Sasuke's Burlesque Chapter 9: We Are Young, a naruto fanfic

Few, that took a while. Enjoy, babies.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or We Are Young by Fun.

Sasuke's Burlesque Chapter 9

Sasuke hated hospitals.

He once told Naruto that he would rather die in a freak accident involving ramen than go to a hospital. To him, they smelled like death and over sanitization. Not to mention the people that were forced to wait in the waiting room, always hacking and coughing in his face. The young nurses always sent him pretty, false, seductive smiles his way, and when he was taken to an empty hospital room when he was twenty by a young intern, he had threatened to sue the hospital for sexual harassment and negligence. His family was known in the entire country for their prodigy sons and daughters, as well as their heavy influence in the criminal justice system. He never had difficulty getting in without an appointment, which was where he found himself sitting on an examination table on a wet and nasty Monday in April. Naruto sat beside him in the chair situated right by the table, quietly reading a kiddie magazine he found in the bin of books and other magazines. The blonde had driven him to the hospital upon realizing that something was very wrong with his best friend while they sat at the breakfast table.

"There is nothing wrong with me, Naruto," Sasuke sighed from the table.

Naruto sighed with him and lowered his magazine. "Sasuke. When you reach across the table and knock over your orange juice because you didn't know where it was, that's a sign something is wrong."

"But I can see fine now."

"Dude, you literally told me when it happened, 'Oh, sorry. I didn't know it was there,' while not even looking at me while speaking to me shows there is something wrong with you."

Sasuke grunted and rubbed his hands over his eyes tiredly. He definitely had been having issues with his vision lately, along with the constant migraines he had been experiencing for the past two months. At first he contributed it to the stress of his job and the police entrance exams he was studying for, but when it began affecting his sex life and daily functions, he figured something was wrong. Even Sakura had noticed something was wrong when instead of handing her a fork, he gave her a spoon when they were at dinner one night. Then, later that night while they were becoming intimate, he had moved over her and slammed his forehead into the headboard. The fact that he never made mistakes like that concerned Sakura even further, so when he made a move afterwards to continue, she stopped him and just took care of him. While he had been getting ready the next day, he overheard her talking to Naruto on the phone about what had happened. She had asked Naruto to just watch him because she was worried something was very wrong with him.

Now, as the two men sat in the doctor's office, Sasuke knew there was no running away.

"Naruto," Sasuke finally said.

"Yeah, buddy?"

"I hate hospitals."

"Yeah, we know."

About thirty minutes later, the doctor walked into Sasuke's room without knocking, a smile on her face. Her slightly-graying hair was pulled up in a prim bun, with thin rimmed glasses perched on her nose as she looked over Sasuke's papers.

"Hello, Mr. Uchiha. My name is Doctor Washima and I will be looking into your-" Upon looking up at her patient, she froze at the ridiculous scene in front of her. Naruto had jumped up on the table with Sasuke, hoping to share his children's magazine with him to brighten his spirits, but the other man had a different idea. Sasuke had a foot firmly planted on Naruto's face, where his body was hanging precariously off the edge of the table. He had his hands placed steadfastly on the table to keep himself from falling off. When the doctor cleared her throat, the two men looked up at her sharply before straightening themselves. "Am I interrupting something, gentleman?"

"No," Sasuke grunted. Naruto scrambled over to the chair he had previously been in as the doctor pulled her rolling chair to sit at the counter.

"So, I went over your paperwork, Mr. Uchiha," the doctor began, "and I just have a few questions before I examine you. My first one is are you sexually active?"

At the blunt question, Sasuke chocked on his own spit and blushed while Naruto snickered in the background. However, the doctor looked at him expectantly, her face a serious mask.

"Um, yes?" Sasuke answered, his hand going over his mouth so that it muffled the answer. The doctor nodded to herself and made a small note on the paper she had. Sasuke threw the convulsing Naruto a glare that would have made any other man quiver in fear, but the blonde only laughed harder.

"Okay, my next question. Do you have any relatives that have any kind of eye condition or blindness?"

"Not that I know of."

"Does your family have any history of high blood pressure or acute stress?"

"My dad does but he worked for the police force his whole life. He was always stressed."

