A/N: Concerning the format of the story, each chapter will be from the perspective of a different character. It will alternate between different members of the Konoha 12. Also, this is set in the modern world, with respect to the map of the world for Naruto!verse. This chapter's a bit lengthy, but that's because I needed to find a way to introduce all of the characters; please, bear with me. Thank you and I hope you enjoy the chapter! (Please review, maybe). Also, kudos to anyone that gets the chapter title reference.
"All right, look if you absolutely have to tell her the truth, at least wait until the timing's right. And that's what deathbeds are for."
- Chandler, "Friends"
Chapter One
The Taste of Peanut Butter
January 28, 2007
Sakura sighs as she shuts the door, eyes trailing after their friendly, but exasperated, landlord. She runs a hand through her tangled hair, eventually pulling the locks up into a frizzy ponytail. Turning around, she places a hand on her hip. "Ino, we need to talk," she says, pursing her lips. The blonde snickers as she reaches into the candy dish and pops an almond into her mouth.
"Yes, my love?" Ino chimes, critically observing her nails.
"This is about the fifth time the landlord has had to come and personally collect the money we don't have for this place. Hell, we have only even been living here for a little more than a year! I know, we have big dreams and all, but we can't afford to live like this together anymore."
Ino's derisive snort is met with an open glare from the woman standing across from her. "Are you leaving me for another woman, Sakura?" she mock-weeps in a heavy foreign accent, throwing her head back and fanning herself. "Am I ever going to see you again?" She smirks at her best friend's face, torn between outrage and amusement.
In a fleeting moment, Sakura regains her composition. She rolls her eyes at Ino's antics, she leans over to flick her friend's forehead. "Stop being dramatic, Pig! We'll still be living next door to each other, anyway."
The blonde pouts, blue eyes watery. "B-But what if these feelings never go away? What will happen to the life we've made together?" She pauses for dramatic effect. "What will we do to Leo?" she cries, throwing a look in the direction of the lazily lounging kitten on the living room sofa. "What will we do with all the furniture we've hunted and fought for?"
Sakura sighs. "I think it would be best if you took Leo, honestly. As for the furniture, we can put it in storage or sell some of it off. I've talked to Shikamaru and Naruto already. They're completely down for it."
"And Sasuke?" Sakura freezes visibly.
"What about him?" she half-barks at her best friend, blush spreading rapidly from her cheeks to the base of her neck.
"He's okay with this arrangement, too?"
"Well, I'm at the hospital most of the time anyway," Sakura replies evenly, "so I don't see any reason why he wouldn't be."
Ino snorts. "And when you bring your date home for a little late night escapade? You think he'll be okay with that?" This time, she sighs. "Do you think that Naruto will even be okay with that?"
Sakura shakes her head. "I can do without casual sex, mind you," she says, shooting a pointed look at Ino. Ino raises a skeptical eyebrow at this. "And it's not like we can't go over to his apartment," Sakura admits. "Honestly Ino, it'll work out fine."
Her friend's face melts into one of mild concern. "Will you be okay living with him? Why don't you stay with Hinata-chan or Kiba-kun instead?"
"Hinata-chan's place is tiny, Ino, you know that! And she said that she'd refuse payment from me," the petite girl explains. "And Kiba's nice and all, but Shino? I don't think I'd feel comfortable living with a guy like that... no offense."
"I can live with Sasuke and Naruto," the blonde offers. "Just stay with Shikamaru and Chouji! It'd work out that way."
Sakura sighs again, and Ino notices that she's been doing that a lot lately - the sighing, the empty staring. She looks up at the picture of them from their high school graduation and wonders why Sakura can never seem to have her happy ending. "That wouldn't work out, Ino. Naruto's already expecting me. Plus, I don't think that you'd be able to put up with the messes he leaves," Sakura remarks. "I'll be okay. Like I said, I'm barely home anyway."
"Did you tell him today?" Ino blurts out, scrutinizing her best friend's body language.
The sad look that Sakura sends her is really more of an answer than she needs.
September 2, 2008
If Sakura were to be honest, she would admit that she really, really likes Sasuke. She likes him in that cheesy, hopeless, pick-flower-petals-while-thinking-about-you way. But Sakura knows two things: the first being that this isn't high school and she doesn't have time to spiral into one of her own romantic tragedies, and the second being that even women have their urges and needs. So, Sakura goes on casual dates with nice men and has casual sex with them afterwards if they're nice enough. This is how Sakura finds herself at a table with former special patient, Sabaku Kankuro, for dinner on her only day off during the week. Kankuro is leaving for Suna the next day and Sakura probably will never see him again.
