topsyturvy-dream I know, that was totally mean of me lol hope you enjoy this chapter too!

Sasuke waited downstairs until he was absolutely sure Mai had left for two reasons- it took a while for his erection to go away and he didn't trust himself not to get another hard on if he saw her again so soon after coming so close to having her. When he finally went back up, Kiba, Lee and Neji were gathered around the closed front door staring at the monitor that was linked up to the security cameras surrounding the house.

"What are you guys doing?" He asked, peering over their shoulders curiously.

The sleek, red sports car was parked too far down the drive to see any proper detail but the passengers side was empty and there was definitely movement coming from the drivers side. Ino stamped over and turned off the screen.

"We were just checking out the car!" Kiba laughed.

"E-Exactly!" Lee quickly agreed.

"Apart from Naruto, I don't think any of us here could ever afford a car like that. Just who is Mai's boyfriend anyway?" Neji asked, rubbing his chin in thought.

Ino averted her eyes for just a second but Sasuke didn't miss it, he knew she was either about to lie or avoid the question, something that made him even more curious about Mai's rich boyfriend.

"I'm not entirely sure." She said, then returned to making eye contact with her friends, indicating to Sasuke that she was now speaking the truth. "I know he owns a bar because that's where I used to work with Mai."

"Does she still work there?" Sasuke accidentally asked, adjusting his facial expression to look uninterested when Ino gave him a quizzical look.

"Yeah. She runs it now."

"If we get together again in about a month, will she come?" Naruto voiced, he and the rest of the group gradually gathered by the door too, all equally curious about the girl who had almost instantly become a part of their group.

Sasuke really wished he had chosen different words though. He could feel himself getting excited again.

"I'm not sure, she's usually busy. I don't even get to see her that much anymore, since me and Sai got together it's really hard to even get hold of her."

Sasuke's raven black eyes fell on Sai, closely observing his expression. He was surprised to see that his look of disinterest closely mirrored his own, to Sasuke that meant that he was also trying not to show his true interest in Mai aswell.

"That reminds me, I forgot to get her number!" Sakura loudly shrieked, making Sasuke jump. She had been standing next to him for a while giggling about something with TenTen but he'd kind of blocked her out so the sudden scream was completely unexpected.

"I can give you it but she changes her number a lot." Ino shrugged.

"That's what happens when you have a rich boyfriend to buy you all the latest phones!" Sakura laughed.

This time, Sasuke noticed, a slight look of irritation flicker over Sai's face. Mai being so elusive was a bit of a sore spot for him. He must get her number from Ino's phone every time she received it, only for Mai to change it again when she realised who was still trying to contact her. Tracking Mai down was going to be a real challenge but Sasuke knew the prize at the end was definitely going to be worth it.

Monday usually consisted of seeing Sarada for five minutes in the morning before grabbing a cup of coffee from a drive through and spending the rest of the day between the office and on the streets. Apart from feeling slightly hung over, this Monday was playing about nearly the same way. He went about his day as usual, spoke to the same people about the same sort of things, forgot to eat and worked too hard but his mind wasn't focused on any of the things he had done. He was trying to figure out how to return the panties in his pocket to their rightful owner. By the end of the day he had formulated a plan, a morally questionable one but a plan nonetheless.

"I'm home." Sasuke quietly announced as he kicked off his shoes. He knew Sarada would be in bed and he didn't want to wake her.

"Hey. How was your day?" Sakura asked, glancing up at him from her phone.

"Fine. Did you save me something to eat?" He asked, suddenly realising how hungry he was.

"Yeah, in the kitchen." This time she put her phone down and smiled at him. He knew she was going to ask him for something when he'd finished, probably either money or sex.

He sat down at the table with his cold meal and began to pick at it. When was the last time he had come home to a hot meal? He found himself wondering if Mai was the type of girl to cook for her man.

"I was thinking..." Sasuke held his breath, waiting for the rest of his wife's sentence. "The furniture in the living room really needs replacing. I thought we could go and pick out a new sofa the next time you're off and we can look at coffee tables online when you're done eating."

Glancing at the clock on the wall, he realised how late it was. It was eleven o'clock, he would have to be up for work again in six hours and she wanted to shop for furniture?

"Sure." He agreed, forcing a smile.

Apparently only certain styles of coffee tables 'fit' with the size of their living room and only certain types of wood matched the colour scheme. Sasuke couldn't have cared less but he nodded along to whatever Sakura told him and faked interest in every single one she showed him. He wouldn't normally have bothered but he had an ulterior motive.

"I have this Saturday off, I thought it would be fun if you invite Ino and Sai over for dinner. They can bring Inojin too, Sarada likes him."

Sakura was visibly shocked by his suggestion, it was a rare occurrence for Sasuke wanting to do anything other than work and spen time with their daughter.

"I'll text her right now!" Sakura shrieked, tapping away on her phone.

A few seconds after she sent off the text, her phone pinged. Ino thought it was a good idea too and so, with the first stage of his plan complete, Sasuke went to bed.

His body was exhausted but his mind wouldn't allow him to fall asleep. He was trying to figure out what had gone wrong with Mai before she left. She had liked the way he kissed her, that much he knew because she had told him but he knew in his gut that he'd lost her interest some point after that. What had he done wrong?