Here's the second chapter :) Shout out to Wintry Leen! Thank you so much for reviewing the first chapter! I described this particular fic as a semi-continuation of Friends because it's written differently. It may or may not draw from everything that was covered in Friends, but the general aspect is there, nonetheless. I hope that makes sense? And the characters are about 23/24 here :) Again, thanks so much for the input!

Hope everyone enjoys this!

His eyes widened for a fraction of a second.

She noticed.

He knew she noticed. She always notices the small things about him. They both knew that.

Seconds that felt like forever lingered between them. It was Sasuke who spoke first.

"What are you doing here?"

Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of his voice. Sakura's eyes roamed all over his form. He still has that excruciatingly beautiful face, and it took all her willpower not to fall into his bottomless obsidian eyes. She took note of his creased brows.

She blinked. "Do you own this dock or something?" she questioned.

He didn't reply.

Tension gathered up in her shoulders. Sakura remembered the promise she made to herself. If she were ever to see Sasuke again, she promised that she will show nothing but nonchalance towards him. For the past year, they never communicated, save for the moments when she broke down and sent 'Hey, how are you' text messages to him. A total of three times. While he replied courteously, she wished that he'd just ignored her altogether. He always replied with "Good", and never inquired about her well being (if it was possible to reply with a 'Hn', she would bet everything she had that he would have). He was cold and distant. At first, she thought that he just avoided her because of the things that happened between them. Maybe he was just giving her space. But as time passed by, she deduced that he simply didn't care anymore. And that she was hopelessly clinging onto a faded friendship. It seemed that it was all too easy for him to cut ties with her.

She was still holding his gaze. Carefully, she let out a breathy exhale before flashing him a lukewarm smile.

"It's nice to see you again, Sasuke," she started. Sakura took careful strides towards him until she was a step away. Sasuke noted the warmth radiating from her. "Let's go. Everyone is waiting," she finished, while grabbing the shawl from his hand. Their fingers lightly touched.

And with that, she stepped away from him and started her trek towards the hotel.

Sasuke caught the familiar smell of lavender and vanilla. Oddly, it mixed well with the salty breeze of the sea. With a last glance at the full moon, he let out a small sigh and followed Sakura. A few long strides and he was already at her side. They walked in silence.

000

Not even a few seconds had passed since Sakura opened the door to their suite, stringing Sasuke along, when Naruto opened his mouth.

"Temeeeee! I thought you weren't coming in until tomorrow? Why didn't you tell me you're back early? We could have gone to dinner togeth-"

At this greeting, both Sakura and Sasuke whipped their heads to the loud blonde. Before Naruto could finish his ramblings, an ashtray was already headed for his head. Reflex guided him to catch the flying object before it hit him square on the forehead.

"What the fuck was that for, bastard?" he followed, throwing the ashtray back at his assailant.

"Dobe." Sasuke replied, catching the object easily. Can't keep your idiot mouth shut.

Sakura stared at the crystal ashtray clutched in Sasuke's hand. It only took a few seconds to process what Naruto had just said. He knew we were going to be here? Her eyes moved from the object to Sasuke's profile. He wasn't facing her. It seemed that he was refusing to. He was expecting us? Sasuke returned the ashtray back to the small table by the door and started walking towards Naruto. Was he planning to join us? He reached Naruto. The blonde stared at him for a second before throwing a quasi-punch and then tackling the Uchiha in a tight hug.

"You still throw like a girl," Sasuke grimaced, as he struggled to break free from the bear hug.

"At least I don't look like a girl, loser!" Naruto yelled, finally letting go of his friend.

All the commotion and yelling brought the rest of their friends into the common area. At the sight of Sasuke, Ino squeaked.

"What are you doing here?" she half-yelled at him.

Sasuke turned his attention from Naruto to Ino and raised a brow. "Hello, Ino," he greeted.

The girl could not do anything but nod numbly at his greeting. Slowly, she peered at Sakura, who was silently standing by the door. She was met with passive green eyes.

"How's all that flying around treating you, Sasuke?" Shikamaru inquired, reaching out a hand to a familiar acquaintance.

"Hn. Good. Clouds everywhere," Sasuke replied as he grasped and shook the man's hand.

"Tsk. All that traveling must be troublesome," the lazy guy commented, before finally walking away to grab a beer from the fridge in the next room.

