I blinked and came back to reality minutes before we landed while Sakura stirred beneath me. I lifted my head off of hers and she removed hers from my shoulder. She yawned and gave me a tired smile before putting her forehead against my arm. I ruffled her hair to keep her awake and pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time. It was evening, the sun was about to set and bring rise to the moon as well as the night, at least my sleep schedule would be fine.
I grabbed my bag and Sakura's from the overhead compartment and walked out of the plane to be greeted by the airport stores of Jacksonville. Sakura took her bag from me and rolled on ahead while humming a song to herself, probably Imagine Dragons or Charlie Puth from what I could hear. I walked up to next to her and listened to her quietly while enjoying the simplicity of just walking with her with no sniper to worry about, at least I hope.
We made it outside and walked to our respective cars in the parking lot. I drove out of the lot and waited for her to follow until making my next right and turning onto the town's roads.
Jacksonville was always prettier at night in my opinion, from the neon signs illuminating the sky and the calm atmosphere surrounding it, like a perfect contrast to the busy streets of a city like New York or LA. I liked it, it's why I never left the place, I couldn't bring myself to move out and leave everything behind, and I'm glad that I stayed.
I rolled to a stop at a red light and looked up at the moon, watching it do nothing before the light turned green. Sakura and I reached the apartment complex and parked our cars before she grabbed my arm and steered me to face her.
"Let's go out!"
"Why?"
"We just solved our first case, this is a special occasion, Sasuke Uchiha."
"Well, Sakura Haruno, I'm sure you'll be just fine on your own." She froze and stared up at me in annoyance. I chuckled and poked her forehead before walking towards the streets.
"Where are you going?" Sakura questioned as she ran up to meet me.
"I know a good restaurant, its not far from here," I told her, watching her face light up.
The walk wasn't long at all, in fact, it only took us two minutes to reach the place, Ichiraku's. It was a restaurant facing the water with 20 tables set up and almost filled to the brim. The view was one of the best I had ever seen, not to mention the food was top notch as well as the service. I knew the chef there, Teuchi, pretty well, Naruto and I used to go there quite a lot, but we stopped coming often because of our jobs.
"Hey Ayame," I greeted Teuchi's daughter. She used to have a crush on me throughout high school, but she met a guy who came from London and last I heard they were doing well.
"Sasuke! Hi!" She smiled at me and sat us down at one of the best tables there, on the second floor overlooking the nighttime ocean.
"Thanks, this is Sakura, my partner," I introduced. Ayame greeted her and shook her hand before giving me a funny look and disappearing. I put my attention back to the menu, though I knew that I would be getting his world-class Ramen, regardless. I put the menu down and saw Sakura avert her eyes, like she had been staring at me. She put the menu down and appreciated the view, staring out at what the ocean had to offer. I watched her before turning my attention away so she wouldn't catch me in the act.
I looked down at my phone and the numerous texts Naruto had sent me while I was away. He kept talking about how he hadn't had a case ever since he caught the last guy and how bored he was. He told Kakashi to give him something to do so Kakashi made him reorganize files, which made him even more upset. Most of the messages were him ranting about how bored he was, so I shut off my phone right as the food came out.
We had gotten the same thing, and one bite made me realize how much I had missed this place and I made a mental note to tell Naruto about it. Sakura gasped when she ate the food, absorbing the tastes before looking at me with wide eyes.
"This is amazing!" She whispered pretty loudly. I smirked back at her and took another bite, reminding myself that her statement was, in fact, true.
"I told you," I said to her.
"Shut up," she retorted playfully.
"Annoying," I muttered, leaving her to look up at the skies.
"What did I do to deserve this?" She called out to the heavens.
"Be annoying," I answered without looking at her. She scowled at her food but forgot her troubles after taking another bite. I watched the waves crash against the shore, sending the saltwater scattering along the sidewalk where a family was walking. I smiled at the sight of them laughing and whining at the same time from the newfound wetness that filled their clothes. The little boy started laughing as his older sister complained about her new shirt being drenched and her parents started snickering at the sight of their daughter's despair. I remembered how my parents use to tease me all the time about my clothes and how they were always too big on me. "People are going to think you're weird," my dad used to say.
