Up Until Now
Chapter 11
Hair Down
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.
Sasuke felt himself get more nervous by the minute. By the time his entire bro-entourage had arrived, he was already working up a sweat. Chouji and Naruto were already having a who-can-stuff-the-most-mini-wieners-in-their-mouth competition, Shikamaru and Kiba had already made themselves comfortable on the baggy sofas in front of the Xbox, and Lee had boldly challenged Neji to a ping pong match where both were now playing with the ferocity of Wimbledon Champions. Shino lounged under the umbrella at the round table, looking oddly distracted.
For the strangest reason, Gaara had actually arrived. At first, Sasuke wasn't sure if inviting him was right or not, but Sakura had said the whole class (minus Sai) was invited. Sasuke thought it common courtesy to invite the redhead, but only on the notion that he would probably not even think of coming. Then again, Sasuke has been wrong before, so he left Gaara to his own devices.
Now it was up to the girls to show up. In the corner, Sasuke spotted a few sloppily wrapped gifts on the small table beside the snacks that Naruto and Chouji were devouring. He placed his own one among the collection as well, and kept his emergency gift hidden in the kitchen, just in case. Even if the first one didn't fail him, he decided he'd give the second one to Sakura in private. In the wise words of one Naruto Uzumaki, girls liked that kind of crap.
Now, Sasuke was in the room situated next to the pool area, having drawn the doors wide open. He was watching Shikamaru destroy Kiba's ass in Mario Kart. Out of nowhere, Ms Remma came running into the room, carefully dodging the wiring of the console as if it was second nature to her. She smiled at Sasuke.
"Sasuke, dear, your other guests have arrived!" she sang excitedly. "Although, I had no idea you would invite them. I didn't think you were so friendlily acquainted."
Great. The girls have probably arrived then. And what the hell did Ms Remma mean? Was she trying one of those family jokes about him being gay? Well, if she was, she had nobody beat. He'd heard better.
"Thanks, Ms Remma," Sasuke said, feeling his eyes twitch in annoyance at her words. "You can go ahead and send them to the pool area."
Ms Remma laughed in a motherly manner. "Oh, I'm sure they'll have no problem finding it. They've been here plenty of times before." And then she left without another word.
"What?" Kiba paused the game and he and Shikamaru turned in their seats to stare at their captain curiously. "Have you been having secret pool parties with the girls behind our backs, Sasuke?" he asked, genuinely insulted. Sasuke mentally face-palmed. Damn it, no.
Shikamaru, on the other hand, seemed just as confused, if not suspicious. "Who else did you invite?"
"Only the class, like Sakura said," Sasuke informed him, feeling a cold shiver of dread pass through him. He had a bad feeling about this. Without sparing Kiba and Shikamaru another word, he left the room and went back outside. The scene was still as he left it. He stood watching Lee and Neji's fervent ping-pong match for a few minutes.
Then the shit hit the fan.
"Yo! Where are all the hot high school bitches at?!"
Sasuke wanted to die. No. Not them. Anyone but them. His parents. His grandparents. His teachers, and yes, Guy-sensei included. BUT NOT THEM. Sasuke stood frozen. He didn't know what to do. His precaution of taking and breaking Itachi's phone had obviously backfired on him.
"Kisame, get Ms Remma to bring us some booze."
"Dude, this is a total sausage fest. Where's Sakura? I thought it was her birthday."
"Hidan, your boner is showing."
"Ah, somebody cover Tobi's uncovered eye!"
"Yeah, so I got a good price for the car battery."
"Shit!"
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.
The noise of their entrance had now carried all along the yard. Shikamaru and Kiba had completely abandoned their game to curiously come and check out the ruckus. Naruto and Chouji actually stopped stuffing their faces. Neji and Lee had seized playing. The ping pong ball seemed to fall to the ground in slow motion. Every resounding bounce on the brick surface beside the pool echoed through Sasuke's mind. Gaara spared them a glare. Shino was jerked out whatever dreamland he was immersing himself in.
Then again, Sasuke knew why his team mates shared his reaction. They all knew these guys very well. Itachi's friends. The most insane mixture of people in the history of EVER. They had spent many locker room discussions and team meetings talking about them. The basketball team of Konoha High had boldly given them a name that could only be associated with that of a good for nothing street gang.
The Akatsuki.
Naruto was beside him in an instant. "Teme! Why are they here?"
Sasuke's gritted his teeth. "Itachi."
"Damn it, Teme. Now what?" Naruto cursed, sharing his friend's panic.
