Sasuke quickly dresses and leaves Sakura's apartment before she wakes. The man is in an awed state of disbelief. All those late nights spent talking to Haruki about things he's never said to another living person…. It's been his coworker on the other side of the screen.
Inside his head, it still hasn't sunk in. The person who has been the greatest comfort these past few months is none other than the woman he's harboring unrequited feelings for. More than anything, Sasuke doesn't know what to do. How could Sakura lie to his face like this? He should be angry, and he is, but he's more hurt than anything. Betrayal. It's an emotion he hasn't faced in a long time. That doesn't make it any easier.
After arriving home, he falls lifelessly onto his bed, fully dressed in last night's clothes.
Last night was a mistake. Finding out the truth just hours after abandoning his self-control has to be one of the biggest cases of irony ever recorded. Sasuke should've known better than to think things would end up okay. Sure, he expected repercussions of some sort for sleeping with Sakura, but he never foresaw something of this magnitude, and certainly not how quickly it arrived.
The worst part is that Sasuke can't deny his feelings, at least not to himself. He still likes Sakura. In fact, the magnitude has grown exponentially since he now knows she's helped him through a handful of dark nights and hard conversations. What was once a potentially superficial attraction has become something else overnight. It hurts the man because he isn't sure if she meant all the things she shared and said or if she'd been putting on an act to fool him.
Unconsciously, a memory of Sakura's vulnerable face from last night, her voice saying his name so affectionately, crosses his mind. He curses to himself, burying his face in the pillows. If he could go back and stop himself from going home with her and consequently discovering the truth, he would.
He's distraught that he's lost his closest friend, other than Naruto, and now he's unsure if he'll be able to keep Sakura as his assistant at work. If he can't stand the thought of facing her while he's home alone, how can he possibly look her in the eye and pretend everything is normal on Monday? Maybe he'll assign her to a different department. It's his fault for initiating sex, after all.
A ding chimes from his phone, tearing him from his distress. Sasuke hesitantly picks up the device, holding his breath when he sees Haruki's name on the screen. 'What's up? You never message me this early on a weekend.'
The man doesn't respond. He can't. Not when he knows Sakura is on the receiving end. So, he leaves her on "read".
Sakura lied about her location. She lied about her gender and her name. What else did she lie about? Is there anything between them that's not fake?
He's humiliated and upset. That woman knows how hard it is for him to open up to anyone, even a little, and yet she pulls something like this. All the elation and contentedness he's harbored these past few weeks disappeared when he left her apartment earlier. His head hurts. All he wants to do is stay in bed. He wants to hide away in his condo for so long that Sakura forgets who he is so he doesn't have to deal with the explosion that's bound to happen when she sees him at work on Monday.
No matter how much he ponders, Sasuke simply can't picture the pink-haired woman he's come to know enacting such a scheme. It's too much to be a coincidence. There's no way they were both unaware of one another's identity.
She's manipulative; the best actress he's ever met.
…Right?
…..
When Sakura wakes up the morning after the grand opening party, she's entirely mortified by her actions from the previous night. Not only did she get majorly drunk, but she fought with Kiba Inuzuka, had to be saved by her boss, and even slept with him!
Speaking of Sasuke, his disappearance in the night doesn't sit well. She never took him for someone to cuddle and be overly affectionate, but to slip out without a word before she wakes up is just plain rude. It makes Sakura feel like some sort of whore. Is that how he sees her? Was he, perhaps, drunker than she could tell last night, and now he blames her for their hook-up? He certainly seemed present of mind with the expertise he demonstrated. Maybe he isn't blaming her. Maybe he's upset with himself for doing it, and that's why he ran. Either way, it's clear he regrets what transpired.
Sakura manages to convince herself not to get emotional or hurt by it until they have a chance to talk about things. Even though she was trashed, she recalls their agreement to keep things secret and that the sex doesn't have to mean anything. The woman doesn't expect him to ask her out or treat her any differently than before, especially when she knows how much better the D.O.O. can do much better than her.
