Marionnette
Everyone noticed how he manipulated her, everyone but her. AU
Disclaimer: M for language, drug use, and alcohol. If you are uncomfortable with these themes, don't proceed. The initial draft of Chapter 10 was removed - the scenes have been re-done within this update to fit more cohesively with the tone and rest of the plot.
Chapter 10
When he hadn't shown up to get her on Thursday night, she'd been worried. More worried than she'd been about him in a long time.
She'd been pacing back and forth in her room at her apartment. Periodically, she would stop at the mirror and mess with the mascara clumping in her eyelashes.
In her desperation she'd called Itachi and expressed her concern.
Please tell me I still have his number and that it's still the same.
She remembered blindly fumbling through the contacts in her phone to track it down.
After he'd answered she'd attempted to sound calm, but failed miserably.
"Hi. This—it's Sakura," she started with.
She could hear his sharp breath over the line. No doubt he was alarmed.
"Hello, Sakura."
"Sorry-sorry to bother you. But... I'm worried about Sasuke. He hasn't been responding to me for a few days and he was supposed to pick me up at six o'clock, and then he never showed."
She heard the sound of a car door shutting on his end.
"I saw him last night at the house, albeit briefly. I can confirm that he was in one piece," Itachi stated.
Sakura let out a sigh of relief, but the feeling was short-lived.
Then why wasn't he responding this week, and why was he a no-show tonight?
"Okay—okay great," she replied.
There was a pause on the line.
"You said he was supposed to pick you up two hours ago? Where are you now?"
That was how she'd found herself standing uncertainly in their kitchen, while Itachi dug through the fridge for food and drinks. The sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled up to his elbows, the top couple buttons at the front undone. He'd removed his shoes at the door and was rummaging through the shelves in his dress socks.
She'd usually only ever been in the house with Sasuke present or by herself when he ran errands, so to be there with just Itachi after he had retrieved her was definitely bizarre.
She remembered feeling out of her element, like something bad was happening that had made it come to this. But she shook it off and set her bag down on one of the counters.
She'd wordlessly grabbed the items his brother was setting out on the marble island and taken them to the table by the window in a daze.
And then he was sitting across from her, opening a beer for her and sliding it to her in silence.
His long hair was tied as usual, the end of it falling over the front of his shoulder.
Her eyes focused on the neck of the bottle and then she had snatched at it, taking a long swig.
She looked up and started, "I think he's up to something that's maybe..." she trailed off, uncertain how to finish.
This conversation felt a lot heavier than the one she'd had with Ino the day before.
Itachi drank his beverage and held up his hand to silence her.
"I know it's hard, but don't confront him... not yet," he advised. "Sasuke shuts down when he feels threatened or attacked. You know how he is," he continued.
Sakura nodded in agreement and sipped again at her beer.
"Let him be. My primary concern is his mental health more than anything else. Everything otherwise, is superficial to me," Itachi finished.
She shook her head side to side, her hair feeling flat and lifeless against her head. Suddenly, she felt apprehensive.
"He would freak out if he knew we were talking about him like this," she muttered.
She looked down at her hands and shook her head again.
"Indeed," Itachi agreed.
They sat in silence for a time, sipping on their drinks and ruminating. Then, they'd changed the subject.
Sasuke had come home an hour later.
Sasuke was leaning against the doorframe of one of the first floor bathrooms, his arms crossed over his grey shirt as he glared at her reflection in the mirror.
She was in a fitted tank top and her underwear, parting her hair with gloves on and brushing pink dye into the roots. Her toenails were painted the same blue as her fingernails and she scrunched her toes into the cold granite below her feet.
With Itachi out of the house for the day, they'd been able to move about a little more freely and openly than when he was home. The voyeuristic poolside sex a couple hours earlier had been a definitive indication of that.
"You said YOU wanted to throw a party here," he started.
Sakura glanced at him in the mirror over the sink and continued to part hair.
