Sasuke's POV

"What are you grinning at?" my best friend asks. "You haven't stopped grinning."

It's true. I haven't been able to stop grinning, but I don't really care. After all, Sakura and I are dating. We've been dating for a couple of days. We haven't gone on any dates yet though, which I want to change, but what I remember from dating is that it costs money, and I don't have that. Especially now. I almost wasn't able to pay all of my bills again. I don't get paid enough.

Naruto places down his cards. "Three of a kind," he says, then takes a sip of his bottled beer. I grin even more.

"Straight," I say and place down my cards. Naruto whines like he is in pain and I grab all the chips in the center of the table.

"Damn it! Why do you keep winning?"

"I guess I'm lucky today."

As Naruto shuffles the cards, I drink down the last sips of my beer and wait. "All right place a chip in to start," he says and tosses one white chip into the center. I'm about to do the same when I hear a ding from my phone.

I lift my phone off the table and face it upward to see who texted me.

Sakura: Hello! I had the weirdest experience with a customer today. You won't believe it!

I smirk even more that teeth start to show, and then let out a low chuckle. "Who texted you?" I hear my best friend ask. While ignoring him, I respond.

Sasuke: I would love to hear it, but I am playing poker right now, so I can't this minute. I'll text you when I'm done. Sorry.

Sakura: Don't worry about it. Text me when you're done honey.

Sasuke: Speaking of honey, what do you want me to call you? Honey? Sweetie? Babe? Sugar? Sunshine? Sweet cheeks?

Sakura: Do NOT call me Sweet Cheeks.

Sasuke: Why not Sweet Cheeks?

Sakura: Because it's weird!

Sasuke: Whatever you say... Sweet Cheeks.

Sakura: Ugh! I'm not texting you anymore. Let me know when you're done playing poker.

Sasuke: Talk to you later.

"Sasuke for the love of God, who are you texting?" My eyes leave my phone and face the frustrated blonde boy.

I place my phone face down and bring my cold facade back. "None of you business dumbass."

"Just tell me how many cards you want."

I pull out two of the cards from my hand and place it face down "Two." Naruto places down three and grabs the deck to give me new cards.

"Papa?" A small mumbling voice comes out.

"Sarada what are you doing up?" I ask.

Sarada rubs her dark eyes and says, "I heard a loud voice coming out here. I guess it was just you guys." I glare at Naruto knowing that it was his voice.

"What?" he says, acting like he doesn't know why I'm glaring at him.

I release a sigh and turn back to Sarada. "We're sorry we woke you." I rise from my chair and walk to her. "Come on, let's get you back to bed." I put my hand onto her shoulder to lead her back to her room.

"Can I have some water?" she asks me.

I drop my hand from her shoulder and stop walking. "Go back to your room, I'll get you some water."

Once Sarada is no longer in my view I go to the kitchen and fill a glass. "I'll be right back, don't look at my cards," I demand to Naruto.

He gives me the fakest chuckle I have ever heard. "Of course I won't. Why would I ever do that?" He's definitely going to.

I make my way through the narrow hallway filled with a few pictures in frames. One with Sarada and I on her first day of school, one is a family picture that was taken when I was Sarada's age, and a baby picture of Sarada.

I enter Sarada's room and see her laying in her bed with her bunny sheets over her, reading. I grab the sheets with one hand and pull them off of her, making her squeal a little from the cold air now invading her body. "Papa!" she complains.

"You haven't been reading past your bedtime, have you?" I raise my eyebrow to her. Her response is to avoid eye contact and smile uncomfortably.

"Umm... no?" she says it like a question.

After placing the glass of water on her nightstand, I sit on the edge of the bed and say, "You need to sleep Sarada. You can read when you are in school." I grab the book from her hands. "For now, just get some rest. Naruto and I will keep it down."

Unhappily, Sarada sits up, grabs the glass of water and mutters, "Okay," and takes a small sip. After drinking a little bit more she climbs back into bed and I pull the covers back over her.

Tucking the covers under her a little, Sarada squeezes her stuffed bunny. "Good night sweetheart," I give her a quick peck on her forehead.

"Good night Papa."

Once I close the door to Sarada's room, I enter the dining area where Naruto and I were playing poker. I take one look at Naruto and I know exactly what he did. His whistling is way too dramatic and he never actually whistles. "You looked at my cards, didn't you?"

Naruto acts even more dramatic, which I didn't know was possible. "What!?"

"I can't decide who's the worst liar, you or Sarada."

Naruto raises his hands as if he was getting arrested. "Okay you caught me."

"Reshuffle," I say as I take my seat.

As he reshuffles the old cards, I can't help but think about tomorrow. Sakura and I are working all day together. "What are you smirking about?" I escape my daze and see Naruto raising an eyebrow at me as he deals cards. I give him a hostile grunt and cover my mouth with my right hand just in case I grin without knowing.

