Sasuke's POV
Naruto laughed, drawing Sasuke's attention away from Sakura who closed her front door, to the blonde at his orange Lexus parked on the side of the road.
Sasuke paused on the way to opening his car door and gave Naruto a harmless glare.
"Baha! Man-whore! That's so... so..." Naruto started, searching for words.
"Great?" Sasuke finished, half-smirking from the joke of last night.
"Uh..." Naruto looked at him strangely, making it obvious that he had no idea what Sasuke was talking about.
Sasuke only shook his head as the blonde continued, "I was going for 'true'... but if you think it's great, then... cool..."
"Tch, true?" Sasuke smirked cockily, "I think I'm the one winning the bet, what with being all faithful." Sasuke said the word as if it offended him.
Naruto pursed his lips, wondering whether or not he should question Sasuke's faithfulness, due to the whole party the night before and the way it seemed like he wanted something else for lunch today in Sakura's kitchen...
He opted for embarrassing him instead.
"I guess, I mean, you haven't been that much of a man-whore since... since..."
Naruto and Sasuke locked eyes as the blonde trailed off into a moment of silence. Both of them knew exactly when and what 'since' was...
It involved Sasuke going through his... ahem... older phase. A trend that started to appear in his 'dating' regime was a series of women in their late 20's to early 30's, usually married, and quite attractive. Obviously Sasuke lied about his age, saying he was 21 rather than still in his teens, and he definitely could pull it off. But what ended his string of his more mature flings was one Mrs. Evett. Or rather her husband, Mr. Evett.
While Sasuke was over at Mrs. Evangeline "please-call-me-Angel" Evett's house, Mr. Evett had changed his plans. Instead of watching a football game at his friend's house, he had invited them all back to his own. Where, unknown to him, Sasuke still was.
In his bed.
With his wife.
Fortunately Sasuke had heard them come through the door and was able to at least get his boxers on.
Unfortunately, the rest of Sasuke's clothes were scattered around the main floor, with his cell phone and wallet in his jean's pocket. Where Mr. Evett easily spotted them and knew something was up.
After a mad dash around the house, Sasuke being chased by 4 angry men who were thankfully just out of their prime, a punch in the face and a bruise on his knee and chin from when he was almost tackled, and some damage to the furniture in the living room in his attempt to flee his pursuers, Sasuke was able to escape the house with his wallet and cell phone. But only those.
So he had to run a couple of blocks and jump a couple of fences until he figured he was at safe enough distance to call Naruto and ask for a ride, all in his boxers. Ten minutes of trying to keep his dignity while passers-by stared strangely at his lack of clothing and footwear, Naruto arrived in his orange Lexus...
...And that's why he doesn't 'date' cougars anymore.
Back in the present, Sasuke broke their stare first and went back to opening his car door. Naruto laughed, "Maybe I should tell Sakura, I mean, I'm sure she'd love to hear that story."
Sasuke frowned, not about to let Naruto get the last word or refer to any feelings he may or may not have for Sakura. He smirked, leaving Naruto in suspense, before replying "What about you Naruto?"
Slowly, Naruto's smiled started to fade at the realization that Sasuke had something on him.
Seeing Naruto's revelation, Sasuke continued," I'm pretty sure you and Sakura had a pretty good time in the closet yesterday."
At that, Naruto went red; so he did remember some of last night.
"I'm sure Hinata would love to hear that story." Sasuke continued, mimicking Naruto's tone.
"But I... You... She... " Naruto fumbled, and then huffed, opening his own car door, "Fine. We're even."
"Hn," Sasuke replied and got in the Maserati, receiving the finger as he looked back at Naruto.
He chuckled at the blonde as he started the engine, and then let it fade to a frown.
When did he become the type of person who chuckled?
Upon arriving home, Sasuke figured out the second reason why he didn't 'date' cougars anymore.
He had walked in the door, shoved his car keys into his pocket and walked across the hall towards the stairs when Marie walked out of the library and towards the kitchen. Sasuke gave a short wave in greeting as she smiled and held up the book she had in her hands.
"I'm cooking dinner tonight," she said as she passed by him, a proud smile on her face.
