance at him out of the corner of her eye like a trapped animal. He hand would sometimes find the oak table and clutch at it.

"Do you want to play pool after dinner? Fugaku bought a pool table a week or two ago and hasn't used it yet…"

Sasuke shakes his head.

"No thank you, Madara-san. " Sakura smiles thinly. "I think I should be getting home soon…"

Sasuke frowns. "Yes, Sakura needs to go home soon."

At these words, Sakura closes her eyes and dips her head slightly, like she had been hit.

Izuna feels something troubling in the air and glances at Sakura. Her face is dark behind her fringe.

Madara notices something as well, but he's not as kind as Izuna, or maybe he is kinder.

"What is wrong with you two?" He asks bluntly.

Sasuke pauses with his orange chicken halfway to his lips, a splintering sound coming from his chopsticks.

Sakura opens her mouth to speak, but Sasuke forces her words back into her throat with a glare.

"Nothing." He grunts.

Itachi flicks his eyes to his little brother, narrowing them slightly. "I think Sakura-chan had something to say."

Sasuke grits his teeth. Sakura just shakes her head slowly and stands up. "I think I should be going now. Good night Madara-san, Izuna-kun, Itachi-kun, Shisui-kun, Sasuke-san." She grabs her empty Styrofoam box and dumps it into the trash, waving as she goes into the living room that leads to the front door.

Shisui looks at Sasuke. "Well? Aren't you going to…?" He trails off and stands at the same time as Madara.

But Izuna was already in the living room, his cane snaking across the floor quickly.

"Sakura-chan!" He calls.

"Yes, Izuna-kun?"

Izuna walks up to her, frowning. "What's wrong?" He places his hand gingerly on her arm. It was covered in gooseflesh and cold as ice.

"Nothing."

"Don't lie." He gently pulls her to the spot he knows the couch stands, sitting down himself only when he hears her sit beside him.

"What is the problem?"

"There is no problem." Sakura insists.

When she was a child, she would have been crying her eyes out into his shirt already. Izuna missed those days. They were significantly closer, partially due to the fact he didn't know how to treat her now. She was a woman, and might not want his comfort or affection like she did when she was a girl. And…he had to admit he didn't have totally innocent intentions towards her anymore.

She lays her head on his shoulder and he jumps.

"Sorry…"

"No…It's just…I haven't been this close to you since…"

"I was ten, at least." Sakura finishes.

Izuna hesitantly wraps him arm around the girl's waist and pulls her closer. "Please tell me, Sakura-chan."

She just buries her face in his shoulder in response.

He sighs and begins stroking her hair. He could wait.

A few minutes pass.

Izuna's hands drift to her back, where he begins to lightly draw designs with his fingernail. A spiral, a sun, a giraffe, an then random zigzags. He writes his name between her shoulder blades, then hers, then Sasuke's, which he promptly 'crosses out'.

Sakura looks up at him, and her face is wet.

"I love you Izuna."

He sighs. I love you too, Sakura. "You shouldn't say that, Sakura-chan. Sasuke might hear."

'Sasuke broke up with me for a girl in a short skirt. I don't care what Sasuke thinks."

She kisses his lips.

"Sa-" his lips move, but nothing comes out. Sakura takes advantage of this and slips her tongue inside, exploring his cavern slowly and deliberately, making him shiver.

He pushes her away. "Stop." He pants. "I will not take advantage of someone who just broke up with her longtime boyfriend."

"A week."

"What?"

"A week." She repeats. He imagines her lips, pink and swollen, saying these words, and his stomach flutters like a bird's wings.

"Two weeks."

"….fine." She kisses his cheek softly and primly. "Promise me, though. After two weeks we'll be together."

(And forever after that.)

"I swear." He says firmly. His heart's jumping with Bacchanal happiness, despite his unease. "But for now, you need to get home."

She kisses him again and stands, and he follows suit, a bit clumsier.

"Bye." He mumbles, face flushed.

She laughs. "Bye!"

He stands there until he hears the door close.

A/N: Sequel to Friends To Keep, another oneshot of mine. Blame Foxychan.

_ I'm not sure about this.

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