I want to actually go on a date with Sakura, but every time I look for places to go, my bank account looks at me like I'm an idiot. "I will bet fifty cents," Naruto claims.

"Call," I respond placing one white chip into the center.

"How many cards do you want?"

I put two cards face down. "Two."

Naruto deals me two new cards. "Dealer takes three." I pick up my new cards. I have two pairs. "All right, what are you going to do?"

I hesitantly took two red chips and a white chip. "2.50," I say. Doing this surprises Naruto. It seems like he wants to speak, but he doesn't. After pacing the same amount as I did, he picks up another red chip.

"I will call your 2.50, and I will raise you a dollar." Jeez, I don't normally put in anything higher than a dollar when I have such a low hand, let alone 2.50, but 3.50? Screw it.

"I will call your dollar..." I then grab my only blue chip. "And raise you, $5." Naruto jumps a little in his seat, which doesn't shock me.

"You must have a really good hand Sasuke," he says, a little cocky like. That's not true. I wasn't given a good hand. "Must be really good since you are betting so much all at once, especially when you don't have a lot of money to begin with." This wasn't a good idea. Fold. Please fold Naruto. "I'll call. What do you have?"

My throat feels dry. I shouldn't have done this. "Two pairs." I place down my cards. Naruto then places his cards down too and I notice that he has the same thing.

"Two pairs. Who has the higher card?" I look at my extra, and it's a 4 of clubs. Naruto's is a 9 of hearts. He wins. "Ha! I won!" Naruto exclaims. Of course you did. I made such a dumb decision and paid the consequences. You should never put in more than you can handle. Especially in my case.

I take a big sigh and reach for my bottle of beer, but it is, of course, empty. I stand from the table as Naruto grabs his chips he just won. "Want another beer?" I grab my empty bottle and reach for Naruto's bottle too.

"Nah. I gotta get going anyways." While holding the bottles, I make my way to the kitchen. After placing them in the recycling bin, I hear Naruto say something to me. "You don't have to pay me for this game. We can just call it even and I'll leave with the amount I came with."

I know Naruto is trying to be sympathetic and kind, but for some reason, that pisses me off even more than if he gloated like he normally does. "That's stupid. Did I call off the gambling that time you owed me fifth teen dollars?" I grip the counter.

"Well, no. But..." I interrupt him before he can finish.

"Then I will pay you the money. Don't look at me like I'm a charity case. I'm fine. I'm not that broke." Naruto doesn't speak for a bit. I can't see his face, but I'm sure he is disappointed in me for saying that. The silence kills me. The longer it takes for him to respond the more I feel like a dick. I'm afraid to turn and see his face because I will most likely feel even worse.

Naruto releases a sigh and I can hear him rise and walk away from me. "Whatever. Just pay me another time. I don't need it right now." I hear Naruto open the door to and out of my home. "Bye," and the door squeaks closed. Damn it.

After cleaning up and taking a long shower I slump into my mattress. Turning on the screen to my phone blinds me, but I need to talk to Sakura one more time before I go to bed.

Sasuke: Hey, I'm done with my poker game. Are you still up?

For ten minutes I stare at the ceiling thinking about how I'm always an ass. Why is Naruto even friends with me? Why would Sakura say yes to being my girlfriend? Before I can continue a notification pops on my screen.

Sakura: I'm still up. Can I tell you my story now?!

I give out a quiet chuckle and respond.

Sasuke: Sure, but can you call me? It would be easier for both of us if you just speak instead of text.

Sakura: Sure!

It only takes five seconds for my phone to vibrate, showing Sakura's name. I answer the phone and bring it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey Sasuke." She sounds a little tired, but has enough energy to explain the story with passion. "Okay, so it all started when I placed them in a booth. One of the customers was this middle aged lady who had awful teeth. She wasn't happy with the booth I placed her in and she demanded another one. I take her to another one and she isn't happy, so I bring to another, still not happy. She was finally happy once I got her to the FOURTH BOOTH! You should have heard her complaining about the water. She talked about how unsanitary it looked and demanded for a new, CLEAN water, so I spitted in her new one. Anyway-"

I'm only half listening to her story. She keeps rumbling and speaking so fast that it's hard for me to keep along with her, but I let her continue. Once I heard her voice, all the tense feeling in my shoulders went, and I don't even remember me getting upset about losing money, or money in general. I forget the bills I almost couldn't pay fully and the fact that it is really late, or how tired I am. None of that matters now. All that matters at this moment is her and her long story. All that I can think about is her and her long story, and for the first time since Sarada's mother, I feel that warmth and comfort that I thought I would never find again.