La Tua Cantante
Chapter 8:
RENDEZVOUS
A disease is considered to be a harmful condition of abnormal functioning within an organism. Symptoms are usually exhibited by the diseased organism to indicate the deviation of its usual state, but a sharp demarcation between disease and health is not always apparent. The most common type of disease found in bodies would be those under the infectious category. An infectious disease results from the potentiality of transmission that is made open, thus—
Sakura groaned as a wave of pain shot through her skull, causing her to pause typing as her head tipped forward. Closing her eyes tightly, she waited for the ache to cease as she brought her hands up to her temples to massage them lightly.
It was definitely not the best day to be stuck inside writing reports. Rain was pouring down by the buckets; it made quick beats on her windowsill while the hassles of the city outside her home were drowned out by the soft voice of the newswoman that appeared on Sakura's television screen. Unfortunately for the pink haired girl, she was laying on her couch lazily with her MacBook Pro seated on her lap because she had an essay due in two days. With only a paragraph done within the fifteen pages she had to do accomplish, she figured she better get started.
"Headache, headache, headache..." Sakura whimpered as she crawled slowly off the comfortable couch with her laptop balanced carefully on her wide palm. Throbbing heads just didn't help make finishing a report easier. Making her way to the kitchen, she rummaged through the drawers messily before pulling out a packet of pills.
Sakura downed two pills at once with a large glass of water, before she began to make her way back to the lounge where she had made her illustrious fort of study: an entire sofa covered with open textbooks and scattered notes.
"A murderer said to have been lying low has now appeared, according to the death of Fujiwara Midori," stated the newswoman monotonously as Sakura walked back into the living room. "Her body was found early this morning near the Sabaku Enterprises building. It appeared that she had been dead for over seven hours before an anonymous tip was given to the Konoha police force."
Finally collapsing onto the couch again, Sakura shook her head disapprovingly at the scene being shown on the screen. "The world is still full of horror I guess," she sighed, settling the MacBook Pro atop her lap. She shook cherry pink locks out of her eyes before she began to type ferociously again. "Disgusting."
"Friends and family of Fujiwara Midori are devastated by the news, and police are currently investigating the issue. Full news report at 5:00; the time now is 1:53."
Stretching her arms, she yawned as she finished typing a page. Although the rain outside was loud and a tad distracting, Sakura found it much easier to work with than when it was sunny. Fidgeting in her seat a bit, she made herself more comfortable so she could continue writing. "14 more pages, 47 diseases to go..." Sakura sighed dully.
The feeling of vibration tickled the toes on her foot, and she supplely bent forward to retrieve her wailing Blackberry. Sakura pushed the gadget to her ear as she muttered out a weary response to the phone call. "Sakura here."
"Forehead? It's me."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because just by saying that I know exactly who you are," said the girl sarcastically to her caller. Heaving a sigh, Sakura used her other hand to go on with jabbing at the keys while she continued to speak. "Yo, 'me'."
She heard an impatient scoff. "Real mature, Forehead. I mean, who could not know me?"
"Um, I don't know... maybe that hobo I ran away from last week down on Takeshita Street?"
"Ew! Do you mean the weird one who just sells used ramen cups in front of JR Harajuku Station?"
A pink eyebrow rose questioningly. "Yeah..." dragged on Sakura slowly. "Why do yo— actually no, don't answer that. I don't want to hear the story of another one of your customers."
"Excuse me? Are you calling me a prostitute? Are you saying I would sell my body for money? Are you seriously, and I mean seriously, putting me in the same category as four-tails?"
"Ino, I never said you were a prostitute. Get with the program! And prostitutes sell their bodies for money, so the second one's a no-go." The pink haired girl smirked maliciously as she stopped talking. She heard Ino whine over the line. "But the third..."
"Sakura, you traitorous, conniving, little... um, whatever you are! I thought you were my friend! On my side! But noooo, you decide you want to cross over to the dark side. Well hah, no chocolate chi—" Ino stopped talking as she drew the phone away from her mouth while she coughed.
Wrapping her blanket around her tighter, Ino smiled when she heard the worry in her friend's voice. "Ino!? Are you ok?"
The sick girl blew her nose loudly, chucking the snotty tissue accurately into the trashcan on the other side of the room. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit of a cold is all," rasped Ino as she rubbed her throat stiffly.
