Prompt 06: night in

Summary:What was he smoking when he decided to rent out his couch to the pink haired pixie girl?

To: Sasuke-teme

From: Ramen Dobe

The assholes and me are going to The Underground. You coming?

Sasuke woke up from a nap he didn't knew he had taken from the sound of his buzzing phone. Even in his barely awake state, his first instinct was to correct the grammar error in Naruto's text before groaning when he saw when was the text sent and that he has fifteen missed calls from the dobe. The digital clock on his night stand read '10:55' in red and he felt his stomach demanding to be fed. Pizza and beer sounds pretty nice right now.

Dragging himself from the comfort of his bed, he walked towards the fridge to check if he still has any more Heineken. He blinked when he saw none when he clearly remembered he bought a six pack.

Oh, right that was two days ago.

Sasuke yawned as he got rid of the kinks on his neck. He'd dial an order for a pizza now and rush to the convenience store around the curb. That'll take him ten minutes tops before the pizza arrives. Maybe he'd try to cram some last minute readings on his head while he eats dinner.

Cripes. He hates how fucked up his body clock is. He should be sleeping now not making a late night beer run to wash down a late night dinner.

He blamed Ibiki. Bastard's always working them to ground these days. A customer came in the other day who wanted his car repaired in time for his daughter's wedding. He was willing to pay double the normal charge for the rush and Ibiki had them all pulling all-nighters for a week. He was only ever let off because he has classes in the morning and the man at least values education; but even then he barely gets enough sleep between work and school. If he's not working at the garage, he's either at class or working freelance.

When he reached the first floor, he saw the girl who tried to return his converse yesterday seating on the couch of the lobby. He only spared her a quick glance before exiting the building. There was something going on at her apartment when he went out. Maybe that's why she's seating out in the lobby. Probably took his advice and had someone check her place for those monstrosities he killed last time. He let himself wonder a bit about it before shaking his head of the thought.

Whatever. It's not like it's his business what she does with her place anyway.

She was still in the lobby when he returned but this time, she was lying down on it and was tossing and turning with a flimsy blanket over her like she was about to go to sleep.

Huh. Doesn't Kakashi have some rule of no sleeping in the lobby? And he sat on that couch once before when he was inquiring for a vacancy. There is no way in hell that girl will ever sleep a wink in that hard-ass lumpy piece of trash.

And why was she even in the lobby? What happened to her place? It can't be that Kakashi kicked her out. The guy's always going on and on about the girl in 7B always paying in time whenever he deposits his pay late. From what he gathers from all of the silver-haired man's rambling, she's by far his favorite tenant.

"Well? What are you looking at?"

He didn't even notice he was staring for long until the girl spoke to him. She was glaring at him as she sat up from the couch, her blanket pooling at her lap.

"Why are you sleeping in the lobby?"

She let up her glare and hmph-ed turning her face away.

"My apartment's currently...uninhabitable at the moment and I have nowhere else to go." Her tone was sarcastic and self-deprecating as she waved a hand. She bit her lower lip. "And I haven't got enough cash for a hotel."

Ah. So, she was kicked out. Sasuke wondered why. Kakashi did say she was the best paying tenant.

Probably something illegal. Kakashi may be a bit of an asshole sometimes but Sasuke knew he's not the type to be involved in such business. But it didn't look like the girl would be up to such things. From what she's wearing, he assumed she works in the hospital. Maybe it was something medical based? Drugs? Best to get away now before he gets involved.

He was about to continue on his way when the girl called his attention.

"Wait!"

Sasuke raised his brow at her, silently asking what she wants. She looked hesitant, like she's about to ask or say something embarrassing. The blanket on her lap is clenched in her fist and she refused to meet his eye.

"Do you...do you know of any place I could stay?"

Sasuke's eyes surveyed her. She was still in her uniform and her hair is in disarray. Now that she mentioned it, there was a suitcase parked at one end of the couch. He thought over his options.

"Hn. Depends. Are you involved in anything against the law?"

"What—why would you even think that?! Of course not!"

