Necessity
Summary: It felt nice; to finally be able to say that the girl he was kissing right now was his and his alone.-SasuSaku OOC AU – minor NaruHina, NejiTen, InoShikaTem.
Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto.
Chapter 4: Reconciliation
Sasuke stumbled into the back stage of the big building where Sharingan's concert was held hours ago. Normally he wouldn't drink at all but tonight, the alcohol's call was far too loud and tempting to ignore this time.
As he swayed uncontrollably he tripped over a wire but before he could land faced down on the floor someone caught him.
"Teme!" Naruto shouted as he caught his friend before his face could collide with the floor.
"Sasuke-san!" Hinata cried when she came and stood next to Naruto.
Naruto supported his friend with an arm slung under his arm.
"What were you thinking on drinking teme?"
Sasuke mumbled something that Naruto couldn't quite catch. Just then Shikamaru and Neji came rushing in when they saw Sasuke's state. Their girlfriends were with them too.
"Sasuke!" Neji shouted when he supported Sasuke's other side whilst Naruto supported the other. They kept him upright whilst Shikamaru looked him over.
"What the hell were you thinking on drinking Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked quite irritated.
"That's what I asked him but he just mumbled something I couldn't understand." Naruto said.
Sasuke once again mumbled something under his breath but was too quiet and slurred for anyone to understand.
"Maybe we should get him to hospital. Neji-kun, you said that he couldn't hold his liquor well." Ten-Ten offered.
"Well he can't but presuming that he's had so much to drink and still be conscious then he must have tried his best to stay awake. He wants to do something." Shikamaru concluded.
Sasuke shook his head and mumbled something.
Temari's eyes widened, "Not something, someone. He said a name."
Everyone looked at her.
"And I know where we can find her too..." Hinata whispered, she obviously understood who Sasuke was trying to find.
Neji looked at Hinata, "Who is this person?"
Shikamaru shook his head, "Who else would he be looking for, especially when it's female?"
Naruto and Neji's eyes widened, "You don't mean…" Neji trailed.
The girls looked worried and just stared at their respective boyfriends.
"Shika, what's going on?" Temari asked, quite concerned for a friend's wellbeing.
Ten-Ten and Hinata looked at each other and said a name in unison,
"Sakura?!"
The boys looked at the two girls who seemed to know the girl they knew long ago.
"Yeah, Haruno Sakura. She and Sasuke got history together and she seems to affect him even if she's not around" Shikamaru answered, looking at Sasuke's drunken form.
"How do you know her?" Neji asked, finding his hold on Sasuke becoming loosened.
"We met her through Ino-chan. When Ino-chan came back three years ago for a holiday after going to America when you guys started becoming involved in the music industries she brought Sakura-chan along with her too." Hinata answered.
"Ino only stayed for a couple of weeks but Sakura came to stay since here was her hometown. We occasionally hang out with her since she's an amazing person but whenever we invite her to meet you guys she always refused saying that she had prior engagements. Guess we now know why…" Ten-Ten finished.
"W-where is she?" a voice asked out of no where.
Everybody found that the voice belonged to Sasuke who was looking at Ten-Ten and Hinata and trying to stand upright on his own.
"S-she lives a few miles north of here. We can lead you guys there if you need us to." Hinata offered.
"Hn" Sasuke wobbled past the group and headed for the car park. He left the door open and the guys took this as an invitation to join him in his reunion with Sakura.
XOXOXO
When they arrived at a small house, Sasuke was immediately in front of the door ringing the door bell. He tried to keep himself steady, before the guys could get beyond the gates the door opened revealing Sakura.
She obviously wasn't dressed for bed as she had on a pair of jeans and a top. She had discarded her glasses so Sasuke could now admire her green eyes. She had grown taller but since Sasuke grew too she only came up to his nose.
Her face had become more feminine and she had filled out nicely over the years. Her pink hair was up into a ponytail and she looked like a teenager who looked slightly older.
"Sasuke-kun!"
In a heartbeat she was beside Sasuke and holding him steady. She noticed the guys and she was even more shocked.
"G-guys, what the hell?" she sounded like she was asking herself is this was real or not.
But it was when she felt Sasuke slip down so she had no choice but to let everyone in and let Sasuke crash on her sofa.
XOXOXO
Sakura was standing and she looked at the people in her living room. Her house wasn't that big so whilst her couch was occupied by a sleeping Sasuke, the other was where the girls were sitting and the boys were just standing and sitting on the arm rests.
