"Men are idiots."
"I wouldn't really say that-"
"You can say that again."
Sakura sat cross legged on her couch while a mere few feet away, Ino sat crouched over her feet, painting her toes a crimson red with careful strokes. Her tongue out in concentration, she paused briefly to face Hinata, who, after seeing the girl's mouth pop open, took her cue to throw a mini matcha panda cookie into her awaiting mouth. Noting the game they often played on nights like these with a fond gaze, she lifted her "Girl's Night" glass full of sweet plum wine and took a long swig, gulping it down with a sigh.
"I mean, I honestly don't get how he looks at me as if he has so much to say, but when it was time to talk a month ago, he was all but mute. What type of person says he 'isn't ready' after being with someone for two years?" Sakura huffed.
Ino took a break in her cautious painting to respond, "Someone who doesn't know what he wants, or..."
More than curious, Hinata turns her gaze to Ino as Sakura asks, "Or...?"
"Or, he's hiding something."
With a blank look, Sakura blinks once, and then again, before bursting into giggles (much to her companions' surprise).
"Ino, I hate to break it to you, but Sasuke-kun isn't the type to lie anymore. Even if it's by omission. We've talked through our past and the lies he told me, and he knows how much I hate it. With me, he wears his heart on his sleeve...there's just no way." Sakura ended with an incredulous huff.
Sharing a look, both Ino and Hinata turn their gaze back to their friend. For some reason, Hinata's disbelief bothered Sakura the most.
"Hinata?," the pinkette allowed a bit of her confusion to leak through.
"Well... I think he might be hiding something, too... It was something Naruto-kun said to me the other night. He had just come back from a workout with Sasuke-san, and he told me, 'I love you. I would never, ever hide anything from you, you know that, right?' At the time I didn't know what to say because he looked so... haunted?" she finished with a shake of her head, as if trying to remove the memory from her mind. "All I'm saying is, maybe there's something else going on here, you know?"
"Hmmm.." was Sakura's only reply. Underneath the underneath, huh?
"Welp, fuck it. I know I said I didn't want to do anything tonight, but…"
Both Hinata and Ino averted their gazes to her, one showing shock and the other anticipation.
"…Let's go to the bar!" she finished with a smirk.
Hurriedly, Ino popped up with a squeal, clapping her hands. Uncharacteristically, Hinata rolled her eyes at her friend's antics, standing much slower than she.
"Sakura-chan, is this- I mean, are you sure you want to go out? Don't let us pressure you." Hinata uttered, wanting to be absolute sure that this is what Sakura wanted, as opposed to a certain blonde.
"I'm sure."
OoOoO
"Teme,," Naruto claimed with a clap on his best friend's shoulder. The man in question slid his eyes to where Naruto had appeared in the bar, not ceasing to take a long swig of his drink. Naruto noticed the tension in his gaze. "Sasuke? What's going on?"
Realizing the usually cool, level-headed man needed a moment to gather his thoughts, he lifted his hand and had a seat on the barstool to his left. Signaling to the bartender for a drink, he turned to the right to further analyze his best friend. A tight, stiff demeanor met him. As per usual, he thought. But, upon further observation, there was one thing different-the disturbing emotion in his eyes.
Accepting his beer, and immediately asking for two shots of the strongest sake on hand, he turned back to Sasuke to await whatever he wanted to say. After several minutes of waiting, his patience was rewarded.
"I should have told her," he murmured, almost too low to hear.
Huh? "Should've told who…what?!" He whispered back, afraid that his normal over-the-top tones would make this Chatty Sasuke retreat back into himself.
"Sakura, you idiot. I should've told her what happened!"
"Okay, so I'm lost. What the hell are we talking about?" Naruto asked, squinting his eyes confusedly. Of course, he was met with silence. Taking a deep breath, Naruto looked to his friend. "Look, Teme, what happened?"
Slumping his shoulders, Sasuke reached to wipe his face in exasperation. He knew Naruto couldn't read his mind, but damn, couldn't he at least try?! That way, he wouldn't have to say the words. He could hold out hope that Sakura would forgive his "random" need for a break, and they could move on. You see, most people wouldn't think so, but Sasuke's closest friends knew how he felt about her. They had all found out after a drunken night, when he told them that she saved him, that he thought of coming back to her every day as a teenager. (At first, of course, they didn't believe him, but the pathetic look in his eyes had forced them to do so. Sasuke, they found, was an emotional drunk).
