Was he really that different around her? Naruto's words kept replaying in Sasuke's mind, and he couldn't stop himself from thinking about it afterward. How could Sakura have changed so much, within such a short amount of time?

Sasuke pushed it out of his mind. He was making it into a bigger deal than it was. Sakura hadn't changed anything within him; sure, he liked her, but that was it. This whole thing was casual, sense-driven more than anything else.

And yes, he'd started associating the word 'girlfriend' with Sakura, but that didn't matter. Being with her had changed nothing.

"This way," Sakura said. She was leading the way up to the side entrance of her apartment building. They'd gone out to dinner, and then a taxi had brought them back to the next street over from Sakura's apartment.

Sasuke was surprised, however, to find out that she'd been right about the lack of paparazzi. The area around her apartment building was empty, free of yelling and flashes and general excitement. There was no one around as they entered the building through the side door.

It was a laughably normal apartment building; nice, but without any kind of special security. Sasuke wondered how many people knew that she lived there. It would be extremely easy to find her, if a crazy fan came looking.

He decided not to bring it up; he knew Sakura would roll her eyes and tell him he was paranoid, or something.

They took the stairs up to the third floor, where Sakura had a small loft. It was sparsely decorated (presumably because she was barely ever home).

"Welcome," Sakura said, motioning him inside with a grin.

Sasuke stepped inside and Sakura shut the door behind him. It was only one room and a bathroom. The kitchen was separated from the little living area only by the counters, and a large corner was curtained off.

"It's the bedroom," Sakura said in response to Sasuke's raised eyebrows. She rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that look, I haven't had time to buy anything. Ideally I'd put up some shelves, but right now it's curtains 'cause that's what I have."

"Wasn't giving you a look," Sasuke said, his mouth quirking upward.

"Yeah, right." Sakura shook her head, sat down on the couch, and pulled off her shoes. "So. What now?"

Sasuke had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do next, and having the bed so close wasn't exactly easy to ignore. He looked at her, and was satisfied to see a blush spreading over her cheeks. Suddenly it felt like they were in the elevator again. Being here felt extremely personal, more so than it had in his own apartment (then again, they hadn't gone into his bedroom). Despite the lack of much decoration, he could sense Sakura's presence here, from the brightly colored rug to the photos of people on a side table. He figured they were friends and family but he was too far away to see them clearly.

"God, are you just going to stand over there," Sakura said, rolling her eyes. "There was a specific point to coming here, wasn't there?"

Sasuke shrugged coolly but came over and sat down next to her. "Was there?"

"Well, yes. Since we're alone…By ourselves…For a long period of time…And no one's going to bother us…" She moved closer to him with every word, and her large green eyes loomed a few inches from his. She was way too fucking attractive for her own good, Sasuke thought suddenly.

"Jesus Christ," Sasuke said, but his lips met hers without hesitation. His hands slid around her waist and Sakura pressed herself against him. Sasuke smirked, satisfied that her need had been as great as his.

Sasuke pushed a hand into her hair, which smelled like flowers and oranges and things that he'd never liked but couldn't help liking now because they reminded him of her. The smell was intoxicating, like it had been that night in the club. He dug his hand deeper, tightening his grip on her waist, and Sakura bit at his bottom lip, sending a rush through him.

"This feels familiar," she murmured, moving from his lips to his ear. "I might have a box, if you want it. For old times' sake."

"Tch. Right," Sasuke muttered. "Dirty."

"I'm dirty?" Sakura half-laughed, her mouth moving along his ear. "I don't think you remember that first night. But I do. Great blackmail material, actually."

"Funny," Sasuke said. He tilted his head and kissed her down her neck, knowing it was going to hit her sweet spot. Sakura gasped, her back arching, and he smirked. "I've got the better blackmail material."

"Oh, right, I forgot who I was with. Cocky, sullen, Sasuke Uchiha," Sakura said, kissing him along his jawline and running a hand down his back. "Are you going to ruin my life with nightclub stories to your newspaper friends?"

"Of course not," Sasuke said. He didn't even want to play around talking about this kind of thing.

Sakura pulled back for a second, obviously surprised at his sudden sincerity. Still, she grinned. "Well, that's good to know."

"Don't even have newspaper friends," Sasuke said. "They're fucking stupid."

Sakura laughed. "That's a big generalization."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I forgot. You're good at those," Sakura said, and she kissed him again.

