Thief

by myshadowspirit

Naruto took things. He took your patience. He took your time. But most of all, he took hearts. He probably had a whole collection, stuffed somewhere in some basement, like a hoarder who wouldn't let go. Naruto never let go of your heart. And I mean never. He deserved my hatred. He deserved everything.

10. Chapter Ten

"Kakashi-sensei wants to celebrate, just the original Team Seven. He's taking us all on a vacation and he's paying for all the expenses."

I gave Naruto a long look. Kakashi-sensei had mentioned the team getting together one last time. He had said 'one last time', like he didn't think he could get Sasuke-kun to ever spend time with all of us again. At the moment, Sasuke-kun should have been feeling his equivalent to gratitude for our former teacher. With all the work the new Hokage did to get him out of prison, spending some time with all of us was the least he could do. I knew of the idea, but when Kakashi-sensei had mentioned it to Naruto and me earlier it sounded like a quiet get together at most likely, Kakashi-sensei's house, where we would eat dinner while the three of us tried not to cry and embarrass Sasuke-kun too much, but in the process doing it a lot. Nothing had made it seem like we were going anywhere that could be called a 'vacation'. And Kakashi-sensei never agreed to pay for anything.

But as the week carried on, Naruto supplied me with more and more details of the plan, assumingly gathering them from Kakashi-sensei. The Hokage didn't get many days off, but apparently, if so and so was able to do such and such by this day, then Kakashi-sensei would be able to finish this and that and keep the weekend free.

It was decided that we were to stay at an onsen in a neighboring village rather than in Konoha because not many of the residents were told that Uchiha Sasuke was to be taken out of prison yet. With less people to recognize Sasuke-kun's face, it would cut down on drama following us around. I had mentioned that Naruto's face was quite recognizable to everyone, no matter what village we went to, and how on earth was he able to convince Kakashi-sensei that this was a good idea when it would have been much easier just to have a small celebration at someone's house? Even if Kakashi-sensei didn't want to open his living quarters to us, Naruto's apartment wasn't nearly as bad as it had been when he was a kid.

Naruto had given me an answer, but it was a very long winded complicated one that I had trouble following and lost interest in quickly. There did seem to be a lot of black mail on Naruto's part too, but that was all I really got out of it.

As the days were going on, it seemed so and so wasn't doing his thing fast enough and Kakashi-sensei was thinking he might have to cancel. Naruto begged and begged and after promising to do a bunch of extra shit for Kakashi-sensei, such as clean his house, bathe his dogs and buy a bunch of questionable items, Kakashi-sensei said that he would make it, but to leave without him and he'd meet us at a restaurant between seven and seven thirty the evening of. He was going to need some time to ditch his ANBU bodyguards. My opinion on the matter was ignored.

It was a three-day trip to this village which was known for its tourist attractions. For a shinobi though, the trip could easily have been made within twelve hours. Naruto met me at my parents' house before we were to go find Sasuke-kun.

I hadn't yet seen Sasuke-kun since he was released from prison. He was currently staying at a government owned house until he could decide on what he wanted to do with himself. Money wasn't a problem. Sasuke-kun always had money, untouched for years in a bank. It was just a matter of what Sasuke-kun would do with it.

Naruto had seen him already. More than once actually. I didn't know what they had done together. Apparently, somehow, Naruto had convinced Sasuke-kun to come along with us. That was all I knew. As doubtful as that sounded as much as Kakashi-sensei willing to pay for our onsen, I didn't know anymore. If anyone could convince Sasuke-kun into doing anything, it was Naruto.

"So, like, Sasuke has like no clothes." Naruto laughed. "I tried to take him shopping but he didn't wanna go. I mean, I can kind of understand if he wants to stay low, keep outta sight, but he wouldn't even tell me his measurements so I could buy him some, because he didn't trust me to get him clothes that weren't orange or something. Dude, orange is my color! Hell, I'm gonna let the bastard steal my fashion sense. But maybe he is, because he's literally wearing my clothes right now. Like, I don't get it. He threw away that shirt and those pants he was wearing when we got here, which was understandable. They were falling apart."

I found myself unable to respond. I really wished Naruto would just shut up. I felt uncomfortable with the thought of Sasuke-kun wearing Naruto's clothes. Or naked.

"So, we should try to find him something else to wear while we are at the onsen. Maybe they have a shop or something for like tourist merchandise. They got to have something that even he's willing to wear. I need my clothes. I don't have time to do laundry that often."

As we got closer to the government housing, I was getting increasingly more and more nervous. Naruto was of course still talking.

"These houses are kinda plain, but Sasuke didn't want to live with me, even though I offered, like a million times. At least I got furniture, ya know? I think this is the right house."

Oh no, we were here already? I felt myself start to sweat even though I was trying so hard to keep cool. I had even left my light jacket unzipped in the chilly weather. Naruto had commented on it when he first saw me, but I had planned on zipping it back up before I saw Sasuke-kun. Of course, now I felt as overheated as ever.

Naruto rammed loudly on the door. "He doesn't have a doorbell," he explained to me. "YO, BASTARD! OPEN UP!" Naruto knocked on the door for three minutes straight, yelling the whole time until he was answered with heavy stomps from the other side of the door.

The door wrenched open. "I told you not to come here!" Sasuke-kun spat. His hair seemed thicker and wilder than I remembered it, but I hadn't seen Sasuke-kun in daylight in months so maybe it always had been like that. The T-shirt he wore was Naruto's and white, yet Sasuke-kun's skin was whiter, making the old shirt look more gray. The stretched out collar fell over one shoulder. I lost the nerve to look him in the face, so my eyes stayed on the thin material of the shirt, and the way it laid on the curve of his shoulder and bicep of the arm holding the door. It was sort of amusing to see Sasuke-kun in orange pants, and painful to notice the bandage peeking from underneath the sleeve of his missing arm. I was avoiding Sasuke-kun's face but I felt his eyes flash over me like a flickering firelight. His posture straightened. "Sakura." I wasn't sure if that was a greeting or him just reminding himself what my name was. I always took it as a greeting.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun," I murmured shyly.

"Dude, you don't look ready at all! It's still cold outside. You're gonna need at least a jacket or something."

Sasuke-kun steeled his glare over to Naruto. "I told you that I wasn't going."

"But then you said you'd do it for Sakura-chan!" I looked at Naruto shocked. I didn't know that was the reason Sasuke-kun had agreed to go out with us!

"I did not say that," Sasuke-kun growled, killing the fleeting hope.

Naruto pushed himself into the building without being invited. "But I know that's why you let yourself think about it..."

Sasuke-kun clenched his teeth as he glared at the back of Naruto's head. "Go away."

"Kakashi-sensei's the Hokage now and you have to go if Kakashi-sensei sez so."

Sasuke-kun looked at me, who was still hesitant about entering the building, then back to Naruto. "Then where is he?"

"He said he'd meet us there."

Sasuke-kun scoffed. He went deeper into the house, leaving the door open, so I accepted the unspoken invitation.

"I'm definitely not going if he's not even here to carry out his own 'orders'." I watched Sasuke-kun's back as he walked, noticing the way his shoulders swayed at the movement. It had been so long since I had watched him just simply walk. He was either in battle or in such a weakened state that his movements had never been casual before. Sasuke-kun was so very handsome. I was feeling sort of lightheaded. Why?! What was wrong with me?

"But Sasuke!" Naruto whined. "You're telling me that you made Sakura-chan wake up at six o'clock in the morning and come all the way over here for nothing?!" I normally woke up at six o'clock in the morning. Sasuke-kun made a face that said that was none of his problem anyway. "Besides, I need you."

Sasuke-kun rested his one hand on his hip, weight against the plain wall and eyebrows raised in a questioning, 'you better prove that' kinda way. I wondered if that was Sasuke-kun's way of flirting back, because afterwards Naruto started staring at Sasuke-kun with a silly grin that did not go away. I watched them be silent with one another for what seemed like forever.

"It's a mission," Naruto said slowly after a long moment. "The last mission. The last time we'll ever have a chance to see what's underneath Kakashi-sensei's mask."

Both Sasuke-kun and I stared at Naruto for another whole minute, the both of us suddenly being thrown back into the past and I don't think any of us remembered how old we were.

"How's that going to even work? We've already tried everything. You know Kakashi doesn't take off his mask in the bathhouse," Sasuke-kun said.

"And we can't ever seem to catch him when he eats either," I replied. "He's got that down to an art."

"I got a plan this time. It's gonna involve a lot of teamwork though. This is something that we could have never pulled off as naïve kids. Come on Sasuke, you have to do it for old time's sake, and then I'll never ask you to do anything ever again."

"You always say that," Sasuke-kun grumbled. Naruto ignored him and moved into a different room in the house. "Get out of my room!"

"I'll go look for something warmer for you to wear." Sasuke-kun scrunched his nose in Naruto's direction like he was thinking about going after him, but he suddenly remembered I was there and looked at me.

"Your hair is longer."

I blanked. It occurred to me that even though I had seen Sasuke-kun every day at the prison, he had yet to see me as his eyes had been sealed. Now his eyes were roaming all over me in a way that made me uncomfortable, like his elite vision could see every other thing I had neglected about my appearance.

I played with the end of a hair strand. It was past my shoulders now, how lazy of me. "I haven't gotten around to cut it."

"Where did this big black coat come from!?" I heard Naruto cry from the bedroom, and Sasuke-kun quickly turned to rescue the article of clothing.

Sasuke-kun kicked Naruto out of the room so he could change his clothes in peace. Naruto waited impatiently.

"What's this so-called plan to see underneath Kakashi-sensei's mask?" I asked Naruto.

Naruto answered in a low voice. "I just said that to get Sasuke to come. Seriously, Kakashi-sensei's always gonna be way smarter than us. I have no idea on how to get his mask off."

---

The trip was pleasant and uncomfortable at the same time. Naruto rattled on and Sasuke-kun voiced his annoyance to everything he said, like he was listening. It had been so long since I heard Sasuke-kun talk more than one sentence at a time. I had forgotten his speech pattern.

Sasuke-kun was happy. Or at least as happy as he ever was able to be. I knew he must be relieved that he was finally out of the dark, sightless prison. I watched him watch birds longer than he would have, or pause to inspect a leaf for no reason, just because he hadn't been able to see in such a long time.

Naruto and Sasuke-kun talked like I wasn't there as we leapt from tree to tree, but that was alright. It was almost just like old times and I didn't care.

"Stop staring at me," he snapped at Naruto. I had been staring at him just as much but Sasuke-kun didn't have anything to say about that.

"I just want to make sure you're not gonna trip and fall. I know they didn't let you move around too much at the prison."

"That didn't mean I lost all strength in my legs. Besides, I did sit ups to pass time and keep in shape."

"Whoa, they let you do that?"

"They weren't paying attention."

"That still doesn't mean your legs won't give out."

"I'm fine!"

Naruto paused in his next leap, waiting for me to catch up. "Sakura-chan, are you alright? You've been awfully quiet."

I smiled warmly at him. "Yes. I'm just happy." Naruto grinned back at me.

We stopped for lunch and ate bento boxes that I had packed. I was pleased that Sasuke-kun ate his in its entirety. I spent some time helping Naruto on a couple of examples that might be on the written part of his Chūnin exam.

"If there are twelve enemy shinobi, one three meters at one o'clock, one five meters at three o'clock-"

"Wait hold on, you're reading it too fast," Naruto said, frantically writing in his notepad.

"Dobe, this is the fifth time she's tried to read this question to you," Sasuke-kun cut in, most likely getting tired of listening to me say the same thing over and over. He was lazily slumped at the base of a tree. I was again noting how completely at ease he was around us.

"This is the most complicated question I've ever heard of!"

