A/N: Back with another chapter. So this one was fun to write I think, but I did want to add that the rating is now M for the minor sexual scene and brief swear words. I did not entertain the sexual part at all for this chapter it is very brief and not explicit just because I wasn't really focusing on that but y'know when you write and your mind just wanders to new ideas so. Also I never intended Sasuke's personality to match the canon I wanted to use that personality and add my own ideas to it for this story so that was in case you found him to be a little ooc for this chapter. Enjoy.
I know you said to me
"This is exactly how it should feel when its meant to be"
He is carrying her things into his apartment and sets her baggage down in his room. She follows him inside, looking drained and pale in the face with noticeable dark circles and red eyes. Her nose is pink as well as her lips and she is simply miserable. He emerges from his room and walks over to the kitchen to fix them both a glass of water because he knows that she hasn't been taking care of herself.
"Sit down on the couch."
And she does so without protest. Her body plops onto the cushion without a care and allows her head to fall back. Sasuke looks at her broken state from the kitchen and it takes him back to when he too felt like he lost it all. He did lose it all though. No one to call family anymore, no one to give him a roof over his head at the age eighteen. Absolutely no support. Of course his best friend always insisted throughout the years that they should just become roommates to ease his burden but Sasuke would never allow Naruto to help him carry his weight.
"You need to drink something."
Sasuke places the glass next to her on the stand before he goes to sit down. She doesn't bother to pick up the glass and there is silence between them. When he is about to say something about her not being hydrated, Sakura is the one break the silence first.
"Why are you doing this? You don't owe me anything."
She was right, he didn't owe her a single thing but here he was having taken her in like a stray puppy. It had nothing to do with him simply wanting to be a good person, no. It must've been because he sees so much of his former broken self in her that it made him feel something. It could be just empathy.
"Do you want to get drunk?"
He just blurts it out before taking a sip of his water. Being a young kid, Sasuke didn't have the opportunity to drown his sorrows into alcohol. Maybe being around her now was giving him crazy ideas, but he somehow didn't care.
"What?"
"I'm asking you if you want to get drunk."
He says it again like it's a perfectly normal question to ask anyone. Her head was already lifted and looking straight at him with a confused expression. Maybe this was his way of trying to help her through the emotions.
"Yeah."
"Finish that water, I'll be back."
He stands up and grabs his keys before exiting the apartment. Sakura is left in the silence of his home and isn't sure what to do. She looks over to the water beside her and chugs it all down without pause.
...
When he comes back he is holding a brown paper bag in one arm as he goes to the kitchen to set it down. Sakura, awake from her few minutes of sleep, gets up and curiously makes her way over. He pulls out two hard liquors, Tequila and whiskey and then a pack of beer.
"So we're actually getting trashed?"
Sasuke pulls out two shot glasses and some lime he already had in the fridge.
"College party style."
Some might say this was a stupid idea, that there's healthier ways to deal with grief instead of drowning one's sorrows in alcohol. That didn't matter though. Not to him and definitely not to her. He's drinking with her to get rid of the sting in his own heart and she's drinking with him to glue the pieces back even if they stayed together for a little while. They drink until they lose count of the shots they've taken and they end up once again on the couch with beers in their hands this time. The living room is dim with only the light of a standing lamp in the corner keeping the room from total darkness. It's quiet with the exception of the occasional car passing by or a siren, but that's New York. And at this point they are silently wasted, that is until Sakura lets out quiet giggles.
"Something funny?"
"You sure can drink a lot."
"So can you."
They really can. A whole bottle of tequila, maybe half the bottle of whiskey and now a beer. Sasuke never willingly partied in his college days as Naruto was the one to drag him to all the events, but when he did go he drank... a lot. Sakura by nature was more willing and went out almost every weekend in her early college days so the drinking came with the package.
"Hey what's this rack of CD's?"
She places her bottle down to examine the rack and naturally wobbles as she stands up, but is able to balance herself. When she makes it over to the stand she notices the many rock titles he has.
