Disclaimer : I still don't own Naruto (seeing that I'm anxiously awaiting the next manga chapter) because if I did, Sai would stop with his fricken penis jokes. Also, the song "Collide" is by Howie Day.

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The dawn is breaking
A light shining through
You're barely waking
And I'm tangled up in you.
-"Collide," Howie Day

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"Mmm...ugh...,"

The lone kunoichi shuffled and moaned. A mind numbing pain rocked her head as Sakura slowly came to consciousness. The medic's legs felt oddly cramped and no position could satisfy the feeling. Shifting around some more, Sakura inched toward the side of the mattress.

In one swift yet not so graceful moment, the girl performed a 180 degree flip off the bed.

"Oof!"

She suddenly felt like the brain cells inside her head were waging a civil war against each other.

"Aa...!" Sakura whimpered out loud, holding her belligerent head between her palms.

She issued a quick peak beyond her closed lids. To her surprise and horror, she found a pair of livid, coal-black eyes staring directly down at her tangled form on the floor.

Sakura's hands abandoned her head and unconsciously ran through her hair.

She was now officially distressed for two reasons. One, she looked like shit, and two, she actually cared that she looked like shit - or even worse, Sasuke was there to witness her shittiness.

'What ever happened to giving up on him?'

Holding her breath and breaking the awkward staring connection, Sakura peered left and right to observe her surroundings. Recognizing this was not her comforter, not her floor, and - she looked down - not her T-shirt, realization finally dawned upon her.

As did memories.

---

Although looking like he was suffering from mild retardation, Shikamaru is OK!

It all started when Ino and Temari had launched a vicious cat fight consisted solely of taijutsu (thank Kage Temari had left her deadly fan back in her hotel room). With all the violent and jerky lights that blinked at random angles, it was hard to infiltrate both femme fatales's body with his Kagemane no Jutsu. It didn't help any that they were rolling amongst the crowd, throwing punches and kicks everywhere.

Shikamaru had resulted to his least favorite activity - actually getting up off his ass and doing something.

This was indeed the most troublesome night, he decided.

The lad foolishly jumped between the clashing opponents and right away figured he should have done more planning. It was as if the two had signed an imaginary Non-Aggression Pact to unleash high hell upon the strategist.

And thus, it lead to his suffering state.

The drunk and the drunker started making a path of destruction to the bar stands.

Kiba, who was flirting it up with another girl, was leaning on the edge of the bar when the two rolled near him. With a well placed kick from Ino, Kiba was sent colliding against the timid stranger. His instinctive hands caught hold on the curve of the female's waist but his head was sent flying into her chest.

After lifting his head and initiating a full fifteen second stare-fest, Kiba managed to rip his attention away from the protruding body part and look up. A pair of menacing eyes glared down at him and slapped him with a charged and chakra-ized hand. The lass muttered a few curt phrases and turned away, causing Kiba to tip over and fall face first onto the ground.

The cat fight still didn't cease. Meandering right back to Kiba again, Temari and Ino painfully rolled over him in a vain attempt to get the upper hand. The poor dog trainer suffered another injury when Temari's heels collided with the back of his head. Ino managed to land a second blow on his back with her sharp elbows.

Thankfully, Hurricane TemIno decided to terrorize another part of the club before Kiba had dealt with any more attacks. Now partnerless and hurt, Kiba laid on the floor with his chin propped up by his palm. He threw the girls a very pissed off look and imitated them in a high voice,

"Oh my! How we suck at moving! Let's be dipshits and PLOW RIGHT THROUGH!"

He finished his imitation with a well saluted middle finger.

Meanwhile...

Sasuke and Sakura were still taking their sweet time in their situation. Through his blurred vision, Sasuke could see the mint green eye shadow that dashed above Sakura's eyes. Her black lashes curved at a slow but attractive slope. The girl had matured features which meant growing into the 'large forehead' she once loathed as a child. A shy coral blush touched her cheeks. She was, in a word, beautiful.

