AN: I'm so happy that you guys seem to really like my story and I love reading your reviews! When I started this I thought it was going to be another one-shot but it (obviously) got way out of hand. Hope you enjoy chapter four!
"I swear I'll be back in a hour to help clean up," she assured Itachi. She felt bad, really bad. It had been a long while since the last time she had drank so much that she couldn't remember the whole evening. And to top it all off she had been such a mess that the person who the party was for had to give up their bed. Kisame probably had to sleep on the pullout couch, of all things. She doubted it was made for someone of his size.
"That's not necessary, Sakura," Itachi pleaded quietly, still barely keeping it together. It make her feel better that she was not alone in making bad choices the night before. Both of the Uchiha brothers turned out to be total lightweights. Sasuke had retreated back into Itachi's dark room to sleep off his hangover in silence after forcing down some coffee and eggs, looking even paler than usual. She wondered how Deidara was doing this morning; she doubted he would be surfacing until the evening.
"See you in an hour." She wasn't going to give him an option. She was going to shower, take some pills for her headache, hopefully eat something, and then she would be back with a vengeance. It was the least she could do. The small apartment was a mess.
Had her apartment always been so far away? And what about those lights, since when were they so bright?
It was a struggle, but she made it back to her place. She pealed last nights clothes off in the bathroom, eager to jump in the shower. She didn't even want to look at herself in the mirror. She probably had raccoon eyes after sleeping with her makeup on. She showered, taking her time, and emerged a new woman.
She ran her tongue across her teeth. 'Disgusting.' So many sweet drinks had given her teeth sweaters. She scrubbed them until they were glossy and smooth.
Next on her list was food. She didn't want to but she knew she must. Sakura settled for a plain piece of toast, nibbling on the corner. It felt like sawdust in her mouth, but she powered through it. She paired it with a hefty glass of water, taking the opportunity to swallow a few pills.
She let herself back into Itachi's apartment without knocking this time. Knocking would only cause pain and suffering.
"Feeling any better?" Kisame asked, keeping his voice down this time. He was stretched out on the couch with Kuro watching a movie with the volume turned almost all the way down. That was surprisingly considerate. "Itachi had to go lie down. Looks like cleaning is up to you." She should have guessed he wouldn't help, but that was okay, she assured herself. He shouldn't have to clean up his own birthday party.
"I'm still walking, so there's that," Sakura grumbled in response, grabbing a few red cups off a bookcase on her way to find a garbage bag. For only eight people, they had sure used a lot of cups. Once she had rounded up all of the plates and other disposables she set to work on locating all of the empty beer bottles which were scattered all around the living room and returned them to their box to be taken back to the liquor store. She even found a few in the bathtub,. 'That was probably Deidara,' she guessed, thinking back to the bathroom selfies. 'I wonder when I'll see them again.' Disregarding the fact that she lost a few hours, she had had a blast, and she would jump at the opportunity to join them again. If she was invited back, that was.
She slumped into the armchair with a glass of water to take a break after tackling a good half of her job. Kisame was watching another bad action movie, centering around another white male in his early thirties with a five o'clock shadow and a pension for causing everything to explode. "Having fun?" Kisame asked with a grin, apparently finding it very amusing that she had to clean all by herself.
"I'm having a blast," Sakura deadpanned. She finished off her water. At least her headache was gone. "So, did you have a good birthday?"
"Well, no one threw up this year, which is a first, so I'd say: yeah, it was pretty good." He glanced at her, and mumbled: "I had a rough night's sleep though." She knew he was teasing, but she still felt the need to apologize again.
"I'm really sorry about that." Sakura rubbed the back of her neck. Did he think that was a normal thing for her? "I swear I don't drink like that all the time..."
"Compared to Deidara you did just fine," he snickered. "If anyone was going to win the award for sloppiest drunk it'd be him. You might be runner up though." He winked at her and she stuck out her tongue.
"I don't know about that; Itachi and Sasuke seem to be worse off than me right now."
"Fine, fine," Kisame conceded, "Deidara, Sasuke and then Itachi and you tie for third." They both laughed.
"I'll take third place, that's not too bad," she agreed, decided her break was over and stood up. It was time to attempt to clean the kitchen.
It took 35 minutes of hard labor to make the small kitchen spotless. At one point she saw Itachi emerge from his bedroom and head for the bathroom. Soon after the door shut, she could hear the roar of the shower turning on. She still hadn't seen Sasuke since that morning and she guessed he was still sleeping it off. Fifteen minutes later Itachi made his way back to his room silently and fully dressed, glasses still foggy from the heat of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his head.
