The Social Scene

Chapter 9

And I'm sad to the core, core, core
Everyday is a chore, chore, chore
When you give I want more more more
I wanna be adored

- Marina and the Diamonds

Life cycle: reproduction, development, growth. Immune system, pathophysiology of genetic disease and cancer, cardiorespiratory fitness...

Sakura couldn't stop reciting her revision notes over and over in her head like an incessant mantra. However, there was always something which would snap her out of her train of thought, bringing her back to reality like someone had tipped ice cold water over her head.

"...and this is the news editor..."

Sakura had snapped back to reality quick enough to shake the editor's hand and give a polite bow. However, Gaara noticed the passivity in Sakura's eyes and whilst he was guiding her from one important person to another, she was clicking in and out of reality. Her head wasn't at all in the room with her, and Gaara's patience was running thin.

He dragged her to one side of the room forcefully by her arm. "What are you doing, Sakura?" he snapped abruptly, shaking her slightly in the process.

"What do you mean?" she asked as if it were obvious. "I'm at a launch party, you're introducing me to people, I'm obediently greeting back."

"Yes, but you're greeting people like a mindless drone," he sighed. "What happened to that cute, charismatic girl who I took all those fantastic photos of?"

Sakura sighed out in frustration and pushed her hair out of her face. "That girl is currently out of the building and in her place is this girl," she remarked, gesturing at her own body. "This girl, who has an exam tomorrow and has not had the time to revise at all!"

As much as Sakura was freaking out and on the verge of hyperventilating or having a nervy b, Gaara simply rolled his eyes and took her firmly by her shoulders. "Sakura, this is supposed to the most important event of your flourishing modelling career. You're at your own launch party, on the cover of a fashion magazine – everyone is here for you," he enunciated, leading her back to the centre of the room where people mingled and drank endless amounts of champagne. "Now, stop thinking so hard about that exam, and just enjoy yourself."

Sakura had to admit that, as much as she initially regretted her decision to feature as a frequent model for ViVi magazine, she had experienced her fair share of its perks. Her life had certainly become more interesting; in the last few weeks, she had been invited to meetings, non-stop photography shoots which would run into the early hours and right now, she was even attending the launch party for this month's ViVi with her on the cover.

She couldn't get over the fact that she was actually on the cover of a national magazine. It had even been blown up to twice her height and was placed in the centre of the room where everyone had access to admire her. She had blushed furiously when she walked into the room at the start of the evening to notice that everyone had received a complimentary copy of the issue and were flicking through the article which covered her debut. As she had walked past, they had all acknowledged her and congratulated her. Although she wouldn't admit it out loud, Sakura kind of, sort of, maybe enjoyed the attention which she had felt like she had been deprived of all of her life.

Gaara continued his introductions around the room and for the first time in that evening, Sakura genuinely smiled whilst she greeted back. Her head continued to spin in delirious circles, so much so that she didn't even realise until it happened that she had crashed into someone. The impact made her stumble back and she would have tripped over her own feet if the body she had walked into hadn't have held her firmly around the waist and balanced her.

"Whoa there," the body said, but Sakura almost recoiled when she realised that the voice was sickeningly familiar.

"Sasuke?"

.&.

4 hours before

"I heard the richest gossip today, Sasuke. Wanna' hear it?" Even before Sasuke could object, Karin had started her story and Sasuke knew that it would be hard to interrupt her now that she was off.

"...and that bitch thinks she can get away with it!" She gave out a scornful little laugh as she nonchalantly inspected her nails as she was stretched out on Sasuke's chaise longue, supporting her head with her palm.

Karin had popped up at Sasuke's Roppongi apartment without even asking for an invite and had suggested that they 'catch up over a couple of dry martinis'. As much as Sasuke hated Karin's company, he could do little without getting his eyes clawed out in the presence of the fiery red-head, certainly when she wouldn't let him have a word in edgeways.

"Hn..." was all Sasuke replied with, a sign that he hadn't really listened at all to what she had said.

Karin rolled her eyes at him, before pushing herself off the couch. "What are you even doing?" she asked, as she made her way to peer over his shoulder as he sat on the spacious window seat with his MacBook in his lap tapping away furiously at the keys.

