AN: Alright, guys! This is somewhat different than what I've written before, not that I've written much, but still. So give it a read and let me know what you think, k?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Girlicious, or the Pussycat Dolls.

Sakura sighed as she got ready for bed. Midterms were coming up, and she'd done extra studying, but she still wasn't sure if she was going to be ready. After all, the tests alone at this university were killer. Granted, that's why she'd wanted to come here, but still. Couldn't a girl get a little alone time?

Sakura sighed again, before going into the bathroom to brush her teeth. As she ran the toothpaste across her toothbrush she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to walk on the wild side. Every day of her week was consumed with either studying or work hours at her internship. When she brushed her teeth, normally she studied. When she ate, she studied. When she ate her lunch at school, she studied.

'Well,' thought Sakura sadly, 'that's probably why I don't really have any friends except for Ino.' And Ino was halfway across the world modeling in France. Which meant that Sakura was très seule dans sa monde. Oh, well. After Sakura spat in the sink, she observed herself carefully in the mirror. Her messy ponytail and the circles under her eyes, while a great testament to her study efforts, failed to enhance her natural features, and she turned away, dissatisfied, and slightly sad that she would never be able to charm men the way Ino did.

'Just once,' thought Sakura sleepily as she crawled into bed. 'Just once, I want to be able to attract men like Ino.'

* * *

A loud rapping sounded on the door, and echoed in Sakura's ears. Her eyes shot open, only to realize that she wasn't quite where she'd started.

'What the…' thought Sakura, as she took in her surroundings. She was sitting on a stool in front of a vanity that was clearly not her own. Make-up was littered all over it, which in itself was curious, as Sakura barely owned a tube of lip gloss. She looked over the things carefully, standing up to get a better look, only to collide with some roses that had been hastily stuck in the crook between the edges of the mirror. She raised a hand to shield herself only to realize that she had pricked her finger and blood was swelling out.

'Ouch,' thought Sakura, sticking her finger in her mouth and sucking on it. As the tangy taste of the copper liquid filled her mouth, she took in the room in its entirety and gaped. Something was wrong. Something was seriously wrong.

The room itself was nice enough. It had the vanity, a closet, a couch, and even a small TV. But the furniture was not what Sakura had a problem with. No, that would be what was scattered all over the furniture. In fact, whoever's stuff this was, they hadn't had enough room for it, and they had shoes all over the floor.

Now, mess was something Sakura couldn't normally do. Her room at school only got messy twice a year, and that was during exam time, when she organized her notes. But even that would not have been enough to scare poor naïve Sakura as much as this did.

The alternate universe that Sakura had entered had apparently had a sense of gruesome humour, for the pure-of-body-and-heart Sakura was standing in the middle of a stripper's room. If the shockingly high heels on the floor weren't enough to go by, there were enough short shorts and sexy bathing suits to clothe an army of Pussycat Dolls, and probably the Girlicious quartet too.

Sakura stood shocked and gaping at this poor attack to her innocent mind. How the hell had this happened? She couldn't remember doing anything that would lead to this… The only conclusion she could come to was that she had failed her university career when she wasn't looking and was now working off all those horrible study hours at the indecent establishment that was this…this place.

Something struck Sakura and she looked down to see if she needed to cover herself up, considering some of the things that were in the room, only to find that she was dressed in a pair of jeans, some nice black wedges and a cute black halter top. Sighing even more tiredly than she had when thinking of exams, she played with her shoes and smiled slightly. At least her alternate universe self had given her a cute pedicure.

Suddenly the door swung open and in strode a girl with her blond hair pulled up into four pigtails arranged equidistant on her head. (AN: That's actually is a word, btw. Equidistant. You weren't the only one who thought it wasn't one. But MS Word confirmed it.)

"Sweetheart, what are you still doing in here?" she said, looking at Sakura in surprise as she rummaged around in a pile of clothes on the floor for something. Her dark teal eyes observed Sakura standing there gaping.

"Your break ended five minutes ago!" She turned to her hands and found what she'd been looking for. Out came a dark blue bikini that said "hott stuff" on the top. Sakura took one look at it and turned positively green.

"I don't…I don't know if I can go out there," Sakura said, sinking down on the stool once again, placing her head in her hands. The girl paused enough to see Sakura's distraught face and immediately approached her.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?" she looked at her with concern. "I can get someone to cover for you, I guess. I mean, the guys will be pretty upset, but if you're really not feeling well…" She trailed off and looked at Sakura, trying and failing to see what was bothering her.

"I don't know…" Sakura frowned. "Can't you just cover for me?" She asked the girl, letting her despair at the situation seep into tone. The girl laughed, then bit her lip as if she regretted laughing while her friend was in such pain.

"Sweetheart, you know I told you I'd never waitress! I can't put up with all the crap you take! That's why I have the easy job." She placed a comforting arm around Sakura's shoulders.

Sakura's head moved upwards slowly. This wasn't her room? She wasn't…but she needed more than this woman's word. As her eyes traveled over the vanity, they landed on the flowers once more. Her eyes focused in on the card attached to them.

"Temari," she whispered slowly. Realization sank in, and she slumped in relief. She was so happy she could have cried.

"Yeah?" asked the girl, holding her, and Sakura realized that it was her. Making a few quick assumptions, she smiled at the girl. The now-identified Temari smiled back. A few moments passed.

"So," Temari tried again. "Are you okay, or do I need to tell them to send you home for 'emotional leave'?" She observed Sakura's face quickly, seeming to sense that she was feeling better. "Because the bozos are here, and you know that if they hear that you're leaving without saying hello, they'll blow a gasket." Sakura, now feeling a lot better, raised an eyebrow curiously. She stood unsteadily on her heels, Temari helping her slightly, and wiped at her eyes, realizing that they were damp from her worry.

