October 7th
She'd stayed up well past twelve in the morning slaving over her textbooks almost daily, but falling asleep in PS-01 was out of the question. Sakura's eyes sagged, burning with fatigue, but there was no window of opportunity to allow them even five minutes of rest in this man's class.
"However, if your patient lacks the essence of youth, their heart rate will be around sixty, to eighty beats per sixty thousand milliseconds!" Maito Gai's discoid eyes gleamed with an intensity, which in Sakura's opinion, was sorely unwarranted.
Sixty thousand milliseconds? She rolled her eyes and they burned against the warmth of her lids. Would it have killed the man to say one minute? At least, she thought it was one minute… yes, that was what she had read in her BSL textbook six weeks prior, during the glorious hours before she'd attended her first Paramedic Science class. Before she had to hear every Monday, Tuesday and Friday about how much her rosy tresses radiated youth, burning passion, and a host of other wildly exaggerated praises.
What was worse, Kankuro had begun to make a sport of spewing snide, but playful remarks concerning her locks at least once every class period. Sakura wasn't so sure if she preferred this side of him to his standoffish, silent mode.
It seemed that since Gaara liked her well enough, the other two Sabaku siblings had more or less accepted Sakura subsequent to their horribly awkward first encounter. Temari was still the acidic, quick-tongued person she'd met three weeks ago, but the girl was also amusingly clever, and probably didn't mean to come off as haughtily as she did.
It had been one afternoon two weeks ago, when Sakura had been so disgusted by Temari's patronising attitude towards Naruto that she'd vented to Hinata who told her quite a bit about the blonde vixen. Apparently the Sabakus were an affluent Japanese family; their father was even affiliated with the school's administration. Sakura hadn't been informed of the position he held, but Hinata told her he was definitely on the NIU school board.
The gist of the story was that Temari had grown up ingrained with an attitude of condescension from a young age, something the Hyuuga knew because their parents were all friends.
Hinata had divulged to Sakura that Gaara's father was extremely hard on his three children, relentlessly pushing for them to be perfect and more often than not offering words of opprobrium. It was their mother who provided love and care to the family… at least, that had been Hinata's point of view, and Sakura trusted that the girl would not lie.
Though she didn't think it was a sufficient excuse for Temari's behaviour, she could acknowledge that her family environment must have contributed to it. Kankuro on the other hand… he remained a mystery, for the most part. Hinata hadn't known much about Gaara's brother. One thing was for certain; both Gaara's siblings loved the redhead fiercely, and put him before themselves and anyone else. They seemed ready to pounce on those who gave any inkling of ill will towards their brother, and sometimes Sakura wondered if she'd imagined the brief, annoyed expressions that crossed Gaara's face particularly during moments of his siblings' over-protectiveness.
The Sabakus hadn't been the only family she'd learned about. Apparently many NIU students hailed from traditional Japanese families, and were more or less acquainted with each other. The Sabakus knew the Hyuugas and Uchihas, and all three families were financially very well off, the Uchihas in particular- Hinata had also disclosed that Naruto lived with Sasuke was because the blonde's own parents had perished in a car crash.
That tragic bit of information shocked her, to say the least. Naruto was easily the most cheerful of everyone she'd met, never failing to make her smile and even if he did irritate her sometimes with his loud, brash behaviour, she had no doubts that he was a genuinely good person with a big heart.
According to Hinata, Sasuke wasn't such a horrible guy either, if he could have someone like Naruto as a friend (Though Sakura didn't think anyone could reject Naruto's friendship, really). Hinata chose to describe the younger Uchiha as "enigmatic", and Sakura didn't voice the few choice adjectives she'd come up with herself, lest she horrify the shy girl with her language.
Sasuke wasn't enigmatic at all, in her opinion. He was quite obviously an asshole. That characteristic was plainly displayed for anyone to see. Yes, she'd grudgingly admitted that he was graceful and unforgivably attractive, not to mention he didn't strike her as the unintelligent type. But enigmatic? That word was a more suitable description for Gaara- he could be amiably argumentative and engaging one minute, then silent and closed off the next. But he never displayed characteristics of a jerk.