Sasuke nodded and watched as she went through the kitchen doors, recipes in hand.
Now he didn't even mean to do it – it must have been all that thinking about cougars and shit – but his eyes momentarily – just for an instant – wandered to her... backside.
He froze, tearing his eyes away as his mind was now psychologically scarred.
Bleck (and no, Sasuke did not just make that sound in his mind). That was his mother. Yes, she wasn`t his biological mother, but still.
And that`s when it hit him, the second reason why he doesn't 'date' cougars anymore.
Because all of those woman couldn't have been far off in age to what Marie is – not that Marie is old.
But in essence, they were really all old enough to be his mother.
It would be like 'dating' his mother.
His mother.
'DATING!'
Sasuke shuddered and tried to rid himself of the image, but it were these thoughts that bombarded his mind as he made his way to his room...
And as he went on the computer to try and distract himself...
And as he tried to play his PS3...
But seriously.
'Dating.'
What was he thinking!
Well obviously he wasn't if he was hooking up with women that were theoretically old enough to be is mother.
But, honestly, how could he even have done that? Didn't he have any sort of common sense at all? Didn't he realize this before he decided to 'date' any of these women?
Sure they were hot.
Sure they were good.
But they were... old!
OLD!
Again, he shuddered.
No, he is not thinking about this anymore. No more.
None of that happened, he did not just realize that, he did not just glance at his mother's behind, and he did not picture it in his mind.
No.
No, he did not...
For the third time, Sasuke shuddered.
However, it was hard to think of anything else when it seemed that everything, EVERYTHING, seemed relevant.
Turning the T.V on and the first thing popping up being a promiscuous scene on some show.
Pressing the channel up button only to have the next show being the 'Mom' show.
Switching to boxing and the announcer mentioning that his opponent was `so much older than the other.'
Switching the channel again only to have the discovery channel be the next one up, and of course, it was showing lions.
Which aren't cougars, but they are felines. Large felines.
Old felines.
Sasuke turned off the T.V, his last resort of distraction in his room. He held his head in his hands, realizing how completely disturbed... stupid... even vulnerable he was being.
Why was this happening?
Sasuke Uchiha is not vulnerable.
Think of something else, think of something else.
Sakura.
There we go, a perfect distraction.
Okay, picture Sakura... In her second skin satin.
There, even better.
Now, picture Sakura...
In his car in her second skin satin.
...
There... even better...
Wait a minute.
Sasuke was not fantasizing about Sakura. About paper towel girl. He was not using her... relying on her, even for the sake of his own sanity.
There must be something else... some other distraction...
Ah.
Got it.
Sasuke stood up and went to his closet. He took a shoebox that looked very ordinary in his closet and opened it.
Inside was all of his drug paraphernalia, his escape for now.
So right then and there, Sasuke sat down and rolled a joint.
A big joint.
And carefully placed it in his pocket as he climbed up to the loft, out the skylight, on to the roof where the breeze would blow all the evidence away, and into a little alcove where he wouldn't be seen from the ground. He lit up, took a deep pull, and exhaled.
There.
That was much better.
"Sasuke, which one, the pink... or the purple..." Sarah asked, holding up two Barbie Doll dresses.
Sasuke glanced at Sarah from where he was sitting...
Crossed-legged...
On... her... bed?
When did he get here?
He scanned the room, liking the way everything looked so... magical...
A fraction of a smile appeared on his face.
"Sasuke," Sarah whined, noticing her brother's lack of attention. Why was he even being so weird?
Sasuke eventually landed his gaze on Sarah, who was staring at him. Why was she staring at him?
"Sasuke, pink or purple?" She asked again, getting impatient.
Sasuke lifted his hand up to point at one of the dresses but then got distracted by the way his finger felt when he flexed it.
Again, a small smile appeared on his face.
Sarah stared oddly at her brother and opted to not question his mysterious ways.
He was a boy after all.
"Fine, I'll pick," Sarah said, "Hmmmmmm..."
"Hmmmmmmm..." Sasuke answered, mimicking her, just because it tingled his lips and sounded so funny.
