There's no time to discuss what happened the night before, because Sakura has classes and now Sasuke does, too. She's up and showered and dressed and gone before he even wakes up, but not before she leaves a kiss on his forehead full of all the love she can muster.
She sits through lecture after lecture in a daze. She avoids the professors' eyes because she's not in the mood to answer questions or work with her classmates or do anything but take robotic notes and try and make sense of what happened.
Dinner. Parents. Confrontation. Sasuke.
How could I have pulled him into that? she thinks, furious with herself. Knowing my parents the way I do, how could I have let Sasuke come?
Deep down, she knows there's no way she really could have stopped him. Sasuke's infuriatingly protective of her, and the odds of him allowing her to see the people who abused her for so many years without him are slim to none. She both loves and hates that about him, his quiet, unshakable devotion.
But exposing him to all of that shit makes her miserable. To hear the way they'd slandered his family name, to see the judgment in her mother's eyes, the smug condemnation in her father's…
Sakura had experienced a rage so great, she hadn't thought twice about confronting the both of them. She thought she would never summon the courage or strength to challenge her parents on anything, until they'd redirected their hate onto Sasuke.
Maybe she understands, to some extent, why he was so protective of her.
A smirk lifts her lips as she realizes she is just as protective of him.
"Whoa, man." Naruto looks up from his cup of instant ramen, noodles spilling out of his mouth, surprised at the news Sasuke's delivered. "You met her parents last night? I thought she never talked to them anymore."
"They looked us up," Sasuke mumbles into his coffee. He's exhausted. All of that drama last night, a long night of heated sex and an even longer day of classes, and he's running on empty. "Sakura…she wanted to go. I get it."
"How was it?" Naruto asks. "Is her mom hot?"
Sasuke glares, because that's not the question he should be asking. Naruto rephrases.
"Is Sakura okay?"
Better. He sighs deeply and replies, "I don't know. She was gone when I woke up this morning."
"She's a tough girl," Naruto sayas bracingly. "Don't worry about her."
As if Sasuke has any choice. The girl, his girl, will always be a source of concern for him, regardless of whether or not his worry is warranted. And even if she didn't tell him in so many words, last night had to have been an ordeal.
"Was it…really bad?"
"Aa."
"They…didn't like you?" Naruto presses.
Sasuke smirks. "They hated me."
"You don't look too upset about it."
"Why should I be. I'm an Uchiha. What mother wants her daughter messing around with an Uchiha."
"So why was it bad, then? If you don't even care what they thought about you?"
"They want Sakura to move back to Suna with them."
Naruto stands up, blue eyes bright with anger, and he seems to forget they're sitting in a crowded university café as he shouts, "LIKE HELL IS SHE MOVIN BACK THERE!"
"Keep your voice down, idiot," Sasuke snaps, glancing back and forth to make sure no one's listening. The last thing he needs is someone reporting back to Sakura that he's already talking about last night. Damn girl has too many friends. "She said no."
"Of course she did," Naruto says firmly, taking a seat again at his stool and resuming his ramen consumption like there had been no interruption. "She's got all of us here to keep her around, no way is she going back home. But I always thought her parents hated her. If they hate her so much, why do they want her to come live with them again?"
"Hn. Appearances."
"What do you mean, appearances?"
Sasuke sighs. "You don't know what it's like. Being raised in a place like that. Like my house growing up."
He knows what it's like. Living in a home where appearance was everything; where as long as the outside was shiny and pretty and all anyone ever saw was sunshine and roses, it didn't matter what dark, ugly, decaying, festering carcass actually lived inside. He understands the Harunos pretty well, since family tragedy and fortune aside, they're not all that different.
They don't want Sakura home because they miss her. Or love her. Or even actually want her there.
They want her home because people are starting to ask questions. It doesn't look good when a child won't visit her parents. It doesn't look good when the child never calls. It doesn't look good when a child hooks up with the only heir to a family name soaked in tragedy and scandal.
It really doesn't look good when the child doesn't tell her parents where she's moving, leaves no forwarding address and takes great measures to leave everything and everyone from her past life behind.
The idea makes him sick. This moral disconnect between what's true and what's pretty. The dedication of so many people to preserving a lie, just because it looks better.
He and Naruto are quiet for a moment. His coffee is going cold but he likes it that way, a little cold and bitter, just like him. It tastes better that way, he thinks, draining the rest of his mug in one gulp, and it goes down smooth.
"There's a party in Neji's suite," Naruto says. "Thirsty Thursday. Spend some alone time with Sakura, cheer her up. Then come by, and let us cheer you both up."
Sometimes, Sasuke forgets that he's still 20 years old. That he's still just a kid. That he's still in college.
Sometimes, it's good to remember.
"Aa."
"Good."