"Stop talking," Sasuke said, and Sakura laughed. Then he pulled her closer and their bodies were glued to each other as she shoved her hands into his hair.

God he was attracted to her, and it was probably a stupidly delayed realization, but Sasuke couldn't help thinking it as Sakura stripped off the shirt she'd been wearing to reveal a black tank top underneath. She tossed the shirt on the floor without a care and slid her hands under his shirt.

"We can move," she murmured. "I mean, my bedroom doesn't even have a door."

"Tch." Sasuke said, and the slight hesitation he had disappeared completely.

Sakura pulled him up with surprising strength and they crossed the room. She threw the curtain aside to reveal a queen-sized mattress…on the floor. The bedside table next to it looked almost comical.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "Wow."

"I only moved in a few weeks ago, I haven't had any time to get a frame!" Sakura protested.

"You can have people do this shit for you," he said. "Jesus Christ, Sakura."

"I know, but I like doing stuff for myself," she protested.

Sasuke kissed her. "Fucking stupid," he said against her mouth.

"Oh, shut up," Sakura said, and she pulled him down onto the mattress.

Sasuke tore his t-shirt off and Sakura did the same with her tank top, revealing a black lace bra. Already this was much more than it had been at the club.

"You sure you want to do this?" He asked her.

"Oh yeah," Sakura said. She pulled apart for a second and looked at him. "You've done this before, right?"

"You asking if I'm a virgin?" Sasuke muttered, eyes narrowed.

"I like to avoid the term 'virgin', because virginity's a stupid social construct," Sakura said. "But yeah."

"No," Sasuke said shortly. There had been other girls, never in situations that he'd been particularly proud of. Then he looked at her, on the verge of a smirk. "Are you?"

"Don't flatter yourself," Sakura said. "No, I'm not. I mean, my most popular songs are about break-ups. I'd better have at least a little experience."

Well, that wasn't that surprising considering how experienced she was in the everything-else portion of this. Still, Sasuke found himself wondering who the guys had been, in those circumstances. He automatically hated all of them.

"Write what you know and all that," Sakura added.

Sasuke shrugged. "You don't have to." Most of Shikamaru's lyrics just came from random places.

"Oh, I know. But life gives you a lot of stuff to work with." Sakura shrugged and then frowned at him. "This seems like too deep of a pre-sex conversation." She was straddling his legs, and Sasuke smirked. He ran a hand down her side and Sakura shivered. "God."

Then she leaned forward and kissed him hard, her legs slamming his together. Sakura really was deceptively strong; Sasuke realized he had to stop underestimating that part of her. And then they were stripping off their remaining clothes and Sakura's hands were gripping his waist, and the mattress was pushed flat under their combined weight.

They both fell back on the bed, panting. Sakura ran a hand through her hair. "God," she said, sighing.

Sasuke grinned, and it sent a rush of heat through her all over again. "You gonna scream my name again?" He said.

"I wasn't screaming, asshole. I moaned. And so did you, and not quietly."

A red flush crept over Sasuke's cheeks, and (Sakura would never tell him this, because she didn't want to face his wrath) she thought it made him look unbearably cute. Who knew Sasuke Uchiha still had the ability to blush?

And then he turned to her and raised an eyebrow and fuck, why was he so ridiculously attractive? His chest was still rising and falling fast, and it made Sakura smile. They'd gone at it hard, and neither of them regretted it (at least not right now). She'd just wanted to feel him, and she'd done more than that.

"Don't give me that look," Sakura said.

"What look?" He said, smirking. He reached an arm around her and Sakura moved closer.

"Once you get past the hostility, you're such a flirt," Sakura said, shaking her head.

Sasuke glared at her. "Yeah right," he muttered. "You seen yourself?"

"Your strategy of turning things back on me is not effective," Sakura whispered. "So you have to stop trying." She was rewarded with the slight upward quirk of Sasuke's lips.

She pushed herself up, and so did Sasuke. "I'm just going to the bathroom," she said. "You know, the pee routine."

Sasuke raked a hand through his hair and shook his head. "Don't need to know the details."

Sakura laughed and then got up, turning her back on him but knowing he was watching her body. She could feel his eyes on her butt, and it sent a pleasant shiver through her. Instinctively she snatched her bra and underwear off the floor. Suddenly she felt modest, for whatever reason. But Sasuke had averted his eyes as soon as she'd made it clear she was slightly uncomfortable. Sakura turned and gave him a slight smile and then ducked out behind the curtain. She really needed to find a more permanent solution for bedroom walls.

