I'm back with another chapter of this and not another chapter of Under the Heir. Well, I'm sorry but it's getting harder to write something that's almost ending.
Enjoy this in the meanwhile!
Catch your eye in the night, it's glowing
I'm so high and there's no controlling
In the light of the moon you're all I see
Two weeks later, she was back inside the dorm room, fresh out of the shower. Her pink hair was tightly wrapped in a towel as her torso was while an Avril Lavigne song blasted as loud as it could from the speakers of her laptop. Her outfit for the night was strewn messily on her bed.
She, Naruto and Sasuke were meeting with Hatake Kakashi for quick advising before they went out to one of the college bars around Omphalos University. Of course, they scheduled their meeting two hours before the bar opened because while Kakashi said almost nothing about their dissertation, he also never arrived on time.
The three leaned during the first few weeks of writing their thesis together that their adviser was ab impossible man. For being late, he always had some lame excuse ready like "I had to shave" and "My eye doctor took too long with the check-up" and "I got lost on the path of life."
His schedule was also irregular because he was part of a dissertation team whose journals were known across the country so he went to both local and international conferences and seminars on a regular basis.
Tonight, they managed to pin him down for a quick recap and update of everything they accomplished so far.
Her marimba ringtone ruined her punk princess vibe and she reached over her laptop to put the song on pause and answer her phone.
"What is it, Naruto?"
There was a quiet rock song playing in the background as Naruto replied, "You ready yet? Sasuke and I are on our way to the parking lote."
"I can hear your stereo, moron. You're still in your room. I'll be out in five, ten minutes tops."
"You better."
With a groan and a quick eye roll that Naruto would never know about, she ended the call and tossed her phone on the bed.
Her bar outfit was nothing special. The Viper was just across the campus aferall. It was a small place on the second floor of what seemed to be a quaint denim shorts and her chucks.
Who was she trying to impress, anyway?
A ding broke the silence as she slipped into her clothes.
Perfect Blonde Bitch sent a photo.
Another ding.
Perfect Blonde Bitch: wish u were here, roomie!
Sakura wasn't surprised to find herself looking at a poorly taken photo of Ino in the club when she unlocked her phone. At least, that's what she hoped it was because she was pretty sure that the picture was 80% darkness and the rest were just colors which Sakura put together as Ino's heavily painted face behind a peace sign.
Her roommate invited her to go out with her again tonight with some of her other friends from Behavioral Science. Sakura would have gladly accepted the invitation if not for the fact that today was the only day Hatake Kakashi was free.
After putting everything she would need tonight in her pockets, she grabbed her draft of their thesis and was out of the dorm room in no time.
When she reached the parking lot, both Naruto and Sasuke were already waiting for her by the black Mustang which happened to be the Uchiha's car. As expected, the darker man wore a slightly irritated look on his face.
Aside from that, he was also wearing a black band shirt with grey pants while Uzumaki was in a red hoodie and black cargo shorts.
Sasuke was never a patient man. And neither was she.
"Sorry," she said almost automatically. If her ex-boyfriend was looking as pissed as he was, she didn't have to check her watch to realize it took her more than ten minutes to get dressed and get down here.
The Uchiha simply turned away from her and entered the car. Naruto, on the other hand, slung his arm around her and pulled her in for a quick hug.
"Don't mind him," he apologized. "I think he's just tired cuz he just moved in this morning and all."
Sakura pulled away. "I know. You asked me for a pair of scissors this morning. Anyway, haven't seen you all week. Where have you been?"
The two of them moved routinely. Naruto pulled open the door to the passenger seat while Sakura got in the back seat. There was a time when the two of them switched assigned seats and it had been awkward when they returned to their original vehicle arrangement.
"Hinata and I went out a couple times this week," he said, fastening his seat belt. As Sasuke started the car, the blond's hand reached automatically for the radio only to have his hand shoved away by Sasuke.
As he readjusted his mirrors, the raven spoke. "I'm not letting you play that Ariana or Kanye West shit on me, Uzumaki."