"Bah, yeah right. I can hear you coughing your lungs out over there," Sakura's voice turned soft while she listened to Ino sneeze noisily. "Go to a doctor or take some meds."
Ino wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Doctor? Meds? No way, Forehead. I'll stick to the plain old fashioned way of sleeping it off, thank you," she told Sakura haughtily before grinning a coy smirk, twirling a strand of blonde hair around her finger. "But... you can come over and keep me company..."
Sakura laughed. "And get sick? No way Ino-pig," she said mockingly.
"Aw, come on! I'm dead bored over here! I'll let you take me to the doctors? Let you give me NyQuil? Let you borrow some shoes?"
The pink haired girl's resolve faltered at the mention of borrowing some stylish Italian boots, but she brushed it off. "No can do, darling. I'm probably booked all day today," she responded, her thoughts once again focusing on the report that was now bordering on 3 pages. "I have to finish this stupid essay, and... wait; did I have something on today?"
Stopping her typing, she shifted her body slightly and leant over the endless mass of books to a small diary that was conveniently placed on top of a pile of closed volumes.
Ino snorted into the phone when she realized what Sakura was doing. "You're such a geek Forehead. Having to check your schedule when you are supposed to be hurrying over to your sick friend's place with a big tub of chocolate ice cream is so nerdy."
Humming a soft tune, the green eyed girl flicked through the pages leisurely while she ignored the complaining friend, before stopping at the page marked with the present date. Viridian irises widened.
"Crap!" cried Sakura as she shut her laptop closed roughly, pushing it to the side before rushing to her room. "I totally forgot!"
"What? What did you forget?" Ino's concerned voice filtered through the earpiece.
With a quick glance to the clock, Sakura hurriedly wriggled out of her panda decorated pyjamas to change into a casual ensemble of jeans with a white slim fitting sweater. Pushing her shoulder up so she could talk to Ino whilst buttoning her pants, she began to explain. "I was supposed to meet Sasuke-kun for something today! And I completely forgot! I was meant to meet him at noon!"
Ino gasped horrendously. "Geez, are you serious? Hurry the hell up then Forehead!" she ordered, accidentally knocking her box of tissues to the floor. She stopped short, thinking. "Hey, what are you wearing by the way?"
The busy girl was now hurrying around the house, picking up bits and pieces to shove into her bag, and some onto herself. "Just jeans and a sweater."
"What am I going to do with you?! You seriously cannot wear that on your date."
"Well, I don't have time to change to anything sexy right now, Ino. And if I do, I'd just get sick like you. So, shut up and sleep."
"How rude! I'm sick and tired with a bloody freaking red nose and all you say is tha—"
"Shut up and sleep. Don't forget to take your medicine," interjected Sakura as she hung up abruptly on her friend, grabbing her essentials —which she deemed as keys, an umbrella and pepper spray— before stepping out of the house as she clumsily locked the door.
"I'm better off walking; I'll just be stuck behind a big load of taxis," mumbled Sakura while she opened her umbrella, shivering as a cold breeze blew by and caused her warmth to escape. "Stupid weather, it just had to be a rainy day when I had to meet him." Quite grumpily, she took long strides to the curb of the sidewalk before crossing it, cursing at the miserable weather.
In a matter of minutes she had reached the coffee shop where she was supposed to meet Sasuke. Entering, she sighed in relief at the warmth that flooded her body from the high temperature of the heater. Sakura stripped off her thin gloves (which hadn't been a good choice as the chilliness of the outside air had almost frozen her fingers) and began to awkwardly make her way to the end booth in the far corner of the shop where she had an uncanny feeling her boss would be.
True enough, the dark haired man was seated comfortable on the cushioned chair, his onyx eyes scanning a book as he read. One slender hand was enclosed around the spine of the book while the other was curled up by his cheek. Long bangs fell over his face elegantly, highlighting the perfect outline of his nose, the flawless complexion of his skin and the seamless shadows of his eyes that looked as if he hadn't slept. Lastly, classy, black rimmed glasses adorned his eyes, and obsidian from behind glass lenses looked up through raven tresses.
"You're late."
Sakura quickly sat down opposite him, fiddling with her fingers nervously. Her mind had been so filled with thoughts of impudent weathers and how she wished she had worn thick woolly gloves that she hadn't come up with a liable excuse as to why she was tardy. "Sorry, Sasuke-kun; I was, um, working on something."
He grunted and turned a page. "On?" Sasuke prompted.
