If there was one thing that Ino was best at, it would be socializing. Her natural ability to shine light into any room she walked into was something to be proud of. Her loud and emphasized words made sure that everyone was listening to her. And her eyes, you just couldn't look away from. Indeed, it was something to be proud of. She was life itself.

Naturally, partying would be her forte, but with parties came drama. Thats where Sakura comes into play. If there ever was a instance in which an exceptionally vicious bitch would start any form of drama with Ino, the blonde had no problem using nails and all. And it was always Sakura who took care of her at the end of such a rambunctious night. Sakura was the hair holder, designated driver, bed tucker and the fairy that left aspirin with water next to your bed when you woke up.

Ino couldn't have been more thankful.

But on this Friday morning when she woke up with a terrible hang over, her mouth twisted into a pout as she sip her glass of water that was sitting next to an aspirin. She grimaced over how Sakura would never have any fun for herself. It was college for god sakes, she argued. You needed to party, as much as you needed to finish those papers. She looked over to her best friend's bed seeing how it was already neatly made and her bag gone. Hmm..yes, it was Friday and there would definitely be a party, she realized with a wicked grin.

"Prepare yourself Forehead, you're about to have a wild night..." Ino said to her absent friend.

And then she finally realized.

"OH FUCK I'M LATE."

TheCheshireCat

Chapter II: Stranger Danger

xcherrytoes

"How was your morning my dearest Ino?" Sakura asked as she sipped her tea, not needing to look up as Ino plopped her bag down next to her in the cafeteria.
She growled. "Awful.. I was late and my teacher already has a death sentence on me."

"No surprise there, Pig." She said as she continued to out line her syllabus, in which said sight almost made Ino nauseous.

"So I was thinking, Forehead. It's Friday today, which means its Saturday tomorrow andddd.." Ino drawled out.

"Yes Ino, typically Saturday comes after Friday." Sakura said in a suspicious tone with her brow raised.

"mmhm, yeap. And things usually happen on weekends." She said with a grin that was brighter than the afternoon sun beaming through the windows.

"What are you getting at?"

"Shino is going to throw this awesome party tonight at his dorm floor. You just have to come!" Ino chirped.

Sakura sighed. "Ino, you know I don't-"

"OI! INO-CHAN!" Ino winced as she turned to look and with an equally loud voice "EY NARUTO! COME SIT HERE!"

With no hesitation, the foxy boy marched over with a dark mess of a hair following behind. He dropped his plate of overflowing spaghetti and meatballs and a side of large french fries. The girls wondered how he stayed so thin.

"Whats up you guys?" He said as he dove into his mountain of carbs.

"Sakura, this is Naruto, the chillest guy I've ever met. From last nights party!" Ino introduced.

"Hi, nice to meet you." She said with her hand reached out.

Naruto took it eagerly and with an overly wide grin, full of meat sauce.

"I don't think blossoms here appreciates your lunch covered hands, dobe."

Naruto threw a sheepish look before resuming his consumption.

"So, what's new with you two?" Sasuke asked as he popped a cherry tomato into his mouth.

"I was just telling blossoms here how I think she should totally go to Shino's party tonight." Ino nudged her with her elbow, trying to snap her away from that damn highlighted papers.

"Oh? And what'd my pink-haired wonder say to that?"

Hearing Sasuke's smirk (is that even possible?) she quickly replied. "And I'm not going."

"Well that sucks, we would've had so much fun."

"Yeah! It's always fun when I'm there!" Naruto hollered. He seemed to have finished his four servings of lunch, Sakura dryly observed.

"I can imagine." She replied, rolling her eyes.

"C'mon Forehead, just this once!" Sakura winced at the big pool of cerulean dome begging at her.

"Forget it Yamanako. Some people just can't live it up. What a shame."

Ino let out a sigh. "...And you promised before, you promised you would."

Gritting her teeth, Sakura reasoned. If it'd really make her best friend, her female soul mate, feel better by going to some stupid party then so be it. She'd go. Plus who said Sakura Haruno couldn't "live it up" ?!

"Ughh, FINE PIG. Just this weekend." She bursts and caps her high lighter.

"OH GOODIEEE! YES YES YES. THIS WILL BE SO TOTALLY FUN."

"YEAH SAKURA! I'll teach you the ways of the Beer Pong Master! BELIEVE IT!"

Sasuke gave another smirk in the distance, one that she didn't hear.

Sakura couldn't understand the addiction to these parties. She thought about how her father used to drink those dark amber liquor alone, the same one being passed around for shots in front of her. She thought about how instead of making him more social like her friends, he just became more dead. She looked at the Mollys, E and weed being consumed, but feeling no excitement. She took another swig of her Mike's hard and sighed. At least Mike's hard was tasty, she thought.

"Hey babe, wanna dance?" A very drunk, strangely bluish hued man with equally strange sharp teeth asked.

"No thanks." She peered at Ino on the other side of the room, taking another body shot from a bun haired girl. She wasn't wasted as much as she expected. She was here for about a good two hours and being that they were only a floor above from their dorm, she reasoned that Ino definitely wouldn't die getting back.

She set her bottle down and headed for the door when-

"Leaving already?" Sasuke asked, grabbing her arm.

"Yeah, I'm pretty partied out." She lied with a smile.

"You're a terrible liar Haruno."

Ugh, she thought. She just wanted to get back to her room.

"You really dont want to be here?"

"Never wanted to. Listen, I just wanna get back if you don't mind." She said as she headed for the door again.

"Actually I do. Let me come with you."

"Um... no it's okay. Plus, I don't want you to leave your fan girls behind." Their gaze shifted towards the corner of the room, a bundle of lionesses hungrily looking at Sasuke. He shuddered.

"Look, I wanted you to come to the party so that I can get to know you. And I havent been able to talk to you all night." He confronted.

Yes, Sakura would lie to others, particularly annoying people, but she would not lie to herself. And she could not bring her self to say that his words weren't at least a bit touching. She pursed her lips.

"Fine, but you leave at twelve."

"Perfect." He said as he followed behind.

"You know what my thoughts were, when I first saw you? Sitting on the floor with your books right there?" He asked as Sakura was setting her belongings down.

"Enlighten me."

"I gotta see her eye brows. That hair color cant be real." He said with a chuckle. She took a seat on her bed as he took her swivel chair, and swiveled in front of her.

"Well obviously, I'M au natural."

"Didn't expect your face to be so nice though. Even though you were a bit rude." She kicked him away as he glided down the room and then made his way back up.

"You've probably already heard, but you are a flirt."

"More or less."

"So why are you wasting your time with me? You're not going to get far." She said, picking at the lint on her bed sheets.

"Because you're an intellectual, Sakura. Holding on to things I want to know about." He picked up his legs and rested them on the edge of her bed, leaning back.

"You're nosey. Well, you've got the first part right, I don't know about the latter."

"What can I say, I'm curious when it comes to peculiar girls." Another smirk was growing on his face.

"Curiosity killed the cat, Sasuke dear."

"Hn." Then there was a steady silence where they just looked at each other. Nothing more, they just looked at each other in the eye, as if they were trying to puzzle out jigsaw pieces.

He leaned a little bit closer and said in a very cool rich voice

"I can bring you more than this world."

Then he heard what he believed to be the best sound of the night. Sakura let out a small laughter and said

"I already have my own."

TBC