She is okay with this.
Sakura idly stirs her drink, flipping over ice cubes in her wake. Kankuro is telling her a story about his younger brother, Gaara, who is about her age. She finds herself more interested in Gaara than her date, but shrugs it off. Gaara is an introvert, secretive, and a tortured soul. Sakura sighs inwardly. Perhaps that was her type.
Kankuro stares at her expectantly after he finishes his prose. "So," she drawls, "tell me more about Suna. I've always wanted to visit, but with the hospital, I barely have time to take a day off, let alone a week."
"It's hot and dry, but the weather's bearable," he replies. "We have some great beaches and tourist sites, and according to my sister, Temari, we have great shopping, too. From the outskirts, you can just look up at night and see all of the stars."
She stops fiddling with her straw and pauses, looking at him. "I'll try to take some time off, maybe next summer. It sounds beautiful!"
"You're always welcome to stay with me," Kankuro offers. "No charge."
"Oh, I hardly think that would be fair," she insists. "I would at least pay you for the week's stay."
He throws her a solemn look. "You saved my life." Sakura realizes that this date had been out of gratitude, not physical attraction. She is vaguely relieved because despite her habit of having casual sex with nice men that have little to no meaning in her life, she believes that Kankuro is probably too nice for that.
Sakura lets him walk her to her apartment door, aware that Ino and Tenten are probably spying on them from across the hallway. Naruto is probably helplessly typing away at his laptop, attempting to write the next chapter of his novella. He is distracted by the television and the warm, sinking feeling of the overstuffed red sofa he is seated on. Sakura knows that Sasuke is definitely at the kitchen table, which is completely covered in papers. He is tired, as Sasuke is always tired, and a little bitter. His jaw is clenched in silent determination. He works with numbers and analyzes trends in the market with the light from his laptop and the flickering ceiling light illuminating his view.
She redirects her attention from her roommates to her date. "Thank you for the dinner," Sakura says politely, already fumbling with her keys. She begins to unlock the door.
"Thank you for saving my life," he responds. He takes her right hand and kisses it when the door flies open, revealing an exuberant Naruto.
"Sakura-chan! You're back!" the blond interjects before catching sight of Kankuro. "Hey, you're that special case patient Sakura-chan was talking about! Come in, come in," he insists, already ushering the two into the somewhat crowded apartment.
"His name's Kankuro, Naruto," Sakura scolds before turning to the aforementioned man. "Kankuro-san, this is my noisy roommate, Naruto. Our other roommate is Sasuke," she elaborates.
"Nice to meet you," Kankuro tells Naruto cordially. "But I'm afraid I can't stay much longer."
"Do you still have to pack?" Sakura inquires, noting how Kankuro had tensed once he entered the apartment. She pities the man and understands his disccomfort.
"Yes, actually," he replies, relieved. "I have a flight back to Suna tomorrow in the morning," Kankuro clarifies for Naruto, almost apologetically. He turns around once again to face Sakura. "You have my number, feel free to call me if you ever decide to visit."
She nods, walking him towards the door. Sakura wraps her arms around his neck before standing on the tips of her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you again for this evening," she repeats. He nods his head at her and exits the apartment.
Sasuke finally looks up from his paperwork, a detached look on his face. "You're home early," he dryly observes; the statement ultimately equating with The date didn't go well. Sakura has turned away from him by now, facing the opposite direction towards the television set with Naruto. She likes to imagine he says this with a vague air of contentment.
"It was more of a thank you than anything else," she amends, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She draws patterns in the couch's faded coduroy, head drooping. Sakura yawns, finally letting her head fall to meet an arm of the sofa. She hears obnoxiously loud clicking to the right of her and grins - Naruto has hit a high point in his story.
"You have work tomorrow," Sasuke declares. This time, she looks up to meet his gaze. He almost looks concerned, she thinks, well, as concerned as Sasuke could possibly be about something other than his business statistics and the documents he has saved on his computer. He wants her to check in for the night, partially because he wants her to be well enough to take on another 36-hour shift at the hospital, but mostly so she won't pester him about going to sleep when it's three in the morning.
