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Life Unexpected
2: Friendship

It took a bit of time but Naruto was finally able to really relax back into the swing of took quick note of his demeanor and figured that he was finally ready. Now he would be able to see Sasuke the way that she wanted him to. As for Sasuke… well… he was perfectly tense and frantic behind that delicately placed facade.

He sure is good at hiding his emotions, Sakura thought. He is an Uchiha, after all.

But Sakura knew Sasuke well, and she could see the stealthy glances he threw at Naruto. She could see the tiny smirks he let loose into his beer. She could see everything Sasuke was so good at hiding. She didn't dare try to prepare him the way she had prepared Naruto for this encounter. She needed him exactly as he was. She felt like a predator ready to pounce, and so she cleared her throat quietly and disregarded the nervous flutters in the pit of her stomach.

She planted on a friendly smile. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke turned his face to look at his friend. "Yes, Sakura?"

She shifted her gaze momentarily to Naruto, who was staring at her, and then smiled devilishly. "How often do you jerk off?"

Sasuke's attitude didn't stray at all from the typical cool, calm, and collected mask he wore. He was pretty used to Sakura prying when she shouldn't, though she never really went that far. Sakura risked another glance at Naruto, silently signaling him to keep watching Sasuke. She loosed an exceptionally convincing laugh, even though her insides were churning with nerves.

"You know, whack it. How often? What to?" she pushed on.

Sasuke kept staring, unaffected by her very personal questions. By now, everyone had stopped their side conversations and was staring at Sasuke. He kept his composure, as was the way of an Uchiha. In fact, his lip even twitched into a small smirk. Sakura had expected Sasuke to react this way, but it still annoyed her and caused her eyes to slit into a slight glare.

"Who do you jerk off to?" she pressed even further.

AHA, Sakura thought to herself.There it is! Sasuke gulped!

It was something no one else in the group, other than Naruto, would notice. After all, the two were the only ones who could read Sasuke so well. Naruto could read him best though. That was, of course, when he wasn't lost in thought about screwing Sasuke into the ground, which wasn't very often at all.

Did you see it? she shouted in her head. There, Naruto!

Sasuke shifted his gaze away and back so quickly that no one could really see where it went, except Sakura. She already knew where it was going.

And there!

Sasuke's nostrils flared ever so slightly. She felt a twinge of guilt at watching her friend squirm in front of her. Well… as much as an Uchiha can squirm anyway. But she was doing it for Naruto. Really, she was doing it for Sasuke too.

"Ohhhh come on, Suke," she whined like a child, trying to push that guilt away. She was actually getting a response, so she had to keep going with it. Pleased with her prize, she allowed her eyes to grow warmer toward her friend as she continued. "Let us in on the secrets of your sex life. You know all of ours." She ended that thought with a gentle smile.

She knew better than to think that warm and fuzzy would work on Sasuke Uchiha, but she thought to at least give it a try. Anything to keep him from completely wanting to rip her head off was worth the effort. Sakura, suddenly, couldn't see any indication of emotion anymore though. Sasuke deadpanned—like, really deadpanned—and that worried her. He had recomposed himself completely and beaten her in this game of wits. She had to wonder if Naruto had at least seen what little bit of reaction she had pried out of Sasuke. And if he did, did he interpret it correctly? Did he understand?

It was in the nature of an Uchiha to disregard all conversation below them, even if that conversation was among friends. So Sakura, and everyone else, had simply expected Sasuke to ignore her and let the night move onward without a hitch. He would never actually engage in that kind of conversation, especially not when it was brought to him in that manner. Everyone was sure of that. That was, of course, until he smiled, not even trying to conceal his amusement. The smile looked so genuine that it was actually scary.

"I'll tell you, Kuru," Sasuke said, the childish nickname from years ago rolling smoothly off his tongue. Sakura couldn't help but to become nervous again. She wasn't sure what to make of this reaction. Sasuke could be really unpredictable sometimes. "I'll tell you if you tell me," Sasuke continued.

He allowed a flick of his eyebrow to reveal even more amusement. Only Sasuke could make a smile appear so intimidating. Sakura tried desperately to maintain her challenging glare, but she just couldn't stop her gaze from slipping. She should have expected this from Sasuke. Those fucking Uchihas and they're sick games. But wasn't that, really, exactly what she was doing too, playing a sick game? So, in truth, wasn't it fair for Sasuke to prey back on her?

Sasuke continued, obviously pleased with his own prize, "I think your sex life is a lot more under wraps than you're letting on, don't you? Why don't you tell me who you've been fucking?"

Naruto inhaled sharply, loud enough for everyone to turn their attention to him. Sakura tore her worried eyes from Sasuke's cold stare to look at Naruto, silently asking him to turn his attention to Sasuke again. She was going all in this time. She was going to get a real reaction from him and Naruto had better see it. She felt the courage well up inside of her and she suddenly said, with no reservation, "The same boy you've been dying to fuck for years."

She felt instant gratification as she received the reaction she had been trying for, but she also felt instant disgust for the means by which she obtained it. How could she manipulate her friend so terribly, even if she was only trying to help? Sure, Sasuke was a tough cookie, but she knew just know vulnerable he could be too. Even if he would never let it show, he had emotions too. She had just crossed a line she never wanted to cross under the pretense of helping her two closest friends, and she could only hope that it would be worth it in the end. If not, she would probably never be able to show her face to Sasuke again. But what else could she have done, get them in a room and force them to kiss? This was the only surefire way to get the stubborn Sasuke and ignorant Naruto to understand each other.