The doctor hummed lightly and jotted a few more notes down. Standing up briskly, she walked up to him and looked him right in the eye. Sasuke would have flinched but was frozen by her stare. It had startled him when she appeared in his line of vision suddenly. Maybe his reflexes were starting to hinder as well…

Doctor Washima took out a light from her coat pocket and turned it on.

"Keep your eyes perfectly trained on me. This will only take a few minutes," she said calmly. The light entered his vision and he sat still as she moved it back and forth in front of his eyes. It was hard to keep his eyes straight ahead as the light moved around, and beside him Naruto was watching intently. "Have you been having any discomfort lately?"

"Yes. I have been having migraines and my vision will fade in and out."

"He knocked over his glass this morning and stated how he didn't know it was there," Naruto interjected.

"Hmmm…" Doctor Washima pursed her lips and she clicked off the light. "That would mean his peripherals are fading if he knocked something like that over. I assume you are not a clumsy person by nature, Mr. Uchiha?"

"No."

She nodded, more to herself again. Finishing with his eyes, she proceeded to take his blood pressure and temperature. Once that was finished as well, she sat back in her rolling chair and jotted some more notes down. Naruto began to fidget in his natural nervous response to sitting for so long.

"So, Doc? Can you see anything wrong with him?"

"His blood pressure is slightly above normal, but that is expected when he is experiencing stress factors at his age." Naruto sighed in relief, while Sasuke closed his eyes to contemplate. Doctor Washima stared down at the answers on the paper and her own notes for a few minutes, her eyes narrowing in thought.

"However…"

Sasuke and Naruto both looked up at her expectantly and a little surprised at the seriousness of her tone. She took her glasses off and stared right at Sasuke with a furrowed brow. "I did see an anomaly in both your eyes. I would like for you to come back and see me once we get another appointment set up. It is important that you come back soon. In the meantime, continue going easy and make sure to get plenty of rest. The stress you are experiencing will only make things worse."

Naruto raised his eyebrow in concern and turned to Sasuke. The perturbed look on his friend's face made him bite his lip. The doctor stood up and smiled at the two of them. "If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me. Just get with Rika at the front desk and she will provide you with the next available time to come in. I will also write you a prescription for some pain medicine to help with the migraines, as well. You can fill it at the pharmacy on the first floor right before you leave." She stood up and opened the door, her coat snapping as she briskly walked to her next appointment. However, the two men sat in a tense silence at what the doctor told them. Then, with a groan, Sasuke placed his face in his hands.

"This cannot be happening," he moaned in his hands.

"Hey, man," Naruto said softly. "Everything will be okay! Maybe it isn't something bad!"

"Maybe…"

Naruto sighed at the situation. Sasuke slid off the table and the two of them walked outside to the front desk, where a pretty girl sat behind it. Upon seeing the two attractive men, the girl dropped her pen and squeaked. The blush on her face bloomed quickly, and Sasuke could not help but roll his eyes slightly. Naruto, on the other hand, smiled down at her.

"Hi there! Rika right?" When the girl nodded, Naruto leaned over the counter. "We need to make a future appointment with Dr. Washima please!"

The girl spluttered slightly and nodded her head. Opening the address book sitting in front of her, she slid her finger down a page, then flipped a page to the next month. Sasuke noticed she had a nervous habit of twirling pen around in circles while she searched for an available day. As he tried to look at her book, he felt another migraine coming on as his vision blurred slightly as he tried to concentrate. His hand slipped against the counter and, if it had not been for Naruto standing there to catch him, he would have slammed face first into the hard floor. Rika shouted in surprise and stood so quickly her chair flew out from behind her. Before Naruto could say anything as he helped his best friend up, Sasuke growled at him.

"My hand just missed the counter," he said. "I am fine."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at him, letting him go as Sasuke stood up. He stood up straight and waited slightly impatiently as Naruto made the doctor's appointment for May twenty-first. That way, as Naruto had put it, Sasuke had time to ask off and prepare for the appointment.

"Are you going to tell Sakura?" Naruto asked as they climbed into the car. Sasuke pondered this, then shrugged. "This is something important, ya know. She will want to know anyway."

"I will see her today at rehearsals. I will try and correspond with her then."

