-9-
„The words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels."
Hazrat Inayat Khan
„The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)
After an hour…
"Well, how's this one?"
"Perfect"
10 minutes later…
"What do you think of this one?"
"Brilliant"
Another 10 minutes later…
"What about this one?"
"Astonishing"
"It would be more helpful if you didn't read newspaper while looking at me!" Sakura shouted at Sasuke, who was sitting on a couch in a shop. Sakura was wearing a cream-colored long dress and…an angry expression. She rooted the newspaper out of Sasuke's hands and only received 'you're dead' look.
"Tell me your opinion"
"What the hell was I doing in the last HOUR?!"
"Reading! This contradicts JUDGING! Now, tell me, or I'll have Tsunade making you work your ass off"
"What were you saying about bargain again?" Sasuke asked in a rhetorical manner and sighed. He looked up and down to Sakura "definitely not this one. People are gathering to look at paintings, not your boobs"
That's my job…she's living with me after all…and I'm not about to share those treasures with anyone else! Not that I'm being over protective or something…
"Very funny" Sakura rolled her eyes and went to the rails. She roamed through the dresses while Sasuke took his newspaper back from the ground and continued reading.
Yet another 10 minutes later…
Sakura walked out of the changing cabin and looked at the mirror.
"Yep, this will do" Sasuke heard her voice from behind the newspaper.
"If you're done, can we go now?" he instantly asked.
"Not until you looked at this one" Sakura's voice made Sasuke sigh again. Save me somebody…
Sasuke stuck out his head from behind the paper and…was left frozen: Sakura wore a light green dress, perfectly matching her eyes, with mermaid-tail ending and shoulder-straps, which went bolder down and revealed her breasts till their middle.
"I have just right earrings to this one. They're old, but will do. And shoes go into rent price" she smiled softly Sasuke's his loss "I'll settle with this one"
"I'll…pay for this one. Looking good" Sasuke stood up and walked to the cash desk. He was about to pay, but his eye suddenly was caught by a pair of nephrite earrings. A smirk arrived at his lips.
"Can I have those too?" he showed to the earrings behind the desk and the salesgirl smiled at him (I really DO hate those fake smiles…I wonder if they actually TEACH them to smile like this..?) and took them out from behind the glass.
"Put them into the same box. This too" he showed to the little note he wrote.
-x-
"I thought you said ONLY a dress"
"Oh, come on. This is only an innocent ice cream" Sakura laughed at him (With that bell of a laughter, goddamn it!) as they sat onto bench inside the mall. Sakura supped her strawberry ice cream, watching people passing by at the same time.
"Don't you like it?" she asked.
"Brain-eating malls, with tasteless, or rather, pathetic excuse of a coloring? What do you think my answer is?" Sasuke shot back.
"No, I mean watching people. It's interesting"
"Surprisingly, here I agree with you. But doing this in the shopping mall is just…a crime"
"Against what?"
"Against my morals" Sasuke said in annoyed tone "and my common sense. I still have those left…but by the end of this hour, I'll have none left"
"Why? Mall isn't that bad"
"Hey, just because you're praying to almighty mall god, doesn't mean I want it too"
"No, sheesh, you're an atheist" Sakura shrugged "and I'm not praying to malls"
"Whatever" Sasuke sighed "since you said no, in women language it means yes" Sakura narrowed her eyes and a cunning smile appeared on her lips. She turned to face his profile.
"Hey, Sasuke?"
"What?" he turned to her.
And then she did it.
I can't believe it. I actually poked his nose with my ice cream. I don't know why, but his furious look, with those pinkish ice cream additions looked way too adorable for me not to laugh. I knew what would follow…name-calling, shouting…
But I did something else…
Sakura leaned in and kissed the ice cream away from Sasuke's nose…which shockingly shut the guy up.
"You know what? I think it tastes better now" Sakura purred to his ear silently.