Neji and Sasuke shared a silent greeting and both nodded their heads in recognition. Tenten gave the Uchiha a short wave, which was promptly returned.

"G-good to see you, Sasuke," Hinata piped in as she entered the room, joining Naruto at Sasuke's side. Sasuke mumbled a quick "Thanks."

After a few moments of silence, Naruto clapped a hand on Sasuke's back.

"Well? Why are we still standing here? Shikamaru, grab more beers! Let's go the other room and catch up with one another! Let's get fucking wasted!"

000

They all sat on the floor, in a circle.

Eyeing the empty green bottle in the middle, Sakura let out an exasperated sigh and glanced at Naruto.

"This is incredibly juvenile," she pointed as she made the move to stand up.

"Aw, come on, Sakura-chan! Don't be like that! We're on vacation! This should be lots of fun, believe it!" Naruto clasped his hands together and pleaded with Sakura, dramatically blinking his eyes.

She always had a soft spot for his sparkling ceruleans.

"This is so dumb," she remarked, sitting back down and settling between Ino and Tenten.

The blonde man was delighted. He was happy that everyone agreed to his drinking game. Shikamaru deemed it too troublesome to decline; Ino was fine with whatever drinking game and managed to convince Tenten, who, in turn, convinced Neji. He suspected that Sasuke would finally relent after a few nudges and Hinata did not need any convincing at all.

Suddenly, a brilliant beyond brilliant (according to him) idea struck him.

He grabbed the empty bottle and promptly eased his way out of the circle. He reached for Shikamaru (who was secretly dozing off) in a hurry and padded to the adjacent room.

The rest of the group stared at the two men as they left.

"What the hell?" Tenten inquired.

Both Sasuke and Neji rolled their eyes and remained silent. Sakura sighed.

"Who cares," Ino commented. She dragged a full bottle of tequila into the middle and produced shot glasses (out of nowhere?) next to the liquor. "Shots while those idiots are out!" she finished. She poured two shots for Sakura, who took it without complaining. Silently, Ino wondered. Why the fuck is Sasuke here and what the hell is going on in Sakura's head?

In the next room, both Shikamaru and Naruto eyed their game piece. The bottom of the bottle has a little crack. The dimmed lights in their suite hid the little anomaly.

"You sure this is going to work?"

"Naruto, I already explained twice. Here," Shikamaru grabbed the bottle and spun it with a measured force. The bottle spun round and round until it slowed down and stopped. Its opening pointed at a painting that hung on the opposite wall. Once again, he gave it another spin, and the bottle stopped facing the same direction.

Naruto snickered. "I'm so smart!"

Shikamaru grumbled. "Troublesome. I know what you're trying to do. Why don't you just leave them alone?"

The blonde took the bottle and spun it carefully. Again, its opening landed towards the painting. He couldn't contain his excitement anymore. He snickered some more.

"Did you see those two? They're not even talking to each other. You remember what happened that one night, right? They kissed like fifty billion times in front of us! Both drunk, yeah. But something's there! Now everything's weird between them and it's…it's troublesome!"

The lazy boy just shook his head. It was too troublesome to tell Naruto that whatever was going on with Sasuke and Sakura will be settled by no one but them. He decided to leave it alone and join everyone else back in the adjacent room.

Naruto followed with a mischievous grin on his face. He cradled the bottle in his arms as if it were a baby.

000

"Sakura-chan!"

She was starting to feel the effects of alcohol. "Me again?"

"Truth or Dare!"

"…tru..no..dare." She avoided truth each time. She had a feeling that any questions will be somehow linked to Sasuke. A pretty good feeling, at that. Because every single dare she has done so far had something to do with Sasuke. "Wait, it's not even pointed at me! It's pointed at Shikamaru, you idiot!"

The first time the bottle pointed at her, Naruto dared her to sit next to Sasuke. It was not a big deal, but she sure took her sweet time getting up from her spot between Tenten and Ino to finally settling between Sasuke and Shikamaru. She brushed shoulders with the Uchiha as she sat down, and while a shiver ran down her spine, it couldn't really compare to those nights spent with him, months and months ago. Remembering her promise of being cool, calm, and collected, she flashed Sasuke (who now sat to her left) a smile before settling her attention back to the bottle. She did so quickly, because she had already found him staring at her when she turned to smile at him. She casted a glance at Naruto, curious as to why he dared her to do such a thing (she never told him how those drunken kisses escalated to nights of…you know what…with Sasuke), but the boy was preoccupied, whispering something to Hinata's ear, who blushed and nodded her head eagerly.

