A/N: Ahh! I'm sure you all hate me by now! Please forgive me! Junior year has taken over my life :/… And I've just applied for a job. Wish me luck!!
Sakura2079: I have decided to try to incorporate your idea in, but I might tweak a few things. Thanks again for the suggestion and this chapter is dedicated to you!
This was love at first sight, love everlasting: a feeling unknown, unhoped for, unexpected--in so far as it could be a matter of conscious awareness; it took entire possession of them, and they understood, with joyous amazement, that this was for life.
--WHERE THE HEART IS--
6. With Parties Come Drama
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Sasuke and Sakura sat down silently in their homeroom seats—one going over her biology notes, the other silently brooding as usual. It had been about three weeks since he'd transferred to Konoha Academy, and Sasuke had managed to make some friends- actually they were Sakura's friends who he was forced to get to know.
Still, the Uchiha often found himself missing his old friends. He wondered what they were up to; did they still have all night raves? Had anyone new joined the group? Had anyone left? Was he missing out on any great parties?
At the same time—as much as he hated to admit it—Sasuke was beginning to enjoy his new companions. While they weren't the same partiers he was used to, the bunch was tolerable and eventually everyone had learned how to read him and now knew when to and not to talk to him.
"Ohayo, Sakura-chan! Teme!" a voice rang through the classroom. Neither had to lift their heads to see who had greeted them. Sakura patted the seat on her other side, gesturing for Naruto to come over.
"Good morning, Naruto," Sakura said with a smile as she closed her notebook. The blonde turned to her and pulled out his English book.
"Did you do the homework for last night?" he asked.
"The questions on the reading? Yes, why?" Sakura replied, pulling her book out as well.
"Can you help me with question 13? I don't get it…"
"Oh that's easy," Sakura explained. "The second paragraph on page 48 is a metaphor, describing how the mother is the forest and the daughter is like the brook. See here?" She pointed to a sentence and Naruto nodded his head as he wrote down his answer.
"Thanks, Sakura-chan! You're the best!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes when he suddenly felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. Kakashi still wasn't even in the room yet, and wouldn't be most likely for another fifteen minutes. He pulled out the phone and read:
New Text Message: Kabuto's Cell
He clicked 'open', not even minding the fact that his phone was out in the open.
Hey man! How's Konohagakure treatin' you? Anything remotely interesting happen?
Again the onyx eyes rolled in a circle as Sasuke groaned under his breath.
Of course not, he typed back. It's Konohagakure we're talking about. Everyone's a goodie-fuckin-two-shoes. It's driving me crazy.
"Who're you texting?" Naruto asked.
"Hn. No one," Sasuke mumbled, sliding his phone back into his pocket. Naruto and Sakura exchanged a glance, but then continued going over the book they were reading. A few minutes later, the phone vibrated a reply.
Haha sucks to be you! Think you can get out tonight? We got invited to a party and you should come.
He glanced over at Sakura, wondering if there was any chance in the world that he'd be able to go to a party in Otogakure.
He wasn't able to finish his thought though, because Kakashi walked into the room and began class right away.
It wasn't until lunch that Sasuke had remembered Kabuto's text. He pulled out his phone and reread the message.
There's no fuckin way she'd let me go, he thought with a scowl. Sasuke sighed, leaning back and running a hand through his hair.
He didn't notice someone reading over his shoulder until it was too late.
"Ooh a party! I wanna go!"
Sasuke turned around to see Ino standing behind him, her eyes gleaming excitedly. He scowled, clapping his phone shut.
"No. You're not invited—"
"Invited to what?" Neji asked.
"A party!" Ino shouted.
"A party? I'm going!" Kiba replied as he stuffed an orange slice in his mouth.
"Let's all go!" Tenten offered.
"No, listen. No one is going, not even I'm not going—"
"Going where, Sasuke?"
Sasuke cringed, turning around to see Sakura standing with her hands on her hips. She arched her eyebrows, silently telling him he better spill or else.
"I was invited to a party tonight, and then everyone decided they wanted to go."
"But we can't go unless Sasuke goes, and Sasuke can't go unless you go, Sakura-chan," Ino explained, wrapping an arm around Sakura's shoulders. "So what do you say?"
Sakura bit her lip, looking from person to person around the table. "I don't know…"
"Oh come on Sakura-chan!" Tenten said. "It's Friday! We deserve some fun—you especially. You're always working at the hospital these days…"
Sakura looked down at Sasuke, whose face told her he didn't think she would let him. She narrowed her eyes. So he didn't think she could have fun, did he? Well she would show him.
"Alright, I guess so…"
The entire table cheered.
