Author's Note: Thanks guys! I want to use this space to respond to guest reviewer Mars; I apologise if my previous ending remarks dissuaded you from reviewing. As an author, no matter how small, every review is precious. I don't care if it says something that is completely nonsensical; every word has meaning. As long as it is positive, I am content. When I ask for constructive feedback, it doesn't need to be a long list of "dos and don't's." I just want to hear what you liked, and what I could do better, which is easily done in one sentence. (:

Thank you for your reviews though. They were wonderfully insightful.

Additional Note: ''Anywhere'' by Evanescence. Listen to it. It sets the tone nicely. And "Skin" (Version 2) by Rihanna when you get to Ino and Sakura partying. C;

Melt the Mistletoe

Eleven: Dance

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Characters: Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Team 7, Yamanaka Ino

Categories: Romance, Friendship

Rating: T+ (for some sexy dancing)

Sakura shifted nervously, her eyes scanning the ever-expanding crowds of people milling about the village square for a familiar head of rebellious raven hair. When she found it, she all but shoved her way through the milling masses, her hand hooking onto his as he looked down at her, relief etched into the planes of his face. Getting separated before the big night had not been on the top of her priorities, and she clung onto him with a renewed sense of purpose.

The jubilant blonde Yamanaka Ino had called her late last night, practically screeching with excitement incomparable down the headset.

"OH MY GOD FOREHEAD GIRL, DID YOU HEAR? YOUR SENSEI IS THROWING A CHRISTMAS DANCE BASH TOMORROW AND WE'RE ALL INVITED!" Holding the earpiece away from her now ringing ear, the pinkette sighed in exasperation, shaking her head with a taut smile on her lips.

Some things never changed. Sakura was thankful for the normalcy, but still wished that Ino would turn down the decibels, if only for the sake of her wilting hearing. Sakura flopped onto the couch in her living area, sighing as she wrapped herself up in the woollen throw and settled against the cushions. This was going to be a long night.

"I am well aware of Kakashi-sensei's plans for tomorrow night, Ino-Pig. Mostly because I had the biggest hand in them coming into fruition. Let's face it; the day Kaka-sensei organises a party of his own volition is the day I'll sprout wings and fly to the moon." Sakura explained with a short laugh, which was quickly reciprocated by the vivacious kunoichi on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, well that sounds accurate enough, I suppose. Asuma-sensei was a lot like that too. Never really into planning for festive celebrations, more interested in sneaking around with Kurenai behind our backs." There was a lilting sadness in Ino's tone, and the nostalgic quality to her tenor did not go amiss with the pink haired medic.

"Asuma-sensei was a great man. A little on the irresponsible side sometimes, but he was always there when it counted." Sakura stated softly with a gentle smile. She had grown very fond of the Sarutobi slouch, who had taken her under his wing in the midst of her specialist training of and with Ino, and made her feel like she belonged in their little family.

Ino huffed out a quiet laugh, enjoying the sweet moment of reminiscence with her best friend, of whom she had shared so much with; pain, happiness, despair and bitterness, all wrapped up in a box of dark delights that was sometimes too difficult to endure opening.

Thankfully this was not one of those moments, and both girls cherished the mutuality of the companionable silence that had settled between them.

"...So you know... About this dance..." Ino trailed off suddenly, hesitancy lacing her voice as she pondered on the right words to say. Sakura raised her eyebrows, expression the epitome of surprise at this unexpected development. Ino was as buoyant as her bubbly father, which was a big part of the reason why the two got along so well. So to hear reluctance clearly in the tremor of her oftentimes whiny squeal was a little disconcerting.

"What's up, Ino? You're not usually so reserved about the whole dance thing, y'know." Sakura murmured in a playful tone, teasing the blonde woman in the hopes of getting a rise out of her.

"I know, it's just..." Ino continued with a surprising amount of consideration touching her tone. Now the pinkette knew something was up. When did Ino ever not rise to her baiting?

"It's just, well, it makes sense to take a date, right? I mean, Shikamaru roped Temari into going with him―god knows how, mind you. He's such a lazy bum, I just don't get why that Sand girl would waste her time on him, but whatever. Even Chouji got a date!"