Sakura looked sideways at the redhead. His eyes were were fixed upon Gai, who had chosen to don yet another hideous green suit. Sakura had long given up hope that the man would try wearing a different colour. Perhaps she would suggest it?
Her eyes slid out of focus and she found her vision blurring, barely making out Gai's form as he bounced energetically over to the wooden supply cupboards in the corner of the room.
Her lips parted slightly as her eyes slid closed, and her head began tipping forward-
"My lovely cherry-blossom student!" Gai boomed across the room, causing Sakura's eyes to shoot open again with a jolt.
Gaara smirked beside her.
"Please, kindly distribute these equipment for today's class!" the man instructed, a box of stethoscopes in his arms.
Sakura wildly wished for the ground to swallow her up. She should have just listened to herself last night and gone to bed at twelve, damnit!
Standing quickly, she rubbed her eyes and began making her way to collect the devices, when Gaara stood up.
"I'll do it." He stated in his low smooth voice, much to the shock of the first-year Paramedic Science class. There was a pause as they turned to look at him. No one opposed however; they could see clearly that Sakura was half asleep, and certainly, none of the students felt it would be prudent to oppose Gaara Sabaku. He might not have actually been a member of PS-01, but his authoritative threatening demeanour was easy enough to recognise, and he was certainly present on enough occasions. The school, Sakura had discovered, was quite relaxed with such matters.
Gai seemed to be seconds away from sobbing with joy, as though the sign of gallantry was entirely too much for a Friday morning.
Sakura meanwhile, sank back into her seat and smiled gratefully at Gaara as he relieved her of Gai's appointed chore. Thirty minutes later, after learning how to check blood pressure the traditional way and practicing on her group members, she was fast asleep on the hard surface of her BLS textbook.
It was the seventh of October.
Leaning against the wooden pillar of the gazebo, Sasuke scowled at the vivid sea of grass stretched out before him. Not that the plants had, in any way, wronged him.
It was some time after lunch, and he'd long since finished his double tomato bruschetta and home-made rice balls. Finally, he'd been blessed with a home cooked meal… not that the he couldn't cook, but his mother had graciously decided to send some lunch for him, and for that he was grateful. Especially with the rubbish Naruto had taken to hoarding in their cupboards. Mikoto's cooking had briefly lifted his mood, but it was long forgotten in light of the Hokage's assignment.
How in all hell was he supposed to find time for this task? Training an inexperienced ninja was doable enough, though it might test his patience, but he would need to wholly introduce them to a completely new way of living, a whole new world.
Hours of physical activity he could handle, and he had an extraordinary grasp of various jutsu for his age, but it was the first step that unnerved him- telling his assigned student about the world hidden beneath their nose. Getting them to them accept and adjust.
The arrogant part of him knew he could do it. He was intelligent, he was highly skilled, and he had begun training since he could walk, sparring with his older brother and even observing his parents' more vintage techniques. His great goddamn grandfather had helped found NIU.
Yes, there were adults who scoffed at his age, but those same adults were forced to acknowledge his exceptional skill.
He snorted quietly.
Though, they didn't hold him on as high a pedestal as they did his brother…
He knew that this was supposed to have been Itachi's job and not his, but of late the older Uchiha had become extremely busy managing Anbu duties and family business. If only his boastful father had not insisted that an Uchiha take the job, Sasuke wouldn't be saddled with this duty.
Fugaku wanted to exploit the family name so much, why didn't he do it?
"Ah. Uchiha Sasuke."
Thoughts interrupted, Sasuke looked up at the sound of mellow tones to find the silver-haired copy ninja, Hatake Kakashi, looking down at him. The young man grunted in response and refocused on the greenery before him.
Rolling his eyes at the younger ninja's antisocial behaviour, Kakashi took a seat beside the raven-haired boy, earning him an expectant, somewhat unwelcoming glance.