"A report on the generic topic of disease. It's for an assignment due in two days and I just started this morning," answered Sakura through a yawn. "It's taking way too long to finish. I mean, fifteen freaking pages in 10 point font is absolute hell. My teacher is seriously, the most boring person in the planet, so he just assigns us work while he doe—"
She paused in her ranting. "I'm talking too much, aren't I?"
Sasuke nodded as he carried on reading, his eyes never seeming to have left the book's pages. "Yes, and I don't particularly care."
Sighing, Sakura drooped her head down, sinking in her seat. She was feeling a tad tired, what with having been awake for more than 24 hours – minus her multiple naps she had unconsciously taken during working hours the previous day. "I am so tired," she moaned, pouting childishly.
The reading man lowered his book slightly to stare at the troubled girl who had her arms crossed tightly across her chest. Taking his cup of coffee, he slid it expertly at her. The cup skidded to a halt at the edge of the table, making Sakura look up hesitantly. Her eyes questioned whether she could have it or not, but in a few minutes, the beverage had been chugged down.
Sakura pondered over some facts as she scoffed down the hot liquid (which leads her to think that the man had purchased several cups, as coffee could not possibly stay warm for the two hours in which he had been waiting).
One, the Uchiha wasn't as angry as she had expected. Her imagination had been of a scenario in which he had reprimanded her, furrowing his brow and aiming his trademark scowl at her. The fact that he had coolly taken it wasn't too much a stretch for her imagination, but it was quite the opposite of what she had fantasized.
Two, he was wearing glasses. She had to say she wasn't really into men who wore glasses, but she admitted that they gave him a rather, sexy look. They made him look professional, and Sakura wondered whether he needed them because he was short sighted or wore them for fun. Most likely it was the latter, she concluded.
Three, she was sharing an indirect kiss with Uchiha Sasuke.
Her boss, her male best friend's best friend, and the man who she was currently watching read.
"Um, thanks for the coffee," she said awkwardly as she fumbled with the now empty cup in her hands. Glancing out of the window, she admired the way the raindrops streaked across the glass, as if avoiding eye contact would lighten the atmosphere.
"Hn," he grunted as he stood up, snapping his book shut. The vampire tucked his free hand into the pocket of his black coat as he bent forward slightly to fix a bored gaze at her, before he straightened up and began to walk away to the door of the shop.
Sakura felt a pang of guilt as she realized she had most likely ruined this date. It was supposed to be a 'date of sorts where she was repaid for something she had already forgiven him for', yet she had ruined it. Chewing on her bottom lip nervously, she wondered what she should do, or moreover, what she should have done to remedy the situation.
Yet, she was completely shocked when her hypothesis of being abandoned was proved false.
"Let's go," he said as he passed her, before disappearing out of the shop.
"Y-yes!" Sakura stuttered as she too got up and followed him, leaving her finished cup sitting on the table. She rushed through the door of the shop, her eyes hastily scanning the metropolis that was being pelted by rain. Catching sight of him, she put a hand over her head as she stepped into the downpour. His back was facing her, and his steps were slow so it was easy for her to catch up to him. "Wait up!" she yelled, running after him, hoping to decrease the wetness factor for her clothes by running quickly.
The rain hadn't lightened up at all; it was quite heavier. Numerous puddles scattered the crowded sidewalks, and beeping cars sounded as traffic got busy.
However, being the clumsy girl she was, mixed in with the stormy weather which left behind large puddles of rain water, black boots slipped and a surprised yelp was heard.
"Wah!" Sakura frenziedly groped around for something to support her, and the nearest thing just happened to be the back of Sasuke's long coat. Grasping the collar of the dark material, she put all her weight forward as she tried to steady herself, but to no avail. Instead, her plan of balance backfired, and Sakura ended up on the wet sidewalk on her knees.
Sasuke coughed as his coat was pulled down roughly, almost choking him when he hadn't bent back as the girl toppled ungracefully to the ground. "Annoying," he muttered, turning around to lend the girl a hand.
"Thanks," she said breathlessly to him when she was pulled up easily. "I guess I shouldn't run when there are puddles everywhere."
The vampire agreed through a grumble, and proceeded to fix his coat which had been brusquely yanked, but was stopped as cold hands —though not as cold as his— enclosed his own. Looking down, his eyes met innocent, emerald ones tinted with curiosity.
"Ne, is that a tattoo?"