A glop of dye fell off the applicator brush onto her exposed thigh and his eyes followed the movement.
He continued, "So then why is Naruto texting ME an essay every fucking minute about how I need to pick HIM up at once, so he and I can go to the store together?"
Sakura wiped at the dye on her leg with a gloved hand. It left a colored smear on her peachy skin and she 'tsked' in displeasure.
"I mean, are you really that put out by it? When's the last time you hung out with Naruto? Just go get him. He's excited," she offered.
Sasuke grumbled incoherently in irritation, and uncrossed his arms as he watched her struggle with coloring the harder to reach spots.
She tried to peer up at him with her head bent and squeaked out a desperate, "Help?"
He stepped forward to stand at her back. Yanking the dye brush from her hand, he angled her neck in the needed direction. Quickly and efficiently, he filled in the spots she kept missing.
"I'm not your fucking hairdresser," he said, agitated. Yet, he hovered behind her when he was finished, his hand still resting on her neck. She lifted her head to give his surly reflection a pointed look in the mirror. He stared back.
He'd been helping her dye her hair for years.
After that, Sasuke had begrudgingly retrieved Naruto at Sakura's behest and driven him around town to pick up liquor and kegs. Hours later, the party was in full swing.
"Yo, Kiba had some extra Adderalls, you want one?" Naruto undid the bag of pills scrunched up in his hand and presented it in front of Sakura, Ino and Sasuke.
The four of them were standing in a loose circle out back, casually sipping on alcohol.
Sakura could see Kiba passed out on a pool chair from where she was standing. She was pretty confident that Naruto had swiped the bag out of the unsuspecting guy's pocket.
Sasuke eyed the offering with brief consideration and asked, "Are you having one?"
Sakura smoothed down her fitted, short-sleeved dress and inwardly sighed at the competitive undertone laced in Sasuke's response.
Naruto shook his head, "Nah, I don't think so. I'm gonna save these for a rainy day. I'm going for more of a chill night, if you know what I mean."
He waited for Ino to look away before putting his index finger and thumb together near his mouth, making a smoking sign at Sasuke.
Sasuke shook his head. Idiot.
"Last chance. Ladies?" Naruto asked.
Sakura took a sip of her beer, then responded in the negative, "I think I'm just going to stick to drinking tonight."
Ino was fidgeting, suspiciously acting like she wasn't listening. As Naruto made a move to put the crinkled baggie away, she shot her hand forward and underneath his face.
"I'll take one."
Naruto shook his head in disbelief.
"Miss 'I'm judgey about pot' is out here to rage I see."
He tipped one into her narrow palm then tried to seal the Ziploc.
Ino looked down at the tablet in her hand for a moment then said, "You know what, you better make that two," as she lifted two fingers.
Naruto looked around at the people milling about, bumped his head to the music, then looked at Sasuke.
"Didn't you have a pool table around here? Bet you ten bucks I can kick your ass in an 8-ball race."
Sasuke's grip tightened on his beer can before he responded, "Yeah? Make it a hundred bucks, 9-ball, first to win five games."
"Get ready to be out a bill then, because we all know that I'm better than you!"
Sakura took a long gulp from her drink as they circle jerked.
"Which way is it? Which way? Which way? Let's go," Naruto was spinning around in place looking in every direction. The hood of his hoodie tee flopped around with the movement.
"Are you sure you didn't take an Adderall?" Ino asked suspiciously.
Sakura giggled as Sasuke made to leave.
She latched on to his hand and yanked until he turned around. She got on her toes and pressed her lips to his. Thank you.
He looked down at her for a second, then grabbed at a strand of her hair and gruffly commented, "It turned out too pink this time."
Then he let go and left with Naruto.
Ino coughed into her hand.
"Excuse me while I fucking puke."
"Ino!" Sakura reprimanded.
She was happy. Sasuke seemed stable and present. The party was nice.