Taking the hint, Kakashi cut to the chase.
"Have you dealt with your assignment?" the older man questioned lightly. Sasuke turned to look at the grass once more.
"No." He answered shortly, and Kakashi nodded.
"Hmm, well you do have the rest of the day." The elite Jounin paused. "Do you know how you're going to go about doing it?" he questioned, and the Uchiha shot him a withering glare. If the man was going to offer advice, why didn't he just skip the interrogation and get on with it?
Kakashi cleared his throat awkwardly, offering a smile. At least, Sasuke assumed it was a smile from behind that damned mask he always wore.
"Yes, well… you should know," Kakashi continued, "not everyone is guaranteed to accept what we have to tell them and if they do, it won't be very easy on them."
Sasuke continued his cold observation of the lawn.
Of course he knew that, it wasn't every day people were informed that they were born as ninja and asked to join a secret society to hone their skills and maintain traditions they knew nothing about. Did Kakashi think he was that horrendously ignorant?
"What I'm saying is… Choose your settings wisely, and leave no room for doubt." His single exposed eye crinkled at the corner. "I'm sure performing a memory modification jutsu wouldn't go over pleasantly."
Ah.
Sasuke nodded, he really didn't want it to come to that. The process of modifying someone's memory was not only complicated, but it was one of few things which made him uneasy.
"I won't fail." He answered stiffly, thinking bitterly of the fit his father would have if this assignment ended badly. Aside from that, Sasuke Uchiha did not fail at anything.
Kakashi nodded, turning to gaze upon the grass as his dark-haired companion was doing.
"I know you can do it." His tone remained light, but confident. It was such a stark contrast to Saskue's own father that the he wondered if he'd heard correctly. "Though… I do think at this age you should be focused on school, and your own training."
Though his face remained unchanged, the copy-nin's words stirred surprise and even appreciation, and Sasuke silently agreed with him.
He glanced briefly at Kakashi. Occasionally, he would hear rumours that the man had an unpleasant childhood. Sasuke knew that he was a prodigy, and many a ninja regarded him as the best in his generation. He was pretty sure his father had told him once, that Kakashi had become a Chunin at the age of six. That sounded nothing like a normal childhood, and Sasuke wondered if the man had even been allowed time to breathe comfortably.
Perhaps his own situation had sparked memories in the notorious Jounin.
"That is not allowed in here!" a voice whisper-shouted from behind the bookshelf, causing Sakura to freeze in the midst of replacing a borrowed volume of Biological Sciences 1 & 2.
A responding growl met her ears, and the pinkette's brows furrowed. What was happening behind there?
The memory of stumbling upon Itachi Uchiha's conversation was suddenly conjured in her mind, and she immediately turned away, returning to the small white table she was occupying, texts and papers strewn across its surface.
Her classes had finished two hours prior, and she'd managed to enjoy a fortifying nap in Ino's dorm room. The downside was that the blonde had insisted she attend a certain party with her that night since she'd so graciously provided her with a bed.
In her exhaustion, Sakura had agreed without giving the deal a second thought.
Now however, she was thinking that perhaps she'd have been better off sleeping in the cramped back seat of her car, or even driving all the way to her own apartment for rest.
"I'm not bothering you am I? If you don't leave me the hell alone, I swear…!" A second, gruff voice sounded from the direction of the bookshelves, and Sakura looked up to see the wearer of a red t-shirt and khaki board-shorts standing with his back to her.
In front of him, Sakura spotted large, round eyes beneath a hideously infantile bowl cut.
Maito Gai?
"I cannot allow you to do this Kiba! This is a library, and you are rule-breaking!" The responding voice issued, scandalised, from the person facing in her direction, and she noted that this was most certainly not the voice of her teacher.
Red T-shirt spewed a bark-like laugh, taking two steps aggressively towards Round Eyes.
Sakura shifted hesitantly, wondering if she should intervene.