"Ehhhh? Really? Who?" Sakura interjected with a voice dripping with disbelief. Chouji was a sweet boy, very kind and easy to like, but date material he was not. He was too focused on food and friends to ever have enough time for a girlfriend, but apparently this assumption was wrong. Sakura grinned. She was truly glad for him. He deserved to be liked by someone who saw the good in him.

"That girl from Kumo. You know... Uhhhh, I think her name was Kauri?"

"I think you meant Karui, Ino-Pig. And yeah, I know her. She was the girl that beat the crap out of Naruto when he stood up for Sasuke-kun's freedom." Sakura intoned, clearly amused as she gave a brief description of the woman in question.

"Dark red hair, dark skin, about our height, attitude in droves. Quite frankly I like her. She's got spunk."

Ino huffed in response, clearly at odds with Sakura's opinion of the "chick from the Land of Lightning."

"Well I don't agree so much, Forehead. I mean, she's rude, completely obnoxious, and can't take a joke for the life of her. I don't know what Chouji sees in her."

"And yet the same could be said of Chouji."

"Shut it, pinky. Chouji has plenty of strong points. Any girl would be lucky to have him."

"Oh my, is this the same Yamanaka Ino that said she'd sooner die than date the chubby-chaser-in-training Akimichi Chouji?"

"Oh my god Sakura, shush! I may not have the nerve to date the walking food-stand, but there are plenty of people that find big eaters attractive. Especially if they're kind, considerate and sensitive like my Chouji."

"Is that jealousy I detect, Ino? Since when did you ever refer to your teammates as yours?"

"Since forever. Like you'd know. My team is my life, and I'll be damned if they screw it up by fucking the wrong girls."

"INO!" Sakura yelled, aghast by the sudden crudeness of their back and forth banter. Her face twisted into an appalled stretch of discomfiture as she rolled onto her side, green eyes trailing the freshly painted walls of her apartment until they fell upon the clock overhanging her television set. It read 11:47pm.

"Sorry, sorry, Prude-hime. Didn't realise you were so sensitive about cussing." Ino said with a vibrant laugh, defying the lateness of the hour.

"But I mean it. I want them to choose people that will value them for them. They're so wonderful, and the most important people in my life. I don't want them to settle below their worth, because they deserve nothing but the best. Like my tou-san and kaa-san. The best for the best." Her voice came out a little tighter than before, emotions high-strung as she spoke tearfully into the receiver. It was still a fresh wound, the death of her father during the war, and his memory haunted her in so many ways.

Ino was a fighter, though, and her resilience was what made her so attractive to so many people. She never let anything get her down for long. It was just that losing her daddy was the hardest pill for her to swallow.

"I get what you mean." Sakura responded empathetically, thinking of her own beloved boys. Naruto was happy and healthy in his blossoming relationship with Hinata, whilst she and Sasuke had slipped into a wonderful dynamic also. Two years, she thought with a broad smile at the pictures nailed onto the walls. Within their monochromatic frames, there were many images; of family, of her beloved youth with Team Kakashi, growing up, and various photographs of her alongside her gorgeous boyfriend.

They had been doing very well, and she was excited to see him back in the village after his extensive leave-of-absence with her idiotic male best friend Naruto.

"I'd do anything to ensure their happiness. Anything at all."

"Oh I know you would, you lucky bitch. It so happens that you're dating the hottest thing alive, in the history of mankind, so you don't have to worry about this shitty 'dance with a date' deal. It's me I'm worried about!" Ino near shrieked into the headset, her aquamarine eyes wide and frantic as she finally expelled her concerns to her pink haired girlfriend.

"I have no idea what to do about this, and it's such short notice, and I just―WHAT THE HELL SHOULD I DO FOREHEAD?"

"Whoa there, Pig, calm down! You're gorgeous, have a mostly tolerable personality―" Sakura was cut off by Ino's indignant "HEY!", her lips stretched tautly over her teeth as she grinned unabashedly, "―and any guy would be lucky to have you on their arm."

"But I don't want a guy who wants me to hang off of them like I'm some cheap accessory!" Ino exclaimed with a sob, her face the picture of despair.

