Apartment 7
Roommates
Sakura awakes to the feeling of somebody tickling her face. The soft touches start on her forehead and travel down her nose.
"Stop it." She's still in between being awake and asleep so she's not quite sure whom she's addressing, then the memories of last night's party drifts into her mind. And a smile appears on her face when she thinks of how she dominated the Beer-Pong competition.
The tickling has started to travel back up her nose and Sakura now finds it annoying. Opening her eyes to confront the offender, she comes face to face with a hairy spider the size of a baseball.
She lets out a very girlish screech and flings to spider from her face to the opposite side of the room. Akamaru, who was sleeping at the foot of the bed, runs over to where the offending creature landed and starts barking at it.
The door to the room bursts open and a frantic Kiba rushes in, armed with a frying pan, which he's swinging around like a madman.
"What is it? What's wrong?" He yells, scanning the room with his canine-like eyes. Sakura solution to the situation is jumping up and down on the bed, pointing at the ground where the spider had landed, and repeatedly yelling 'Kill it! Kill it!'
Kiba walks over to the spider that, thanks to Akamaru, is lying on its back with its twiggy legs twitching wildly. "Oh geez." He says in relief as he lowers his makeshift weapon. "Shino! Terence got into my room again!" Kiba yells as he flips the spider over with a sock-clad foot.
Sakura has reduced herself to sitting on the bed wrapped up in Kiba's comforter while staring at her new friend in somewhat disgust. Another boy, as shady looking as Kakashi, enters the room. The collar of his jacket is pulled up to cover his mouth and nose, and a pair of sunglasses makes it impossible to see his eyes. Murmuring under his breath, the strange looking boy picks the spider up from the floor and exits the room.
"That's my roommate, Shino." Kiba tells a very confused Sakura. "He's decent, but he collects bugs."
"Terence?" She asks referring to Kiba's earlier comment.
"Terence the Tarantula." He states matter-of-factly. "We also have Julia the June bug, Bert the beetle and about fifty others running around. " Sakura lets out a shudder and silently prays that none of her roommates have pets.
"So…" Kiba starts as he holds up the cooking-ware still in his hand. "Want some breakfast?"
Sakura shakes head and realizes that she has to go back to the "haunted" apartment. "I need to get back to my apartment to check on everything."
"Want me to come with you?" Kiba asks genuinely.
"That's okay, I need to face this on my own." Sakura replies, not wanting to be more of a bother to her new friend.
"Okay, but you know those noises were probably just the alcohol." He offers helpfully.
"Yeah, probably." Sakura stands up and the two start walking to the front door. "Thanks for letting me crash here, sorry for making you sleep on the couch."
"No problem, text me if you have any more troubles." Sakura slips out the front door after giving Kiba a quick hug.
Minutes later Sakura arrives back at her apartment. She stands in the breezeway and glares at the askew seven. Taking a soothing breath, she inserts her key in the lock to open the front door. Startlingly, it's already unlocked. Warning bells go off in Sakura's head and she reaches in her purse for the pink canister of pepper spray that her father gave her when she first moved out.
Now armed and dangerous, Sakura slowly turns the doorknob. Instantly, she's put on alert when she hears cabinets in the kitchen opening. Staying on her tiptoes Sakura creeps along the corridor with her back against the wall.
A glimpse of movement passes through her vision. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. With a scream, better classified as a battle cry, Sakura blindly sprays the hazardous liquid in the hopes of hitting the intruder. She's rewarded with a thump that sounds like a body hitting the ground accompanied with cries of pain.
"Ouch! What the fuck! It burns!" A rough voice, that is most definitely male, yells.
Sakura opens her eyes to see a boy about her age rolling on the floor, his palms pressing into his eyes. Suddenly, she senses another presence next to her. Without a second thought, Sakura aims the pepper spray again.
"What are you doing in my house?" She asks the new arrival, another boy her age with spikey black hair and dark eyes.
"Hn, your house?" He says emotionlessly, over the cries of his injured friend.
"Uh… yeah! I just moved in yesterday. Who are you?" Sakura replies, getting angry.
"I'm Sasuke, and I see you've already met the Dobe, Naruto." He gestures to the screaming blonde boy clad in boxers and an orange t-shirt. "We just moved in today."
The boy on the ground still manages to yell "Teme!" through the more than obvious pain he's in. Sakura's eyes visibly widen as realization hits her.
"Oh my god. I just pepper sprayed my new roommate." She says in disbelief. She drops to the ground on her knees as she attempts to examine the still wriggling figure. "I am so sorry!" She awkwardly hugs the brightly dressed boy and starts proclaiming over and over again about how she didn't mean to and how she thought he was a ghost or a pervert.
The Sasuke leans against the wall and observes. It was amusing sight, the pink haired girl nearly in hysterics and his best friend crying about pain worse than the time he got beat up because his uncle suggested it was a good idea to peek in the woman's locker room.
"Why would he have been a ghost?" Sasuke asks, once the constant crying starts to get on his nerves.
"This place is haunted! Haven't you heard any strange noises?" She replies trying to get the blonde boy to his feet.
"No." Sasuke says.
"We just got here an hour ago. I'm Naruto by the way." The injured boy adds through gritted teeth. Sasuke pushes off the wall and jangles a set of keys in his hand.
"Come on, I'll drive to the hospital." He says while moving past the struggling couple to the door.
The three wait in a small hospital room; Naruto sits on the small bed holding a wet towel to his eyes, Sasuke leans against a wall with an annoyed look on his face, and Sakura passes back and forth muttering apologizes.
"I'm really sorry." She says for the hundredth time. Sasuke's about to snap at her, but the pinkette is saved when a woman in scrubs walks in.
