-Chapter 9-

-Your Drunken Behaviour-

Uchiha Sasuke stood over Sai, his breath hitching slightly. He hadn't really thought about what he was doing while he had acted. He'd simply reacted to the emotions in the room. Both Ino and Sakura looked nearly devastated and Sasuke knew he had to do something to remedy the situation. So he had reached out, grabbed Sai by the collar, and thrown him to the ground.

Sasuke had wanted to do more, had wanted to continually bury his fists in Sai's smug face, but he restrained himself. Sakura had run off after her sister and Sasuke felt an urge to chase after her and ensure she was fine. He removed his hand from Sai's collar, stepped away and allowed Sai to stand up.

"You'll pay for this, Uchiha!" Sai called as Sasuke walked out of the room after the Sarutobi sisters.

Sarutobi Sakura caught up to her sister at the front door. She placed a hand on her sister's shoulder to stop the blonde from leaving. Ino turned to face the rosette, tears streaming down her face. Without any real thought to it, Sakura reached out and embraced her sister in a comforting hug.

The Sarutobi sisters were usually at each other's throats, battling over one thing or another. It had been years since either had leaned on the other or stood up for the other. It just wasn't the type of relationship they had. So Sakura giving her sister comfort in a time of need was definitely out of left field.

"Let me go!" Ino screamed, pushing her sister away. "I do not need your pity, okay! I know you are better than me. I know you think I make stupid decisions. I do not need that right now. Just leave me the fuck alone!" Ino screamed the last of her words and then turned and bolted out the door.

Sakura stood frozen. She couldn't believe that her attempt at comfort, at a normal sisterly relationship, had been interpreted by Ino as the start of a speech. Is that what their relationship was now? Lectures and screaming matches but no love and comfort? It was a depressing thought, one Sakura wasn't ready to deal with. She had kept everyone at arms length to avoid getting hurt, but she'd always expected her sister would at least understand where she was coming from. She had always expected her sister to be there for her.

Now, she wasn't so sure.

Sakura's head was spinning with this information and tears welled up in her eyes. She did not want to feel the hurt that was coursing through her veins. She reached out for something to numb the pain and found a strong, alcoholic drink. Immediately, Sakura began downing drink after drink to numb the fact that her twin sister hated her.

Nara Shikamaru wasn't focusing on the party anymore. The loud, pounding music made no sound to his ears. The thrashing, drunken teens blurred together until no single face was distinguishable. All smells ceased to register in his brain. All that mattered was getting out of there. He had tunnel vision and his eyes were honed on the front door.

Self-deprecating thoughts raced through his mind with each step he took. At all his previous schools, he had easily avoided making connections. He ate lunch alone, surrounded by thick books. He didn't join clubs or teams and avoided extra-curricular activities like the plague. If he was forced to work with a partner or a group, he always chose different people. He walked home to avoid bus conversations and never reached out to anyone. He moved around so much that friends, or the lack thereof, didn't matter to him.

This time was different. Konoha was different. On the very first day, a peer had reached out to him and offered him a tour. Against all warnings and all previous behavior, he had agreed and began to forge a relationship. He wasn't sure why he'd agreed. At the time, he attributed it to simply wanting to figure out the school. Now, a few weeks after the fact, he couldn't seem to use the same excuse. There had been more than simply wanting directions that had propelled him to accept Chouji's offer of aid.

Shikamaru stopped. He had completely forgotten about Chouji, the first person he had considered a friend in many years. He had been so consumed with the idea of leaving that he hadn't thought about his friend. He knew Chouji was not a social butterfly and had only come to the party for Shikamaru. The Nara couldn't just leave Chouji there.

The brown-haired male turned to look for his friend, but came face to face with a cause of his current great beguile.

Uchiha Sasuke found Sakura only a few minutes after he left Sai on the floor, but she'd already downed two drinks and was nearly half done her third. Having not seen the rosette drink all night, the sight caught him off guard. When Sakura went in for her fourth drink, Sasuke knew he had to do something. He quickly stepped towards Sakura, grabbed the red solo cup and downed it.

