Chapter 3: Unapologetic


:::

Sasori gently unravels his arm from around her waist. His facial features twist from a look of confusement to one of amazement at the realization of what he had just done. The memories of what later occured that night begin to wash over him.

Sasori stares intensely at the unknown woman's back, furrowing his eyebrows as he relinquishes the night they'd spent together. He could only remember fragments, but the moments that dove to the forefront of his mind were nothing short of exhilarating. He remembers kissing her feverishly in the backseat of his limo, his lips not once escaping hers until arriving at his condo. They had made their way to his apartment through a back entrance, remembering to take all precaution as needed despite his drunken state. The ride up the elevator went by in a flash, and soon they were in his home clawing the clothes off one another before stumbling into his bedroom. They were in a lust driven exchange, and not a moment went by where they hadn't been all over one another. He remembers landing into this very bed with her naked body pressed firmly over his–and that's where his memory goes blank.

Sasori shuts his eyes, shamelessly attempting to dig into the recesses of his mind for something more, but comes up short.

He irritably turns his body to the other side and reopens his lids, amounting what had happened to nothing but a mere fantasy.

But there on the floor in front of him lay the tantalizingly low cut dress that he knew all too well. A mere reminder that this was indeed the woman he flirted with and brought home with him last night.

This wasn't a dream; this was reality. And in this reality, Sasori had just cheated on his girlfriend.

Fuck.

Sasori could've never dreamed of sleeping with another woman–let alone a woman he barely knew. He became so engulfed in his desire to get back at Willow in similar fashion to what she attacked him with, but took it much farther than it should've gone.

His attention reverts back to the woman that he'd fallen prey to. In the midst of his wandering thoughts, she had turned her body towards him, still fully asleep. He scanned the delicate pink hair strewn across his pillow and plump parted lips that he fondly remembers the feeling of. He could still taste the cherry lip gloss in his mouth.

She slowly begins to stir in her sleep. He took that as his que to finally distance himself.

Calmly raising his body from beneath the sheets, Sasori stood to his feet and redressed himself in the boxers and pants he found on the floor. With arms crossed against his bare chest, he stared down at the woman, ready to confront her on the matter.

His confident posture began to sink. He had no justifiable reason to be mad at her. This was a two way exchange that occurred, and they were both at fault. But what does she have to lose? He pondered to himself. She is merely a foreigner who, by the sheer stroke of luck found herself in bed with the Sasori. She has the ability to go back home–where was it, France?–and totally forget this ever happened. But Sasori didn't have that luxury, of not only being single but also being someone without fame and esteem. If this ever got out, it could severely damage the connections he's made in his life. It could ruin the squeaky clean image that he's procured for himself; a caricature that he'd been so eager to abandon last night in a moment of rebellion. But worse of all, he could lose Willow.

The sudden realization that he was the only one getting fucked over in this situation is what made him start to lose his cool and forget his initial resolve. He gritted his teeth as he stared down at the woman.

As if his piercing gaze had an effect, she began tossing and turning in his bed.

His bed. He wanted her off.

Sasori grabbed the edge of the comforter and pulled it off her body, emitting a surprised shriek from her tiny frame. He couldn't help the way his lips curled up at the side in content as he watched her scramble to cover herself.

She jumped up from the bed, arms securely wrapped around her breasts. She crossed her legs in an attempt to shield her area below, as if they hadn't just spent the night together exploring eachothers nether regions.

Her face flushed, and she took a moment to survey her surroundings before averting her gaze towards Sasori in what he could only describe to be a look of bewilderment. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out.

Sasori stared blankly at the nakily clad woman stood on the other side of his bed before rolling his eyes and throwing the blanket at her. As she rushed to cover herself, he growled lowly, "we're in my house. We met each other at the club. We had sex. That's it–now collect your things and get out."

:::

What a gentlemen you are, Sakura thought glumly to herself, tucking the fabric further into her underarms. There was a wallowing headache forming in her temple from the sudden wake-up call, but she forced herself to remain upright and attentive. This was a situation that would require her utmost attention. She cleared her throat and began to speak, reintroducing the French accent she had adopted the night before. "I understand. Just give me a minute to find my things…"

Sakura tried to repress the anger boiling in her stomach in response to the cocky expression that kept on his face while she tried to collect her clothing.

He clearly wanted her out of his house–that was obvious enough in the way he had spoken to her. But there was a glint of satisfaction in his eyes as he watched her move about his room, as if he were revelling in her discomfort. Her body temperature began to increase. She needed an outlet.

