Chapter 7 – How Is That Possible?

It was difficult keeping up with their lies. Well, not the lies specifically. More like the show they put on for everyone. Whenever he saw her, Sasuke wanted nothing more than to reach out to her, to have her again and again until neither of them had any energy left.

In school was the worst. They had to be extra careful because of Naruto, who was still madly in love with Sakura and unknowingly making Sasuke grow angrier by the day. If it weren't for Naruto, they wouldn't feel the need to sneak around. If it weren't for him, there would have been no need for him to deny himself of Sakura. They could've been like the other couples in school, minus the unnecessary arguments and live sex shows they put on for the world. They could hold-

He was getting way too sentimental for his own good.

But who could really blame him? For the umpteenth time, his dark eyes drifted over to the back of Sakura's head. It was lucky for him that he was seated at the back of the class, meaning nobody would see him constantly looking over at her. Sakura was practically glowing, her smile taking people by surprise before they returned it just as brightly, happy that she was happy.

Something he'd never noticed before was the way she… not exactly controlled the other students, but influenced and affected them. Not the usual bullshit of the other males slobbering over her. It was the girls, too. They wore their skirts shorter, unbuttoned their blouses until a decent amount of cleavage was on show. They all hung on Sakura's every word, astounded by her newfound confidence and hoping that simply talking to her would make it rub off on them. They wanted to know how and where and why.

The feeling of his phone vibrating in his pocket had Sasuke glancing around the class, trying to spot the teacher. He was stood with his back to them, writing on the board. Taking his chance, he looked down and pulled his phone out, surprised at the name on his screen.

Somehow, Sakura had changed her name on his phone. He wasn't even mad about it. He was impressed that she managed to do it without him noticing, especially considering she would have had to guess his password. What had she changed it to?

'Mrs Lover Lover' along with the heart eye emoji.

'Want to try something at break, Mr Lover Lover?'

Mr and Mrs? It was both ridiculous and amusing. Part of him was warning him that they had to be wary of others seeing their phones, however. Should they see the names, they would ask questions. No, they would demand answers.

When Sasuke looked up, he found Sakura innocently glancing over her shoulder and she raised an eyebrow, a challenging one. Before anyone else could notice, she turned back around, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

'What do you have in mind?'

Within seconds, he got his reply.

'That would be telling. Just meet me by the offices.'

Why was his gut telling him that it was a bad idea?

"Nobody will find us."

The hands holding onto his were stronger than he recalled them being, easily dragging Sasuke into one of the vacant offices. Luckily for them, the receptionist wasn't around. It seemed ridiculous to him, though. When were students more likely to go to reception with a problem? At break. Who the hell would go for theirs at the same time?

"This is a bad idea," he told her.

The look she gave him was a daring one, her eyes wild with an emotion he couldn't read. "Don't you want to?"

Yes. With every fibre of his being he wanted to. But the chances of being caught were too high. They were in one of the main offices.

Once the door was shut behind them, Sakura closed the distance between them, coming to stand in front of him and staring up at him with those mesmerising green eyes. Today, they were framed by thick, black eyelashes and winged eyeliner, making the colour of them seem even brighter than ever.

"I need you, Sasuke-kun," she whispered and her hands came to his face, tilting it downwards so that their lips were closer. "I really need you to make me c-"

He cut the vulgar words off by bringing their lips together, returning her needy kiss with one of his own. He understood exactly how she felt. His body ached to be near hers, to feel hers. And he couldn't understand why other guys his age slept with many different girls, when he couldn't even get enough of the one. He didn't have time to think about other girls because Sakura unknowingly dominated his every thought.

In his mind, it didn't matter that they were still classed as kids. Adults looked down their noses at them when they knew of their activities, forgetting what it was like to be at their age, with their hormones running rampant as puberty hit them at full force. Once they knew the pleasure sex brought to them, how the hell were they supposed to ignore the temptation? If they were both willing and knew what they were doing, if they were using protection, what was the problem?

Fuck them, his mind snarled. Fuck them and their snotty, traditional ways.

Sakura gasped as his momentary anger caused him to tighten his grip considerably and push her against a desk, and Sasuke froze, apology already halfway from his lips when she told him, "Don't be sorry. I… liked it."

No. It felt wrong being rough with her. She was… She was Sakura. Sasuke sighed against her lips before kissing them gently, offering another apology. Even though she was tougher than she looked and perfectly capable of defending herself, he vehemently refused to ever be rough with her.

She was smiling into their kiss, fingers running through his hair, whereas he reached down and helped her up onto the desk, coming to stand between her legs. The skin of her thighs was soft beneath his fingers and he longed to feel them against his again, to feel them wrapping tightly around his hips.

But just as Sakura began to work on his pants, unbuttoning them deftly, they both froze as the door behind them opened. Sasuke could feel his entire face burning hotly, along with the back of his neck and the tips of his ears.

Sheepishly, Sakura smiled at the shocked and angry teacher. "Oops."

Oops?

Oops?

They were lucky the teacher had let them off as easily as he had. He could've called her parents and Itachi into the school, demanding that they be punished outside of school, too. Fortunately, they only got detention for the rest of the week, which he would somehow have to explain to Itachi.

"Come on, Sasuke-kun," she said with a carefree giggle. "It was pretty funny."

No. No it wasn't. He was still red just thinking about it. They were late home due to the detention, but they no longer had to wait around for the bus now that Sakura could drive. What excuse could he use to get himself out of trouble with Itachi, without making it known that he and Sakura were… whatever the hell they were? If he found out, there would be strict rules placed on them both. They would never be left alone in the house. All trust would disappear.

"Maybe we should have a party on Friday."

