Let's drop
Shake It, Metro Station
The music was loud and the lights were dim. The smell of cigarette smoke lingered everywhere—in the dark corners with couples too close and too bare, in the grooves where the wall met the floor, and now in the folds of her clothing, in the strands of her hair. And it didn't matter if it made her think of Sasuke; it didn't matter because she could feel the bass vibrate through her feet, and Naruto had that look on his face that said he was feeling it too. In fact, he was loose and he was dancing too close to her and he had almost lost that awful sadness that turned his eyes stormy. Sakura smiled at him; she wanted to follow where he was going.
"Sakura!" Ino tried to squeal, but she had to yell to be heard over the music.
Sakura looked away from Naruto when she heard her name. Ino was waving at her and moving closer as fast as she could through the crush of people, and she was grinning all the while. Sakura knew that grin, and she pinked when she thought about how close Naruto really was. She moved away a little and instantly regretted it. Naruto looked away from her and backed away. Sakura wanted to pull him back, to tell him she understood, to say it was ok, but Ino grabbed her arm and dragged her away.
"Forehead!" she yelled, "What are you doing here?" Sakura looked back over her shoulder towards Naruto, but he'd been swallowed up in the crowd. She looked back at Ino and noticed she was making for the ladies' room. When they reached the door, Ino pushed it open and pulled Sakura inside.
It was a little quieter inside, but not much. Smoke floated close to the ceiling. Ino approached the mirror and pulled a tube of lipstick from her bra. Sakura cocked an eyebrow, and Ino's reflection grinned back at her.
"Seriously, Forehead. Why are you here? I'd have thought it'd be more likely to see Shikamaru and Chouji, but since I know they're at our apartment doing absolutely nothing. . ." Ino paused while she applied the lipstick painstakingly, concentrating on each stroke, holding her mouth open in an O.
"Naruto wanted to come," Sakura responded tersely.
"So?" Ino challenged. "This isn't really your scene."
Sakura huffed. She wasn't about to explain to Ino what it was like to have Naruto show up at the door of her apartment, looking haggard and old and telling her that Sasuke shut him out, again. To have Naruto suggest something he knew she wouldn't like, to have him beg her to just go with it because he just didn't want to think anymore.
"Does it really matter? I'm here. Let's party."
Ino shrugged. "Whatever you want." She replaced her lipstick tube and adjusted her little black dress. When she was done, she turned and looked at herself critically in the mirror. "Kiba's here," Ino told her. Sakura gave no reaction. "And Kankuro," she added.
Sakura smiled to herself. Ino always presented the perfect opportunity to change the subject.
"Is his sister here, too?"
"What? No. Why?"
Sakura smiled wryly. "Are you sure Shikamaru's doing absolutely nothing?"
Ino looked at Sakura, wide-eyed, before her grin returned. "We are so gonna have fun," she promised before laughing.
Ino led the way out of the bathroom and back into the sweaty, undulating club. Halfway to where Sakura had last been with Naruto, someone moved up close behind Sakura. It wasn't the kind of close that was typical of crowds, the bumping because there just wasn't enough space. No, this closeness was deliberate, and it was uncomfortable. Some girls (Ino) might not care, but Sakura most definitely did. Creeps like the one attempting to feel her up were the reason why, as Ino had said, this wasn't really her scene. She turned to give the guy a piece of her mind.
She was surprised to see dark, impassive eyes that she recognized, but before she could say anything, someone said it for her.
"Sai," Naruto said lowly, almost quietly, except that it carried through the tremendous noise. Naruto looked angry, and Sakura almost slapped her forehead. Now was not the time for some macho display of stupidity.
"Naruto," Sai responded. He backed away from Sakura and smiled his fake smile.
Naruto grabbed Sakura's hand and yanked her away in the opposite direction.
"Ow!" Sakura exclaimed, but Naruto didn't loosen his hold. Sakura resisted the urge to growl in annoyance. She planted her four-inch heels hard on the floor and forcibly shook Naruto off. Naruto seemed surprised, like he had been startled out of deep thinking, and she glared at him. "You know Sai's an idiot," she seethed. "What's with you?" All of the anger had evaporated from his eyes, she noted, and Naruto stared at her like he didn't remember what had just happened.
"Sakura, I'm sorry."
And he was so sincere that Sakura felt it in her chest. Suddenly she felt winded.
"Naruto," she looked away to hide the burning in her eyes, "let's go home."
