The Fifth

Azure was the hottest nightclub in town, and it was straight out of nightmares. The music was so loud that you could feel the bassline vibrating in your body. The air was heavy with the smell of cheap perfume and, undoubtedly, expensive liquor. The dance floor was crowded with people grinding their bodies together and jumping to the beat. It was as bad as Sasuke had initially thought.

A host led them up to the VIP-section overlooking the dance floor. The lights there were dimmed pleasantly compared to the blue and orange strobe lights that were set up everywhere else. They sat down in a booth with designer leather couches, Sasuke taking a seat next to Naruto. It felt awkward somehow, but he wasn't going to sit next to Mr. Igleheart—or let that creep sit next to Naruto.

Igleheart motioned the host closer and whispered something in their ear. Soon two bottles of Champagne appeared to the table. The first bottle was popped, and they were each handed a glass. Mr. Igleheart lifted his glass, toasting dramatically, but his words were drowned in the music.

Sasuke let his eyes explore the room—partly in a futile effort to find an escape route. It was going to be a long night, and it certainly wouldn't hurt to find a peaceful dark corner to spend the hours to come. The place was too loud, and he didn't know what Igleheart had in store for them.

He was trying to calculate whether the staircase leading to upper floors would be too obvious place to retire to, when a warm breath swept over his ear. His body tensed up in surprise.

"I told you to stop moping", Naruto said—his voice so low, that Sasuke could barely hear him.

Sasuke had to suppress the sudden urge to vault off the couch to get some distance between them. He turned to scowl at Naruto instead, still taken aback by the proximity, even though this wasn't the first time Naruto had invaded his personal space. "I", Sasuke hissed, his voice tight, "am not moping."

Naruto had the audacity to lean in closer, his thigh pressing against Sasuke's.

"Come on", Naruto prompted. The smile on his face was a bit too sweet to be genuine, and he spoke through gritted teeth. "It's clear that you are not enjoying yourself, but please remember the millions of dollars at stake."

The dobe was right, as much as Sasuke loathed to admit that. They both had promised their boss to show Mr. Igleheart a good time, and admittedly Sasuke wasn't holding up his end of the deal. For once, he decided to go against all he believed in, and actually do as he was told. He mustered up a smile, though it might have been closer to a grimace—he was still very much occupied with the fact that Naruto was sitting inappropriately close. The couch was entirely too small for Sasuke to back away, and he was trapped.

The host from earlier returned, carrying a tray filled with shots. Tiny glasses were filled with dark liquid that almost looked black, except when the light hit it in a certain angle and it turned to a shimmering shade of purple. Sasuke could almost imagine the taste—the burning bitterness of strong liquor and the overly sweet taste of artificial flavoring.

Mr. Igleheart looked positively thrilled. "Alright! That's what I'm talking about." Igleheart's voice boomed over the music as he swiped two glasses off the tray. "Bottoms up, boys!"

Sasuke actually grimaced at that. He stared blankly at the two glasses someone had placed in front of him. He didn't drink often, and when he did, he preferred wine. Whatever was in those glasses could only mean trouble.

He was about to politely decline the shots, but then he glanced at his blond-haired colleague, who was already downing his first shot with a genuine enthusiasm. That made Sasuke reconsider his options. Running away from a challenge wasn't a very Uchiha-like thing to do, and there was no way he was going to let Naruto have this one over him.

With a slight remorse he downed the first shot—and then the second. Ignoring the burning in his throat, he turned to grin at Naruto. Rivalry or not, if it was a challenge, Sasuke wasn't going to lose.

xxx

The music wasn't too bad, if you didn't pay close attention to the words. The bassline was actually quite nice, and not even the sweaty people swaying on the dance floor could bother Sasuke.

He felt tired, but not in an unpleasant way. The Champagne was excellent, and a new bottle kept appearing to the table as soon as another was emptied.

Mr. Igleheart and Kakashi had vanished at some point, but Sasuke hadn't really been paying attention. He was completely content with the current state of things. He was relaxed and his glass was full. He wasn't even bothered by the fact that Naruto was currently making a fool of himself on the dance floor by dancing with a very voluptuous blond-haired woman.

Sasuke didn't care who Naruto was dancing with. It was just surprisingly hard not to look when his supposed rival was practically dry-humping a complete stranger to the beat of the latest dance hits. But even that couldn't ruin Sasuke's mood.

Sasuke poured himself more Champagne. He probably shouldn't have been drinking anymore, as he'd already had quite enough, but he needed something to occupy himself with. It wasn't like him to drink excessively, but it wasn't really his fault. There had been some kind of drinking game earlier—Naruto's idea, of course—and after that it all got a bit fuzzy.

"Sasukeee!"

Sasuke closed his eyes for a second, his head throbbing at the unnecessarily loud voice that definitely belonged to his co-worker. He opened his eyes and lifted his gaze up to Naruto—and the hourglass-figured woman, who was now glued to Naruto's arm.