Sakura grinned happily when she saw Sasuke and Naruto walk through the club doors. It was a rehearsal night, so she had gotten there before them as usual to warm up ahead of time. When Sasuke's eyes caught her own, he could not help but give a smirk to her as he walked up to her. Naruto stuffed his hands in his black sweatpants and began walking back to the rehearsal room. He passed one of the many rehearsal rooms, and a movement inside caught his eye. Halting before the door, he peeked in and saw Tashino reading sheet music while humming a small tune. 'Seems like she's been her a while,' Naruto thought. His body accidentally pushed the door open a little further, resulting in the door hinges squeaking loudly. There was a light gasp from Tashino as she turned around quickly, her pitch black hair swinging with her.

"I'm sorry!" Naruto said hastily.

"It's…okay," Tashino hesitated. "Do you need anything?"

"Ah, no I don't. Thanks though…"

The two were quiet, creating an awkward silence that stretched far too long. Naruto shuffled his feet, being reminded of a few weeks back when she first appeared. The memory of the way she had sent him sultry looks that had his jaw dropping to the floor raised a new flush to his face, coughing in his hand as she bit her lip apprehensively.

"So, ah," Naruto began, "is that your song that you're preparing?" He gestured towards the sheet music in her hands, and she shook her head.

"This is actually a song that is coming up for the big Seventies Show Sakura and I are performing in a couple months. For some reason, I can't seem to get this one part down, while Sakura seems to always get it right! She's so great at this while I'm just…not!"

"Do you need some help?" Naruto offered in a small voice. Tashino watched him closely, as if suspicious of him.

"Why?"

Naruto shrugged. "I dunno…I can play the piano while you work on your notes?" He gestured to the covered piano and Tashino's eyes followed his hand. She considered it for a second before copying his shrug.

"Sure. Why not?"

Naruto grinned and bounced over to the piano. Behind his back, Tashino rolled her eyes and chuckled at his silliness. "You definitely have some pent up energy in you," she snickered.

"Well, considering how I haven't gotten laid in the past, like, forever, only makes it worse," Naruto said with a wink towards her. He missed the blush that flooded her face at his comment and crossed her arms over his chest. Her lower lip was captured between pearly white teeth as she observed the man who was uncovering the black piano. Since the first night at the club, he had captured her attention. He was bright, sunny, and maybe even a little dense. Tashino considered herself to be the complete opposite of those things. She had graduated her college at the top of her year, was in the Honor Society, and even obtained a degree in Art and Theater. However, she never really had any close friends in her classes. Sure, there were a few students she talked to on the occasion, but mostly for study groups or friendly chatter. To her, there was no reason to make friends when she wanted to focus solely on her career. When she met Sakura and the rest of the girls at the club, though, that was a different story. She found herself hanging out with them more often than not, and even rehearsing with them when she told herself she would not become associated with them. Well, she thought, it is not so bad I guess.

Then, the soft tinkle of the piano caught her attention as Naruto began warming up. Although he looked like a clumsy idiot whenever he was on stage, he looked absolutely graceful and at peace in that moment. Tashino leaned her hip against the piano and closed her eyes to the soft melody that he was playing. She got lost in it, and did not notice how Naruto had opened his eyes to look at her while he played. 'She can't possibly be Kakashi's daughter,' he thought. He drank in her appearance; from her wavy black hair to her bare feet. The shorts she was wearing went to her upper thighs, elongating her already long legs and the shirt clung to her like a second skin. He was not staring, he repeated to himself as he launched into a series of routine warm up sequences. He was definitely not looking at the way the shirt curved around her waist and showed a little of her lower stomach. Not looking at the tan thighs that stretched endlessly from the small material of her denim shorts. And, he was definitely not looking at the way her breasts were emphasized from the way she crossed her arm underneath them. Quickly, he averted his eyes from the tantalizing woman beside him and licked his dry lips. 'Dear God,' he prayed, 'please let me get through this forever long rehearsal.' He only played louder when sinful thoughts raced through his mind of a sultry-posed Tashino in his sheets.