No… She shouldn't, really she'd done quite enough of sticking her nose into others peoples' business, and it wasn't a serious problem-
"Oh?" Red-Tshirt sounded wickedly amused. "Go ahead then, stop me!"
He closed the space between the two, snatching the do-gooder by his shirt. The smaller boy's eyes widened to the likeness of dinner plates, but he held his ground.
"Excuse me?" Sakura cringed at her own voice as it came out unfamiliarly high-pitched and squeaky. She wanted to mind her own business, but what if that guy was beaten to a pulp?
A fierce, dark gaze pinned her as the aggressor turned to see who had interrupted him while two large, bright eyes peered over his shoulder. Sakura pressed on quickly, before she lost her nerve.
"How about we not fight…" she glanced around, expecting an authority figure to appear and kick them out of the library for all the noisemaking. "and you shouldn't be eating in here, anyways!" her reprimand was firm, but there was a smaller voice in the back of her mind taunting her for being a nosey goodie-two-shoes as usual.
The brown-eyed boy blinked, some of his anger dissipated upon seeing a small female glaring boldly at him with a hint of apprehension in her posture. A bag of chips hung limply in his hand.
Sakura held up both her palms in a gesture of agreeableness. "Just let him go, please. He won't bother you anymore, and you can eat outside." Her voice was calm and diplomatic.
Meanwhile, Round Eyes extracted himself from the restricting hold on his shirt and manoeuvred nimbly from the uncomfortable position of being pressed against the bookshelf. The other guy ignored him, focused still on Sakura, curiosity lighting his gaze before he began making his way towards the her seat. The other young man took the chance to bow deeply towards her- so deep, in fact that his head almost collided with the floor. When his eyes met hers once more, they had all but transformed into gleaming pink hearts.
Slightly uncomfortable, Sakura attempted to hide the telltale twitch in her left eye and smiled back at him, inclining her own head in response. Then he was gone, and a pair of intense, firewood-coloured eyes were staring down at her.
"Who are you?" came the question, and Sakura glanced absently at the food he was still eating.
"Sakura." She stated shortly, diverting her gaze back to the texts before her, still uncomfortable. A faint scraping of metal followed her answer and she was surprised to see that the boy had invited himself to take a seat.
"I'm Kiba." He offered.
Sakura waited to hear what he wanted from her, or what his reason for telling her this was.
But Kiba didn't say anything further. He just sat there, munching on his chips. The crunching noise and occasional crackling of plastic began to irritate her, not to mention she could feel his gaze boring into her skull. Before he lifted the next handful to his mouth, she blurted out-
"Do you want something?"
Her own eyes widened at the unplanned outburst, and Kiba raised an eyebrow before reaching into the bag of Lay's once more.
"Those chips." she spat, before she could stop herself. At the sudden look of consternation on his face, she continued hurriedly. "I mean, the noise is really irritating, and you… you're just sitting there staring at me. I'm trying to do some work." she finished. Momentarily, Kiba had the decency to look embarrassed.
"Well you're the one who but into my conversation with Lee." he responded after a pause. Sakura snorted, quirking a brow.
"You call that a conversation? Interesting..." she trailed off and let her eyes rest once again on the textbook before her while Kiba sat there, wondering why he hadn't left already.
Inquisitively he peered across the table, trying to catch a glimpse of the page she was so ardently focused on.
"That looks rough." he commented, brows furrowing as his eyes slid over to inspect her diagram of the nervous system. Sakura smiled.
"It can be. But It's worth the effort." she responded, eyes never leaving the page.
"So you do medicine huh? What kind of doctor do you wanna be?" Kiba continued, sounding genuinely interested and for a second, Sakura was taken aback by his sudden attempt at normal conversation.
"I'm not sure yet. I've always wanted to work in the emergency room, maybe as a surgeon." she answered, and he nodded. "What about you?" she asked almost automatically, out of politeness.
"I'm not sure," he paused. "I think want to be a vet, y'know? I really like animals." she looked up to see a small grin on his face, noting absently that his canines were unusually pointed.
