Disclaimer: All characters and original plot ofc belong to Kishimoto.
A/N: Long chapter ahead!
Haruno Sakura was not a heavy sleeper. She woke easily, and sometimes awoke in the middle of night just because a bird had suddenly decided to chirp annoyingly right next to her window. And to her displeasure, that morning, a bird landed right next to her window and did just that. Her eyes opened slowly and she silently willed the bird to either go away or shut up so she can resume her sleep for at least another twenty minutes. But the bird kept at it, singing its repetitive tunes over and over again until Sakura decided to give up and start the day.
Her hands grasped the blankets surrounding her and pulled them off. Immediately her skin met the chilly air that filled the room, and no doubt the rest of the house. She slightly shivered before she lifted herself off the bed. Expecting to be met with sunshine, Sakura swept aside the curtains and spread her arms out, ready to let the warmth of the sun envelop her. Instead of streaming bright light shining upon Sakura's face, a pale grey glow shone. The sun was hiding partially behind puffy grey clouds, and the sky imitated their color. Judging by the weather, she concluded that it was just before dawn. She hoped that the sky was only dark and gloomy because she had woken up early. If the party was to be today, she didn't want it to be raining on people on their way here. They could possibly get sick. That, and Sasuke would be irritated with the puddles splattered along the clean hard-wood floors of his house.
Still cold, she slipped on a cardigan. The thin night-gown was doing nothing to preserve her body heat, but she preferred to keep it on, seeing as she'll be cooking which will eventually warm her up and she'll be changing into party clothes later on anyways. The door quietly creaked open and she swore that the air around her dropped a couple of degrees as she navigated out of her room and into the living room.
A mental list of things to do popped into her head. First of all, she had to plan what to cook for everyone and buy the ingredients for those dishes. Sakura shook her head solemnly. It was such a shame that the groceries that Sasuke had bought for her were stuck in the fridge of her apartment. She felt guilty letting all those perfectly good vegetables and fruits go to waste, but she could do nothing about it besides compensate for it by being the one to buy groceries and cook for the party.
She tapped a finger against her cheek as she contemplated what to cook. If Chouji was coming, it'd be best for her to include a dish that was grilled. A lot of it, too. For Naruto, some sort of soup. Anything that wasn't sweet for Sasuke, most likely something including tomato. A light-bulb went off in her head as she finally came up with ideas on what to cook. With that finally decided, she moved on to the other things on her list.
Second, she had to clean the place and make it suitable for a party. Not that it wasn't already clean, but she decided that it would be harmless to do a clean sweep around the house for things to clean. Sakura glanced around Sasuke's living room and snorted. Thanks to Sasuke's tidiness, there was practically nothing for her to clean. The thought of cleaning was pushed to the back of her mind as she moved on and thought about anything else she might have to do.
Clothes, she remembered. She had nothing to wear to the party since all of her clothes were in the closet in her locked apartment. She would have to buy new clothes to wear for the next two weeks. A quiet groan escaped her lips. Am I going to have to start over for everything? Anger and frustration bubbled within her. I wouldn't be in this situation if I hadn't lost the keys to my apartment. What the hell happened to those damned keys anyways? I swear it was in my bag, shannaro! Sakura ranted.
She pressed a cold hand to her forehead in an attempt to calm herself. Less than two weeks are left, bear with it, she reminded herself.
After letting the hand fall to her side, she grabbed her bag along with her copy of the key to the house and stuffed it in her bra. She gasped as the cold metal met her skin, but she had no choice. Her bra was the only place that she would be able to monitor the damn key so that she didn't lose it like she had with hers. The front door softly clicked shut behind her as she left for the market.
Sakura had overestimated how cold it would be out. As she left the house, she realized that it was even warmer outside than it was inside. After taking her cardigan off and laying it on her shoulder, she peered up at the clouds above her, knowing that the warmth must be due to the humidity. And that meant that there was a possibility of rain.
Confusion splayed across Sakura's features as she walked throughout the village. Practically every person she passed turned and began to whisper behind her back.
"Look at her...!" an old woman exclaimed among a group of others standing in front of a grocery store.
Sakura prepared herself to hear what these women were saying about her. She had to get into the grocery store they were all huddled in front of, so there was no doubt she'd overhear it all.
"Is it true then?"
Sakura approached the entrance to the store and the aggregation of nosy women moved aside to let her through.
"My, my," a woman spoke as she collected a basket for her groceries, "seems to be true."
What's true? What about the way I look? Sakura asked internally as she began to browse through the vegetables section.
A familiar old woman joined the circle of gossip, "She's wearing the crest, and I saw her being carried by the young heir into an apartment just a few nights ago!"
Multiple gasps were heard behind her.
Sakura dropped her vegetables into a basket and attempted to look over her shoulder to see what she was wearing, the realization that she was still wearing Mikoto's night gown dawning upon her. No wonder people had been ogling at her and whispering. They must have assumed she was Sasuke's wife.
Sakura spoke up and tried to explain to them, "You are all mistaken; it's not like that..."
"Yeah, you're right," An unfamiliar old lady approached, "There's no way that boy would go out with you. You aren't pretty enough. My granddaughter has more curves than you, and she's only fifteen!"
The group of women erupted into laughter, and anger raged within the pink-haired kunoichi as she trudged to the meat section. She wanted to talk back to them, make them fall silent with the weight of her angry words. But, instead, she clenched her jaw. She held herself to the ideal of not disrespecting her elders – not because she believe in the bogus ideal, but because she knew not to sink to their level of immaturity.
Her anger was replaced with curiosity as she looked up at the women again, and saw that one had not participated in laughing at her. Sakura narrowed her eyes and observed the woman who stayed silent rather than laughing. Though her head was lowered, Sakura was able to see her most basic of features. Black hair streaked with grey was pulled back into a braid and her eyes, bordered with wrinkles, were a washed-out green. Why does she look so familiar?
Sakura searched her brain for a memory of where she could have met or seen the old woman, but to no avail. Pushing it aside, she continued to leaf through the meats. After gathering select meats in her basket, she turned to pay at the register.
From her bag she pulled out her wallet, and handed the cashier the money. On cue, the not-so-secretive chatter erupted from the women once again.
"I see, she must have been paid by Sasuke-kun for the night. Maybe there weren't very curvy prostitutes wherever he got this one."