Sasuke growled lowly as he gruffly tugged his hands out of hers to fix his coat like he had planned. He figured that Sakura had seen the mark when the collar had drooped down. The girl noticed that one hand had immediately bolted up to neck to cup the design engraved there.
"It's none of your business."
"Mou, that's a bit mean." Another pout appeared on Sakura's mouth as she reached out to touch his hands, thinking to withdraw them from the mark, but Sasuke flinched away from her and sent her a hard glare.
"Leave me alone," he snarled coldly, instinctively moving away from her and getting into a subtle self-protective pose.
Sakura gasped as she too, backed away, fearing the tense atmosphere that had come with the weather and such would become staler. Shutting her eyes tightly, she dropped her head down and bowed. "I-I'm sorry!" Sakura yelled as an apology.
Looking down at the bent over girl in front of him, he frowned. The memories of the dinner spent two nights ago flooded Sasuke's mind, and he relaxed his pent up conscience swiftly. Sakura had her hands placed stringently on her knees as she kept her head lowered, waiting for the statement that would either leave her forgiven or guilty. She refused to raise her eyes to meet the inky depths that she knew were staring at her pathetic form, because she was absolutely desperate to make this outing work for the both of them.
Unbeknownst to her, the other party was thinking along the same lines. However, Sasuke's thoughts were more fixed on the dilemma that the girl he was supposed to making happy was scared of him. Sasuke walked towards her, ignoring when she twitched as she heard him approach and stopped in front of her.
"Huh?" she whispered, looking up as the vampire stared remorsefully at her.
"I won't hurt you. I promise," he mumbled. As a vampire, he knew he couldn't stand not having the urges she coaxed forth whenever she was around, but the time he spent away had not been wasted. "I won't stand losing anything anymore."
Sakura rose from her bow and lifted an eyebrow at the sudden turn of events. She had no idea what her companion meant by the words he had last uttered, and opened her mouth to ask.
She was cut off when she was distracted as the Uchiha exhaled tiredly and ran a hand through his hair, shaking from it some droplets that had fallen into his tresses. It was then that Sakura realized the close proximity they shared. Having to look up; the man was about a head taller than her, she was able to see closely the small details of his face.
As a woman, she was ashamed to say that she was jealous of a man's skin. Unconsciously, her surprised, open mouth tightened to a pout, as Sakura examined the unblemished complexion Sasuke seemed to have. Although it was pale, the girl had to admit, it was perfect.
"This isn't going the way I planned," he said bleakly, taking no notice of the skeptical looks Sakura was shooting him as she compared their skin textures. Sasuke turned his head to the side as he tried to recompose himself. "What a mess."
His words snapped Sakura out of her odd reverie about epidermis, and she shook her head zealously. "No! I'm actually quite enjoying it," she confessed nervously, scratching the back of her damp head. "It's my fault that this isn't going well, I suppose; I did come late."
"Hn."
Sakura laughed as she realized that things were back to normal. "Well, where to next?"
The vampire shrugged. "I don't have any plans," he said slowly. "Or at least, the plans I did have were ruined by lack of good timing."
The light rosette blushed and crossed her arms. "I'm sorry for raining on your parade then," she said cheekily, stomping her foot childishly. Some water from her trudge splashed onto her boots, but she paid it no heed as she stared at Sasuke ardently.
"Hn, you should be."
Sakura's brow twitched. "Stop being such a killjoy! I'll pick a place if you can't think of anything!" She received no answer, so she began to list off places they could go to. "Park?"
"It's raining."
"Movies?"
"Seen them all."
"Restaurant?
"Not hungry."
The girl let out a frustrated scream and glared at Sasuke. "Where do you want to go then?"
An amused chuckled rang from Sasuke's lips, and he shrugged as he shoved his hands into his pockets – a sign of nonchalance. "I don't care."
"This is hopeless..." Sakura inched closer to him, trying to escape getting any wetter by sheltering under the umbrella Sasuke held up. "Can we go to the bookshop then? I think I need to get more books for my report," she asked, copying the stoic man and pocketing her hands in her coat pockets.
"Aa," he said dryly. "If you needed to go, why didn't you suggest that earlier?"
She giggled and gave him a toothy smile. "Maybe I just thought of it?"
Sasuke took a hand out and glanced at his watch. "Kinokuniya is still open," he commented monotonously.
The green eyed girl nodded and pivoted on the spot. "Well, off we go then!" She raised an arm triumphantly in the air and began to walk off in search of the bookstore.