The second time, Ino dared her to punch Sasuke. She obliged in two seconds. The man to her left threw her half a glare as he rubbed his arm. Surely, he will be sporting a bruise by tomorrow morning (thanks to Sakura's weird inhuman strength). Silently, she thanked Ino for such a wonderful dare. The third time, Shikamaru dared her to keep a yoga pose for ten minutes, while facing east. The only yoga pose Sakura knew was the one where she had to balance on one foot while arching the other backwards to meet her hands, which lay on her head. Unfortunately, 'east' meant facing her left, where Sasuke sat. So there she was, trying to keep a yoga pose (which was much harder after a few shots of alcohol), chest jutting out, while facing Sasuke. Thankfully, the Uchiha humored her and did not openly stare. But she thought she caught him sneaking glances at her every now and then. Sakura dismissed it though, and blamed everything on the alcohol.

The fourth time, Ino dared her to give Sasuke a shoulder massage. The cool, calm, and collected Sakura vanished. She bristled. This Pig should be on my side! What the hell? But her best friend was already at the gates of I'm-too-drunk-to-think, and had already been spewing random dares. Ino had dared Tenten to unwind her hair from its braids, which was done promptly. It was the first time everyone saw her hair down (and they all took turns, save for Sasuke and Neji, in running their fingers through her smooth locks). But it wasn't the best part. Soon after this dare, the bottle spun and stopped, facing Neji. After taking yet another shot of tequila, Ino threw caution to the wind and dared Neji to put his hair in buns. The whole room exploded in laughter (Sasuke smirked), except for a wide-eyed Neji. But a dare was a dare, and Tenten helped his hair into braided buns. It was all too comical to see Neji's silky brown hair braided in two buns; very Tenten-like. In retrospect, he could have declined the dare and taken a shot of liquor instead (they tweaked the rules; what's truth or dare without alcohol anyway? One could choose to take a shot of alcohol in place of a dare or a question that could not be answered), but all the men had to take triple shots of alcohol (courtesy of Hinata's dare), just a few moments before Tenten unraveled her hair. His system begged him to slow down on the alcohol.

"I'll take the shot," Sakura decided. There was no way she's giving him a massage. As she grimaced after tilting back her head and emptying the contents of a shot glass poured for her, Sakura tried to count how many shots she had taken. Possibly four or five in 40 minutes? She knew she had to slow down; her limit was six or seven, maybe more, if stretched out for a longer period of time.

The game continued on and on, Sasuke was dared to walk around the perimeter of the suite using his hands. Naruto was dared to leave three of his ramen bowls outside their suite (he checked five minutes later and much to his dismay, the bowls were gone; room service must have taken them away). The blond tearfully threw angry glares at Neji, who thought of the dare.

Ino was asked if Shikamaru was lazy in bed, to which she replied, "Ohohoho! Forehead, don't you dare eye my boyfriend! This here (as she tapped a finger on Shikamaru's chest) is a beast! Sometimes, I almost can't keep up with him! I have a feeling you'll ask how big he is too. Well if you want to compare him with-"

Before she finished her sentence, both Sakura and a blushing Shikamaru had planted their hands on Ino's mouth.

"—mmf!"

Hinata quickly spun the bottle.

"S-Sasuke, truth or dare?"

"Aa. Dare." He figures the Hyuga girl wouldn't be too creative with her dares. He never chose truth, like Sakura, because he liked to keep his secrets to himself.

Hinata threw a quick glance at an inebriated Naruto before opening her mouth.

"T-then Sasuke, I d-dare you to k-kiss Sakura."

Ino, already past the gates of I'm-too-drunk-to-think, crossed back to reality and suddenly sat straight. Shikamaru opened an eye. Neji (still in buns) raised a brow. Tenten paused from running fingers through her hair.

Sakura silently choked on air.

"Why is everyone so quiet? Teme already did this before, remember? We were all there and these two ate each other's faces like it was nobody's business! I mean, they were full on kissing. I'm surprised nothing happened afterw-"

A pillow hit him in the face.

"Dobe."

As Naruto tore the pillow away from his face, Sasuke faced an all-too-nervous Sakura. Her gaze was directly pointed at the bottle in the middle of the circle, as if it was the most interesting artifact in the world.