"I do," she concurs, laying her head back down. "I'll just sleep here tonight. You can take my room after you're done working, Sasuke-kun." He merely grunts in response.
When Sakura sits up in her bed the next morning to the sound of her alarm going off, she is pleasantly surprised.
She makes her way to the living room and sees Sasuke's graceful figure sprawled across the sofa, his hair in disarray. Holding back a giggle, she crosses the room, towel in hand, to the bathroom to take a shower.
Before she leaves, Sakura makes him breakfast - an omelette with sizable chunks of tomato and a side of garlic-fried rice. She prepares pancakes as an afterthought for her blond roommate, leaving a small stack on a green plate next to Sasuke's meal. It is her goodbyeIloveyouseeyousoonthankyou to Sasuke and her takecareofyourselfidiot to Naruto.
Sasuke only wakes up when she's halfway out the door and Naruto is oblivious, dead to the world until noon.
When she returns to her apartment during her lunch break, she finds a small paper bag that contains a plastic box along with several napkins. Inside, she finds impeccably made onigiri. Upon further inspection, she discovers that there is umeboshi in the middle.
This is him telling her that she is welcome.
April 3, 2010
Sakura has been a medical prodigy ever since she began coursework at Konoha University. She was handpicked to be placed in its accelerated medical program, which stressed individual study, enabling students to pace themselves and to complete the assigned coursework at whatever rate they desired.
Thus, Sakura combined her natural talent and hardwork (though it took many gruelling allnighters and breaks in total isolation) in order to complete the five year program, which encompassed both medical and pre-medical training, a year early. In other words, Sakura was able to complete what usually takes people eight years of supplementary schoolwork to step foot in the OR in half the time necessary. She began her internship at Konoha General when she was merely 23.
The hospital is the place where Sakura lives. She eats, sleeps, and even showers at the hospital. She saves and also loses lives at the hospital. The OR is Sakura's favorite place to be, whether she's merely examining a surgery or is the one performing it. Her second favorite place to be in the hospital's library, where she spends the majority of her time prepping for said surgeries. Her least favorite place is anywhere that they assign her to when she's on scut duty, but even scut duty gives her a sense of responsibility and at times, importance.
In short, the hospital is Sakura's favorite go-to spot, however sad that may be to Ino. In fact, tonight she has a date there. She mentions this to Naruto casually when she tells him that's she's going to be late tonight. ("What, are you dating a patient?" he sputtered in disbelief when she told him.
"Of course not, that would be highly unprofessional, Naruto. I would never date a patient," she assured him.)
Tonight, Sakura is going to spend her time in the company of an artist. More specifically, a special amnesia case currently residing in 314B. It's rather tragic; a man with neither family nor friends to visit him each day or check up on him. He is alone. He claims that he doesn't even remember his own name.
Danzou, the medical consultant for the case, calls him Sai. He appears to have taken to it.
Sai does, however, remember his inclination towards art. When the doctors give him paper and a pen, he is able to make a masterpiece. He has requested Sakura's company specifically to discuss possible non-invasive options for regaining his memory and also to better understand the complications concerning the procedure he is scheduled to undertake next month.
This is what she tells Danzou, at least.
Sai has actually requested her company because "despite the unnatural color of [her] hair and the broadness of [her] forehead, [her] appearance is remiscent of what the embodiment of spring should look like."
Sakura is a sucker for the wax poetic type, you see.
She enters 314B at approximately eleven o'clock, still fresh from her latest (successful) surgery. "Hello," she greets, skimming the information in the white binder on the table adjacent to him, reading his charts. "How was your day?"
Sai ignores her question fully, instead opting to smile at her warmly. "The books the doctors have given me concerning proper etiquette suggest that typically, the man treats the woman to a meal on their first date," he replies. "You will find a plate of food located to the left of the binder you were just observing."
Sakura is mildly shocked at his very direct response, but accepts the tray regardless. She wrinkles her nose in distaste as she examines her food (which, of course, is hospital food) and decides to enjoy the safe, but mildly refreshing fruit cup that her meal comes with. "Thank you," she tells him as she places the tray back on the table.
"I am confused," he responds, blinking at her. "It is rather obvious that you did not enjoy your meal, yet you express gratitude to the one who gave you it. Is this a common pleasantry? Do people normally speak contrary to what they believe or feel?"
She is taken aback by this, shaking her head. "When a person er, presents an item to another person, it is customary to express one's gratitude," she replies carefully.