Sighing, Sasuke took hold of her wrist and started dragging her the opposite way she had been walking. "It's this way," he muttered lowly.
After a few minutes of walking in the rain, dodging large puddles on the sidewalk and dashing to the other side of the road, the pair reached the bookstore that was their destination.
Sakura quickly wrung her hair as her eyes darted excitedly around the shop. As a small child, she'd always loved books, and that hadn't changed at all. Her viridian irises still glimmering with raw enthusiasm, she turned to her companion. "We have to go to the medical section..." she trailed off.
Sasuke gave her a quick nod, and she happily skipped to the segment of books in which books stating several medical facts were kept. The man smirked at her childishness, but followed anyway. Turning sharply, he entered the aisle where Sakura was already crouched, searching through the shelves for a book she desired. He approached her stealthily, and then bent down a bit as he hit her lightly on the head with the book in his hand. "Oi, wait sometimes."
Sakura laughed and went back to book searching. "Sorry Sasuke-kun, I just got a bit excited," she picked out a book titled, 'Diseases Galore: Volume I' and stood up. "Got one!" she exclaimed, proudly gesturing the book she held.
Stepping away from her to give her space to move to another space, Sasuke marvelled at the girl's miraculous mood change, even though they had a bit of a stalemate just before. "Girls change moods easily," remarked the vampire observantly as Sakura walked past him to the other shelf.
That comment forced Sakura to freeze as she remembered the overlooked query she had not long ago. She glanced over her shoulder at him carefully, before looking back to the piles of books when he caught her gaze.
"Boys change subjects easily too, you know," Sakura pointed out slowly, spinning around to face him. Taking a deep breath, she leant against the shelves of medical fact books behind her and stared at him as she gathered up the courage to ask the question she had forgotten to ask. "What did you mean by what you said before?"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow questioningly and stared back. "I mean, why did you say, 'I won't stand losing anything anymore'? Or, 'I won't hurt you'?" the girl clarified, fiddling with the book in her hands. "I tried to ask before, but I got a bit, um... distracted. Please tell me though; I'm curious."
"You're always curious. That's why this sort of situation occurs a lot."
Albeit a bit ruffled by that statement for some reason, Sakura persisted on. "You're doing it again! Please stop changing the subject all the time and tell me the truth straight out!"
The vampire stiffened and stayed silent.
"Sasuke-kun, aren't you supposed to be repaying me?" Sakura pouted and put her hands on her waist as she stared at him candidly. "You can count this as sort of payment."
Still, she received nothing. "It's not fair. I told you my story; I deserve to know yours."
Once again, she was answered with silence, until her frank gaze was met with a deep, empty one. Determinedly, Sakura marched up to him and grabbed his shirt in her hands. An unvoiced conversation occurred between the two, until Sasuke gave in. "I'll tell you," he said softly, averting his gaze awkwardly. Whether it was out of embarrassment or something else, Sakura couldn't tell.
"A few years ago, I lost my family," he told her quietly. "I'd just come home from school, and nobody answered when I entered the house. I was just a kid, I didn't think anything was weird because it was too quiet, so I just headed up to my parents room."
He took a deep breath and slumped against the shelves behind him too, mirroring Sakura. "When I opened the door, they were dead. They were on the floor, with their blood everywhere," Sasuke clenched his fists angrily.
"As a kid, my father never paid attention to me, and my mother was always doing the same things everyday. It wasn't until they were actually gone that I realized how important they were. The fact that they were gone, dead and just gone just wouldn't register itself in my mind. By chance, I happened to meet their murderer too."
Sasuke's careful facade was cracking. "I will never forgive him for taking away everyone I'd ever loved. He's never been caught, and the entire case was covered up because it was bad for the company's reputation. I promised myself on the day of my parents' funeral that I'd catch him and give him what he deserves, but that hasn't happened yet."
Sakura gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as Sasuke merely closed his eyes and continued. "I also promised that I wouldn't lose anyone I cared for anymore, so there's your explanation."
He opened a single eye as he felt two warm hands hold his, and saw Sakura grasp it tightly as she smiled sadly at him. "I-I'm sorry for asking, Sasuke-kun." Tears were rolling down her cheek, and she held Sasuke's hand even tighter as she kept on whispering. "I'm so sorry."
"Whatever," he said stoically, pulling his hand out of hers and stuffing it in his pocket.