"Do you remember I told you about Aiko?" he asked. Naruto blinked, and nodded, "I remember. Is she in trouble?"
"Not exactly. She'll be here in two days."
OoOoO
As always, she felt him before she saw him, and if the way his posture immediately snapped to an upright position, he had felt her, too.
What she didn't expect, however, was the annoyed look to come upon his face as he looked toward the door. She thought they had been past that stage.
"Hey Ino, maybe we should leave." She said, only loud enough for her to hear.
"Nonsense, idiot! Our makeup is done, and this is the only place that knows how to make my Elderflower/gin cocktail. I need it after the week I've had!"
"Ino." Hinata said, grabbing her sleeve and turning her toward the bar, voice unnaturally stern. "We should leave." Naruto tried getting her attention, and of course, she granted it to him, walking toward the duo and sliding her arms around Naruto's neck. Just as quickly as she approached, however, she was walking away, as she knew that although she loved Naruto with every fiber of her being, she wasn't here for him. It was Girls' Night, after all, and Sakura needed her.
Much to his annoyance, she hadn't looked away from him. He put all of his effort into looking at the television in the bar, downing his shot in one gulp, doing his best to keep his attention away from her. But damn him, it was more difficult than he'd expected.
Swallowing her pride, because apparently she was soft where Sasuke was concerned, she sidled up next to him and attempted to thaw the icy atmosphere that had fallen upon him.
"Are you okay?" she asked, eyes concentrated on the furrow of his brow.
"I'm fine," he countered. "Bullshit," she parried back. Shocked by her outburst, Sasuke finally turned his eyes toward her, analyzing, just as she was. Breaking into a slow, matching grin, Sasuke finally broke eye contact to signal the bartender. "Are you drinking?" he asked the green-eyed beauty.
Chewing on her lip, Sakura looked to her friends. Her eyes landed on Ino at the end of the bar, waving the bartender down to get her own drink. Her gaze then panned to Hinata, listening to what seemed to be a hell of a story from her new husband.
Smiling as she looked back to Sasuke, she uttered a confident, "Sure."
OoOoOo
Sasuke Uchiha was not a man of many regrets. Sure, the whole angsty, vengeful teen was a sore spot in his life, but a regret? Something he wished he hadn't done? It wasn't. In fact, that time of his life played out exactly how he needed it to, even though it took him nearly dying to realize it.
Drinking with Sakura two days ago, however, was one of the biggest regrets of his life. Probably only second to this 'break' he forced them into.
"C'mooon, Sasuke-kunnn. There HAS to be a reason for this."
Eyeing her up and down, Sasuke asked the obvious: "Sakura, are you drunk?"
Rolling her eyes, Sakura mimicked, "Sakura are you drunk?"
"Stop copying m-"
"STOP COPYING ME!" she yelled after cutting him off. Yup. Drunk.
Keeping an eye on her in his periphery, Sasuke scanned the room, knowing that neither Ino nor Hinata would've left her here, let alone with him. With wisened eyes, he caught sight of Ino at the pool table in the corner. With a determined gaze, he began to rise to cross to her and request that she get Sakura out of here until he heard her voice.
"What did you say?" he asked, even though they both knew he heard her.
"I said..." Sakura paused, as if collecting strength. "I said, are you hiding something from me? Is that the reason for all of th-"
"No."
"No?"
"No," Sasuke clarified, a little louder to make certain he heard her. "I am not hiding anything. I just needed-"
"Bullshit," she uttered, repeating her earlier sentiment. "You're a shitty liar. What are you hiding?"
After realizing she'd be met with silence, she continued: "The thing I always loved about us is that we were friends first. If there was no one else you could trust with your words, it was me. I know we are on a break, but, does that mean our friendship is too? Am I no longer the person who would keep your secrets safe? Do you no longer need me?"
"Sakura, I need..."
"You need?"
"… I need to get out of here, away from all this. I'm going home." With finality, Sasuke rose from his stool, slapping bills on the countertop- enough to cover Sakura's tab, too, she noticed.
"Fine, I'll come with-"
"No."
"No?"
"No, Sakura. I can't do this. I'm going home. Alone."
Weary eyes discreetly glanced at her, and god, was she beautiful in this moment: fiery green eyes wide, bottom lip stuck between her teeth, almost like-
"Well fine. Don't let me hold you up." She asserted, and with a shrug of her shoulder, she diverted her attention back to her drink.
-almost like he was no longer worthy of her concern.
With slow steps, he caught Naruto's eye and left the bar, pissed that he had gotten what he wanted.