"Sasuke?" I looked at Sakura, who was eyeing me.
"Hm?"
"Nothing." She was lying, she wanted to say something else, but decided against it. I didn't ask about it, instead I opted to listen to her go on about how beautiful Switzerland was. She had gone for vacation and fell in love with it.
"Hiking thousands of feet up at the Matterhorn was awesome! We have to go one time, Sasuke," she insisted.
"Unless there's a murder I'm not going anywhere," I replied. She pouted and I held in a chuckle before talking again. "Besides, it can't top Italy," I challenged.
"Already has," she shot back.
"Based on what?"
"Me."
"Your opinion doesn't matter, Sakura."
"Maybe not to you because you suck, but my opinion is the most important to me."
"Hn, we'll have to change that."
"I won't go to Italy until you come to Switzerland."
"Fine," I sighed. She beamed at me victoriously and finished her food happily. "Just so you know, we don't really take a lot of vacations because of what we do," I told her.
"Obviously," she rolled her eyes at me, causing me to pout into my glass of wine. "Aw, so cute," she teased. I scowled at her and she just smirked back, enjoying the fact that she was so thoroughly getting on my nerves.
"Why are you so damn annoying," I mumbled.
"Because its fun."
"Fucking girl," I muttered.
"Come again?"
"Hn."
"That's what I thought." I called Ayame over for the bill and took out my wallet only for Sakura to swoop in and pay everything, including the tip. "What?" She questioned, feigning innocence as I narrowed my eyes at her. I took the money and counted $54 in total. I handed her $27 back and put in $27 of my own before she complained. I caught her arm and looked her in the eye. We stared each other down for a bit before she slumped back into her chair in defeat while I smirked victoriously at her.
We got up and left the beautiful restaurant and walked on the boardwalk for a bit. I eyed the closed game booths, remembering how my mother used to bring me here and hand me some cash to win things. I used to have so many stuffed animals in my room that she had to give some to Naruto's parents to make space.
"I used to be the best thrower," I murmured.
"Growing up here must've been fun," Sakura said softly.
"What was it like? In Jersey?" I surprised myself asking her that question, but then again, she made me different.
"I lived in a rural area, so it wasn't loud like the city, but it wasn't as peaceful and serene as it is here, this place is honestly magical. I can't lie though, I miss my friends and sometimes my parents, but I text them everyday," she summarized. "Though I would be really lonely if it wasn't for you," she whispered softly before turning her face away from me. I messed up her hair and she glared at me before laughing while I chuckled. We walked along the boards, watching the sea wet the sand and letting the wind blow through us. It ruffled through my hair, messing it up even more. It blew Sakura's pink hair around, and somehow, it made her look even more beautiful with the moonlight glinting off her creamy skin.
I felt myself losing control, the grip that I once had on myself around women. I always had control, but not with her, this girl had put me under her spell, and I was losing myself to it at an alarming pace. I looked away from her and closed my eyes while leaning on the railings, regaining my posture. I opened my eyes to see her staring at me, eyes shining, just like back at the Dallas station. I met her gaze with my dark eyes and we stood there under the moonlight, entranced with each other. Onyx vs Emerald.
This time, however, I lost the battle.
I thought about my decision back in Dallas, of how I would support her as a friend, as a partner. Maybe I was being stupid, maybe I was throwing away something good because I couldn't deal with myself, maybe I was, at this point, I don't even know. I was just confused. We walked back in silence to our apartments, which was probably for the best. I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything, opting to just observe the area instead of looking at her in fear of seeing emerald again.
We made it back and walked up the stairs, still in silence, which was making me uncomfortable. I went to my apartment with her behind me and opened it. I turned around to say bye, but before I could, she hugged me. I recovered and hugged her back, inhaling her intoxicating cherry blossom scent, my addiction.