Naruto shot him an offended look before turning back to Sakura. "Anyway, I was also working part-time at Ichiraku's to—oh, I didn't tell you that? Well, yeah. I wanted to take HInata out on that fancy new restaurant in the business district."
"Nice," came her reply. Through the rear view mirror, she caught Sasuke looking at her before he tore his eyes away a second too late. "So how was Konoha?"
"Same as ever," their driver answered simply, either too busy maneuvering the car or too pissed to give her a decent answer. The car smoothly pulled out of the parking space and soon, they were circling the university to find the right exit.
The Viper was only directly across campus but every once in a while, the bar offered discounts to car owners with specific numbers in their plates. Most of the time, the numbers coincided with Sasuke's and they weren't exactly sure why that was.
Sakura wagered that it was because the owner was gay and fancied the Uchiha.
The clock displayed with the radio flashed. 7:43 p.m. They agreed to tell Kakashi to meet them at 6:00 p.m. and show up at eight in the evening since that was most likely when Hatake would show up.
When they arrived at The Viper, Sakura wasn't so shocked to realize why the raven was so pissed. It took her longer to prepare and meet them than the drive itself from the campus to the bar. But of course, she wasn't going to apologize for being a minute late.
Kakashi was already sitting at a table in the bakery downstairs when they arrived. Even with the bottom half of his face hidden behind his iconic orange book—which Sakura discovered to be porn novels from her frequent bookshop trips—it didn't take a genius to guess he was still wearing his surgical mask. He always did and rumors about him carrying a highly contagious sexual disease weren't exactly new in the university anymore.
They sat down before him and presented their thesis on Sasuke's laptop with Sakura supplying the details while Naruto munched on the small tray of garlic bread that Kakashi ordered for them.
"Kindly revise you RRL and create a more descriptive simulacrum," he said, scrolling over the PDF file of their research. His only visible eye—since the other was concealed behind his fallen silver bangs—scanned through the words a little too quickly that Sakura thought he was too lazy to actually read it.
Naruto nodded every now and then, pretending to understand though his role was merely to conduct the surveys and compile answers while Sakura and Sasuke did most of the writing.
Kakashi turned the laptop back to Sasuke and slung his satchel over his shoulder. "Send the revised copy within the month and if it's all okay, I'll give you the go signal on the survey, alright? Goodnight, kids."
It was always that easy for the man to just give them a quick criticism and leave them to figure it out on their own. Just like that, the silver-haired man was out the door and in his car. The three of them left the bakery the way they came in and turned to the alleyway right next to it where they walked to the other side of the block.
Tucked between the two buildings was an emergency exit that as reconstructed for easier and safer use. After all, this was the only way inside and outside The Viper and they didn't want their drunk students in an accident. Lawsuits were not something Orochimaru was fond of especially with an underground business such as this.
The place was small and cozy given that it wasn't a full house. It was a hodgepodge of Western and Rustic-styled interior pieaces. The chairs never matched each other nor did the photos and decorations hung around. It was dimly lit save for the bar in the middle of the establishment which had better lighting than most of the area.
As sual, the barkeeper and resident bartender greeted them and directed them to a vacant table. Kabuto was his name as far as Sakura remembered. The area wasn't spacious. It was more intimate than most bars around the university, usually able to seat less than a dozen groups.
"Uchiha-san," greeted the white-haired man. He pushed his glasses as he turned to Sakura and Naruto whom he greeted with less vigor. "Haruno-san. Uzumaki-san."
Warily, Sasuke looked around before asking in a hushed voice. "Is the owner here?"
"No," answered the bartender. "Away on corporate matters. What can I get you three? By the way, we have a discount on plate numbers with anything July about them."
Which meant that if the car had any of the letters in July on its plate number or the number seven, indicating the month in its chronological assignment in the calendar, the bar offered a discount.
Lucky for us, Sasuke's plate UCH 372.
Uchiha shook his head. "You know my plate well enough. Get us the usual."
