I'm getting warmed up and want to make sure I don't get impatient myself and ruin this story for all of us, myself included. That said, I'm hoping for some feedback so we can all get what we want with this story. Without any further ramblings, Chapter 2.

It was cooler out than when she had arrived at Ino's apartment earlier that evening. One would consider this a classic chilly October night, but Sakura was still adjusting from her California beach breeze and not handling the sharp wind that scraped at her cheeks. She somehow hadn't checked the time the whole night but figured it was pretty late since there weren't that many people out walking around. They were at the very outskirts of Williamsburg, a neighborhood gentrified to its core. Sasuke walked silently beside her, unbothered by the cold and hands resting in his coat pockets.

The cold fortunately sobered her a bit. She decided to give conversation a go. "Hinata told me you work in finance?"

"I do."

"Where do you work?"

"Do you actually care to know that?"

She was stunned by his curt response and couldn't tell if he was teasing or being straight rude. Her face took on an expression of annoyance, as did her tone. "I'm sorry, I was just trying to get to know you."

They walked in silence until he gestured to turn a corner. "I hate small talk, it's nothing personal."

Soon, but by her measure not soon enough, they made it to the local pizza spot. There were one-dollar slice shops along the way, but Sasuke considered the high majority of them trash and knew exactly what kind of pizza he wanted. In a last minute decision, he opted for two pies instead of just one.

"I'm a bit of a glutton when I drink." He explained, his grin not sharing an ounce of shame.

"A little bit of an ass, too." She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth and she cautiously looked at her companion. To her relief, he had a wide smirk and an amused eyebrow lifted in her direction.

"Hn. I'll take that as a compliment." He pulled out a thick band of bills from his inner breast pocket and peeled off what she believed was a hundred dollar bill for payment. The man behind the counter gave a small salute of appreciation and the pair started their walk back.

"Um, how much were the two pizzas?" She hesitantly asked, not comprehending what she had just seen.

"Are you offering to pay me for them?" He grinned at her nonchalantly and she felt a wave of disbelief and slight annoyance pass through her. He could see her patience running thin and found it was just too easy to tease her. "Are you feeling more composed now?"

She looked away for a moment. "I don't appreciate the judgement, alright?"

A couple of young guys were walking in their direction. As they were about to cross paths Sakura felt a large hand on her arm coax her in front of him as they continued walking. They were back at Ino's building and Sakura jammed the buzzer for her apartment.

"I found it cute," he shrugged, holding the apartment building door open for her once it unlocked. "But you're cute now, too."

She blushed and thanked him for the door, walking ahead of him on the stairs up. Her jacket rode up just enough towards the small of her back. Not that having any witnesses would change his behavior, he let himself appreciate her fitted jeans. His fingers twitched around the cardboard.

Ino would not be pleased with him.

"Yes! Finally!" Naruto cried out, half getting up and then finding himself back on his floor cushion.

Sakura spotted a tumbler glass of brown liquor in front of him and matching ones in the possession of the others. Without a doubt shea was all the more grateful she had gone for the walk. Hinata helped clear the coffee table so Sasuke could put down the pizzas. The drunk blonde hovered over her without any regard for personal space, eyeballing which slice he would snatch first.

"How was the walk?" Ino asked, lightly nudging Sakura when she sat next to her on the couch.

"Colder than I was expecting," She offered, unsure if she was referring to the weather or her companion. Ino tried to read her new friend's face but Sakura got up to grab some much needed water from the kitchen.

Sasuke saw Ino raise an eyebrow at him but he only responded by raising one of his own. He hung his coat back up and leaned around Naruto to grab a slice before the guy could inhale half the pie. "Did you not eat lunch or something?" He griped with a side eye.

"Shut it, bastard. I'm a growing boy!" Naruto grumbled without swallowing the slice filling his mouth.

The raven-haired man took a seat in the open arm chair next to Shikamaru and pushed his sleeves up to avoid any sauce conflicts. When Sakura came back she quietly thanked Sasuke for the pizza again and took a slice on a plate to the couch. It was more of a statement of fact than opinion to say Sasuke was attractive. There was something off about him, but he was hauntingly handsome. Looking over at him, she noticed a black serpent's tail twisting along the outside of his arm and crawling up his sleeve. Once again, he caught her in the act and she felt the weight of shame hit her stomach. She abruptly turned her body to face Ino. Her mind's eye was branded with his stare and she wanted nothing more than to claw it away.

"I think I'm gonna have to head home soon." Her green eyes expressed true guilt but also something else Ino couldn't place. She restrained herself from sending a glare at that very moment to Sasuke.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes in their direction. Ino was always annoyed by Sasuke's tendencies, but this seemed to hit a different nerve. A real one.

"I suppose I can't force you to stay forever," The blonde propped her elbow on the back of the couch and leaned her pale cheek against her fist. "How are you getting home?"

"I'll probably get a car, I don't think I could figure out the trains this late." Sakura pulled her phone from her back pocket to pull up her app. Within a few minutes she gauged it was time to head down.

"I'm so happy you made it," Ino cooed, standing to pull her friend into an embrace. "We're hanging out again soon." She gave her arms a quick squeeze before passing her to Hinata for hug.

"Get home safe," Hinata was smiling but Sakura could have sworn something in that smile was less than happy in that moment.