Breathe, Sakura reminded herself. Don't do anything you'll regret.
The familiar woman spoke, "But what about her clothes? Why is she wearing a night-gown with the Uchiha crest on it? I don't think he would let just anyone wear the crest."
A lady looked at her horribly done nails as she spoke, "Knowing Sasuke-kun, he probably damaged her clothes. I hear that Uchihas are rough lovers."
The cashier handed her change, and Sakura eagerly took it. She was ready to get out of here and escape the gossip. She stuffed the change in her bag and made her way out of the store.
Upon leaving the store, she exhaled in relief. Finally, she was going to be emancipated of those nosy crones. Time to buy new clothes, she reminded herself.
Finding a clothes store down the same street, she stepped in excitedly. She was never very materialistic, but being friends with Ino over the years resulted in her enjoyment of shopping for new clothes. Needing more underwear, she grabbed a basket and headed over to the undergarments section.
Bras of all different sizes, shapes and colors filled Sakura's vision as they hung from the wall. A specific pastel pink lacy bra in the corner of her eye drew her attention, and she picked it up to observe it. Decorating the undersides of the bra was black lace that swirled in and out of ornate flower designs and met at the bridge of the bra with a flower-shaped rhinestone.
I have to get it, Sakura thought. It was just too pretty for her to pass on, and she frantically searched the bra for its tag, hoping it was her size. She sighed in relief after finding the right size and delved into the section of similarly designed bras. She only grabbed four since she figured she could just wash and reuse them. Her eyes scanned the area for matching panties.
A few minutes later, she stood with four pairs of matching bras and thongs. The thongs she found were similarly designed, except the whole piece was made of glittery lace. She felt accomplished for finding such cute undergarments. Ino would be so jealous, she grinned.
Realizing that she should probably hurry and get back to start cooking already, she continued on to find outfits to wear. She sifted through the racks that held dresses, shirts, skirts, pants and spandex, hoarding a few pieces of clothing from each as she passed it. Finally done with clothes shopping, she paid for everything and stepped out of the store.
"See? I told you all that he must have torn her clothes, the poor girl. Now she had to use the money she just received to buy new ones."
Sakura's eyebrows twitched in annoyance. She was still going on about that? Just because she's been seen with Sasuke once and is wearing the crest, all of a sudden she's a prostitute. She made a mental note to remember to change out of any clothes bearing the Uchiha crest before going out in public. All of this stupid and irrelevant gossiping and badmouthing about her could result in unnecessary injuries that she would induce, only to be required to heal later on.
Sakura had just passed them when the mean old lady spoke again, "I wonder how much she got paid… Probably not much, not with that flat chest. She probably spent all her money already."
That was the last straw. Sakura turned to the woman and plastered a fake smile of her face.
"You know," she said sweetly, "I hope I don't become like you when I grow older, so bored with my life that I begin to make assumptions about a person that I don't even know and even say horrendous things about them when they're within earshot. That would be.. I don't know, so pathetic and lowly of me."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she faced forward and continued to walk home. She heard the angry remarks being made toward her as she walked, but she could care less about what that spiteful woman said.
So that's Haruno Sakura, the familiar old woman chuckled at Sakura's as she walked away, Interesting girl, that one is.
I can't wait to finally meet her.
Sasuke was already awake and heating water for tea by the time Sakura came through the front door holding multiple bags of groceries and clothing. He quickly finished pouring the tea and rushed to her aid. He placed the bags on the kitchen table and began to empty them. From a single bag came a huge assortment of vegetables, flavorings, and meats that nearly covered half of his table. And that was just one bag. There was yet another bag of groceries to be sorted through and emptied. This was enough food to feed a ravenous pack of lions.
Sasuke looked at her in amazement, "You're going to cook… all this?"
"It is a grand celebration after all," she replied simply with a smile, as if the task ahead of her wasn't one of great volume.
Sasuke glanced at the amount of ingredients on his kitchen table and back at Sakura. It was already eleven o'clock. There was no way she'd be able to cook all of this by herself before five.
"What dishes are you making?"
"Miso soup, your baked tomatoes, yakitori, edamame, gyoza and teriyaki chicken." She listed.
As soon as Sakura finished listing all she planned to cook, Sasuke pulled out a large pot and placed it on his four burner stove. He turned the heat on high as he poured dashi into it.
Sakura stared at him with wide eyes, "W-what are you doing?"
He soaked the dried seaweed bits in a bowl of water and pulled out a cutting board and knife.
"You won't be able to finish cooking all this by yourself," he replied as he began to dice up tofu.
A smile formed on Sakura's face as warmth settled into her stomach at the sight of Sasuke cooking. She never would have thought that Sasuke actually knew how to cook, but she supposed he didn't have a four burner stove for nothing. The thought of him being a father briefly crossed her mind, but she shook it off. She needed to focus on cooking.
While Sasuke worked on the soup, Sakura began on the edamame. She filled a pot with water, and added a sprinkle of salt to it before she turned the stove on to let it boil.
"Aren't you going to add the tofu and the seaweed?" She asked Sasuke, noticing that he was already turning the stove off and taking the pot of soup off.
"We have a little more than five hours. If I add them now, they'll both be soggy by the time our guests arrive."
"Ah, you're right." She hadn't thought about that. They could just reheat the soup later and then add the tofu and seaweed. There's the Uchiha genius for you, Sakura remarked to herself.
She rinsed the beans and placed them aside in a bowl for easy access once the water came to a rolling boil. As she waited for the water to boil, she and Sasuke both grabbed frozen chicken breasts.
"Which are you planning to make?" She asked Sasuke, making sure they weren't trying to make the same dish.
"Yakitori," Sasuke answered as he diced up the chicken along with scallions, "I can easily turn on the grill in the back."
Perfect, Sakura thought. She began to soften and pound the chicken flatter using a mallet.
"I'll make the teriyaki then," She told him as she slid the mallet into the sink.
Sasuke disposed of his knife, "Aa,"
They reached for the same sauce pan, and their hands brushed against each other. Sakura quickly retracted her hand.
"Sorry," she muttered as a light blush spread to her cheeks.
What are you blushing for? Calm down, she chastised herself as she turned away and opened another cabinet, looking for another pan to use.