"This is the type of stuff that they taught at the academy. Are you sure this is even a Chūnin exam question?"

"It's got like, all these different parts and-"

"The answer is: you throw the shuriken at a 42 degree angle with 3,000 N of force and a torque of 20 percent."

I gave Sasuke-kun a sideways glare. "It's not going to help him any if you give him the answer."

"Wait, what the fuck? You have to say the force too?"

"It's mass times acceleration."

"But dude, who the fuck thinks like that in a battle? I'm not going to just use my eyeballs and accurately measure to the inch where everyone else is and then set my settings to 3,000 N like I'm some kind of robot. If there are twelve guys, I'm just gonna make twelve shadow clones."

"You can't make up your own answers. That question is multiple choice," Sasuke-kun answered dismissively.

"How do you even know!?"

"Because it's the exact same question we had in the academy!"

"How can you even remember anything that happened at the academy?! That was so long ago!"

"How can you forget everything?!"

"Guys!" I interrupted. The bickering was fine when I wasn't involved, but I was trying to do the difficult task of teaching Naruto anything that resembled math. "It is important because even if you can throw a shuriken accurately without doing any math in your head, what if you could see the enemy and your comrade could not? Then you'd have to give him instructions."

"Whoa, I never thought of that," Naruto mused. "But still, I'd just use my shadow clones-"

"Naruto, this isn't really a practical battle question, it's a math question, and math forces you to do critical thinking, which helps exercise your brain," I continued, bopping Naruto on the head with a pen.

Naruto gave a groan. "Then Sasuke should be studying, since his brain's dumb and he's still a genin too."

"At least I can do math!" he shouted back.

"Good lord," I muttered as the arguing continued. I let Naruto give up on studying, and even let myself laugh at some of the ridiculous things the boys found themselves fighting over, like Sasuke-kun getting mad that Naruto had noticed he ate everything in his bento box.

Once we entered the town, the mood between all three of us changed. Naruto immediately stopped teasing Sasuke-kun about everything he did, and Sasuke-kun stopped snapping. Silent Sasuke-kun was a nervous Sasuke-kun.

Naruto walked next to Sasuke-kun's side, hand stuffed in his pocket as he looked to his left, eyes grilling and analyzing every person we passed. He'd bump his right shoulder with Sasuke-kun's whenever a particularly angry looking person was finally out of sight, as if to shake Sasuke-kun out of an invisible panic.

I stayed on Sasuke-kun's right, doing the same, fists clenched at my sides. Sasuke-kun was safe in between us, because if anyone tried to start shit, there would have been some kind of hell to pay.

After a few hours of it being dark, Sasuke-kun spoke up, "You have no idea where we are going, do you, Naruto?"

"What? I got the address of the restaurant written on my hand! See?" Naruto pulled his hand out of his pocket to show it to Sasuke-kun.

"I can't even read that."

"Oh, really? I was hoping you could because I can't either." He laughed. "You have 'special eyes', so you know."

"So, we're lost?!"

"We're not lost," Naruto said.

I peered at the both of them. "Let's just ask someone for directions. What was the name of the restaurant?"

"It was either Koharu something... or maybe Soyokaze...

"Those don't sound anything alike," I commented exasperated.

"I'm sure once I see it, I'll remember," Naruto said, not at all worried. "Or maybe Kakashi-sensei will find us first."

"I have a feeling Kakashi-sensei is going to be way later than he said. And I'm starting to get hungry again," I complained.

"Okay, okay just a few more blocks and I'm sure it's around here somewhere."

A few more blocks, Naruto led us directly into a red-light district. This did not improve my mood which was growing fowler with every second of my grumbling stomach. I tried to ignore the cat calls.

"Whoa, there's a lot of women over here," Naruto said completely oblivious. It really was a wonder. With all the years Naruto spent with Jiraiya-sama you'd think he would recognize what a red-light district looked like. Unless of course he was only playing dumb, which was something Naruto did far more often than I realized. "I think they're looking at me."

"Don't look back," Sasuke-kun said between clenched teeth. "They'll take it as an agreement."

Naruto was already waving at one of them.

"What's your name cutie?"

"It's Uz-"

"What the hell are you doing!?" Sasuke-kun grabbed him by the shoulder and squeezed him roughly, pushing him ahead of us.

I noticed another one of the scantily clad women eyeing Sasuke-kun. "My, my, aren't you beautiful. I'd love it if you'd hurt me like that."

I glared at her, pink faced. "Forget about it, because he's already taken!" When I said that, I was referring to how Sasuke-kun's heart already belonged to Naruto.

Sasuke-kun gave me a bewildered look and I realized that embarrassingly it must have looked like I was talking about him and me being together.

"Naruto, I'm starting to run out of patience-"

"No, no, no it's right here!" Naruto said quickly, leading us to a sketchy looking dump of a building.

"There is no way that this is the restaurant. I don't even think this is a restaurant," Sasuke-kun snapped.

"Well, even if it's not exactly the place Kakashi-sensei said, Sakura-chan's hungry." Inside the seedy building, green and blue lights flashed with the base of some music. "We'll just grab a quick bite to eat and then figure out what to do."

I felt immediately out of place as soon as I stepped through the entryway. Part of the reason for this was because Sasuke-kun had disappeared from in between us.

Refusing to enter the building, Sasuke-kun said, "I'll stay out here. You just get her something to eat."

"Sasuke! Come on! You can't stay out here. The whores are gonna rape you." Naruto grabbed Sasuke-kun's hand and dragged him inside.

We were seated at a booth to my surprise, since I wasn't expecting any tables. It was loud and dark with lots of people. An open bar was a few paces away. I sat down first, Naruto quickly sliding next to me before staring at Sasuke-kun insistently. Eventually Sasuke-kun sat hesitantly down across from us. The host left us with menus.

"Order anything you want, Sakura-chan," Naruto said as he opened his menu. "It's all on Kakashi-sensei."

"How? He's not here. This isn't the right place. We should leave," Sasuke-kun complained, sitting rigidly in his seat. I scanned the items on the menu quickly. I was really hungry. Maybe I could just order something quick and then we could leave.

"Kakashi-sensei gave me this!" Naruto pulled out a credit card from his pocket.

I gaped at it. "No, he didn't!"

"Did too, 'cause I have it in my hand."

"Let me see that!" I ripped the card out of Naruto's grasp. "This isn't his credit card. It doesn't even have his name on it."

"It has to be his! It's from his pocket." I gave Naruto a glare. "I mean I saw him take it out of his pocket before he gave it to me. Besides, it's probably a secret code name from when he was in the ANBU."

"He hasn't been in the ANBU for close to 15 years."

"He doesn't use it that often! Jeez, obviously."

"Are you guys ready to order?" The waitress was already here. Dammit. I hadn't decided yet. I looked over to Sasuke-kun to see if he was ready. If I ordered last it would give me a little bit more extra time to decide. Sasuke-kun was leaning on his arm on the table, his fist clenched tightly and uncomfortably. He didn't appear to want anything. "Wait a second!" the waitress exclaimed.

Naruto had paused, mouth open, actually ready to order.

"You're not Uzumaki Naruto, are you?!"

The confused look on his face melted away with that smile of his. "As a matter of fact..."

I rolled my eyes. I would never get used to it. Sasuke-kun was glaring at Naruto like he found it just as annoying as I did.

"You totally saved my father's life during the war!"

"Well, I don't remember, but probably."

"Oh my! I have to go tell- Oh wait, your orders! Did you decide on drinks? Oh wait, you don't even have drink menus! Here, here!" She gave a stack of drink menus that she had been keeping under her arm to Naruto. "Are you going to need more time?"

"Yes," I answered. The waitress gave me a surprised look, eyes going back and forth from me to Naruto, obviously trying to figure out our relationship.

"Oh, okay, I'll be right back then."

Naruto spun to us like he had just found the cure for cancer. "They're not gonna card us! See?" He handed over the drink menus. Sasuke-kun wouldn't lift his arm to take his so Naruto just dropped it in front of him. "Hanging out with me has its perks."

"I doubt they'd card anyone here," Sasuke-kun said unimpressed, looking around the establishment in contempt.

"I don't care. Drinks are gonna be on me because I'm famous now."

"I don't know, Naruto. I don't want to stay here long." I glanced over at Sasuke-kun. His flat look that was directed at our more extroverted friend, also said he wanted to get the hell out of here.

"We have to! Sasuke, have you ever seen Sakura-chan drunk?" Sasuke-kun said nothing. Of course, he hadn't. I had only been drunk once. "It's the greatest."

I slapped Naruto upside the head, afraid that his suggestive tone would reveal more details that I desperately did not want Sasuke-kun to ever know about.

"Ow! Well anyway, get this Sakura-chan." He pointed to a picture of a fancy pink cocktail. "It's sweet. You'll like it. I'm getting it for you. Sasuke, what do you want?"

"I'm not drinking alcohol."

"Since when have you been such a pussy and afraid of breaking the law?"

"I don't care about the law. Alcohol makes you stupid."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sasuke-kun. "Then it shouldn't make a difference because you're already stupid!"

"You're the stupid one!"

"Guys!" I was ignored.

"But you need it, Sasuke. You have the longest pull up your ass in the world! Just let me loosen it... just a little bit..."

Naruto and I stared at Sasuke-kun, waiting for a reaction. His body looked like it was too busy self-destructing from anger, but right before he was about to scream at us, he bit back his tongue as the waitress returned.

"Are we all ready to order?"

"Water," Sasuke-kun growled out, still glaring at Naruto.

"Come on Sasuke, order a drink!"

The waitress playfully winked at Sasuke-kun. "Order a drink!" Sasuke-kun's eyes flashed red and purple dangerously in the waitress's direction and she took a step back in fright. "Water it is!"

"Sasuke-kun!" I hissed. "Put that away!"

Sasuke-kun turned his gaze to me, face unreadable, but his eye fell back to its natural black, while he let his hair fall over the Rinnegan. Naruto quickly ordered his drink and mine before asking if they served ramen. After the waitress promised to do her best, Naruto suddenly remembered that I was hungry. "What do you want Sakura-chan?" he asked. Not waiting for my answer, he ordered a bunch of food for me anyway. I would have been more annoyed with it, if what he suggested didn't sound amazing. "Sasuke can share, since he's too much of a prick to get his own food."

I hadn't taken my eyes off Sasuke-kun because he had yet to tear his gaze away from me after I had reprimanded him. I wasn't going to be the one to lose this staring contest. But with the mentioning of Sasuke-kun's name from Naruto, he turned his glare back to its usual spot on him.

After the waitress dashed away, I said to Sasuke-kun, "Don't show your Sharingan, Sasuke-kun. If people know Naruto here, it's very possible they know who you are and you don't have nearly as many fans."

"I can handle it," Sasuke-kun said evenly.

"I'm not talking about the waitress. If her father fought in the war, then chances are she knows shinobi, and then we'll have a problem!"

Sasuke-kun's arm tightened. "Like I said, they can try it!"

"Yeah, no one's touching Sasuke," Naruto agreed. "Not if I can help it."

I glared at Naruto. "You're being a bad influence!"

"I guess she's kinda right though, Sasuke. We should try to avoid getting into a fight."

"Then let's leave!"

"But we already ordered the food!"

Sasuke-kun rolled his eyes.

We waited in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes until our drinks arrived. Taking a sip of mine I found it was ridiculously tasty.

"Do you like it, Sakura-chan?"

"It's good," I admitted. Naruto took a sip from my straw, and I let him since he was the one paying for it.

"It is good. I knew you'd like it. What about you, Sasuke? Wanna try Sakura's girly drink?"

"No."

"Sasuke-kun doesn't like sweet things," I said idly as I played with the bright colored straw. I was pleased with myself that I remembered such things when it didn't seem Naruto had.