Sakura wiped her tears away quickly and picked up the book that she had dropped. "Sorry, I just get overemotional sometimes," she laughed falsely, trying to cover up her vulnerability.
She felt the book being tugged from her hands, and looked up at Sasuke as he twiddled it in his fingers. "Stop apologizing," he said firmly, walking away to the counter where another lady was already purchasing her large stack of books.
The pink haired girl hurried after the Uchiha, and stopped at his side, where he had already laid the book down on the counter top. The salesmen scanned it and drawled lazily, "That'll be ¥4,900, thanks."
Sakura's mouth formed an 'o' shape as she recalled forgetting to check the price, and resisted the urge to slap herself in the head. Pulling out her wallet and getting ready to empty it out, she sighed as she became conscious of the fact that she was going to lose all the money she had spent weeks working for. While Sakura was busy brooding over the fact that she was going to have to bid goodbye to her stash of bills, Sasuke had already slidden the skinny man behind the desk his credit card. A look of absolute inquisition plastered itself on her face, and Sasuke smirked at it. Accepting the book as the boy handed him back his card along with it, he urged her forward as he made his way out of the shop.
"Here," he handed her the book in its bag. "Is the payment done now?"
Sakura nodded her head ardently. "Of course! You know, you didn't have to buy me an expensive book to win back my forgiveness," she noted playfully, swinging the bag against his arm as he opened the umbrella. "This adds to my list of debts for you."
He shot her an inquisitive look.
"You paid ¥300, 000 for a meal you didn't eat. And now, you pay ¥4,900 for a book you aren't going to read," she stretched her arms out before ducking under the umbrella with the vampire. "It just goes to show that you care for me, ne?"
Sasuke noticeably became rigid and Sakura laughed. "I was joking!" she said between giggles, linking her fingers together behind her back. "Naruto was right; you really don't have a sense of humour."
The two began to walk side by side through the downpour that had lightened up slightly since their escapade in the bookstore. Silence overcame them, but it was comfortable; both were content to listen to the noises of the conurbation. Stealing a quick glance at her partner, she grinned wistfully as she saw that Sasuke's impassive facade had been successfully put back on. In a certain way, she was glad for having had been able to get past that pretense for a little while, but her happiness didn't subside even when she was pushed out again.
He was there; with his spiky hair drooping at the ends because it was slightly damp, his glasses riding at the bridge of his nose, his obsidian eyes cold and hard, he was there.He hadn't run away, or reacted defensively like before. Sakura smiled, because frankly, he was by her side.
He was the same old Sasuke she had gotten to know over the few weeks she had worked under him. The same old one that she liked to think was someone she could be close to.
"The weather's awfully gloomy today," she commented, looking away to the sky.
Sasuke peeked at her from the corner of his eye, and remained quiet. She continued to speak, rambling on about incessant nothings as if the weather she had just mentioned somehow cleared and revealed the sun shining brightly on them. She acted as if the miserable atmosphere surrounding them meant nothing.
"How can you do that?"
Sakura looked at him curiously, having not been able to hear him. "What?"
He shook his head. "It's nothing."
The pinkette scowled. "There you go again, not telling me the important stuff," she whined, spinning around so that she was walking backwards as she scolded him. "You really need to break that habit, Sasuke-ku— ah!"
Once again, she felt one of her boots slip on a slippery surface where a puddle lay on the path, and her balance was overthrown. Before she could even brace herself for the pain of falling againshe had been caught by the wrist.
"Be more careful," he said to her touchily as he pulled her up for the second time that day. "You're so annoying."
Sakura glared at him, and snatched her wrist from his grip as soon as both her feet were steadily on the ground. "Well, it's not my fault I'm clumsy! It's stupid genes!"
The vampire smirked at her in amusement. "I'm sure such extreme clumsiness is hereditary," he noted sarcastically.
"You're sense of humour is so not fun—" This time, she wasn't interrupted by her surprised yelps because she had fallen off her feet, but because a rather odd sound had just erupted from her stomach. Covering it quickly, she blushed as Sasuke stared at her. Her eyes narrowed when his smirk, by some incredible means, appeared even more mocking than before. "I haven't eaten since last night," she tried to explain.
He continued walking, forcing Sakura to run after him to avoid getting soaked. "Aa."
A familiar ring tone rang, and Sasuke groaned as he pulled his lustrous EnV, silencing the song that played as he brought it to his ear. "Dobe."