Sasuke nodded silently in response, thankful that she turned away from him. If she hadn't turned, she would have noticed the blush that was found its way on his cheeks as well.
He placed the pan on the stove and began to make the sauce for the yakitori. Once finished, he skewered the large amount of cut chicken and scallions, placing the finished skewers in a tray.
"Ah!" Sakura exclaimed as she pulled two pans out from a cabinet, getting to work on her teriyaki chicken.
Finally done skewering the large amount of chicken and scallions, Sasuke took the yakitori marinade off the stove and coated the skewers with it. He then brought the tray of skewers to his backyard to begin grilling.
Once Sakura finished cooking the teriyaki chicken, she checked off the dishes in her head, wondering what was left for her to cook.
Edamame, done. Teriyaki, done. Yakitori and miso, practically done. All that was left was the gyoza and the baked tomatoes. Less than 10 minutes later, she had finished prepping the tomatoes and slid the tray into the pre-heated oven.
In her wait for the tomatoes to roast, she followed the smell of grilled chicken to the backyard. Her pink head popped out from the door frame.
"Almost done?" Sakura asked Sasuke with a smile, relishing in the sight of him cooking. This was a memory she'll never forget.
"Aa."
"Thank you, Sasuke." She thanked him for the umpteenth time in the past four days. It was unexpected of him to help her so much and she questioned his motives, but was thankful for it nonetheless.
Onyx eyes met jade, "You keep repeating that, it's getting annoying."
"I know," she smiled, "But still."
He accepted the gratitude with a nod until a certain scent grabbed his attention, "Something smells good. What is that?"
Her smile brightened, "Those are your tomatoes in the oven,"
Sakura watched as Sasuke took a deep breath, seemingly enjoying the smell of his beloved fruit.
"Do I have to wait until everyone else comes?" he asked
Sakura giggled at his lack of patience, "Yes, you have to wait."
Sasuke scowled at her answer as he turned the chicken over.
She returned to the kitchen and began to chop ingredients for the filling of the dumplings. Recollection of the tomatoes in the oven came to her with a gasp, and she quickly turned the oven off and pulled the tomatoes out so they wouldn't burn. After doing so, she pulled out and opened a pack of gyoza wrappers and began to wrap the gyoza.
Halfway through, Sasuke entered the kitchen and placed the freshly cooked yakitori on the now-clean dinner table. He pulled a chair up next to Sakura and began to wrap gyoza along-side her.
"You know, I never knew that you could cook," she told him, having tasted his miso soup while he was out by the grill. No miso soup she had ever tasted was that good.
He was silent for some time, leading Sakura to believe he was going to ignore her statement (wouldn't be the first time he's ignored her), when he finally spoke.
"I used to watch my mom when Itachi couldn't train with me," he told her.
Sakura was taken aback at his revelation, her mind raced as it searched for appropriate answers.
"She taught you well," she blurted, feeling like that response was the most appropriate compared to the rest.
Sasuke was just surprising her in so many ways recently. Bringing her home, taking care of her as she was sick, allowing her to live in his house for two weeks, helping her cook. Now he was even opening up about his past? Someone pinch me, I must be dreaming.
He gave her a small smile in response to her compliment, a rare sight that often left her stomach fluttering. This time was no exception. She just did her best to try and focus on the task at hand and minimize her attention on the tender look he had given her.
In a matter of minutes she and Sasuke had finished wrapping the gyoza, having run out of the meat to fill the wrappers with. She placed them in a bowl in the fridge. They could fry it when they finish the miso soup, since it would lose crunchiness in the wait for guests to arrive.
Sakura tightly covered the already finished foods, hoping to preserve their warmth.
She glanced at the time and her jaw dropped. It was only three o'clock! Both she and Sasuke had finished cooking five big dishes in four hours. If he hadn't helped her, she would have had to skewer and grill all the chicken by herself, and she wouldn't have even had time to get ready for the party.
Suddenly she heard the sound of crinkling and a plop behind her. She turned and her laughter filled the air at the sight she was met with. The tray with Sasuke's tomatoes was uncovered, and a slice of the bright red fruit was splattered on the dining table next to a pair of chopsticks while Sasuke was drinking from a cup of water.
"You burned your tongue, didn't you?" she teased.
He didn't remove the cup of water from his mouth, but the glare he gave her told it all.
"That's why you have to wait," she laughed, "And now you've gone and burned your tongue."
He placed his cup down on the table.
"I was hungry," he replied defensively.
"I know, but I thought that you would have been patient enough to at least wait for it to cool. Clearly, I overestimated your patience."
"Hn."
Sasuke swished his tongue around in his mouth. He rubbed it against the roof of his mouth, irritated by the uncomfortable sensation. Curse the tempting scent of baked tomatoes.
"Do you want to shower first or should I?" she asked him.
He immediately replied, "You can go first,"
"Okay," she smiled inwardly. He probably wanted to finish eating his tomatoes, she assumed.
With two hours left before the party actually started, Sakura took her time in the shower. Warm water sifted through her pink tresses and trailed down her body, effectively calming the tired medic nin. After lathering her hair with shampoo, she brought the soapy loofa down her body. Foam covered her skin wherever the loofa was dragged. She paused as the foam masked her breasts, it looked like she had just washed the body of a twelve year old chubby little boy.
Uncomfortable with the sight, she washed the foam off, revealing her boobs once again. She pouted.
I am not flat chested; they're big enough that they don't interfere with my being a kunoichi, she repeated over and over in her head, trying to convince herself of the fact.
She sighed as she continued the rest of her shower, wishing her chest was at least as prevalent as TenTen's.
After cleaning the slice of tomato he had dropped on the table, Sasuke used his chopsticks to pull out another red slice of tomato from the tray. This time he blew on it for a good minute and a half before hesitantly taking a small bite. He then stuffed the whole slice in his mouth and chewed, not caring for the slight burning sensation on his tongue.
After swallowing he gulped down a cup of water before bringing another tomato into his mouth. He had just discovered a new favorite food of his. Red slices of tomato continued to enter his mouth until a third of the tray was empty, and he was mostly full. He decided to save the rest for later. The foil crinkled as he pulled it over to cover the tray.
A strange hum met his ears, and he strained to decipher the sound he was hearing. What is that? His chopsticks were placed down on the table before he moved closer to the origin of the sound.