He looked at her exhausted face. There are bags under her eyes and she looked like she'll be passing out any minute. The desperation in her eyes tells him she'd do anything at this point for a place to stay.

He considered his options. He still only has a quarter of the payment for next term. He's made computations and even with his paychecks at the garage and his freelancing he still wouldn't make it on time. There's also the matter of food and other expenses and rent's due in a week and he still only have half of it as of now.

Sasuke shrugged the suspicion off. He could really use the extra cash to pay for some stuff at school and he could always just deny everything if she was indeed involved in something.

"I have a spare room in my apartment you can rent."

Well, technically he has a couch. One that's way more comfortable than what she's sitting on and, really. It's not as if she has any other choice judging from what she just said. The girl couldn't even pay for a hotel.

"I thought you said you don't help damsels in distress?"

"Tch. Do you want a place to stay or are okay with that couch?"

The suspicious look she gave him have him feeling slightly offended.

"How do I know you're not involved in something illegal? For all I know you can be a psycho-rapist-murder."

Sasuke scoffed. Well, now he's offended.

"Please. I wouldn't touch you even with a ten foot pole."

The girl's eyes narrowed at him and Sasuke's beginning to regret even making the offer. Fuck it. The garage pays well anyway and the freelance side jobs are enough to pay for the rent. He just needs to work on a few more projects and look for some more extra ones. That should cover school and his expenses enough.

"I don't like you. You're rude and you act like everybody around you is an idiot. But you did save me from being spider food and I'm basically homeless now so what the hell. Fine I'll take it."

She dropped her glare and Sasuke was slightly amazed at how fast the girl could change dispositions as she smiled at him.

"Well? Can I at least know the name of the person I'll be living with?"

"It's common courtesy to say your name first before asking mine."

The girl stood up from her perched on the couch discarding her blanket. She walked the short distance between them until she stood directly before him.

"Right. How rude of me. I'm Sakura. Haruno Sakura. I was going to introduce myself when I went to return your shoes but then you went and accused me of being 'one of those girls'. Whatever that is." The air quotations were hard to miss even as she held her hand for him to shake.

"Uchi—Sasuke. Just Sasuke." He said shaking her extended hand.

The girl, Sakura, raised a brow at his blunder and Sasuke cursed himself for his slip up.

"Are you sure you're not into something illegal, Just Sasuke?"

Well, shit. If she put it that way.

"My last name isn't all that important."

For a moment Sasuke inwardly panicked that Sakura might recognize him. Fucking shit. This is what he gets for trying to help. Although technically he had an ulterior motive himself but the sentiment is still there. Maybe that's why this is happening? Curses. What was he even thinking offering this girl a place to crash. Godfuckingdammit.

It looked like the girl really was too tired to care because she just shrugged and said, "Whatever. I just really want to sleep. I have work tomorrow and I don't really feel like waking up to Kakashi telling me not to sleep in his stupid lobby."

Sasuke sighed in relief and helped her carry her suitcase up the flight of stairs. On the way up, she thanked him again and promised she won't be a burden and that she'll move out as soon as her apartment is declared liveable again. Sasuke didn't care, really. As long as she pays for her stay and doesn't leave her stuff lying around.

That and that she doesn't nose around his business.

"The couch?" Sakura asked shooting him an incredulous look when he ushered her in the living room and on to his couch.

"You said you'd hardly ever be home didn't you?"

"You said you have a spare room."

"I do. If you want to sleep on the floor."

And he mostly uses it to store shit he doesn't really know why he has but can't throw away.

"Where are you sleeping?"

"My room's down the hall to the left."

"But what about—"

What about chivalry and manners and all that shit? She honestly didn't expect him to give up his bed for her did she?

Sasuke watched as Sakura heaved a deep sigh as she tried to compose herself. It is late and he could see that the exhaustion had drained all the potential fight in her about the matter had she had the strength. They need to resolve this quick and as painless as possible.

"When you said I can stay at your place I was expecting you have a spare room you can rent me, not your couch. What about my things?"

Sasuke just stared blankly at her. "I have a storage room."Which is really the spare room.