His admission surprised her; he didn't seem like the animal-loving type at all, but she supposed there was no reason to believe he was lying.
"I didn't peg you for the type," she commented honestly, and he raised his eyebrows. "Good luck with your studies though, it should be an interesting profession." she graced him with a sincere smile, which he returned before suddenly getting up and excusing himself, glancing back at the girl once before he exited through the glass doors.
"Weird." Sakura muttered, though she had to admit Kiba didn't seem to be that bad.
Ino's flawless, tanned shoulders protruded above water's surface in the glistening ivory bathtub.
"Ino, do I really have to do this?" Sakura hung upside down from her friend's bed, shining pink tresses pooling onto the cream carpet.
The blonde didn't even open her eyes. Not that she could have, since they were covered in fresh slices of cucumber. "Yes Sakura, you have to do it." Ino responded testily. "What will it take to get you out of your house? Bribing you with the latest textbook?"
Sakura's lips thinned at the question. Her friend made it sound like she was an academically-obsessed house rat. Which she was not. She just appreciated the work she completed in her alone time more than most people her age...
"It's Friday, Sakura. One of the two fun days of the week. My dorm is hosting a social, and you will be here for it. We've been here what, a month now, and how many new people have you even really met?" Sakura opened her mouth to tell Ino about Hinata, Kiba, Gaara,Temari, and even Neji, but the blonde cut her off. "That's right. About five. And I bet they're all from your classes too." powder blue eyes glared at her through the doorframe now, cucumbers gone. "You're in college! Lighten up for god's sake. I know for a fact that you haven't fallen behind in any of your classes; you're probably pushing yourself for all A-pluses already."
Sakura opened her mouth to retort, but Ino cut her off.
"I'm right, and you know it." the blonde smirked, before gesturing to the large white closet beside her thickly cushioned bed. "Now if you'll just sift through my closet over there, there's a dress I bought for you the other day." Ino's voice held a smile, but Sakura was apprehensive.
It wasn't that she was a spoilsport or ungrateful, but Ino tended to choose dresses on the more revealing side, and while Sakura knew she had a nice body, displaying her assets for all to see wasn't something she relished. She didn't mind showing some skin from time to time, but her style was downright conservative in comparison to her friend's, although really, it wasn't particularly difficult to dress more modestly than Ino.
The doubt and apprehension in her eyes was plain as day, and Ino looked pleadingly toward the heavens, silently praying for her dear friend's social life. "It won't show too much skin, I promise." came her overly sugary reassurance before a muttered "Granny."
Sakura shot her a vicious look before neatly righting herself on the bed and making her way to the closet.
From the foremost baby-blue plastic hanger, she pulled a turtleneck body-con dress that exactly matched the colour of her eyes. The back revealed a large diamond-shaped cut tapering in at the base to form a low vee, and Sakura was sure that if she put it on, said vee would come to a stop mere centimetres above the crack of her ass. Thin swirls of gold glitter adorned the neckline.
"Ino," she began doubtfully "this is a bit mu-"
"Oh shut up." Ino snapped, causing Sakura to raise an eyebrow. "It isn't too much Forehead; it's not flashy or low cut or too short. And we both know it will look damn good on you."
Glaring resentfully at her friend's tone, Sakura silently agreed. Minus the low-cut back it didn't seem like any of her lady parts would be in immediate jeopardy. She wanted to snap back at Ino anyways, but the blonde beat her to it.
"You made a deal with me. You are coming to the party. And you are wearing that dress. End of discussion!"
Holding the dress to her body in front of Ino's ridiculous princess mirror, the pinkette didn't bother to argue.
Now assured that she wasn't going to receive further protests, Ino's towelled figure stepped out of the bathroom, her unblemished face wearing that trademark smirk her friend wanted very much to wipe clean off.