"Trying to catch up to everyone else here in five minutes or less?" he asked, jokingly.

"That wasss mine!" Sakura responded, her words slurring slightly. She then turned and headed towards the kitchen, grabbing drinks from people's hands and downing them as she went. Something was definitely not right with Sakura. Something was obviously bothering her.

However, Sasuke wasn't allowed to dwell on the matter for very long. Sakura continued to indiscriminately down drink after drink and Sasuke had already decided to act as her caretaker for the evening and make sure she didn't hurt herself or do something stupid.

Ryuu Tenten sat on one of the sole unsticky spots on the couch. It appeared that a significant number of the people in attendance had spilled more than they had consumed and, as a result, nearly every surface was sticky with alcohol. Tenten had not been drinking to excess that night. She'd had a few beers throughout the evening, choosing to enjoy the stupidity from afar.

"That's ten," the soothing, deep baritone of her companion for the night commented. Yet another popular blonde twig had just emptied the contents of her stomach into a potted plant. Neji and Tenten had started the tally after three people had vomited within the span of an hour.

"I feel sorry for whoever has to clean this place," Tenten remarked.

"Even if it's Sai?" Neji inquired.

"Like Sai would every clean anything," she responded before chuckling slightly to herself at the image of Sai in one of those French maid outfits. She turned to look at Neji and saw that a small smile was pulling at the corners of his mouth. Despite not being one to attend parties of this sort, Tenten wasn't afraid to admit that she was enjoying herself. She was definitely glad she'd blurted out her feelings and convinced Neji to go with her.

Uchiha Sasuke spent twenty minutes attempting to catch Sakura and stop her constant intake of alcohol. He had no idea what had happened between Ino and Sakura, but it had obviously greatly upset her. She had taken off too quickly and downed too many drinks for him to ask her though. All he could do now was chase after her.

"Oi!" Sasuke called out to her when he finally reached the pink haired girl. He grabbed her wrist, stopping her from downing her tenth or eleventh shot. At this close range, he could see the signs of intoxication clearly on her face. Her normally pale cheeks were now a shiny apple red and her eyes were glazed over and unfocused.

She put up some initial protests against Sasuke's grip, but quickly gave up. She was too drunk to care for long about the restraint around her arm.

Sasuke did not like that something had bothered Sakura so intensely that she had done this to herself. He had started to admit that feelings were beginning to form in his dark heart for Sakura. Seeing her in such a state knotted his stomach and made his chest ache. He needed to get her out of this situation.

He removed his hand from her wrist and took the shot from her hand. Sakura stood upright for a minute before she lost her balance and pitched forward. Sasuke caught her easily and hoisted her over his shoulder before heading towards the door. The party was over for Sakura, as far as he was concerned. Sasuke was taking her home before she did something she'd regret.

Sarutobi Ino stood before Shikamaru rendered speechless for the first time that she could remember. The hurt displayed so openly across his face cut deep into her heart. She had been the cause of that anguish, a new occurrence for her. The blonde's entire life up to that point had just been about making sure she was happy, healthy, and enjoying life. That moment, that expression on the brown haired male's face, made Ino rethink her entire life.

Sure, Sai had forced himself on her. Sure, she'd already decided he wasn't as amazing as she initially thought. But she'd still been playing Shikamaru before that. She'd used his interest in her to get something from him and hadn't planned to give him anything in return. She'd played with his feelings and emotions without even considering how it would effect him.

How many more Shikamarus were there? How many more people had she trampled over to get what she wanted? How many people had she hurt? How many people had she left feeling used? Questions tumbled through her mind, but there was only one she wanted to ask Shikamaru. She felt terrible asking him after what she had done to him, but she really had no other option.

"I know you hate me, and you have every right to. I was just hoping you'd give me the opportunity to explain and maybe drive me home?"

Uchiha Sasuke pulled Sakura's small red Prius up to her front walkway. Sakura had managed to get out that her dad didn't know about the car and that she usually kept it at Tenten's before her words were lost to drunken slurs. Shortly after that, Sakura was overcome by fatigue and had instantly fallen asleep. Now Sasuke was faced with the near impossible task of getting a very inebriated Sakura passed her father and safely into her bed.