Calm yourself, Sakura, this'll all be over soon…

Reigning in a sigh, Sakura began to further slink into the faux identity that she was able to call upon so easily: a shy, intimidated French woman.

She frantically blinked a few times as she scanned the floor around herself and slowly stuttered out, "I-I don't see my dress..."

He simply rolls his eyes again before bending over and picking up her dress from beside his feet. He lazily tosses it over to her, as if the small task had been a strain on his body. "Now get dressed."

"...Could I get some privacy?"

His eyebrow raises slightly. He opens his mouth as if to argue against, but stops himself. "five minutes," he says, the irritation clear in his tone. With one last scan of her body that left Sakura feeling much more vulnerable than she was used to, he turned around and disappeared behind the door of what she assumed was the ensuite bathroom.

Once she heard the door lock click, adrenaline immediately began pumping through her veins. It's go time.

:::

Sasori gripped the porcelain sink and listened intently to the shuffling going on in his bedroom. He glimpsed at his dead phone he had just plugged in. five minutes, he repeated in his mind. five minutes, and if she's not gone, I'll call up security.

But now that he was in the privacy of his own bathroom, he couldn't help the lucid thoughts that invaded his brain. Thoughts that made him want to reconsider how he went about this.

He is a man with needs, after all. And there was no evading the fact that behind that door was a beautiful, albeit bothersome, naked woman. He tried to rationalize bringing her home with him as just a way to quickly fulfill those needs–but it wasn't as simple as that. And it wasn't the alcohol's doing either–the alcohol only helped him confidently act upon those needs.

He inhaled deeply and turned on the tap. He stared at the running water for a moment as he tried to draw together his thoughts.

At the end of the day, Willow was his girlfriend. Nothing he fabricated in his mind could justify cheating on her, no matter how angry she made him… and no matter how attracted he'd been to the pink haired woman.

Once having washed his face and brushed his teeth, he picked up the still plugged in phone and anxiously watched it turn on. He was suddenly bombarded with several texts on his homescreen, the sender of each being none other than Willow.

He sighed quietly to himself as he began scrolling through each one.

11:05 pm: me and bae in front of the eiffel tower - mwah!

11:20 pm: speechless, right? That's what you get for hanging up on me

11:36 pm: hellooooo? Sasori, you there

11:50 pm: are you ignoring me? You know i was just kidding–I don't even know that guy!

12:40 am: Sasori you know this isn't funny. Text me back

He stopped scrolling once he got to the ones that were in all caps and heavily relied on curse words to convey how she felt.

"She really is a piece of work," he murmured, setting the phone back down and moving to exit the bathroom.

:::

Not willing to waste a second, Sakura had quietly but quickly redressed herself in her nightclub outfit. She followed the sound of running water and used the opportunity to mask her next movement.

Reaching behind the sweater hung over his dresser, she pulled out a device hidden out of view. A small, digital camcorder. Bingo.

After shutting the video recorder off and tucking it neatly into her bag, she began looking around the room for…

Her eyes lasered in on a gold watch peeking out from under the bed.

She heard the tap turn off.

Not wanting to be there once he came out the washroom, because who knows when that rude personality of his would spring up again, Sakura decided to exit his apartment as soon as possible.

Slipping out his bedroom door, Sakura walked barefoot across the cold tiled floor of his hallway. Paintings of different sizes and mediums lined the plain white walls, adding splashes of colour to what would have otherwise been a very plain home. Just by the number of bedroom doors, she could tell that rent was a lot more than she could ever afford in a city like this.

She saw the front door on the other side of the main living area, and was ready to charge out of here when a gruff voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Who're you?"

Sitting on one of the island stools in the kitchen to her right was a man with very long blonde hair. He eyed her entire appearance slowly, and his gaze made her feel scrutinized. She tightened her grip on the strap of her bag.

"Um, hey," she began slowly, switching her widened eyes from the man to the door several times. "I was just heading out. I was… um…"

"Oh!"

The sound made her refocus on him.

"I see…" he continued, as a small visible smirk lined his lips. "Go on then, yeah." he nodded towards the door.

Sakura caught the amusement dancing in his blue eyes and flushed. Oh God, it's so obvious. Her clothes, the disheveled hair, the heels she clung onto in one hand...

"T-thanks!" she sputtered out, and embarrassingly enough, this time the stutter wasn't a part of her Suzanne persona.

She felt his gaze linger on her as she moved to the door and clumsily slipped on her heels. She managed to avoid meeting his eyes again as she unlocked the door and stepped out, sighing in relief that he hadn't made an attempt to question her.

:::

"Wow Sasori, I didn't think that was your type."