Eventually, the rest of the staff who performed trickled into the room, pulled in by the loud music coming from the room. Today, the members of the band had been asked to come as well, saying they would be assisting one of the singers with their practice. Tashino ventured away from the piano to join with Sakura and Ino, who had come in together with Sasuke. As everyone walked in and sat in chairs that were provided, Naruto continued to play. He switched from his routine practice scales to another song. This resulted in people clapping to the beat as he played the opening score, recognizing the popular pop song, We Are Young by Fun. In order to get the song going, Naruto sang first.

Give me a second I,
I need to get my story straight
My friends are in the bathroom getting higher than the Empire State
My lover she's waiting for me just across the bar (his eyes flitted towards Tashino, who was nodding her head to the beat)
My seat's been taken by some sunglasses asking about a scar, and
I know I gave it to you months ago (He shrugs)
I know you're trying to forget
But between the drinks and subtle things
The holes in my apologies, you know
I'm trying hard to take it back
So if by the time the bar closes
And you feel like falling down, I'll carry you home

The whole room joined in, their voices harmonizing with each other's and creating the perfect pitch. Sakura's light soprano voice could be heard along with Tashino's soft alto, going together perfectly, while Sasuke smirked at the synchronization of the group.

Tonight, we are young
So let's set the world on fire
We can burn brighter than the sun

Naruto smiled brightly at what the singing the group was doing. Not only had he got the group to sing together, but to also harmonize fantastically. He saw Kakashi walk through the cracked door and observe the group as he led them into the next verse.

Now I know that I'm not
All that you got, I guess that I, I just thought
Maybe we could find new ways to fall apart

Sakura, Tashino, and Ino jumped in for the next part, their voices mixing together perfectly as they stood from their seats.

But our friends are back
So let's raise a tab
'Cause I found someone to carry me home

The people who were still sitting jumped up or began stomping their feet to the beat.

Tonight, we are young
So let's set the world on fire
We can burn brighter than the sun

Before long, Sasuke was up and singing with the girls, his deep voice mixing with the soft feminine ones. Sakura smiled up at him and he smiled back. As the next part came up, their voices carried over the others as they took lead. Kakashi's eyes widened at the realization that these two actually sounded good together.

Carry me home tonight (Na na na na na na)
Just carry me home tonight (Na na na na na na)
Carry me home tonight (Na na na na na na)
Just carry me home tonight (Na na na na na na)

Sasuke stepped forward and belted out the next few lines. This was not his favorite genre to sing from, but this was why his mother had taught him a thing or two about different techniques.

The world is on my side
I have no reason to run
So will someone come and carry me home tonight
The angels never arrived
But I can hear the choir
So will someone come and carry me home

Naruto quieted the piano with the pedal on the bottom so the group could lower their singing to match his pitch, but picked it back up by the second to last verse.

Tonight, we are young
So let's set the world on fire
We can burn brighter than the sun

Gesturing for the group to be silent, Naruto finished the song softly but in a strong voice. The smile on his face was contagious as everyone else in the room broke in bright smiles at the success of their singing.

So if by the time the bar closes
And you feel like falling down
I'll carry you home tonight

Everyone cheered at their success, Kakashi joining in with them.

"I have to say," he started. "You all have been doing pretty well." The whole room shifted to look at him as he leaned away from the door frame. "Your harmony was on key, and your start and finish were flawless. But, there is always something to fix." He looked at Naruto as he approached the piano. "Thank you, Naruto. That was very good."

"Yeah, well," Naruto grinned. "It's no big deal! I thought it would make a creative way to warm up!"

"And creative it was. However, we must continue with the rehearsal or we will never get out in time." Kakashi gestured for Naruto to sit down so he could continue the rehearsal. The blonde walked over to a seat between Sakura and Sasuke, much to the disgruntled growl from Sasuke. Sakura rolled her eyes at the two men beside her and crossed her legs neatly over one another. 'Some things will never change,' she thought while the two had a silent eye war with each other. Tashino chuckled and leaned toward Sakura to whisper in her ear.

"I never realized how competitive those two are."

"Yeah, you get used to it," Sakura huffed.

"Now," Kakashi started. He produced a handful of notes from his bag that was slung over his shoulder and handed the packets to the person farthest on the left side of the room. "We all know that in the next following weeks is the time to practice for the big Seventies Week the club will be hosting. On these papers, there is a list of who will be performing on what days and times. I'm sure you will have plenty of time in preparing for your nights."