"Now shower and get dressed so I can do your makeup!" She all but squealed, and Sakura responded by making retching motions with her face and hands. Ino frowned as she passed all the necessary cosmetics to the girl, pausing to retrieve a ridiculously short black dress for herself. It was 7:30PM, and the sun had long gone down.
"So." Sakura began once she was in the shower (as opposed to Ino's need to soak in a tub and go the extra mile, Sakura was very much capable of cleaning herself in a quicker, less extravagant way) "How's Shikamaru?"
Ino's head appeared swiftly in the doorway of the bathroom, cornflower hair damp and limply framing her furious expression. Glaring, she brought a manicured finger to her lips, violently gesturing left towards the wall separating her room from the neighbour's.
Sakura giggled, peering over the frosted section of the shower glass and feigning ignorance as she lathered her loofah with Ino's vanilla-scented body wash.
"What?" She pressed on, raising her voice slightly. "Don't you remember what you told me about Shikamaru Nara? I thought you liked hi-" SLAM.
She was cut off by the steaming blonde, and promptly gave in to the fit of laughter she had been keeping at bay.
(11:32PM)
It had started out pleasantly enough. College students trickled in, then arrived in groups, and as the night progressed a short line developed at the entrance of Sarutobi Hall. Guards had been placed outside to allow solely NIU students inside, and of course for precaution in case of any violent occurrences. So far there had been none.
By now Sakura had been introduced to approximately twenty new people (if that little); she'd honestly lost count. The fact that Ino seemed to know almost everyone who entered the building baffled her as she stood in her skin-tight green dress, bobbing her head in time with the music.
She sipped the vodka mix Ino had shoved into her hand not two minutes ago, ignoring the stares she was receiving from several pairs of male eyes in the room.
Sakura knew she looked good, especially since Ino had paired winged liner with a shadowy dusting of Kohl in the region of her eyes, and insisted that she wear a coat of deep berry-coloured lipgloss. Personally, she felt irritated by the layer of oil on her mouth. Her lips looked luscious of course, but for every five minutes that passed, her hand longed to wipe the stuff away.
"Hey!" A voice semi-shouted from her left. She turned to find Shikamaru looking down at her with a passive expression on his slim face. His black hair was held back in its trademark ponytail, and a half-finished cigarette hung between his middle and index fingers, releasing thin wisps of smoke.
She tried to identify exactly what it was that Ino saw in this guy. He was attractive, she supposed, but a completely different package in comparison to the blonde's usual choices.
"Hey Shikamaru. How's it going?" She asked, forced to elevate her voice. A couple had begun tongue wrestling not four feet away from them, and she carefully avoided getting an eyeful.
The taller boy shrugged, bringing the cigarette to his lips before he turned his head and blew the smoke away from Sakura's face. He looked bored.
At least he had manners, she noted satisfactorily.
"You okay? Ino says you've just been standing here all night..." Shikamaru began to look a little uncomfortable and Sakura figured Ino had probably put him up to this. She cursed under her breath. So her stupid friend hadn't given up her attempts to turn her into a social butterfly. When would she learn? Sakura would socialise when she was good and ready.
"Oh, I'm okay really." She paused. "It's just that I'm not into partying that much-" her explanation was cut off as a large, tanned arm reached over Shikamaru's shoulder and a brown-haired boy appeared behind him.
"Kiba?" Shikamaru and Sakura half-shouted in unison, earning them a smirk. Sakura glanced briefly towards her toes, remembering the library incident from earlier in the day. At least Kiba had responded better to her than Sasuke had.
Not, of course, that she cared about Sasuke. She hadn't even seen him all night; he was probably even more antisocial than she was.
"Hey Shikamaru. I see you've met Sakura." Kiba greeted, a hint of suggestiveness in his tone. Shikamaru glanced questioningly from his friend to the quieter girl before him, who rolled her eyes.
"There she is! Sakura!" came a yell from halfway across the room, and said female didn't have to think twice to know who was screaming her name.