0-0-0-0-0-0
Perfect Blonde Bitch: motherfckers lef me
Perfect Blonde Bitch: left
Perfect Blonde Bitch: help me bitch im alone
Naruto was already tipsy but was still quite right with his words while talking about Hinata when Ino sent Sakura the message. Her other companion, on the other hand, was busy scrolling through his Facebook feed. Some get together. No wonder Ino told her to get a life.
Her drinking friends were shit.
"Hey, Naruto, can I borrow your phone? I need to make a call." She wasn't even aware that he had been in the middle of a story about how he and Hinata stayed in the dorm room some days ago and he told this story before.
The loudmouth didn't seem to mind as he whipped out his phone from the pocket of his hoodie. Sakura dialed Ino's number at once. It rang a few times before she picked up and the party music almost deafened her.
"Ino?" Her feet led her to the ladies' room. A full-body mirror was in place just by the entrance and that was where she planted herself.
The other line was loud and her best friend had to shout to get the message across. "Bitch, get down here!"
"And where exactly are you? And stop calling me a bitch."
"Fine. I'm at Valkyrie, you slut. I need friends."
Okay, that wasn't any better.
Sakura was not Valkyrie ready. She was in cheap shorts and Chucks, for goodness' sake. And she only had a few bucks with her. The most Sakura could do was pick Ino up and it was doubtful whether the blonde wanted to go home if she got there at 11 p.m.
Before Sakura could even decide on it, she heard Ino scream into the phone, "I'll be waiting for you here! Hey, cute bartender! Another—"
She hung up.
In the meantime, Sakura weighed her options. If she stayed here, she'd be stuck to another night with her ex-boyfriend who found her (or anyone at all) annoying and her best guy friend who could go on all night about his girl.
Hinata was great as she was, really. She just wished Naruto found something else to talk about.
On the other hand, if she followed Ino to Valkyrie, she would look out of place, first and foremost, and she didn't have the money on her which mean she would have to just wait for Ino outside. Without alcohol.
So it was sober boredom or intimate get-together with her jerk of an ex-boyfriend.
When she returned to their table, Sasuke was already opening another bottle of beer—a bottle that was supposedly from her reserved pile. Normally, she would engage in a tug-of-war of the bottle but tonight she was leaving early.
She had the rest of the year to get wasted with these guys.
"Gotta go, sweetie," she said, not minding that she had interrupted yet another tale of the beautiful raven across the hall but she made up for it with a light peck on the blond's cheek.
For the first time tonight, Sasuke looked up from his phone to turn to her with an eyebrow raised. "Where are you off to?"
"Just somewhere," answered the pinkette cheekily before finishing her bottle in one full swig. "See you 'round."
She left the establishment and ran out of the alleyway only to discover that it was raining cats and dogs. Luckily, she hailed a cab in less than a minute. She made sure to message Naruto the plate of the cab just in case anything happened but nevertheless, she arrived at her destination in less than half an hour.
On the way to the club, she had been trying to reach her best friend but to no avail. The number kept ringing but Ino didn't answer and even as she stood outside the busy club, she was at a loss.
What was she to do? Ino was waiting for her inside but there was no way she was entering the club—not looking like this and especially not without money. Sakura was beginning to regret ditching her boys.
What made it worse was that she was feeling the effects of the beer from earlier slowly ebbing away. Oh god, she was sobering up.
The thought of sneaking inside came to mind but she didn't want to risk it—not with bouncers as big as the men who were standing by the doorway. How the hell was she going to get in if Ino wasn't answering her phone?
"Kid?"
Sakura was reluctant to turn to whoever had said it but the voice was familiar and she couldn't help but assume that the man had been referring to her. Still, whats-his-voice could have been calling anyone so she focused on her phone, trying to reach Ino.
"Hey, pinkie."
Okay, this time for sure, the man was calling her. Beside the fact that she was the only person who could be referred to as pinkie within the area, a huge hand landed on her should and it was a good thing she thought twice before she followed her instinct to pull the hand and throw the man over her shoulder.
Turning around, Sakura was greeted with a toothy grin and the smell of cigarettes.
Her lips twitched into a wary smile. "Hey."