"Hey, Sasu-chan!"
Sasuke frowned. "Shut up, idiot. What do you want?"
He heard a laugh over the other end. "Well, Sasu-chan,is your pretty little gay as—"
"Dobe. What do you want?" seethed Sasuke as his brow throbbed.
"Fine, fine, you party pooper!" Naruto frowned, and blew a raspberry into the mouthpiece of his phone. "Something's up, and Kakashi wants you down here ASAP."
The throbbing stopped, and his eyebrow lifted. "What for?"
Naruto sighed exasperatedly. "Who cares, bastard? Just get down here already."
He heard a click, and the dull beeping signalling he had been hung up on. Sasuke stared at the LCD screen for a moment, which was now flashing his wallpaper, then pocketed his phone swiftly.
"Are you going now then?"
The dark haired man turned his head to look at Sakura, who was at his side staring back at him in disappointment and half-hearted understanding. With a sigh, he nodded and began to walk away.
"Wait!"
He halted, and glanced over his shoulder. "Can I come?" she asked hopefully.
Staring for a second, he shrugged his shoulders and resumed his steps. Sasuke heard a soft laugh behind him before Sakura appeared next to him again as if she'd never left. "The date doesn't end yet..." she sang as they made their way back to the edifice they both worked at.
Naruto greeted the pale man as he stepped through the door to his own office. "Hiya, Sasu-cha— eh, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "Lovely nickname you have for your boss, Naruto."
The whiskered boy blushed. "The bastard has nothing over me, so I can call him what I want!" he yelled indignantly.
"We weren't expecting you to bring company, Sasuke."
The green eyed girl darted her vision to the desk, where a lean figure was sitting casually on the edge. "Yo," said Kakashi as he mock-saluted the pair that had just entered.
"I offer my greetings too," chimed Sai as he spun around in Sasuke's swivel chair from behind the table. "Hey Ugly."
"What are you all doing here?"
While Sakura's brows furrowed in utter confusion, Sasuke unbuttoned his jacket and tossed it onto the back of a chair indifferently. "What's the situation?"
Kakashi didn't look up from his book, and ushered to Naruto with his free hand. "Naruto, escort Sakura out."
Confusion was now beyond what Sakura was feeling as her blonde friend grabbed her hand excitedly and proceeded to tow her from the scope. "Come on, Sakura-chan! You should get to Ino's place and cheer her up... she's been shouting at me all day," he said oddly cheerful for someone that apparently was getting earfuls from the sick banshee for hours.
Sakura yanked her hand out of his and glared at him. "Stop hiding whatever you're hiding! I'm sure I can handle whatever manly things you're going to talk about!" she fumed, flailing her arms in the air to prove her point.
"I know that, Sakura-chan. We just don't want you to see this, dattebayo."
"I'm not a weak little girl, you know..."
Her voice trailed off as the sound of a television attracted her attention. The same newswoman she watched earlier was seated behind the white bureau, her face set in a grim expression. "Friends are horrified, family are devastated and police are mystified by the recent murder case of Fujiwara Midori, whose dead body was discovered today by the Konoha police force."
Whirling around, Sakura fisted her hands in the fabric of Naruto's orange shirt. "This is what you tried to hide from me? Do you think I'm a child?" she hissed angrily, narrowing her eyes at the poor boy in her clutches.
"Just watch, Sakura," instructed Kakashi lazily, leaning back on his other hand freely. She glowered one last time at Naruto before releasing him, crossing her arms snappily over her chest.
"Seemingly, an anonymous tip was given to officer, Kotetsu Isane at the time 11:56 p.m. yesterday. Kotetsu comments, 'The tip was given by a middle-aged male, but chances are the voice was bugged. It was like listening to the guy threaten me, but what really scared me was that he sounded deadly serious.'
"Following the directions indicated by the unidentified person, the police set off to Shibuya, where the main building of Sabaku Enterprises is situated. In the northern back alley of the office block, the corpse was found lying on the floor. Forensic investigators have concluded that the body was killed at least 7 hours before midnight.
"The method of killing was narrowed to strangling or poison, but investigators insist these methods were not used. Investigator Ohgi Shio reports, 'There are no marks of any kind on the neck, and her blood tested as clean. We have no idea what went on.'"
Sakura gasped as a picture of the covered up corpse was shown, and Naruto gazed at her queasily. "You ok, Sakura-chan?"