When she pulled back the curtain a minute later and saw him there, lying on her mattress and looking completely cool, she let out a slight laugh that probably sounded crazy. Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"Sorry," she said, waving a hand. "I'm just, uh. Realizing this is kind of weird." Sasuke Uchiha being on her mattress, that is.

"Crazy," Sasuke muttered.

"I can't help it," Sakura said. She grinned and flopped down next to him. Sasuke's arm went around her automatically, and the whole thing seemed weirdly normal. "Good thing I'm almost as famous as you, right?"

"Tch. You wish," Sasuke said.

Sakura laughed and then traced the black lightning pattern down his arm. "Hey, serious question. Why only one sleeve of tattoos?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows at the random inquiry. "Hn. Didn't want two."

"That's fair." Sakura said. "What's special about your right arm, though? Is it guitar-related?"

Sasuke nodded, looking surprised that she'd guessed right. "Didn't want to do the left, because of playing. Too inconvenient."

"You really put your guitar's needs above everyone else, don't you," Sakura said. Teasing him was way too easy, even now. Was that a good thing? "I don't know if that's healthy."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Annoying."

Sakura leaned her head on his shoulder, because it felt natural. Sasuke stiffened for a moment at the gesture, and then relaxed. He was warm, and still shirtless, and both weren't bad. Actually, lying next to him was extremely comfortable. So comfortable that she felt herself drifting off, until…Oh no.

"You're gonna have to leave really soon," Sakura murmured. Her eyes had been closed, but now they were open.

Sasuke frowned. "What?"

"My hair and makeup person is coming over at nine thirty to try out things for the awards show in a few weeks. It's the only time that worked."

Fuck. "You didn't say that earlier," Sasuke muttered.

"I forgot," Sakura said, feeling like an idiot.

Sasuke reached for his shirt and shrugged it on.

"Hey. I'm sorry," Sakura said.

"I know. Whatever, it's fine." He smirked.

"Call me?" Sakura asked him. "I'm really busy the next few days, but I should be free in the evening. Or next week."

"Aa." Sasuke said. "See you."

"Bye," Sakura said.

"And get a real bed," he added.

He heard Sakura snort, but didn't look back at her as he left. He had a feeling that if he met her eyes, it would be a hundred times harder to leave.

Sakura got in the shower as soon as Sasuke left, to feel clean (or at least less dirty) before Shizune came over. She had a feeling Shizune would know anyway, because for whatever reason she could sense these things, but it didn't hurt to try composing herself.

He'd been surprisingly gentle with all of it, Sakura thought as she shampooed her hair. Even with all the heat with which they'd gone at it, Sasuke hadn't been at all rough. Gentleness seemed like the opposite of Sasuke Uchiha on the surface, but there it was.

Just thinking about that made her smile. She was never going to bring it up with him, but now Sakura knew better than ever that Sasuke Uchiha wasn't all roughness.

He was also very good at sex. Actually, it had been some of the best sex she'd had in a long time. Not without its awkwardness, but that was a given. He knew how to find every spot that made her gasp. Granted, she could do it to him just as easily, but she'd had practice.

What, as if he hasn't? She asked herself, and then snorted. It was Sasuke Uchiha. No matter how aloof he was, he'd obviously had a lot of experience. One-night stands, probably; that was what people did in this business if you needed some kind of break. But despite the crazed night at the club with Sasuke, Sakura had never been able to stomach that kind of thing. The guys she'd been with before this (two) had both been long-term. For a while at least.

There was no way Sasuke could keep a relationship hidden from the press for a long period of time—Oh God. Never mind. It had been, what, five weeks since they'd gotten together? If 'together' was the right word, because they'd never had a real conversation about it.

No, they were together. They'd agreed on as much, hadn't they? And the way he acted around her (and vice versa) told Sakura that Sasuke wasn't a 'fuck and done' kind of guy. At least not with her. He'd taken her to his apartment, for God's sake. His bandmates knew about her now.

Stop being so insecure, Sakura told herself sternly. She shut the water off and hopped out. By the time Shizune knocked, she was dressed and looked (to her satisfaction) like she'd been home alone all night, and hadn't done anything gossip-worthy.

