Stairs. Lots and lots of stairs.
Sakura has never seen so many stairs.
"Sasori, I'm in heels." She looks at the stairs, she is never going to make it up to the top.
"Are we going to the top?" She asks.
"Yes." He bends down and starts to unlace her heels.
"But." She starts to protest, her hand on his back for balance.
"It will be worth it." He takes her heels in one hand and twines his fingers in her other.
"I want to show you something." He tugs her hand and she starts to climb the stairs beside him.
"Sasori." She says after, she doesn't know how many levels.
"Almost there." He says and tugs her hand again.
"There had better be food up there."
He chuckles quietly beside her as they continue to climb.
"Finally." She resists the urge to bend over in her formal dress but she wishes she could because there is a stitch in her side she needs to stretch.
"Close your eyes." He looks at her to comply.
Sakura hesitates for a moment but then closes her eyes. Sasori smiles wide and looks her over.
"Sasori?"
"Just a moment." He says as his eyes roam her body slowly.
"Come." he pushes the door open.
"Keep your eyes closed." He warns, pulling her out of the stairwell into the night air, positioning her just so.
"Open your eyes Sakura."
"Wow." She covers her mouth.
Dinner is laid out on a glass tabletop with white chairs. There are two serving carts with candles and wine, flowers decorating the tower patio and Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa, playing in the background.
"Sasori." Sakura looked around at the lights, the candles, and the music, dinner looked incredible, the stars...
"It really is a date." She whispered.
"Why do you keep saying that?" Sasori smirked at her.
"When you asked me, you didn't say as friends or anything, and we had met in art class, it was a gallery, I didn't know." She tried to explain.
"Do you need labels for everything?" He asked her pulling the chair out for her.
"No, but sometimes it helps." She smiled at him as he sat down across from her.
Sasori picked the bottle of wine up off the cart and poured some into her glass.
"For taste." He brought his glass to his lips and sipped it.
"I chose pasta and a fish." He said as he served her.
"This is beautiful Sasori, no one has ever done something like this for me before." She smiled at him the candlelight making her eyes sparkle.
"Pity." He said taking her hand.
"What?"
"You deserve it." He said running his thumb over the smoothness of her knuckles while they ate.
"This is kinda fancy for me." She blushed.
"I don't think so." He took another sip of his wine.
Sakura blushed again and bit her bottom lip selfconsciously. His eyes followed the gesture.
"Do you do many gallery showing Sasori?" Sakura asked in between mouthful of tender fish.
"No." He looked out over the night sky away from her.
"Very few." He added.
"I am impressed, my work isn't good enough for a gallery." She looked down at her plate ruefully.
"Nonsense, your work is very good." He cocked his head tot he side as he watched her eat.
"It's not." She protested.
"It's you, it's beautiful Sakura." He told her, fingers curling around hers.
Sakura didn't know what to say. Did he mean her art was beautiful or that she was beautiful?
After they were done eating Sasori led her to the other side of the balcony where cushions and blankets were laid out.
"I like to come up here and watch the stars sometimes, it is...peaceful." He laid out one of the blankets of the cushions and sat down. Sakura dropped tot he ground beside him on the blanket but he motioned her to sit in front of him, between his legs.
"Rest your back up against my chest, I want to look at the stars with you." He pulled her in front of him, tucking her in between his knees and wrapping his arms around her neck and shoulders.
"What building is this Sasori?" She asked turning slightly to look at him brushing her lips across his cheek by accident.
"My family owns the building but I use it the most, mostly for the roof." He laughed a low sort of laugh almost inaudible but she felt the vibration of his chest on her back and she giggled.
"It is beautiful Sasori and you're right, it is very peaceful." She sighed and leaned back against him and his arms tightened around her as his chin rested on her shoulder.
"It's hard to see the stars because of all the lights of Konoha, but over here, it is darker, denser and less inhabited. That's what I like about it the most." He confided in her.
"I used to sit in my window when I was a little girl and look out at the night's sky instead of going to bed. I used to wonder what it would be like if I could jump out of my window and fly up into the stars." She smiled as she told him about one of her dreams when she was little.
"I used to dream that the stars would fall from the sky and set the world on fire. Then like a Phoenix, the world would be born anew, without greed, or corruption." He reciprocated the sentiment.
"That would be wonderful." She hummed her approval.
"As would yours Sakura." his voice was low, sultry.
Sakura shifted in her seat to get more comfortable then stopped, she was comfortable with Sasori. None of her usual chitter to cover her nerves, none of her anxiety, wan=rranted she had a little in the beginning but now, it was like they were old friends. It was nice.
"Sasori."
"Hum?"
"Thank you for bringing me here. I'm having a wonderful time. It's perfect." She smiled at him as he tilted his head to her, his cheek grazing her cheek.
"You're welcome Sakura. I knew you would appreciate it." He kissed the side of her neck.
Sakura sighed.
"Can I, kiss you more Sakura, would you like that?" He asked her gently.
"Yes." she breathed out.
He brought one hand up and smoothed the hair from her neck, laying soft kisses down the side of her neck to her throat, then back up and around to her ear.
"Sasori." She mewled.
"Your skin is so soft, so delicate Sakura, so fair." He flicked his tongue out across her jaw and kissed his way down the side of her neck, over her shoulder then down her upper arm.
"Mhm." She sighed then shivered as a breeze caught the wet from his kisses.
"Are you cold, let me take you home if you're ready?" He kissed her shoulder one more time.
"Yes, thank you, Sasori." He stood and helped her up to her feet.
"Let's take the elevator down." He picks up her shoes and smiles wickedly at her.
"Elevator?" She glares at him.
"What, of course, the tower has an elevator." His lips twitched as her face turned red.
"I hate you."