"Wow you really like violent music."
"It's not violent. Violent is metal and all that shit."
Sasuke was not one to curse much, but anything was possible with him in this altered state. Her finger travels down through all the bands until she finds something she doesn't expect.
"The hell is this..."
And she also wasn't a swearer.
"Alicia Keys?"
Sasuke raises an eyebrow and leans forward as if he thinks he could see the CD from where he sat.
"Oh that's probably- that bastard man."
"Whose?"
"It's not mine. My b-best friend uh...fuck what's his name."
He pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes. Sakura looks at him amused.
"Listen it's okay I mean I like Alicia Keys too! Ah I but don't loooove her as much as I think you might."
"Naruto!"
He blurts it out just in time and Sakura giggles. There's a stereo next to the rack and she gets the idea to place the disk inside to play some music. As soon as she does though, the first track plays and it is "Un-thinkable."
"I did a dance to t-this one awhile ago."
"Really?"
"Want me to do it?"
Sasuke nods and she goes to push the coffee table out of the way for space. She doesn't think to play the song from the beginning and instead begins from wherever the song is at.
If you have something to say
You should say it right now
Her speed isn't rushed and her movements are fluid, each piece connecting to the next. It was amazing and honestly a talent to be able to dance in such a way as if sober. And then she got this same look in her eyes when she danced, the one Sasuke now recognizes as her when she dances. It was beautiful, even with her hair tied up messily and that hoodie and those sweatpants, she was beautiful. He watched the way she gracefully dropped to the ground, toes pointed and fingers graceful at all times. The way she lifted her legs and demonstrated great flexibility. This was her passion and not even a drunken state could change the way she danced. He finds himself standing up right before the second chorus to join her and he doesn't know why he does it. He just knows he wants to.
I was wondering maybe
Could I make you my baby
If we do the unthinkable would it make us look crazy
His hand rests on her lower back as his other hand takes hers and they dance as one. What a magnificent dancer that she doesn't even flinch at the change of choreography and improvises with him now as her partner. Sasuke isn't a dancer, but his new found courage allowed him to fake it. He moves in connection with her, twirling her and allowing her to do her own movements around his. By this point her hoodie is discarded and she is wearing a tank top underneath, allowing her to move more freely. His hands don't leave her body as he takes her for a dip and as soon as he brings her back up their faces are dangerously close. Her arm is wrapped around his neck as her other hand is clutching his. There was nothing to be said, he kisses her and she doesn't reject it. The kiss is sloppy just as drunk kisses are, but they are passionate in it. His hand slips under her shirt and travels up to her chest where he finds the softest mounds. Now it is a full make-out and she is undoing his uniform while he gets her out of her own clothes in a rush.
Sasuke hoists her up by the thighs and allows her to wrap herself around his waist as he clumsily makes his way to the bedroom. Love is made or rather sex has happened and they sleep off the alcohol that has caused them to be so careless.
...
She's the one to wake up first and with a nasty hang over. Thank goodness that he keeps his curtains closed or else the light might make her head pound even more. She doesn't want to get out of bed and she's afraid that if she does then the migraine will trigger. When she flips herself to the opposite side she notices Sasuke in his sleeping form and realizes what had happened. Got trashed and had sex. His eyes open half way, blurry visioned until it finally becomes clear and she is looking straight at him. Her bare shoulders immediately reminded him of it all and he groans, rolling onto his back with his arm slapped over his eyes.
"I- I'm sorry."
She sits up, pulling the sheets over her chest. She isn't sure on what else to say and the awkwardness of the situation sets in on her.
"It was my fault."
He moves his arm over his head as he looks up to the ceiling. If he never offered to get drunk then this wouldn't have happened. He isn't sure either on what to say next but move on and not discuss it again.