"It's Kisame," he said. "Remember me? From last last week? We met in—"
"Yeah, I remember you," she laughed. How could she forget, for crying out loud? He was gigantic and so pale… And he had mistaken her for a lesbian.
She watched as he huffed the last of his stick before he threw it to the floor and stepped on it with his shined leather shoes. His outfit was just the same as the last time—a designed shirt under what looked like his uniform jacket with the red cloud but tonight, he was wearing jeans.
Kisame was just about to ask what the hell she was doing out here, slightly soaking from the rain when her phone rang.
Excusing herself, Sakura took the call immediately as it was Ino's face flashing on her screen.
"Bitch!" Her ear rang a little at the blonde's voice. "Where the hell are you?! I'm so lonely and—well, actually not. I'm with DJ Sketch and I was just wondering where the hell you were 'cuz—"
She suppressed a growl in her throat. "I'm outside, Ino, but I can't get in. I don't have money to get in!"
"Sneak in!"
"I already thought of—"
"See you soon!"
Had Sakura sobered up a little more, she would be pissed as hell. Okay, now what? She spent a good amount of money on her cab ride just to get here and if she did get in there, she'd be playing third wheel to Ino and DJ Sketch.
This time, she rewarded herself with a low growl and an eye roll that Kisame didn't miss.
"Problem?"
Sakura could only laugh ironically. "No, no. It's fine. I'm only stuck out here while my best friend hooks up with one of the DJs. Worst part is I don't have any alocohol!"
The huge man blinked once. And then twice. And then he broke into sounds which Sakura recognized as his chuckling. "You know, I can get you in, right?"
"I am not sneaking inside—"
A hand went to her damp pink locks and she felt him lightly ruffling her hair. "Kid, no one ever said I was gonna sneak you in. I said I was gonna get you in. I have strings I can pull in this place. As long as you got your I.D. Quite lucky I ran into you, I guess."
Oh. Well, that was lucky. Had Kisame not been outside at the time, she would most probably have walked back to the university.
Kisame made sure to let Sakura walk in front of him. He advised her to act like she owned the place and not like she was trying to smuggle in cocaine. However he knew what the two looked like, she didn't feel like asking.
As expected, the bouncer held his arm to stop her and her mind was racing but she kept her cool. Well, at least outwardly.
"Hey, it's cool, Toshio. She's with me," the man behind her said, cutting off whatever it was the bouncer was about to say.
The bouncer eyed her then Kisame then looked back at her. "Alright. Still need an I.D."
Sakura fidgeted for her wallet and pulled out her I.D. The bouncer inspected her I.D. with his flashlight, turning the card over and under a few times until he handed it back to her and he permitted Sakura and Kisame to enter.
The familiar thump of the music reverberated harder the closer they got to the main venue and by the time they reached the middle of the club, the smell of smoke once again penetrated her senses.
Well, no wonder it did. When she turned to her companion to ask where she could find the pale DJ, he had already lit himself a cigarette.
Oblivious, Kisame took a few puffs before blowing smoke slowly through his lips. The sound of a clearing throat brought his attention back to the pinkette beside him and he caught the cigarette between his two fingers.
"Yes?"
"You know where to find DJ Sketch?"
It took a few seconds for him to remember the DJ's real name. "Oh, Sai. Yeah, last time I saw him, he was somewhere… There."
With her eyes, Sakura followed the direction Kisame pointed with his finger. To her luck, she did find a very familiar shade of platinum blonde in the back of the bar. It also helped that the lights somehow reached to the back of the club because it reflected on the silver plate-like patches on her shoulder and chest.
Ino was sharing a couch with DJ Sketch—or Sai as Kisame called him—with several bottles on their table, some knocked over… Like she was about to be.
"Found her," Sakura sighed. "Thanks, Kisame-san. See you around!"
Her hand went to his shoulder and she gave it two good pats. When he chuckled, she felt his voice reverb through his body—or was that the music? Either way, she already began walking away.
Navigating through the crowd was so much harder when sober. At least when you were drunk, you didn't mind the sweaty bodies pressing up against your back or your legs and the looks men gave you were far less disturbing.