"Oh, that's right. He likes to be miserable." I watched Naruto place the bottle of his beer to his mouth, his lips pressing around it like a kiss.

Whoa, that was weird. It wasn't that I was thinking about kissing Naruto. Just with the low lighting, music and my drink, I was thinking it would be nice to kiss someone. My eyes landed briefly on Sasuke-kun. His smoldering scowl made me melt a little. The way his dark eyebrows twitched in his anxiety and the tips of his hair swayed with every movement was hypnotizing. It didn't matter what he was doing, the sharp color of his hair against his skin was breathtaking. Until one noticed how dark his one eye was. Then you couldn't pull away from that focal point. There was no color darker. I tried to flick my gaze down to his lips, but with his mouth pressed into a grim line and him noticing my staring, I turned away quickly, trying to look fascinated by a dumb poster that hung on the wall. I would probably never be able to kiss anyone again with my situation, me being the third wheel and all.

Oh, except for Ino of course. I kind of missed her. She would certainly lively up everything if she were here now. Sasuke-kun was doing his best to bring the mood down on his side of the table.

I noticed our waitress was talking to a bunch of other waiters from across the room. She pointed in our direction and Naruto waved back at them with his easy smile. She practically swooned.

"Stop flirting with the staff," I said, giving him a shove. It was pissing Sasuke-kun off to no end.

"I'm not flirting, I'm just being friendly! Besides, I don't even know how to flirt."

Both Sasuke-kun and I stared at him, before I burst out into a dry laugh.

"Dobe, you flirt with everything that breathes," Sasuke-kun commented, pretending to be bored. I wondered if Naruto ever made Sasuke-kun jealous. He made me jealous, and I didn't even want Naruto.

"What? No, I don't. Dude, it's not my fault that right now, everyone likes me because I saved the world or something. It'll blow over. I piss people off too much, remember?"

"You piss Sakura off," Sasuke-kun said. I nodded my agreement. "And you piss me off."

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying," Naruto answered moodily. "The people that actually matter to me. Everyone else is just a groupie."

"Naruto," I laughed, surprised that he got glum so suddenly. "You have many friends besides just us."

"Kinda."

"Haven't you been spending a lot of time with Hinata?"

"Not really. I mean, I know things have been rough with her, so I wanted to try to help her out, but I think... I don't know. She doesn't seem to like it when I'm around her. I couldn't keep Neji from dying. She probably blames me for it." Naruto took another drink.

"What? Naruto, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say and you're a moron! Hinata's in love with you."

Naruto let out a laugh that didn't sound right at all. I couldn't tell if it was because he didn't believe me or didn't want to believe me. "Everyone's in love with me," he said, giving me a nudge. "Of course, Hinata's too nice of a person to say that she blames me. She doesn't mean to, but it's just human nature. I blame Grandma Tsunade for Pervy Sage even though I know it's not her fault. I just can't help it."

"What happened to Jiraiya?" Sasuke-kun asked.

"He's dead," Naruto answered bluntly. He finished the rest of his beer and placed it on the table. He hardly had to lift his hand again before the waitress was already over asking if he wanted another one. "Sure!" He looked over at me. "Boy, Sakura-chan, you sucked that down fast. Get her another one too."

"Naruto, I don't-," but the waitress had already hurried off. "I didn't need a second drink," I finished.

"But you haven't even gotten your food yet, and you need a drink with your food."

When the first of the appetizers arrived, I inhaled my portion like I hadn't eaten all day. Unfortunately, the sticky sauce the chicken was soaked in was somewhat spicy and I took to washing it down with my alcoholic drink. Naruto supplied an endless number of refills.

"Where the fuck's Kakashi-sensei?!" Naruto exclaimed, standing up and looking around like he could spot him.

"He's not here because you decided to stop at the wrong place," Sasuke-kun explained. I don't really know why he was bothering.

"Well, he's missing out," Naruto sat back down in his seat. "This food is actually really great, even if they don't exactly have ramen." The closest thing that this place had to ramen were french-fries to Naruto's disappointment, but he had already eaten a dozen of them. "So, I've been trying to read more," Naruto started. I knew exactly where he was going with this and rolled my eyes. "Since you know, Pervy Sage was a writer and I feel like I should be doing it for him."

That line was specifically for Sasuke-kun, as Naruto realized Sasuke-kun was less likely to say anything mean back to him if he started a sentence with 'Pervy Sage'. Sasuke-kun wasn't someone I had thought to be sensitive to other people's problems, but even he could tell that Naruto had taken that death hard. Unfortunately for Sasuke-kun, Naruto saw he recognized it and began to abuse the fact in order to talk about stupid things that would especially annoy Sasuke-kun.

"So, I read the whole series, right?" Naruto continued. "And at first I thought it was gross, because you know, I started reading it before I really got it, but now I get it."

Sasuke-kun grunted because he must have thought he was obligated to at least pretend that he was listening. I frowned at Naruto. I knew what Jiraiya-sama's series was about.

"But then, some of the things I think still sound gross. I don't want to say they're gross because I haven't done it myself, so maybe it's amazing."

"Before you continue running your mouth, some of us are eating," I cut in before Naruto could go into detail.

"Like eating pussy," he said anyway. Sasuke-kun went still so fast that it almost looked like he jerked, but it was just him going so fixed so suddenly that the lack of breathing was unsettling. He kept his face incredibly straight. "Like what the fuck is that like? It might not be that bad. I don't know what it tastes like. I kinda know what it smells like..."

I felt myself burn up so quickly, it was like I had been caught on fire. Naruto's glance toward me was subtle, and with Sasuke-kun doing his best to ignore him, I didn't think he noticed.

"It's wet in there so maybe it's just like saliva or kissing or something. Babies come out of there, so it's got to be sanitary and shit. But then I think, pee also comes out of there..."

"Pee doesn't come out of the vagina," I said, irked that boys were dumb and feeling like I had to suddenly educate everyone with my medical background. I also decided to use this as an excuse to distract myself from my earlier embarrassment. "It comes from the urethra."

"What is that?"

I gritted my teeth in frustration. "It's another hole."

"There's another one!?" I turned my head away from him stiffly. "Pee doesn't come out of the vagina so it's sanitary?"

"None of it is sanitary! The mouth, for one, has a billion different bacteria in it. There's always a chance of some sort of infection." Naruto was watching me like I was talking about the most interesting thing in the world, though I knew he wasn't listening to a word I was saying. He was just enjoying my flustered reaction. "How do you think STDs are spread? They can be passed on from oral sex just as easily as regular sex. That's why you should always use a condom!" Naruto raised his eyebrows at that remark, alluding to a time when the both of us certainly did not use a condom.

"Well, okay. So, there are some risks. But why do people do it then? And what about blow jobs? Pee definitely comes out of there. I know that one."

I had to be turning red now. I tried to concentrate on my drink. "Some people are gross and don't care about sanitary issues," I said, obviously not one of those people.

"Huh." Naruto turned to Sasuke-kun. "What about you Sasuke, do you think blow jobs are gross?" Sasuke-kun tilted his head and opened his mouth to say something but Naruto cut him off. "Before you say anything, think about how amazing it must feel first. Assuming you've never had one yourself. Fuck. I think I just gave myself a boner."

I smacked Naruto in the face.

Sasuke-kun clamped his mouth shut and then reopened it again. "I was going to say I'm not a part of this conversation."

"I'm talking to you. You're a part of the conversation!"

Sasuke-kun turned his head away, letting his hair mask his expression from us. I couldn't help thinking that giving Sasuke-kun a blow job was not disgusting at all, as it was impossible for anything about him to be gross. In fact, imagining his face, losing that stony expression and actually showing feeling for once, it made me feel a tight pull of muscle shifting low inside of me. I took a long drag of my drink.

"Okay, so we established there are risks, but everything has risks. Some things are riskier than others, but what I really don't get is eating ass."

I choked.

"I mean, that seems super unsanitary, and I don't even really see the point. Like does that feel good? It can't possibly taste good, can it? I mean, maybe I can see gay guys doing it if they're desperate and don't have a lubricant, but in Pervy-sage's book, he did it to a girl."

"Naruto! Please! We're eating!"

"So, you're not into it?"

"If you don't stop talking about this, I'm going to rip out your tongue to silence you and you'll never taste anything again!"

Naruto ignored me and addressed Sasuke-kun. "What about you Sasuke?"

Sasuke-kun somehow was able to change the subject simply saying, "The waitress hasn't come back in a while."

"You scared her away bastard, remember?" It infuriated me somewhat that Naruto would listen to Sasuke-kun but ignore me. "You want somethin'?" Naruto shoved himself to his feet, grasping the back of the booth for balance. "I'll go find her for you. What do you want?"

"I want the check. And I don't think it's a good idea for you to leave the table."

Naruto waved his hand, which meant he had to let go of the booth and he nearly toppled over. "I'm not gonna get lost! Just go over to the bar."

Sasuke-kun let out his breath slowly as Naruto walked away.

"The bar is only a few feet away," I said. "You can still see him, can't you?"

"Seeing him isn't the problem."

I turned my head around as the bar was behind me. Naruto had quickly located our waitress and appeared to be talking her up a storm. She blushed at something he said, and I pursed my lips together. "Doesn't know how to flirt my ass! He knows exactly what he's doing!"

Sasuke-kun didn't have anything to say to that as the both of us watched Naruto let the waitress touch the stump of his missing arm. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but oh could I imagine it, 'Does your battle wound still hurt?' 'Not if you are gentle with it...' I nearly belched.

"Aren't you going to go up there and do something about it?" I asked, not taking my eyes away.

"Hn. Why don't you do it? You're practically his babysitter already." Sasuke-kun said most things neutrally. Because of this, it made him seem cold and rude when he was just stating things as he saw it. But this time, there seemed to be a little bit more distaste in his voice than usual, like, Sasuke-kun was almost jealous of me.

I swung back around in my seat, landing harder on my ass than I meant to. "Oh no. He's not my responsibility anymore. Watching after him when you were gone was enough. Besides, he's yours now."

Sasuke-kun frowned at me. "What do you mean by that?"

I sucked on the straw of my almost finished drink-it was mostly melted ice now-and stared back at Sasuke-kun. I wasn't exactly sure if I was supposed to know about Sasuke-kun's and Naruto's secret relationship. Sasuke-kun knew I had seen them, but no one ever said anything. "Isn't he like..." I didn't want to say 'boyfriend'. Sasuke-kun was watching me like he was just waiting to become upset with whatever poor choice of wording I did decide. "... yours," I just wound up repeating.

"How drunk are you?"

I suddenly sat up a little, trying not to appear so slouched and sloppy. "I'm not."

Sasuke-kun gave me a look that clearly said he didn't believe me before his eyes snapped back to Naruto. "Naruto doesn't belong to anyone," he said without looking at me.

I supposed that was true. At the moment, Naruto belonged to the waitress. Sometimes, Naruto belonged to Hinata, and at one point he had belonged to me. I got up to twist back around and saw that the girl was now touching Naruto's other bicep, which he had flexed for her. She was leaning awfully close to his face, and he was making no move to step back. "You're not going to go say anything?"

"What difference would it make? Naruto's always been addicted to attention."

Naruto was going to do it. He was going to kiss her. I saw his eyes start to droop and his head move. "What the hell!?" I shouted so loudly that Naruto heard me and jumped back. He apologized to the waitress before moving around her, grabbing two drinks in his one hand. I saw the waitress try to help him carry them, but he shooed her away with a smile and a wave of his missing arm. He sauntered back over to us, me glaring at him the entire time.

"Sorry I took so long, but apparently, everything we order is going to be on the house, on the account of me being a hero, so we don't even have to use Kakashi-sensei's card!"