Ino popped one of the addys into her mouth and chased it with her drink. She slipped the second into the pocket of her mini skirt, then raised her hands in the air.
The music was loud and they could see people inside the house through the sliding glass.
"I am here for this party! I'm here for it! This wouldn't have worked at any of our small ass apartments. Nice work Sakura. Anyways, guess what?"
Sakura waved her hands around in a questioning motion, "What? What Pig? What is it?"
"I'm a working girl now!"
Shikamaru strolled over from a nearby drink table, his eyebrow raised and a red party cup in his hand.
"Ino, did you just call yourself a prostitute?"
She punched him hard in the shoulder with the flat of her hand.
"No, no. It came out wrong."
She slid her long nailed fingers through her ponytail and whipped the end of her hair for dramatic effect before announcing, "I got the job!"
"Oh, no shit. Congrats," Shikamaru offered.
Sakura smiled. It was nice to be with her roommates in the backyard of what she essentially considered her second home. She belatedly realized she hadn't shared this part of her life with them before.
"When did you find out?" she asked.
Ino fanned herself as she drank more of her cocktail.
"I got the call yesterday!"
Shikamaru took a lazy gulp out of his cup.
"I am so down to get trashed tonight. This is such a celebration," Ino continued as she downed the end of her drink.
"Like, can you imagine me? At a desk! In a—in a sexy form fitting business suit? With a pencil skirt, and a pointed heel and—"
Shikamaru looked at something past Sakura and then walked forwards and vacated the vicinity.
"Ugh. He's such a jerk." Ino complained.
Sakura laughed.
"I totally fucking kicked your ass," Naruto exclaimed.
"Fuck you," Sasuke responded.
They had played all five games and it had almost ended with a cue jammed into Naruto's eyeball, so they'd called it quits.
They'd left the den and had come back towards the central part of the house.
"You're an asshole, why aren't you going to Sakura's commencement?" Naruto questioned as they leaned against the wall of the hallway.
He'd let her have this stupid party hadn't he?
Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. He'd thrown on a burnt red long sleeve over his grey shirt and was regretting the choice in material as it had rubbed uncomfortably against the inside of his arms all night.
He rolled a sleeve up in irritation.
"Aw man, wait hold that thought. I have to piss. Where's the closest bathroom?"
"Naruto, stop acting like you've never been here before. You know where it is," he muttered, annoyed.
"But I get so confused! There are too many hallways."
Sasuke glared at him, unimpressed.
"Be right back!"
As Naruto walked off, Sasuke scanned his eyes around the people in his house. A lot of them had left after the handful of hours he'd disappeared to slaughter Naruto at billiards.
Good, fuck all these people.
The few that remained were a mix of Sakura and Naruto's close friends and a couple random people he didn't recognize.
Naruto was such a fucking assclown. No subtlety with his intentions. It was obvious he was trying to save him from what would surely have been hours of forced socializing by goading him into pool.
He took a sip of his beer and then blanched. It was warm, and it was still full. He was thinking about disposing of it down the drain of the kitchen sink, when he froze.
No fucking way. What the fuck.
He took a step, shoving some random asshole out of his way.
"Watch it man!"
"Fuck off," he responded.
Was that—was that fucking Suigetsu walking up the hallway and towards the courtyard?!
He deposited the full can in his hand onto the nearest surface and shot forward to intercept the moron.
Sakura and Ino had parked themselves in a set of wicker chairs on the far side of the back courtyard. They were overlooking the pool from a distance, the glass doors that led back inside were all slid open at this point. The foot traffic between the different areas of the house had been continuous throughout the night, but now there were barely any people outside but them.
Ino was talking so fast that Sakura could barely follow what she was saying.
She was looking up at the night sky when she realized Ino had stopped.
"What's—what's going on over there?" Ino questioned, nodding her head.