They spend the night like this, discussing the formalities of modern society - of what is acceptable, and what is not. Sai's sketchbook opens once, but it is only to show her his most recent work, which is a hawk about to take flight. "I never had the intention of drawing you tonight," he explains to her as she gets up to leave the room. "The sunlight does more justice to the green of your eyes. The book merely instructed me that it is proper to compliment a woman before asking her out on a date."
Sakura stares at Sai's pale face and his plastered on smile and his empty eyes. He is courting her out of an instructions manual, following each rule precisely and mundanely. His dark hair is messy from sleep and sticks up at the back, different from his normal, neatly combed haircut.
"Thank you," he tells her as she's making her way out the door, his voice just above a whisper.
Sakura straightens her back and presses her lips into a firm, straight line. Then, she turns around, mumbles a flimsy, "You're welcome," and leaves. Her steady walk breaks into a run, until she's outside of the hospital, choking on fresh air. Sakura fumbles blindly in the darkness of night, vision blurry. She finds a bench to settle herself on and buries her face in her hands.
He reminds her of Sasuke.
November 11, 2007
It is a windy Sunday evening in November when Sakura's parents come to visit. Sakura is up the wall, yelling at Naruto to tackle the landslide that is his bedroom; Sasuke is at the kitchen table as usual, brooding. She has half a mind to yell at him, too, but she's too busy vacuuming and she has a casserole in the oven she has to check up on in about ten minutes.
Plus, the sound of the vacuum muffles Naruto's girlish screams as he finds that he, in fact, has been living with more than two roommates.
While cleaning the sofa, Sakura finds Naruto's old writing journal, the missing piece to her favorite pair of earrings, seven dollars in change, a piece of gum, and a neon-colored condom. At first, she blinks in disbelief at contraceptive. She holds it up at eye level, as if expecting it to explode. She inhales, exhales. Sakura takes a deep breath before screaming, "Naruto!" in her most threatening voice. "Sasuke-kun!" she adds in hesitation, but just as hostile.
The two are at the couch in an instant. She dangles the package in front of both of them slowly, a sinister look on her face. "Hello, boys," she says in a level voice, but the two of them know better.
She is a volcano ready to explode.
Naruto and Sasuke gulp as Sakura wields her weapon of choice: a large, wooden spoon that she uses when she prepares salad on Friday nights.
"Now tell me, are either of you prostitutes?" The sudden, almost ridiculous question causes Naruto to burst out in laughter and almost causes Sasuke to smirk. Naruto's laughter is met with Sakura's heavy gaze. He shudders nervously, beads of sweat beginning to form on his head. Unable to formulate a sentence, he shakes his head rapidly back and forth. Sasuke mimicks his actions, but in a more controlled manner.
"Are either of you under the conviction that our apartment is something akin to a brothel?" They both shake their heads anxiously. "Then would either of you care to explain why I found this," she says, throwing the condom in Naruto's face, "while I was cleaning my sofa today?" When both of them remain silent, Sakura simply stares at them, twirling the spoon dangerously in her right hand.
After a moment, she sighs. "I guess I have to punish both of you, then," Sakura whines. She zeroes in on Sasuke first, holding to look for even the slightest flaw in his composure. He is wearing no visible expression, not even bothering to look at her. Using this to her advantage, she stands on the tips of her toes in order to put them at a close, uncomfortable distance. Sasuke has never been fond of anyone's touch - this is his Achilles' heel.
"Do not touch me," he orders, maintaining his poker face.
She inches her face closer and their noses bump. "Hi." She grins. "How's your girlfriend, Sasuke-kun? It's rather rude of you to hide her from me and Naruto, you know."
"I don't have a girlfriend," Sasuke deadpans, despite the tips of his ears reddening slowly. Innocently whistling, Naruto not-so-conspicuously shoves Sasuke so that he practically falls on top of the petite girl. He catches himself last minute, wishing death upon his blond roommate.
"Oh, really? I never took you to be one for casual sex," Sakura replies coyly, bring her arms up to wrap him in a warm, suffocating hug. Literally suffocating, not figuratively. Sakura was on a competitive rugby team when she was younger. She knows the meaning of tough love.
His demeanor cracks a bit as he snorts derisively at her. "I'm not you," he snaps. She lifts her head up to look him in the eye, scrutinizing him. Sakura promptly drops her arms and steps backwards.