"I'm Dr. Tsunade." She says when she eyes the three college kids. She directs her attention to Naruto while eying the towel draped over his face. "What seems to be the problem?"
"He's an idiot." Sasuke responds in a flat tone. Naruto removes the towel and sends a glare towards his friend.
"I got pepper sprayed." Naruto says in a quiet voice, hinting at embarrassment. The doctor quirks a blonde brow up in amusement.
"And how did that happen?" she asks.
Sakura bursts in a response. "It was all my fault! I just moved into my apartment and there had been weird noises the night before and I didn't know that these guys were my new roommates and when I came home the door was unlocked and I panicked and he came around the corner and I just sprayed him!" Sakura finishes her rambling and takes a deep breath.
Tsunade holds back a laugh and moves to inspect Naruto's eyes. "Don't worry, this actually happens more often than you would think." After a quick examination she pulls out a pen and starts writing on a notepad. Sakura starts apologizing to Naruto again, but is silenced when Sasuke starts to speak.
"Stop apologizing so much, it's annoying." Sakura is taken aback by his rudeness, but doesn't say anything.
"Okay, so I'm going to prescribe you some eye drops. Put them in when you first wake up and when you go to bed. For the next couple of days stay away from pools, smoking areas, and any other places that could irritate your eyes." Tsunade instructs as she hands Naruto a slip of paper. "Give this to that ladies at the front desk and they'll give you the drops. That's it, I think you're all set."
She holds the door to the room open and ushers the three out, but before Sakura leaves she stops her.
"Good work. It's better to have an incident like this that can be easily fixed, than getting kidnapped or worse." She gives Sakura a smile before exiting the room.
After getting the prescription and returning home, Sakura gazes outside her window. The sun is shining brightly and multiple students are flocked around the pool.
Only a week before school starts back up, might as well enjoy the good weather.
Making up her mind, she slips on a green bikini, some denim shorts, and a pair of white flip-flops. Slinging a towel over her arm, Sakura heads to the corridor. Upon entering the living room she's satisfied when the two boys sitting on the couch slightly widen their eyes at her attire.
"I'm going to the pool, anybody want to come?" Naruto immediately shoots to his feet.
"I'll join you, Sakura!" His enthusiasm is stanched when Sasuke's hand pulls him back down to the couch.
"Dobe, you're not allowed near pools." He reminds his friend with a gesture to his bloodshot eyes. Defeated, Naruto's shoulders slump, but Sasuke rises from the couch.
"I'll come." Sasuke disappears into the bedroom and emerges in a pair of blue swim trunks and a white t-shirt.
"Sorry Naruto, we'll go another time." Sakura tells the pouting blonde.
"Come on, let's go." Sasuke says as he heads towards the front door.
The pool's full of college kids; girls wearing skimpy bikinis teasing the guys in colorful shorts. Sakura spots two empty lounge chairs situated next to each other and moves to claim them. After laying out her towel, Sakura removes her shorts and lies on the chair. Another chicken competition is taking place in the pool, so she watches it with excitement.
The sound of Sasuke settling into the chair next to hers peaks her interest. Sakura's jaw drops as she eyes her roommate in all his shirtless glory. His body was near godlike in Sakura's opinion. He's slender but muscular, his arms perfectly sculpted and a set a six-pack abs are situated beneath his toned pecks. Thankfully, she notes that his eyes are closed, allowing her to continue enjoying the view.
"Stop staring." He says emotionlessly. Sakura feels her face flush hot at being caught openly ogling him. She glances up at his face and realizes that his eyes are still closed.
How did he-
Sasuke interrupts Sakura's train of thought with a muttered, "This is why I can never go to the pool."
She turns away, face still bright red. Trying to ease the awkwardness of the situation Sakura decides to try at conversation.
"So… Sasuke, what are you studying?" She asks.
"Law." His response is short and to the point.
"And Naruto?"
"He's exploratory."
"What year are you guys?"
"Sophomore."
"And he's still exploratory?" Sakura asks slightly shocked. She's known that she wanted to be a doctor since she was ten.
"He's taking really random classes." Sasuke replies.
"I'm sure they're not that bad." Sakura says defending the boy she met only hours ago.
Sasuke opens his eyes to shoot her a glance. "Cooking, Russian, History of Art, and Trig 101."
"Wow, that kid is everywhere, but he's taking cooking so we'll be eating good right?" Sakura thinks back to last year and how she survived off of tuna and pizza.
"Don't get your hopes up. Last time he tried to cook we had to call the fire department." Sakura winces at the thought of her new kitchen up in flames. Then a much more pressing issues presents itself in her mind.
"Neither of you collect bugs, right?" Sasuke looks at her as if she just sprouted a second head.
"No…" He answers slowly, confusion evident in his voice. Content with his answer Sakura continues lay in peace. She defiantly could've been stuck with worse roommates. After about five minutes of silence, she opens her mouth to ask another question.
"So how did you guys become friends?" She asks interested in how the contrasting pair formed.
"We've known each other since elementary school." It wasn't exactly the answer Sakura was looking for, but she decided to accept it.
"I'm going in the water." She says, standing from her chair. "Coming?" Sasuke responds with a curt nod and the two head towards the pool.
After swimming for a little while they decide to head back to the apartment. Upon opening the door, they are confronted by a very startled Naruto.
"Uh guys… we have a problem." The blonde says as Sasuke and Sakura set their towels down on the kitchen table.
"What's wrong?" Sakura asks slightly panicked.
Naruto pauses for a while before looking both of them directly in the eye.
"This place only has two bedrooms."