The sound of water splashing against tile was heard along with humming as he approached the bathroom. Oh. Sakura was humming in the shower. A small smile formed on his lips, only for it to disappear within a few seconds.
Sakura. Shower. Sasuke was reminded of what had kept him up all night and into the early morning.
Last night, grabbing a glass of water proved to be an interesting experience for Sasuke. He had just finished drinking the water and was on his way to bed when a naked Sakura pranced down his dark hallway into her bedroom. She didn't seem to see him, or even notice his presence. It was a pleasant surprise, to say the least. Others wouldn't have been able to see Sakura's naked form in the dark, but Sasuke is an Uchiha. His eyes were able to see better than everyone else in the dark, but to see clearly in the dark, he had to activate his sharingan. He activated it last night to see the glass clearly, making sure it didn't overfill with water. And he saw Sakura clearly too, alright. He saw it all. The worst part about it was that, due to his sharingan, it was recorded in his mind and the memory was much more vivid than the others.
Sasuke's throat went dry at the memory, and he felt his pants stiffen slightly. Moving quickly, he shuffled back into the kitchen to splash ice cold water on his face. He hissed at the contact, but allowed the cold water to drip down his face and into his shirt while he attempted to redirect his thoughts. Instead he thought about the things that annoyed him. Mess. Naruto. He could feel his slight erection subsiding, and continued through the list. Kakashi reading his stupid book. Hn. Sasuke smirked. Sakura and I would give him something to read about in the perverted book of his.
Shit. Sasuke immediately dropped the thought and instead thought of the worst thing he had ever seen. He shuddered. A drunk Gai was not a pleasant thought. The last time Gai was drunk, he was naked and was flopping all over the place because of his inability to hold alcohol well. Sasuke had seen parts of Gai that he never wanted to see.
In a matter of seconds, Sasuke's boner was officially killed. He wiped his face dry just as he heard the shower turn off. Now composed, he walked into his bedroom and pulled a clean towel off the hook on door. He then headed to the bathroom, nearly bumping into a half-naked Sakura on the way. She had just left the bathroom and was wearing only a towel to cover up her private parts. He glanced over her and closed the bathroom door behind him.
In a corner behind the bathroom door lay a lacy bright red thong. He groaned. As if he needed more things to provoke his perverted thoughts about Sakura. He picked up the piece of clothing as a knock sounded on the door.
Sakura opened the door and poked her head through, to have her thong thrown to her by Sasuke. She could feel heat burning her cheeks as she took it.
"Th-thank you." She stuttered, unable to bring herself to meet his eyes before closing the door.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Sakura reprimanded herself as she returned to her room; she was so embarrassed.
Sasuke chuckled. Soon he shall be the one throwing her soaked thongs off of her as she writhed under him, moaning his name.
He took a deep breath and turned on the cold water. He desperately needed a cold shower.
It took little more than half an hour before Sakura was fully dressed. It seemed that each outfit she thought of in her head actually didn't look very well on her in reality. Finally, she pulled on a dress that she thought complimented her look. She stepped out of her room and checked the bathroom to make sure it was empty before she stepped in front of the mirror.
Sakura's dress was a one-sleeved black number. Paired with nude heels, it made Sakura's milky white legs appear to be longer and emphasized both her pink hair and green eyes. The dress hung off of her right shoulder, dropping down into a sweetheart neckline. The fabric wrapped into a bundle above her left rib, marked by a gold sequined triangle. From the triangle flowed the rest of the sheer material, stopping mid-thigh. Extra fabric hung loosely from her right arm. To top it all off, on her right wrist dangled a golden bracelet.
Liking how the dress looked on her, she moved on to do her makeup. She settled for a plum eye shadow and a dark brown eyeliner, followed by the essential mascara. She picked up her favorite lipstick. The coral color glided on and she smacked her lips together, solidifying the color on her lips.
Finished getting ready, Sakura sauntered back into the kitchen to resume cooking the miso soup and fry the gyoza. She lugged the heavy soup pot onto the stove and turned it on high. Next to it, she brought a large frying pan over and heated that up as well. Once the pan was heated enough, she added oil and began to fry the dumplings.
Once the soup began to boil, Sakura picked up the bowl containing the diced tofu. Sasuke, wearing a tight, light-grey v-neck shirt that did little to hide his rippling muscles, paired with black harem pants, entered the kitchen and took the bowl from Sakura's hands. He added the tofu and seaweed to the soup himself.
"Hurry and add the water before they burn," he advised her as he stirred the soup.
Following his advice, she filled a cup of water and poured it into the pan of gyoza. The pan sizzled, and little splashes of hot oil bounced around the pan, threatening to stain the wall and the floor. She pulled a cover out and brought it over the pan. After a few minutes and the first batch was done, she transported them into a large tray and repeated the process over again.
Sasuke turned the burner off and remembered that they still hadn't cooked any rice. He poured the water and rice granules into the electric rice cooker and plugged it in.
On the last batch of gyoza, Sakura was about to cover the pan when a splash of hot oil burned the skin on her hand.
"Ah!" She squeaked.
Before Sakura could do anything herself, Sasuke instantaneously covered the pan and grabbed her burned hand before pulling her over to the sink. Cold water sprayed out of the faucet and onto Sakura's hand. The burn was soothed instantly by the cold water. After a few moments, Sakura realized that the cold water wasn't the only thing she was feeling on her hand. Sasuke was gently caressing the burn with his thumb. Sakura blushed madly at the simple gesture.
Curse my responsive body, she thought to herself.
Normally she would be able to shrug a gesture such as this off without a single speck of pink staining her cheeks. This would be no big deal if someone else had done it. Like, Naruto, per say.
But this was Uchiha Sasuke. This is the same man that avoided physical contact as much as possible. The same man that would only touch another person if someone's life depended on it. In this case, no one's life was on the line. It wasn't even a serious injury of some sort, it was only a small burn. She wondered why he even bothered, and for the nth time, she was surprised by his actions.
A voice belonging to a certain platinum blonde wearing a skin-tight, sparkly navy blue dress interrupted Sakura's train of thought, "Guess who's here?"
"My hand is okay now, Sasuke." she told him.
Sasuke nodded and let go of her hand, shutting off the water.