Sarah huffed and put down her Barbie doll, "Sasuke, why are you being so weird?"
"Why are you being so weird?" Sasuke mocked back, in a strangely high voice...
Okay, now her brother has gone insane.
"Sasuke... Are you okay?" she asked carefully, but Sasuke didn't reply. He had flopped back on the bed and had taken to staring in wonder at all the magical accessories in Sarah's room.
"Hmmm," Sarah started, ignoring Sasuke's own hum in reply again, "This looks like a job for Doctor Princess Fairy Sarah," she reasoned, and crossed the room to one of her many toy bins – but by the time she found her doctors kit and turned back around to diagnose her brother, he had disappeared.
"Sasuke?" she called out, but there was no reply.
Sarah could only shake her head. Boys these days.
Sasuke had somehow found his way to his room. 'Somehow' because he didn't quite know exactly how he got there.
He also 'somehow' found his way to his computer where he 'somehow' had taken to stalking Sakura on Facebook.
But alas, it was too tiring, and he was too hungry, so he found himself watching T.V on his couch and zoning in and out of reality.
That is until Sarah 'somehow' arrived in his room, calling him a stupid-head and informing him that it was "dinner time and we have to go eat dinner together with everyone since mom made it so it's important, okay?"
Sasuke stood up in reply and followed Sarah out the door.
As the two made their way through the hallways, Sarah pondered what dessert could possibly be that night, if her parents would let her have chocolate milk instead of normal milk with dinner, what had made her brother such a stupid-head today, and if she could get away with holding his hand since he was being so weird and probably wouldn't notice.
Upon experimenting with the latter, Sarah found her hypothesis to be correct and relished in this rare moment of her brother's affection.
Upon entering the dining room, Sasuke had realized that he had 'somehow' gotten to holding Sarah's hand and took it away promptly.
Upon seeing their children enter the room together, Phil smiled and Marie finished bringing out the last dish to the table.
And, upon sitting down in his chair, Sasuke 'somehow' missed his seat.
A loud 'thump' followed, aka Sasuke's body hitting the floor.
He got up with a cough, said he was 'fine,' and awkwardly re-seated himself while ignoring the half-worried, half-confused stares from his parents and Sarah's giggles at his odd behaviour.
As dinner commenced, the stares and giggles continued from their respective owners unbeknownst to Sasuke. He was too busy shovelling as much food as possible into his mouth to satisfy his seemingly bottomless stomach. It wasn't his fault, he was just so hungry.
When he had finished his third plate of food, Marie finally questioned, regarding his slightly bloodshot eyes, odd, sluggish behaviour, and insatiable appetite, if he was feeling alright.
Sasuke, now frustrated with his intoxicated self managed to answer with relative sobriety, "Yeah... I just... was tired and took one of the sleeping pills I just got prescribed."
"Ah," Marie and Phillip both nodded as this made perfect sense, relieved that now there was a reason for his unusual behaviour.
"And how are they working for you?" Phillip asked.
"Fine," Sasuke answered uncomfortably, awkward with any personal issue regarding himself.
"You know what," Philip started, "You have been sleeping in more, or at least, more than usual."
Sasuke, still uncomfortable, shrugged a shoulder in response.
"That's good sweetie," Marie added, "Well how about you retire early for the night, then? Get a good night's sleep?" Marie continued gently, "I'll save some dessert for you in the freezer."
"Hn," Sasuke replied, taking the chance to escape, but not before refilling his plate and taking it with him. He knew his parents would be watching him go, still confused at his behaviour but at that point he really could care less. He was far too frustrated, tired, and still hungry to do much else now. At least he got away with his intoxicated public appearance.
So Sasuke trudged up the stairs and hallways and to his room where by that time he was so exhausted that he just flopped onto the couch, devoured the food he brought with him, and fell asleep – not becoming conscious again until he was awoken the next morning by someone nudging his side.
And it wasn't Cupcake, as she was already cuddling with him, having finally found him in the middle of the night.
Sakura's POV
There are a couple of things I should have known before I said 'okay' to Naruto when he called me the next day. The first is that when Naruto left to go meet Hinata for their date, he was contemplating his and Sasuke's last conversation.