"I'm better now," she said easily. She smiled sweetly at Temari, thinking how nice it was that they'd had a bonding moment. Temari smirked back, and Sakura realized easily how she held her job.

"Alright, I'll tell Shikamaru you'll be out soon, ok?" Temari said over her shoulder as she went the door, bikini still in hand. Once she was gone, Sakura slumped again. She still had no clue what was going on. What had happened, that she was here?

"Alright, no sense in crying over…" Sakura trailed off as she realized she had nothing to cry over, since she didn't know anything about what was going on. Or was that a good reason to cry? Oh, well. She stood up and squared her shoulders. Things were looking up, and now she had a job to do…never mind that she had no clue what that entailed. Sakura narrowed her eyes determinedly. She was never one to back down from a challenge, and this was a whopper. 'Here goes nothing,' thought Sakura. She opened the door and crept down the hall, not noticing the fact that she was balancing well on such high heels. (AN: That's why I love wedges. So much easier to balance, let me tell you. More comfy too, although heels can't really be called comfy. . )

She traveled towards the light at the end of the hall. Music filtered through the red light coming from the room at the end as she made her way through the hallway timidly. When she rounded the corner she realized she was right beside the bar. A guy with spiky hair was leaning on the counter looking bored, but he must have heard her "clackers" because he turned to face her as she approached. His eyes roved over her in what she assumed was a concerned manner, although she wasn't completely sure.

"You ok?" he finally asked, and Sakura realized this must be Shikamaru, and he heard from Temari that she wasn't feeling well. She smiled nervously and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Yeah," Sakura said, twisting her hands and glancing around. This bar was spacious, but seemed surprisingly open and warm, although that could be due to the red lights that illuminated the floor. She returned her gaze to the guy at the bar, who now had his hands in his pockets, still studying her.

"What?" she asked annoyed, before realizing what she'd said and clamping her mouth shut. She frowned and looked around, before landing her eyes on a table full of, well full of men. That was unusual, thought Sakura. There were at least ten or twelve at the table, and these tables were small so they'd had to push them together. One of the men, a tall specimen with blazing crimson eyes caught her gaze and smirked, and she blushed and looked away to find Shikamaru still looking at her. He finally relented in his gaze and turned back to the bar, getting out a couple glasses.

"You want something to drink?" asked Shikamaru, glancing at her from the corner of his eye and surprising her with a slight smile. She looked at him for a second and then thought, 'What the hell.' She flopped down on the bar stool (AN: She does like stools, doesn't she?) and placed her hands on the counter with a shy grin.

"Hit me," she said enthusiastically, and he chuckled at her, amused. His dark brown eyes met hers, and his silent smirk made her blush slightly as she continued to smile at him.

"As you wish," he said, mixing a few things together and sticking a festive umbrella in her drink. He placed it before her and wiped his hands off with a cloth. "For the lady," Shikamaru said, still smirking at her. She raised her glass to him, relaxing slightly, even though she had no idea where she was, and she knew, no matter where she was that she was still underage.

After taking a few sips Sakura had to admit to herself that it was pretty good. A thought struck her, and she called out to Shikamaru.

"Hey," she said, and he turned to her from where he had been polishing more glasses. "Aren't I supposed to be working?" She crossed her legs over her stool and swore that his eyes slid downward before meeting hers again.

"I got Tenten to cover for you," Shikamaru said, shrugging. He slid a cigarette and lighter from his pocket and lit up behind the counter. Sakura wrinkled her nose, and he let his breath out in front of her teasingly, still smirking when she sneezed cutely.

"Gross," Sakura said, frowning at him after she was done. He shrugged, and blew on his cigarette some more before crushing it under his foot. She looked around for the no-smoking signs she just knew were there somewhere, and when she couldn't find any returned to look at him settle behind the bar once more.

"You do know that you're not supposed to smoke in here right?" Sakura said, somehow knowing that this was something that was right, and something that she would say. He merely rolled his eyes.

"And you're not supposed to drink," he said, smiling. "So I guess we're both criminals." She scowled at him, and he chuckled once again. Finally, she was relaxed, and she couldn't help but think that if in this place she met more people like Temari and Shikamaru, she wouldn't mind staying here. She closed her eyes and let the taste of the alcohol settle over her mind like a fog.

* * *

Light drifted in through the blinds of Sakura's room as she shifted under the blankets. She mumbled slightly in her sleep before shooting straight up in bed, wide awake as her alarm blared a happy morning song. She turned to glare at it before pondering her dream. 'Wonder what that was all about,' Sakura thought. She continued to think about it as she got up and stumbled into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She just couldn't get rid of the nauseous feeling in her stomach, and she was starting to get a headache as well.

'This sucks,' thought Sakura grumpily. 'I can't have this the week of midterms.' She growled around her bathroom before heading into the kitchen. Strangely, there was a small bottle on the counter, with a note underneath it. She picked up the bottle and realized it was aspirin. Curious now, she read the note, then gasped.

"Sakura,

Thought you might want something for the hangover. Just because you can hold your liquor doesn't mean you're invincible.

Shikamaru"

'What the…' thought Sakura. 'What the hell HAPPENED last night?!!!'

AN: And that's all she wrote! Well, for this part anyways. Not sure if I want to write any more, so if you liked it, let me know, okay?

Questions/Concerns (Not sure why I put concerns…) :

Temari is a stripper, but this restaurant/club/bar is a classier place then most, and none of the strippers actually get naked. Ummm, what else? A lot of other characters will proceed to make an entrance if I write more, as it's supposed to be a Saku-multi, but we'll see.