As she came over, however, Sasuke quickly closed the lid to his laptop, glaring at her expectantly. At the burning hostility in his eyes, she backed away from him slightly, but thankfully for her, she had caught the slightest glimpse at the screen before he had gotten all defensive and angry.

She slinked closer to him with a coy glint behind those Prada, tortoise-shell glasses. "Sasuke~" she melodically sang, poking him in the chest lightly, "Is someone not telling me something? 'Top tips to get someone to fall in love with you'?" she recited from her photographic memory.

She giggled in an almost sadistic way as she saw Sasuke narrow his eyes in a threatening glare. "You could've just said so, Sasuke," she threw a smirk behind her shoulder as she made a turn about the room. Sasuke realised that Karin thought that Sasuke was trying to make her fall in love with him, and besides trying not to quietly puke up his brunch, he narrowed his eyes further, followed her every step with his murderous gaze. When she suddenly stopped and whizzed around, she strode back to his place at the window seat and struck an intelligent finger into the air as she recited her philosophy: "The one thing that you men should learn early in their lives is that the only way to get a woman to fall in love with you is with diamonds."

She smiled as she whimsically fingered the spot at the base of her neck as a suggestive hint which didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke.

Sasuke scoffed internally and ignored her as he turned to face the window, which overlooked a spectacular view of the city. He was so high up in his penthouse suite that all the cars and people were unfocused and blurry and out-of-reach. He reverently touched the glass with the tip of his finger, as if it had landed on an exact geographical coordinate on a map. The distant buildings which he could make out at the tips of his fingers were approximately in the area he knew to be where Sakura lived.

"Hey, Sasuke, come to a party with me tonight." Karin's statement wasn't even a negotiable question but an imperative in the best commanding voice which she could muster.

And without thinking, Sasuke had replied with his trademark, "Hn".

It wasn't till after her gleeful cheer and the exclamation that she needed to find something to wear for the occasion did Sasuke click at what he had unknowingly got himself into. To spend a whole evening with Karin latched onto his arm was the most unbearable thing which could happen to Sasuke. And yet he didn't know that his trademark syllable had now become a synonym for 'yes'...

But before he could stop her and reject her offer, she was already in the elevator and off going to get a dress fitted for what she had labelled a 'date' with Tokyo's most eligible bachelor.

.&.

4 hours later

Sasuke hadn't particularly dressed up for the occasion. He had opted for a pair of dark-wash skinny jeans and a Ralph Lauren button-down shirt. He had left the top few buttons undone and donned a pair of smart, pointed derby shoes.

Karin, on the other hand, couldn't say the same. She had dressed to the nines in a floor-length Givenchy number with her hair professionally curled and pinned by her personal hair stylist. She had even finished off her outfit with heirloom pieces of jewellery, including earrings swarmed with iridescent diamonds, which shimmered like the detached wings of flies. They seemed to weigh down her ears and she could barely move her head without the earrings trying to pull at her lobe painfully.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her theatrics. As far as he knew, they were only going to a magazine launch party – an occurrence which happened every month when a new issue would be published. Sasuke was sure that the party would only hold a few rich socialites, but the guests were otherwise the down-to-earth artsy types or people from the fashion world who worked to earn their living. Why Karin was even dressing up in such formal attire was beyond him and something he hoped only the women of the utmost wealthiest breeding found reasonable.

Of course, Sasuke found obliged to be a gentleman for the night, despite how much he hated Karin's unbearable guts. So he had picked her up in his limo, served her champagne and walked into the venue arm-in-arm with her, but never had a smile ever made its way onto his face.

As they made their way to the door, Sasuke could already feel the thumping bass of the DJ. 'Yep, Karin's way too dressed up.'

But Karin still carried her dignity with an air of aristocracy and strode into the party as if she were the Queen of England with the Duke of Edinburgh on her arm. He blocked out her whiny bitching about the venue, the people and the decor, as he examined the place with a careful eye. It wasn't a particularly impressive building but it wasn't half bad either – not nearly as awful as Karin was making it out to be.