"Kakashi," Karin called. "Why am I not on the singing list when I specifically asked to be?"

"Because you suck," someone coughed.

"My dick," another one whispered.

Karen turned bright red with anger and crossed her arms with a frustrated huff. Sakura chuckled at the comments and stretched her arms over her head. The song she and Tashino shared was a major hit during the seventies, and had been a remake during the early part of the twenty-first century. Tashino had expressed a fascinating interest in the song, and even Sakura was excited for this song. However, Kakashi had told them instead of the original song, they would be doing the most recent remake since it was composed of four singers and an easier style. Sakura had to be honest; she was very jealous of the fact that Sasuke could sing multiple different genres, so he was given the choice to either sing the remake or the original of his song. She was surprised to find him singing the remake while he was cooking dinner one night.

"Since some of you will be singing the remakes of your songs, I will expect perfection from you. Naruto, I disapprove of your song," Kakashi commented while he looked over the list.

Naruto sputtered and his mouth opened and closed in shock. "Why not?! Not only is it modern, but it has that beat that was typically heard in that time period."

"Exactly. It's too modern. Pick something different."

"Listen here, old man-"

"Daddy, I think you should let him sing it," Tashino's voice drowned out Naruto's. Kakashi immediately fell into a puddle at his daughter's request. Naruto stared at her in shock, unbelieving of the fact that not only had she rejected her father's opinion, but had stuck up for him. Whispers went up in the room at the scandalous comment. The girl looked at him from the corner of her eye and gave him a small smile, her eyes giving a mischievous gleam.

"But, my sweet baby-" Kakashi whimpered, but cowered at the pointed glare she gave him.

"You are letting Sakura and I, as well as moody over here," Sasuke glowered at the name, "are singing modern songs, even if they are remakes. Let him do it or I will not participate."

"My darling angel-"

"Daddy."

"Naruto, you can sing that song!"

Naruto whooped and thrust his fist in the air, finally happy that he was getting what he wanted. He shot Tashino an appreciative grin and stuck his thumb up to her. However, he was not anticipating the dark blush that spread over her cheeks. OR the sinful smirk she gave him that made him gulp down the saliva that had pooled into his mouth. Kakashi soon dismissed them to work on their individual or group songs. While some people left the room to go into another rehearsal room, many stayed in the current space. Noticing the piano was now empty, Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto, who gave him a crazy grin. A few seconds went by as the two had a staring contest, seeing who would run for the piano first. As Sakura stood up with Tashino to go over their sheet music, she rolled her eyes at the glaring men.

"Sasuke, you don't need a piano to rehearse," she huffed. "Naruto, you have to go meet with the band to go over the instrumental pieces, so you don't need it either."

"But, Sakura!" whined Naruto, but Sakura shook her head. "That's my baby! I don't want anyone's filthy hands on her!"

"Your hands are filthy, idiot," Sasuke growled. "There are grimy stains all over the keys."

"Tashino and I already called it, so you won't get it anyway!" Sakura shrieked. Naruto flinched away and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't give me that look, Sasuke. You don't even need it."

"There are certain notes I need to practice."

"Then go to another room!"

"No."

"You're insufferable!"

Tashino pursed her lips at the couple and turned towards the piano. Since they were so occupied, she might as well grab it anyway. She was determined to work on those notes that she was having trouble with. Gripping the pages of her sheet music, she made her way to the piano. Suddenly, her wrist was grabbed and she was yanked backwards slightly, the pressure enough to cause her to stumble back slightly.

"Where do you think you're going?" Naruto asked. The grin on his face only promised certain mischief if she tried to get away. Tashino's dark eyes glanced at the fighting couple for some sign of help, but Naruto scoffed. "Trust me, you won't be able to stop them." Naruto placed both his hands on his head and turned to watch the passionate couple fight it out. "They've always been like this, especially ever since high school. Sasuke already grew a pair in high school, but could never really tell her how he felt. Instead, he ended up taking her virginity IN MY BED. I mean who does that?!"

Tashino only stared at him apprehensively as he went on a mini rampage about how he had to burn his sheets the next day, and then have to get every detail from his best friend who did not even remember what had happened the night before or who he had been with. Finally, Naruto exhaled loudly, then turned to the girl beside him. She flinched when he leaned towards her, the top of her head barely reaching his chin. Her face lit up with a pink blush at the proximity of this man leaning over her for God knows what, and her eyes widened when he grinned down at her.