"What did you think you-" Naruto stopped me mid sentence as he let the drinks land somewhat messily onto the table.

"Here you go Sakura-chan, have another Cosmos."

If I were more sober, Naruto buying my silence with another drink would have never worked. Unfortunately for Naruto, Sasuke-kun wasn't nearly as easy to gain forgiveness for. He tried anyway as he pushed the second drink in front of Sasuke-kun.

"I got you a Bloody Mary because you hate sweet things. I remembered you liked tomatoes." Sasuke-kun didn't answer him, he just gave Naruto a look of absolute seething. "It's pretty gross so you should like it right?"

Sasuke-kun actually made to knock the glass over in his rage, but Naruto somehow grabbed it and pulled it to safety. It was a pretty impressive feat with Naruto being as buzzed as he was.

"Fine Teme, no need to make a mess. I'll drink the disgusting drink! Was trying to be nice."

"You probably need the vegetables anyway," I commented. It distilled the violent mood rather quickly.

"I eat vegetables! I eat scallions, corn, leek, and onion, sometimes carrots and peas."

"The vegetables in instant ramen don't count. They're dehydrated and then cooked in the water. All the nutrients are gone by the time you eat them."

"Raw vegetables are the worst though!" Naruto stirred the Bloody Mary once with the celery stick before removing the celery and tasting the dipped end. He made a face. "Yeah man, like healthy shit."

"Bloody Mary's aren't healthy," I told him. "On account of the alcohol."

"Then what's the point of it?" Naruto continued to suck on the end of the celery stick. I was waiting for him to bite off the end, but he did no such thing. Instead, his eyes flashed over to Sasuke-kun who was just as moody as ever.

Naruto casually dipped the celery back into the drink again, before licking the red juice off slowly and suggestively, running his tongue under the vegetable far longer than he had to, eyes locked on Sasuke-kun.

Sasuke-kun looked like he had stopped breathing as he watched Naruto's mouth. I gaped at the both of them. Naruto pulled the celery out, his lips going into the craftiest, smuggest smirk I had ever seen on his face. It only lasted for an instant though, as he soon was pushing the celery lazily back in between his lips.

I tried to remember exactly when Naruto had gained the gall. He had always been somewhat annoying. He wasn't one to keep his mouth shut when there was talk about sex, but now it was different than any of the failed attempts Naruto ever had in hitting on me. Now he was more subtle. Now he knew what he was doing. When did he become so much more confident in himself? When did he get sexier?

And why was I so annoyed by it?

Sasuke-kun looked like he was going to choke on his own spit, watching Naruto's antics. He swallowed. "When are we going?"

Naruto put the celery back in the glass. "I ordered all of us shots. They should be here soon."

Sasuke-kun narrowed his eyes. "That's the exact opposite of answering my question."

"Take the shot with us, Sasuke. For Team Seven. Then I swear on me becoming Hokage, we'll go." He leaned back; his arm wrapped around my shoulder casually. "I want to have fun with my friends."

"Or you want to get into the waitress's pants," Sasuke-kun commented snippily, reminding me why I was annoyed with Naruto also. Naruto was deliberately trying to make Sasuke-kun jealous. At least it appeared so. He couldn't really be that oblivious to what he was doing, could he?

Though a part of me liked the idea of Naruto wandering off with the waitress, and then maybe I could seduce sad and lonely Sasuke-kun while he was suddenly vulnerable. I was too drunk to really think about how unlikely that would be, but I let myself lean into Naruto's strong and warm arm with the thought anyway, relaxed with his company.

"You mad I'm not giving you enough attention, Teme?" Naruto asked slyly, hand squeezing my shoulder, but I didn't notice.

"Oh, stop it Naruto. You're being an asshole," I said.

Naruto laughed. "What?"

"You keep flirting with the waitress when Sasuke-kun's your boyfriend!" I finally blurted out without control.

"I'm not Naruto's boyfriend," Sasuke-kun quickly said.

"You're not?" Naruto asked, almost sounding hurt but I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. Sasuke-kun was not amused.

"Sasuke-kun," I said hurriedly, realizing I had said something wrong and was trying to fix it. "You know I love you..."

Sasuke-kun rolled his eyes and muttered "Not this again," darkly under his breath.

"... but I just want you to be happy. I really do. I mean, I would love to shag you in the bathroom or something, but-" Sasuke-kun's eyes widened slightly but I wasn't aware that I had said that part aloud, "it's more than physical attraction. I care about you, and if what makes you happy is being gay, then I support you."

Naruto started laughing so hard he let go of me and went face down onto the table.

"I'm not gay," Sasuke-kun said to me, and then to Naruto, "Don't give her anymore to drink."

"I don't know Sasuke," Naruto said in between his laughter. "You're pretty gay."

"No, I'm not!"

"I'm not that drunk!" I said. "I just can't... I just can't convey what I mean tactfully. I'm sorry. That was terrible." I took another breath and I tried to speak more coherently. "But I wanted to get this issue out in the open between the three of us, so we can stop tripping over the elephant in the room." I just had to think a little bit before starting each sentence.

"What issue?" Sasuke-kun snapped.

"Your secret love for each other!" I exclaimed exasperated.

"We're not in love!" Sasuke-kun shouted.

Naruto shook his head. "No, we are. I see what she's saying. We didn't know, because it's a secret love for each other."

"What are you saying!?" Sasuke-kun's wide eyes went back and forth between the two of us. "You guys need to stop drinking. The both of you."

"Come on, Sasuke! Get me a little bit drunker and maybe I'll shag you in the bathroom," Naruto laughed.

"What?"

"Maybe I'll eat ass too, but no promises. I don't think I'm that drunk yet."

"Oh no, don't!" I flung my arms around Naruto like that would protect Sasuke-kun. Naruto laughed underneath me, and it was a pleasant feeling so I held on longer.

"Sasuke, are you blushing?"

"Oh, Sasuke-kun's so cute when he's blushing!"

"I'm not!"

"Order of three sake bombs?!" The waitress said proudly, grinning knowingly at Naruto. Naruto smiled back like they shared a secret.

"That's more than a shot," Sasuke-kun grumbled.

"Hardly," Naruto said. He got up and addressed the waitress. "I can take care of this," he said as he took each thing from the waitress's tray, one at a time, before placing them on the table. "My friend's jealous or something so let me handle this or you'll get caught in the middle."

The waitress gave me a quick glance, assuming I was the jealous one. I glared back, not appreciating her assumption, but probably just confirming her thoughts for her anyway.

"Here's an advanced tip," Naruto said, pulling out his frog wallet and dumping the contents onto the tray, since he couldn't use another arm to pull the money out.

"Thank you Naruto-kun!" and the waitress spun away.

"Naruto-kun?" I asked skeptically.

"Don't worry about it," Naruto said dismissively. "I need to teach the two of you how to drink a sake bomb. You have to do it in a certain way." Naruto must have had a death wish because he sat back down next to Sasuke-kun, jostling him over with his shoulder before gathering some of the things on the table.

"What happens if you drink it wrong?" I asked, suddenly interested because in truth I was having fun.

"You die." Naruto laughed. "No, I'm just kidding." He poured all three of us a shot of sake. "Okay Sakura-chan, do what I do." He placed a set of chopsticks on a beer glass in front of Sasuke-kun before doing his own. "You got to balance the sake on the chopsticks, so it's hard. Well, it's hard if you're already trashed that is," he laughed.

I carefully balanced the sake shot on my chopsticks over the beer glass. "It's not hard!" I said.

"Okay, it's not that hard. I was just saying, if you found it hard, it's alright-"

"I'm not that drunk! Anyway, what do you do next?"

"We all pound the table until the sake falls into the beer, and then we chug the beer as fast as possible."

Sasuke-kun glared at Naruto. "Why would you waste sake like that?"

"Oh, so now you're the expert!" Naruto reached over to grab Sasuke-kun's face.

Sasuke-kun pushed him off but it was somewhat difficult because he also had to reach around himself to do it. "Get off of me!"

"I've never chugged anything before," I said nervously.

"Oh Sakura-chan, it's easy! Just throw back your head, open up your throat, and let the liquid slide right down. Oh, and don't forget to swallow at the end."

"Why has everything you said and done tonight seem really perverted?"

Naruto laughed. "What are you talking about Sakura-chan?! You're a pervert!"

"No you!"

He laughed at my face. "Okay, are you ready?"

Naruto and I beat the table. I didn't mean to, but a small crack formed from where my fist hit the wood. Naruto burst out into a laugh when noticing it, but didn't dwell on it for too long for the sake fell into the beer.

"Quick! Drink!"

The beer began to foam up as soon as the sake hit it and I thought for sure it was going to explode if I didn't drink it in time, confirming what Naruto said about us all dying. I chugged down the drink faster than I've ever drank anything. I even slammed my mug down a moment before Naruto did.

Naruto didn't notice that he had lost because his eyes widened when he realized that Sasuke-kun had made no move to lift his mug.

"You're supposed to do it quick!" Naruto whined, before grabbing Sasuke-kun's mug and drinking it himself. Sasuke-kun rolled his eyes, obviously not caring at this point if Naruto had anymore to drink.

What he wasn't expecting was that as soon as the last of the contents of the glass were gone, Naruto threw the glass onto the table and grabbed the collar of Sasuke-kun's shirt, pulling him into a dramatic kiss.

My whole body froze as I watched the scene before me, too drunk to know how to react or how to feel. I was just surprised.

Sasuke-kun was also surprised, but then I think he was too busy drowning because Naruto had attempted to fill Sasuke-kun with whatever was in his mouth. After a struggled gagging, Sasuke-kun gained control of his arm and swung at Naruto's head so hard that Naruto went flying out of the booth and onto the ground, people jumping back to avoid being hit with his body.

Sasuke-kun spat out the beer and sake in a spray before screaming, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

Naruto didn't get up from the ground. All he did was laugh, people walking around him. "Sas... Sasuke... Sakura-chan hits harder than you..."

Sasuke-kun got up, fist clenched and what I thought was a spark of electricity dancing through the air around his arm. I got up with him. "Sasuke-kun, no!" I held out a hand, fingers brushing against his chest.

Sasuke-kun looked at me once before announcing he was going to go to the bathroom to clean himself off.

"Naruto!" I scolded once Sasuke-kun was gone. Naruto was holding his arm in the air, waiting for me to pull him up and I did, because he was causing a scene being down on the dirty floor like that. "What's wrong with you? Why are you trying to piss off Sasuke-kun on purpose!? He's already irritable!"

"'Cause the bastard deserves it!" Once Naruto was upright, he climbed back into the booth next to me, face close to my ear. "I have to tell you a secret, Sakura-chan."

"Yeah? What is it?"

He snickered. "I'm really drunk," he said as he started to pet my hair.

I was pretty drunk too, but I was doing my best to not let it show. "I can see that. Stop trying to get Sasuke-kun mad. Can't you see...? He really likes you."

Naruto huffed. "Sasuke really likes me? He hates me!"

"How can you not feel the sexual frustration from him whenever he's around you? At first I didn't know what this... this was! And I don't know if it's just the alcohol talking, but I think that's what this is. I think it's sexual frustration. That's why you two fight all the time!"

"Yeah? Maybe. Maybe I'm just not seeing it 'cause all of my sexual frustration gets in the way." Naruto laughed. A flash of all the hickeys I had found on him that one night came back to mind, wondering if Sasuke-kun had wound up with the same. "Man, I'm so bad. I have such a problem. I just... want to get laid so badly. Maybe I don't care who it is."

I frowned. "That's the problem with men. They're always thinking with their dicks! You should care! You don't want to get an STD."

"Oh, shit."

"That's right."

"So, you're saying I should bang Sasuke?"