"You guy's found me at last I see." She whispered.
"Sakura-chan, what's going on?" Hinata asked quite concerned for her wellbeing.
Sakura sighed, "Your boyfriends can tell you everything you need to know, and for now you guys must be tired especially after a performance. You guys should go home and sleep."
Shikamaru stood up, "Wait, how did you know we had a performance?"
Naruto and Neji were asking themselves the same question.
"Because I was there, among the crowd listening and watching you play. I go to every your every concert whenever I can." She said, looking at the ground.
"The why didn't you say something?" Naruto shouted suddenly making Sakura mad.
"Because I wasn't ready yet! Don't assume that you know everything about me because guess what? You don't!" she shouted back, her patience obviously snapping in two.
The boys looked guilty and looked anywhere but her.
Seeing the look on their faces, Sakura calmed down, "Look, I think it would be best if you guys would go and sleep. We'll talk about…about everything tomorrow."
She made a move to walk towards the door but she felt a tug on her wrist.
Sasuke had woken up and had caught her wrist, preventing her from going anywhere.
"How do we know you won't disappear again?" he said hoarsely.
Sakura gently pried Sasuke's hands off her wrist which was easy because he was dizzy.
She disappeared through the kitchen door and came out with a glass of water and some tablets.
She helped Sasuke up and gave him the medicine and water, "Here, take this and you should be able to sleep without hassle. Though you might aswell sleep here since it's already this late and you're unable to go home."
Sasuke did as he was told with Sakura's guidance. She turned towards the rest when she had let Sasuke sleep on the couch.
"I think you should go home and get a good night's sleep. Come over at about noon, that's approximately the time Sasuke would be awake and normal again. I'll take care of him until then."
They all nodded and trooped out of her house.
Shikamaru stopped when he was about to go and turned to face Sakura, "Sakura, look we just want to say sorry and say that we feel horrible for doing all those things to you. We were selfish and we had-"
"Shikamaru, please wait till tomorrow. You can apologise as much as you want then but for now just go home and get some sleep. You all played wonderfully tonight" she said with a small smile.
Shikamaru nodded and felt a heavy weight lift off slightly from his shoulders. Temari had caught his hand and gave him a reassuring squeeze and a lovely smile. Instantly Shikamaru felt at ease and couldn't wait to get home and just collapse on the bed.
Sakura closed the door softly behind her and sighed; she looked over to Sasuke's from and walked slowly towards him.
She crouched down to his level and brushed his bangs away softly. She smiled and walked up to her room to get Sasuke a blanket.
XOXOXO
Sasuke woke up groggily in a place he wasn't familiar in but the smell that entered his senses made him at ease.
He tried to remember what happened last night but found that it was too hazy and just forgot about it.
He stood up, stumbling a few times but soon got the hang of it and just stood there to look around.
The house seemed to be normal looking and not exactly the biggest place but it had a comfy feeling to it.
He looked down and he found that he was still wearing the same clothes he wore the night before. He was about to go explore some more when a voice stopped him.
"If you still have a headache I advise you to stay lying down on the Sofa Sasuke-kun"
The voice was like a melody in his ears. He stood frozen, unable to move as the memories from the night before flooded back in his mind overwhelming him that he felt dizzy once more.
Sakura noticed him sway a little and immediately caught his elbow for support.
"Sasuke-kun, are you okay?" she said with concern in her eyes.
Sasuke could only stare at her and just tried to imprint her image into his brain as much as he could. Just when he was about to respond the door bell rang.
Sakura looked at the door then back to Sasuke again, "Sasuke-kun, I'm gonna need you to sit on the sofa to rest. I guess the medication still hasn't worn off even for the whole night."
Sasuke did as he was told and followed Sakura to the door with his eyes. When she opened the door she gave out a small smile and let the guys in.
As they filled in they asked Sasuke if he was alright and feeling better and he only nodded in response, still feeling the effects of the medicine.
They all looked at Sakura; Sasuke still couldn't believe that she was right in front of him, so close to his reach.
"I guess I owe you guys an explanation, huh?" Sakura said, wearing jeans and a long sleeved top.
He looked for a seat but unfortunately for her the only seat available was the one beside Sasuke since everybody was like they were last night.
She sighed but sat on the couch Sasuke was on but keeping her distance. Everybody noticed this.
"I'm glad you guys finally found someone to love." She said smiling at the three couples in front of her.