Sakura turned from her sink to look at the blonde. She was about to speak but closed her mouth as Ino pointed her fingers to herself and to Sakura. She mouthed the words, You. Me. Talk tomorrow.
Sakura looked back at Sasuke, and finding he was busying himself with washing the dishes, gave Ino a thumbs up.
Sakura cleared her throat and continued to say what she planned to, "Aren't you supposed to knock before you enter someone's house?" she called to Ino as she wiped her hand dry.
Ino found a corner of the living room fit to stack Naruto's gifts and put hers down, "Yeah, but I was knocking for like ten minutes already so I figured I might as well just go in. For all I know, you could've been dying and needed my help."
"Sure," Sakura noticed a spiky haired man walking through the door "Hi, Shikamaru."
"A party is so troublesome," Shikamaru sighed.
"You know what else is troublesome?" Sakura teased, "Me having to constantly reschedule your shot appointments every time you purposefully skip them."
Shikamaru scowled at the mention of the shots that he was supposed to get a month ago. He wasn't afraid of them or anything, but he simply just couldn't bring himself to the hospital to be impaled with a thin piece of metal. It was too much effort to put into something that would only result in soreness in the area of impalement.
"So this is how Sasuke's house looks like, "Ino sniffed the air, "Do I smell something burning?"
"Shit," Sakura cursed.
She turned to remove the leftover gyoza from the pan but stopped when she saw that Sasuke was already tending to it, the burning smell coming from the hot pan being showered with cold water. She relaxed and seated herself at the dining table, having a perfect view of the living room for when everyone arrived. After washing the pan, Sasuke grabbed a plate of his tomatoes and took a seat behind Sakura.
"Already taken care of," Sakura told Ino, "You two should grab some food now, we didn't spend five hours cooking for nothing,"
"Hai, hai," Ino groaned as both she and Shikamaru walked into the kitchen and began to spoon food onto their plates, "You're just trying to make me gain weight and lose my hourglass figure so I won't be the sexiest woman in Konoha anymore,"
Both Sasuke and Shikamaru listened to the conversation with boredom and distaste etched on their faces.
Sakura laughed, "Sexiest woman in Konoha? Don't you mean me?"
Sasuke quirked an eyebrow in interest. He could definitely confirm that statement.
"You're both mistaken, the sexiest woman in Konoha is right here!" TenTen announced as she sauntered through the front door with Lee following behind her.
"Does anyone knock on the door anymore?" Sakura joked.
"The door was open!" TenTen countered defensively.
Ino laughed, "Because Lee opened it for you!"
Lee dropped a paper bag next to Ino's present and approached Sakura.
"I am sorry Sakura-san," he bowed, "It was me who forgot to knock."
All amusement disappeared from Sakura's tone, "I am officially not inviting you to my next party,"
A panic-stricken Lee looked at Sakura with wide eyes.
Sakura laughed, "I'm just kidding, Lee."
Visible relief washed over Lee, "Oh,"
"Come on Lee," TenTen called, "Let's enjoy the food Sakura prepared for us,"
Lee stood and walked over to his best friend.
"And Sasuke," Sakura corrected, "I wouldn't have been able to pull all of this off without him,"
"Oh," TenTen paused, visibly taken aback at the thought of Sasuke cooking, before commenting simply, "Well it's really good, thanks you two,"
All four guests agreed and continued to eat, but each of their facial expressions resembled TenTen's. They seemed to want to ask more about Sasuke cooking, but instead they stayed silent, not wanting to upset Sasuke by questioning his ability to cook.
"Teme? Cooking? Yeah, right!" Naruto strolled through the door, not bothering to knock like always.
"Tch. I don't eat packaged ramen or eat out all the time like you do. Of course I know how to cook, usuratonkachi."
"Congratulations Naruto!" TenTen and Lee squealed, cutting off Sasuke and rushing to hug Naruto.
Lee, considerably faster than TenTen, reached Naruto first and wrapped his arms tightly around the waist of the whiskered man. Naruto, feeling the awkwardness of the hug, pushed the bob-haired man off. He was grateful that Lee was happy for him, but having Lee hug him so tightly made him uncomfortable. TenTen graced him with a light hug, the complete opposite of the practical strangle that Lee gave him.
When TenTen released him, Naruto thanked both her and Lee.
He began towards the kitchen but stopped at Sakura, "Thanks for what you told me at the club the other night. Now me and Hinata are together!"
"All it took was for you to talk to her, now was that so hard?" Sakura asked him.
He scratched the back of his head as he flashed his trademark smile, "You're right. I should've done it sooner."
He leaned in closer to Sakura's ear, "Oh, did you make me ramen?"
Sakura bonked him on the head, "Seriously, if you keep eating ramen all the time, the sodium is going to catch up on you and you'll most likely die from your eating habits rather than being assassinated by someone else. There's no ramen, but there's miso soup."
"Hai, hai." Naruto continued into the kitchen and took a little bit of everything. He brought his plate to the kitchen table and sat down, eating silently like everyone else.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Sakura turned to Sasuke.
"No."
"Were they good?" She teased, a smile straining her pink lips.
Sasuke paused. Damn her for knowing that the only reason he wasn't eating was because he was full from her tomatoes.
"Aa." He answered.
Sakura smiled and got up from the kitchen table to gather some food for herself.
"What? You made a specific food for him but not me?" Naruto wailed.
A corner of Sasuke's lip turned up into a smirk.
Sakura countered, "Baka! This whole party is for you!"
A blonde head lowered, "Fine," He muttered.
"Stop complaining, I gave you this party and something way better than ramen."
Naruto's head shot up, "What is it?" He asked excitedly.
Sakura motioned at her front door, "It's waiting for you right outside of the door."
Naruto scrambled out of his chair and ran towards the door. He twisted the doorknob and pulled open the door, revealing a shocked Hinata.
Curly strands of long black hair framed her heart-shaped face. Dark eyeliner and mascara highlighted her pale eyes, and her light pink blush complemented her pale complexion. Her dress contrasted her night colored tresses, as it was bright white. From the waist up, the fabric hung loose in ripples across Hinata's torso. Past the waist, the fabric tightened and hugged Hinata's body, mimicking that of a pencil skirt.
"You're right Sakura-chan, this is way better than ramen!" Naruto called back to Sakura.