About being faithful.
First, Naruto was first worried about his own faithfulness; about how Hinata would take it if – no, when he told her about the party last night, because he felt he had to.
Second, Naruto wondered about Sasuke's faithfulness. It seemed odd how easy the bet was going for him, and yet...
Naruto figured something was up. He knew something weird was going on between Sasuke and I lately, and I wish I had known but he was surprisingly good at keeping it hidden.
But he only really considered this once he had gotten over the first of his worries – which went over surprisingly smoothly when he met Hinata for their date in the afternoon. This was because of the talk I had with her early this morning. However Naruto had another reason to be surprised other than the way his girlfriend handled his confession.
Hinata, on the topic of the party last night had accidently referenced to the possibility of Sasuke and I being somewhat together. She didn't even say anything quite specific, but Naruto still got the inference, and Hinata didn't help disprove it by the way she reacted when Naruto said "Whoa whoa whoa, what did you say?" Hinata had covered her mouth with her hands, her wide eyes peeping over top of them.
But I'm proud of Hinata despite her almost fatal slip – she was able to keep her own against Naruto and his methods of persuasion, which were mostly romantically physical.
Except I didn't know these things, at least not until later the next day when Hinata sent me a desperate and apologetic text about how Naruto is suspicious. However, it was earlier, not later, that I needed to know this, as it was earlier when Naruto called.
"Hey Sak, what's up?"
"Mm, nothing much. Oh except my mom isn't here today, kind of disappeared again, but that means I'm not grounded anymore! Well, at least until she gets back but-"
"Perfect! See I was gonna go over to Sasuke's later today and just wondered if you wanna come tag along. "
"Uh..."
"Don't worry, Mr. Grumpy will be fine with it. Just thought you might wanna come 'cause on days like today – you know, not too hot, not too cold - Mr. Carter likes to crack open the barbeque and Mrs. Carter makes this flippin' sweet potato salad and –"
"Okay."
"What? You'll come?"
"Yeah, why not, right?"
"Awesome. I didn't think you'd agree so quickly."
"Well, Sasuke and I are like friend...type...people... right?"
"Friend-type-people?"
"I just don't think he hates me as much as he used to..."
"Oh yeah, sure. Totally. So should I pick you up or something?"
"Um, okay, when?
"Like now. I'm kind of already on my way."
"What!"
"Well, I didn't think you'd agree so quickly, but I knew you'd eventually say yes."
"But-"
"Plus I don't wanna miss any food or anything."
"Okay, well-"
"See ya soon!"
"Naruto!... Naruto?... Hello?...Ugh. Idiot."
"Would you SMELL those burgers!" Naruto yelled as he walked around to the backyard and on to the patio.
Mr. Carter waved with his spatula from the giant barbeque at the other end of the patio. Mrs. Carter, who had just set a giant bowl of what I'm guessing is her "flippin' sweet potato salad," turned around to greet us.
"Hi Naruto," she started and then glanced to me, shuffling awkwardly behind him, "Oh, Sakura, we weren't expecting you too."
"Um, hi. Sorry, I didn't think it would be-"
"Nonsense, of course you're welcome. I'll just get another place setting." She answered and started back inside.
"Where's Sasuke at?" Naruto asked as we followed her in. I waved to Sarah who was swimming in the pool.
Mrs. Carter paused, putting a hand on her hip as she glanced to the ceiling, "You know, I don't think he's been down yet. I think your best bet is to check his room."
"Thanks Mrs. C." Naruto said.
"Lunch will be ready soon, so don't be too long." She called when we passed by her to the stairs.
"Gotcha" Naruto replied.
"Thanks," I added.
Sasuke's POV
"Yo Sasuke."
The words entered the back of his mind as a more insistent nudging brought him to a lethargic wakefulness.
Sasuke grunted.
"Yo Sasuke, wake up." The voice repeated, and the nudging continued.
"What?" Sasuke replied, his voice muffled by the pillow he was face down in.
"Dude, stop cuddling with your cat and get up. It's like almost lunch." Naruto replied.
