sometimes giving up is the strong thing / sometimes to run is the brave thing / sometimes walking out is the one thing that will find you the right thing

- it's time to go, taylor swift (evermore deluxe version)

"you need dick."

"ino!" sakura wails from her best friend's vulgar words. "can you not be a pig for five seconds?! i'm grieving here!"

ino, her resident caretaker for the time being, just tosses her long blonde hair over her shoulder and shrugs. "i'm just telling you how to move on faster, forehead. you don't need to grieve," she points out, putting her finger to poke sakura's nose.

"you need to get laid."

sakura, still reeling from her recent break-up, just smacks her friend's hand and holds her head to continue wallowing in self-doubt. you don't get to break up with someone every day, anyway.

she and her ex-boyfriend had been together for a year. not too long but not too fresh either, but sakura liked him a lot. she met him when she visited her aunt tsunade overseas and immediately liked him. he was sweet and just the perfect gentleman.

until he wasn't.

not too long after they officially started dating, he became more aggressive towards her. he's always demanding where she is and who's she with; always calling to "check up on her" and never lets her out with her other friends. this made her friends hate him because sakura can't go out with them unless he's with her.

there were times where she felt like he was the same person that she met that time on her vacation— surprise gifts, romantic getaways, and kissing til their mouths hurt. but to her, it always felt like he only does it when he's done something wrong.

many times did sakura think of breaking up with him because of his toxic and controlling tendencies. she didn't appreciate it when he called her a cheater just because she didn't tell him her childhood friend sasuke came back to town and they went out to eat dinner. and that was the last straw for sakura— she had to leave him.

and boy was it messy. there was a lot of crying and begging (on his part) and her feeling guilty and sad because she truly cared for him. one year of being his girlfriend was challenging but she learned a lot, too.

that was four nights ago and last night, she received a call from him asking to take him back.

"don't you dare," ino's voice pierces her ears. sakura gives her a confused look that says i didn't do anything but the blonde continues, "i know that look. you're not giving him a second chance. hell, this isn't even the second one! it's probably the 46th time already!"

but she still feels conflicted, "b-but… he sounds so heartbroken…"

ino lets out a deep exhale and moves to sit beside her. she reaches out to touch her pink tresses and softly says, "you've already given him plenty of chances and he always repeats the same shit. running away from your relationship is the bravest thing you could've ever done for yourself because you know he's not good for you."

sakura knows this. it's just that—

"i'm just afraid no one will ever like me again," she confesses, ashamed of the way her smart brain works sometimes. she can solve chemistry problems and mathematical equations but can't find the right solution for her relationships; though this was only her second time.

her best friend lightly smacks her head, "are you not seeing yourself? you're a total babe! a complete package— smart, sexy, funny. if i'm into girls, i would date you."

sakura tries not to smile, "shut up, you only want me because i bake your favorite cookies."

"that, too! see, i didn't even think of that first! i thought about how hot you are and how you're so gonna get dicked down tonight."

her brewing smile immediately halts and she tries to get away from ino's tight grip on her arm, "you're so disgusting! let me go!"

in the end, ino won. because in the battle of puppy dog eyes, the blonde has more experience than her. sakura swears she will learn the art of it one day.

ino called for a backup to this "operation booty call" commencing and to sakura's horror, the backup consists of their high school friends including naruto, who of course dragged sasuke. and now, her first ever childhood crush knows that she is up to get "the best rebound sex of her life".

god help her.

clubs have never been her thing and it's evident with the way she cringes at every loud bass thumps from the gigantic speakers. she can't even hear her own thoughts inside that's why she quickly walks away when ino wasn't looking. she reaches the door towards the side alley and immediately opens it and slips through.

when fresh air hit her bare skin, she released a sigh of relief. no one has seen her.

"got lucky yet?"

a deep, masculine, sexy voice comes from her side and sakura jumps slightly, surprised to see that she wasn't as slick as she thought she was earlier. sasuke leans against the brick wall of the building with a lit cigarette between his lips.