"Bye, Sasuke," she whispered.
"Annoying," I whispered back as she broke free and pouted at me. I poked her forehead and closed the door before she could react.
"Uchiha!" I heard her growl from behind the door, causing me to chuckle.
"Bye, Sakura," I cooed before walking away from the door. I had already unpacked my bag beforehand, so all that was left was for me to get some sleep and enjoy the free day I had tomorrow. However, sleep didn't come as easily as I had hoped. I tossed and turned and growled in my frustration. I finally gave up and threw my covers off in anger at my insomnia and slipped on a shirt before walking out of my place and out of the building to walk around.
It was around 2 AM, so there was pretty much no one on the streets and none of the stores were open. Only a bar on the corner of a street had its lights on and a couple of people were in it, so I made that my destination. I crossed over and walked into the small bar. The bartender nodded his head and greeting which I returned before taking a seat.
"Jim Beam," I told him. He poured me the whiskey and I didn't hesitate, to take a sip as soon as I got it. The alcohol burned my throat, but I was used to it. I sat there and watched a rerun of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" while sipping on my whiskey, paying no attention to the few people who exited and entered the bar.
"I hate those scripted interviews," the bartender said.
"God forbid they speak their minds," I replied.
He snorted and said, "Ain't that the truth." He went over to serve someone else who had walked in, leaving me to silently watch Jimmy Kimmel interview Denzel Washington, who I actually liked a lot. His best movies are some classics, I really couldn't deny that to anyone.
"He loves to talk, don't he?" A girl sat down next to me and looked at me, smiling. "I'm Brooke," she smiled and reached out her hand. I didn't shake it, preferring to take a sip of my whiskey then humor her. She faltered and put her hand down at my refusal, but it didn't discourage her. "You look awfully lonely," she commented.
"My choice," I replied curtly.
"Yeah, you seem like the type who doesn't like being in crowds," she said.
"So, why are you here, then?"
"Well, I got a couple of friends who're looking for a good time that I was sure you could provide."
"I look like a dealer?"
"Not the type of fun I was talking about." I scoffed at that and didn't say anything after. "Come on, relax a little bit, we just want someone to keep us company."
"That's nice."
"Handsome man like you shouldn't spend the night alone." I ignored her, though her and her friends were attractive, I didn't really feel like having sex tonight. "Come on, blonde and two brunettes, don't worry, you won't have to do any work. We'll have a triple team," she whispered deviously into my ear. It sounded good, especially since I had all that sexual tension in my bones from being around Sakura so much. I could use something to get her off my mind. She reached down and trailed her hands around my thighs, moving them up with every breath.
"Fine," I sighed and left some money for the bartender. The girl took me outside where her friends were waiting and giggling, probably a little tipsy.
"Where you from?" She asked.
"California," I lied.
"Well, Cali, follow us," she said while her friends grabbed my arms and motioned me forward. I cringed at the nickname she gave me, though it was better than her knowing my real name. We arrived at a nearby motel they were staying at, Sunset Motel, a small, one-story place that I had passed by from time to time. The girls all smiled mischievously at me as we entered their room. I walked in and immediately, they converged on me.
"No!" I screamed as I woke up with a start. I looked around, scanning my surroundings. I was back in my apartment, in my bed. I remembered leaving the girls sleeping after all we finished up at some time around 4 or 5 AM.
It was just like every other time, me violently thrusting and finishing, images flashing and scaring me, me regretting it. I always regretted it, but I did it anyways. Why? I didn't even know.
I groaned and got out of bed and into the shower. I let the water fall on my face as I closed my eyes and sighed in relief. Why did I agree to that last night? I regretted it just like the others, but I still tortured myself for no reason.
Sakura. It was because of Sakura.
All that pent up desire, I just had to unleash it, but I only ended up making it worse, I needed her, but that was selfish, she deserves better.