In a flurry of excitement, the Akatsuki took over the pool area. Sasuke saw Hidan and Kakuzu move into the Xbox room, no doubt going to take over Kiba and Shikamaru's game. Deidara and Sasori started passing around beers that Kisame brought out. Tobi was messing around on Shikamaru's laptop, Zetsu eerily peering over his shoulder.
There was no sign of Pein or his girlfriend. Or Itachi for that matter. Although, Sasuke was willing to bet he'd make his appearance sooner or later, then there would be hell to pay. This was about to turn out into a full out Uchiha Smack-down.
"Yo, Eyebrows, let's see how you play ping pong against the ball master!" Deidara challenged.
"YOSH!"
Oh god. This was a disaster.
"Where's uncle Pein?" Naruto asked, scanning the pool area. "Or aunt Konan?"
"Since when is she your aunt?" Sasuke asked, scoffing. It had always been 'uncle Pein and Konan', never 'aunt Konan'.
Naruto looked thoughtful, gingerly scratching the side of his face. "Uncle Pein wants to marry her. So I guess she's my aunt now."
Sasuke groaned. Great. Another person getting the girl except him.
This was not his day.
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This was totally Sakura's day. Ino had arranged for a limo to take them all to the Uchiha manor, and gosh, was the feeling cool. Of course Sakura was wearing her new dress, as well as the shades Hinata had given her. Sakura's eyes fell on each of her friends from where they sat in the limo. They all looked amazing really. She tended to feel insecure around them and felt like their beauty dwarfed her (Tenten had her hair down, for goodness sake), but at least it was Sakura's birthday today.
Tenten looked entirely unrecognizable with her hair down – Ino had also insisted she wear one of her sundresses. So accompanying her long wavy thick locks was a pretty forest green dress with thin straps tied over her muscles shoulders.
Hinata herself opted for a dress, seeing as everyone else had. She wore a simple violet dress, strapless after some encouragement from her friends, yet her bikini straps stuck out at the top.
Ino's hair was down too, wearing a tight short yellow number. It was times like these that she looked like a supermodel.
Gods, Sakura felt ugly in comparison to them. At least she had her brains to account for.
'Yes, because guys love a big brain.'
'What? No 'Happy Birthday'?'
Inner only snickered, fading into the back of Sakura's mind. A sudden feeling of giddiness pushed up her body. The limo smelled of girly deodorant and sunscreen. It was her birthday. She was having a party at a big fancy house. Could this day get any better?
The limo soon stopped in front of the astounding Uchiha manor. The door was opened by one of the servants that Sakura recognized and excitedly, the girls hopped out of the car one for one.
"Wow, this place is amazing!" Tenten commented. "The Huuyga manor is still a little bigger I think," she added thoughtfully, making Hinata giggle. The limo had driven off in the mean time.
"Y-yeah, Mr Uchiha and Father don't like each other a lot. The U-Uchiha's are our biggest company rivals," Hinata explained as they made their way to the huge front doors Sakura also recognized.
Ms Remma greeted them in the doorway. "Ah, Sakura!" she yelled in great welcome. "I hear it is your birthday! A big happy birthday to you, my dear!" she congratulated, taking Sakura into a big motherly hug.
"Thanks, Ms Remma," Sakura breathed through the woman's strong grip. She let go eventually, leaving a breathless Sakura at the front. Ms Remma examined the group of girls excitedly.
"My, such beautiful young ladies! The boys will simply be delighted to know you've arrived! I have prepared a spare room for all of you to get dressed and leave your belongings. I assure you, everything will be safe here. Please, follow me, dears!"
No one offering argument or query, the girls followed the older woman up the stairs and through a few corners until she lead them into a lovely and bigger than ordinary spare room. She bowed and left them, leaving the girls in a small state of question.
"Should we just go down in our towels and swimsuits?" Ino asked. "I mean, I plan on getting into the pool anyway. It's the reason I let my hair down, after all."
Tenten snickered, poking the blonde in the shoulder. "Whatever. You let your hair down because Shino likes it that way."
As if to prove this, Ino ran her hands through stray locks of her shimmering blonde hair, smiling knowingly to herself. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Let's all just go down in our bikinis," Sakura suggested, already moving to take off her dress. The girls agreed, Hinata a little tentatively, but doing so all the same. Sakura took off her shades, thinking it would be rude to parade around in it. Tenten took a brush out her bag and quickly ran it through her hair.
"By the way, Tenten," Ino began, adjusting the straps on her bikini in order to secure them. "Has Neji ever seen you with your hair down?"
Tenten paused with her brushing and then blinked. "No, he hasn't actually."