"But on one condition! We can't tell my tou-san or Kakashi its Sasuke's friends. If anyone asks…"
"We'll say it's a party at Gaara's! Everyone knows him! And Sand really isn't that much more of a distance than Otogakure is!" Naruto offered. Soon everyone was speaking quickly and loudly, everyone talking over each other as they talked about how excited they were.
I can go. Just one thing, he sent to Kabuto.
What?
He sighed as he typed a response. I'm bringing about a dozen people from Konoha…
"Remind me again what we're doing," Sasuke snapped as he slumped further down into the white couch in Ino's living room.
"They always do this," Neji explained with a sigh. "They love to get ready together and expect us to pick them up together."
"Who would pick up Sakura?" Sasuke wondered out loud, seeing as Naruto and Hinata and Neji and Tenten seemed to have something going on, and Ino and Shikamaru were dating.
"Kiba," Naruto answered nonchalantly. Shikamaru elbowed him in the side. "But we don't bring that up anymore…"
The door from Ino's bedroom upstairs opened, interrupting the boys' discussion. Sasuke didn't know why, but he was curious about what could've happened between Kiba and Sakura that made their relationship a taboo. Maybe there was more to Konoha than Sasuke had thought…
One by one, the girls descended the stair case, showing off their selected outfit for the night. Ino was, unsurprisingly, dressed in a tight black dress. It was strapless and ended mid-thigh. The other girls were dressed in a much less provocative way, Tenten wearing black cargos and a red shirt, and Hinata in black pants and a cream shirt.
Sakura was the last to come down the stairs, wearing simple jeans and a navy short sleeved shirt. It was a silky material and elastic gathered the shirt just below the bust, accentuating her female curves. She tucked a stray lock of pink hair behind her ear and smiled shyly at Sasuke.
"Ready to go?" she asked everyone.
The group made their way out to their cars, Neji, Tenten, Hinata, and Naruto piling into Neji's car. Shikamaru and Ino sped away in their own car. Sakura and Sasuke were just getting into Sakura's car when another voice was heard.
"Oh my youthful Sakura-chan! I hope you were not planning on leaving with out me!" Sakura cringed slightly before turning around to see a grinning Rock Lee approaching her car.
"Of course not, Lee. I didn't even know you wanted to go to the party…"
The rambunctious bowl-cutted boy hopped into the back seat of Sakura's car, shouting, "Who am I to pass up an exciting, youthful party?"
Sasuke groaned, running a hand through his raven locks as he sat in shot gun. "It's not going to be like parties you're used to here in Konohagakure, Lee."
"Really? What kind of festivities do they partake in in Otogakure?"
"You'll see…"
Sakura bit her lip as she pulled out of the driveway. There was something about Sasuke's response that made her nervous.
"It's the next left," Sasuke instructed. He nodded his head towards a dark building. "In that warehouse."
"It's in a warehouse?" Sakura shouted. Sasuke blinked once at the girl, then glanced back over at the parking lot where everyone else was piling out. Lee leaped out of the car with a pixie-like grace, shouting about how excited he was.
Ino led the way to the entrance, but was stopped by a large man.
"Entry fee?"
The blonde girl crossed her arms and frowned. "What the hell? Entry fee? I don't think so."
The man smirked. "Well if you don't have the money, you can always pay me some other way…" He licked his lips as he looked her up and down. Sakura noticed as Shikamaru's fists clenched.
The color in Ino's face drained, but her pride didn't. "No. Way. In. Hell." She lifted her arm to slap the guy, when another man grabbed her wrist. "Hey! Let me go!"
"Look, if you don't pay the fee, you don't get in," the man said, shoving Ino into Shikamaru.
"Would you shut the fuck up already?" a bored voice from the back of the group said. The two men narrowed their eyes, trying to figure out who'd said that.
"And who the hell do you think you are?"
The group parted and Sasuke walked forward, hand shoved in his pockets, a bored look on his face. The two men's eyes lit up with recognition.
"Sasuke-san! Welcome back! You should've said something in the first place, come on in!" They made sure to pat all the guys on the back as they passed through, the girls… well, a little lower.
Inside strobe lights were flashing and loud music blasted through the speakers. There was a large crowd surrounding a stage where a band was playing, and there were several other rooms with other music playing.
Ino and Sakura pushed past Sasuke, their arms linked, as they disappeared into the crowd at the stage. Shikamaru, Neji, and Lee walked over to a bar and sat down. Hinata, Tenten, and Naruto went into another room to listen to the different varieties of music.
Sasuke decided to find some of his old friends. He passed through all the rooms, finally finding Kabuto after he removed his lips from a blonde's neck.