"Thanks, Sasuke-kun! Now I definitely know it's Naruto," Sakura says brightly, winking at him. Naruto brings his hand to his face in disbelief. "If it was Hinata-chan, I'll let it slide for now, on the premise that you will do this business in her apartment now," she says sympathetically. "And not on the couch, really?"
Naruto grins sheepishly. "Heh, yeah, it was her," he replies, half-embarrassed, half-proud. "Sorry, uh - we just couldn't wait, you know?" Sakura wrinkles her nose and pretends to gag as she covets her spray-bottle of Lysol. She sprays and disinfects for the next few hours, only pausing to check on the casserole, which comes out perfectly. Sasuke remains brooding, so Sakura tells him to set the table with the good china, please.
By the time Haruno Mebuki and Haruno Kizashi arrive at Sakura's apartment door, Sakura has successfully finished making creamy rice with mussels and shrimp on the side, her mother's favorite casserole, and her father's favorite soup. Her bread pudding is still in the oven, but it will be ready by the time they are finished with the main course, so she is content. The table is set perfectly, cloth napkins folded into neat triangles, courtesy of Sasuke. Naruto's room is as clean as it will ever be, and though this pleases Sakura, she also makes a mental note to avoid showing that room to her parents at all costs. And despite everything being picturesque, Sakura is nervous. She is torn between crying and laughing, almost delirious.
Living with two men? God, what will her mother think?
She takes a seat next to Sasuke at the kitchen table and joins him in his brooding. Naruto looks at them, bemused, but shrugs it off.
Sakura gets up from her seat to open the door approximately three minutes later. She slowly walks the ten foot distance and turns the knob at an equal pace. Haruno Mebuki strides in with her husband at hand. Sakura wastes no time in throwing her arms around her father's neck. "Hi, daddy!" she exclaims, pecking him on the cheek. More hesitantly, she approaches her mother, kiss her on each cheek before immediately pulling away. "Mother," she supplies sweetly, nodding her head. Naruto and Sasuke watch this exchange from the kitchen table before the latter pulls the former up. They make their way to the family of three at the doorway.
"Hey," Naruto breaks in, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He stretches out his hand to Kizashi and the older man accepts before curiously directing his glance at the dark-haired man standing next to him.
Sasuke offers his hand as well, giving Kizashi a firm handshake. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke," he says. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Haruno-san."
The man kindly smiles at him. "Likewise, Uchiha-san."
Sakura notices that her mother's eyes are now set on the two young men, watching them in unrestrained interest. Mebuki then throws an almost accusatory glance at her daughter, thin lips pressed into a frown. "They're my roommates," Sakura explains, leading them to the kitchen table.
"I thought you were living with Ino-chan," her father remarks, also frowning. Sakura begins to sweat as she distributes ample servings of rice to each person at the table.
"C-Complications," she sputters. "We thought it would be best to move in with other people because we didn't have the money to pay the rent several times."
"Oh," her mother coos at the mention of the outgoing blonde, "how is Ino-chan? Doing well, I assume." Sakura's expression darkens.
They eat in silence for a while and Sakura fills up their bowls with the soup before also giving out slices of the casserole.
"She's still looking for a job," Naruto contributes, "in the downtown fashion district. She runs this website where she sells some of her creations, though. Apparently they run really high on the market."
"See, Sakura?" her mother asks, almost smugly. "Even small businesses like Ino-chan's are rather profitable during times like these. You should have went into business with her. Ino could have done all of the designing and you could have done all the calculations - you were always rather good at math, weren't you?"
The petite woman rolls her eyes. "I was decent at math, better than most," she admits grudgingly, "but it was still my weakest subject. Plus, medicine's a much more stable field and I have a knack for it. Ino's been job-hunting for months."
"You have to learn how to take risks," her mother lectures. "You won't go anywhere in life if you don't, Sakura."
At this, Hizashi lets out an awkward, dry cough. He smiles apologetically at his daughter and wipes his mouth. "The food is amazing, Sakura-chan," he comments before resuming his meal. When she thanks her father later, it isn't just for the compliment.
Sakura ends the night with the sinking feeling that she will never be free from her mother's ever-present disappointment with her.