"Maybe I should just...go back to the hotel."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because we aren't going to make this awkward just-"
He sighs and pauses for a moment trying to clear his thoughts and if this morning could not get any worse, Sakura feels the urge to release the contents of her stomach. She grabs a towel lying on the floor to wrap it around herself before she rushes to the nearest bathroom and shuts the door behind her. He could hear the whole thing go down and thinks that he may have given her way more to drink than he did himself. He uses this time to put on some pants and a shirt before he grabs one of her bags and walks to the bathroom door.
"Open up I have one of your bags."
He hears the faucet running and then it stops before the door is opened a little and her sickly pale hand is reaching for the bag. He hands it to her and she closes the door. What a messhe thought. Sasuke busies himself in the kitchen while she freshens up and gets dressed. He takes down an aspirin to reduce his hangover symptoms and makes sure to leave her a tablet to take as well. When she emerges from the bathroom, she makes her way to the kitchen and notices that he is putting bread in the toaster.
"Take that aspirin."
Sakura looks at him then at the tablet as she picks it up to down it with some water. Having freshened up made her feel a lot better, but she still feels as if she could sleep the day away. The silence between them again is making her feel just as awkward as before and she needed to say something.
"Sasuke I just wanted to say I-"
The knock on the door causes her to freeze.
"Sasuke open up!"
Sakura looks at Sasuke in horror while he looks at the door surprised. There is company and for a young woman to be in a man's apartment in this situation was not ideal. This is definitely a not what it looks like scene and yet it was.
"I-Is that...?"
"Naruto."
There was nothing else to be said and Sakura runs to the bathroom where she shuts the door and leaves the light off. Sasuke sighs and goes to answer the door where his best blonde headed friend barges right through and Hinata is there standing by the door.
"Wow you're awake before noon for once!"
Sasuke scratches the back of his head as she smiles at him when he beckons her to enter. She slowly makes her way through and the couple sits down on the couch. He's getting more nervous by the second and tells himself that he needs to find a way to make this quick.
"So anyways I had Hinata call a friend and we're doing a double date!"
"What?"
"It's time for you to have a girlfriend I'm so tired of this whole lone guy act you got going on."
"Since when did you think you could act as my-"
"Get dressed! Man I gotta use the bathroom."
And then Sasuke's eyes widen and he's already rushing to the door where Naruto quickly stands up and jogs over to the hallway.
"Uh toilet isn't working right now."
"Then I'll piss in the tub but I gotta go I'm about to burst!"
The blonde shoves the Uchiha out of the way and when he opens the door there is no one. Sasuke manages to release a quiet sigh of relief but then he wonders just where the pinkette is. He takes the time while his friend is occupied to walk over to his room where he carefully opens the door and closes it behind, locking it.
"Sakura..."
He whispers so the blonde and his wife doesn't hear and he sees the woman slowly emerge from his closet.
"What's going on? Is he dragging you out?"
"He's trying to but it's not going to work."
And then they hear the bathroom door open and Naruto is there banging on the door. Sasuke sighs in frustration while Sakura internally panics.
"I wanna see what you're wearing you can't embarrass me on this! And your toilet works fine!"
She looks at him for guidance, what to do next and he points to his bed. His closet was no longer and option so the next best thing was to hide her under the thick covers. She was so small and petite that he's sure that her figure wouldn't show through. So she gets into his bed and he throws the sheets over her as well as some clothes he had on the floor to make sure she was disguised well. When he opens the door, Naruto walks through without a word as he opens the closet to find an impressive outfit for his best friend.
"Listen I'm busy today I can't be doing-"
"The hell you aren't! you always do this."
"And so what if I don't want to go on a date? What if I'm fine?"
"Like that can fool me now here put this on."
Naruto hands him a nice navy blue shirt and jeans. Sasuke wants to protest, but he knows his best friend all too well and that meant that no matter how hard he tries to leave a situation, Naruto just wouldn't have it. So then he changes the plan.
"An hour, that's all I'm giving this."
"Two hours."
"One. Hour."