"You made it! Manage to sneak away from Miss-Goodie-Two-Shoes?" Kabuto asked, handing Sasuke a plastic cup of beer. Sasuke took it, downing half the contents in one gulp.
"No. She's here… somewhere. A bunch of them are."
"You're kidding! Any of them hot?"
Before Sasuke could answer, several shouts and cheers could be heard from another room. The two ran over, seeing a crowd around to boys fighting.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" they chanted.
"Sasuke!" a voice called out. He turned around and found Tenten and Hinata. There was a damp stain on Hinata's shirt and her hair was somewhat tousled.
"What happened?"
"Some guy came on to Hinata-chan, but when she told him to back off, he got mad. Naruto saw this and punched the guy!" Tenten explained.
"H-he splashed his drink on me…" Hinata said, her voice barely audible over the noise. Sasuke sighed and watched as Naruto laid another punch on the guy's face. He nodded at the two girls and stepped in, pulling the two males apart.
"Alright that's enough. If this gets any worse we'll have to call the cops, and you know what that means…" the two nodded. Naruto wiped the blood from his lip and glared at the other guy as he disappeared into the crowd.
"Naruto-kun! A-Are you okay?" Hinata asked, checking the blonde for any signs of injury.
"I'm great, Hinata-chan! Come on, let's go get something to drink!" The two headed for the bar and Neji led Tenten to the crowd in front of the stage.
Sasuke turned around to see Kabuto smirking at him. "What?" he snapped, downing his cup.
"Who were they?"
"They're kids from Konoha…"
"Hm. That's what I thought."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"They've changed you. I could tell since I first saw you," Kabuto said, leading the way out of the room.
"What makes you think so?"
"The fact that you're not surrounded by women and booze."
"I just got here."
"Never stopped you before…" Sasuke watched as his old best friend walked away, disappearing into the thick crowd of young people dancing to the beat of the music. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Sasuke-kun!" a female voice called out. He turned around, seeing a glasses-clad girl making her way towards him.
"Hn. Karin."
"I'm glad to see you!" She gave him a peck on the lips. "Come on, let's dance!" Karin grabbed Sasuke's hand and dragged him to the crowd of grinders. She turned around so she was nestled against Sasuke's chest, rubbing her rear against his groin.
"Just like old times, huh?" Karin said with a dreamy smile. She pulled her hand up so it rested on the back of Sasuke's neck as his hands went around her waist.
It wasn't even two minutes before Sasuke felt something was wrong. Maybe it was the way that Karin's dancing didn't make his lower region heat with excitement, maybe it was the way he didn't care that there were dozens of intoxicated—and therefore uninhibited—women surrounding him, or maybe it was just how none of this seemed to give him a thrill anymore.
Despite how annoying he was, Kabuto seemed to have a point. Sasuke had changed.
But is it for the worse? a voice couldn't help but ask in his head.
"Is something wrong, Sasuke-kun?"
He was brought back to earth to find a confused Karin looking up at him. She turned around, wrapping her arms around his neck and swaying to the music. Sasuke pulled his hands away and shoved them in his pockets, searching for something he didn't know he was looking for.
"What are you looking for?"
"I don't know."
"Then stay and dance with me, Sasuke-kun! Unless you're looking for a bedroom…" she flittered her eyelashes at him, but that ever seductive glance went unnoticed as the Uchiha kept looking for whatever was giving him a sour feeling in the pit of his stomach.
It was then that Sasuke's obsidian gaze found what it'd unknowingly searching for.
"Aw come on, sweetheart! One drink won't hurt ya!"
"No, I'm fine." The boy continued to push her, trying to press the questionably cloudy beverage towards her light pink lips. His hand gripped her slim waist even tighter, her silk shirt rising to show the creamy skin of her waist. Her pink hair flipped about, some falling in her hair, as he pulled her closer to him.
"Let me go!" she shouted, trying to slap the glass and his hand away at the same time. The drink went flying into the floor, unnoticed by the young man.
Sasuke's fists clenched in his pockets and eyes narrowed. He gritted his teeth and instinct told Karin that it was time to take a step back. She turned around to see a girl at the bar, being bothered by a guy she knew to be named Zaku. The girl yelped as Zaku's grip on her wrist tightened.
The sour feeling in the pit of Sasuke's stomach turned into a boiling rage as he watched. His dark eyes seemed to be glowing a red as he took a step forward.
"Sakura…"
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A/N: Ah I'm so evil. I leave you guys with a cliffie, don't update in a long time, AND I even dare to add in that awful Karin. Muahahahaha!
Aaaanyway, I'll try to update sooner, but I'm UBER busy right now. (I heard that 'uber' doesn't actually mean very in German. Is that true? If so, why do people even use it like that?)
Please Review!!