"Fuck off Naruto." Sasuke mumbled, recognizing the voice and swatting the foot in his side that went with it. Cupcake, he realized, was on his shoulder and scampered off at Sasuke's sudden movement.
"Come on, Sasuke. Is that any way to treat your guests?"
This caught Sasuke's attention. Guests? Plural?
He momentarily lifted his head from the pillow, his eyes squinting against the light, to see two figures standing over him. One was Naruto. The other...
"Fuck..." Sasuke mumbled and his head plopped back down to the pillow.
Sakura was here? Why was she here? And did Naruto say lunch? Shit. And he was still in yesterday's clothes and on his couch. How much did he smoke?
"Kay... well we'll see you outside," Naruto said and Sasuke, face still shoved into his pillow, lifted an arm slightly in response.
He waited for them both to leave, hearing Sakura ask "Are we going to leave him there? Is he actually going to get up?"
"Oh yeah, he'll be fine." He heard Naruto reply.
When he could no longer hear their voices or footsteps, he groaned to himself; he felt like shit.
Slowly he got off the couch and trudged to the bathroom. After looking in the mirror he groaned again; he looked like shit. His face was pale – even for him – and he had really dark circles under his eyes. And what the fuck was his hair doing? He ran a hand through it which was his usual quick-fix, but it seemed to make random pieces stick out in odd directions. He tried again, but it only made it worse.
Sighing, he turned and closed the bathroom door.
After a quick shower he was feeling, and definitely looking, better. He managed to finish getting ready quite quickly and then made his way down to the main floor. Now he knew he was probably already missing half of lunch, but he made a detour to the kitchen to grab some coffee before he made his debut outside.
Sakura's POV
Two things:
1. Mrs. Carter's potato salad is flippin' sweet.
2. Lunch at Sasuke's wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be.
Even when Sasuke finally joined us outside, it still wasn't that uncomfortable. And Sasuke, by the way, looked unbelievably hot. Well, at least to me. He didn't look is best as he looked unbelievably tired (which nobody commented on as Sasuke didn't look like he was in a good mood) but he had this sort of ruggedness about him. He had entered the backyard drinking what was probably coffee from a mug, his hair was still slightly wet from what I assume was a shower, and he was faintly unshaven – just a hint of a shadow appeared across his jaw line. I hoped no one saw my flushed cheeks when looked my way just for a second when he sat down.
And another thing: I surprised myself with how talkative I was. I mean it wasn't like I was chatting up a storm, but I could carry on a conversation quite comfortably. Well, I guess what made it easier was that I wasn't talking to Sasuke directly. I'm pretty sure he said only about 5 sentences total – and most of them were requests to pass the food over. Anyways, lunch went easy and quick, and after Naruto, Sasuke and I made our way up to the usual: Sasuke's room.
Now here's where Naruto set his little hunch about Sasuke and me to work. By now, whenever Sasuke and I were alone, Sasuke would try and make a move on me. Well, I guess he didn't really "try" as all his advances worked, but the point is, all of our alone time seemed to be purely physical. And I guess Naruto figured that one out as about half an hour later, he made a lame excuse to leave the room, explaining how he was hungry for instant noodles or something. Now I didn't know he was scheming, but Sasuke caught on. This was actually a great example of how well the two boys knew each other.
The second Naruto left the room, I turned towards Sasuke, now more confident in the role that I have in our time alone. He looked back at me and I raised my eyebrows. In response, Sasuke angled his shoulders towards me and I shifted sideways towards him. There was an awkward moment where we both did nothing and I realized that I was going to make the first move. Another awkward moment passed when I realized that to make the first move I had to be even closer to him. So, looking down at my lap and my face red, I shyly inched sideways again towards him. But when I was close enough that our knees touched, my chin was already in his hand and we were kissing instantly.
Seconds later, Sasuke heard a creak outside his door and suddenly I was pushed back towards my original spot on the couch. I looked to Sasuke with confusion, who was nonchalantly watching TV, at the same time that his bedroom door opened and Naruto walked in. He paused with his mouth open, watching us with an eyebrow raised at the awkward tension that literally anyone could feel between us, then slowly started to say what he was originally going to, his eyes shifting between us, "So... uh, I was just wondering if I could steal the rest of the potato salad... but... uh, never mind..."