She nodded her head, gripping the periphery of the shelf near her severely. "The woman is just so pale..." Sakura said vaguely, examining the image carefully. An arm was the only thing one could see apart from the fabric, but it was enough to base off. "It's as if all the blood was sucked out of her..."
The men in the room froze, but the girl didn't notice as she continued on. "It's disgusting though. The fact that someone would do this type of thing," she remarked harshly. "It's real life horror."
Sasuke clenched his molars together, and was about to give into the compulsion to turn away from the entire scene and just run until a firm hand landed on his head. "Kakashi," he said warningly, moving his hand to wrap his own fingers around the older man's wrist.
The silver haired man laughed and ruffled the spiky hair anyway. "Don't worry about it; the organisation will handle it," Kakashi removed his hand from the Uchiha's iron grip and began to walk out the door. "Be there tonight, and we'll discuss the details properly."
"Hn," he grunted in response before reverting his attention back to the other occupants of the room. "Dobe, clean up your mess."
Said man looked at him weirdly, before scanning the untidy floor distastefully. "No way, teme. Clean it up yourself." The majority of the floor was covered in empty ramen cups, bottles of several drinks and foam cups that held coffee prior to being drunk. "It's your office."
"It's your mess."
"TEM— OW! Sakura-chan, don't pull my ear!" Naruto cried as Sakura pinched him, jerking him towards her.
"Clean it up," she growled, squeezing the skin between her fingers harder. "Do you know who has to clean it up if you don't? That's wrong, it's not the stupid janitor, it's me."
"Ok, ok... it's obviously someone's time of the mon— OW! I mean, yeah, I'll do it!" screamed the boy, holding Sakura's hand as he tried to wrench it off his throbbing ear. "And why did you think I wouldn't have guessed yo— OW! Stop it, please! My ear is dying!"
Sakura beamed and liberated Naruto's skin from her fingers. "Thanks for the clean-up, then!"
Naruto glowered at his female friend before obeying her, afraid of another attack. "Now I won't have time to get ready for the party..." he mumbled, bending down to retrieve some ramen cups.
The pinkette looked at him strangely. "Party?"
Sai stood up from the chair, scooping up his art utensils and books before making his way to Sakura's side. "It's a business party being held at the Peninsula tonight by Sharingan Inc. It's to celebrate the merging of the three companies," he explained. "Where have you been if you don't know this, Ugly?"
Sakura was about to retaliate with an onslaught of verbal assaults, but was cut off as Sasuke walked past her to repossess the jacket he had taken off. "8:00, meet me in the Grand Ballroom. Wear something remotely formal; we'll have to greet many people," he said briefly.
He paused at the doorframe, and looked at her attentively. "Don't be late," Sasuke commanded before walking out the door completely.
"A party? And I have to go? I won't have time to finish my assignment!" Sakura groaned, sliding a hand down her face. She tilted her head up to get a glimpse of the clock above her head hanging on the wall, and paled considerably. "Three hours? I only have three hours to get ready as well?!"
"At least you'll be going with Uchiha-kun, Ugly. You have a date for once."
"Shut it, Sai. I don't fancy being glared at by like, the entire female population."
"Well, could you both shut it and help a guy out here? He wants to go to the party too, dattebayo!"
Sakura flashed the pale boy by her side a wicked, Cheshire cat smile before prancing out the door. "Did you hear something, Sai? I don't think I did."
"Dickless just said something Ugly. Are you going deaf?"
"Sai!"
Completely ignoring the tanned boy who asked for their assistance, the two strode down the corridor, bickering the entire way until they reached the elevators. Even when their forms had disappeared, their voices were still ringing through the air.
"Oh, were we playing a game where I was supposed to pretend not to notice Dickless?"
"Never mind, Sai. Never mind."
However, even through their arguing, Naruto swore he could hear the pair laughing.
A/N:Whee! Update after a long time! This chapter is longer than usual, to make up for the time I've been procrastinating instead of writing this... it's 16 pages! Definitely the longest chapter ever, but not the best, I have to say. Hm, I wonder if Sakura is the only one to see him when he wears glasses... wait, Sasuke wears glasses? Haha, he sure does... The evil mastermind-esque plot starts here though! This will be the last time I say (type) it, so listen. I don't own Naruto. Thanks for reading, and please review.
Oh, and about my name change... It'll stay like that from now on. It's a new year, so a new name? Haha, I think I'll stick with it. I like the sound of it.