Sakura grinned. Oh boy, was Neji in for a treat. Not only would he discover that his girlfriend had better hair than him, but also that she was much more beautiful than anyone gave her credit for. Tenten's hair was the spectacular secret of the group – they had had too many arguments trying to convince her to wear it down to school, but it had all failed. Sakura was privately hoping that after seeing Tenten with her hair down, Neji would convince her to wear it that way permanently.
Then again, it was another story trying to get Hinata to drop her habit of wearing oversized baggy jackets, all because she was insecure of her glorious upper body. She was clearly the most developed in the group, and Sakura was willing to bet that none of them would be catching up with her any time in the future.
That being said, Ino was still this spectacular image of a supermodel. Sakura had NO IDEA what Shino had done to get her, but he was certainly a genius in his own right. He even had to help Sakura with a math problem yesterday – it was still a little upsetting. But Sakura was happy that Ino had settled for the smart guy for once.
Sakura checked to make sure her own bikini was secure. She tied a double knot, just in case. She fluffed her hair, put on her sandals and left the room with the rest of her friends. Sakura could somewhat remember the path back, but was still unsure. The Uchiha manor was very big after all. Sakura was willing to bet a few people got lost here and never returned.
Sure enough, they found the stairs and made their way to where they heard music coming from. Passing a few other rooms, they found the door leading out, the curtains rumbling as the breeze sneaked in from outside.
Ino was the first to step out, followed by Hinata, followed by Tenten, and followed by Sakura.
All hell broke loose.
The moments the girls stepped outside, all heads turned to them. There seemed to be the smallest second of silence, the music ignored, a ping-pong ball bounced across the surface of the ground and Naruto walked smack-dab into an umbrella. Sakura noted a mixture of their classmates and …Itachi's friends.
Sakura later recounted many things happening at the same time. She could count them off her fingers, but in order to make things easier for herself, she divided each happening into a section, and these sections were labeled after her friends, whom the happenings seemed to revolve around.
The first was Tenten. Her glorious hair and incredibly impressive female warrior-like body was what no doubt attracted the attention of Kisame and Deidara. Noticing her, Deidara sprang from out the pool where he was floating lazily at first and was at Tenten's side in a second. He sneaked an arm around her, smirking.
"Wow, you are just about my dream girl," he said smoothly. Tenten, unused by the attention, went a deep shade of red and uncomfortably squirmed out of his grasp only to turn and walk straight into the ripped blue body of Kisame.
He grinned cheekily down at her. "You're better off with a real man, not some fem-man like Deidara." He then moved to touch her face, and Tenten, still in shock, only stood and stared, frozen on the spot. It was then did Neji appear seemingly out of nowhere, promptly push Kisame into Deidara (causing both to splash into the pool), grab his blushing girlfriend by the hand and stomp into the manor while she trailed after him in a flurry of stutters.
"Hey!" Deidara called after them, sporting a big look of annoyance. Kisame pushed him out of the way to sit at the edge of the pool, only to laugh at both their demise.
Next came Ino. Of course, she noticed Shino sitting under the umbrella at the rounded table at the other side of the pool, and moved to join him when an arm caught her around the shoulders. She turned to face who Sakura remembered as Hidan. Oh god, Ino was in trouble. Or maybe Hidan was. It was hard to tell.
"Woah, wait up, angel," he breathed, his grin revealing his teeth. "Let's get to know each other first."
"Get off, jackass," Ino deadpanned, unaffected by his approach. Sakura saw Kiba and Shikamaru move out of the corner of her eye, but Shino had already made his way to the other side of the pool, probably foreseeing something like this happening.
Squealing, Ino jerked out of Hidan's arm and ran into Shino's, her face showing nothing but adoration and happiness. Shino received her, but moved them both away from the edge of the pool as Hidan shot him a nasty look. Shino made a signal with his hand and Sakura then saw Shikamaru and Kiba work together to pick up Hidan and hastily dump him into the pool before he could put up a struggle. Yes, it looked planned. They no doubt knew something like this would happen.
"Man, fuck you guys!" Hidan hissed after breaking surface. Cursing more under his breath, he moved to join Kisame and Deidara at the edge of the pool. Shikamaru and Kiba high-fived.
Alas, then came Hinata's turn. Poor thing. Sakura remembered seeing Sasori and, Tobi of all people, move in on her.
"Why not join me in a private room and we can get acquainted?" Ooooh, Sasori was smooth. It made Sakura's blood boil. Something about him just annoyed her. And poor, poor, poor Hinata who just stood there with one of her characteristic blushes and stuttered. When Tobi moved to glomp her, she looked like she might faint.