He took hold of Hinata's small hands and pulled her into a warm embrace before bringing her inside the house, his warm hand still encompassing hers.
Sakura admired the two from her kitchen, finding Hinata's burning blush adorable. A small wave of grief washed over Sakura. I used to have that.
She piled more food onto her plate and sat down in her same seat.
"Th-thank you for throwing the party Sakura," Hinata uttered to Sakura while Naruto pulled her into the chair next to him and began to feed her.
"Of course," A smile was plastered on Sakura's face.
Sakura took a bite of everything that Sasuke cooked, each bite surprising her with how good it all was. Half a plate later, Sakura's stomach was straining to digest all the food she ate. Regardless, she continued to eat, drowning herself in food as she waited for something to come up and distract her from the sadness she felt.
An hour had passed when Kiba, Chouji and Shino had finally arrived lugging four twelve-packs of sake. After letting the packs of sake thump onto the floor, both Kiba and Chouji scarfed down the yakitori and teriyaki, whereas Shino settled for eating edamame. He said something about how it eating meat drained his bugs of energy because of the fat levels in meat. Either way, Sakura was glad that everyone was finally gathered.
When everyone was done eating, Ino spoke up, "So, Sakura, do you have any games for us to play?"
"Games?" Sakura asked. She was so occupied with thinking about all she had to cook, she had forgotten about any sort of entertainment for the guests.
"Yeah, you know the things that actually make parties fun?"
"I know what they are," Sakura sighed, "I just forgot to think of some because I got so busy thinking about what to cook."
Ino gasped mellow-dramatically.
"Just kidding," Ino waved, "No big deal. We can figure something out,"
An idea appeared in Ino's head. She walked over to the packs of sake and picked up a bottle.
Swishing its contents around, she looked at Sakura and suggested, "Let's play drinking games!"
"Alright," Sakura agreed, thinking about how funny it will be to watch everyone progressively get drunk while still trying to function properly enough to play the game right. And, she sort of felt like she needed a drink or two.
"I'm in!" TenTen declared, "Lee won't be participating though, we all know how that would end."
"Alright," Sakura announced, "Everyone who's going to play raise their hand!"
Sakura was surprised when everyone in the house except for Lee, Hinata, Shikamaru and Sasuke raised their hands. Shino was one of the first to raise their hands. Sakura realized she had never seen Shino drink before, and questioned his tolerance for alcohol.
"Okay, I ask those of you that will be staying sober to please assist the drunk in getting home safely tonight." Ino requested.
"Hai," Lee, Hinata and Shikamaru replied.
"Hn." Sasuke grunted.
"Okay, I think that's all we need to worry about," Ino informed Sakura.
"Then let the games begin," Sakura replied with a twinkle in her green eyes.
Shino raised his hand again.
"Yes?" Sakura asked.
"I have a question," Shino informed, "What games will we be playing?"
Sakura and Ino huddled together for a few minutes, trying to decide which games to play. They decided to pick only a few games, seeing as it was eight o'clock, and it would be best for everyone to leave before midnight. Those who might be called in for missions the next day will have enough time to sleep, and Sakura wouldn't have to stay awake into the night trying to clean.
They broke apart from their discussion and answered, "We'll be playing ping pong pang and osama."
(Ping Pong Pang: A Japanese drinking game that's actually pretty simple. Everyone sits in a circle, and a person stars of by saying "ping". The person to their left then say's "pong", and the next person on the left says "pang," but points to someone else. The person pointed at then starts from the beginning and says "ping" and so on. The objec of the game is to try and go as fast as you can without messing up, and if you mess up by either not pointing or messing up the order, that's a drink.)
(Osama: Another Japanese drinking game -not the man Osama Bin Laden- that's similar to just assigning dares. The same number of chopsticks as there are players are gathered. So if there are four players then the same amount of chopsticks. The chopsticks are labeled numbers 1 through whatever, and one of the chopsticks, instead of having a number on it, reads "osama" meaning king. The chopsticks are mixed up and distributed among the players, and the person who gets the osama chopstick gets to assign any of the other numbers a dare. If the people dared can't do the dare, they drink. I added a modification and made it so that the person with the osama chopstick has to drink if the darees go through with the dare.)
"Yosh!" Naruto interrupted, "I'll stay sober the longest! Let's play!"
Sasuke scoffed as everyone scrambled to form a circle on Sasuke's living room floor. Yeah right, Naruto could barely follow directions now, and the alcohol running through his system will definitely worsen his inability to follow directions. And, in order to stay sober the longest in ping pong pang, you have to be able to follow directions.
Bottles of sake were distributed among the players by Sakura and Ino.
Sasuke stood and retrieved a few leftover bottles of sake. Just because he wasn't playing didn't mean he couldn't drink too. The cap popped off and Sasuke brought the bottle to his lips, gulping down the bitter liquid as the others began the game. When he brought the bottle down, he noticed Shikamaru grabbing a few bottles and sitting next to him.
"I'll start!" TenTen proclaimed, "Ping"
To the left of TenTen, Naruto spoke, "Pong!"
"Pang," Chouji, sitting on Naruto's left, said before pointing at Sakura.
Sakura began from the beginning once again, "Ping,"
"Pong," said the person sitting to her left, Kiba.
On Kiba's left, Shino voiced, "Pang," and pointed at Ino, who repeated the process.
Ten tiresome minutes passed of repeating the words until Naruto messed up and had to take the first drink. Instead of saying, "pang," he accidentally got too caught up in trying to move the game along quickly and repeated the word, "pong,".
Sasuke smirked. Of course Naruto was going to be the first to mess up.
"Iki iki iki iki!" Everyone chanted.
Naruto's adams apple bobbed up and down as he emptied the contents of the bottle into his stomach. Once the bottle was completely empty, Naruto slammed the bottle down on the floor and corrected himself.
"Pang!" he spoke and raised a hand to point at Kiba.
"Ping," the fluffy brown-haired dog lover spoke.
"Pong," Shino piped.
"Pang," TenTen repeated, but forgot to point, earning herself a drink.
"Oops," TenTen giggled, immediately realizing her mistake.
"Iki iki iki iki iki!"
"Here we go," TenTen sighed to herself before downing the bottle with her eyebrows furrowed from the bitter taste of the sake.