"Shut up, Deidara."

The blonde leaned into the counter, chin tucked neatly into the palms of his hands. He smirked at Sasori's back. "Her accent was pretty hot. Where'd you meet her?"

Sasori didn't respond. Deidara watched as he reached up into the cupboard to retrieve some medication and turned to lean against the kitchen counter opposite of himself before downing some pills with his coffee. Sasori gleamed at him over the edge of his mug, and realization suddenly struck the blonde.

"The club? Seriously, Sasori?" He scoffed, pushing his elbows off the counter. "First of all; you could contract some STD from the chicks who go there…" his eyes glanced over at the Advil on the counter, "...and you should seriously avoid drinking so much, yeah. Especially when you've got shit to do the next day."

"I thought you wanted me to liven up a bit, hm?" Sasori mused. "Drinking helps."

Deidara rolled his eyes in defeat. Sasori's counter was true after all; Deidara was partially responsible for his friends recent fixation on late night drinking. He had convinced Sasori to go partying with him almost everyday the first week Willow departed for her vacation. He thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get the redhead to loosen up a bit and forget all responsibility. However, maybe his girlfriends absence was starting to get the best of him… "Fine, just don't go overboard."

"Hm."

"So…" Deidara began, wiping invisible crumbs off the counter with his palm. His eyes scanned Sasori's tousled hair. "Tonight must've gone a bit different, yeah?"

Sasori knew what he was alluding to, but tried to drag it out a bit. "I may have drank more than I'm used to."

"You had company."

"I went out on my own, but I called my chauffeur just in case."

"Sasori…" he sighed. Deidara reared his body back in and voiced the question Sasori was hoping he could avoid hearing. "What about Willow?" He asked bluntly.

Sasori set the mug down on the counter next to him. "It was a mistake," he responded honestly.

"She's gonna wreak havoc if she finds out, yeah." Deidara muttered jokingly, though the seriousness wasn't lost in his tone. "What're gonna do?"

The room went into a deafening silence. What was he going to do? He's never done… this, before. He's never gotten himself entangled in an issue as detrimental as this. An issue far beyond just being unfaithful to his girlfriend.

And as if reading his thoughts, "media could find out."

"I won't let them," Sasori ground out, though not as confidently as he had hoped to sound.

And, as his best friend liked to do best, he continued to further fan the flames and threaten Sasori's rising irritation. "Media could find out, and then boss could find out, and then Willow could find out…" Deidara eyed him incredulously. "Do you want her to find out through the media, yeah?"

A slight pang stabbed into Sasori's chest. He was suddenly reminded of how angry she got over reading about his late night ventures in gossip magazines. "I suppose not," he murmured.

"Then you should tell her soon."

"Didn't you hear me? I won't let the media find out." Sasori placed his mug in the sink and kept his focus away from Deidara. He couldn't help the soft chuckle that escaped his lips. "I'm surprised you of all people are telling me this."

Sasori heard his friend laugh behind him. "I'm just trying to help you not ruin your career and image over some woman." Deidara shifted in his stool and stood to retrieve his own cup of coffee beside him. "Although, I suppose if I had to give it all up for just any woman, it'd be the one that you bagged last night. What was her name, yeah?"

Sasori turned his head towards the blonde, ignoring his question. "This isn't career ending stuff," he said evenly.

"Hmm that's true, and I guess Willow will forgive you eventually," Deidara shrugged. "I'm just trying to get you to think about the worst case scenario, yeah."

Sasori's mind reeled to his actions earlier that morning. His immediate reaction to having woken up next to someone that wasn't Willow, was to chew her out as the cause for his eventual downfall. But, after having time to calm down and review the situation, there wasn't much to worry about... just yet. The girl was gone, Willow's not around, and Deidara was the only one who knew. After a lifelong friendship with the blonde, Sasori knew Deidara felt more obligation towards him than anyone else. No one, not even the others in their friend group, would find out about this.

As far as he could see, he was in the clear.

And, a shameless part of his mind, the part so out of touch with moral and competent behaviour, was revelling in the fact that he had managed to defy his girlfriend once more, whilst getting laid.

A uncanny smile formed on Sasori's lips. Deidara paused his actions and stared at the strangely composed redhead. "What?"

"Suzanne," he said. Deidara raised a brow in question.

"That's her name. Suzanne."

:::


A/N: thank you to those who faved, reviewed, and followed. I wasn't sure if people would still be interested in this story, so I'm glad there are a few who are :)

btw, sorry if anyone expected a sex scene. If I do end up writing smut into this story, I'll put a warning.

Let me know what you thought of the chapter!