"If you say so" Sasuke answered softly "but do not think you will get away with it"
"Is that a threat?" Sakura smirked at him "cause I don't think I'm afraid that much"
"Wait and see" Sasuke provokingly shot his eyebrows up.
"And while I am…" Sakura travelled her mouth to his and they met…in a hot, tongue-to-tongue kiss.
This is way much more than just buying a dress…
Not that I'm complaining much…
-x-
The Next Morning…
It all started with Sakura's top-voice scream. She ran into the kitchen, where Sasuke was already sitting by the table, drinking his bellowed coffee and reading fresh newspaper. Jules was taking a bath right in front of him.
"If you are trying to make me deaf by screaming, you'll have to try much harder" he said, not even raising his eyes from the paper.
"There's…a rat…in my room!" Sakura panted out. Sasuke looked at her with pretence surprise and lowered his eyes to her feet.
"You're not floating above the ground, which means the rat isn't that scary" he deduced.
"I'm serious!" Sakura yelled at him, crossing arms on her chest. She was wearing only her red silky (Too short, damn it!) night gown, which threatened to cause a nosebleed for Sasuke, but he conveniently bent over the newspaper again and did his best to ignore it.
"If you're that dissatisfied with the rat, move out" he shrugged and sipped the coffee.
Oh yeah, and Lightening Macqueen, the rat, lives here as well…just forgot to mention him to her. I wasn't able to catch him (He's Lightening after all!), so I just let him live here. The more, the merrier. Naruto got used to him quite quickly when he was staying here (That idiot use to be thrown out by his ex-girlfriends a lot. Hinata must be the first one who actually puts up with his I-like-to-be-moron-mania. Surprise, surprise.). Then again, he could sleep through anything. Jules was ok with Lightening as well. So was I. He never pooped in places for me to notice, so…who cares about few drops of Swiss cheese?
"You know perfectly well about my moving-out situation"
"Then catch it yourself. No rat poison, Jules might eat it" he showed to the black cat, sitting on the table in front of him. The cat turned his clever yellow eyes to her and yawned.
"I'm calling the exterminators" she stated and was about to leave.
"And who's gonna pay for that? Sorry, but you don't know my wire transfer code" Sasuke stood up and walked out of the kitchen.
"You can't just leave me with that parasite!" Sakura followed him.
"Oh, come on, Jules is with you. You're not alone" Sasuke jumped into his sneakers and put his bag on his shoulder.
"You're such an asshole"
"And you are such a bitch" Sasuke retorted "have a nice day"
-x-
At the Konoha hospital…
"Morning" Naruto greeted Sasuke with wide shiny smile at the entrance.
"What happened to a good morning?" Sasuke shot him back and put his signature on the entrance sheet.
"Well…it usually isn't good for you, but…I suppose after a date with Sakura it already is" Sasuke froze on the way to the elevator.
"What?"
"It was so adorable to watch you two guys cooing over an ice cream" Naruto giggled "you sure look good together"
"You idiot! You saw us?"
"Yep. Had a lunch with Hinata. She says hi to you, by the way. Also, she said you look cute together"
"Say that again, and I'll make you visit dentist for the coming two years to put your teeth back together"
"Hey, come on, what's wrong with having a crush on somebody?"
"Take a guess" Sasuke turned around and walked the other way.
"Hey, aren't you going up?"
"Yeah, but before that, I have some misery to plant" and he opened the door to Tsunade's office.
"Oh shit" Naruto cursed under his breath.
That's not gonna be good…for me…
-x-
"Care to explain yourself?" was the first question Sasuke spat out when he entered Tsunade's office.
"In what exactly?" she asked, not lifting her eyes from the document she was reading.
"Why the hell did I have to go with The Bitch to the shopping mall?"
"Why? You didn't like the date?" Tsunade asked again, but only then realized the mistake she made. Sasuke froze for a while, then whirled around and went to the door. But before leaving, he whirled around again and asked:
"Who else knows?"