But things are not so bad, she thinks; because Sasuke has offered to wash the dishes tonight and Naruto is now watching her favorite romantic comedy with her on the couch. Later, Sasuke squeezes in between them with a carton of Sakura's favorite ice-cream and two spoons. They eat mint chocolate chip right out of the container while Sakura grossly sobs at the screen when the couple predictably gets married at the end. And when the movie is over and Naruto checks in for the night, she can sit quietly at the kitchen table with Sasuke and his papers and his big dream and finally unwind.
Things are not so bad, she thinks, because she has them, and they are enough.
November 17, 2005
Sakura had been spending so much time at the hospital that she didn't realize the urgency to do her laundry until she was searching through her underwear drawer to be met with the sight of one lacy, black thong that she usually reserves for special dinner dates.
That is why she is currently sitting uncomfortably in said thong and her scrubs from last night in the terribly lit laundry room of her apartment complex. It is approximately five in the morning and she has to get ready for work in one and a half hours, a day that she considers to be a late start. Sakura is the only person occupying the room and enjoys the soothing silence which is only interrupted by the gentle whirring sound of her machine.
She closes her eyes and imagines that she is in the OR, scalpel in hand, working on something relatively simple - an appendectomy. Sakura is cool and calculating in the OR, so different from her normal neurotic self. Suddenly, she hears rapid beeping - "Blood pressure's down!" says one of the scrub nurses; "We're losing him!" another screams. While the nurses begin blotting the blood, Sakura focuses on sewing him up as soon as she can. She does not think about the error she could have possibly made in this simple surgery, because in the OR a surgeon's pride is the last thing that matters. The survival rate for the surgery is about 92% and she refuses to let this man become a part of the unforunate minority.
A wave of relief washes over her as the beeping slows, her patient stabilizing; but the moment is fleeting as his heart rate steadily begins to decline. "I am going to open the thoracic cavity and massage his heart in order to promote contractions," she explains to the nurses, hastily using a scalpel to make the incision. She carefully inserts her hand into the cavity and locates the cardiac muscle. She begins to massage the heart before -
"Bastard, why d'you have to drag me here every time you do your laundry?" a noisy voice complains, bringing Sakura out of her reverie. "And why do you always insist on waking up so early to wash your clothes? Nobody does their laundry at this time of day."
"That's the point, idiot," a new voice replies snidely. Sakura's head snaps up, green eyes searching for her unwelcome guests. She finds a blond man looking frazzled, carrying a messy heap of dirty clothes. He looks like he's about to fall over from sleep deprivation - something Sakura picks up on and almost laughs at. Sleep deprivation is comparable to air for a surgical intern. She reaches the conclusion that he's cute in that kind of puppy dog way, even if he does have a stupid face.
Her eyes lazily travel to meet his companion. He is a dark-haired, skinny man; unlike the blond, he seems more quiet and reserved, though she can tell by the tone of voice he used with his friend that he is far from the sweet, sensitive book type. She watches his back as he hurriedly places the clothes in the machine, apparently in a rush - for what, she doesn't know. When he turns around and Sakura finally gets a glimpse of his face, she blinks and silently proclaims him a sex god.
And then she notices that he is returning her stare with blatant annoyance.
"Oh, hey! Look, intelligent life!" the blond exclaims, gesturing to the place she is sitting in. Sakura feels herself turn three different shades of red before groaning to herself, becoming more aware of her wrinkled scrubs and her overall disheveled appearance. "A nurse?" the blond asks, sauntering over to her with his hand reached out. "I'm Naruto!"
She accepts his hand and manages a small smile. "Surgical intern, actually," she replies, masking the offense she had taken from his question. "Nice to meet you, Naruto. I'm Sakura."
Naruto gives a low whistle in response to her profession. "Surgeon, huh?" he grins, shaking his head. "You're really something then. Likewise, Sakura-chan." He smiles brightly at her for a while before taking a seat next to her. "So where do you live, Sakura-chan?"
She arches her eyebrows in disbelief. "Excuse me?" she replies, startled at his extremely direct attempt at her.
"I haven't seen you around the building before," he clarifies. "I usually make a point in knowing most of the residents." She sighs softly.
"Second floor," Sakura tells him, not wanting to give him her exact room number. "Just moved in about a month ago with my friend, Ino." Naruto scratches the back of his head sheepishly, deep in thought.