"Sakura," Sasuke breathed.

She quickly jerked her head away from the bottle and towards him. "W-What's up, Sasuke?" Stuttered! How could I stutter?

Their friends stared at them as they stared at each other.

He leaned his face closer to hers. She didn't move away. Sasuke kept inching closer to Sakura until their breaths intermingled; one gentle push would seal their lips together. He could smell lavender, vanilla, and tequila. She could smell the cologne she chose for him (years ago), mixed with the alcohol he's been drinking. He recognized the faint freckles dusting her cheeks, which were almost too invisible, unless you get this close to her face (something he's noticed years ago, before everything, when she fell asleep with her head on his lap—a night spent watching a dull romantic comedy she insisted, as she lamented over her single life). She noticed the way his lips pulled into a smirk.

He peered into her eyes and opened his mouth.

"I'll take the shot," he said. And with that, he pulled back and grabbed a shot glass. He heard Sakura release a shaky breath as she settled her attention somewhere else. Sasuke poured tequila to the brim and emptied it in a second. He followed it with another shot (finally emptying the third bottle of the night) before reaching for the game piece and spinning it with such finesse. It landed on Naruto.

The blonde man stared helplessly at the bottle opening.

"Dobe," Sasuke smirked. "Kiss my ass."

There was a brief silence. Neji snorted, then Tenten laughed.

"Like hell I would, Sas-gay! I'll take that shot!"

Sasuke raised a very empty tequila bottle, with a triumphant smirk on his face.

"What the fuck! You did that on purpose, Teme!"

Sakura laughed. "Naruto, we're out of shots. You…you actually have to kiss Sasuke's butt!" She threw Sasuke an amused grin, which was equally returned. She ignored how her heart rebelliously leaped. He ignored how his chest tightened a bit.

The blonde wailed "Sakura-chan, nooooo! I can't kiss Sa-hic-suke's sme-hic-lly ass!" Clearly, he was drunk.

He sluggishly got out of his sitting position and crawled his way to Sasuke. Naruto reached a hand to Sasuke's hip when the Uchiha slapped it away.

"Forget it, idiot. I would never have your nasty mouth near me. Go drag your tongue across that rug over there instead," he pointed.

"Didn't you have each other's first kisses?" Tenten piped in.

The whole room exploded in yet another bout of laughter. Even Neji chuckled. This was true. Naruto and Sasuke were childhood friends, and one mishap in their first grade class led to each other's stolen first kisses. Naruto didn't think anyone would remember this embarrassing story when he had recounted it, three years ago during a house party hosted by Ino.

The back of Sasuke's hand shot to his mouth. Naruto cringed.

"That's probably why Sasuke likes men!" Naruto resolutely commented.

He was promptly smothered by a pillow.

The night continued. Ino remembered packing another bottle of vodka (and found a half bottle of tequila wedged between her shoes in one of her suitcases) and brought them back to the circle.

Sakura was dared to hold Sasuke's hand for the next three turns. She was teetering on the brink of drunkenness when she reached for a shot glass, opting for a drink instead of honoring the dare. Sasuke promptly grabbed her left hand and mumbled, "Don't be stupid, you've had six already." He laced his fingers with hers and kept their hands like so for the next couple of turns. Sakura was too buzzed and stunned to complain. The warmth radiating from his hand anchored her as the effects of alcohol clouded her brain.

The empty green bottle was spun many times. Questions were answered, dares were given, and shots were taken. Needless to say, they all drank until everyone forgot the game they were playing.

000

Sakura slowly stirred. Was it morning? Early afternoon? She could already feel the headache before she opened her eyes. She willed her eyes to open slowly.

What greeted her promptly yanked her eyes wide open.

Sasuke's bare chest.

It took her a few seconds to process what was displayed before her eyes. She also realized how she could not move.

Firstly, her body felt like lead. Her head was throbbing, and her limbs begged to be left alone. And secondly, she was held into place by Sasuke.

She took note of their position.

They were both in bed. She vaguely remembered easing into a more comfortable position on the floor last night, after several shots of liquor. She couldn't remember if she managed to crawl herself into bed. But here she was, practically cuddling with a very much asleep Sasuke.