"DATTEBAYO MOTHERFUCKER!" Naruto stampeded like a storm, wildly flailing the umbrella he had walked into like a savage. Furious, he charged them, stopped in front of Hinata, shifted her to stand behind him, and opened the umbrella in Tobi and Sasori's faces to push them both into the pool-of-the-rejected. Sakura sniggered. Hinata then smiled at Naruto, who gave her a thumbs- up and let her follow him to put the umbrella back into place.
Sakura then stood there feeling pretty stupid.
She vaguely wondered where Itachi was.
"Oh, hey, there's the birthday girl!" Kiba called from the snack table. Chouji waved to her, mouth stuffed to the brim with wieners.
'Oh my god, no one is hitting on us!'
'After that display of events, I doubt any one of them would dare.'
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"Woah, Neji, slow down!" Tenten breathed, as he shoved her into an unoccupied room. She saw some of his belongings here and there. She assumed he was staying over then. Nervous, Tenten then realized they were alone. In a room. With a bed.
'No, Neji knows that would be bad. We both know the boundaries here. I'm worried about nothing.' she thought, setting herself at ease. She then shyly turned to face her boyfriend from where he stared at her with an incredulous and unreadable face. If Tenten didn't know any better, she'd say he was angry with her.
His stare. His eyes. Oh god, the intensity. She squirmed under his impenetrable Huuyga orbs, looking away. For the first time she noticed she was wearing next to nothing, only her bikini. Her hair was down. Why was he so silent? Did he not like it?
"Neji, what's wrong?" Tenten decided to ask. "I'm sorry about what happened. I swear I didn't lead them on. I just walked out of the house and then, BAM, they were there. I swear! I've never met them before! Why are you just standing there staring at me? Say something!"
"Pretty …"
Tenten blinked. "What?"
Almost as if in a trance, he moved closer to grasp her by the arms with his grip. Tenten, now fully aware of her surroundings, noticed that he was, indeed, not wearing a shirt. Damn, she was not going to last long now, she thought, as her eyes racked over his muscles. She wanted to touch them so badly, but figured she'd wait for Neji to talk first.
He opened his mouth. Then closed it. He seemed astounded for some reason.
"Neji, tell me what's wrong?" Tenten asked, feeling nervous. "Are you going to break up with me?" The thought popped up before she could stop herself. Ever since they'd started dating it had become an irrational fear of hers – something she would think about deep into the night while lying sleeplessly in her bed. Her question seemed to jerk Neji out of his trance.
"What? No! What gave you that idea?" he demanded, pulling her a little closer.
'Shirtless, shirtless, shirtless. Don't faint!'
"Just tell me what's wrong with you! You look like you're ready to kill!" she reprimanded. His eyes bore into hers, softening. He raised a hand to graze through her hair in a tender hand through her hair.
"I'd certainly kill for you," he whispered, diving down to kiss her.
Tenten's head spun. Again, Neji had these moments where he would drop these intense lines that sounded like they came out of cheesy romance novels, but man, she loved it. His hands moved across her bare waist, caressing the soft skin that was already available to him. The other took grasp of her hair. Tenten finally dared to place her hands on his bare chest, reveling at the mounds of muscle he honed. She sighed. This was happiness.
Neji pulled away for a second. "You look amazing with your hair down. I couldn't breathe when I saw you. It's so long," he commented, letting the strands he held in hands slide through his fingers. "I didn't think it was longer than mine."
"So the fact that I'm in a bikini didn't come to mind first?"
Neji smirked. "No, trust me, I didn't forget about that." As if to emphasize this, he slid both his arms around her, picked her feet off the floor and threw her on the bed. Tenten stared up at him in a daze, eyes glazed over in lust.
"We shouldn't go too far," she choked as he calmly settled on top of her.
"We won't,' he assured her, delicately kissing her. "Worst come to worst, I'll take a cold shower before going out again."
Tenten giggled and then sighed as he kissed her again, hands unable to restrain themselves any longer.
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Itachi felt victorious. Yes, Sasuke may have won the battle, but Itachi had retaliated fiercely, ensuring no victory over the war itself. The score was even now. His phone had been avenged. All that was left now was his car.
And his toast.
It took longer to get a gift for Sakura then he thought. He had no idea what to get her, despite the fact that he could pretty much afford anything in the mall. Heck, he could've bought the mall if he wanted to. Instead, he'd gone to Konan for help, letting her and Pein accompany him to search for a perfect gift.
Konan wanted him to get her something practical and not just some object that would lie in her room gathering dust. Easier said than done, because Itachi did not know Sakura as well as he would've liked. Then again, she was practically just a school girl. It shouldn't be hard to get her something she would like. But Itachi needed to keep reminding himself that Sakura was not stupid. On the contrary, she was highly intelligent for her age, despite her looks not matching up to his standards. He figured she was good looking enough though …for a girl with pink hair.