Kisame shut off the tv and stretched. He placed the cat on the ground, it meowed in protest but he ignored it. "I've gotta go to work. You can stay as long as you like, but I'd appreciate it if I could have my bed tonight." He stripped off his tee shirt as he walked to his room and Sakura couldn't help but stare after him. If she ever got the chance, she was going to ask him about his tattoos. He returned wearing work pants and a tee that read 'Ichiraku's' across the front. He grabbed his coat, pulled on a toque and wrapped a thick scarf around his neck. He waved goodbye as he walked out the door.
"See you later," she called. She decided to call it quits after another ten minutes, she had done everything she could, and fed the cat when she noticed it was sitting expectantly at it's food bowl. Sakura realized it was already the late afternoon and she had only eaten a piece of toast. Her stomach rumbled, hungry for the first time that day. She wondered if she had anything in her fridge.
There was a knock at the door, and before she could decide if she was going to answer it, it swung open. Deidara stumbled in, looking as bad as she imagined he would. He had large framed sunglasses covering his eyes and his hair was not as quaffed as it had been for the party. "You're still here, yeah?" he asked as he headed toward the box of empty bottles, heaving one up.
"Just finished cleaning." He nodded in understanding and headed back toward the door. "Do you want me to carry the other one down?"
"Really? You'd do that?"
"I may as well," Sakura shrugged, taking pity on the haggard blond and picked up the other box.
"You're a life saver, Sakura," he cheered, but kept his voice at a low level. They both struggled down the stairs, the heavy boxes rattled with each step.
"How were you this morning?" Sakura asked, concentrating on not falling.
"Like death. I still feel like I'll drop any second but Kakuzu demanded we get the return on these empties today," Deidara grumbled. She could practically feel his eyes rolling behind the dark shades. "It's better than last year though, yeah."
"What happened last year?" Kisame had mentioned something about that last night too. Something about jager bombs?
"I have no idea!" He laughed gleefully. "I woke up the next day with a street sign in my bed." They both laughed precariously down the next flight to stairs.
Finally, they reached the bottom and Deidara opened the door to outside, letting Sakura out first. She spotted Sasori sitting in a rusty old car parked a few spaces from the entrance. She hurried to the trunk, not wanting to stay in the cold any longer than she needed. She heard the trunk latch release and she stowed the empties and waited for Deidara to catch up. He slammed the trunk closed once both boxes were secure.
"Thanks for the help, yeah," Deidara said, giving her a surprise hug and a quick pat on the back, she mirrored his actions. Who knew; he was a hugger. She waved goodbye and rushed back into the warmth of the lobby as they drove away.
She trudged slowly back up the stairs, checking her phone as she ascended the steps. There were at least three texts from Ino, all demanding that she call her immediately. She dialed her number as soon as she was inside her apartment again, and flopped down on her bed, making herself comfortable.
"Hey," she muttered when Ino picked up.
"Geez, Sakura, you waited long enough," Ino scolded, but got straight to the point, "Tell me everything, spare no detail. Were they hot? Were they single?"
"I don't know for sure if any of them are single."
"But they're hot though?" Ino asked, "It's important I know these things."
"All of them are solidly attractive," Sakura decided, recalling all of their faces. They were, and she wasn't complaining. Even Kakuzu, as long as he wasn't looking directly at her. "You might be interested to know that Sasuke and Itachi are both lightweights."
"Really?" Ino absorbed the new facts like a sponge.
"Yeah. They're completely out of it today." She was just going to leave out the fact that she had also had some trouble.
"You sounded pretty out of it last night, judging from your texts," Ino teased, "Did you make it home alright?"
"Well..."
"No!" Sakura held the receiver away from her ear. "Don't tell me you spent the night! Oh, Sakura, you really are getting friendly with Sasuke's brother." She sounded way too pleased.
"Actually, I slept in his roommate's bed," Sakura stated offhandedly, and before her friend started shrieking, she quickly added: "By myself. He slept on the couch."
"Hmm, that's the one with all the tattoo's right? What do you think?"
"What do I think of what?"
"Of the roommate! What do you think of him?" Ino implored, apparently dieing to hear her sing the praises of at least one boy. Sakura hadn't really had her eyes on anyone after she got over her long standing crush on Sasuke, of all people. She considered Kisame for a while; the thought hadn't crossed her mind before.
"I don't know. He's funny and a really good bartender, apparently." She pondered some more. Those tattoos... "I guess he's also pretty attractive."
"That's the spirit!" Ino cheered.