But right now, she just couldn't wait to get to their couch were not a lot people were grinding up against each other… Well, except for Ino and Sai. Yes, they were seated next to each other but upon closer inspection, Sakura could see in their eyes that they were dying to do just so.
Sakura reached their couch and circled the crowd to get to Ino. She lightly tapped her roommate's shoulder and the blonde almost spilled her drink in surprise.
"Hey, slut," Ino greeted, her voice automatically louder than usual because of the loud music. Sakura frowned inwardly. "Glad you could join the party. This is DJ Sketch."
The raven raised a hand to acknowledge her and slipped a wink when Ino wasn't looking anymore. Ugh. She felt so sorry for Ino right now because heaven knew how many other girls Sai had silently hit on tonight while Ino chatted his ear off.
"Let's go home," Sakura said firmly.
Ino shook her head. "Hey, enjoy for a little while, will ya? This place is pricey to get into."
"I slipped by the guards. I don't have any money so can we please go home now?"
The blonde gasped rather exaggeratedly before pulled on an uncaring expression in two seconds. She pulled out her wallet and slipped out her credit card and handed it to Sakura.
"Here's my credit card," Ino slurred. "Go nuts. Just give me a few more moments with DJ Sketch over here."
Sakura was at a crossroad. She looked at the card in her hands then back at Ino whose attention was now completely off of her and back to Sai. On one hand, she really wanted to go home and lie down for a while. Maybe bother Naruto and Sasuke just for the sake of annoying Sasuke.
On the other hand, Ino never lent her any money. Not ever. Maybe Ino did treat her to drinks but Ino never actually loaned her money for stuff she actually needed. But Sakura did spend good money on her cab ride to get to the club and save her best friend. She could just charge her best friend for Superhero Service.
She checked her phone for the time. 11:24.
Two hours. Two hours would do.
If she didn't give Ino the time she wanted, she would probably throw a fit in the car—one way worse than the fit she had when Sakura didn't let her drive two weeks ago. And Sakura didn't want to be kicked out of the car for real this time.
Without bothering to say goodbye, Sakura stalked away from the dark corner and to the middle of the club where the bar was. She'd gotten her fair share of alcohol, ran to a newly vacated table before anyone else noticed.
The tunes were now recognizable since she bought Zedd's albums on iTunes with her mother's credit card and blessing. She was able to sing along casually and felt a little more comfortable dancing alone thanks to her efforts to familiarize herself with club music.
Although she wasn't jumping as hard as Ino was. She wasn't stupid. That would shake her up and get her running for the toilet bowl in no time.
But wow, she really got her money's worth in their cocktails. She could feel her head lightening up all too quickly and she was getting drunk again. No wonder shit here costed thrice of what she would usually pay for around the university.
Sakura was quietly mixing her very expensive glass of margarita in her hand to keep the alcohol from sinking to the bottom. The words left her lips almost automatically as she sang to a Konohamaru remix of Die Young. Ke$ha had always been her guilty pleasure.
A hand grabbed her by the arm and tried to yank her to turn around but she resisted it. She hated being manhandled.
Sakura pulled her arm away with as much effort as she could and turned to whoever it was.
"Hey," he greeted as if he'd known her for a long time.
The thought of him hadn't crossed her mind since she shared lunch with Naruto and Hinata the day after her first time at the Valkyrie. She hadn't seen him since then. A part of her didn't think it was likely that they would meet again.
A part of her hoped she would tonight.
And here he was, beaming in front of her. And now that she had taken note of his boyish charm even while wearing a coat jacket, she realized it was hard to overlook. She also realized how hard it was not to return the smile—not when he looked so psyched to meet her again.
He wore his hair the same way he had when she first met him. Maybe it was his usual look, she assumed. Or perhaps it was coincidence.
"Hey yourself," she greeted back. Wait, was she biting her lip? Damn, they had good alcohol if they had her biting her lip. She had to stop biting her lip now.