He ended up picking out a nice necklace with a shiny pink blossom pendant hanging from the end. Konan had scoffed, saying he could've done much better, and then turned to browse the ring section of the jewelry store. Pein's eyes followed her shrewdly as her eyes danced over the glass exhibits of diamonds and sapphire stones.
Itachi had the necklace gift wrapped, dragged his friends out of the mall and made his way home, exited to see the mess his friends were making of little Sasuke's party. Their boorishness and wild party mannerisms were essentially useful for once. Adding to the fact that Itachi had promised them an open bar, Sasuke would surely be knee deep in chaos. Itachi smirked to himself. With Sasuke distracted, he'd have Sakura's attention all to himself.
When they made it back to the Uchiha manor, the music could be heard blasting through the intricate halls and corridors of the house. Stuffing Sakura's gift in his pocket, Itachi made his way to the pool area, hoping none of his friends would be stupid enough to try and dare push him into the pool. Pein then shot him a grin, whispered something Konan's ear and left the room to do god knows what. Before actually departing, Pain turned to Itachi.
"Do me a favor and keep an eye on Naruto, will you?" then he left, Konan pulling him along as she giggled.
Sighing, Itachi left for the pool area himself.
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Even with the unusual social mixture that was her classmates and Itachi friends, the party was still enjoyable. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between the two groups of boys that as long no one hit on any of the girls, there'd be no trouble.
It was obvious that Neji was not planning on letting Tenten out of his sight, or out of his arms for that matter, so no one dared go near her. No other boy seemed to exist at that moment in Ino's eyes, so no one would waste a dare going near her. Naruto made sure to keep the umbrella close, staying close to Hinata's side, and nobody wanted to be 'dattebayo motherfuckered' by an umbrella into the pool again. And Sakura was off the table because every one of Itachi's friends believed that she was 'Itachi's girl'. Not that she minded. Or bothered to correct any of them.
"Where is Itachi, anyway?" Sakura asked Kisame from where they stood beside the pool. He took a sip from his beer before bothering to acknowledge her.
"He went to get your gift," he answered simply, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
Sakura's eyes lit up. "He got me a gift?"
Kisame grinned. "Who wouldn't get their girl a gift on their birthday?"
Sakura smiled to herself. Kisame then handed her the rest of his beer. "Here. I'm going to see where he's at."
He turned to walk inside, leaving her with half a beer in her hand. Naruto passed her. She handed him the beer without a word and moved to follow the blue skinned man. Naruto took the beer, shrugging. Sakura jogged after Kisame, though he didn't notice her following her inside. He turned a few corners as she followed him. She wanted to see Itachi and get her gift!
Kisame rounded another corner and Sakura heard him speak. "Hey, Itachi! Ya finally made it. About time. We need to get some strippers up in here."
Feeling sneaky, Sakura remained behind the corner, deciding she wanted to surprise Itachi. She'd wait for him to come around and then she'd jump out in front of him. She snickered inside her mind. Man, she was good.
"No, no strippers. Today has been too long," she heard Itachi comment tiredly. She frowned. Poor Itachi. He must be having a bad day. Kisame snickered at his friend's exasperation.
"So, what'd you get her?" Kisame asked curiously. Sakura balled up her fists to her chin in excitement. What would someone like Itachi get her? Hopefully something romantic.
"Just a necklace," he commented offhandedly.
"Yeah, girls like that kind of crap," Kisame responded, laughing a little. "How far have you gone with her? Gonna seal the deal tonight?"
Sakura felt her face explode. 'Oh, hell no.'
"Maybe. I just need Sasuke out of the picture. Hopefully I don't even have to make her my girlfriend before he's out of the picture. I get the feeling he's starting to care for her."
Sakura's heart broke.
Kisame laughed. "Sap! I still owe him a wedgie. Hey, let's grab another few beers in the kitchen first, I gotta tell ya how I hit on this one chick. I swear, she looks like Chun Li-"
Kisame's voice faded along with their footsteps. Sakura remained planted against the cold wall with her bare back. She suddenly felt very naked. Very cold. Very sad.
Was this the Itachi she thought she had been falling in love with? Where was the gentle caring voice? The gentlemanly speech pattern and smooth tone seemed like a different person altogether. It was all just a façade then. A mask. Tobi was less of a mystery at this point.
An odd pain erupted through Sakura's chest, pushing up her throat and into her eyes. She allowed a few tears to spill for the sake of her ignorance. She should have known better. Her grandmother warned about older boys. How could she have let this happen? This was nothing but a game to Itachi.