The clear liquid dribbled down her chin, which she wiped away with her sleeve. Before her hand fell to her side she pointed at Chouji, hoping that Sakura would somehow mess up and have to take a drink as well.
Instead it was Chouji who messed up, forgetting what word to say next. After multiple gulps, the game continued, more and more empty bottles of sake gathering in front of everyone as the game progressively got harder to play with the alcohol running through everyone's system and impairing their judgment.
An hour later, Sakura let an empty bottle of sake thump to the floor. She narrowed her eyes at the blobs of color that replaced the clear vision of her friends. Against her will, Sakura's body slumped to the side, threatening to fall over. With much effort, she was able to keep herself from falling and pulled herself upright; or what seemed to be upright, as far as she could tell.
Sakura was intoxicated, to say the least. The buzz heard in her head told her so. Still, she wasn't inebriated to the point where she'd willingly jump onto a table and start stripping her clothes off.
An elbow nudged Sakura's arm.
"Should we," hiccup. "Play." Hiccup. "Another game?" Ino hiccupped near Sakura's face, her breath reeking of sake. Sakura flinched, realizing that her breath must smell the same. She got up and walked into the kitchen, pulling out seven disposable chopsticks. She numbered six of them from one to six and, on the remaining chopstick, wrote osama.
Realizing that the game is now over, the rest of the participants all began to talk or murmur simultaneously before Sakura was able to answer Ino's question.
"YEAH! ANOTHER GAME!" Naruto shouted excitedly before almost instantly calming down, "Thish one ish getting booorinnngg"
Sakura walked back to the group, holding the chopsticks behind her back and mixing them up.
"Alright everyone," Sakura announced, "Let's move on to playing osama now."
"Yay," some exclaimed and some muttered sarcastically.
Sasuke quirked an eyebrow in interest, wondering what stupid dares these inebriated people could come up with.
Sakura held out the fistful of chopsticks, her hand placement covering the labels. Each person grabbed one, hiding their numbers.
Ino laughed, holding her hand up in victory.
"I got it! I get to make you guys do whatever I want!"
She paused mid-laughter to think about the dare. Oh, how she wished she knew what Sakura's number was.
"Number 5 must... lick the floor!" She doubted anyone would actually lick Sasuke's floor.
Sasuke flinched. Someone was going to lick his floor? He was definitely going to disinfect that spot later tonight.
Chouji groaned as he lowered his face to the floor. The long-haired ninja almost toppled face-first onto the floor, and used his big arms to steady himself as his face neared the floor.
Everyone's eyes widened as Chouji actually flicked his tongue on the floor and sat back up as if the dare was as simple as scratching his head. Had he been sober, he would not have dared to do such a thing, much less on Sasuke's wooden floor.
Damn. Ino cursed. She had hoped that no one would be drunk enough to actually go on and lick Sasuke's floor. After bringing her sake to her mouth and downing it all as the chopsticks were gathered up and shuffled once again.
The chopsticks were redistributed, and this time TenTen was found to have the osama chopstick.
"I dare number 2 to," the weapons master smiled evilly, "Give number 4 a lap dance, and number 4 has to strip two articles of clothing off of 2 in the middle of the lap dance. Number 4 can't flinch away from the dance, and neither of the two can laugh. If either of you break the rules, you drink two bottles."
"Why would I be flinching away from getting a lap dance? Which of the girls do I get to strip off two pieces of clothing from?" Kiba asked the girls, wiggling his eyebrows all the while.
Hn. It better not be Sakura. Sasuke thought as he sipped another bottle of sake.
"Not me," Ino answered quickly.
"Me neither," Sakura followed.
Kiba's head fell back as he groaned, "That means it's one of the guys..."
Naruto sighed and stood, "You'd have to strip two of my clothes off.."
Everyone burst into laughter as Naruto approached Kiba with a mockingly predatory smile, swiveling his hips around in a circle all the while. The closer Naruto got, the more the buzz began to wear off, and the more Kiba regretted participating in the game. Naruto turned and bent over, allowing Kiba a front-seat and full view of his posterior.
Kiba gagged on his laughter when Naruto began to back up towards him, each step resulting in a repulsive jiggle in the mans butt. The Inuzuka's fingers twitched, wanting so badly to give up and cover his eyes from the horrendous and utterly disturbing sight in front of him, but his pride wouldn't allow it. He was going to have nightmares about this night, without a doubt. A shiver passed through him at the thought.
The sensation of someone abruptly dropping onto his lap pulled him from his thoughts. He looked up, to see Naruto sitting on his lap and fluttering his eyelashes at him with his lips sticking out in a pout. The circular grinding movement of Naruto's hips on Kiba's crotch sent him rushing for his sake bottle.
To hell with it all, Kiba thought as he pushed Naruto off.
"You gave up, so you have to drink!" TenTen told him, holding her stomach as she and others laughed themselves sober.
"Yeah, yeah," Kiba droned, "If I get, I'm getting you back!" He swore after guzzling down his two bottles.
"Yeah, that's if you get it,"
Surely enough, it was Kiba who ended up with the osama card.
"SEE TENTEN! I TOLD YOU I WOULD GET IT!" Kiba grinned cheekily.
"You can't possibly guess my number," TenTen countered with certainty.
With much difficulty due to his heavily intoxicated self, Kiba came up with a dare that TenTen would most definitely not have the guts to go through with, forgetting that his chance to guess TenTen's number was very slim.
"I dare... Number 3 to... attempt to kiss Sasuke."
Sasuke glared at Kiba, his eyes just as threatening as being pointed at with a million daggers. But the drunken man didn't notice. He didn't even seem to realize that he just went and made up a dare that was against his consent. Sasuke thought again. Either way, no one was drunk enough to actually go through with trying to kiss him. And even if they were, what little control they had over themselves would overrule the alcohol running through their veins. No one would actually try to kiss him, right?
Sakura gulped. Kiba had called her number, not TenTen's. She tried to think of her best option. She had to clean the house tonight after everyone leaves, and she was to report in for work early tomorrow morning for evaluation. Her judgement was already slightly impaired as it is. If she drank another bottle, her acceptable level of sobriety would be sent crashing to the ground, and she would be rendered unable to function properly. Had it been any other night, she would have gone ahead and taken a drink rather than take her chances in trying to kiss Sasuke. But desperate calls for desperate measures.