"sasuke-kun," she breathlessly exclaims. "what are you doing outside?"

he looks so good in his fitted plain white shirt that accentuates his chest, arms and shoulders. it's almost ridiculous for him to look that good with casual clothes while here she is, feeling a little overdressed in her silver slip that could pass as a nightwear for how thin it is, and sparkly ankle heels. ino really dressed her like she's out for the kill.

a little self-conscious, she subtly tugs her dress down to cover her thighs. it didn't do much but sakura doesn't have the time to think about it now.

she missed the hot gaze on her now exposed cleavage by the man beside her, though.

sasuke takes a long drag from his cigarette before he answers, "naruto became too much." he exhales the smoke slowly, his mouth sensually opening to let it out, and sakura looks in fascination. "i needed a break."

catching herself before she can drool over the sight, she tries her best to sound stable when she talks again. "i see… well, you know him. never runs out of energy," she says softly before letting out an awkward laugh.

she doesn't understand where these thoughts are coming from. of course, she has always found sasuke too attractive, but there's just something tonight that keeps on tickling something inside her that she has never felt before. it makes her nervous.

she squirms.

sasuke notices.

before she can speak another word, sasuke beats her to it.

"so, have you found the lucky guy yet?"

she scrounges her brain for a moment to find the right thoughts to answer him but in the end, all she can say is, "huh?"

he drops his stick to the ground as he exhales the last of its smoke, "dobe said that ino wants to find you a- what was it..." he drawls, his perfectly shaped eyebrows meeting as he tries to remember the exact words… until he did— "ah, to find you 'a dick that will make you forget your ex.'"

color rushes to her face and drains from it at the same time. she can't believe she'll hear those words from his mouth. "I-i'm sorry, please don't mind ino. she's just messing with me."

"but it's true, though. right? that your boyfriend is now an ex?"

sakura looks down, still embarrassed from the way things are turning out. "yeah," she mumbles in reply. several moments pass and there's no answer from sasuke. she raises her head to look. she saw him dialing on his phone and waiting for the other person to pick up.

once the screen says it's connected, sasuke puts his phone on his ear. "nara," he curtly says.

shikamaru? why is he calling him now?

"tell your girlfriend sakura's with me," he says next before dropping the call.

what was that?

sakura starts to ask, "sasuke-kun, wh-"

"let's go," he declares before walking away.

"w-wait," sakura asks. "wh-what's going on? and let's go where?"

his eyes are so intense on hers when he says, "do i need to spell it out for you, sakura?"

sasuke said her name so intimately, as if his tongue was caressing every syllable of it, making goosebumps erupt on her skin from her arms to the back of her neck down to her exposed back. the little heat that she felt earlier blooms into a lit flame on her insides.

no need, she wants to say but couldn't. how can she speak when he looks at her like that?

that's when she knew— sasuke uchiha wants her.

her eyes traveled from his dark ones to his pink lips. she bites her lip in anticipation; her thighs pressing together in excitement.

sasuke sees it all and in a split second, he towers over her small form against the wall. they're both breathing hard already and sakura shivers when she sees sasuke tracing a bead of her sweat traveling from the side of her neck only to disappear when it reaches the neckline of her dress. he almost groans under his breath and sakura fights the need to voice out her desire.

she can feel his hot breath on her skin when he moves in closer. he smells of smoke and sin, and sakura's willing to inhale everything. she's waiting for his lips or teeth or tongue— whatever he wants— but none came. his deep voice shakes her entire body.

"if i touch you now, i won't be able to stop," sasuke whispers onto her skin.

she lets out a small whimper and he smirks, sexy like the devil he is. "if you think i'll take you for the first time at the side alley of this crappy club, then you're mistaken."

the tip of his nose skims the length of her shoulder to the side of her head beneath her ear where she is most sensitive. sasuke hasn't touched her yet but he seems to know all her spots already. her mind is getting hazy from the pleasure now, what more if he's already holding her?

kissing her?

fucking her?

oh, god. help her indeed.

sasuke pulls back so he can look at her properly, "i've waited too long for this, sakura. i deserve to savor you on my bed."

at this point, sakura will go anywhere he wants her to go. he must've known that with the look on his face while he stares at her. his gaze softens as he gives her a small smile, his cheeks alight with pink.

"come. i'll make sure you'll forget your ex tonight."

walking out from her relationship never felt wrong.

but as she follows sasuke to his apartment tonight, everything feels just right.

"shika just called," ino happily says to naruto. "they're together."

"damn, teme moves fast."

"nah, i slipped a little something on sakura's drink earlier."

naruto's blue eyes almost bulged out of their sockets, "did you drug her?!"

"of course not, dumbass! i'm not stupid like you, okay?"

"what was it then?"

ino smirks evilly, "a little aphrodisiac. they'll be at it until morning."

naruto sighs in relief before tipping his bottle to drink the rest of it, "thank god we're not roommates anymore."

a/n: FINALLY! A NON-ANGST ONE! A CRACK LOL