Who is she trying to fool? Last night was incredible, even better than she imagined it could ever be. She was an idiot to think she wouldn't be affected. No, she's hurt. It's her own fault for agreeing to it, but that doesn't make it an easier pill to swallow.
To distract herself, she replies to a message she received from S, but doesn't receive a reply even after an hour and begins to worry. Even in the middle of the day, if she messages him, he at least spares enough time to let her know when he'll be available to talk so she's not left hanging. Not this time. No, he opens her message and doesn't respond. A couple more hours pass before she anxiously sends an additional text, 'Did something happen?'
Again. It's read and ignored.
Sakura spends the rest of the weekend agonizing over what it'll be like to face Sasuke and why S is ghosting her. By the time Monday rolls around, she's on edge and terrified that she's going to be fired by her boss and dropped by her friend. Inwardly, she knows the Uchiha man isn't the type to selfishly sleep with someone, knowing it'll jeopardize their career, but she also never imagined him being attracted to her, so she doesn't know what to think anymore.
In an effort to avoid being alone with him, she stops by the coffee shop on her way in instead of first stopping by the office. As expected, she's the last one to arrive when she finally flounces her way through the door.
Karin lets out a low whistle when she's handed her coffee, "Isn't this unusual? You've never come in this late." Sakura spares her a weak glare but says nothing.
She braves a glance at Sasuke's face when she sets his drink on his desk. The air in her lungs evaporates when she recognizes the dark circles under his eyes, not to mention the cold expression he sends her way. Her teeth grit to bite back any word vomit that might try to escape. Now isn't the time. They should only talk about what happened when they're alone.
"Good morning, Sir," she mumbles before retreating to her desk.
It's worse than she thought. The trio has a follow-up meeting about the grand opening party and how the first days of business at the new locations are going, and Sasuke doesn't speak to her directly or meet her gaze the entire time.
After lunch, he and Karin finally leave to do their rounds outside the office. Having a few hours to herself proves beneficial, and Sakura is able to focus on her work as a distraction. All that comes crashing down when the duo returns near six. Karin excuses herself first, claiming to have errands to run. That leaves, you guessed it, Sakura and Sasuke alone in his office. For the final half hour of the work day, the room is silent as they tend to their own duties, but when it's time for the pinkette to leave, she hesitates by the door with her coat on and her purse slung over her shoulder.
Be an adult. Just talk to him. This isn't going to go away on its own.
Biting back a groan, Sakura turns on her heel and stalks up to her boss's desk. He freezes but doesn't look at her. She stares at his handsome face as he keeps his eyes on the computer. It's incredibly tense for a moment before she lowers her gaze and says, "I promised not to tell anyone, and I meant it, so can we please stop being so awkward?"
"You thought that was the subject I'd want to speak about first?" Sasuke bites.
Sakura is taken aback by the ire in his tone, "What?"
The man sighs, finally turning his glare onto her. After pausing to gather his thoughts, he quietly says, "I trusted you."
"Are you saying I shouldn't have-"
"I'm saying that you should go home now. Pretend it never happened," he cuts her off. Sure, he sounds angry, but there's something else tinging his words that the pinkette can't define.
The woman's face begins to warm with a mixture of humiliation, hurt, and ire. She knew he was upset at least a little by his behavior all day but didn't expect to be turned away so disrespectfully. "So that's it, then? We're not going to talk about this? Sasuke, you-!" "You'll call me "Sir". I'm your boss."
Sakura's mouth clamps shut.
He adds, "That's all I am." With a motioned gesture toward the door, he quietly mumbles, "You're dismissed."
Momentarily, the Haruno woman is bewildered, but then her temper takes over, and she swallows the hurt so she can cling to the last shred of her dignity while leaving the room. It was a mistake to look at her boss as anything other than that. If she'd simply remained focused on her job, this never would've happened. Things would be normal between them, and this unrelenting tightness in her chest would disappear.