He smiles as he follows her to the other side of the stairwell to the elevator that she should have known was there.
"I would like to take you out again," Sasori tells her on thier drive home.
He reaches over and takes her hand out of her lap twining his fingers with hers and holds it on the middle console between them.
"I would like that." She smiled at him.
Sakura smiles at thier joined hands as they pull into their apartment parking lot.
"Let me get the door for you." He gets out and walks to her side of the car to open the door for her.
Tucking her hand in his arm they walk up the stairs together to her apartment.
"Thank you Sasori, I had a wonderful evening." She smiles at him, her hand still in his.
"I'll text or email you about our next date." He pulls her hand around his back to bring her closer and kisses her gently on the side of her lips, moving slowly with his tongue over the seam of her lips and pushing his tongue into her mouth when she breathed in.
"Sasori." She moved into him, her mouth opening slightly to deepen the kiss.
Her door flew open and Sasuke stepped out of her apartment.
"Sakura where the hell have you been!" He glares at Sasori.
Sakura steps back from Sasori to glare at Sasuke.
"What the hell are you doing here and how did you get into my apartment!" Her hands are on her hips.
"I was worried about you, my uncle called me to make sure you got home okay but you weren't answering your phone so I came over to check on you but you weren't home." He continued to glare at Sasori.
"It must be a family trait." Sasori drawled over Sakura's shoulder.
"All you damn Uchiha, always interrupting," Sasori sighed.
"I'm sorry Sasori, it was a beautiful evening, text me okay?" She smiled apologetically at the redhead.
"You have nothing to apologize for." Sasori pulled her to him and kissed her on the mouth, his hand flat and openly splayed across her bare back pressing her mouth into his.
Sasuke shifted angrily behind Sakura. Sasori looked up at Sasuke, his mouth covering Sakura's and smirked at the Uchiha before breaking the kiss.
"If you need me. I'm right upstairs." Sasori tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and smiled at her before smirking one last time in Sasuke's face and turning to go up the stairs to his apartment.
"Why the hell did my uncle call me and tell me you were at the gallery in Konoha with him?" Sasuke yelled at her as she shut the door to her apartment.
"Uh because I was there with him. Your uncle made it clear he didn't like Sasori at the gallery, why the hell did he call you to come over?" She fumed.
"Because he was worried about you! I told you, that guy's dad is an international criminal, they sell drugs to kids Sakura!" Sasuke was yelling again.
"Would you please lower your voice!" She yelled at him.
"Just call your uncle and tell him I'm home okay.." She walked past him into her kitchen and pulled the whiskey from her freezer.
"You drive me to drink!" She poured out two shots and handed him one.
Sasuke eyed the shot with distaste.
"Take the damn shot and loosen up, pull that stick out of your ass. You can crash on the couch." She poured two more shots after he took his first.
Sasuke pulled his phone out before he took his next shot and called his uncle. Sakura opened her sliding glass door and leaned against her railing looking out into the forest.
"Fucking Uchiha." She grumbled and took her other shot.
Sasuke joined her holding his shot glass out for her to pour him another, which she did.
"Okay, that's three shots to the good Uchiha. Now tell me, what is the big deal about Sasori, he was a perfect gentleman to me tonight. It was a really good date." She slammed her shot and looked at him expectantly.
He downed his shot cringed at the flavor.
"It's whiskey Sasuke not a pina colada." She laughed at him.
"You know I don't drink that crap." He growled, but without heat, he was calming down.
"You look really beautiful tonight." He looked her up and down, sliding his arm around her waist.
Sakura swooshed the whiskey around in the bottle, ignoring his comment as well as his arm.
"The whiskey reminds me of Sasori's eyes." She hummed to herself.
"Oh please, you used to tell me my eyes looked like the pieces of coal on the snowmen in our village we used to make every winter," Sasuke laughed remembering.
"I was what 6 years old asshole." She laughed with him.
"Sasori isn't right for you Sakura, you'll get hurt if you hang around him, don't get too close, that's all I'm saying." Sasuke slurred and she poured him another shot.
"Who is good enough for me Sasuke, you?" She laughed.
"Well, maybe, give me another chance Sakura. I promise I won't let you down this time." He put his arm around her and she leaned into him.
"Sasuke, you know it isn't a good idea." She took another shot.
"You still love me, I can tell." He tried.
"Of course I still love you, but I'm not in love with you anymore." She said gently.
"Sakura." He was begging.
"You broke my heart Sasuke, you're not loyal." She said quietly.
"And you think Sasori will be?" Sasuke said incredulously.
"It was one date Sasuke, geez, what is your problem?"
"I know you Sakura, I know you don't kiss, I mean literally kiss, on the first date. You like him...a lot." He sounded so dejected, she almost felt guilty.
"If I'm being honest, yeah I do like him a lot. He is thoughtful and romantic and he holds the door open for me." She smiled remembering her date that night.
"He's old fashioned and sweet." She hummed into her empty shot glass.
"Sweet? He is a murder, he has killed people for his father before Sakura." Sasuke was slurring his words more and more.
"Go to bed Sasuke, you know where everything is. I want my key back that you made without telling me." She shooed him inside and leaned against her railing alone.
Sakura looked out over the tops of the trees to the stars and thought of the tower and Sasori. She tilted her head back and looked at the floor to the balcony above her and smiled.
"Sasori." She said quietly to herself.
"Oh Sasuke, maybe we would still be together if you hadn't cheated on me with the loud mouthed whore Karin. I'm not a fool. That isn't love." She sighed and pour the rest of the bottle into her shot glass.
"Maybe I don't know what love is." She laughed and went back into her apartment to get ready for bed.
Sasori sat on his balcony and smiled. "I enjoyed being with you tonight too Sakura."