"What's wrong, Hatake?" he questioned. "You look a little flustered."

"You are being a tease, Uzumaki," Tashino growled. "Need I remind you that we are in a room full of people?"

"Never stopped me from messing with a little hothead," Naruto laughed and mussed up her hair. Tashino growled under her breath and attempted to shove him away from her, but Naruto chuckled and practically danced away.

"You are messing with someone you really don't want to mess with, blondie," Tashino huffed. "I stuck up for you, so you should show me some respect!"

"I think you need to relax, because guess what?" Naruto grinned and poked her nose with his finger. "I was just kidding." Tashino blushed at the whispered confession, guilty of her spontaneous reaction. "Besides, you're too cute to not tease, anyway!"

The girl looked at him in disbelief, her jaw hanging low. Her eyes were squinted at him, unable to process the thought of how completely stupid this kid was. Naruto laughed to himself at the quick responses he was able to shoot back at the girl, completely unaware that Tashino was ten seconds away from beating his face into the piano that was behind them. Then, she realized that it had gotten a little quiet because the other couple was no longer in the room. Sasuke and Sakura had taken their argument into the hallway. Their blurred shapes outside the closed door showed how intense the argument was, and for some reason, Tashino believed that it was not because of the piano anymore. The shorter shape was throwing its hands around, while the much taller form shook its curled fists at it, before throwing its hands up and throwing the rehearsal door open. The room quieted significantly, watching as Sasuke stomped into the space. His hair was thrown in an array, and his eyes looked angry and tired. He strode past Tashino and Naruto and threw himself down on the piano bench. As he fixed his sheet music with shaking fingers, Naruto furrowed his eyebrows at his attitude and actions on his precious, sweet, innocent piano. He turned his view to Sakura, who could be seen from their spot standing just outside the door, her lower lip trembling between clenched teeth. Her eyes were red as well as her cheeks from yelling and crying.

Tashino pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at the brooding man at the piano, who had begun to practice his scales.

"Real classy, ass face," she hissed. Sasuke's head whipped up, eyes narrowed dangerously and he stopped playing. His mouth was in a firm line, and when he opened it to growl something, Tashino turned away to walk to Sakura. The girl on the other side of the door had disappeared, leaving the situation to be cooled by itself. As Tashino walked briskly out the door to follow, Naruto groaned in exasperation. The room of people, which had gone quiet after witnessing everything, returned to their tasks. Naruto plopped himself on the piano bench next to his longtime best friend and huffed out at him.

"Dude. Getting pissed at your girlfriend for your frustrations is NOT a smart thing to do."

"She's NOT my fucking girlfriend." This response made Naruto cringe, and he stared at Sasuke in disbelief.

"Sasuke, you've been with Sakura for a couple months. Don't tell me you're only using her for sex."

Sasuke scoffed and turned back to his scales. "She and I are both too busy to have a relationship."

"She practically lives with us! Have you even talked to her yet like you said you would?"

Sasuke suddenly slammed his hands down on the keys, causing the room to quiet and Naruto to jump in surprise. "Just fucking drop it, dumb ass. We are not together, and I doubt we will stay together. Now leave me the hell alone and go somewhere else."

Naruto stared at Sasuke with hard eyes, ignoring the lingering stares they were receiving. After a moment, he slowly stood up. The room watched as the ever present, talkative blonde man packed up his stuff and left the rehearsal room. When a few minutes passed with nothing else exciting, the music from the band and the harmonizing of the singers began again. Sasuke closed his eyes against a pounding headache that started behind his eyes.

He had to remember to take his medication when he got home.

Sakura narrowed her eyes down at the tub of ice cream she was handling, ignoring the show that was playing on her TV. She was wearing nothing but a pair of cotton panties and an oversized t-shirt that belonged to Naruto from their high school days. Fortunately for her, she was alone at the moment, so she did not really care what she was wearing or what she was eating. Suddenly interested in the little chocolate chips that decorated the mint chocolate chip ice cream, she began to stab at the ice cream with her spoon.

"Stupid asshole," Sakura growled. "Making me worry and shit. Won't even tell me the damn truth."