The only good thing about leaving Sakura's apartment before morning was that it spared Sasuke the smirks and jokes from his idiot bandmates. None of them had been around when he'd gotten home that night, so Sasuke had been able to go back to his room in peace after taking a shower. Sakura's scent had been in his hair and clothes, and it was a relief to wash it off and feel slightly more normal. Still, a much bigger part of him than he'd ever admit wished he was back on her stupid mattress. Not even having sex, though that had been good.

God, what was wrong with him? Since when did he just like being with someone? Sex was a good release, but just lying on a bed with her? What the fuck was that? For some reason it had felt more intimate than the sex.

"Jesus," Sasuke muttered, toweling off his hair roughly and pulling on a fresh t-shirt and pants. He needed to get his mind off Sakura. At least he'd been able to leave quickly. He hadn't wanted to look like he cared all that much...that would be dangerous. Everything they'd done had felt way too good.

He didn't see Sakura for a few days, let alone talk to her on the phone. It was a Friday morning when he called her, a week after they'd been at her apartment together; she had texted him to say she didn't have much time that week and Sasuke hadn't objected.

"You doing anything tomorrow?" Sasuke asked her, turning a guitar pick over and over in his hands. He was in his bedroom, but the apartment was unusually quiet. Naruto and Kiba had gone out do who knows what, and Sasuke didn't know where Shikamaru was. Probably sleeping. They weren't scheduled to go into the studio, which meant a free day.

"Actually I have an unofficial day off, finally." Sakura said, sounding happy. "I was just going to stay home and try to write. But there's some construction going on next door that's really distracting."

"You want to come over? Practice room's free." And he was itching to see her, despite trying to convince himself otherwise.

There was a pause. "Seriously?"

"Hn. Why not."

"Okay." He could hear her smile.

Two hours later, there was a knock on the apartment door (Sasuke had buzzed her in a minute ago). He went to open it, revealing Sakura, who looked tiny with a large guitar case strapped to her back.

"Hey," she said, giving him a slight smile. She was wearing a Sand Siblings t-shirt, which Sasuke thought was kind of amusing.

"Hi," Sasuke said.

There was an awkwardness in the air between them, and they avoided each other's eyes. Sasuke had a feeling that they were both thinking about the last time they'd seen each other, when they had both been naked. It felt perversely similar to the morning after they had hooked up in the club, which was ridiculous.

"So, you going to let me in?" Sakura asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Aa." Sasuke rolled his eyes and led the way down the hall to the practice room. He pulled two stools out of the corner for them, and they sat down. Normally Sasuke liked silence, but this felt slightly weird.

As soon as Sakura had pulled out her acoustic guitar and started to tune, however, the feeling dissipated. Music could fix anything, apparently. Or at least be a distraction for a while.

Sakura started strumming a melody that was all too familiar: the band's song Drained. Sasuke raised an eyebrow and Sakura grinned at him.

Then she started playing around on the bridge, and Sasuke couldn't resist getting his acoustic guitar.

He hadn't pulled it out in a long time, but he found it under his bed and brought it back into the room. Sakura fiddled while he tuned. It was funny; even with the bright pink hair, when Sakura was dressed down and hunched over a guitar, the way she liked it, Sasuke never would've pegged her as a pop star. Maybe that was the point, though...He shouldn't be pegging her as anything.

Sasuke picked up the melody where she'd left off. Sakura joined in, harmonizing. It sounded good, and Sasuke couldn't help nodding along. He riffed for a bit while Sakura played the bass chords and watched him.

"Your turn," he said.

"Okay," Sakura said, surprised. "This'll be embarrassing, though."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and started playing chords. Sakura shook her head and then started riffing, fingers moving hesitantly at first and then just going for it. She stopped after a minute. "Alright, that's it. This isn't my strong suit."

"Whatever," Sasuke said, irritated with how modest she was. "You wanna sing?"

"Um…Really?" Sakura raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah."

"Uh, sure." She looked slightly embarrassed.

Sasuke started playing the opening chords of Drained again, and Sakura looked at him, surprised. "Your song?"

"Why not."

"I don't know, it'd be weird, wouldn't it?"

Sasuke shrugged.

"Okay, fine." Sakura waved a hand. "Let's just do it."

Sasuke shook his head and then started again. Sakura started the first verse, and he almost wanted to stop playing just to hear her voice. She'd started playing too, probably because it gave her something else to do.