Sakura sniffed, eyes scrounging up. She ran for the spare room Ms Remma had allocated for the girls. It took a while to reach, but when she found it, she let go. Dry sobs heaved out of her throat, mostly just out of pure unprepared shock. Some tears followed. Consciously she rubbed at her eyes. She felt tired all of a sudden - tired, because she wasted all those glorious thoughts and feelings of adoration on a selfish jerk. He'd been playing her the whole time.
She couldn't believe it. It was like the perfect image she had painted of him inside her mind had been smashed to pieces, the jagged edges slicing at the borders of her heart as they fell to the pit of her soul.
Did he do this to other girls as well? Was she the first victim? How many more fair damsels in the future would fall victim to his devilish charm?
She tried to comfort herself. No, Itachi was just joking. He was speaking to Kisame. It was the way guys spoke to one another. But Itachi had seemed so …honest. So incredibly cocky and confident. Why did he think that she would just give herself to him? She was sixteen. No, wait it was her birthday. She was seventeen.
Nausea built up in her stomach as horrible seizures of chills slid across her body uninvitingly. Sakura felt wilted. It didn't help that she was nothing short of an emotional teenage hormonal mess – everything seemed much worse to her now. The world felt like it was ending.
But it wasn't. It was her birthday. It was supposed to be a glorious day. She had been given this wonderfully prepared party, only for Itachi's friends to crash it, shamelessly hit on her friends, drink around minors and take over like they owned the place. They ruined everything. They annoyed her friends. They were probably in on Itachi's scheming, most likely laughing behind her back because of her arrogance. Jackasses.
Taking a deep breath, Sakura walked into the bathroom of the room and washed her face. She slipped back out quickly to take Ino's emergency make-up bag out of her friend's purse and just spruce herself up to make sure she seemed normal to the human eye. She then washed her hands, put the bag back whilst silently thanking Ino and, deciding she didn't feel like getting into the pool anymore, put her dress back on.
Running a hand along her hair, Sakura took one look in the mirror and already felt a million times better. She suddenly felt stupid for crying over something so silly.
'Fuck Itachi. We've still got Sasuke!' Inner encouraged her.
Somewhere in the deep confines of Sakura's mind, a door unlocked. An array of memories and feelings spilled out of it, enveloping her mind in a rush of emotion.
She remembered seeing Sasuke for the first time at school. She remembered attending his first basketball match as captain. She remembered walking into him in the hallway accidently. She remembered dropping a history book on his foot. She remembered when he stuffed her into a locker.
She remembered his name.
"I have to find him," she said to herself. Her heart started to speed up. She wanted to see Sasuke so badly right now.
She rushed out of the room, closing the door behind her. Her feet moved for the stairs when Ms Remma suddenly appeared.
"Oh, there you are dear! Itachi is looking for you!" she smiled, moving to grasp the girl's wrist. Sakura hastily jerked away.
"I'm looking for Sasuke actually. I still haven't thanked him yet for throwing me the party," Sakura said matter-of-factly. To her it seemed like Ms Remma was favoring Itachi anyway, and despite how much Sakura liked Ms Remma's forthcoming disposition, Sakura now regarded her as an official enemy.
At Sakura's statement, Ms Remma blinked. She seemed confused for a moment and opened her mouth to speak when someone interrupted her.
"I'm here," a familiar voice uttered from behind Sakura.
Her heart skipped a beat. She turned. He was there. It was so simple and yet so glorious at the same time. He appeared so relaxed, hands in his pocket and face seemingly indifferent to that around him. She smiled when she saw him and she noticed his perplexed expression at her reaction to his arrival.
"Sasuke," she breathed, and walked straight into his arms, nothing said, nothing asked.
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Sasuke found himself in a very confusing situation. Here she was, right in the security of his arms where he could let nobody get to her, and he had no idea why she was letting him. Following everything that had happened so far today, he figured, to hell with it, he'd go with the flow for the rest of the day, seeing as he could not find his OCD medication and everything was screwed up already as it was.
So, more for his own sake than anybody else's, he entrapped her in his arms, letting the frustration of the day sink away in her sent and touch. He signaled for Ms Remma to leave. Gods, she could be annoying sometimes. She was such an Itachi worshiper. He knew because growing up, Itachi always got an extra cookie after tea time.
Screw Ms Remma and her cookies.
When she left, Sasuke felt the girl in his arms begin to shake. He pulled away slightly to look at her face. He spotted a few tears. Oh gods, he really sucked at this, didn't he? Damn it. He had to try and fix it. Surely if his hugs were so terrible, perhaps his words were a little less terrible.
"Sakura, what's wrong?" He liked saying her name.
She sniffed, avoiding his gaze.
"I'm sorry but …your brother is a jerk," she bit out, stuffing her face in his chest.