Before their lips met, Sakura lazily peered at the guy beneath her. For a moment, she seemed sincere to her words and all alcohol influence was lost.

"I love you."

The three whispered words sent a jolt through Sasuke and he jerked back. It took only a second for his dulled eyes to regain their punctilious effect. He looked at her critically.

"You're drunk."

Sakura withdrew a little herself, letting his reaction sink in. Her eyes dimmed to the callous fog and giggled. "And you're silly."

"Stop. This is no way to serve as an Anbu." Sasuke glared at her through jagged bangs, a frown marring his features.

The petal haired kunoichi brushed off the remark. "Why don't you stop and live a little - oh!"

Before Sakura could finish her sentence, a hand reached out from the crowd and captured her wrist. With a forceful tug, the medic was pulled off Sasuke's lap and into the masses.

Sasuke shook his head to rid the alcoholic effect and tackled through the people. Following the relative direction Sakura disappeared from, he quickly targeted her captor.

His partner was forced up against a man in his mid twenties. His hand pushed the curve of her back towards him while Sakura put her hands up in defense on his chest. Two delicate brows furrowed to give off a "I'm-not-interested-in-this-bullshit" look while her lips formed a sharp line.

"Look, buddy." She spat, "If. You don't. Remove. Your hands. From. My body... I think I'll have to remove it from yours."

A cocky grin slapped across the man's face. "Feisty."

Sasuke noticed a curled fist wheeling back to gain momentum. The kunoichi's ridiculous ability to control her chakra was put into use as the yielding of her power was barely noticed. However, the blue haired male knew that a significant amount of energy was being drawn up that moment.

Crap... I'm seeing triples...,' Sakura thought, squinting her eyes. In front of her were three shaking copies of the stranger, each grinning hungrily at her. The lucky bastard didn't even have to perform any Bunshin no Jutsu to create clones.

Tsunade's apprentice was about to swing forth her mighty fist when a hand seized her wrist. Sakura angrily turned around to see who it was.

She frowned.

Sasuke.

"Did you not hear her? Go away."

With a graceful spin, Sasuke rescued Sakura from the stranger and pushed her behind him. The Sharingan user glared at the offender.

"Now."

The now partnerless, and frankly pissed, other stepped forward challengingly.

"And if I don't?"

"Then I'll kill you."

The assertive threat was taken seriously. By the business-like tone Sasuke had used to the stranger, the man knew he wasn't joking. He threw a dirty look at Sakura and glared at Sasuke, scoffing. With that, he turned around and merged into the sea of people.

Sasuke made sure to watch the man's back until he was a full fifteen feet away from them. Turning back to reprimand Sakura, he was met by empty space.

Grunting, he wished that he had obtained Neji or Hinata's Kekkai Genkai for a task like this. A simple mission to get Sakura out of the club without conducting a full-out manhunt was becoming increasingly difficult.

Sasuke trekked about some more, tapping into his ninja-enhanced senses. Approximately five minutes later, he caught a trace of her grinding with a man from the Hidden Grass Village, a bottle of whiskey in hand.

Her tracker shook his head, knowing perfectly well she wasn't called a light-weight for nothing. With one pernicious look at her new partner, he was ridded from one of the many problems that night had to offer him.

Sakura seemed unperturbed by the disappearance of her partner and continued dancing. She cradled her hips while sticking back her bottom asset, stepping in place. The medic closed her eyes as if trying to shut out the image of Sasuke.

When two hands were placed firmly on her shoulder, she wasn't surprised. Sasuke shook her roughly, sending flashes of pain through her head. Sakura burst forward, away from his grasp. She wondered if it was because of the pain or his touch. Whipping around, she stared him straight in the eye.

"Uchiha Sasuke. All I wanted from tonight was to get away from my stupid feelings for you. But now you're prancing around in your sex-God glory, TEARING me away from every guy I meet! What is WRONG with you? If you won't let me have you, why won't you let me have ANYONE ELSE?" Her voice, already shrill from trying to be heard above the music, ascended a considerable amount as she yelled at Sasuke.