Sasuke could feel his blood boiling under his skin. His shitty fucking long sleeved shirt was not helping in regulating his rising body temperature.
He came up and knocked a heavy hand into Suigetsu's chest before he could step even further out into the courtyard than he already had.
"Why the fuck would you show up here?!" he demanded.
He was livid. Enraged.
"Are you fucking crazy?" he asked, with derision.
He could feel his arms moving around in anger, outside of his control. He was making a scene, he knew it, but this was—this was not fucking okay.
Suigetsu grinned that unnerving pointy smile and spoke with little amusement.
"Because Boss-man, shit is hitting the fan. YOU'VE been no where to be found all day and yet here you are throwing a goddamn FUCKING party!"
Sasuke glowered at Suigetsu, his teeth grating. His eyes moved to Juugo who stood slightly farther back in a silent pensiveness.
"Thanks for the invite by the way," Suigetsu finished.
Sasuke hung his head. His hands clenching as he peered behind him to ensure no one was in hearing range.
All he saw was stupid ass Inuzuka, passed out on the pool chair that he'd fucked Sakura on earlier.
He ran his hand down his face and then asked, "What's going on then? What's going on that you had to fucking come to my goddamn house— where you would be seen... in front of witnesses… INTERACTING WITH ME?"
"What's going on?!" Suigetsu was yelling back now. His face contorted in disbelief and his arms flailed in an attempt to be heard over the dwindling music.
"You're asking ME what the fuck is going on?!" he repeated.
Ino and Sakura watched the puzzling exchange from across the backyard.
Sakura silently glanced at Ino with a look that said 'don't move' and then nonchalantly got up to get herself a drink from the table near Sasuke.
Sasuke was facing the other direction, so immersed in his heated back and forth that she was certain she was not noticed. She began to hear bits and pieces float towards her ear.
"...your phone. Now."
She could see Sasuke digging into his pocket from the corner of her eye and was surprised to see him pull out a cell phone that she did not recognize.
His fingers deftly clicked across the screen, scrolling nonstop.
What's he doing?
She continued to slowly pour liquor into a cup, taking her time to select a mixer.
"...where's Karin?" she heard him ask sharply.
Karin? Sakura thought. Who was that? Didn't Naruto have a cousin with that name?
Sasuke's eyes widened as the messages he hadn't been able to address all day streamed past his vision. He'd been distracted with Sakura at the house earlier in the day and then distracted from running around with Naruto later in the afternoon. His grip on the burner phone was strained.
"She's doing fucking damage control. Told us we were being idiots for coming here and bothering you," Suigetsu explained, arms now crossed.
Suigetsu's eyes moved away from Sasuke and focused on something behind him.
Sasuke, still in shock over the amount of bullshit they were now swimming in and how much had gone wrong, AGAIN, in just 24 hours, did not notice Suigetsu's attention shift. Instead, he demanded that Juugo give him a cigarette.
Juugo handed his boss a square and as Sasuke lit it in his mouth with a lighter from his pocket, Suigetsu finally asked, "Who's that?"
He nodded his head in the direction of what had caught his attention.
Sasuke took a deep drag and turned.
Fucking. Sakura. Sakura was standing not far away at the drink table, pouring herself some liquor. Had she heard anything?! His heart stopped. His panic floated through him briefly, but then quickly turned back into anger. He whipped back around.
"Don't. Look at her," he seethed.
Suigetsu smiled that stupid shit eating grin and whistled long and low.
"Heh. Is that your lady Boss-man?"
"Fuck off," he bit out.
"Come on," he moved forward and signaled at Juugo and Suigetsu to follow him, away from this area of the house.
Ino approached Sakura as Sasuke led the group off.
They watched him flick the cigarette onto the ground as they disappeared inside.
Ino eyed Sakura with uncertainty before speaking.
"Since when does he smoke?" she questioned.
Sakura's mouth dropped open as she stared back at Ino, silently shaking her head.
TBC...