Sakura's sitting on their balcony when he comes back later that night, after his night class, hungry and tired. It's warm out but there's a comfortable breeze blowing, and she's sitting with her knees folded on the ground, her back against the red brick wall, her gaze dreamy and elsewhere and Sasuke wonders where she's at right now, because it isn't here.
Sakura travels the world sometimes, without leaving their apartment.
"Hey," he says quietly, to get her attention, almost hesitant to interrupt her.
She blinks like waking up from a dream, and turns to see him, and a sweet smile blooms on her face.
"Hey," she replies. Happy to see him, just like she always is, and the knowledge of this never fails to catch him off-guard.
He sits down beside her. It's uncomfortable, the brick hard and jarring against his back, and he wonders how long she's been out here, but he doesn't move. It really is a nice night, the sun finally setting over the tall Konoha buildings in the distance, the stars bright against the darkening sky.
"I'm really, really sorry, Sasuke."
Her voice is filled with all the contrition in the world. He looks at her and sees tears in her eyes, tears that were conspicuously absent last night, and frighteningly present today. She bites her lip and her hands tremble and he has no clue what she's sorry for. He almost never does.
"They were…they were so horrible to you," she whispers, her voice choked with emotion that's teetering a little too close to hate for Sasuke's liking, because Sakura doesn't have it in her to hate anything except hot dogs and Styrofoam. "I've never…Sasuke, I'm so sorry for the things they said. It was…it was awful."
"Tch," he scoffs carelessly. "That's what you were worried about? Jesus, Sakura. You think I care what they think of me?"
"You…don't?"
"Stupid." But she's not stupid, she's just frustratingly naïve. And entirely too compassionate for her own good.
"I went for you, Sakura. Not because I was dying to impress them."
"Well yeah, but…the things they said about your family…and I know how much your family means to you, Sasuke, you can't tell me you weren't upset by what they said!"
"I wasn't," he says. Honestly, truly. If being with Sakura has taught him anything, it's that you should never strive for anyone's opinion except the people who really matter. And Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno mean nothing to him, so he doesn't care one iota what they think about the Uchiha family.
"But…but they used you as an excuse, Sasuke, don't you get it?"
He frowns and she continues.
"It was like…the final straw for them. They saw me being with you as the ultimate act of rebellion. Instead of what it is…being with you because I love you so much I can't stand it. They found out about you and that was their main motivation for coming here. Trying to get me to go back. I…I couldn't let them say those things. Not to you. Not about your family."
"My family's infamous," Sasuke mutters, and it's times like these, when Sakura's distressed and upset, that he wishes he were somebody else. Somebody better suited to comforting her. He's sullen and surly and he doesn't talk much, and when he does, what comes out is usually blunt truth, a detached observation, or the occasional dose of tough love. Still, he soldiers on because he has to learn this shit. "Almost everyone feels the same way your parents do about them. I expected their reaction."
"I didn't!" Sakura argues. "And I don't know why but…I had this…ridiculous idea that things were gonna work out last night. I don't know how they would have, I don't know what I was expecting, but…"
Sasuke understands. He understands because he knows what it's like, to be a helpless child wanting to cling to the belief that your parents are good. That even if things are hard sometimes, at the end of the day, you have a family who loves you and things will work themselves out.
Every child needs that, he thinks. But his parents were dead years ago, and Sakura's might as well be. They never had that growing up.
But they have it now, he thinks. They have it with their friends at Konoha, and they have it with each other. Family. Does she get it? Does she understand now, the way he does?
And Sakura opens her mouth and tells him everything he needs to hear.
"But…that's over now. I gave it a shot and it didn't work out and whatever. I have all my friends and Hana and I have you, and that's…you guys are the best thing about me." She smiles up at him, her fingers tracing his jaw absently and the slight, innocent touch sends shivers up his spine. "I'd never trade what I have now for anything. I'm just so, so sorry I was so stupid last night, thinking they would change. I'm sorry I pulled you into this."
He responds with a gentle kiss to her forehead. And she sighs, shedding herself of all the pain the previous night caused them both, and she leans her head on his shoulder. And they watch the sunset in silence.
Sometimes, Sakura reflects, as she laughs with Ino and Hinata and Tenten and Karin in the living room of Neji's apartment, a half-full red Solo cup of straight vodka in her hand, it's easy to forget she's 19. It's easy to forget she's a college student and should fucking act like it on occasion.
She's always so busy, and so is Sasuke, and they live together, instead of in separate dorms like they did freshman year. It's rare for students in a relationship to live in the same apartment; she and Sasuke, and Shikamaru and Ino, by extension, are exceptions to that rule. So it feels, sometimes, (and she won't admit how much she loves it) like she and Sasuke are married, and going to school is a job rather than a rite of passage. And since her best friend is also a young mother, and so many nights are spent changing diapers and fighting fevers and playing with blocks, it feels like she's all the way grown up.