"Almost…everybody around you?" Tsunade shrugged.
"Excuse me. I have some killing to do" Sasuke breathed out and shut the door loudly. Tsunade sighed. Ups. Guess that was my mistake…
-x-
"YOU IDIOT!" Sasuke shouted at Naruto the moment he entered his office. Naruto was sitting behind the desk and flinched when Sasuke's voice reached his ears. Uh-oh, not good.
"Ok, I heard that this morning" Naruto was trying to bluff.
"And you're gonna hear this again and again, IDIOT!" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his victim "why in the whole wide world would tell Tsunade-the-boobs-of-Sheeba about that?!"
"I didn't tell her" Naruto smiled nervously, feeling the sweat starting to come out of his pores.
"Obviously, you told someone!"
"I…erm…I only told Hidain" Sasuke blinked at him twice.
"You are…imposable! That surgeon has no brains and a mouth the size of Niagara waterfall! That's the…worst case of personality necrosis!"
"But…he is a surgeon"
"So?" Sasuke sighed "he's been sleeping with Shizune lately and don't act like you don't know. That woman doesn't keep any secrets from Tsunade, like she was her ghostly mother or something"
"Listen, why are you so mad about this? It's normal for a guy to have a girlfriend. Besides, Sakura's hot and you live together"
"I'll try to make this simple to you: I. Don't. Want. A. Relationship. With. The. Bitch"
"Something tells me you do. And a whole lot" Naruto smiled shrewdly "you know what they say: a change of lifestyle is a sign of mental health"
"Alright then. When you'll show some signs of evolving from idiot to human being, I'll consider it a miraculous treatment from stupidity. Remember to give a receipt after it happens. Now excuse me. I have some more killing to do. Idiot" and Sasuke just slammed the door. Naruto sighed and relaxed in his chair.
"That went well…at least he really didn't fulfill his threat about the dentist" Naruto rubbed his chin "thank god"
-x-
Sasuke opened the door of Tsunade's office again.
"Hope you didn't really crack Hidain open" Tsunade noted.
"Not yet" Sasuke emphasized the last word "now, I'm waiting for your explanation"
"Oh, come on, loosen up, Uchiha. You're still alive after that"
"Yeah, what a miracle, being alive after The Bitch is done with me. Get her out of my house"
"No can do. Be patient though. It's about a week left of your happy-go-lucky living with a hot woman"
"Yeah, and it's about fifteen minutes left of your happy-go-lucky living without anyone knowing the underwear set for 20.000 you bought" Tsunade jumped from her seat and her furious light brown look stung to Sasuke's cold smirking back one.
Boy, does she send the lightening to me…it's already 50/50 chance that I will die before the end of this visit.
"Where did you get that information?" she hissed.
"Have my own sources" Sasuke fixed his jumper "now, will you get her out or not?"
"Not until you get rid of the rat" the phrase made Sasuke boil with anger again.
"That manipulative little bitch" he mumbled "if I did, will you get her out of my house?"
"No! She'll stay as long as it takes. End of story. Now go and do your job" Tsunade collapsed to the chair "that's why I'm paying you"
"Yeah and it consists of me telling all kinds of stories about you to the staff. Thanks for the permission" Sasuke said sarcastically and left the office.
"There goes my reputation" Tsunade sighed.
-x-
"So, what do we have today?" Sasuke asked to Temari and Shikamaru, who were sitting at a large table and drinking coffee.
"Lots of minor cases, nothing interesting" Shikamaru yawned.
"Well then get to them. That's why Tsunade's paying you people" he looked around more carefully "and where's Karin?"
"She left home the day before yesterday" Temari answered "turned out she took a day off"
"Wasn't that when the patient died?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, it was. Actually, it would be nice if you talked to her. She didn't seem to take it the right way"
"Why are you people always so troublesome" Sasuke sighed and took the cell phone out of his jeans pocket.