"I... I want a guy that wants me for me. That loves me for who I am, and not for what I look like. I want what you and Sasuke-kun have." Ino amended softly, her eyes misted over with tears as she opened her heart with a frankness that only she could possess. Sakura's eyes widened, clearly stunned by the blonde's admission, before her expression morphed into loving compassion.

"And that's what you shall get, Ino. You just need to be assertive. I don't think Sai would ever realise you exist otherwise." Sakura chuckled when she heard Ino muffle her surprised gasp in the palm of her hand.

"H-How did you―?"

"Oh please, Ino, you're more obvious than Captain Clarity. I think everyone realised you liked him long before even you did." Sakura's voice dripped with amusement. Ino could be so blantantly airheaded sometimes that she was pitiable, but that made her all the more endearing to the pinkette.

''I guess so...'' Ino trailed off, embarrassment colouring her soft tone as she lay back on her plush mattress, twirling the ends of her long fringe around her index finger.

"What do I need to do to, well, catch his eye, Sakura? You're his teammate, so you should know him best of all after all these years together."

Sakura scoffed, rolling her eyes to the heaven's as she thought of the emotionally constipated ex-ROOT nin that put even Sasuke to shame when it came to feelings. His understanding was, admittedly, better than when they had first met; indeed, he had been quite the bleak basket-case.

But even so, his emotions developed slowly, and often he would come to Sakura for assistance in identifying them. It wasn't that she particuarly minded. She had come to value Sai as a dear friend and a wonderful source of entertainment whenever he was let loose upon Naruto on their squad missions, but sometimes he had the worst possible timing.

An intimate moment or five with Sasuke had been absolutely and irrevocably ruined by his lack of social etiquette, and as he had never conformed to the usual nine to five working hour schedule, it should have been predictable. Never the less, it was safe to say that Sasuke had a healthy loathing for the dark haired invalid, as his face would visibly sour whenever the two were left to their own devices. Although Sakura was by no means a sadist, she couldn't help but enjoy their collective discomfort around each other, especially when specific anatomical additions were casually brought up in conversation by the clueless artist.

Sakura shook her head against the fluffy pillows beneath her head, sinking her full weight into the couch as she returned back to the conversation at hand.

"Ino, if I were to be blatantly honest with you, then I would suggest that you steer clear of the clueless wonder entirely. He's a tough nut to crack after all. But being the person that you are, I doubt that you'll heed that advice."

A loud "You're damned right I won't!" was her response to that jibe. Sakura soldiered on regardless.

"But I think that is the kind of approach that is needed to rope him in, Pig. From my experience with him, you need to be assertive and aggressive as hell in order to keep his attention on you. Go on the attack! He certainly won't do you any favours in that regard, believe me." Sakura finished, utterly exasperated, lying back against the folded arm that she had slipped under her head and closing her eyes to the clock on the wall.

12:39pm. When would Ino's tirade end?

"You really think he'd, well, get it? I mean if I did that. If I were the one in control, then do you think he'd be willing to, you know, go out with me?"

"Ino, you're his only hope of ever having a relatively normal relationship. In fact, you're the only hope in hell he has at ever keeping a girl besotted with him by just being his usual insulting self, period. So don't let your nerves get the better of you and just ask him out already." The pinkette shrugged off her weariness, finding that that was proving nearly ineffective as interia tugged at the frayed edges of her distracted conscience. She wanted to sleep, but only when Ino wasn't feeling so self-conscious.

"Well okay then, I guess. If you think I can do it, then I'll give it a go." Ino exclaimed with renewed vigor, her eyes smiling as brightly as her face before she rolled over to face her alarm clock. Flashing red numbers indicated that it was just short of one in the morning.

"Thanks for everything, Forehead. I'll let you go now. I think we both need sleep desperately after all of this gossip." They both laughed then.

"Yeah, you're probably right about that. I'm kind of drifting off here on the couch."

"Oh god, not that shitty fucking couch of yours! You seriously need to get a refund on that piece of shit, Sakura. Get that sensei of yours to put a deposit on a new lounge for you. Or better yet, ditch the couch and place claim on half of Sasuke-kun's apartment! Isn't about time the two of you moved in together? It's been, what, two years now?"