"What?" Sasuke asked, his voice snappy. He spared an irritated glare at Naruto's general direction.

The glare didn't have the same effect as it usually did, and Naruto even had the nerve to lean in closer. A warm breath swept over Sasuke's ear once again, and he shivered involuntarily.

"C'mon, Sasuke", Naruto whined. "Come dance with us! If Igleheart returns and sees you sitting here alone with that bored look on your–"

"I don't particularly care", Sasuke stated.

"Well, you should", Naruto huffed. "Come on..."

Sasuke shook his head. "Absolutely not."

That, apparently, wasn't enough to change Naruto's mind. Instead of backing down, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's forearm. "Stop arguing", Naruto insisted, yanking Sasuke up from the couch. "Would it kill you to just once do as I say?"

"It is possible", Sasuke sneered, still a bit shocked by the turn of events.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "What's the worst that could happen? Dancing never hurt anyone."

"Professional dancers might disagree with that", Sasuke commented, trying to free his arm. "Just…leave me alone. I don't dance."

Naruto tightened his hold and turned to his blond-haired companion. "Hey, Tiffany. Help me with this one."

The woman didn't hesitate, and instead grabbed Sasuke's free arm. After that it was no use struggling. Tiffany's grip was surprisingly firm, and Sasuke suspected that it could bruise his arm if he tried to make a run for it.

The two blond-haired devils dragged Sasuke to the dance floor, and he was pushed into the crowd, left to dodge the wriggling bodies and waving arms.

"Show me", Naruto's voice spoke from behind him, "how you move."

"I told you, I don't–", Sasuke tried, but Naruto was too close, and it was suddenly hard to find the right words. He was about to ask if Naruto even knew what personal space was, but then Naruto's hands were on him, touching his hips as if it was a normal thing to do.

Sasuke froze.

The hands felt too real to be a hallucination, but there was no way that any of it was actually happening. But then Naruto made things even worse by leaning in close and pressing their bodies together.

"Move your hips", Naruto coaxed.

People around them were swaying with the music, pressing them even closer together, and suddenly it was hard to breath.

There were people everywhere around them, but they were still practically in plain sight. Anyone could see them and completely misinterpret the situation. To anyone passing by it would look like...

Like they were actually together or–

Naruto's fingers pressed on Sasuke's hips with more pressure. "Come on", Naruto said. "Dance with me."

It was all too much.

Sasuke showed Naruto away, taking a step back. "Don't touch me", he hissed without looking at Naruto. He turned around, shoving his way through the crowd in hopes of leaving the dance floor.

The blood was rushing in his ears, and while he couldn't hear anything else besides it and the music, Sasuke knew that Naruto followed him.

Sasuke didn't get very far, when a familiar hand grabbed his arm, halting him. Sasuke turned around, trying to twist his arm free. "I told you", he growled, "not to touch me."

Naruto looked surprised, but he let go of Sasuke's arm, lifting his hands up in surrender. "Sorry. I just wanted to–"

"What? Harass me some more?"

"Harass you–? Jesus. What the hell is your problem?" Naruto asked, his voice tense.

"What's my problem?" Sasuke laughed. "You seriously ask that after… After you–"

Sasuke didn't have a chance to finish. Kakashi rushed over to them, looking a little worse for wear.

"We have to leave. Right now", Kakashi wheezed. "Mr. Igleheart has caused some trouble."

"Wh–", Sasuke stammered. Whatever had just happened on the dance floor had him quite preoccupied, and the alcohol in his system didn't really help. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "What–?"

"I will explain later", Kakashi rushed, "but we really should go. Now."

xxx

Sasuke stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He splashed cold water on his face, but the room was spinning when he closed his eyes. He tried to focus back on his reflection.

He felt like he was tired enough to fall asleep right then and there. The thought of undressing and taking a shower was too much to handle.

He kicked off his shoes and staggered in to the bedroom.

It had taken less than four hours for Igleheart to get banned from the nightclub. Kakashi had not given them any details, but apparently Mr. Igleheart had gotten too handsy with the bartender.

The whole scenario was disturbing. There was undoubtedly something sinister about Mr. Igleheart. Just thinking about the whole mess was unsettling—and made things more complicated.

Sasuke knew that there were a lot of rotten people in the business world. He had certainly met his fair share of them, so it didn't come as a surprise. However, this was the first time that he was forced to deal with one without a way to back out. In the morning they would have to meet Mr. Igleheart over breakfast—and later in the evening they were supposed to convince him to sign the contract. They were stuck with him until his signature was on the papers.

The room was still spinning when Sasuke slumped to the bed. He tried to struggle out of his clothes, but it turned out to be a more tedious task than he had initially thought. He gave up and closed his eyes.

There was an odd feeling churning in the pit of his stomach, but he decided to blame it on the alcohol. He most certainly wasn't thinking about the dance floor and hands on his hips.