"Hey, it's usually women" Shikamaru noted.
"Good point, Shika. Now go, do some doctor stuff. I'll do the psychological one"
"Shouldn't that be the other way around?" Temari smirked at him.
"It could, but then my head would fly off by being by giant shiny boobs. Who will save the lives of people then, huh?"
"You're just irreplaceable" Temari noted ironically and left along with Shikamaru.
Sasuke dealt then number of Karin and started waiting.
"Karin? I need you. Come to the hospital. ASAP"
"Is that an order?"
"Duh. Get your long legs out of bed and bring them here" and he flipped the phone closed.
This is one big annoying day.
-x-
45 minutes later…
Karin walked in the office and the first person she bumped in was Sasuke.
"Finally" he said.
"What's the case?" she asked, removing her bag from her shoulders and unzipping the dark red leather jacket she was wearing.
"There isn't one. Just a bunch of no-interest-for-me ones" he showed to the table, covered with files.
"And the real reason I came here was?" Karin closed her eyes in annoyance.
"Temari told me you were sulking over the patient's death"
Few minutes of silence and looking at each other…
"I'm going home" Karin stated and wanted to walk out, but Sasuke pressed his palm to the glass wall and blocked Karin's way.
"That's the opposite of stopping sulking" Sasuke stated.
"I thought you don't give a damn on people"
"I don't. But I don't want one of my teammates to be in a position of not being able to make clear decisions" he explained "so, why are you sulking?" Karin sighed and lowered her eyes for a bit.
"He was…a good guy and…he had a dream and he had determination for it. I don't know. Maybe I just fell for a person like that" she told silently "wouldn't you?"
"Erm….no" Sasuke stated. He retreated from Karin and walked away to sit on the table "if you get intimate with every patient you treat, it's going to get complicated. I know it's hard to watch anyone die, but you have to learn to stay immune"
"How?!" Karin turned around, few tears glistening in her eyes "how can you stay so cool when your patient dies!"
"You said it yourself, I don't give a damn" Sasuke shrugged "when my first patient died, I couldn't sleep for three nights. I thought it was all my fault, but…it really wasn't. The guy had a tiny tuber in his brain and I couldn't diagnose it until it became big enough. It's similar what happened to you: miosarcoma cannot be diagnosed until it spreads till the right level"
"You're a jerk"
"Maybe, but that's what help me to cope with the death" Sasuke jumped off the table and closed to her "listen, this is your first dead patient, but certainly notthe last. I want you to get a hold of yourself, brush those tears and go do your job. It's the best way to deal with it" Karin nodded. Sasuke walked past her and headed towards his desk.
"Thank you" she said after him.
"No problem. Now get those legs moving. I saw enough of them standing in one place" Karin scoffed and a teary smile arrived at her lips.
Pervy Jerk…
-x-
Up in the Plaza Hotel, in the room 301, Ino and Sai were lying naked in the bet, woman's head resting on Sai's belly. Both were panting and sweat was glistening on their bodies.
"You still haven't told me the reason you're here?" Sai breathed out. Ino smiled with seductive smile.
"If I did, this entire thing would end. And this is the last thing I want" she purred, still smiling seductively.
"So, you'll continue this Ms. Incognito game for…how long?"
"As long as it takes…don't you like it?" Sai scoffed softly.
"Love it" Ino raised her head and looked closely to his eyes.
"I'm afraid, Sai, that I might be falling for you, but…this is not that bad"
"Not bad at all. You intrigue me and I like it" Sai gave her a smile.
"Good" Ino smiled and bit her lower lip, carefully slid down Sai's body.
She laughed mutedly when she sucked into his member and hear him, groaning with pleasure.
You are mine, Sai. For as long as it takes…
--
A/N: This one turned out long…oh well, hope you liked it ;) thanks for all the reviews…seriously, someone was doing well in readers stuff :DDD cool ;) thanks and see ya next time ;)