The blonde sighs, plopping onto the edge of the bed before Sasuke can react and he's already raising an eyebrow. He can tell there is something under the sheets from where he sits and when he moves his hand over to the center-
"Don't touch that!"
Sasuke grabs his hand, standing his friend up by the armpits where Naruto grows even more confused as well as curious.
"Whatdya got hiding under there huh? A girl?"
It's a tease and he knows that from the way the man giggles and speaks sarcastically, but that's literally what he's hiding and it's all becoming too much. Naruto brushes him away to lift the sheets and he's swatted away from the bed.
"Ow! What's you're deal?"
"Quit touching stuff that isn't yours!"
"Tell me what you got under there!"
"It's just porn stuff now get out!"
Sasuke shoves him out the door and locks it once again before Sakura slowly pushes the sheets to reveal her eyes. There's a brief silence between them before she asks,
"Do you really have a porn stash?"
He shoots her a glare for making such a joke before he thinks she might be serious and is disgusted to think she thinks he's that type of guy. Then she rolls her eyes with a giggle and gestures him to get dressed quickly while she hid under the sheets once more. He wants to throw a dirty shirt at her for that but instead dresses.
"I'll be back as soon as I can."
He tells her that before she hears the door is opened and shut then everything else is just muffled chatter for a few minutes. Before she knows it she's alone in his apartment and the sheets are thrown off. She's climbing out of his bed with a groan from all that's happened. She knows now that she has to find something to occupy herself and thinks that a morning spent watching television and eating the burnt toast Sasuke made might be a start.
...
It's 6:00 PM and the door finally opens. Sakura is still on laying down on the couch cuddling a pillow while watching a marathon of Harry Potter movies. Sasuke looks over with a guilty expression as he carefully shuts the door behind him and thinks of something to say.
"Have you eaten anything?"
"Not really."
Just as he suspected, but he's grateful because he knows that he can somewhat make this right by giving her the leftover lunch he made sure to save.
"I have leftovers if you want."
Sakura finally peels herself from the couch to walk over to the kitchen counter where she finds her seat on one of the bar stools and he is standing on the opposite side of her, pushing a box towards her. She knows it's pizza but when she actually opens the box it was as if she was experiencing it for the first time.
"I haven't had pizza since I was a little girl."
"Really?"
Sasuke was able to take pleasures like this for granted. He forgets that as a dancer comes with a strict diet. A figure must be maintained at all costs, comes with the profession. She grabs a slice of the cheese and it's still room temperature. She savors every bite she takes despite her desire to swallow everything out of hunger.
"Sorry I took so long."
"He just wouldn't let you leave huh."
He grins at the fact that she hardly knew his blonde friend and yet she was already able to pick up just the type of person he is. When she catches that grin she is staring because such a face wasn't like the Uchiha. He never cracked a smile let alone make a small grin and she had to admit it made him look even more attractive than he already was. Sasuke notices her stare and simply turns away to get a glass of water.
"You got sauce on the side of your mouth."
He points it out just before he turns and she quickly brushes the back of her hand over her mouth in embarrassment that he could be so rude as to say it so blunt like that. He gulps down the half glass he poured and provides her with water as well while she continues to eat.
"So who did he set you up with?"
Sakura asks that question so casually that it almost catches him off guard. It was a woman named Karin. She was beautiful and anyone could admit that. Smart and talented too. She had a whole career ahead of her and was doing everything right by the book. Yes she certainly was dating material but-
"Some girl."
"Some girl? What did she look like?"
"Red hair with glasses, pale I guess. She wasn't my type anyway and what do you care?"
"I don't! I was just curious!"
She didn't. It was just a question and a way to make conversation so as to not make the atmosphere awkward. There was a silence between them before Sakura quietly asks,
"...Was she pretty?"
And then there was a knock at the door.
"Sasuke?"
He freezes from where he stands and it's almost like the day couldn't get any more stressful. She was here at his apartment. Karin. How did she even know his address anyway?
And so here's to round two of the let's-not-get-caught game.