Naruto's tall frame bounded towards her before stopping short, eyes widening as they descended from her face all the way to her small white sandals. It was then that Sakura noticed Temari and Kankuro behind him, the female Sabaku clad in a loose, stylish emerald button-down and black form-hugging pants. Her hair had been freed from it's trademark style and instead hung loose, longer than Sakura would have thought, brushing just below her shoulders. Kankuro wore his usual all-black ensemble, minus the hooded sweater, revealing dark bangs that fell into his eyes. Naruto donned a painfully bright orange T-shirt that clashed horribly with his hair, and black jeans.
His mouth hung open for a few uncomfortable seconds, after which he mumbled that she looked amazing. Temari smirked and Kankuro agreed, asking if her hair had possibly become pinker. Slightly embarrassed, she smiled and thanked Naruto, ignoring Kankuro's statement altogether while Shikamaru took in the scene with something that almost seemed like interest.
Now that Naruto was now around, it wasn't long before Sakura loosened up enough to join a large circle of people in a drinking game. After about six or seven shots, she'd completely forgotten her discomfort enough to actually win.
With only minimal stumbling, Sakura managed to find herself at the foot of the Sarutobi Hall staircase. Squinting tiredly, she fumbled with the door handle and pushed it open with a click.
Outside was nearly pitch black.
Where was the moon? She glanced up dazedly. Its silvery glow barely permeated a large blanket of treacherous clouds.
Her thought process was definitely slowed by the shots she had taken... the many, many shots. Shaking her head gently, Sakura blinked, opening her eyes as wide as she could. The larger her pupils dilated, the more light they would accommodate… and the less likely it was that she'd fall on her face in the dark, on her way to the car.
At least all sense had not left her, she thought bitterly, though she was admittedly being a bit harsh on herself. She knew she wasn't even close to being flat-out wasted, only slightly drunk.
She was almost twenty years old for god's sake! She could handle a bit of liquor, right? Naruto had offered to drive her home, but she'd adamantly refused- the blonde was having far too much fun at the still-raging party, and she didn't want to cut it short because her own pathetic body was ready to turn in for the night.
Suddenly, the thought of driving home while intoxicated, even if it was only slightly, flooded her system with apprehension. Uncertainty tugged sharply at her legs, forcing them to decelerate. The alcohol's effects spurred her rapid emotional fluctuations, and she took a deep breath to calm down.
Walking carefully to the parking lot, thoughts of the Uzumaki's car accident were unavoidably summoned to the forefront of her mind. She shivered.
It wouldn't happen to her; she was over-thinking and being silly…
Or would it? What made her so special, that whatever deity up there would decide to spare her tonight? Naruto's parents, from what she'd heard, were as genuine and compassionate as human beings could have been. Her thoughts persisted in that fashion until finally, about a hundred metres later she spotted her car, having only stumbled once.
Or twice.
Key already hanging from her finger, Sakura leaned lightly against the vehicle, feeling a few cold droplets of rainwater stick to her skin. She shivered, thanking god for heaters and suddenly craving some of the chocolate stashed in the VW's glove compartment.
The key was halfway into the slot when a human-sized shadow stretched ominously over her car's gleaming black bonnet.
Startled, her tired eyes darted upwards, landing on the stony gaze of Sasuke Uchiha.
A/N: This chapter was shorter than usual, but lots of SakuSasu interaction in the next, promise!
Don't drink and drive, kids!
CH. 5 PREVIEW:
He took a step towards her and Sakura's instinct screamed at her to run. Before she could will her legs into movement, his arms came to rest on either side of her, braced against the smooth black metal of her car.
His earthy scent enveloped her, and she panicked.
Reflexively, her right knee shot up with a well-aimed kick to his groin, and Sakura was rewarded with a rough grunt of pain. Her body intelligently ducked beneath the prison of his arms, making it all but five feet away before strong hands gripped her by the shoulders and literally lifted her back to her previous position. Her back was pressed uncomfortably to the cold glass of the window, amplified by the gaping-diamond-shaped cut in Ino's accursed dress.