"No!" I blushed. "I'm just saying, be nicer to him. I don't like to see him... like that. He doesn't like how you talk to that waitress."

"What about you, Sakura-chan? How do you feel when I talk to the waitress?"

"Annoyed because you're annoying Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto grunted. "Sasuke doesn't like me very much. Doesn't matter what I do."

"Stop it!" I shook Naruto and he just leaned heavier on me. "Sasuke-kun really does. I think. Or was it you that likes Sasuke-kun. I can't remember anymore."

Naruto grinned at me. "I like you, Sakura-chan," he purred.

My heart skipped a beat for reasons I didn't understand. "No, you like everyone!" I suddenly remembered.

"Or maybe everyone just likes me. Like Sasuke. Sasuke likes me, and I like Sakura-chan."

"But I like Sasuke-kun."

Naruto chuckled. "This is a pretty fucked up love triangle."

"It is!" And both Naruto and I started laughing, so hard that I was crying by the end of it.

"Oh, Sakura-chan, don't cry," Naruto continued to pet me. "I jus' want you to be happy." Naruto's voice was starting to slur.

"I want Sasuke-kun to be happy!"

"'Mpossible!"

"No! You can do it! You can make anyone happy! I've seen you!"

"I can't make Sasuke happy. I tried. I got 'im that drink 'member?"

"Did you tell him how you feel? I know you say you don't like him and that you like me, but, before you said... that you could be in love with him."

Naruto was still giggling as he leaned into me. "I told him. I told him that... he hurts me... when I see him hurt. Sometimes I think I'm in love with him. Bu' I don' know, I didn't tell him that part." He nuzzled his face into my hair. "Fucking bastard would have prolly hurt himself more... trying to kill me."

"What did he say?"

"Nothin'. He never says anything. He doesn't even lie. Or at least I can't be sure. I can't tell."

"Naruto, if you're in love with Sasuke-kun, why do you keep saying you like me? Why do you keep flirting with all these other girls?"

Naruto pushed himself off of me and looked me in the face, like I was supposed to just understand him. I didn't understand him. I never understood.

I couldn't wrap my mind around Naruto. I believed him mostly when he spoke. Naruto never had a reason to lie about anything. Naruto had gone so far for Sasuke-kun, more than anyone. I remembered the night he held me close and admitted he didn't know what he felt for him. Maybe that's why Naruto never said aloud that he was in love. Only that he could be. He didn't even know. Actually, Naruto had never used the word 'love' to describe his feelings for me either. We just all assumed he was in love. It seemed too obvious. Maybe Naruto never said it because he was afraid, but I wished he would. I wanted to understand, to know for sure.

"I don't know," he finally answered when the questioning look didn't leave my face. "I jus'... don't want to be alone. I mean, it's not really all a sex thing. I just hate being alone so much. Like trying to sleep after spending the day with people and then they all leave. Fuck, I just... hate that. " Then he started laughing again. "Shit, I meant to follow Sasuke to the bathroom. I've had to pee for a billion hours but I can't find it! It's alright. Don't want to break the seal anyway."

Sasuke-kun silently returned. He slumped into his seat, refusing to look at either of us. Naruto ignored him and continued to give me all of his attention. I felt guilty receiving it, but I couldn't help but laugh and smile at him as he tried and failed to use his chopsticks.

"I caaaan't Sakura-chan... I'm not really left handed yet. I need you to help..."

"How did you feed yourself for the last few months?"

"I don't remember."

Unfortunately, when I tried to feed Naruto, I missed his mouth and covered his face with sauce. We burst out laughing.

"Jeez, Sakura-chan, what hand are you using?"

"My right?" I guessed as I clumsily wiped his face with a napkin.

"Maybe you're left handed then, because you missed."

"No, I'm right handed." The second try I got the bit of food into his mouth. "See? I can do it."

"Wow, Sakura-chan that was amazing!" Naruto said in between chewing.

"I know."

"You're so good at holding your liquor, Sakura-chan. You drink everything really fast but it doesn't really seem to affect you." Naruto leaned on the table as he stared at me. "You're not really tripping over your sentences or fallin' down or nothin'. You just say funny things." For all I knew Naruto was being sarcastic but what was I to care?

"I'm not saying funny things. And you're already a fool. Since I'm not a fool I must seem super cool to you."

"You are super cool."

"I chugged that beer pretty good."

"You did, Sakura-chan."

"I bet I can chug better than you, even though I've never done it before tonight!"

"We should have a drinking contest!"

"A drinking contest!"

"No!" Sasuke-kun finally spoke up. "You two aren't having anymore tonight. The both of you are going to die from alcohol poisoning.

"Psh!" Naruto laughed. "You don't know what I can handle! You're just a pussy that can't hold his liquor!"

"I'm not even drinking."

"Exac'ly!"

"No Sasuke-kun, it's okay," I told him, running a hand through my hair, quite drunk now. "Just let me show Naruto that I'm better than him. I never get to be better than anyone!"

"Sakura, you're already better than Naruto in a dozen of things! Basically everything Naruto is terrible at, you're good with."

"Whoa, Sasuke just gave you a compliment. I think." Naruto tried to stifle a burp. "By insulting me... Hey!"

I blinked at Sasuke-kun. "Y-you really think so Sasuke-kun? Am I really better...? At what?"

"Not drinking, because I'ma 'bout to beat you in this drinking contest!" Naruto cut in.

"Yes, the drinking contest that I'm going to win at! Sasuke-kun thinks I'm better at drinking than you."

"I don't 'member him saying that..."

Sasuke-kun didn't seem to know how to argue with me when he was so used to his opponent only being Naruto. Normally I was the voice of reason so there was never any need to argue with me. Especially since I tended to agree with everything Sasuke-kun said anyway. This was a terrible time to kill that habit.

"It doesn't matter if he said it or not because it's still true."

I hollered at the waitress. I saw her eyes land on me once but she turned away. "Hey, what the hell? She just ignored me!"

Naruto snorted. "She feels threatened by you 'cause she likes me so much."

"What? That's absurd. I'm not even your girlfriend! She should feel threatened by Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke-kun just dropped his head onto his arm and didn't lift it again.

I shoved Naruto. "Get her to come over! We need to make it clear that you're not gonna go for her. She needs to treat this entire table equally."

"Yeah?" Naruto asked intrigued.

Sasuke-kun groaned.

"Don't worry, Sasuke-kun, we'll keep you out of this. Naruto, call her over!"

Naruto waved over the waitress. Of course she came for him. "What can I get you guys now?"

"I think we're having a drinking contest-"

"No!" I interrupted Naruto. "We have to tell the waitress something far more important!"

"We do?" Naruto asked, confused.

"That Naruto is unavailable!"

"I am?"

"Yeah, because I'm your girlfriend now." Naruto burst into hysterical laughter. I elbowed him hard. "Naruto," I hissed. "You're not making it seem real."

"Maybe you should kiss me then. That would make all the bullshit you're always sprouting seem real."

I glared at Naruto, feeling the misgivings in between us that so rarely showed its ugly face. Then I gave a quick nervous glance at Sasuke-kun. "You know how I feel about PDF," I said, trying to skip that part of my act, at least in front of Sasuke-kun.

Naruto nearly choked. "It's PDA, Sakura-chan. Public display of affection not-" he almost couldn't speak with how much he was cracking up, "public display of fucking? What the fuck's PDF?!"

"It's a digital file," Sasuke-kun explained.

I hit Naruto hard again, like he was the one that had spoken.

Sasuke-kun looked at the waitress seriously. "Please do not serve them anything more. Obviously they've had enough."

The waitress closed her eyes and replied somewhat rudely, "I'm sure Naruto is capable of knowing when he's had enough. He was capable of saving the world." I did not like the way she was talking to Sasuke-kun. "He can have what he wants. Her on the other hand may have had enough..."

"Hear that bastard!? I can have what I want," Naruto said darkly, slapping his arm around me and pulling me closer. He turned to the waitress. "Have you met my girlfriend Sakura-chan?" He was still chuckling over himself like me being his girlfriend was the funniest thing ever. " No, but really, this is my friend. And Sasuke, the bastard over there, he's my best friend. The both of them are my best friends, but like more than best friends, like family, but like, more than family, like holy fuck... you guys..." Sasuke-kun was no longer looking at Naruto as if he was annoyed, and I felt a sudden emotion being wrapped around Naruto's warm arm. "... you guys are like fucking pieces of me."

There was a long silence between all of us, including the waitress who was still standing there waiting to take our next order. Even the music overhead seemed to grow quieter.

"Naruto-kun, that was so meaningful to hear," the waitress said as if she was interested. "I would love to know more about you, and your friends..." She still didn't seem to be getting it.

"Naruto, babe," Naruto made a face at being called 'babe'. Whatever. If he wanted to pretend us actually dating was ridiculous, it didn't matter what I did or said. "I think I want my kiss now."

"Ha, ha, ha, what?"

I grabbed both of Naruto's round, whiskered cheeks in my hands and pressed his fish puckered lips over mine. It felt like time stopped simply because Naruto's response was slow, and time didn't move without Naruto. Nothing could move without Naruto. It wasn't until I felt Naruto cup the back of my head eagerly that time came back, and I pulled away to gleam triumphantly at the bitch waitress who was now gawking at us. "Did you get that, honey?" I asked sarcastically, Naruto still breathless beside me with a shit eating grin on his face. "That was an order of, Naruto-only-belongs-to-this-table and to-fuck-the-hell-off."

The waitress turned around without a word.

"Whoa Sakura-chan told her off!" Naruto turned his body to follow the movement of the girl. "Though, you cock-blocked me didn't you? Damn!"

"It was for your own good, Naruto! I just saved you from making a bad decision!"

"Bad decision?"

Sasuke-kun ended the feeling of pride that I had received from chasing the poor girl away as soon as he slammed his fist against the table. "How are we going to get the check!?"

"It doesn't matter..." Naruto said, leaning lowly over the table. "I told you it's on the house!"

"I'm not believing that until I see a check with a zero balance, and I highly doubt there's any money on that card you stole from Kakashi. And you!" He waved his hand at me. "Is kissing everyone you know some sort of new hobby of yours?"

"What?"

"Because it's kind of disgusting and makes you seem like an easy tramp."

"Whoa, Sasuke you fucking asshole bastard, take that fucking back!" Even before Naruto had finished his sentence, tears were rolling down my face. A hiccup escaped my lips and I covered my mouth with my hands, like I could hold it all in, though I was failing miserably. "Look! She's crying! You always make her cry! Fuck man, I hate you sometimes. Why? Why you gotta do that?"

"Of course she's crying! She's trashed! You got her this way. That's what drunk girls do, when they're not kissing people, apparently."

"No! You're an asshole! Sakura-chan, we're leaving and Sasuke's not invited!" Naruto took one of my wrists and hauled me out of the booth.

"And where the hell do you think you're going with her?" Sasuke-kun asked in between clenched teeth."

"Dancing," Naruto announced with a wave of his stump. "We're gonna go dance, and you're not invited because never in a billion years would you ever have the balls to even try!"

"Wait, what?" I asked in between my tears but Naruto was already whirling me away. The both of us hit quite a few people, which Naruto apologized to and tried to somewhat explain that he didn't actually know how to dance. There wasn't really a dancing floor so Naruto just led me around the aisles of tables and people. I couldn't help myself. I started laughing, my tears all but forgotten.

Naruto tried to twirl me but he almost fell so I grabbed onto the sleeves of his jacket to keep him upright. I started to lead the dance, swaying us gently back and forth because I didn't think that either of us could handle anything more.

"Whoa, you're really good at this."

"Shut up," I laughed.

Naruto's one hand ran down my back, heavy and comforting and warm. "We're gonna dip!"