But she isn't, and neither is Sasuke, and neither is Ino, and neither are any of them. So parties like this, where all of them are together and there's liquor and loud music and the euphoria of having the entire world right in front of you, remind her that her youth won't last forever and that she has to enjoy it while it does.
It's so crowded at Neji's place. All her closest friends are there, plus some of Neji's frathouse brothers and a lot of other people she doesn't know, and in the darkness it's hard to make out who's who. Even harder when she adds in the vodka component, and soon Sakura quite blissfully forgets all the stress of that week, and toasts to Thirsty Thursday with her girls.
She steps away from them to refill her cup in the kitchen, and then there's a cool arm around her waist, and she looks up to see Sasuke, obviously drunk and with a suggestive smirk on his face.
"Slow down," he advises her, gaze lingering on the cup in her hand before resettling on her eyes. "Or I'll be scraping you off the bathroom floor."
He's teasing her, and she loves it, because lately, so much of their physical interaction has been a result of unsavory circumstances. She fucks him when her parents ruin her life. He fucks her when a crazed ex-teacher comes knocking on their door. They fuck each other when things are difficult.
But Sakura loves Sasuke best when he's teasing her.
"I could say the same thing to you," she slurs back, and she turns so they're facing each other and rolls her hips against his. His reaction is immediate and expected; his expression darkens, his lip curls, and he pushes her back against the countertop, leaning in close to whisper in her ear.
"You look fucking gorgeous," he growls out, and she glows. She has no doubts Sasuke finds her attractive, but she definitely enjoys the way alcohol loosens his tongue every now and then. His hands drop to the cotton-and-spandex material of the little coral dress she's wearing, and she's glad she opted for the tan-colored pumps because they elevate her enough to where she can press naughty kisses easily on Sasuke's neck, the way she's doing right now.
"When we get home," he murmurs, a dark, throaty promise edging his words, "I'm gonna fuck you so hard you won't be able to walk tomorrow."
Sakura smirks, turned on and amused all at once, and accepting his challenge.
"Who says we have to wait till then?" she asks him suggestively, pulling back from his neck to stare heatedly into his eyes. Alcohol kills off shy, proper Sakura, and lets badass, sex-on-a-stick Sakura come out in full force; drunk and in love with her life, she sees absolutely nothing wrong with having sex on Neji's pristine countertop.
Sasuke, fortunately, has some sense of decorum, even when he's as drunk as she is, smirks, and shakes his head.
"You're gonna be the death of me," he tells her. He takes her vodka away and knocks some back himself, and kisses her so there's vodka still on his lips and she can taste it, the bitterness and the heat, and her arms wind around his neck and and and…
"God, can't you guys pull yourselves away from each other for five seconds?" Ino moans from the doorway, and they jerk apart like scalding water was thrown between them. "Come on, we're doing shots!"
The moment is ruined, but the beautiful part about it is that Sakura knows exactly what will happen when she goes home that night. After she's through having a wonderful time with all her friends, she knows they'll pick up where they left off and the thought has her smiling as she follows Ino back into the living room, pulling Sasuke along behind her.
"All right, y'all!" Naruto's voice is loudest, as always, and Sasuke rolls his eyes as his best friend jumps up onto the couch, pointedly ignoring the way Neji glares at him. He raises a shot glass full of whiskey and shouts, "To the first fucking Thirsty Thursday of the school year!"
Sasuke sighs and smirks and takes his shot with everyone else. He glances over at Sakura, surrounded by her girlfriends, clearly bombed but having the time of her life. She's beaming, her hair messier than it was when they came thanks to their five-second makeout in the kitchen, her laugh fearless and unafraid. It feels good to see her so happy now, after such a stressful first week.
Then, almost by accident, he notices, through the darkness and the haze of alcohol that's making it hard to think straight tonight, Kiba standing off in the corner by himself. This is weird. Normally Kiba, like Naruto, and Sakura for that matter, is the life of the party, surrounded by people, cracking jokes and taking shots and laughing too loud.
Tonight, though, he's isolated, and instead of a cup in his hand, he's got a handle. He looks drunker than the rest of them, and Sasuke can't help but notice that he's staring right at Sakura.
She's oblivious to his attention, caught up now in a game of pong even though she absolutely sucks at it. She says something to Karin, her opponent, and they both laugh, but she never notices the hungry, angry, furious way Kiba's looking at her.
But Sasuke does.
His brows curl together in a deep frown, and he can't help but wonder why Kiba's staring like that.
What the hell's going on there?
note.. hi, bebes!
how'd i do?
xoxo daisy :) happy sunday!
PS: RIP twinkies. even though you're fucking gross and i hate you.