I walked out of the shower, dried myself, and walked out. I sat down with a bowl of cereal and stared at it, thinking about literally nothing, I just sat there and stared at it. Then, I groaned really loudly and smacked my forehead onto the table, why am I like this? My phone buzzed and I saw a text from Naruto about going to see a movie, so I threw away the cereal, a shame, and slipped into black sweatpants and a white tank top.
I walked out and saw Naruto waiting for me with a grin plastered onto his face.
"Have fun last night?" I looked at him in confusion before narrowing my eyes at him.
"How'd you know?"
"Heard you walk into your apartment at like 5."
"Why were you up so early?"
"I have a really bad sleep schedule, you know how I am."
"Unfortunately."
"Hey!" We walked down to the parking garage, where some guy was talking to his wife on the phone.
"Baby, you know how hard work has been, I'm sorry I haven't called often, I'll make it up to you," he rambled on. I snorted and got into my car. Guy was in his late 30s probably, and definitely wasn't on a business trip from the car he was driving and the fact that he seemed excited to go wherever he was going, probably to see his mistress. I turned on some music and Naruto got into the passenger seat while texting someone.
"You finally get a girl's number?"
"Haha, funny. I'm talking to this girl I met at a restaurant while I was working that case last week, she's really nice and pretty!"
"What's her name?"
"Rachel."
"Should've told her your name was Ross."
"Why?"
"Nevermind." I drove off and to the nearby AMC, a place Naruto and I frequently visited to see our movies. "What're we seeing?"
"Seriously?"
"What?"
"The new Spiderman movie just came out!"
"I forgot all about that," I answered honestly. With all the work I've been doing, I forgot that the movie came out a couple of days ago. We walked into the theater and quickly bought our tickets before heading to the snack stand. "I'll go to our seats," I told Naruto, who was waiting in line.
"You don't want?" I shook my head, this food was way too unhealthy and way too expensive, it was a losing deal. I walked into one of the theaters and went to our seats at the edge and towards the top of the theater. Good seats. I checked my phone and saw that Sakura had texted me a couple minutes ago. She also wanted to go see Spiderman, but in a couple hours. I texted her back saying I would meet her at the theater in a couple hours, why not see it back to back?
I would've said no to anyone else, but I was always looking for excuses to be with Sakura, though I would never tell her that to her face.
"Hey," Naruto said with a large bucket of popcorn, soda, and a couple of candy bars.
"How do you eat that junk?" I asked, scrunching my nose in disgust.
"Being healthy is no fun, just look at you!"
"At least I'm not getting chubby." He opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't find the words, so he just glared at me while I smirked. The trailers were about to begin, so I checked my phone and saw that Sakura had texted back saying not to keep her waiting. I turned it off and shoved it into my pocket right when the trailers began.
One by one, other movies were advertised with 2-3 minute clips: Black Panther, Justice League, some other movies that I didn't know about before today. The lights dimmed finally and the movie started to play on the white canvas, lighting up the otherwise dreary and dark theater. Hushed whispers sounded throughout the crowd as the movie played, capturing Naruto's attention easily.
I tried my best to focus on the movie, but I found myself distracted by the ticking sound of a clock. The methodical and rhythmic ticking was driving me crazy to the point where I couldn't even sit still. I started fidgeting and moving in my seat, trying to block out the ticking noise, but it wouldn't go away, what was going on? I studied the people around me for watches, but found none loud enough to be causing me so much anxiety. Where the hell was it coming from? I looked down and saw a faint red light blinking beneath my seat. There was something under me.
"What're you doing?" Naruto asked when I crouched down and looked under my seat. I wanted it to be my imagination, I wanted it to be some toy a kid left behind, or maybe some theatrical effects from the movie, but what it actually was was so much worse.
"Naruto," I whispered, "Get everyone out of here, now." He froze at my tone and crouched down next to me to see the same thing I saw. "Go!" I half-whispered.