The person she tongue-lashed scowled. "Sakura, you're drunk. You're not making any sense."

"Not making any sense? Not making any sense! I'll show you not making any-"

"Quiet. Stop making a scene and let's get out of here before I have to do something I'll regret."

Wild with fury, Sakura let out a maniacal laugh. "Are you threatening me?"

"No, I'm persuading you."

"Yeah? Well you suck at it!"

With one last comment, Sakura spun around sharply. Almost immediately, the second generation female Sannin blacked out, collapsing on the floor.

---

"Oh no...," Sakura choked out, more to herself than to Sasuke.

"Are you done?"

The girl on the floor closed her eyes to try and reclaim her dignity.

'Blame it on the alcohol...Just blame it on the alcohol...,'

"Yes."

When she opened her eyes again, Sakura fixed her sights on the bedside table.

"Aa... I think I should go home now." she suggested, leaning forward to pull herself up.

As soon as she did so, Sakura felt a two pints of blood rush up to her head and fell back down.

"...Just kidding."

Sasuke continued looking down on her, arms crossed and all.

Without betraying any expressions, he offered a hand out. Sakura took a minute to register the fact that Uchiha Sasuke showed her a friendly gesture before grabbing it. Gradually, she rose to her feet despite the still evident dizzying sensation.

"You need to get home. Let's go."

Sasuke turned to leave the bedroom, leaving Sakura speechless in her wake.

- - - - -

Tenten, for one, felt really good.

Really, really good.

Sure, her limbs felt a bit on the heavy side, but it was nothing compared to the other days after intense sparring sessions. The kunoichi wasn't even aware what was making her feel so giddy and comfortable, but she knew she wanted to sleep in.

It was very rare for her to stay in bed. Given, she was a busybody, but the crisp sheets that kept her body warm were too alluring.

Tenten smiled brightly despite having her eyes closed and increased her grasp on the warm object beside her. Liking the feel of her 'teddy bear', she hooked her legs around it.

Inhaling a deep breath of air, she-

"NEJI! Where was your kindle of fire this afternoon? Has some unfortunate blockade cease your plethora of youuuuuuth-"

BAMTHUDCRASH!

"-Oh my God, is that Tenten I see?"

The drowsy weapon mistress frowned and almost forgot to exhale. Knitting her eyebrows, she decided to ask:

"Is that Lee I hear?"

The girl jerked up from bed but regretted the sudden action quickly. Tenten suddenly gasped at the pain that punctured her head.

Said girl hissed and fell back. However, unlike when she just woke up, Tenten was finally aware of the foreign texture that wasn't normally one of a teddy bear's. Instead of the prickly soft hairs that covered the regular toy, the unknown object felt much smoother and...human?

Tenten slowly opened her eyes.

Even before the sight of blank and pupil-less eyes dawned before her, the girl already had a hunch what, or better yet who, she was going to see.

And lo and behold, the expected blank and pupil-less eyes were staring right back at her.

The two occupants of the bed exchanged speechless looks before craning their heads mechanically to see the third member in the room.

Neji and Tenten looked at Lee.

Lee looked at Neji and Tenten.

Tenten looked at Neji

Neji looked at Tenten.

Tenten looked at the bed sheets.

Neji looked at Lee.

Lee looked like he'd been brutally mauled.

Without any more looks, an abrupt CRASH! was heard again and the ancient-styled screen doors of Neji's room were shut. The shadow of Lee's retreating and disturbed form could be seen against the parchment covering the doors.

Long after the silhouette had disappeared and the couple was still shocked and dumbfounded, a high and panicked cry could be heard through out the Hyuuga compound.

"WHY?"

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So for next time!

What will happen during Sasuke and Sakura's walk back to her apartment? Will something romantic or dangerous happen? And what happened to Neji and Tenten? How did they end up in the same bed without any clothing on them what-so-ever? And Naruto and Hinata? And the rest of Konoha's beloved bachelors? Find out next time in...

Chapter Four: Surprises

Review, por favor!

-stardust-chan