Sakura almost wishes she never met Sasuke Uchiha, but she definitely wishes she'd never fallen in love with him.
Of all the things the pinkette is, a beggar she is not. It's obvious Sasuke regrets what they did, so she isn't going to give him the satisfaction of continuously getting shot down while trying to have an adult conversation. That doesn't mean she isn't hurt. In fact, Sakura's almost as upset as she was when she first overheard Kiba talking badly about her so long ago. She thought the Uchiha man would at least have the balls to admit he made a mistake instead of rudely shutting her down.
What's worse? Sakura still has feelings for him. She can barely stand to be in his presence because when she sees his face, she remembers the hungry look in his eyes when they spent the night together. When he speaks, she can hear the heated, encouraging tone with which he'd whispered into her skin.
"Earth to Sakura!" Karin's voice snaps the Haruno woman out of her deep thoughts. She jumps, nearly dropping the armful of files she's holding.
"What?!" Immediately, she makes an apologetic face because she hadn't meant to snap at the redhead.
Thankfully, the woman isn't upset. She does little to hide her ogling as their boss passes to approach his desk, "Are we still staying at Ino's tonight?" They just returned from making their rounds.
Sakura keeps her gaze on Karin's face and refuses to spare the godly man even a glance. Who cares if she's being petty? He's the one who came to her apartment and made the first move. He's not entirely to blame for their hookup because she'd been more than eager to participate, but it's solely his fault their relationship, both personal and professional, is all but ruined. It's to the point that coworkers have noticed. Sakura's not the only one avoiding confrontation. Sasuke doesn't look her way or speak directly to her unless there's absolutely no other choice.
"Yeah."
"Wanna carpool?"
"Duh," Sakura mumbles, returning to her task of placing files in their designated cabinets.
Karin lowers her voice so that their boss won't hear, her brows furrowing with annoyance, "What's your deal this week? You're bitchier than usual."
The pinkette's instinct is to defend herself, but she doesn't because her friend is right. So, she sighs, running a stressed hand through her long hair, "I have some personal stuff going on. I'm sorry. I'll try to tone it down."
"Oh…. Don't worry about it," Karin mutters, apparently not having realized Sakura is actually upset about something.
At Ino's, the blonde waits until they've each had their facemasks applied before approaching the subject with much less tact than the redhead had, "So, spill, Forehead. What's up?"
Sakura subtly glances at an unsuspecting Karin to inform Ino to keep Sasuke's name out of this. She already feels guilty enough having developed a serious crush on her redheaded friend's crush, but now she's slept with him, too. Ino's baby blues twinkle with understanding, so the pinkette says, "I, um, I took a guy home after the party last weekend." Both of the other women are silent with disbelief, so she continues before they can make incorrect assumptions, "It was a huge mistake, and I'm just trying to sort out my feelings about it. I really am sorry if I've been bitchy."
Karin opens her mouth to say something, but Ino understands exactly who Sakura must've hooked up with and quickly interrupts with a change of subject, "Boring. I've got something to tell you two that's more interesting!" If she could, Sakura would thank the blonde for not fixating on her admission. "Sai asked me to be his date tomorrow!"
The others share a look before bursting into laughter. "You expect us to believe you didn't bully him into it, Pig?"
Ino wiggles her brows before smirking flirtatiously, "If you consider hinting at the possible sexual favors I'd be willing to perform if he makes it a stellar date bullying, then I'm guilty as charged."
The three women fall into fits of giggles as they continue to gossip like they're high school girls again. As she falls asleep, half-drunk, Sakura feels a little better about the situation with her boss. At least she has friends to support her, and it's not like she took the job with Uchiha Corp. to begin a career. She decides then and there that she'll begin searching for at least decent-paying jobs after the banquet tomorrow. Until that pans out, she'll do exactly what Sasuke wants, and that's to stay out of his sight.