THE NIGHT OF SAKURA'S DORM PARTY

-GAARA'S POV-

The moment Sakura was swept away by the two other girls, an awkward air fell over her boyfriend and me. We sipped our drinks silently for a moment before a tall guy with silvery blonde hair and purple-ish eyes came over to pour himself a drink, flashing both of us a wolfy grin, "Some nice tail here, huh boys?" Sasori gave him a nonchalant shrug and I simply didn't respond, instead looking past the group of dancing strangers to keep an eye on Sakura, Tenten, and Ino while they had a good time. I felt the other two looking at me and turned to give them a look of acknowledgement, only to freeze up when my eyes finally landed straight on the newcomer and had a chance to actually look at the details of his appearance.

Something seemed oddly familiar about him, like I'd met him or at least seen him before now, but I couldn't quite put my finger on where or when it could've been. He grabbed my free hand and shook my hand with an amused look, "The name's Hidan, Buddy. I'm a member of Akatsuki. Looks like we'll be working together soon. Now where is the other chick that's in your group? She's a looker, too, if I recall. I'd go for the pink one, but Sasori here'd kick my ass." I glanced over at Sasori with a look of disbelief that he'd let his so called friend talk about his girlfriend and her friend like that, but he just rolled his eyes and continued sipping his drink. I opened my mouth to say something about it, but the group of girls returned to the table with Sasuke and Mari, his fling of the week, in tow.

"Shots! Let's take shots!" Ino flung an arm around my and this Hidan guy's shoulders, cheering on Tenten who was pulling out a bunch of disposable shot glasses and filling them. Hidan pulled his phone out of his pocket and I saw a photo of a woman on the caller ID before he sent it to voicemail and accepted a glass from Ino, who'd begun handing them out. I begrudgingly accepted one, shooting it back with a frown.

A while later, I was trying to get out of the crowd to get some air when I slipped outside of the dorm and out the back entrance of the building to cool off and take a moment to recollect my thoughts. As I was about to open the door to the outside, I heard the recently familiar voice of Hidan talking to someone on the phone."-wasting his time with that teenager. She's never gonna give it up easily for him and its not gonna be worth all the work he's putting in." I was going to go ahead and step out while he was paused, but when he spoke up again after listening to whoever was replying on the phone, it made me see red. "Yeah, I know! Sasori won't listen to anything I say, bro. I told him to stop skirting around with this Sakura girl and just go public with Matsuri, but he keeps telling me he's too close to give up now."

He paused again, no doubt listening to whoever was on the other end of the receiver. To my surprise, the door flung open and I took a few steps back in shock, quickly trying to play it off as though I'd just arrived and the door had opened as I'd reached for it. Hidan's eyes locked onto mine and narrowed, "I've gotta go. See you later." He clicked out of the call and gave me a cautious grin, "You scared the shit outta me, man. What're you doing down here?" I pulled my phone out of my pocket and gestured to it, "I needed to make a call. I can go somewhere else if you need me to..." He held the door open for me to head out, gesturing for me to go ahead and pass him, "No worries. I'm on my way back up anyway."

I nodded, giving him a small nod as he let the door fall shut behind him and no doubt headed back upstairs. I waited for the latch to sound its complete closure before clicking open my phone and texting Sakura, asking her to meet me outside for a moment so I could tell her what I'd overheard. For about five minutes, I waited out there for a response only to get none. How could someone do this to someone, much less someone as good as Sakura?! She's been nothing less than smitten with that Sasori guy since they'd first met and this is how he repays her feelings? Anger was boiling in my veins. Of course I don't want her to be with anyone but me, but if she is going to be with someone else they'd better treat her with the respect she deserves! With a frown, I went back inside and upstairs to their dorm, intent on finding her. I looked everywhere before finally only her room was remaining.

I took a deep breath before entering and it left me in with a whoosh when I lay eyes on her and Sasori making out heavily atop the covers. My anger boiled over and I yelled over the thumping music, "Hey! Get off of her! She's too drunk for you to be doing that!" The two looked over at me in shock, Sasori's expression evolving into one of anger that I'd interrupted his taking advantage of her. He climbed off of her and approached me, giving me a shove with both of his hands on my shoulders, "Back off, kid." Sakura, obviously too drunk to do much, grabbed Sasori's arm and pulled to no avail, "Stop it, guys! Don't fight!" The door to the room flew open just as it seemed as though Sasori was going to go to punch me, revealing a seething Tenten. She grabbed both of us by our arms and dragged us through the unsuspecting crowd until we were out in the hall. She finally let go of us once the door to the dorm was closed. With a finger pressed angrily into Sasori's chest, she berated him, "What the hell do you think you're trying to do with Sakura when she's in that state? I could kill you! and you!"