They were facing each other, legs in a tangled mess. His right hand was under her shirt, set atop her ribs, just resting underneath her left breast. She stiffened when she realized where it was. It felt comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. But it was achingly familiar. His other arm cradled her neck; a small twitch of his left hand caused her to feel the fingers tangled in her hair. She was thankful to find herself fully clothed.

It was an intimate position. She could hear Naruto's snores nearby, and deduced that he must be occupying the adjacent bed with Hinata. She hoped to the gods and goddesses of all mythologies she has ever known that Naruto wouldn't suddenly wake up and find her and Sasuke in such a position. It would be embarrassing as hell.

Because she realized that her left hand was on Sasuke's left ass cheek. It was nestled between the waistband of his pants and his ass. The ass Sakura playfully squeezed during their nights spent together.

At this point, she didn't need a mirror to tell her that her face was probably tomato red.

She quickly thought of a plan to get out of this tangled mess without waking Sasuke up. Sakura figured it would be too damn embarrassing to nudge him awake and say, "Hey, Sasuke. We're sort of cuddling. Let go."

Still, she allowed herself a few more minutes to silently enjoy this position. She hasn't been this close with Sasuke for over a year, and she could bet all Naruto's ramen bowls that this will never happen again. Sakura noted his bare chest. He always liked sleeping shirtless. Years ago, she would roll her eyes at him whenever he walked around his apartment without a shirt. "It's comfortable. You should try it," he would say. She would reply with, "Ew. No, thanks. Put a shirt on, your abs have no effect on me." Which was true. The first time Sakura saw him shirtless, she commented that he looked good, but simply brushed it off. As their friendship deepened, he became more comfortable around her, enough that he'd just walk around shirtless whenever she'd drop by his apartment to hang out.

She noticed her right hand was trapped underneath his hip. Great, he'd have to be dead not to feel my hand slide from underneath him.

Sakura let her gaze fall back on his face. He was still asleep. And he looked so damn handsome. His bangs framed his face perfectly (when had they not?) and she took note of his long lashes. And then her eyes focused on his lips. Memories of where these lips touched her body suddenly flooded her brain.

She had to get out of this quickly before she does something she'll end up regretting.

Slowly, she slid her right hand free from his hip. She risked a glance at his face. His eyes were still closed. Encouraged by Sasuke's deep sleep, Sakura slowly untangled her legs from his. She slid her left leg, which was trapped between his legs, away from him, and followed it with her right leg, which was resting underneath both of his.

She was almost there. The only thing left was her embarrassing left hand, still clutching his ass.

She slowly dragged it out of his shorts, making sure that the waist band doesn't snap him awake.

Free, she was free. Save for Sasuke's arm cradling her neck, but that's easy. The problem was the hand on her ribs, holding her in place.

Slowly but steadily, she lifted her ass-groping left hand and laid it on his right forearm. Easy. I just have to lift this, ease myself out, and I'm done! She silently laughed at an angry bruise on his upper arm, glaring at her. Her punch last night did make its mark!

But Sakura couldn't lift his arm.

With furrowed brows, she tried again. But it felt like gravity had doubled and permanently stuck his arm over her hip; his hand on her ribs.

She was running out of patience. Sakura figured he could wake up anytime, so she decided on just sitting up straight and letting his arm fall. If he wakes up, so what? They weren't as tangled as before, and it was him cradling her. At least, she had already saved herself from shame (butt, butt, butt!).

She was getting ready to heave her body upright when she felt pressure on her ribs, holding her in place.

She sucked a breath.

His fingers twitched and ghosted all over her ribs, dangerously close to her breast.

Slowly, Sakura lifted her eyes from his forearm to his face.

He was awake.

Sasuke Uchiha was awake. He made no effort to untangle himself from her.

She felt trapped in his deep obsidian orbs.

And then his hand moved. It slowly trailed downwards, tracing the curve of her waist and then finally resting on her hips. His thumb rubbed small circles over pelvic bone.

Shivers ran up and down her spine. Her heart skipped too many beats that she started wondering if she should be alive. Whatever Sasuke was doing, it was sending her fuzzy mind to near-overdrive.

They were still staring at each other. For what felt like forever and a day. Were they having a staring contest amidst everything?

And then he gave her hip a small squeeze. She blinked. Before she could process anything else, he was already out of bed and into one of the bathrooms.

She heard the showers turn on.

Hooray! Thank you for reading! Reviews are much appreciated! Maaybe 1-2 chapters left? We shall see! Hehe.