Sasuke blanched. He was in love.
Then he was angry. He pulled Sakura back again, absolute fury all over his face. "What did he do? Did he say something to you? Did he hurt you?" Never before had he wanted to hit Itachi as badly as he wanted to right now. He never thought he'd meet a girl he'd fight over for with another guy. In his mind, Sakura wasn't just another girl though.
Sakura seemed to hesitate. Her magnificent green eyes sparkled under shed tears and Sasuke dared to brush them away with the sleeve of his shirt.
And then she told him how she encountered the conversation between Kisame and his brother and directly quoted what his brother had said. Sasuke turned livid.
"I'm really going to kill him." He gritted his teeth. A fire was burning in his chest. He felt angry enough to set the house on fire.
Sakura sniffed. His heart clenched. "Why would he do that, Sasuke?" she asked, so saddened by the thought, not to mention the very concept. "I don't understand."
"Because …" he couldn't say it, but she deserved to know. "Of me."
Sakura rubbed her eye with her hand. "What do you mean?"
"He did it because … I …sort of…like you," he deadpanned in a hoarse voice. Oh god, he was being so un-cool right now. Naruto would be laughing at him if he saw this.
For a moment time seemed to stop. Yes, it was truly remarkable that Sakura could now remember his name, but that in no way meant she returned his feelings of "like". He was unbelievably undeniably nervous right now – like never before. She was in a position to break his heart, toss him aside. He hated feeling like this.
Yet, from where she stood in his arms, her small fists clutching at his shirt, she smiled. That small action. That smile. Those teeth. Those lips. They brought him a comfort nothing else could have. Up until now. Nothing else. Just her.
"Oh, Sasuke," she said, the words grazing off her lips like a soft breeze. "You've been so good to me. You brought me my homework when I was sick, you comforted me, you bought me lunch and you threw me this amazing party, even if Itachi's stupid friends spoiled it a little-"
Yes, it was love, he was definitely in love.
"-but this has been incredible still. You're so great."
He'd heard people say that to him many times before. His teachers, other girls, his mother even, but it meant the world coming from her. And he felt great, especially with her in his arms.
She continued however, the grip she had on his shirt tightening. "I mean, how could I not like you back? I had the biggest crush on you for so long, and for a while I just pushed it down, especially after meeting Itachi, or more like meeting his fake counterpart. Now, it's just like, deeper somehow. I-I …" she trailed off, running out of words.
She bit her lip, looking embarrassed, but to Sasuke, every word that came out of her mouth was ideal. He was such a sap. But here he was, victorious. He finally got the girl. He spared her the rarest of opportunities, and let her witness him smile. Sakura smiled back.
He brushed the last of her tears away with his thumb. He was being cool again. Yes. This was better. This moment was just right. His thumb left the corner of her eyes and stroked down her face, finding her lips. Red. Luscious.
Taking her face in his hands, he captured her lips in a state of perfection. They were so soft and she, simply put, just smelled fucking amazing. Not butter. No, Kiba had been wrong. It was just pure raw flesh, mixed with an array of perfumes and scents that defined her as a young woman. Not a girl.
He deepened the kiss. He wanted all of her. She was finally his, and he was, just like Neji, in no way willing to share his girl with anybody. Nobody should look at her. Nobody should dare touch her. He'd go insane, for sure. In his state of possessiveness, his hands left her face and caught around the middle of her petite body and crushed her to him. He found himself wanting to devour her. Her body was so perfect to him. Not too much. Not too little. It absolutely defined the balance of normality he could never find in his life, and now he was holding it in his arms.
She kissed back, lips shyly folding against his more dominating ones. Her hands flattened against his chest and then proceeded to lovingly caress up to his neck where she comfortably hooked her arms around it. She leaned into him closer.
Her touch driving him crazy, he pried her lips apart with his tongue, forgetting to hint at permission. He heard her lightly gasped, probably new to the foreign invasion, however she let him. She didn't taste like anything particular – just wet and hot. The sensation spurred him on.
Her tongue probed his curiously, but of course she was a fast learner. Soon, it was an unforgettable make out session in the hallway of his home. He started to kiss her furiously and it became increasingly difficult to stop his hands from roaming all over her body. He bit her lip. She mewled delicately into his mouth.
Sasuke dared to pull away for a second. He wanted to hear that again.
Under her quiet and exhilarated breaths, he moved to her neck. He took a moment to appreciate her slightly pale skin, unable to find a single imperfection. His body urging him on, he dragged his tongue all the way up her neck and up to her ear, concluding his ministration with a slow sensual bite into her skin.
Sakura mewled again. Victory.
"Well, isn't this nice."