She mirrored his blanked look and said, "It's the spare room isn't it?"

The doorbell rang before Sasuke could answer and he went to see who it was. He temporarily forgot that he had another person in the room who can be his potential roommate in a few minutes depending on their arrangement as he held onto the box of warm pizza and paid the delivery boy.

When he got back to the living room, Sakura has plopped down on his couch with another sigh.

"Fine. Beggars can't be choosers. At least your couch is a hundred times more comfortable than the one on the lobby."

"Hn. You hungry?" He asked as he set the pizza box on the coffee table in front of her.

He had to keep an amused chuckle from escaping when Sakura turned to look at him like he's some deity who was sent to save her from all of her woes. He went to the kitchen to fetch the six-pack he bought that he put in the fridge to cool when they came into his apartment and set it down on the coffee table as well. When he got back he saw Sakura taking in his apartment her eyes roaming around his living room.

Sasuke knew there's nothing much to see. The colors of all the rooms are all monotone and dark and just screams 'bachelor'. In the living room where they're at, there is a flat screen TV mounted directly in front of the couch and a few bean bags scattered about. There aren't any decorations or paintings hung except for a black and white ink painting near the door his friend gave him that he really doesn't get. There is a bookshelf on one of the walls filled with his law books and different dictionaries and encyclopedias and a set of cabinets by the window. Other than that the whole place is pretty much vacant.

"Are you God?"

Sakura blurted out as soon as she's done perusing his place and saw the cans of Heineken in front of her. This time, Sasuke did let out a chuckle as he sat beside her on his couch.

"I mean, first you offered me a place to stay. Then you offered me pizza and now you're giving me alcohol."

She turned to him with a smile on her face that say she feels like hugging him and Sasuke didn't know how to feel about that.

On one hand he doesn't really know what to do if she decides to do that but on the other hand it's not like he'd really mind.

Sakura thanked him again when they are halfway through the box of pizza and on their third cans each.

"Really. Thanks, Sasuke. For the couch, the pizza and the beer."

"I figured you needed a drink after being rendered homeless."

She told him about what's the real situation about her apartment and about how long it would take. When he asked about her things, she explained that the extermination had it all covered up and they wouldn't allow her to bring anything other than the necessary and her clothes. She told him how Kakashi was kind enough to overlook the process and to shoulder the expenses to which he replied that he damn well should being the landlord and all and to which Sakura laughed.

When he asked if she had no other friends to crash at around Konoha, she told him about a friend of hers up in WeKo who couldn't really accommodate her either at the moment.

"I just moved from Suna and I don't really know a lot of people in Konoha yet. Ino, my friend on WeKo, has someone around and I don't really want to be around all that if you know what I mean."

Ah. So she's from Suna. No wonder she looks like she really doesn't know much around Konoha.

"How about you, Sasuke? You from around here?"

"Aa. I was born and grew up here but we moved to Oto after high school."

"So, your family is in Oto and you're here because you're studying. Law, right?"

Sasuke stared at her as she flexed her small feet this way and that having taken off her sneakers some time ago. She swirled the remaining content of her can before throwing it back like a pro.

"How did you know?"

Sakura finished her drink and wiped the corner of her mouth with her middle finger before answering him.

"Well, for starters you probably wouldn't be living alone if your family's here and well, your bookshelf just screams 'law student.'" She giggled "Or are you already a lawyer?"

He smirked leaning his head back on the couch. How observant.

"Still studying. What about you? You a doctor?"

"Hah. I wish. I'm still just an intern in Konoha Gen. If all goes well, I'm gonna be finishing my residency and work there. Did you know Konoha Gen has the best surgical program in all of the five nations?"

She stifled a yawn and Sasuke decided it's time to hit the sack. They've stayed up late enough as it is. Finishing his drink, he got up to dispose of the cans and the pizza box. He ignored Sakura's protests and attempts to take them from him as he insisted she stay put.

Sasuke appeared beside her in a while dumping a heap of comforters, sheets and pillows on the couch.

"Make yourself comfortable. We'll talk rent tomorrow." Was all he said as he disappeared to his room.