But if she went with her other option, it would be all she had to do. It's not like she actually had to kiss Sasuke, all she had to do was attempt to. Kiba knew that no one in their group would kiss Sasuke, much less attempt to. Attempt. It was all she had to do. Although it was way out of his comfort zone, he would understand after she explained to him, right?
With a deep breath Sakura stood and approached Sasuke. She could feel the blood rushing through her face, thoroughly heating and reddening it as it sobered her up. The obnoxious cheers and woots behind her did not help to calm the heart that was about ready to burst through her chest with how quickly it was beating.
Sasuke's eyes slightly widened and his heart rate sped up in alarm when Sakura broke away from the group and began to approach him. He hoped that she was just coming over to talk to him about the party, but the timing was too coincidental for it to be just that. Sakura was coming over to try to kiss him. He wasn't sure whether to be satisfied with the fact or not. But before he could process his racing thoughts any further, Sakura was already standing before him, and one of her hands was lifting his face up to meet hers.
Oh my god oh my god ohmygodohmygod, Sakura chanted in her head. Both their eyes met, and to Sakura's surprise, he wasn't glaring at her. It almost looked as if he had no qualms about her kissing him. She hesitantly leaned in close enough for her actions to be labeled as an attempt to kiss him, and instead of pulling away, she found herself leaning in even closer when Sasuke remarkably mirrored her actions. Their faces were close enough that they could feel each other's heat radiating and hear each others breaths.
Her eyes automatically fluttered shut in anticipation of the kiss, making Sasuke's heart seem to beat out of his chest.
He wanted so desperately to claim her soft pink lips, to kiss them over and over again until they were swollen and red. But not like this. He wanted to make sure he actually went through the process of courting her and kissing her with due time, rather than just randomly hooking up with her now. He wanted to make sure that he kissed her because he had feelings for her, not kiss her because circumstances gave him the chance to.
The sound of clothes rustling and the missing presence of warmth alerted Sakura that Sasuke moved away, and she opened her eyes to affirm her assumption. Sasuke was up and strolling into the kitchen, towards his tray of tomatoes.
Disappointment filled Sakura as she trudged back to her place in the group. I don't know why I'm disappointed, it was supposed to be just an attempt. She reminded herself as the game continued.
Ten rounds later, Ino, noticing Sakura's disheartened expression and that it was already eleven o'clock, decided that she should leave Sakura to get some rest so they could talk about today at work tomorrow.
"Shika," Ino called to her boyfriend, "I think we should leave now,"
Shikamaru agreed with Ino and nodded his head. He made his way over to Chouji, who was in the process of trying to stand up without falling over. Shikamaru brought one of Chouji's arms over his shoulder, allowing his best friend to lean on him as they made their way out.
"We're leaving now," Ino informed Sakura as she left, "Thanks for the party!"
"I'm going to leave now too," TenTen sleepily told Sakura.
"My father told me to be home before midnight," Hinata, with Kiba and Shino, explained to Sakura, "But thank you for throwing the party!"
"Okay, you're all welcome!" She called as they all left - Sasuke included, to bring Naruto home.
Finally left to herself, Sakura fought the urge to collapse onto the floor and surrender herself to the emotions that she'd shoved to the side for the past hour. Instead, she continued to stave them off and used her time to clean up after the party, doing so swiftly. To her relief, there were only a few dishes to do and there was very little left on the floor. Sakura was done cleaning in a matter of fifteen minutes.
After cleaning, she tiredly made her way to bed. She shed her clothes onto the floor, replacing them with new pajamas and practically jumping under the covers. The fuzzy blankets warmed her even more than the alcohol in her system, and she expected to fall asleep quickly, but she couldn't focus on anything but the buried sadness she felt dragging her down.
The moment she opened her eyes and realized Sasuke had removed himself from the situation continuously replayed in her mind, regardless of how badly she willed herself to sleep.
She brought a hand to her face and chuckled bitterly at herself. Once again, rejected by someone she was attracted to. But the worst part of it, wasn't that she was rejected by a mere someone she was attracted to. No, she was rejected by the someone. Her first and only love thus far, who had rejected her a multitude of times in the past, who left her on a park bench. The one who had broken her.
Sakura rolled onto her side, pulling the pillow from under her head and bringing it into a tight hug as her mind continued to consume her.
I'm being dramatic - it was just a kiss, she reminded herself, It doesn't mean anything.
With the last thought, the numbing anguish she had been feeling began to ebb away. However, her mind continued to race with thoughts – both irrational and rational, the prior being the more dominant.
It wasn't long before Sakura's anguish was replaced with irritation, a realization coming to mind. That's precisely it. A kiss doesn't necessarily have to mean anything emotionally. It could be an expression of purely physical attraction.
Then why? Sakura groaned inwardly in frustration.
It's not like she was an unattractive person. Sure, pink hair and green eyes were an unusual combination of features, but that didn't mean she wasn't attractive. Right?
If Ino were able to hear Sakura's thoughts from her home, she'd come pounding on the door to tell Sakura how stupid she was being, and that she is desirable. Sakura laughed at the thought, the laugh quickly fading into a solemn sigh.
Am I actually even attractive or desirable at all?
She turned onto her other side with the pillow still held tightly between her arms. Her mouth opened widely in a yawn and her eyes watered from exhaustion. Resolving to put a rest to the night and sleep, she let her tired eyes flutter shut. In the last moments of her conscious state, Sai's words resurfaced.
There is more to me than what I think of myself. I am worthy.
And while these vague words were true, at least in part, Sakura couldn't help but feel the need to validate this – to validate herself. Because how could she possibly come to believe that she is more than she thinks, when she didn't even know what she thought of herself anymore?
There had to be at least one thing about herself she could be confident in, flaunt and be proud of. Of all the uncertainties and doubts she had of herself, she wanted to at least be able to confirm one thing. She wanted to at least prove to herself that she was worth something, as shallow as it would be.
Her arms tightened even further around the pillow she held, clinging to it the way she clung so desperately to the only aspect of herself she had left to believe in.
An idea came to mind then, as she lay calmly in the dark. It was ridiculous, pointless, and damn near impossible.
Maybe it's not as impossible as I thought, Sakura realized a moment later, remembering Ino's description of the way Sasuke had watched her the other night at the club.
In that case, it wouldn't hurt to try, right?