Sakura flushed scarlet. Did she really just go there at―1:07 in the blessed a.m.?

"Ino, not this again.."

"Don't 'not this again' me, Sakura! You two have been practically joined at the hip these last few months! What would be so weird about living together when you're already having sleepovers every other night when he's back in Konoha?" Ino inquired with a sinister smile cutting across her face. She was simply diabolical once she had started on a tirade. The last two hours were definitive proof of this.

"It's not as if you have anything to be shy about! You've already done the deed by now, surely. What's so embarrassing about sharing a bathroom?"

Sakura was eerily silent, her cheeks practically glowing under the intense lights of her corner lamps. Ino felt her heart lurch, and the realisation dawned on her; almost as quickly as she had unravelled the reason for Sakura's sudden quiet, had the blonde shot up on her bed, shrieking once more down the land-line.

"NO FUCKING WAY! YOU AND SASUKE HAVEN'T HAD SEX YET?! ARE YOU SHITTING ME―"

"Oh my god Ino, you whore, shut the fuck up!" Sakura hissed into her headset, face vermillion and eyes narrowed into a heated glare as she pounded her fist into the closest pillow. The seams burst apart under the crushing force of her punch, feathers exploding from within and billowing down around her flustered face.

"What Sasuke-kun and I have or have not done is none of your damned business!"

"Sorry, Forehead. It's not a bad thing or anything. I'm just surprised is all. You two are so close, so I kind of just assumed that you'd, well, yeah―"

"Well we haven't, so can we please drop this already?" Sakura exclaimed tersely, not giving Ino a chance to respond, as she promptly hung up, throwing the phone across the room until it landed with a 'thud!' on the armchair in the corner.

Rolling inwards to face the interior of the couch, the pink haired med-nin wrapped her arms around her face, desperately staving off the heated blush that had settled on her cheeks. Sex had been far from either of their minds, and Sakura had been content with that decision to refrain from bringing it up. But the pressure had begun to mount when even Hinata had finally admitted to sleeping with Naruto for the first time a month ago.

The shy wallflower of their group had lost her virginity before Sakura, and although she wasn't fussed on issues of intercourse and was more than content to remain as she was in their relationship, something inside of her had wilted under the expectations of her friends. Even her parents had made the assumption that grandchildren were just over the horizon, and quite frankly, that could not have been any farther from the truth.

Now it wasn't as if Sasuke had exhibited zero interest in her. It was just that he was comfortable with the way that they were progressing as a couple, and if Sakura was truthful, so was she. She was in no hurry to have sex. She was content with the heat that they shared, without the added stress of performance anxiety on top of that.

But even so... she couldn't stop the slight tightening of her chest as she drifted off into a disturbed sleep, dreaming of dark hair and endless eyes devouring her entire existence whole betwixt twisted bed-sheets.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Heat pervaded her senses, the tingling of her jittery nerves a firm reminder that it was cold and that falling asleep on her couch was a terrible idea, and she moaned softly as her once deadweight frame was lifted effortlessly into rigid warmth that was all too familiar to her slumbering awareness. Eyelids heavy with exhaustion, Sakura allowed her head to loll back against the firm expanse of a toned shoulder, nearly having to peel her eyes open with her numb fingers as she adjusted to the gloom of her apartment, submerged in darkness.

The peerless obsidian orbs of Uchiha Sasuke stared back at her, face carefully aloof as he studied the haggard lines and circles that bruised her usually vibrant visage. Never the less, she was still a wonder to behold, and Sasuke took his time taking her in as he carried her down the hallway to her bedroom. He was decked to the fullest in winter garb, and his normally pallid complexion was marred with molten blotches that stood out angrily against the refined cut of his cheekbones. Still, he was a sight for sore eyes, and Sakura's first instinct was to wrap her arms around his neck, nuzzling into him affectionately as he adjusted his grip on her so as to reciprocate her affectionate ministration.