Jerking out of his fervor, Sasuke retracted his mouth from his – yes, his – girl's neck to angrily glower at the fool who dared interrupt them. Then again, the moment he heard the voice he knew who it was. His hold on Sakura tightened considerably. He hid her in his embrace, making sure she couldn't escape, but more importantly, making sure the guy across from them, who was lazily leaning against the railing of the staircase, couldn't take her away from him.
Itachi.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He felt Sakura tense in his arms. He used one of his hands to hide her face in his chest, trying to avoid her gaze from his brother. She shouldn't look at him. The sight of Itachi could upset her. Gods, the sight of Itachi upset him.
"Do you mind?" Of all the things Sasuke could've said, apparently that was the best his so-called brilliant mind could come up with. He was rather disappointed with his brain at that moment. Then again, after kissing Sakura so intimately just now, he'd understand it would be difficult for his brain to operate under these circumstances.
Itachi raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of him. He seemed oddly disinterested, possibly even bored. He folded his arms as his gaze rested on the girl secured in Sasuke's arms and hidden from Itachi.
"Not fair," he simply commented, frowning. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Itachi was being ridiculous. No doubt friends of his were finally rubbing off on him.
"Totally fair. Go away," he gritted through his teeth. If Sakura had not been present, Sasuke was sure he would physically get into a brawl with Itachi. He and his brother had never been ones to settle their arguments physically – it was always a relentless battle of brains, attitude and wit. Now on the other hand, Sasuke just wanted to punch him.
Sakura squirmed in his arms, pulling away from his chest, but at least, remaining in his embrace – where she'd be safe.
Itachi's eyes dulled. "I'm unused to losing like this."
"This isn't a game, Itachi. We both know it never really was." His brain seemed to be working fine again. And it was right. He knew somewhere in the back of his mind this was more than a grand spar between two massive egos. Somewhere along the road it became so much more. His ego had set aside a space for his small heart. And here was Sakura, holding it in the palm of her hands.
Itachi sighed. "Fine. Just use protection."
Sasuke blanched. Sakura choked.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Sasuke exclaimed, feeling Sakura hide herself in his chest once more to avert her humiliation.
Itachi seemed confused. "Wasn't this the prize?"
"Itachi, just go away," Sasuke concluded. Damn, his brother was messed up. It probably wasn't his fault, but he was still pretty messed up. He should've known. Itachi had the mind of an old man and the body of a young one – those combinations usually didn't mesh very well.
To his absolute annoyance, Itachi smirked. "All right. See you around, Sakura. I'll send you your gift in the mail," he finished. Sasuke felt Sakura shiver in his arms at the tone of Itachi's voice. Itachi then turned and walked coolly down the stairs. Both of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Sakura caught his gaze. "He scares me now," she admitted softly. Sasuke held her, unsure of what to say to comfort her. The best he could do was stroke her hair with his hand – in the movies it seemed to so silly, but he actually caught himself enjoying the action.
"C-can we …go somewhere more private?" she asked, very shy and red in the face. He smirked down at her.
Yes. That would be perfect.
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A/N: DATTEBAYO MOTHAFUCKA.
Hell yeah. It's 2 AM and I just finished writing this chapter. After reading all my chapters through, I came to the realization that this story is kind of ridiculous. And I love that. You know things that are so ridiculous, but you can't stop yourself from enjoying it? Like country music? And parody music videos? And Sharknado? Yeah. Great times.
THE STORY IS NOT OVER! One or two chapters left. I also do this thing at the end of all my long term fics where my readers can send me questions about the fic and I answer all of them in a little special at the end. It's fun. :D
I watched Naruto Shippuden episode 330 yesterday. ERMAGHERD NARUTO IS AWESOME. Gah. Fangirling all the way!
The reviewers have been THE BEST EVER.
*_*_*_*_REVIEW RESPONSES_*_*_*_*
LuceWolfe: Well, hi there! I'm back! It's so nice to know I'm missed. :D Thank you so muc for your incredible support!
Dreaming101: Another brave trooper who took the amazing time to review every single chapter. I love people like that! You make this story seem so loved! And I'm so ecstatic to hear you enjoy it! Your support is very much appreciated.
Light blossom and dark warrior: You're right. There was no cake. Because the cake is a lie. :)
SorrowoftheHeart: Why, thank you so much. I love YOU.
Cherryjubilee: I'm so glad you liked it! :D
Desertdawn101: Yes, the vent scene was one of my favorites too :D
FruitySmell: Lol, your review made me laugh. I don't know. Shino/Ino would we called …gods, I think you're right. We have to call it Shinono XD
NaLuForever16: Glad you liked it though. **