Ten: Retrench

Author's Note: Awkward.

Sakura didn't want to be here. She wanted to go home, to be alone.

She had no idea what had possessed her to agree to go out to a bar with Tenten, and a karaoke bar, no less. But here she was, trapped, angry, depressed, and surrounded by well over a hundred tipsy, chortling, crooning patrons.

She hated it.

She sipped her drink slowly, sinking lower and lower in her chair while Tenten socialized mercilessly, throwing back drink after drink as she spotted old acquaintances and waved them over with a sort of pre-teen giddiness that Sakura found downright appalling. Sakura couldn't get drunk; alcohol was a depressant, she reminded herself, and right now she didn't think she needed any help in that department. So she sat there, biding her time, debating with herself whether or not she should try to force herself to have fun or if she should walk out. She slowly worked up the nerve to simply ask Tenten for her apartment keys, carefully weighing the chances of the girl agreeing over her trying to force Sakura to do something fun.

She had been huddled in Tenten's shadow for nearly an hour when the brunette suddenly stood and tottered her way to the stage, cheered on by the crowd and her own chemical ego-boost. The medic-nin didn't know if Tenten had a good singing voice or not, and didn't really care to find out. Suddenly no longer trapped against the wall, Sakura got up rather abruptly, stumbling over the brunette's unoccupied chair, and fled. She still wasn't sure if she should stay or go, however, and so as if in compromise she made a beeline for the washroom, thankfully finding the door unlocked.

Her ears were ringing as the door clicked shut behind her and blocked out most of the ambient noise of social life. Her fingers danced over the lock, and she found some relief in the sound it made as it thunked into place. She turned and put her back against the door, exhaling slowly. The washroom was a mess, and the lighting was so poorly designed that just being in there gave Sakura a headache, but its fundamental seclusion made it a perfect sanctuary.

Sakura walked to the sink, planted her hands on either side of the basin, and leaned close to look at herself in the mirror. She looked good, given the circumstances. Tenten had forced her to do something with her hair and had painted her face with makeup to hide the dark circles that seemed to have etched themselves under her eyes. She just looked very pale, and very tired.

Sakura leaned back form the sink and rubbed her face with both hands. Then, suddenly, someone pounded on the door. Sakura didn't respond, didn't move to vacate the washroom, but they knocked again, annoyingly insistent. Sakura moved to unlock the door and reached for the doorknob, but whoever was on the other side shoved the door open, forcing Sakura to jerk her face back out of the way or risk getting hit by it.

Tenten pushed her drunken face into the garish light and grinned. "I knew you were hiding!"

"Tenten, I think I want to---" Sakura began.

"Come, come!" The brunette caught Sakura by the wrist and dragged her back out into the bar. "Aren't you having fun?"

"No," Sakura muttered bluntly.

"Well, of course you're not going to have any fun hiding out in the bathroom! Let me get you a drink."

"No, thanks," Sakura insisted.

"Oh come on, Sakura!" Tenten chirped.

But Sakura wasn't listening. She was looking past Tenten, just over her shoulder, and suddenly looked green. Tenten spun around, caught a brief glimpse of Ino, then turned back to Sakura. The pink-haired kunoichi was staring, watching the beautiful blonde girl as she walked the length of the bar, drink in hand, all swaying hips and golden hair. She reached the bar, and some guy Sakura had never seen before turned to greet her, putting his arm around her possessively. Ino stepped into him, let him push her back against the bar, resting her elbows on the edge. She gave him a winning smile, tilting her face up to meet his as he leaned into her.

Sakura felt sick. "I want to leave," she told Tenten.

"No, no, no!" Tenten insisted, still hanging onto Sakura's arm. "You can't let her ruin your whole night!"

"There isn't much to ruin," Sakura told her coldly.

Tenten started dragging Sakura through the crowd and back to their table, which unfortunately brought Sakura within ten paces of the bar. She tried to keep her head down, to ignore everything around her, but she was helpless. She glanced up for a mere moment, her eyes met Ino's, and her heart stopped.

Ino had her cheek pressed up against his, her eyes staring over his shoulder at Sakura. Everything seemed to slow down. Her stare was coldly uncaring, maliciously challenging, smugly triumphant, all at once. She raised one eyebrow, turning slightly to kiss him on the neck at the same time as she slid her hand up across his chest and over his shoulder, pulling him closer.

With a careless jerk of her arm by Tenten, Sakura was dragged past and Ino was out of sight. Her heart thudded in her chest, half-stilled and sickly. She stumbled when Tenten let go of her to reach over the table and grab her glass. "Are you sure you don't want anything to drink?" the brunette asked her.

Without another thought, Sakura took Tenten's drink from her hand and downed it without flinching. Tenten looked at her warily before shrugging and sending off a friend to bring around another round of drinks. Sakura sank back into her seat again, staring at her own hands folded together atop the sticky table, and felt trapped.

And with every drink she downed, she felt her hatred and contempt of Ino grow exponentially.