He held her to him as he turned the wobbly knob of her bedroom door, pushing the barricade open with ease and letting it fall to a quiet close behind him as he strode over to her bed. Holding her weight with his prosthetic arm, Sasuke lifted the thick blanket thrown neatly over her mattress back, craning over and lowering the shivering pinkette into the stale cold of her kempt sheets before he stepped back; Sakura reached for him on an impulse to be close, to be warm again, and Sasuke smirked a little, the expression summoning delightful little butterflies in her stomach as he slipped out of his cloak and shirt without a pause in between, discarding the loose articles of clothing with a dismissive flick of his wrist onto the floor at his feet.

In just his loose khaki slacks, he was all sharp lines and rippling muscle, and Sakura had to bite her lip to stave off the moan of approval that his appearance stirred from within her. Without further adieu, Sasuke clambered onto the bed, sinking eloquently into the plush mattress with practiced ease before he reached out and pulled the flustered pinkette toward his bared chest.

Sakura noted the sluggishness in that single movement, and thus saved him the effort; all but barrelling into his naked torso, she snuggled into his heat, finally comfortable with her surroundings as she greeted her love softly in the din of the night, afraid that being too loud would disperse this wonderful dream from existence.

"Welcome home, Sasuke-kun."

She drifted off then, smiling into his collarbone as he pressed a fleeting kiss to the crest of her pink hair, his grip on her tightening imperceptibly as he too succumbed to slumber.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

"Do I look okay, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked with a twirl in the evening of his return, the glittering silk of her chiffon cocktail dress catching off of the dimmed lights in her bedroom.

Sasuke paused―having just stepped out of the shower―in drying his damp hair, dark eyes zeroing in on the petite woman admiring her reflection in a full-body mirror. The dress enhanced all of her assets in a manner that was entirely flattering and not garishly slutty, and her skin was showing in select areas that made Sasuke's fingers twitch on impulse. How he wanted to bare the rest that lay obscured beneath the silken fabric of her gown.

It was cream around the bodice, and opened into a flair of mousy brown from her waistline that dropped to just above her knees. She was pulling on a thick pair of stockings to match the ensemble, black stretched taut over the wonderful curves of her legs, and she was quick to add a pair of chestnut coloured leg warmers over her ankles to ensure an extra layer of warmth. A pair of heeled boots lay at the foot of her bed, unassuming, but Sasuke knew that they would look stunning on those lithe limbs of hers. He swallowed, mouth slightly drier than it had been a moment before.

She locked gazes with him in the mirror, face sweetly smiling in nervous anticipation as he gave his verdict. With a light spattering of pink dusting over his regal cheeks, Sasuke returned her stare with one filled to the brim with electric intensity.

"Beautiful."

It was the only word he said, but it carried all of the impact that a novella of love letters could never begin to express, and Sakura blushed under his scrutiny.

Never the less she was incredibly pleased, and she smiled jubilantly as she allowed her softly curling hair to fall neatly around her shoulders. While Sasuke pulled on his dress shirt and jacket, Sakura made sure to gather all of her gifts for the ensuing night's festivities into several bags, sorting out her purse in the kitchen as her boyfriend sidled down the hallway, ready in half the time she had taken to spruce up for the party.

"Ready to head out?" Sasuke questioned softly, expression decidedly gentle as he reached out for her hand.

She took it without hesitation, her grin brightening his sour disposition (regarding parties slash gatherings of any kind) as they exited her apartment, making sure to lock the door behind them before they made their way to the Hokage Mansion.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

The party was in full swing by the time they had arrived. Sasuke, although a stickler for keeping the time, was not anxious to get there in a hurry, so they had taken their time strolling through the busy streets of Konoha, checking out the evening stalls and responding to idle chit-chat as a means of delaying the inevitable. Sakura called out to every person she met with, wishing them a Merry Christmas whilst Sasuke walked stoically alongside her, fingers entwined with hers as he shot glares at any man who had the nerve to stare for even a moment at his lovely girlfriend.

Sakura, completely oblivious to the unwanted attention that she was receiving, smiled as she became invested in cheerful banter with Yamanaka Ino's mother, who was being overly gracious with her complimenting of the pink haired kunoichi. Although the idea of a rowdy party was unpleasant to Sasuke, at least there were some familiar faces that knew well of his overprotective nature pertaining to all things Sakura, and would not even think of turning their hungry eyes on her knowing the potential for a painful death at the hands of the ex-nukenin.