It wasn't a question. Sasuke scowled over at her. "Do you really think we should be thinking about partying right now?"

She shrugged carelessly, doing a messy turn. He wondered if he was a better driver than her. "Why not? I think it could be good."

"Let me guess: it should be at my place."

Sakura sent him a bright grin. "We're having downstairs redecorated on Friday. Mom will throw a fit if anything happened."

Oh, so it was fine if it happened to his house? Sasuke grumbled to himself, not bothering to reply to her. Itachi wouldn't be against the party, as long as there was no alcohol, which, in all honesty, there would be. Who threw a party where everyone was sober? Even he knew it would be dull.

"Live in the moment," she repeated the words she said during their first time together.

Live in the moment. It was easy for her to say. Unlike himself, there weren't huge expectations of her. Sasuke was in no way suggesting that Sakura wasn't as important as himself, or that her dreams and aspirations weren't important. However, she didn't even know what the hell she wanted to do with her life, or what she wanted to be and while her grades were exceptional, they didn't have to be that way. Not like his did. There were no dead parents she clung to desperately, wanting to please them even after death.

As though catching onto his thoughts, Sakura pouted.

Somehow, she managed to talk him into throwing a party.

He just…

How? How had she talked him into it?

It was a great party, there was no doubt about it. Everyone around him was having a great time, the house actually felt alive instead of stiff and traditional, instead of like a museum. A part of him worried endlessly over the state of the house, but he'd locked away all possessions, especially anything belonging to his parents. Anything of sentimental value was hidden from sight and only he was capable of gaining access to them. Not even Sakura or Naruto could get to them.

Itachi was away. A night out with Shisui, or something like that. He had no idea what was happening in their home – hopefully, he never would. While he would be all for his younger brother having a good time with friends, there was no telling how he would react if he found out there was alcohol and underage sex at the party and Sasuke had every intention of forcing Sakura to stay overnight to help him clean up in the morning. It was, after all, her idea to throw a party. If he was being completely honest, it was more her party than his. Though, saying that, Sasuke couldn't deny that he was also enjoying himself. As he'd been saying: it was a good change around his house. It no longer felt empty or lifeless and he actually wanted to be there for once.

Delicate fingers trailed down his arm and he looked up in time to see Sakura making her way over to the stairs, sending a discreet glance over her shoulder at him. Her eyes were lidded with both the effects of alcohol and arousal, lower lip gently pulled between her teeth in a way that had his blood boiling as he recalled the way she bit his own lip, had him immediately following after her to feel it again. Gods, would he ever grow tired of her? Would he ever not feel the need to have her?

"Sasuke-kun," somebody called behind him. "Great party!"

He nodded vaguely in the girl's direction, not knowing who it was who was speaking to him and not caring, either. Hell, Sasuke didn't know two thirds of the people at his party. Some of them were familiar faces, but at most, they were only people he'd seen around the school. Not anyone he'd interacted with on a meaningful level, therefore, they didn't matter to him.

By the time he made it to his bedroom, Sakura was already naked and there was no denying that he was hard at just the thought of her waiting for him like that. He shut the door without another thought, locking it for good measure.

"I missed you, Sasuke-kun." She lowered herself onto the bed, hands coming to rest above her head and she arched her back, making her breasts stand out even more, eyes shutting. The picture of seduction. Of sin. Perfection. And the final nail in the coffin was the biting of her lip, a soft sigh leaving her. "You're the only one who can make it all go away."

What? Sasuke held back his urge to frown and stopped in his approach of the bed. At his silence, green eyes opened, peering at him curiously.

"What did you say?" he asked.

She didn't answer immediately, almost like she'd suddenly lost all ability to talk. Eyes were a fraction wider, lips parting. A deer caught in the headlights. "I…"

When the words died on her tongue, voice trailing off unsurely, Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Where the hell had that even come from? What did he make go away? What problems was she having that he didn't know about? Why hadn't he noticed anything other than her obvious personality change? It was so frustrating.

Finally, he was capable of movement. He walked to the bed, casually draping the end of his covers over her body. It made it easier to talk to her when her nakedness wasn't being a total distraction. "Tell me."

A shy smile pulled at her lips and she breathed out a chuckle, tugging the sheets higher. "C'mon, Sasuke-kun. Are we here for sex or for a psychoanalysis?"

It seemed somewhere down the line, she'd gotten the impression that what was going on between them was just sex and for the life of him, Sasuke couldn't find the words to change her mind. Couldn't figure out how to explain what she meant to him. It was like the words wouldn't form. Couldn't form. Gods, he wanted to tell her differently. Wanted her to know that it wasn't just about sex – not for him, at least.

"Sakura."

She sighed, head falling back onto the pillows with a huff of annoyance. "Just… things, Sasuke-kun. It's nothing, honestly." He refused to answer, instead watching her silently until she finally responded, saying quietly, "Everything feels like it's going too fast. Some days I can't…" It stunned him when tears threatened to fill her eyes, when she tilted her head in the other direction so he couldn't see them. "I can't even keep up with my own thoughts anymore – or understand them. Almost like I'm a stranger in my own mind."

That certainly explained her recent actions, especially the ones that seemed so out of character for her. It explained why she seemed so different. If she couldn't even keep up with her thoughts, if they were racing through her mind, never allowing her to pinpoint a single one of them, then…

"Everything's scrambled and it makes me so… frustrated," she whispered before looking back at him. "But with you, Sasuke-kun, it's bearable."

How? How could he possibly make it bearable for her?

A/N - Sorry for taking so long to update for you guys. This story is so much harder to write for than I'd imagined, but like I always say: I'll never give up on a story. I'll never do that to my readers, I know how frustrating it is to really get into a story, only to find out it's never going to be finished.