The next morning, Sasuke woke up to find a woman sprawled on his couch.

He stopped himself from shouting and throwing her out when he remembered what happened last night and how he now has a roommate.

A groan escaped his lips as he massaged the bridge of his nose. It's not even noon yet and already he can feel a headache coming. It's going to take a while to get used to this.

He decided he needed to be more awake to deal with everything around him. The coffee maker groaned to life as he switched it on. He eyed the lump on the bed that is his new roommate as he contemplated rent and ground rules.

Was he seriously bonked last night that he decided to take-up a chick for a roommate? What was going on in his mind? How could she rent out his couch to a girl he barely knew? It's not like his apartment is big enough for two occupants not to mention the bathroom arrangements. The bathroom's gonna be full of female products and she'll be moving his stuff out of the cabinet in no time.

The smell of coffee wafted through the apartment as it finished brewing and Sasuke flinched when the lump on his couch abruptly moved to a sitting position.

Messy pink hair emerged from the sheets and Sakura's sleepy eyes focused on him as she sniffed the air.

"You're making coffee?"

The words came out slightly slurred and groggy but Sasuke understood completely and made to pour coffee in to two mugs.

Sakura wobbled to the kitchen where he stood. She thanked him as he held out a mug to her before sitting down on the table. He watched as she drank her coffee plain with her eyes still closed and winced at its bitter taste.

"Um...do you have any sugar?"

He pointed her to where the condiments are placed and continued to watch her as she wobbled her way to it still half asleep. She put in three teaspoons of sugar and looked to be finding something else before shrugging when she couldn't find it and stirred her coffee.

There was silence as they sipped their coffees respectively. It wasn't until she finished her second cup did she turned to him fully awake.

"So, rent." She prompted. "Before we talk payment I just want to know if this is okay?"

"What do you mean?" He already let her sleep in for the night didn't he?

"I mean, if this doesn't breach any sort of contract with Kakashi."

Sasuke took a sip of his coffee thinking the idea over in his head and trying to think of a cluster in the contract he signed when he first moved in about taking in another tenant. He doesn't seem to remember anything of the sort and anyway it was only until her apartment's extermination is finished.

"It's fine. There isn't anything about that in the contract and it's wasn't your fault your apartment's currently inhabitable anyway." Still he'd talk to Kakashi about this when he sees him.

"Okay. So, rent?"

Oh, right. Now he remembered why he decided to rent out his couch. He was as desperate for money as she is for a place to stay.

"Rent's a quarter of what you normally pay Kakashi due at the end of the month."

"Fair enough. Hey, thanks again for this, Sasuke. I promise I won't be a burden here. I'm really neat so you don't have to worry about me making a mess and between work and my shift at the hospital I won't be around here much so, really. You won't feel like there's someone else living in here, besides my suitcase of course. And I'll only be here until my apartment's finished being exterminated then I'll be off your couch."

He just shrugged. He really didn't mind as long as she paid her rent. She said she'd hardly be home anyway.

Sakura smiled at him as she took his empty mug from him to put it in the dishwasher with hers.

"It's the least I could do." She said as she bend over to put the mugs in the dishwasher. "So, um, do you want breakfast?"

Just when he was about to tell her he didn't have anything on his fridge, his front door swung open in a burst of blonde and misplaced cheerfulness too much to be considered normal in the early mornings.

"Rise and shine, Bastard! Get your ass off your bed so we can—eh?"

Sasuke closed his eyes as he massaged the bridge of his nose. He could see Sakura's surprised and confused face from his peripheral vision and he could practically see the train of thoughts going through the blonde intruder's head. Sasuke dreaded the wicked grin that spread across Naruto's whiskered cheeks as his eyes looked from him to a pajama clad Sakura and back.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Great. Now his headache is now a full blown migraine.

A/N: I'm two days late I know. But I have school and I'm feeling lazy lately but my Tumblr prompts are up to date! Go check them out okay?

Also, fave and alerts are super duper great and all but reviews are the bomb. Thanks for those of you who take time to tell me what you think! Read and review okay?

Have a nice day!

-Angeline

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