They all blushed and looked embarrassed.
"Why did you disappear?" Sasuke said all of a sudden since a sudden thought just entered his mind.
What if she had already found someone to love too? Sasuke couldn't bare the thought of Sakura with another person.
"Because I had to. It wasn't even because of the whole argument we had but because of something bigger." She said sadly.
"Why didn't you come to us whenever you go to our concerts?" Shikamaru asked, remembering what she had said the night before.
Sasuke's eye's widened, "You go to our concerts?!"
Sakura smiled, "Any that I can get to, unless you go abroad, then I can't really fly there just to see a concert."
"You were there last night…" Sasuke said this as if telling himself more than telling her.
"You still didn't answer the question, Sakura" Neji put in.
"I couldn't get to you guys because for one, security wouldn't let me. Trust me I tried actually getting to you guys one day but it didn't pan out so well. And second, I wasn't ready to face you guys. Besides, the only free time I actually get is when I see your concerts. I'm actually a pretty busy person."
"Speaking of busy, shouldn't you be at work now?" Ten-Ten asked.
Sakura shook her head, "Nope, they said I work too hard so they let me off. Though I threatened them to page me immediately whenever a case comes up though."
Hinata and Ten-Ten smiled, they knew Sakura very well and they knew that she was devoted to her work.
"What do you do for a living?" Naruto asked.
"I'm a lawyer, the prosecutor to be exact."
Naruto just tilted his head, everybody sweatdropped and Sakura sighed.
"I put criminals in jail when they go to court Naruto."
The light finally dawned on Naruto and he just nodded his head.
"Sakura, you said we could apologise as much as we want today, well we're gonna take that opportunity." Shikamaru said.
"Sakura, we're really sorry about what happened years ago. Our selfishness got the better of us and we didn't really think properly." Neji said.
Knowing that he would only sprout out nonsense, Naruto opted for nodding his head.
Sakura shook her head, "its okay you guys. I've forgiven you long ago. I understand when you have something within your reach and you're just unwilling to let go. You kept your hold solid on your dreams, I'm happy for you."
Sasuke looked at her since the phrase she just said sounded like it had a second meaning behind it.
"We heard that it was really you that told Ino about us. We really appreciate everything you've done for us." Neji said.
The rest of the guys including the girls nodded their heads.
Sakura smiled and turned her head towards Sasuke direction, "Sasuke-kun…"
Sasuke noted that she still uses the suffix on his name and thought that he really missed her saying his name.
"I apologise for the things I said back at the stream. I was just angry, I'm sorry." She said looking anywhere but Sasuke.
Sasuke did the same, "Yeah…me too."
The other guys frowned as they saw Sasuke and Sakura barely glancing at each other, Shikamaru thought that maybe they weren't ready to meet each other again.
Sakura sighed, "Look, I know that everything is…awkward right now. But I'm prepared to start all over again with you guys." She said with a smile.
Everyone looked at her especially Sasuke.
"Sakura!" Naruto yelled, going over to her and giving her a huge brotherly hug.
Sakura giggled and hugged back, "You haven't change the least Naruto. Stop taking Hinata-chan to Ramen restaurants; it's not the least romantic even if she loves you so much that she wouldn't mind where you two were going." She said sternly when they broke the hug.
Naruto mock saluted, "Hai!" Hinata just blushed madly.
Shikamaru came up to her and shook her hand, "great to have you back Sakura, with Naruto being the dobe that he is and the other two unable to form sentences I missed having intelligent conversations with you."
Sakura laughed, "Well I missed getting beat in chess by you too."
Neji came next and shook her hand as well, "No wonder Ten-Ten knew so much about me. You must've told the girls about us. Thanks for giving me the chance to see Ten-Ten in a different light."
"Neji!" Ten-Ten cried completely embarrassed.
Sakura chuckled, "No worries, she was absolutely useless at these things but with Hinata's and my help she became woman anybody would drool over. I guess you fell for her charm."
The guys were chatting feeling overjoyed to have made amends to Sakura.
Sakura looked at Sasuke who was looking at her throughout her exchanges with the boys.
When she smiled Sasuke couldn't help but feel happiness. But instead of smiling he smirked but to Sakura it was good enough.
For the rest of the day they talked about the future ahead of them and never once mentioned the past ever again. It was better that way, now that they were all friends again and the guys vowed never to take Sakura's friendship for granted ever again.
Aiisha101