"Hey," he says suddenly, "would you by any chance know Shikamaru and Chouji?" Before he waiting for her reply, he turns to shout at the dark-haired man, now occupying a distant corner of the laundry room. "Sasuke, get your ass over here and stop being antisocial!" Sasuke glowers at Naruto a bit before slowly moving to meet his request. Sakura makes a point to not stare and decides at the floor tiles are infinitely more interesting than the previously proclaimed sex god approaching her.
"Yeah, I do," she says, still looking down. "I've known them since we were kids; they were actually the ones that told us about this place."
"So you and your friend are the girls they always talk about!" Naruto crows. "The troublesome ones," he continues. Sakura frowns. "Oh," he says, realizing his slip up. "I mean, you're not the troublesome one - what's her name again? The blonde one, right?"
"Ino," Sakura supplies offhandedly, the black and white checkered tiles now becoming a chessboard in her mind.
"Ino is," he finishes. She looks up at him for a minute before going back to her game. She moves her knight from C5 to B7, efficiently checking her opponent's king. The opponent moves to his left in order to salvage his king, but ultimately ends up losing his castle.
"What did you call me here for, idiot?" Sasuke seeths, irritably rolling his eyes at his counterpart.
Sakura concludes that he is a sex god diva, which is very common among men nowadays. She also concludes that he is probably gay. She then decides that she hates her life a little bit more than she did before. "To make friendly conversation with a new neighbor," Naruto says suggestively, winking at Sasuke. He nudges him. "Mind helping a guy out a bit?" the blond stage-whispers.
Okay, and she concludes that Naruto is probably not his boyfriend.
Sasuke rolls his eyes again, this time crossing his arms for emphasis. Internally, Sakura mirrors his actions. Aren't you fabulous? she jibes mentally. "We are here to do laundry, not hit on random girls," the sex god diva reprimands. He turns to her and she tries not to squirm. "Do you intend on having sex with him after the third date?" he asks her bluntly. She shakes her head. Sex god diva turns back to Naruto and throws him a satisfied smirk. "There's your answer," Sasuke affirms.
Naruto chuckles awkwardly and a pregnant silence settles in between the three. In a fluid motion, Sakura stands up to check her laundry.
"Where are you going?" Naruto calls after her. She doesn't reply, more intent on getting the hell out of here. She throws her now-dry clothes into the plastic bin, glancing at the clock and realizing that she has to be at work in less than an hour. Sakura curses, increasing her pace.
As she is about to run through the door, she turns on her left heel, pivoting to face the clearly disappointed blond. "Uh, I have work in forty minutes," she says, "really sorry I can't stay, but yeah. See you around!" The woman flies up two flights of stairs, deposits her clothing at the apartment, takes a shower and brushes her teeth in a total of six minutes, and thankfully arrives early at the hospital for rounds.
Today, much to her chagrin, Sakura shadows a surgeon who is performing a simple appendectomy.
December 10, 2005
Sakura knocks impatiently on her apartment door, fingers numb from the biting cold of the blizzard. She has recently completed another 48-hour shift today that consisted of mostly scut duty - filing papers, running labs, and patient care. She shudders at the thought of it. When the door swings open, the only thought on Sakura's mind is preparing herself a hot cup of tea and curling up in her warm, neglected bed with her favorite vanilla romance novel.
Instead, she is greeted by the sight of a drunken Ino jumping up and down excitedly on the living room table, which so happens to be one of her mother's old pieces. Involuntarily, her left eye twitches. "Baby, you made it!"the blonde girl hollers, exaggeratedly waving her left hand at Sakura, which is currently carrying a bottle of tequila.
Shaking with barely contained rage, she turns to Shikamaru, who is trying to do his best at avoiding her gaze. "I refuse to spend my day off cleaning up vomit and accommodating to her needs," Sakura sternly tells him, stiffly smiling at him. "Understood?" Ino is already scampering clumsily over to Sakura, alcohol still in hand. She drapes herself on the newcomer and giggles before promptly undoing the buttons on her friend's coat.
Sakura's eyes widen. "Whoa there," she says, pushing the blonde back until she is at a comfortable distance. "Take her for a second, then explain whatever the hell is happening here, thanks." Sakura completes the task at hand, taking off her boots as well before hanging the jacket in the closet and lining her shoes up neatly against the closet wall. Running a hand through her messy hair in agitation, she conveniently ignores the people in her living room to regroup with Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji in the kitchenette. She glares anticipatingly at the both brunets.
"What's happening here," Shikamaru begins slowly, sizing her up, "is your apartment warming party."