Tugging on her arm, Sasuke pulled her from her heated discussion with the elder Yamanaka woman, who could only giggle teasingly at the look of annoyance that had settled on Sasuke's face as he led the startled pinkette away. And thus they had arrived to loud, obnoxious music, made even more obnoxious by the drunken shinobi singing Christmas carols at the top of their lungs alongside it.

Sasuke scowled.

Sakura laughed outright at the petulant jut his lip had adopted at having been coerced into this scenario to begin with.

Goddamned Naruto and his blackmailing ways―

"Hey, Sakura-chan! Teme! You made it! It's about time!" Said blonde fluttered into their line of sight, and before either could protest, he had his arms thrown around their shoulders, leading them straight into the thick of the surrounding fray without so much as look behind him, his expression alight with festive cheer as he deposited of them on a couch that was occupied by a group of familiar faces.

"Forehead Girl! It's about time you showed up!" Ino exclaimed with a bubbly grin on her face, her arm not so discreetly tucked into Sai's as he sat there, a little flustered and anything but impassive to the attention that he was receiving from his apparent "accessory."

Atta girl, Ino! Inner Sakura proclaimed with a hoot. Reel him in!

"Sorry we're late. I kept running into friendly faces that wanted to chat, so I kind of inadvertently dragged Sasuke-kun into the mingling." She shot him an apologetic look. He merely squeezed her hand in response, grunting mutely before he focused his attention on the bombastic blonde running his mouth off a mile a minute alongside him with a look of mild amusement on his face.

He really had learned to tolerate Naruto's penchant for inanity these past few years.

"Don't worry about it, my love! We have some things to discuss!" Ino exclaimed, nonplussed, before she stood from her place alongside the antsy Sai. She bent down, whispered something into the shell of his ear that had his pale cheeks heating up with a blush, before she sidled over to the pinkette, taking her by her remaining hand and tugging her to her feet as well; inevitably drawing the attention of the raven haired man clasping her left hand in his own.

"I am stealing your woman for a dance, and you can't stop me!" Was all Ino said to the proud man, still seated and stunned into silence at the bluntness of her casual remark, before she pried his fingers from the smiling pinkette's hand and all but dragged her into the pulsating masses that had overtaken Kakashi's mansion's floors.

Sakura's green eyes searched the crowd for that mane of silver hair that indicated her sensei's presence, and she found him leaning against the farthest wall from all of the action, looking bored as hell as one of his advisors chewed him out for his tardiness, as usual. Their gazes met briefly, and he sent her a two fingered salute that was quickly shot down by the fuming aid.

Sakura laughed, but it was breathy at best, as Ino was tugging her along until they were settled amidst the chaos of bodies throbbing with infectious Christmas cheer and techno beats. The blonde turned to face her then, arms folding around her neck and pulling her close, forcing Sakura's around her slim waist. They swayed to the beat, eyes locked on each other's for a fleeting moment before Ino's face lit up with a smile so bright that it put the sun to shame.

"I did it, Sakura! I was aggressive, and Sai agreed to go out with me!" The excitement that laced her tone was palpable, and was reinforced in the animated swinging of their hips as they moved in sync with the music. Sakura returned her smile with gusto.

"That's great, Ino! Good for you! I'm glad it worked out well!" Their eyes strayed back to where their friends were sitting, Sasuke still focused on Naruto whilst Sai was sending inconspicuous stares their way.

"He can't keep his eyes off of you, Pig. What'd you do to get him so transfixed and flustered?" Sakura asked, her voice one big, curious question mark as she directed a pointed stare at the blonde kunoichi.

"I might have promised to model for him in the nude if he accompanied me to this party." Ino smirked deviously, and Sakura could only gape at her. She knew Ino had no issues about showing her naked body to people. What surprised her was the fact that she would make herself so vulnerable in front of the man she liked under the premise of only wanting one date from him.