Naruto backed out of the room slowly, his eyebrow still raised, and then turned to walk down the hall leaving the door open behind him.
"Wow..." I breathed. If Sasuke hadn't stopped us, we would have been caught in the act. Naruto would have seen us making out and the whole bet would be done with and then where would Sasuke and I stand?
Speaking of making out...
I turned to Sasuke who seemed wary of the door being open. He glanced at me when he felt me watching him, and I leaned forward, about to continue from where we left off when he changed expressions.
"Don't," he murmured, so low that I almost couldn't hear him.
I paused with my hand out, which was meant to land somewhere on Sasuke before he stopped me and listened like he was.
But I didn't hear anything.
"Wait..." Sasuke said, still low, and then, "Say my name."
"What?" I asked just as quietly, very confused at his request. I lowered my hand and just stared at him.
"Say it." He replied in a whisper, ad slight smirk to his voice.
Ummm... what? Just say his name? Does he have some sort of a plan?
Frowning slightly, my eyes on him, I whispered "Sasuke."
"Louder." He replied, and I raised an eyebrow. He glanced to me, his eyes annoyed that I wasn't obeying his every command, and then back to the door.
Looking at him strangely, I said his name again, this time at regular speaking level, "Sasuke."
"HAH!" Naruto jumped into the room from around the corner with his finger pointed at us, instantly after I finished saying Sasuke's name.
We both looked at Naruto from our respective spots on the couch, which were at opposite ends and highly innocent. Naruto realized this and started babbling, trying to make sense of what he saw and what he expected to see. Sasuke just shook his head, saying "idiot" under his breath and turning back towards the TV. I continued to look at Naruto, who was now confused, flustered, and still babbling.
"Um... Hi Naruto," I said, catching his attention.
Naruto's eyes shot towards me and then he huffed. "Ugh. Nevermind," he said and turned to stomp down the hall, this time to actually go to the kitchen. I knew this because Sasuke was on me the second he was gone, and we were back to making out. However, I couldn't help but giggling at what had just happened. Sasuke rolled his eyes at my amusement and kept kissing me until I started full out laughing, at which point he rolled his eyes and moved his lips elsewhere until I calmed down. Except I couldn't stop laughing, whether it was from the relief in tension or it was just that funny, and Sasuke pulled away to give me a partial glare.
I covered my mouth and calmed my laugh down to a smile at his stare.
"You finished?" he asked, partly annoyed.
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry, I'm done" I replied, keeping my amusement to a smile, and he leaned down to kiss me again, but for a second time, I burst out laughing.
Sasuke sighed and pulled away, sitting up this time and moving back to where he started on the couch, his eyes now on the TV.
"Sasuke," I said, my voice apologetic, trying to get his attention. He continued to watch the TV and I sighed at his grumpiness. "Sasuke," I said again, sitting up too, but he still ignored me.
Trying to hide a smile at his child-like stubbornness, I moved across the couch and boldly put my arms around his neck. I tried to work some puppy-dog eyes but he sat stiffly and wouldn't move his head from the TV. "I'm done, I'm sorry," I said, kissing him, although he was unresponsive. "I'm done, I swear, I promise," I continued, kissing him again and finally felt him respond.
There we go.
A moment later he was back to taking the lead, and I realized he was getting quite predictable – a little physical contact was all it took.
Not that I minded.
A/N FINALY.
Hey guys, sorry it took so long. I know its the same old excuse but I am beyond busy this summer. And this chapter was sooo hard to just write. It took forever. Anyways, thanks to all you guys who messaged me in between chapters, and thanks to all of you readers! Really, you're my motivation :)
Oh, and sorry for any typos or grammar errors. I really just wanted to put this up, I was sick of reading again, and my beta currently is having computer troubles (but am grateful to her anyways).
Also, I am hesitant on the ending of this chapter. A little ooc on Sakura's part? Or is it a good, moving-forward kind of change?
Thanks for reading!