Sakura clicks her tongue in disbelief. "That's supposed to be on Saturday, isn't it?"
Ino emits a little giggle, grinning at the petite woman in front of her. "It is Saturday, Forehead-chan!" she says loudly, giving her a playful (painful) punch on the shoulder. Sakura glances at the calendar hanging on their mini-fridge and groans. It is, in fact, Saturday. This is not karmic backlash or the wrath of the gods. It is the ninth of December at approximately eight o'clock in the evening and her entire complex floor is crowded into her tiny two bedroom flat. She enters the living room along with the three and realizes that she had not being overexaggerating - every resident of the building that lives on the second floor is sitting in her currently overcrowded parlor. Her left eye twitches again.
She is going to kill Ino. "Hey guys! This is Sakura!" the drunken blonde announces, throwing an arm around Sakura's waist. The group looks up, half of them wasted, the other half just completely uninterested in her presence.
"Hi, Sakura," they reply in drunken unison. Instead of returning to the table and resuming her dance, Ino chooses to plant herself on the lap of a brunet with red face markings. Sakura deduces that his name is Kiba from her previous conversations with Hinata, the sweet girl that lives across the hall from them. She sighs and travels to the table, gently setting aside a couple of red cups before laying down without any regard for making a good first impression.
The apartment warming party was not supposed to be this out of hand - Sakura had told Ino several times that she preferred a small, private affair with just herself, Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru on a Saturday evening, maybe with a few beers and Chinese take-out. Sakura had even taken Ino's advice and invited Hinata, who she had met at the local coffeeshop-bookstore hybrid while looking for a new novel to read. That was all the people who she had been expecting this evening, a total of three, maybe four guests.
As the evening progresses, she discovers that Ino had invited Tenten, quite literally the girl next door, who she had become acquainted with when she was applying for a job in the fashion section of some trendy magazine. Tenten was applying there as well, but more for work in general, very unspecific. Tenten had brought along her roommates, Lee (who has taken an immediate liking to Sakura, much to her dismay) and Neji (who she finds out is related to Hinata).
Chouji was the one responsible for inviting Naruto, the strange boy she had met in the laundry room before rounds. Naruto had dragged along sex god diva and invited Kiba, who happened to be close friends with Hinata. Kiba decided to bring along his estranged roommate, Shino, that nobody, not even Naruto knows much about.
In short, the entire thing is a mess.
... such a mess that Sakura takes five shots of tequila and three shots of whiskey without a chaser for strictly coping reasons, mind you.
She wakes up with a raging headache the morning and finds Kiba frantically searching for his boxers in the living room (no surprise there). Sakura wants to laugh, but is instead overcome by a wave of nausea. She runs to the toilet, annoyed when she sees that somebody is already occupying it. That somebody is a certain stupid-faced blond boy who appears to have lost his shirt. He is accompanied by sex god diva, looking pristine as usual, despite having drank significantly more than either of them the night previous.
"Tell your idiot friend to quit hogging my toilet," she addresses sex god diva, or Sasuke, bitterly.
"Hey, idiot," he smirks, nudging said idiot with his foot, "Sakura wants her toilet back. Also, she thinks you're a stupid-faced freak that likes to pick up girls at the laundry room."
"O-Oh my God!" Sakura cries, attempting to cover her face with her hands. "Don't tell me that I actually said that last night..."
Naruto looks up from the toilet bowl, taking a break from his heaving. He gives her a small smile. "Don't sweat it, Sakura-chan! It's not half as bad as what you told Lee last night after he declared his everlasting love for you!"
Sakura makes a kind of strangled noise, the kind an animal makes before it's about to be slaughtered, before diving into the empty bathtub. "I'm just going to stay here and pretend I don't exist," she informs them, pulling up her thighs to meet her chest. She then buries her head in her lap, mortified.
"If it makes you feel better," Sasuke consoles in a rare moment of sympathy, "I completely agree with your opinions."
Sakura lets out a dry sob before looking up at him and frowning. "Just leave me here to die," she says quietly before returning to fetal position.
The housewarming parties become weekly events, though they aren't so much wild parties now as they are casual dinners.
It takes Sakura three weeks to be acknowledged by Sasuke and Naruto as someone other than "the cute (or in Sasuke's words, annoying) girl from the laundry room" and two for her to know Kiba as someone other than Ino's latest hookup, but in the end, they are all fast friends.