Sasuke lost himself for a moment and turned his head sharply to Naruto, who was gaping at Sakura. If Naruto had been looking, he would have seen Sasuke's smirk quickly switch to panic, but it was a glance that lasted only a short moment before Sasuke returned his eyes back to Sakura. Of course, when he did, he was recomposed, but she could just make out the disdain held beneath. Sasuke really was too good at this whole hiding his emotions thing. He stood abruptly from his chair, letting the action release a minute amount of the frustration he wouldn't let loose in his expression.

"I have my pick of fucks. I don't pounce pathetically on my friends," he said coolly and, yet, so venomously.

Sasuke's gaze was so fiercely stitched with anger and a sense of betrayal and even a bit of fear that it caused Sakura to grimace, as if she could hear him actually screaming a thousand awful things at her. Naruto could only notice that Sasuke hadn't denied Sakura's accusation. She did say the words boy and fuck in the same sentence and directed it right at Sasuke, but he wasn't even mad about that. He didn't care that she had just implied he was gay. Well, this was something that no one ever really questioned, to be honest. Everyone kind of mused that Sasuke might be at least a little the other direction, and that was cool with all of them, but they never really knew. Of course they didn't. Sasuke would never talk about his personal preference to anyone, not even Naruto. They had never asked and Sasuke had never told. This lack of denial was all the proof anyone needed, though, and no one would feel the desire to probe it any further, especially not if that was going to be the reaction they got.

"Now, if you don't mind," Sasuke continued, "I'll take my leave. Your little games are highly unappreciated. I don't know, nor do I care to know, what you're getting at, but all this talk of fucking has got me strangely in the mood." Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I think I'll go dial up one of those handy fucks for the night. Is that what you want to hear, Sakura?" He emptied his beer with a quick chug and set the bottle gently back down on the table, so gently that the sound seemed to resonate. "I take it you've got me covered," he said coldly to Sakura in reference to his tab.

When she gave no response, he sent her a very chilling smile. He didn't even glance at Naruto as he turned to walk away. Everyone watched the back of his head in stunned silence until it finally disappeared through the door. Naruto was flabbergasted at what had just happened while Sakura went through an emotional roller coaster. She wiped the look of shock off of her face and looked seriously at Naruto, and they shared a moment of understanding. They needed to talk. They both stood and bid their friends good bye, all of which questioned wildly at once about what had just happened.

Neither Sakura nor Naruto answered a single question though. They simply gathered their things, left their money, and walked away. Neither of them spoke as they walked toward the parking lot where their cars would be parked just down the block. Naruto was lost in thought and Sakura in guilt. She felt terrible for doing that to Sasuke, but she had to do it. He just didn't understand yet. Actually, he probably understood all too well and was just plain pissed off. He had the right to be angry too. Finally, curiosity overtook guilt and she remembered why she had done it in the first place.

"Did you see anything new Naruto?" Sakura asked quietly. Naruto was pulled out of thought by her question and stopped walking a few feet away from the entrance to the parking lot, prompting her to stop as well. He looked at her, furrowed his brows, and nodded in affirmation.

"But I don't understand. Why did you say that stuff? Well, I know why, but why? You really made him mad," Naruto pointed out.

"Naruto! That was the point!" Sakura said exasperatedly. She was getting really sick of explaining things to Naruto. But, despite her lack of patience at this point, she lowered her voice to normal speaking levels. "We both know that the best way, if not the only way, to see any of Sasuke's real intentions are to get him really emotional. And, seeing as his only real emotion is anger, I had to," Sakura defended. "Look, Naruto. If you didn't see anything, then you really are an idiot."

Naruto moved his brows into a glare. "He's my best friend, Sakura. I saw things," he retorted vaguely.

"Then why are we having this conversation?!" She returned to shouting at him with new exasperation. "I may have just sacrificed my friendship with Sasuke to make you see beyond what you want to see, and you're just sitting here questioning me!"

Naruto opened his mouth to respond with just as much vigor as Sakura, but then he realized he didn't really know what to say. So he just closed it again and pondered her words for a few very long moments. He expected her to just walk away or something, but she stayed and patiently, too patiently for the situation at hand, for him to say something. He looked around at his surroundings—at the cars in the parking lot, at the buildings all around them, at the people walking by, at the street light changing colors—and then looked at all of it again.

"You think he feels the same way about me?" he finally asked quietly, still staring off down the road. Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose in very genuine frustration. Was her best friend, the boy she had been mad about for years, really this thick?

"I think you need to go talk to him yourself. And while you're driving over there, think real hard about what you saw on his face tonight," she suggested. "Ask yourself if he was really angry or was he just scared? Then, ask yourself why. Why, Naruto? Why?" With that, she affectionately brought her hand to one of his shoulders and rubbed it gently. She lingered another moment before turning and walking to her car. Naruto watched her get in and pull up to stop beside him and roll down her window.

She looked up at him and said with a genuine giggle, "You know, they all probably think you and I are fucking right now. I think they suspect something." She, then, shifted her gaze away from him. "It looks like your fantasy has come to an end. You better start living in real life," she muttered quietly. She kept her eyes averted as they began to prickle with tears and something else that Naruto couldn't quite pin down. He cocked his head to the side to catch her attention and offered her a reassuring smile, which she accepted gratefully and returned.

He watched her tail lights disappear down the street for a long moment before turning to walk to his own car. He wasn't sure what to do with all this new information yet, but he was sure of one thing. He needed to see Sasuke. He needed to use this new tool of focus to really observe him some more. He needed to know. Did Sasuke— Could Sasuke love him too? Naruto didn't have a clue and he wasn't even sure if he wanted to have a clue, but he started his engine and drove anyway.

It was gonna be a long night.

TO BE CONTINUED...