However, Sasuke had barely processed everything until his body collided with someone else, the force only slightly shaking him. But as for the other figure, it was much smaller than him and obviously female. She stumbled back in shock and would've fallen to the ground had he not reacted in time. He quickly unlinked his arms with Karin and held them out to steady the girl.

"Whoa there," he said, placing his warm hands on the girl's shoulders.

"Sasuke?" the figure below him exclaimed with a voice he could recognise any day.

He whipped his head down, and sure enough he saw the flash of pink even in the dim lighting and the equally incredulous expression of Sakura Haruno. As if her flesh had burnt his palms, he immediately let go of her, placing his arms awkwardly by his sides. They hadn't seen or spoken to each other since the time at her apartment. Sakura was way too busy, and Sasuke... well, Sasuke was actually trying to come up with a master plan to get her to fall in love with him, but it had taken longer than he had expected.

Sasuke cleared his throat uncomfortably, glancing towards his side, where a fuming Karin looked expectantly back and forth between Sasuke and Sakura's exchange.

"Sakura," he greeted after a while, "Are you waitressing here?" he asked as he looked down at her form. However, to his surprise, she didn't have the same waitressing uniform on as the others, and instead, she was dressed up in a strapless, black hi-low dress with her long hair flowing down her back in soft curls.

Sakura opened her mouth to reply but was cut-off by a low chuckle which instantaneously made Sasuke's eyes narrow even before he had seen the face of the new speaker. But sure enough, when a blood-red haired male, around the same age as Sasuke walked up to their party and slung a lazy arm around Sakura's waist, his eyes narrowed just a fraction more. He was distracted with his immediate hatred for this man that he barely noticed Sakura trying to squirm futilely out of his grasp.

"Sorry, but you've come a bit too late if you wanted to see Sakura in a waitressing apron – try a few weeks late," this new addition mocked with a practised balance of acidity and indifference in his tone.

Sasuke suddenly recognised this red-head's face from somewhere and he racked his memory, trying to remember who this intruder was. Instead of an instant flashback of a specific memory, he remembered one word which slipped through his lips before he could integrate it within a sentence. "Chef...?"

"Only part-time," the newcomer replied dismissively, clearly remembering the first time he had set eyes on this onyx rich kid at an event he was catering for. To explain his explanation earlier, he elaborated, "Sakura quit all her waitressing jobs." Sasuke looked visibly disturbed by this, looking at Sakura for confirmation. But before he could receive any, the man interrupted his thoughts. "You must be Sasuke Uchiha," he greeted, as Sasuke narrowed his eyes suspiciously, wondering how this lowlife chef knew his name. "I'm Gaara," he introduced as he extended his hand for Sasuke to shake.

As much as Sasuke wanted to punch the smug expression off Gaara's face, he remained calm and civil, and reluctantly decided to firmly take his hand in his own and offer a steady handshake. "Pleasure," he gritted out forcefully, finding it hard to even shape his lips around the syllables. "So, I was asking you Sakura," he purposely stressed, attempting to exclude Gaara from the conversation, "what are you doing here?"

Much to his aggravation, however, Gaara cut into the conversation again, speaking for the pink-haired girl, as Sakura simply stood docilely to the side. "Look around, Uchiha, and you'll see the answer pretty quickly." He smirked challengingly at the Uchiha, and Sasuke glared back just as threateningly. Nonetheless, Sasuke did eventually tear his eyes away and took a proper look around the party. On first inspections, it seemed like any other regular event like this, and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he tried to find answers. However, his eyes suddenly narrowed in on the centre of the room, where a large piece of card hung on suspended wires. It was the cover of this month's edition of ViVi, but something attracted him to it. Zooming in, he realised with baffled fascination that the cover girl was Sakura. It suddenly clicked for him, as his gaze continued to travel across the room, over all the guests, who seemed to be absorbed in flicking through the magazine – on the pages, photographs upon photographs of Sakura were pasted within them.

His gaze finally landed back to Gaara and Sakura and he couldn't help the surprise from reaching his expression. Whilst Gaara's eyes conveyed his arrogance and amusement, Sakura almost looked embarrassed and... ashamed? Her head hung low and she was glancing up at him through her mascara-laden eyelashes.