"What?!" But Naruto was already dipping me backward and I was screaming because I thought for sure he would drop me. We were upright again a few seconds later, Naruto chuckling as he spun us around faster.

I tripped over his feet a little and my hands flung themselves, trying to find a better grip to no avail. Instead, my nails dug into the front of Naruto's chest, and he made a grunting noise like it may have hurt a little bit, but that silly smile never left his face.

"Okay Sakura-chan, we should dance slower. You were right." He pressed me into him, and my arms wrapped around his neck comfortably. I sighed contented. Naruto's scent was familiar and I almost wanted to fall asleep standing up like that, Naruto softly swaying us.

I took no notice of Naruto's wandering hand. It started patting my head, which had felt nice. As it moved around my back, I found it very supportive in keeping me against Naruto. I liked the way the warmth moved over each part of me. I moved against it with the music. It didn't seem like a bad idea when I felt that same hand squeeze my ass. In fact it felt really good, like this was how you were supposed to dance. My hips just seemed to fit so nicely with Naruto's, they never parted with our movements.

The warm tingling feeling I felt from Naruto's hand was traveling and intensifying the more he touched me. I felt my breath quickening as I ground my hips back against Naruto's, trying to find something with the movement. I continued rubbing my body against him, his hot breath in my ear. He almost stopped moving and I remembered that this was dancing, so I swung my hips back and force suggestively, trying to pick up the dance that this was supposed to be. I didn't forget that we were dancing, but I did forget there were other people around us, and I absolutely forgot about Sasuke-kun.

"Whoa, Sakura-chan..." Naruto breathed. "You're so sexy..."

"Keep dancing with me," I moaned.

"Right," and Naruto continued the swaying, arm holding me impossibly close. It wasn't until I felt him turn his head in a certain direction and him saying something did I remember what was going on. "Ha, Sasuke's so mad right now."

"Oh no, Sasuke-kun's mad at us!" I wailed. I didn't really remember exactly why he was mad but the tears from before were coming back to me now.

"No, just look, Sakura-chan," Naruto spun me around so that my back was against his front. He held me, still swaying, as he directed my attention in the direction of Sasuke-kun.

Sasuke-kun was still sitting at our booth, elbow resting on the table, his chin in hand. He wasn't turned toward us, but he was looking at us with the corner of his eye, glaring sideways like he was seriously thinking about killing us with his Rinnegan.

"Look at 'im, so jealous."

"Oh no, he's going to kill me now! For stealing you from him!"'

"Psh, no I don't think that's it. I think he's more jealous over the fact that we're having fun and he isn't. He's a much more simpler person than people realize."

"But still, he's upset."

"Isn't he always upset?" Naruto's hand ran over one of my breasts while I took his words into consideration. Sasuke-kun lifted his head out of his hand to turn it to us. "Man, Sasuke's so hot."

I murmured in agreement.

"It sometimes makes me wish..." Naruto breathed heavily into my ear. "I could just fuck the shit out of 'im, you know? Because maybe he'll start finally relaxing or somethin'."

"Then why don't you? I bet you could if you tried. You're the only one that can get him to do anything." I didn't notice Naruto's hand traveling down my torso and then in between my legs.

"Because I want you to be there too. Sometimes, I touch myself... to this fantasy, of Sasuke fucking you..." The blood was starting to rush in my body, my heart pounding. Naruto wasn't really saying what I thought, was he? "... and then I fuck him while he's doing it. Or maybe even have you in the middle instead. Can you imagine that? Both Sasuke and I inside you?" His fingers brushed my crotch over my shorts. "Like, do you think I'd be able to feel Sasuke while I'm in you? That's the kind of stuff I find myself thinking about all the time."

"I..." I didn't really know how to respond, but I was suddenly too embarrassed to be in Naruto's arm while Sasuke-kun could see everything. I could now feel Naruto's prominent erection against my butt.

"Let's get him drunk, Sakura-chan. Let's get him drunk and molest him together. We need to work as a team. It's the only way we can seduce him."

"No, Naruto." I pulled out of Naruto's grasp and turned to face him. "I can't. It's immoral. Sasuke-kun would never want to and getting him drunk to do it is just wrong. Besides, I don't want to have sex with anyone I don't love again. I wouldn't be able to... to just share Sasuke-kun with you. I wouldn't be able to handle it."

Sasuke-kun and Naruto almost being together like they were now, I realized, was okay because it wasn't definite. Whether it was only because they didn't want people to know, or they themselves hadn't worked out their feelings yet, or they didn't really want to make it real, it was okay, because they weren't actually together. At least not yet, and I could pretend to be the good friend, the third wheel, the person on the outside. But if I was in the middle of it, if I witnessed how much they loved each other, realized that I wasn't anything more than just a new toy to help change up their sex lives, oh I would die.

Naruto frowned at me. He was giving me that face he had given me when I had tried to convince him I was in love with him, the angry face he only directed to me when he was mad at something I had said. "I was half joking, you know? I don't understand you Sakura. First you say you don't love me, then you say you do, and then you don't again!" He gripped the front of his shirt. "You realize it's tearing me inside and out, right? Like, just stick with one, okay? I don't care which one it is."

"Naruto, I do love you, as a brother."

"As a brother? Funny how neither of us have any brothers so we don't know what the fuck that's even supposed to feel like!"

The sudden guilt Naruto threw me under made me mad, so I took it out on him. "Well, what about you?! Ever since you saved the people of Konoha, you've become this huge player all of a sudden. You got all the girls eating out of your hand. You even got some of the men looking like they'd be lost without you. You can't seem to be able to choose what you want. You keep saying you want me, but at the same time you might be in love with Sasuke-kun? Like what the fuck do you mean? Or do you just want sex that badly."

Naruto glared at me. "If I wanted sex that badly, I would just go have sex, Sakura! I could have sex with anyone I want, but I don't."

"You don't, huh?" I said crossing my arms and staring at him skeptically. "What about that time you were covered in hickeys?"

"I don't even remember how those got there!"

"Of course you don't!"

"And besides, I'm pretty sure it was just Sasuke!"

"Oh, just Sasuke? What? Is Sasuke-kun not supposed to count?"

"No because-" Naruto didn't seem to know how to finish his sentence. "Because it's you guys! I... I just want you two. I mean, I don't really care how. I don't really care if we fuck or not I just want... you two."

"Or maybe you're so focused on us because Sasuke-kun and I are the only ones that don't just melt into your hand like a puddle of goo!" I gasped. "That's why! Because it's a challenge for you! You're just trying to train your stupid seduction skills so you can get more people!"

"Fuck no! What the hell?" Naruto's eyes were glistening. "Fine, you're right. Maybe I just need to get over the both of you, because obviously," he waved his arm over in the direction of Sasuke-kun. "I'm not getting anywhere with either one of you! I just need to find some sort of lover, and stay with that person forever so I can give the two of you up, give you guys the much needed space from me." Naruto turned away and started walking.

"Where are you going?!" I shouted after him.

"To find someone who actually appreciates my company!"

I turned around to look for Sasuke-kun, to see if he saw us fighting or not, but to my horror, Sasuke-kun was nowhere to be seen. "Oh, shit." And that was when the alcohol of the five drinks I had decided to down, kicked in all at once.

I couldn't recognize anyone's face, not even the staff, and the whole floor seemed to sway with whatever small movement of my head I made. I don't know how, since it wasn't that big of an establishment, but I was lost and I was drunk. I couldn't decipher what was more than two feet in front of me. Naruto probably left to go find a hooker to take out his grievances on, or maybe even that waitress. Sasuke-kun had left the both of us.

I started crying in my frustration, and not being able to keep myself standing, I just went down onto the floor. A few people tripped over me, but I didn't care, figuring I deserved it anyway. I shouldn't have gotten drunk. I had upset both Sasuke-kun and Naruto by being stupid and now I didn't even know where they were or where I was. I felt like I was sitting there for hours, just crying and getting kicked by people.

"Get off the floor, Sakura." That sounded like Sasuke-kun's voice, but it couldn't be because he had left Naruto and I forever.

Sasuke-kun hauled me to my feet after grabbing one of my arms. "I lost Naruto!" I cried. "He ran away!"

"I found him at the bar. He should still be at the table if he didn't wander away again. Come on, I asked about the check. It should be here soon."

I followed Sasuke-kun as he led me around people, tripping as I went but his grip on my arm kept me from falling to the ground.

We found the table and Naruto was sitting there, looking like he was bored as he sipped on a beer.

"Where did you get this?" Sasuke-kun let go of me to snatch the beer away. "I told you to drink the water."

"Some girl bought it for me. Don't worry, It's not part of your oh so important bill!" He waved a piece of paper in the air which I was assuming was the bill. "It says zero like I said!"

"Drink the water," Sasuke-kun repeated. He led me to the booth and pushed me into the inside before sliding in next to me. He placed a glass in front of me as well. "You too, Sakura."

I sniffled and held my glass, but was unable to take a drink.

"So, you made her cry too," Sasuke-kun said to Naruto.

"You made her cry first!"

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun!" I stuttered. "I'm so sorry... I drank... and now I'm so sorry. You got mad and I'm so sorry."

"It's fine."

"No, it's not!" I gently whacked my head against his shoulder. "I'm so stupid."

Sasuke-kun didn't say anything. He just sat there, like he was a disappointed parent. Naruto was giggling about something, but I had no idea what.

I cried into Sasuke-kun's shoulder. I felt Sasuke-kun grumble, like he was annoyed I was getting his shirt wet. "This is why you hate me, isn't it? This is why you don't love me."

Sasuke-kun's body tightened. "How do I get her to stop?"

Naruto, still laughing, said, "I don't know. Say something perverted? Or just be me, since she can't stand me."

"Fuck you, Naruto." I glared at him with one bleary, crying eye.

"Yes, please."

"Sasuke-kun!" I moaned back into his shirt. "Make Naruto stop!"

"I don't even know what he's doing to you!" Sasuke-kun said, exasperated.

I raised my head up, meeting Sasuke-kun's perplexed gaze. "He took you away from me," I said seriously.

Sasuke-kun sighed before he un-clung me from his shoulder. "Drink the water, Sakura," he told me again. He lifted the glass to my lips, and I placed my hands over his to steady it as I took a sip. I decided that Sasuke-kun had the most perfect hand. His fingers were longer and more tapered than Naruto's, not as tan. I stared at the tendons from underneath his skin, in wonder at the makeup of this elegant tool. He usually had a hand guard on, but his hand was naked tonight. So bare.

After I took three gulps, I turned my head away, some of it spilling down the front of my shirt. "Damn it," I heard Sasuke-kun say, but I didn't care about being wet.

"I love Sasuke-kun. I love you so much." I told him.

"I know," was his response. He put the glass down and grabbed some napkins, carefully wiping my chin and hesitantly blotting the front of my shirt. I grabbed his hand, pressing it against my chest so that he knew my heart beat for him.

He yanked it away.

I needed to keep feeling him on me. He had been gone for so long, I couldn't have him leave physical contact from me now. I wrapped both my arms around his shoulders. With a sigh Sasuke-kun gave up pushing me away. He turned forward and said, "Naruto, you need to finish that entire glass."

"She loves you," I heard Naruto's drunken voice say. "Look how much she loves you."

"I can't get her off. Ignore it and drink the water."

I wanted to ignore stupid Naruto. Naruto really was stupid. He loved Sasuke-kun more than me? Said who? Yes, he saved and stopped Sasuke-kun from destroying the world, but then he just stopped there. He had Sasuke-kun crying and in his embrace. He healed his broken body and heart, then what? He flirted with everything else with a heartbeat, including myself. It was his own fault that Sasuke-kun didn't belong to him yet. It was his own fault that he sat alone on the other side of the table.