She didn't think it possible but his grin grew slightly wider as he chuckled at her response. Deidara sighed and proceeded to smile at her again with this look in his eyes. It was a familiar look—one she had seen before but can't seem to recall when or where.
He ran a hand through his hair as he shook his head subtly, as if trying to shake away a thought.
"I didn't think you'd come back, yeah," the blond stranger said easily.
Sakura shrugged and unconsciously crossed her arms. "I-I never actually thought about coming back. I just had to tonight because…"
Her eyes darted back to the spot where Ino and the pale and very skinny DJ were now laughing and drinking so comfortably. She looked back at Deidara and saw that he seemed to have gotten the gist.
"You're babysitting again tonight?" Deidara teased her, following it up with a wicked chuckle.
"Yeah," groaned the pinkie. "We were supposed to leave like… An hour ago, look at that! It's been an hour and—oh my gosh. I love this song."
While Sakura began singing her heart out to Lost At Sea, he cleared his throat and reached for the glass in her hand.
"I think you've had enough to drink."
Sakura raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Weird. I thought men wanted their ladies as drunk as possible?"
"Well, that's how they get the girl for the night," he answered and immediately following it with, "I don't keep that dirty trick up my sleeve because I wanna see you again, yeah."
Okay, she had to give him props. He was—
"Smooth," Sakura commended with a slow clap before he put his hand on hers and forced them to stop clapping. "You always this good with the ladies?"
The blond shrugged. "Does it matter? I'm serious. I do want to see you again. How about Sunday? Here. 10 p.m."
Next Sunday? But she had classes in the morning. Her class started at 8:00 and she needed at least eight hours of sleep if she wanted to function properly on her first day.
"I don't know," she said. "I've got an early schedule the day after."
Deidara threw his hands in the air. "So do I! But come on, this I swear—no other guy has ever thought of doing what I have in mind, yeah. Just trust me, okay? I'll be waiting. 10 p.m. on Sunday. In this very spot."
"Whatever," she said, not wanting to give him a direct answer. Not that she was worried about what he would feel if she ditched him but more worried that she was actually considering showing up.
She watched him lose himself in the music. Deidara had been drinking long before she arrived tonight, that was clear. He slightly bounced to If I Lose Myself Tonight, singing to himself. When he noticed that she was watching, the blonde began singing to her in a very carefree way. Sakura laughed as he deliberately missed the notes to the song.
"If I lose my self toniiight, it'll be you and I," he sang. Sakura didn't budge but he continued closing in on her. "Come on, Sakura. I've seen you dance. You're not fooling me. Just let go."
She wanted to. She wanted to let go so badly of her hang-ups.
So she danced. Sakura didn't go all out like Ino did but she allowed herself to have a little good time tonight. They moved their bodies together but they never got to close to each other. Deidara wasn't content. She kept to her space while he reached out. He kept urging her to let go.
Had he any idea how much those two words meant to her? Sakura danced a little more, trying to convince him that this was her letting go and just having fun. He still wasn't convinced, she knew. She watched him watch her and she saw doubt in his eyes. Much like she always did in hers.
"I have to go," said Sakura. Her hands went to her pockets as she tried to locate her phone for the time. "It's already… Wait… Where's my phone?"
He handed his phone to her and had her dial her number in for it to ring. The marimba tones were muffled and it didn't help that the music was so loud. And the fact that Deidara was singing at the top of his lungs didn't help either.
But with all his moving around and dancing to the song, Sakura figured Deidara had hidden it. She grabbed him by his coat and pulled her phone out of his back pocket.
"You stole my phone?"
Deidara laughed but never ceased dancing. "Well, would you have given your number to me if I didn't?"
"I didn't give you my…" The realization of what just happened dawned on her and she didn't know if she was mad at him for tricking her or mad at herself that she was too stupid to not realize it sooner. "Unfair! Give me your phone!"
"Not in this lifetime, beautiful," he leaned into her and kissed the skin between her cheek and her ear. Before he disappeared into the crowd, waving her goodbye, he whispered to her.
I'll be waiting on Sunday, yeah.
Hope you all liked this chapter. I'll be back soon!