"You're a... model?" he tripped over his words as he tried to get his head around this newfound revelation. It was true, he was impressed. But not particularly shocked. After all, Sakura was a beautiful woman; anyone would be a fool to not see her beauty. The thing that had thrown Sasuke off so much was how she had made it in such a short time. He was normally on top of all the news which flowed around the Tokyo prefectures, but he had not heard about a new ViVi model – and a new ViVi model would definitely perk his interests. They were all known for their beauty and their magnetism. He had even dated one before, but their relationship had only lasted a couple of weeks yet it still made front-page news.

Sakura meekly nodded her head to his previous question and awaited a reaction. Would he laugh and tell her she was no good? Would he get angry because she had kept that side of her life a secret? Or would he simply be happy for her?

There was no foretelling until his previously neutral expression actually broke out into a small smile – although it didn't properly reach his eyes. Nevertheless he congratulated her and, trying not to lace his words with scorn, he asked, "So what role does Gaara play in all this?" He eyed the arm that was still slung around Sakura's waist, and although Sakura looked visibly uncomfortable at the physical contact, Sasuke still couldn't help but flinch when it tightened ever so slightly.

"Gaara's a photographer. You could say he actually 'discovered' me. He made me his muse for a project he'd been working on and before long he suggested that I become a ViVi model. So here I am, at my debut launch party with my manager," she smiled, gesturing towards Gaara at the latter part.

Her manager? Sasuke was half relieved but half taken-aback. She must spend a lot of time with Gaara if he was her manager. He wasn't just saying this because he disliked Gaara, but Sasuke could sense something off with the red-head.

Cutting him off mid-thought, the previously forgotten Karin butted into the conversation, introducing herself to Gaara and Sakura with an air of supremacy.

"Lovely to meet you," Karin started with a smiled which reeked of bad intentions. "I'm Karin," she directed at Gaara, holding out her hand, and although he took it sceptically, he shook it nonetheless. Her gaze riveted to Sakura and Karin held out her hand again in much the same manner. "Hi," she introduced again, "I'm Karin, Sasuke's girlfriend."

Sakura's eyes widened a fraction but she hid her shock well enough for it to be imperceptible.

Karin slyly coiled her arm around Sasuke's and pushed her whole body against his side. With a somewhat evil glint in her eye, she smirked at Sakura triumphantly. However, it was short-lived when Sasuke suddenly cleared his throat in his fist uncomfortably and pulled away from Karin.

"Ex-girlfriend," he corrected, much to Karin's humiliation.

Spying Sakura and Gaara's amused expressions in the side of her eye, she suddenly bellowed an overly fake laugh and slapped Sasuke on his arm half playfully, half threateningly, as if warning him to keep his mouth shut. "Sasuke~" she sang whiningly, "That's just a minor technicality." She turned to the others with a wink, "We're working through it."

"We are?" Sasuke commented dryly, aiming a deathly glare at his ex. "Last time I heard, I broke up with you and you still can't get over it - hence the desperate visits and insistent, futile attempts at 'dates'."

Both Sakura and Gaara could barely hold in their laughter, especially when Karin's face looked like she would blow a fuse. Without another word, she turned away from him with all the melodrama she could muster, and walked away from Sasuke, grabbing a flute of champagne on her way.

Gaara also decided to steer Sakura away and over his shoulder; he announced to Sasuke, "We're going to leave you to your lover's quarrel - Sakura needs to meet more people. Have fun."

As she was being dragged away, Sakura quickly turned over her shoulder and gave Sasuke a quick smile and an impromptu wave, although a hint of regret lingered in her eyes as she continued to obediently follow behind Gaara.

You can tell I don't do medicine because I had to google those module topics -.-

Wasn't this a quick update though? Hope you're proud of me! All my exams have finished and I have two glorious weeks off school, I'm so excited! But then again, when I have to go back, I'm starting my A2 course D: Scary times...

I've got the whole story clear cut in my head now and all I need to do is write it out, but trust me (and I'm not just being bias...) it's going to be EPIC! Eeekkk, hope you all look forward to it!

I've got so many other story ideas in my head at the moment as well, so I want to finish this one as soon as possible so I can start another. My summer is going to be full of writing, oh yeahhhhh.