"Are you sure you made your intentions known to him, Ino? I don't want him to come to me in the middle of the night all broken and stuff because you weren't clear about what you wanted from him." A solid smack on her arm had Sakura laughing full-force, Ino quickly joining in on the giggling fit before she leaned into Sakura even more.

"Just so you're aware; Sasuke-kun is staring right at you, and man does he look conflicted." Ino stated with amusement oozing from her pores, Sakura stiffening in her arms as the blonde tactfully tilted them around enough so that Sakura could observe the raven haired Uchiha from her peripherals. Indeed he was gazing fixedly in their direction, his face just short of tormented as Naruto openly gaped at their intertwined limbs. It all seemed platonic enough to them, but obviously not to the male population, most of whom had directed their unabashed ogling their way.

"Whoops. Looks like we got a little too hot for them to handle." Ino quipped with a seductive smile in Sai's direction, watching with delight as his cheeks flared up with a brutal vermillion hue. Sakura felt her own cheeks flood with warmth as Sasuke gripped his glass with enough force to shatter it; the shards fell forgotten to the ground, the dark haired Uchiha transfixed at the sight of Sakura lightly grinding against her blonde friend.

"Should we give them a show they'll never forget?" Ino whispered covertly into the shell of Sakura's ear, sliding her hands down the pink haired medic's arms before she raised them above both of their heads, those same impetuous hands trailing down her exposed limbs and ghosting down to her vivacious hips, where they stayed. Pulling her back flush to Ino's front, Sakura felt a thrill of anticipation drop into her gut at the intensity smouldering behind Sasuke's hooded ebony irises as she rocked her hips along with Ino's.

She felt a deep throb resonate through her stomach, sinking deeper still until the press of her thighs against one another caused a heated friction that had her squirming against the blonde kunoichi behind her. As if lulled into a trance, Sakura let her eyes fall to a close, using the momentum of the beat as the force that anchored her in place, her body swaying in delicious arcs of flesh that beseeched human touch.

It had been too long since she had let loose like this. The tension in her body unravelled alongside her inhibitions, and without a trace of alcohol in her system, Sakura had never felt more inebriated―her flesh tingling hotly under Ino's small hands.

The heat reached a blazing tempest before it subsided, being replaced with cool flames that licked at every inch of exposed skin on her body. Sakura's eyes snapped open at the solid frame that had settled behind her, large hands cupping the gentle slope of her waist with practiced precision as her arching body careened back into firm musculature.

When Sakura looked up, green eyes wide and a heated blush tearing across her lovely features, she was looking straight into the eyes of her stoic lover, who was anything but indifferent to her feminine wiles. Her lips parted to speak, but with a pointed grind against the small of her back courtesy of Sasuke's rocking hips, Sakura lost her ability to think coherently. Mind blank of thought, Sakura leaned into his eager touch, a sign of supplication that sent a thrill of adrenaline pumping through Sasuke's overactive system.

Her hands came to rest over the tops of his, fingers intwining with his clumsily as she rested her swaying frame against his, electrcity shooting up her spine when she brushed up against his toned chest. Sakura was lost in sensation, so she did nothing but feel.

The texture of his silky shirt against the slivers of exposed skin at her back.

The coarseness of his slacks against the velvety material of her tights―which had begun to cling too tautly to her now smothered legs.

The intense burning that had erupted within the core of her being.

Everything blurred around her but the feel of Sasuke's body against hers, and she loved it.

More than sex, there was something incredibly intimate about the way their bodies melded into one another, brushing up against each other in tentative teases that had them aching for something more substantial.

They had never experienced touch quite like this before, and as Sakura arched into his hands, which had trailed over her tummy to cup her aching breasts, confined behind layers of heavy material, and his lips pressing hot kisses to the side of her exposed throat, she knew that she would have to dance with Ino more often.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Ending Remarks: Hot enough for ya?

I am slowly building into the smut. How do you like thus far? C;

I had way too much fun writing this ahhhhhh― ¬/^/¬

Please review!

We are starting to reach the veritable climax, where fluff converges with citrus, so do be prepared for some adult funtime guys. ;3

Until tomorrow!

-x-R i n-x-