They'd played acoustic versions of the song before, but it took on a whole other identity in Sakura's voice. She knew most of the words, but Sasuke didn't think he would've been paying enough attention to the words if he didn't know them so well. The feelings coming through in her voice overpowered everything else.

When they finished, Sakura sat back and bit her lip, and then smiled hesitantly. "That was fun."

"Sounded good," Sasuke said, even though it had sounded more than good. "You cover any of our songs before?"

"Just for fun. I've been wanting to record a cover of Wake Up and Smell the Poison, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be legal."

"Tch." She was probably right, but immediately Sasuke wanted to hear her sing it. "Want to do one of yours?"

"Do you know any of my songs?" Sakura asked him, surprised.

"One or two," Sasuke said, shrugging. "Easy enough to figure out." He was definitely giving away too much already.

"Right," Sakura said, rolling her eyes. "Okay. You pick."

"No, you. I'll figure out the chords."

"Fine." Sakura adjusted her position and started strumming something fast. Sasuke smirked and watched her fingers, picking up the movements. When she started singing, however, he almost froze. It was a song he didn't recognize, one that hadn't been on her album. He liked it immediately; despite the quick beat, it was darker than her other stuff.

Sakura finished with a flourish and raised her eyebrows. "Not bad," she said, eyeing his guitar.

Sasuke realized with horror that a cocky Sakura was an immediate turn-on. He rolled his eyes at her smirk. "What song is that?"

"It's called 'Screws.' I wrote it a while ago but it didn't make it onto the album."

"Why not?" Sasuke said, eyes narrowed.

"The people with the power didn't like it. Too depressing, maybe?"

"It's good," Sasuke muttered. He almost said 'put it on your next album', but stopped himself. That seemed like too much.

"Thanks," Sakura said, eyebrows raised slightly. "That, um, means a lot. Coming from you." There was no trace of teasing in her voice. She looked away, back down at her guitar, and played a few notes. "But they're not gonna—"

The door burst open just then, and Naruto barged in. "Dude. You guys sound good," Naruto said, wide-eyed. "I was listening from outside."

"I thought this room was soundproof," Sakura said, looking back up at Sasuke. The moment that had just passed between them was gone, and she looked amused.

"It is," Sasuke said through gritted teeth.

"I just got back and I saw you guys in here, so I opened the door while you were playing," Naruto said. "Couldn't resist. Don't worry, I wasn't listening when you guys were talking, but I wanted to get in here before you started making out so I could ask—"

"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke said.

"Anyway. Can we join in? The other guys are here and they definitely want to."

Sasuke looked to Sakura. Honestly, he didn't think it was a bad idea. His music side was taking over and he couldn't help wanting to hear Sakura with the whole band.

"Yeah, that'd be awesome," Sakura said, eyes wide.

"Sure," Sasuke said to Naruto.

"Yes! Hold on, I'll get them!" Naruto said, running out. He came back a minute later with Kiba and Shikamaru, which made Sasuke highly suspicious that all of them had been eavesdropping.

Sakura looked overwhelmed at the sight of all of them, and Sasuke couldn't help smirking.

"Hey, Sakura," Shikamaru said.

"Yo, Sakura. What's up?" Kiba said, grinning at her.

"Um, not much." Sakura said.

"This is gonna be great," Kiba said, hooking a foot around a stool and dragging it over next to Sasuke.

Shikamaru hooked up a microphone next to the piano. "Here, Sakura, this is for you."

"Do I...Need that?" Sakura asked him, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh yeah. You haven't heard Naruto in close quarters," Shikamaru said. "Plus these two like to outdo each other." He motioned to Sasuke and Kiba. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Sakura grinned and pulled her chair closer to Shikamaru's keyboard. "You know the words to 'Machine Stops'?" He asked Sakura. "That'd be sick with your voice."

"Yeah, I think so," Sakura said. "Hold on, let me just look it up." She got out her phone to find the lyrics, and Shikamaru smirked.

"You guys good with that?" Shikamaru said.

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, duh," Kiba said.

"Let's do it!" Naruto said.

Sakura met Sasuke's eyes, giving him an almost disbelieving smile, and then picked up her guitar.

A/N: Unintentionally set myself up for two bedroom updates in a row lol so if this seems sparse it's because my smut well has temporarily run dry (who knew that was possible). But don't worry, there'll be more to come. :)