He ran out of the room, and in seconds, security was in there, gathering all the confused moviegoers and escorting them out while I pulled the bomb out from under my seat. There were so many questions going through my head, but I couldn't focus on that right now, I had to defuse this thing. I took a deep breath and called in my bomb-defusing training that Jugo had given me. Judging from the size and wiring of the bomb, its blast radius looked to be about 30 feet, enough to blow the theater I was currently in to ashes. I wiped the sweat from my brow and pulled out a small Swiss Army Knife I carried with me. It was a small blade, but it would have to do. I pulled the cover off of the device to reveal three wires: blue, red, and green, relatively simple, until I saw the timer. 10 seconds, defusing the thing would take me 30 seconds, at least, not even Jugo could do this without being a couple seconds too late, and he was the best bomb expert I knew.
So I took the bomb in my hand, and proceeded to heave the thing to the front of the theater so the explosion wouldn't kill me, hopefully.
Throwing the bomb took about 3 seconds, I had 7 to spare. I ran to the exit of the theater in the back, 3 seconds left. I shoved the door open and made sure it was shut. 1 second left.
"Please don't kill me," I mumbled to myself.
BOOM! The bomb exploded, sending the doors I was standing behind flying with me. I must've been flying for a little bit, that was pretty cool, until my back slammed into the wall, hard.
"Ack!" I spit out some blood and fell to the ground face first. Flames started to surround me, and I began to realize that if I didn't move soon, the flames would form a circle around me and trap me in their clutches. I grunted in pain as I dragged myself to my feet and staggered to the the front of the theater. I made it to the snack stand and thought about taking a cup and filling it up with ice water for myself, but the theater would probably charge me anyways, so I decided to save my money. I stumbled through the ashes and held my breath as long as I could to avoid inhaling too much smoke to avoid possible death. Thankfully, the AMC wasn't too big, so the entrance was in sight after a little bit of me stumbling and staggering through the place until I reached those glass doors that police were crowding around, keeping civilians and reporters back.
I hid behind the wall for a minute, breathing hard and grimacing in pain as I held my stomach. I had definitely sustained a couple of broken ribs from my collision with the wall, and my head was still ringing from impact, I had a concussion as well from my own diagnosis. I was probably going to lose consciousness soon, so I might as well walk out and collapse in front of them so they knew I was still alive. I inhaled and turned to the glass doors before shoving them open and stumbling out looking like a zombie. Immediately, reporters were doing their best to swarm me while snapping pictures, which wasn't so great for my head. I winced and covered my face before I heard a loud gunshot sound through the air. That silenced the crowd quickly, much to my relief.
"Naruto! Gather all the cops and get to the station, we have work to do!" I heard a familiar voice yell before the source of the voice turned to me. I stumbled and almost tripped, but Kakashi caught me before I could. "You could never stay out of trouble," he muttered to me, eyes twinkling with relief.
"You knew I hated listening to other people," I mumbled back to him.
"I called you an ambulance, how about you try listening to them, please?"
"I'll think about it," I croaked out weakly before spitting out blood and coughing. I would've fallen to my knees if Kakashi wasn't supporting me due to the immense pain that was stirring in my insides. I might have some internal bleeding, though hopefully, that won't be the case, internal bleeding is the worst. "Fuck," I groaned, which Kakashi scowled at.
"Must you curse?"
"I'm dying, let me be," I croaked back, feeling my vision haze and darken.
"Let's go!" Kakashi half-carried me to the ambulance that had arrived onto the scene. I must've been in real bad shape because I didn't even hear it approach, in fact, my ears were still ringing from the explosion.
"Move!" I heard a voice yell through the crowd. I stayed conscious long enough to see pink hair shoving reporters aside with ease while making her way to the ambulance. I chuckled weakly as Sakura took me from Kakashi and helped lift me onto the bed in the ambulance. "Hey," she smiled at me, but I could see the concern in her eyes as well as happiness, probably because I was still alive.
"Hi," I managed to croak out. She took my hand in hers and intertwined her fingers with mine before smiling sweetly at me.
"Get some rest," she whispered, and it was hard to argue with her due to the fact that I was already losing consciousness, the last image in my head was her running her thumb over my knuckle, soothing me into unconsciousness.