Sasuke-kun smelled entirely too good. I couldn't stop breathing in the scent of his neck, nuzzling my face into his hair. Sasuke-kun let me. See? Loving him wasn't nearly as hard as Naruto and I thought. Sasuke-kun was letting me love him right now. Oh, how I continued to want to love him.

"At least drink as much water as Sakura did. Then we're leaving. You can walk right?"

"I can walk, I can dance, I can fiiight, I can kick yo ass!"

"Naruto... just... whatever."

My nose found Sasuke-kun's ear underneath all that hair. The lobe was incredibly soft. I nudged it with my nose once before running my mouth quickly over it, my lips parting to graze it with my teeth.

Sasuke-kun shoved me off of him. "Stop Sakura!" He pushed me farther away from him and deeper into the booth. "Drink the rest of your water."

I shook my head, tears still clinging to my eyelashes. "I can't, Sasuke-kun. You'll disappear!"

"I'm right here."

"How can I tell? How do I know you're not some genjutsu? I need to know you're there. I need to feel you."

Sasuke-kun looked guilty for a second before saying. "Feeling is an illusion also in a genjutsu. It wouldn't matter. Just stay over there."

"No, please Sasuke-kun!" My hand landed on his thigh. He shoved it over to his knee and away from his crotch, but since my weight had been on it, it caused me to topple over onto his shoulder again. "Don't leave again."

Sasuke-kun ignored me. "Naruto, that's the beer, not the water."

"Sorry, sorry."

I felt Sasuke-kun shift to move the beer farther away from Naruto. I pressed my lips on his jaw, then lower onto his neck. Sasuke-kun winced and tried to crane his head away from me. "Stop it, Sakura. I need you to drink the water."

"I just need to kiss you once. Then I'll drink the water and you can disappear."

"You already did, now drink the water."

"No, not yet." I kissed his chin, Sasuke-kun leaning so far away from me that I was practically draped over his body. "I keep... missing..."

Sasuke-kun sat up, and I fell off of him and onto the table, hitting the glass. It threatened to knock over. Sasuke-kun grabbed the scruff of my shirt and jacket and pulled me back so that I was leaning against the backrest of the booth. "Stop," he said. "You're going to make a mess."

I started to whimper but before it became a complete sob, Sasuke-kun lifted my chin with his hand and placed his lips over mine so fast I wasn't even sure it had happened.

"There. You got a kiss. Now drink your water."

I stared at Naruto across the table who was gaping at me with wide glazed over blue eyes and clutching his own water glass. I couldn't read what was on his face. It didn't seem much like anger. No, I think he was just surprised with me. It was more surprising than when Naruto had kissed Sasuke-kun after the sake bomb, because this was Sasuke-kun who had initiated the kiss. Sasuke-kun had kissed me. Me, of all people.

My head spun to Sasuke-kun who was no longer looking at me. "Wait. Do it again."

"No."

"If I drink my water will you do it again?"

"No."

I pushed the glass away from me, eyes narrowing like a spoiled child.

"Fine! Just drink all of your water."

I then drank like it was the fountain of enternal youth. Once I finished, I set the glass down, licking my lips and looking at Sasuke-kun expectantly.

Sasuke-kun was more than hesitant. He still had his head turned away from me, like maybe he was thinking on how to get out of it.

"You promised!" I said.

With a sigh he turned toward me. I already had my hands up to hold his head so he wouldn't escape. He wouldn't make this kiss as fleeting as his existence had always been in my life. Our lips met, cushioned against each other's. Our noses touched, allowing even more contact between the two of us and oh, it was marvelous. I was drunk, but it was the best kiss I ever had. This was supposed to be my first kiss.

Sasuke-kun tried to pull away then, but I had my fingers dug into his hair and the tug he gave did not part us. He paused, probably trying to think of a way to get me to let go, but I was too busy moving my lips against his urgently. His fingertips brushed against my cheek and I felt his lips part. A hot breath escaped his mouth, setting my brain on fire. There was a small pinch of what wasn't quite yet pain as Sasuke-kun nipped the bottom of my lip. I moaned and felt him breathe in an excited breath of air before he was able to rip away from me and out of my grasp. Too drunk, I didn't notice the implication of experiencing any evidence of Sasuke-kun's own want. I was only focused on my need.

"That's enough of that. Let's go already."

There was a whimper from the other side of the table and turning my head I saw it had come from Naruto. Now it was clear to see every emotion written on his face: longing, jealousy, lust, betrayal, need, loneliness, sadness, arousal, the list could go on forever. I felt like I could drown in the despair of his sparkling blue eyes. His shoulders were slumped in defeat, his one arm underneath the table. Why did Naruto always have to make me feel like this?

Naruto ripped his gaze from the two of us, letting his head clunk against the table. "I..." He heaved a deep, shuddering breath. "... I need to go... to the bathroom."

"Fine. I'll take you," Sasuke-kun said.

"No." Naruto climbed out of his seat, hand clutching the rim of his pants. "I need to go alone. B. R. B."

Sasuke-kun made to get up anyway, but he fell back down from the weight of me who had refused to let go of him. "Sakura..." he said warningly.

"Don't leave me for Naruto!"

"I wanted to make sure he didn't get lost again!" He looked up, gaze still trying to follow Naruto's movements. "Where did he-Dammit. He just took the waitress with him into the bathroom."

"What?" That was a sudden wake up call for me and I let go of Sasuke-kun. "Stop him! He can't! He's not allowed!"

"I am. Come with me. The last thing I need is to lose you too." Out of context that sounded terribly romantic.

I followed Sasuke-kun to the hallway where the bathrooms were. "I'm sorry," I told him. " I made you cheat on Naruto and now Naruto's gonna cheat on you."

"Sakura, I'm asking as nicely as I can for you to stop with the Naruto and I are a couple thing. It's not true!"

I made a sound of indifference. "I keep bringing it up because you keep denying it!" I crossed my arms. Sasuke-kun glared at me. He was still gorgeous.

"Don't tell me that you don't care about him too," he said instead. "I don't know how much you care, but I know it's more than whatever pretend relationship you made up with Ino. And I don't know what the two of you are fighting over..." Ha! If Sasuke-kun had only known it was over him. "... but he's in there because of you, not because of me. How would you feel if he ends up having sex with that girl tonight?"

"I'd kill him," I admitted.

"Then stay here and let me go get him," he told me.

I leaned against the wall and waited. After a few more moments, Sasuke-kun returned from the small hallway without Naruto. "Where is he?"

"They weren't in the men's room. They're in the women's room."

"So?! Go in there and reclaim Naruto as yours!"

"I'm not going into the women's room!" he said, too embarrassed to complain about my phrasing of the sentence.

"It's like I have to do everything." I turned around and stomped down the hall to the farther women's room door. Trying the doorknob I found the whole door locked. I knocked loudly. "Nar-ru-to! Get your ass out here this second!"

I got no answer.

"That idiot," I muttered. "Hey waitress whore! If you dare fucking touch him I'll crush you into gelatin! Dammit!" I took a step back and tried to kick the door open. I failed miserably. "Shit!" I swore, the pain in my foot waking me up from my drunkenness a little. Sasuke-kun eyed me. I took a breath and made sure to properly gather my chakra before attempting to do it again, having the door fly from its hinges. Sasuke-kun winced but did nothing to stop me.

I looked around in the bathroom. There were three stalls and no one by the sinks. I destroyed the door of the first stall, easily crushing it with my fist. No one was in there, so I went to the second. As that door crumbled into nothing, the third stall opened on its own, our waitress scrambling out of it in fright. Her fast movements were making my head spin but I was still able to snatch her arm before she could completely escape.

"Where is he?" My voice was so low I sounded like the devil himself.

She was sobbing. "We didn't do anything!" she insisted. I let go of her because there was no point in antagonizing her. It wasn't really her fault. It was Naruto's fault. It was always his fault.

I found him sitting on the toilet in the third stall, his pants on, though the fly was unzipped and his shirt and hair were ruffled. He was resting against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. "Sakura-chan... you come to save me...?"

I had been ready to beat him into a pulp, but it was hard now when he was just so relaxed in front of me. I wanted to see the fear and the guilt before I ended his life, but all I really saw was relief as his blue eyes shifted from the ceiling to me.

"So you do care about me..."

"Come on you fucker," I sighed, grabbing him by the shirt and dragging him off the toilet. Our movement was halted because I had accidentally got him caught on the wall of the stall. I almost fell to the ground, but I got my momentum to move us forward.

"Finally," Sasuke-kun muttered as I dragged Naruto out through the broken doorway of the bathroom, like I had taken a long time or something. "Let's get the hell out of here before someone realizes Sakura broke the bathroom."

"Wait." I propped Naruto against the wall. Then I punched him hard across the face and he fell to the floor.

"Do you feel better?" Sasuke-kun asked.

"A little bit."

Naruto appeared to black out from the punch, or he just finally had had enough as he was out cold. Sasuke-kun picked up Naruto, slinging his one arm around his shoulder and gripping him around his middle. "Let's go."

I started walking until I heard Sasuke-kun's voice call me from some distance away. "Sakura! You're going the wrong way."

Oh. Was I?

Sasuke-kun trudged back over to me, at a loss of what to do as he only had one arm and it was currently occupied with Naruto. "Take my sleeve." I quickly grabbed a hold of it like it was an agreement to our engagement. "Don't you dare let go of me, Sakura. Not until I find a place for us to stay tonight."

I grinned at him dopily, letting him lead us to parts unknown. Outside, it was cold and dark so I huddled against Sasuke-kun, under Naruto's comatose arm for warmth. I was making it more difficult for Sasuke-kun to walk, but he didn't say anything.

The hand that wasn't holding tightly to Sasuke-kun's sleeve ran over his chest instead. I was having trouble walking so it made sense to hold onto Sasuke-kun with both hands. I wasn't expecting his chest to be as solid as it was, so I did it again in awe. Sasuke-kun frowned at me. His stomach couldn't be as hard, but I decided to check anyway. My hand traveled lower and through the loose fabric, I found that his stomach muscles were even firmer. The next moment I went for his crotch. Sasuke-kun had been unable to do much about all of this, as his arm was full, but at the moment I had grabbed the front of his pants, he let Naruto drop unceremoniously onto the ground in order to grab my wrist in a panic.

"What the hell?"

I blinked innocently at him. He grimaced, gripping my wrist too tightly and I whimpered from the pain. He flung my hand away.

"Keep your hands to yourself," he growled at me. I stared at my palm, like I had been unaware of what I had been doing myself.

"There has to be a decent inn around here somewhere," Sasuke-kun murmured, almost like it was an apology for being so rough with me. He picked up Naruto from the ground and resumed his carrying.

"Sakura-chaaaaaan..." Naruto groggily said, nuzzling his face into Sasuke-kun's neck. "You smell nice."

"It's me, Dobe."

Naruto cracked open an eye, before snickering. "Sasukeeeeeh...! Why you carrying me? You smell like a girl..."

"Sasuke-kun doesn't smell like a girl! He smells handsome," I said.

"Smells like a pretty girl to me."

"Maybe he just uses nice shampoo. You should try it sometime."

"I use shampoo...!"

"Oh my god, you two just shut up!" Sasuke-kun complained. I frowned, tightening my grip on Sasuke-kun's sleeve and using his weight every now and then to keep from falling.

"Wait... Sasuke. No, there's a problem. I never went to the bathroom..." Naruto murmured.

"Are you kidding me?! You were just in one!"

"I didn't get to go on account of... being molested."

I halted with a stomp of my foot. "Molested?! You dragged that woman into the bathroom yourself!"

Naruto gave me a bleary eyed, evil grin. "She touched my cock... on her own free will. I didn't even ask."

Anger roared through my body and for two seconds I didn't even know how to react. Then I was attacking Naruto with a series of slaps.

