-11-
„All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring."
Chuck Palahniuk (1962 - ), Invisible Monsters, 1999
„Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Leo Tolstoy (1828 - 1910), Anna Karenina, Chapter 1, first line
"Wow, you look like crap" Naruto expressed his surprise the early morning, when he entered Sasuke's office. The Uchiha was sitting in front of a whiteboard, full of all sorts of diseases and symptoms.
"And you look like young spring chicken" Sasuke retorted "what did you do? Spray your hair with sowthistle color?"
"Very funny" Naruto rolled eyes and sat on the chair on the other side of the desk "don't tell me you stayed here all night"
"Would look like a fresh salad if I didn't" Sasuke yawned and stroke his hands through his hair, which was going to all sides like hedgehog's back.
"I take it nothing happen between you and Sakura" Naruto noted after a moment of silence.
"Why are you so eager to know? It's not like you're about to loose your permission to be my best man" Sasuke sunk his face into palm, pressing his eyes with fingers.
"I'm…just interested" Naruto shrugged. Sasuke sat still for a while, then decided to do some confession (He'll find out eventually. Sakura will tell Tsunade, Tsunade will definitely tell Naruto…Naruto will definitely tell someone like Hidain and there goes my privacy. Better to prevent rumors from being fabricated and expanded like an air balloon.)
"We, again, almost did it. Only this time Temari called and ruined it with a new patient"
"You mean like…she…wanted it" Naruto leaned forward.
"She's the one who suggested that we should have sex. Oh, and that proves you wrong"
"Am I not always wrong? In your universe I mean"
"Sure you are. But this time you're more wrong than usual: I canhave sex with her, WITHOUT having a real relationship"
"I'd like to see you talk this way after a month or two" Naruto scoffed and stood up "you know, I think I can understand why you want to be alone: it's your nature. I also understand that you're scared when somebody shows up with the ability to change that nature. What I don't understand is why you don't want to try something else besides being alone. But I don't think you understand it yourself, so…don't bother answering"
"You seriously thought I would answer? How much of a moron can you turn into?" Sasuke smirked up at Naruto.
"As much of a moron, as needed to knock at your conscience" Naruto flashed him a wide, dumb smile and left the office.
Sasuke sighed heavily. Then, after few moments, he smiled. Yeah, Naruto, I know the scenario: guy meets a girl, they fall in love, they get stupid and they live stupidly ever after. What kind of a future is that? Stupid.
-x-
Back at the lab, Temari and Shikamaru were still glued to microscopes, exploring possible and impossible diseases. Suddenly, Temari retreated her eyes from the lenses and thought for a while.
"You seriously think he has a crush on somebody?" she asked as if continuing the old conversation.
"If you're talking about me, the only crush I have is now standing there, not doing her job" Shikamaru answered from behind the microscope "negative for bacterial meningitis" Shikamaru scratched the line on the sheet of paper.
"No, seriously, do you think Sasuke might've fallen for somebody?"
"If he did, he's better not become stupid or else, patients will die"
"I wonder who could that be" Temari leaned onto her elbows.
"Definitely not Karin. They'd be having sex day in, day out" Shikamaru noted and leaned back onto microscope "but if you want my opinion, it might be that blonde chick who visited him few days ago. I never asked the reason"
"How much of a chick?" Temari asked, suspiciously raising her eyebrows.
"Playboy type" Shikamaru shrugged "not that I care. Much"
"What's that suppose to mean?"
This phrase made Shikamaru sigh and thing how much of a pain women are…again.
"I do NOT have an affair with her. Stop listening of what Uchiha has to say about your drawer. What kind of an idiot would hide his lover's underwear in his wife's drawer?"
"Good point" Temari shrugged and a cunning smile lit up on her lips "I just got an idea"
"No really?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes "will you call me a Sweet Sauce again?"
"I thought you liked that pet name" Temari smiled, seductively putting her little finger between her white teeth.
"There you go again" Shikamaru scratched out another line and sighed "you're troublesome"
"Why did you marry me then?" Temari raised her eyebrows, still smiling seductively.
"I like your way of being troublesome"
-x-
"Get yourself a goddamn cell phone! I won't have to roam around phone book of NY" a complaining speech burst out of the phone when Sakura picked it up at the Modern Art Museum's administrator's office.
"Stop yelling. I can hear you quite well" she retorted and laughed softly "you didn't come back home last night"
"Sorry, serious patient. And I think Tsunade has ordered the security to stand guard at all exits. My only option was to fly, but my salary still isn't big enough to get a helicopter" Sasuke's voice was drowned in a tired sarcasm "getting ready for the party?"
"Yeah. This is a mess though. I can't imagine how they always make it in time for the opening" Sakura sighed "how are you doing? You seem tired"
"I have caffeine flowing through my veins instead of blood. I think I'll last for another two hours so until then, I have to make out what's wrong with this kid. But fantasizing about you in the shower doesn't help"
"Then stop it" Sakura smiled while signing another blank which was given her "we'll have plenty of time for a shower. And bed. And sofa. And a car. And…wherever we'll think of"
"You're not making this easier. But thanks for support anyway" again an ironic note from the other side of the phone.
"Are you coming to the expo tonight?" Sakura asked, leaning onto table.
"If I feel alive enough. When does it start?"