The program that was running made her snort because of the romantic moment between the protagonist and main male character. 'That's not love, you idiots,' Sakura thought. She scooped out a large spoonful of ice cream and shoveled it in her mouth. Her long legs stretch out along the length of her black leather couch, and she shoved a white pillow under her back. Thanks to the well-paying career she found herself in, she could afford the luxuries that she currently owned. The apartment she was in was nice, with enough to accommodate herself and another. Her furniture was nice as well, and she had the help of a few of the girls she worked with to put it together. Having resided in the apartment for the past four years, she never had any issues with nosy neighbors or bossy landowners. Sakura put a lot of money into this place, so she better enjoy every bit of it. The fact that she owned the place to herself was pleasant enough, but she had to admit she got lonely by herself for so long.

There was a knock at the front door, and Sakura glared at the offending sound.

"Sakura, I know you're in there," a familiar voice called out. Muffled slightly by the barrier, Sakura recognized the voice of Ino. By the sound of it, however, she had brought company.

"How do you know she's in there," another female voice asked.

"I'm her best friend! Of course I would know!"

Sakura growled and stood up to answer the door. Tucking the tub of ice cream underneath her arm, she stomped to the door to her apartment and threw it open. The action cut off the conversation the two girls were having and they stared at Sakura with wide eyes. The owner of the living space took in the sight of Ino and Tashino, each with bags in their hands. At the sight of Sakura in only a pair of panties, a large t-shirt that looked suspiciously like Naruto's covering her top portion, an open tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and puffy, red eyes, the two girls stormed their way into the apartment.

"Did that bastard make you cry again?!" Ino cried. Sakura huffed at the question and flung herself back onto the couch.

"I guess. Ino, I feel like I can't trust him," Sakura sighed. Tashino and Ino sat on the matching black leather love seat to hear Sakura out.

"Is he cheating on you or something?"

"No, Sasuke's not like that. He would never do something so ungentlemanly."

"But you know he's lying to you about something, right?"

Sakura shrugged and grabbed the spoon she had been using to eat her ice cream with. "Naruto called me yesterday and told me they went to the hospital that morning because Sasuke was clumsy. Sasuke is NOT clumsy by any means. He said the doctor told them he had some sort of anomaly in both his eyes, so they put him on pain medication for the migraines he was getting. But, when I asked Sasuke about it, he got mad at me and told me to mind my own business! Like, what the fuck?!"

Ino tilted her head at the proclamation. "Maybe he doesn't know how to handle the fact that you guys are so intimate now. Has he ever had any girlfriends?"

"No, not really. But we're not dating! He made the perfectly clear to me when he said his personal health was none of my business."

"Bitch, you better wake the hell up!" Tashino suddenly exclaimed. Sakura and Ino looked up quickly at the sudden intrusion. The black haired girl was looking sternly at Sakura. "You have to make him realize that you mean something to him. If not, then he will not take you seriously and just continue to use you as a sex stress reliever. You are a woman for God's sake! Show him how a woman is supposed to be treated by a so-called 'gentleman' you say he is."

Sakura looked away for a second to contemplate the girl's statement. Then, she sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. This is the guy who destroyed my heart and now I only feel like a used chew toy. I've already tried showing him I can take care of myself, but now it seems like a fruitless endeavor."

It was quiet as the three girls processed the information. Finally, Ino stood up and went to sit next to Sakura. The ice cream was taken from her and placed on the coffee table in front of the couch. Ino grabbed her hand, making Sakura look up at Ino with wide, wet eyes. They looked at each other intently, green and blue locking onto one another. Then, Ino said with a strong form of finality in her voice,

"Then maybe it's finally time you let him go. For good. All he does is hurt you. I've sat patiently for the past few months as the two of you went back and forth. We are still young, Sakura, so there are plenty of opportunities out there. I think you know it's time, too."

Sakura looked away from Ino to Tashino, who had her eyes closed but was nodding her head in agreement. Her lower lip started to tremble at the realization that, yes, they were right. It hit her hard as she collapsed into sobs, and as Tashino joined Ino to take their best friend into their arms to let her cry.

It was time to truly forget.

So sorry for the late update! Let me know what you think!

Love,