Naruto pulled himself to his feet to fold her into a tight hug but both Shikamaru and Sasuke remained in their seats, so she gave a little wave before departing. The front door clicked shut behind her and a silence filled in. Sasuke lowered his eyes to the glass in his hand and paid no mind to the burning glare from Hell his host was directing his way.

Ino was used to his antics, his patterns, his lifestyle. It was how they came to know each other in college and why their paths became so intertwined. She thought back to the gritty venue in the middle of the Bushwick warehouses. It became a second home with all the time she spent there seeing secret shows and finding one-night romances. It was also where she first set eyes on Sasuke. The door to the space opened to a steep set of narrow stairs usually with a guy at the top checking IDs. The walls inside had a mix of odd and mediocre photos, graffiti and framed posters. Some string lights from Christmas sales years ago were some of the only lights along the perimeter of the room and over the windows. A small bar sat in the back below a fake stuffed marlin.

She couldn't recall the band that played that night, but she could remember the grungy crowd and angry guitars. Her friend Gaara had introduced her to this place and had her join him that night. He said he was expecting to see a few other friends there she would like. Her first two years of her college social life had been mostly comprised of stereotypical parties and regrets, but also her ongoings at the coven she had joined soon after moving to New York. It was how she met Gaara, an asexual man with a polar opposite personality type but deeply similar interests. He had nodded at Sasuke when he spotted him near the bar and brought Ino over to introduce them. Sasuke had been a childhood friend of his and a close friend of their coven.

When the band took a break, Gaara went to the toilet and Sasuke invited Ino out to the balcony for some air. They each held their cheap liquor in their plastic cups and leaned over the railing to create some privacy from the others crowding the filthy ledge. The Manhattan skyline was in sight behind the many rooftops and glittered in the summer haze. He asked how deep her beliefs ran, which caught her off guard for a moment. She let him know her mother and father raised her on Wiccan beliefs since she was a baby. Sasuke asked if she practiced magic and although she was used to the question, there was something lurking in his words that she couldn't see. Almost as soon as she said 'yes' he chucked his cup down to the street and grabbed both her hands in his. Her breath seemed to have been robbed from her lungs in that moment, the feeling was unreal. His energy was like a smoldering black hole she would never have fathomed encountering before and she wasn't sure if she ever should want to have. This was right when Gaara came outside and with just a glance knew what Sasuke was up to.

While the raven-haired man was a close friend, he warned him not to try and take advantage of Ino's good nature. He would never hurt her, the man promised with his word, black eyes unblinking. Sasuke never broke a single promise to Gaara in the years they had known each other. He just needed some help, he explained. He needed help with something, a favor, and a Witch's seal was the most tangible solution he could ask for.

Ungrateful beast, Sasuke Uchiha.

"I asked, just this once, if you thought you could behave. Just this once." Ino whispered. It was mostly to herself at this point. She felt the edge of her sink press wickedly sharp into her back and put more weight on it so as to punish herself for letting Sasuke even meet Sakura.

The corner of his mouth turned upwards. "I thought I was being pretty good."

Shikamaru could hear their conversation and groaned. "Oh fucking can it, Uchiha. You couldn't have been more hungry even if you starved yourself for a week-"

"What the hell would ever persuade me to do that?"

"I like her." Everyone looked at Naruto, his fingers coaxing the last slice towards him across the box. "She should hang out with us again." Hinata was sitting on the floor next to him and silently rested her cheek on his shoulder.

"Until Sasuke ruins everything as usual, sure." Ino spat, fuming as she picked up the last soiled paper plates and lip-stained glasses.

Naruto turned to Hinata, still chewing. "You liked her too, didn't you?"

She nodded fervently, "I did, I just…"

Naruto stopped eating for a moment and looked her directly in the eyes. "What is it?"

"She reminds me of something odd I can't place. I'm not sure, I might just be projecting so it could be nothing." She shrugged it off. Naruto tried to as well, but wasn't completely satisfied with her answer.

When he turned his attention back to the room, he noticed Sasuke's chair was empty and the man was by the door grabbing his coat again.

"Leaving so soon?" He bit out.

"Since I apparently have such an insatiable appetite, I'm going to go take care of it." Sasuke sneered, stepping into the kitchen where Ino was washing plates.

He stood right behind her and placed his hands on both corners of the sink. There was no reason to hide her feelings in the slightest, so when she turned around to face him with cold eyes and no nonsense he met her with a sinister smile.

"You look like you have something on your mind you'd like to share." The backs of his fingers grazed her arm.

"I hate you." She grit out.

He winked and backed away to the door. "See you,"

The room was dimly lit by a red light emitting from a lamp in the corner. A robe of some sort of scandalous material was draped over it and was surrounded by other lost garments on the floor below.

The bed was rocking and rocking and rocking, each jolt slamming into the wall mercilessly. A woman cried out for her god, over and over and over. But there was no god in this room.

Her wrists were strapped down and her legs spread as far as they could go, equally restrained towards the edge of the mattress. Long scarlet hair tangled across the black silk sheets. His broad shoulders blocked most of the filtered light and his sinful form cast a dark shadow across her nakedness. His eyes greedily took in all the marks she had craved and accumulated that evening.

"That was insane," She gasped for air, coming down from her unholy high.

He smirked and brought himself over her. "Then let's do it again."

The bed was rocking and rocking and rocking, and she screamed for the god that was not in that room.

Because it was just her in there, and Sasuke.

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