"Eight o'clock. I hope you and your brother are capable of being in one room"
"Sure we are. I'll just humiliate him in the public about the size of his penis. Now that's what is called a really modern art"
"Oh, you sound like an expert in this field" Sakura noted provokingly.
"Hey, we played in the same sandbox once….a long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away. But I will take lessons from your experience"
"We did NOT have sex. Stop with the jealousy already"
"How can you tell I'm not an expert then?"
"Stop your power play. For the record, I plan to get a major in Sasuke Uchiha tonight. Go home and get some sleep"
"Sounds scary. Which book will you go for first?"
"Mmmm….the one on the lower shelf. But I want this to be real, not through the phone"
"What, never had sex online?"
"See you tonight, Sasuke. Wherever that will be"
"See you, bitch"
"Jerk" and she hung up but with a glowing smile on her lips.
"Who called?" a voice asked her from behind. Sakura whirled around and smiled to another pair of black eyes.
"Oh, hi, Itachi. Just some jerk from the delivery company, said he'll be late with the drinks" she placed a light kiss on his lips and they both walked out of the office
"Any other problems?"
"Well, besides that this is a real mess, I guess not. But you're early here"
"Just wanted to get you out for lunch. What do you say?" Itachi smiled to her with that half-teeth smile of his.
"Sure. Sounds good" Sakura felt his arm sliding around her waist and the hotness of his body interacting with hers. Then their lips met. Their tongues followed.
Sakura kissed back. She searched around his mouth, looking for the same thing she would always find in Sasuke: unchained, burning passion. Something along the lines of the wild beast inside. But there was nothing to compare. Looks like they're only brothers in terms of blood and looks. But…nothing else.
Is that why it's so hard to choose?
-x-
Karin was alone sitting in the locker room for doctors, writing something in a notebook. She sighed and put the book away.
I should go now, do something useful and not get another patient dead. The thing is, no one really knows what's wrong with that kid. Even Sasuke's at lost. The illness was up and down the boy's body and no scans showed anything. This is a mess. If only I could come up with something…anything…
"Thinking?" a voice woke Karin up from her trance. She saw Temari and Shikamaru entering the locker room. They both sat down on the wooden benches and sighed.
"Still nothing?" Karin asked, but already saw the answer from their tired and sad faces.
"Not a slice" Shikamaru shook his head "we were roaming through diseases and found absolutely nothing"
"So…the kid is…just dying?"
"Apparently so" Temari sighed and closed her eyes shut "there's not much we can do"
"Aren't you a pessimist?" a sharp voice flew from the door and echoed in the room "why so down, people?"
"Maybe because we couldn't cure the kid?" Shikamaru rolled eyes "don't be sarcastic about that at least this time. And where are you going?" he referred to Sasuke's backpack.
"Home, of course. I want to get some sleep. Oh, and if you're talking about the autistic kid, you can forget him. Just gave him a quarter of bacterial antibiotics"
"What?" Karin stood up "the kid never had any bacteria! You could kill him!"
"Stop yelling, my head hurts enough already. It was raccoon roundworms. They were swimming in his eye, that's why he got blurry vision all of a sudden. And those worms don't leave any trace, they only eat the flesh, that's why he got all that pain all over his insides" Sasuke turned around to leave "now scram and go home. It's been a long night and Tsunade isn't guarding the exit anymore"
Few minutes of silence in the locker room…
"Wow" Temari was the first to speak "no matter how you put it, he can still surprise us"
"Sure does. Man, that kid was troublesome" Shikamaru stretched himself "and Uchiha figured it out like a cloud in pure blue sky"
Karin didn't say anything. She just stared at the spot where Sasuke's back disappeared behind the turn in the corridor.
How can he just stay so cool? He didn't' react much when his patient died, he said the diagnosis which we spent hours to get in the tone like he had lost his keys and then found them…………
Why can't I be like that?
-x-
Sasuke returned home and went straight upstairs. Without even bothering to undress, he collapsed onto his bed. Finally, sleep and nothing but sleep. Then annoying Itachi. Then annoying-but-hot Sakura…then her again…and again…and maybe then…Hey, wait, hold on a sec! Why am I thinking about this? We'll just…have sex, that's all. I'm not obliged to…go out with her or something, right? Not that I want to. But I don't want her to date Itachi…or have sex with him for that matter. He's…an ass, even bigger and less obvious than I am. Man, what a mess. Wonder when she will leave my place…
-x-
6 pm…
Ring, ring…ring, ring…
Sakura stretched out her hand and turned the cell-phone off. She lifted herself and hurried to cover her naked body with sheaths. She rolled over and bumped into a body of a man.
"Hey, time to get up" she whispered to his ear "it's six already" Itachi opened his onyx eyes and looked up at her with a smirk.
"Can we allow ourselves to be late?"
"Not a chance" Sakura shot him a grin "hurry up, I'll take a shower first" and she jumped out of bed and flowed through the carpeted floor, all covered with clothes. Itachi smirked at her perfect figure.
What he didn't smirk at were her tears that rolled down the moment she entered the bathroom. She looked at her reflection on the mirror and tears hit her cheeks harder.
You stupid bitch…stupid, stupid, stupid…idiot…
--
A/N: ok, this was shorter than others….sorry about that, but I really lack time…I work twelve hours a day and when I get my day off, I try to sleep as much as possible. Hope you guys can forgive me and thanks for all the support I got form you ;))) really really thank you ;)))