He started nudging her gently, waking her from her drunken slumber. Even with the large quantity of alcohol in her system, it would be much easier to transport her while she was awake. It took a few tries –Sakura was very out of it- but eventually her eyes fluttered open and stayed open.

As she sleepily got her bearings, her eyes momentarily locked on Sasuke's. A strong, almost pulling sensation passed between the two. It was like they were caught in each other's gravity, and were slowly being brought towards each other. At the same time, a warm feeling erupted from his heart and spread through his body. All he knew was that he wanted to be near Sakura and would do nearly anything to keep her close. Like two opposite ends of a magnet, the two slowly began leaning into each other.

Clarity suddenly flashed through the young Uchiha's mind. While he was thinking completely rationally at the moment, the same could not be said for his companion. The copious amount of alcohol she had consumed was definitely impairing her judgment and clouding her vision. He couldn't kiss her in this state, even though his body was urging him too. If he did, there was a good chance she would regret it in the morning.

Sasuke pulled back when they were mere millimeters from each other. Hurt and insult instantly flashed across her pale features, before a carefully practiced mask was able to once again conceal her emotions.

"Thank you for the ride. You can drop the car off at Tenten's tomorrow," Sakura icily spoke, much of her earlier slurring no longer present. It seemed Sasuke's harsh rejection had some sort of sobering effect on the rosette. Having said all she wished, Sakura quickly left the vehicle, slamming the door in the Uchiha's face.

Nara Shikamaru could not believe he had said yes to Ino's request after it had been made blatantly obvious that he had been used. He blamed his mother who had drilled into his head from an early age that he should always help a lady in need. And Ino had looked extremely upset. Also, even though she had basically trampled over his heart, he still found it so impossible to disappoint the petite blonde that he had agreed to such a masochistic favor.

He had quickly dropped off Chouji at his house and then had to deal with one-on-one interactions with Ino for nearly ten minutes. It had been an almost silent drive through the ritzier part of town, the silence only broken by Ino's directions. It wasn't until they pulled up in front of the elegant, Victorian-style Sarutobi house, that Ino finally began to explain herself.

"I'm so sorry," she started, her face expressing her remorse, "I know it doesn't even begin to fix what I've done, but it's all I've got right now. I used, and abused, your friendship and willingness to help me. When I started the tutoring, I hadn't planned to use you. But when you asked me out, and I saw how much you wanted to go out with me, it presented an opportunity for me and I took it. I didn't even think of you and your feelings; I never do, or at least never used to. It was wrong, stupid, immature, and terrible of me.

"And I know it doesn't make it any better for you. In fact, it makes me sound like a terrible person, but you aren't the only person I've done this to. Most of my relationships benefit me in some way, usually at the expense of the other person. It's a major personality flaw of mine, but now that it's come to light, I'm definitely going to work on changing it. I don't expect you to, but I'd really appreciate it if you could find it in yourself to forgive me, eventually. You're a great friend and I really don't want to loose what I have because of my stupidity and selfishness."

Ino finished her speech and waited. Shikamaru took in everything she'd said and digested it carefully. He was actually quite surprised by the words the blonde had spoke. From what he'd witnessed that night, she was selfish, conceited, and a royal bitch. He just hadn't expected she'd come out and admit it. But as self-deprecating as Ino's speech had been, Shikamaru still had a few words he wanted to express.

"You know, just because you're beautiful doesn't give you the right to treat people like they don't matter. I really like you, and I-" But Shikamaru never got to finish what he wanted to say. Shortly after he had declared Ino beautiful, she had leaned across the seats and kissed Shikamaru. It was short and chaste and, before Shikamaru could really enjoy it, Ino had pulled away.

"I am so sorry. I hurt you and I hope I haven't done so much damage that you'll hate me forever," she spoke softly. Then she left the stunned brunet sitting in his car, unable to move. He had hoped to stay mad at Ino until he moved once again; eventually he hoped he'd be able to forget her and move on. He hoped that she would easily, and without putting up too much of a fight, disappear from his life.

Then she'd gone and kissed him.

To be continued