"Sakura! Stop it!" Sasuke-kun complained as my vicious hitting was causing him to become off-balanced. "I told you not to let go of my sleeve."

Realizing I had broken the precious connection between Sasuke-kun and I, I snatched up the abandoned sleeve in a hurry, though I still gave Naruto a few more extra smacks with my free hand.

"I'ma pee on you, Sasukeeeeh..."

"Hold on! Okay, Sakura this way." Sasuke-kun led us to a dark alleyway. He peered into it, letting out a quick, quiet, apprehensive, "Hello?" probably worried that there were hookers lurking about, or maybe even a mugger. Though a mugger wouldn't have responded. He turned to me. "You stay here. Keep watch and make sure no one comes."

"But I can't stay here! I can't let go of this!" I held up his sleeve like it was the only thing that was keeping the world turning. "Naruto will probably try to take advantage of you too. That's what he does!"

Sasuke-kun gave me a flat look, Naruto's head lolling over, eyes closed and mouth open. "Naruto's not going to take advantage of me. Just let go and stay here. We'll be back in a minute."

I shook my head. "No! No! No! You can't leave me out here in the dark and cold. Please! Don't leave me alone. What if an enemy ninja comes! I can't control my chakra good. I'm too fuzzy!"

"Sakura, I'm sure you will be fine. And I don't want you to attack anyone. Just shout out if you see someone coming."

"I can't! I can't!"

Sasuke-kun sighed irritably. "I'll kiss you again if you do it."

My face blanked before going into the biggest grin I could manage. "Okay, Sasuke-kun!" I let go of his sleeve and spun around to do my look out, though I did have to catch myself on the stone wall of the building to keep from meeting the ground.

I heard Sasuke-kun grumble as he walked away from me. Slyly I turned back in the direction of the boys, curious. Sasuke-kun tried to lean Naruto's other side against the wall.

"Naruto, you need to stand in order to do this."

Naruto responded incoherently. Sasuke-kun cursed under his breath. I used the wall to help lead myself back over to them. "You need help," I said.

"I told you to stand guard!" Sasuke-kun said angrily when he realized I was right behind them.

I snickered, finding this situation funny. "The both of you... with one arm... are so hopeless right now. Just... I'll hold him up. You do the rest." Leaning on the wall, I threaded my right arm underneath Naruto's right armpit, allowing Sasuke-kun to free himself. Naruto leaned heavily against me.

"Sakura-chan. Don't look. You're not allowed to look."

"I'm not looking! My eyes are closed." I turned my head to settle it behind Naruto's, hearing Sasuke-kun fumbling with Naruto's fly with his one hand. It shouldn't have been too hard. It was already open.

"I'm kidding. You can look if you want."

"No thanks."

My cheeks started to burn as I finally heard Naruto relieving himself. He chuckled.

"Stop laughing!" Sasuke-kun snapped at him. "If I get any of this on me, you're dead."

"Sasuke's... touching my dick..."

"I'm about to leave you here."

"Nah... 's fine. 'Cause we're like brothers, right? You and Sakura-chan... I'm just like a little brother to the two of you."

Neither of us responded.

Naruto peed for a very long time. The three of us stood there silent. I wondered if either of them felt as uncomfortable as I did. Naruto, probably not. I wasn't even aware if he was still conscious.

Sasuke-kun announced that we were done here and zipped up Naruto.

"Sasuke-kun," I said, nudging Naruto's head to make sure he was asleep. "My kiss..."

"Shit, I forgot about that. Later, okay?"

"No! Now!"

"I'm holding Naruto, and you didn't even keep your promise to stand guard!" I let go of Naruto myself, allowing Sasuke to carry him, before walking around to face the both of them. Before Sasuke-kun could say anything, I cupped his face and kissed him. His lips pushed against mine, but then he was pulling away.

"No, more!"

Reclaiming his mouth, I felt it open, deepening the kiss. I wasn't sure if he was participating so much all of a sudden because he liked it, was just frustrated, or thought it would appease me quicker. Unfortunately it was just making me want it more.

I moaned.

He moved his body so that I was suddenly pinned to the wall, his arm still around Naruto. His hard frame was pressed over me, making my entire body ache. His tongue touching mine was like tasting lightning itself, hot, sparking, almost bitter. It was gone too soon.

He pulled away and we resumed our search for an inn, me complying only because my eyelids felt like they were being dragged down with cement. Now I just wanted to sleep. Most of my weight was against Sasuke-kun. All of Naruto's weight was also against Sasuke-kun. It was amazing we were able to get anywhere.

Sasuke-kun led us to a bench, throwing Naruto onto it, and guiding me more gently to sit against him. I cuddled up against Naruto because he was warm.

"I see an inn," Sasuke-kun explained. "You two stay here while I get a key. It shouldn't take long."

"Why you always leavin' us Sasuke-kun?" I complained.

"I'm leaving to get you guys a bed."

Naruto, who kept going back and forth from being awake, giggled. "Bed..."

Sasuke-kun unlatched my fingers from his sleeve with his now free hand and I hardly noticed. "Stay here."

I wrapped both arms around Naruto, head against his chest and let my eyes close. "Sakura-chan..." he murmured.

I made a noise because I was too tired to speak.

"'M sorry..."

"For what?"

"Don't 'member. Less no fight no more."

"Kay."

I fell asleep. I'm not sure how long. It felt for only an instant. I was awoken by a warm hand on my shoulder. "They won't rent me a room," Sasuke-kun said.

"Why?" I asked groggily and sleepily.

He sighed. "Because I'm an Uchiha."

"Wha?!" I exclaimed so loudly that Naruto snorted awake.

"Wha!? Wha happened?!"

"They won't let us have a room because he's Uchiha."

Naruto shot forward, causing me to slip off of him. I would have fallen off the bench and face first into the ground if Sasuke-kun hadn't caught me.

"I'M UZU...maki!" Naruto tried to force out. "I'm gonna go in der, and tell those fucks..." He got up and started walking toward the inn.

"Wait Naruto. We can just go to a different-" Sasuke-kun started, but it was too late as Naruto was already inside. I ran after him, leaving Sasuke-kun in the cold. After pushing open the door, I kept running until I collided with Naruto's body. He caught the front desk so that the both of us didn't crash onto the floor. We both were laughing hysterically until Naruto must have remembered that we were on a mission here.

"Whoa, no Sak'ra-chan. Where's Teme?

"Teme who?" I pretended not to know, trying to fix my hair while leaning heavily against the desk.

"There is no Teme!" Naruto declared turning to the man behind the desk who was watching us quite startled. "'I'M UZUMAKI 'RUTO!" he shouted, " an' deman' a room...!" He fished around in his pants pocket before finding Kakashi-sensei's credit card. "I have thisss!" He slammed the card onto the desk.

The man picked it up apprehensively. He looked at the card, to Naruto and then to me.

Naruto slapped his arm over my back. "Dis is ma wife... Sak'ru-chan... There is no Teme. But... we need three beds... 'cause we like to... to switch... or somethin'." I nodded my head as if Naruto wasn't saying something completely dumb.

"We have one single bed available, but that's all. There are no three bedrooms, and extra friends aren't allowed to be sneaked in. The one bedroom rate for two people is 6,300 yen. No exceptions."

"Friends...?" Naruto pulled me closer roughly. "Dis... is ma honeymoon. We don't wan' no Teme bastards to get in between our love!" I rolled my eyes. "Dis my wife..." he stated again.

"That card's gonna work, right?" I asked.

The man slid the card through the reader with a frown. "It appears so..."

"We'll take it!" Naruto declared.

The man handed over a room key. "Room 106."

"Come, ma wife..." Naruto started leading me away. "We gonna make sweet looove..." I could see Sasuke-kun still standing outside through the glass door. He was frowning at us, but Sasuke-kun was always frowning. I held up the room key to show him that we had it.

Naruto and I walked further down the hall, out of sight of the innkeeper but still in view of Sasuke-kun. We walked past a potted plant and within a second, the potted plant was Sasuke-kun.

Naruto giggled. "We fucking ninja... still wanna beat dat fucker up though."

"It doesn't matter. We got a key. Let's go." Sasuke-kun started leading the way because we were walking too slowly. With Naruto still stumbling, Sasuke-kun quickly turned around to grab him. We made it to the 106 and I tried to stick the key in, but was having trouble. Sasuke-kun "tsk"ed, leaning Naruto to the wall where he fell to the ground anyway, and grabbed the key from my hand. "I'd like to get to bed tonight, Sakura." His eyes narrowed once he opened the door. "Dobe, you only got one bed?"

""S... ma... honeymoon." Sasuke-kun rolled his eyes, grabbed Naruto's jacket and threw him in.

"Sakura, you take the bed."

I was already diving head first into it. "I'm soo... sleepy..." I rolled over onto my back, gazing at Sasuke-kun lazily who was staring at me with eyes I couldn't read. I thought maybe he was wishing he had a bed. "Sasuke-kun, where is everyone else gonna sleep?"

He pointed to Naruto who was already comatose on the ground, snoring loudly. "The floor. Naruto doesn't mind, see?"

"But that's not fair to you! Two people can fit on the bed." Sasuke-kun stared at me for such a long time I didn't think he was going to respond.

"I'll take the floor. I want to make sure Naruto doesn't throw up and drown by accident." As soon as he said that, Naruto made a hacking noise within his snoring and Sasuke-kun quickly kicked him to turn him over with a grimace. I made a face too.

"Oh. Oh alright." I shivered. "The bed's cold, Sasuke-kun."

"It'll get warmer."

I tried to pull out the comforter but didn't seem to have the strength. Instead I tried to take off my bra but couldn't reach or remember how to get to the latch underneath my shirt. Exhausted, I gave up and whined, "Sasuke-kun... I can't take off my bra..."

Sasuke-kun had been leaning down to Naruto to take off his jacket, but his head shot up to me like I had said something alarming. "What do you mean you can't take it off?"

"I can't... reach it..."

"Then leave it on."

"It's uncomfortable."

"What do you want me to do about it?!"

"Take it off...!" I pushed up my own jacket and shirt, clawing at my back.

"Hold on!" Sasuke-kun quickly said, probably worried that I was going to start stripping in front of him. He went around me, sitting on the bed as he looked at my bare back. "How does it come off?"

"Hook."

I felt his knuckles on my skin as he unlatched the hook. It made me shiver. He turned quickly away from me as I pulled the armbands down and removed the article of clothing, letting the shirt and jacket fall back into place. I finally was able to pull free a corner of the blanket and let my jacket fall from my shoulders.

"Sasuke-kun..."

"Now what?"

"Can I have just one more? As a goodnight kiss."

"No, Sakura."

"Please...? I jus'... I won't ask ever again. I promise. Tomorrow, I'll stop. Tomorrow. Then you can take care of Naruto."

Sasuke-kun came back, and without looking at me he fixed the comforter, blanket and sheets, gathered my legs to take off my shoes, (which I completely forgot I still had on) and tucked me in. He tried to get my arms under the covers too but I kept lifting them up to place my hands on his arm, his shoulders or his face.

Without a word, he leaned slowly over me to give me a chaste kiss on the lips, just like in all the stories with the prince and the princess. My hands encircled his face, feeling his cheeks, his jaw, his ears and his neck. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer and Sasuke-kun had no choice but to let his weight fall on top of me. He tried to catch himself with his arm, but I curved my body up to erase any space that could be in between us.

He pressed his mouth hard against mine making me breathless and pulled away before I could gain the sense to make him stay. "Goodnight, Sakura."

Then he left me again to tend to Naruto. Sasuke-kun had always belonged to Naruto. The night was almost over, and as I fell asleep, I thought my existence would go with it. I was strangely satisfied with that thought.