She turned to point her finger at me, "Why don't you ever get help from someone else before charging into a potential fight? Luckily I saw you walk in there or you two likely would've beaten each other to bits! Now-" she pushed us both apart with a hand on either of our chests as we were still glaring at each other, "Sasori, I've called you a cab. I suggest you get in it, go home, and think about what you've attempted to do before I change my mind and cut your dick off." He looked down at her in surprise for a moment before shooting me one last glare and turning to get into the elevator.

Once he was gone, Tenten pushed her hair behind her ears and glared at me, arms crossed, "I know you love her, but you can't keep getting into trouble like this. If I hadn't stopped you, Kakashi no doubt would've found out about this party, you fighting ANOTHER person, and you would be in some real serious shit. Now I want you to get your ass to bed and pray to God that Sakura doesn't get mad at you." I nodded in defeat, knowing full-well that an angry Tenten is not a Tenten to be questioned. I headed over to my room and unlocked the door, glancing over to see that Tenten was calling someone on her cellphone. I didn't bother sticking around to hear who it was and simply headed to take a shower before going to bed.

-Tenten's POV-

Luckily, Neji answered when I called him back. He'd called me when I was still inside and I'd intended on heading into Sakura's room to take it when I noticed the comotion with the two redheads. He didn't say anything when he answered, so I spoke nervously, still walking on eggshells since I messed up so badly on our date, "Hey, sorry I missed your call! What's up?" There was a pause on the other line and for a moment I wondered if the line had died. Just when I was about to ask, he spoke in his oh-so-deep and charming baritone, "I shouldn't have called you. I'm sorry."

I leaned against the wall in the hallway, confusion probably easily read on my voice, "No, its alright. What's going on? Is everything okay?" There was another long pause, "...What is that noise in the background?" I let out a groan. He's going to be so angry that I let a party break out in his under age cousin's dorm, whether she's here or not. "About that, heh, well Sakura and Ino kind of invited over a couple people and a couple people turned into a couple more and a couple more and long story short there's a party going on here." He didn't respond and I immediately started babbling nervously, "I-I know its not really your scene, but you're more than welcome to stop by! I mean, if you want to. You don't have to! Its not that I don't want you to, its more that I don't want you to do anything you don't-" "Stop. I'll come over."

His answer was short and to the point, cutting through my anxious ramblings like a knife, "What?" He sighed over the line, "It'll take me an hour or so to get there, but I'm coming. See you later." He hung up before I could reply and my heart started beating a mile a minute, a grin tugging at my lips. He's coming over! Does that mean he still likes me? Or is he just coming over to make sure everything is safe and under control. With one last glance at Gaara and Sasuke's dorm room door, I headed over to my room to freshen up my appearance.

Later on, when I returned to the party, I'd been informed by Sasuke and Mari that Hinata and Kiba had arrived, drank a bit, and then slipped into her room. Neji finally came through the door after what felt like ages of me worrying he would stand me up. He looked so different in casual clothing. Up until now, I'd only seen him in business suits and dress clothes. He had on some stylish jeans and a dark green t-shirt. The lack of pattern and detail definitely didn't surprise me.

I flitted over to him, relief flooding into me as he accepted the drink I'd brought over to him. We didn't speak much over the loud music, but drank together and I even got him to join me for a dance once we were both buzzing and feeling more loose. We didn't really do anything that would be categorized as more than friendly, but I still had a great time hanging out with him again. When I woke up in the morning, I felt the familiar sensation of heaven, or in my book: Neji's body against mine.

My eyes crept open slowly, scared that he would be glaring at me for over stepping his newly placed boundaries. To my glee, he was still asleep underneath me. His long hair was tangled in mine and my head was on his shoulder, my arms around his torso, and our legs a tangled mess. I glanced around at all of the sleeping young adults on the floor and a smile met my lips. We'd struck gold by falling asleep on the couch. No back aches for us! I looked up at Neji's relaxed features once more and my grin subsided. I should get up before he wakes so things aren't awkward.

I tested moving a few inches away in preparation to get off of him, but his arms shot up around my waist and pulled me back down against him. I looked up at him in shock and he cracked open one sleepy eye, "Just stay." I nodded, clamping my agape mouth shut and relaxing back against him. My cheeks burnt bright red as he rubbed small circles into the arch of my back for a few moment before obviously falling back asleep. I cuddled gleefully against his shoulder, taking in the wonderful way he felt against me and smelled before allowing myself to fall back asleep.