In which Sasuke is an absolute mess.
"Oi, Perky Tits Sakura? Come get your dude."
Green eyes widened and pink brows furrowed as the young woman held her phone away from her face to double check the name of the caller. Sasuke Uchiha greeted her gaze in its normal black font.
"Uh…" she leaned back from her desk, rubbing at her eyes. "I don't want to say yes to that because what the fuck, but… yes?" she replied.
"I don't know who you are." The deeper voice said over the line while a massive thud and subsequent crying also buried into her ear. "Guys cut that shit out, I'm on the phone!"
"You– you just said my name!"
"You said it wasn't your name!"
"No, I didn't– wait who the fuck are you and why are you calling me from Sasuke's phone?"
"It's me!" plastic crinkled in the background.
"I don't know who 'me' is." Sakura replied, irritation growing as the conversation with the stranger continued. "What do you want?"
"Angel Choj – Akamaruno do not eat that! Gah!"
The phone clattered to the ground as ambiguous noises shuffled through. Sakura glanced at the clock and groaned at the time. She had already stayed up later than she was planning to if she, Ino, and Hinata were going to hit up that new coffee place in the morning.
"Listen, whoever you are, I'm about to go to sleep so you better either tell me what the fuck you called about or just get over it."
"-called her? My Sak'ra?" Sasuke's muddled voice drifted, and Sakura's heart picked up a beat. "Why'd'ou drop it?" some static grumbled as the phone was picked up. "Sak'ra?"
"Sasuke?"
"Sak'ra!" Sasuke's voice was sleepy and slurred. "Hi."
"Hi?" Only silence and his breathing carried through the line. Sakura's brow rose.
"Hi." He repeated.
"Sasuke, it's almost 2 am, do you need something?"
"I'm really fucked Sak'ra." A warm giggle tumbled out and Sakura swallowed down her anxiety.
"Okay," he supplied no further information, but she heard more items clatter and shouts. "Do you need help?"
"They're tryin' t'make me sleep in the dog crate." He tried but failed to whisper it to her. "Sak'ra I don't wanna sleep'n the crate." He cried at her, and the woman had to hold back a chuckle.
"I can come get you-"
"You're gonna get'me?" it was breathy and damn near giddy with excitement, leading her lips to tilt into a smile "Hey!" She jumped when he screamed at someone in the room, the words rang in her ears, and she rubbed at her temples. It was entirely too late in the day for such a volume. "She's gonna come, fuck y – " the phone clattered to the ground again.
"She better be cumming you idiot." Sakura dropped her head against her desk with a thunk, as the phone crackled static when it was passed to yet another person. "Perky Tits?"
"Oh my god."
"It's Shikamaru, you really need to come get your boy, he's -Sasuke no, that's Akamaru's water bowl, what is wrong with you! He's totally fucked right now and trying to eat dog food. I'd drive him home, but these other assholes are trying to destroy the living room. I'll send you, my address."
With a final wail from someone and more cursing, the call was disconnected. Sakura sighed, stretched out her feet and back before standing and throwing on her softest sweatpants over her cotton shorts along with her puffer jacket and a beanie. The address came through her phone seconds later and it took her almost no time to drive to Shikamaru's apartment.
The outside of the two-story townhouse appeared to be calm, but the front door was wide open, allowing the heat to escape into the endless void of cold. Snow fell quietly around her, sticking to her hat and lashes, dampening her skin when it melted upon entering the building. She kicked off slush from wet shoes, toes wriggling in an attempt to stave off the oncoming numbness she was prone to. She glanced around an untidy kitchen that smelled like coffee, cookies, and cigarette smoke.
"Hi." She jumped at the sound of a deep male voice, looking up to see a man she had somehow missed in her original scan of the room. He had brown spiky hair and tiny round glasses, smoking a cigarette with a cup of coffee at the messy kitchen table.
"Hi," she returned tentatively, offering an awkward smile. "I'm, uh-"
"Sakura," he nodded, taking a drag from his smoke. "I'm Shino." He motioned towards his cigarette pack. "D'you want one, why? Because it's been a cluster fuck in here and the nicotine helps."
"No, thank you." She bounced on her cold toes, conflicted on whether asking directly about Sasuke would leave a good or bad impression with Shino, and immediately feeling silly at the thought. Her pink brows furrowed with concern, biting at her lip before asking. "Is Sasuke…?"
The young man nodded, smudging the butt of his cigarette out into an ashtray, and picking up his mug as he stood. "He's in here."
The cold wind from the still open front door followed them as Shino led her through a hallway and a room before stopping in front of a door. The young man glanced at her from his round spectacles and opened the door, flicking a switch. Light flooded into a small dark room, and she barely registered Sasuke stumbling to his feet from his position snuggling with a black and white dog on a dog bed when suddenly she found her arms full of drunk boy. Sasuke was nuzzling into her shoulder, arms wrapped around her neck, grinning and smelling like liquor and something musky.
"Sak'ra!" he tipped on his heels to draw her in closer to his chest, knocking them both over in his excitement. Shino quickly sidestepped, choosing instead to guard his precious coffee mug from danger rather than trying to catch them. They collided with the wall, landing in a tangle of limbs on the fur covered floor. The dog woofed at them, bounding over to investigate why two humans were now at eye level with her.
"Why is Sasuke in here? For this exact reason." Shino sighed deeply, taking a swig of his drink before nodding at the dog. "Meru, come." The dog's tail wagged as it followed Shino out of the room.
"Shit, Sasuke," Sakura groaned, pinned beneath him. "That really hurt, can you get off of me?"
He paid her no attention, simply burrowed further into her shoulder. "Sak'ra, I missed you."
"I missed you too."
"Really?" His brows rose questioningly, voice low and quiet as he spoke. Black eyes the size of the moon inspected her with pupils a bit too dilated for only the consumption of alcohol.
"Of course," she replied softly, and with the breathtaking grin that spread across his face, she couldn't find it in herself to be angry with him for continuing to crush her beneath his weight. She ran her fingers through his messy hair, and he hummed contentedly, closing his eyes and leaning into her touch. "Sasuke?" she asked gently. He looked up at her. "Can you please get off me? You're squishing my tit."
"Oh!" he scrambled to move, elbowing her by accident, and rolling off ungracefully thumping to the floor once more. "Sorry." He mumbled, watching from the ground as she stood up and attempted to dust the fur from her sweatpants and offered him a hand, which he took.
She smiled at him tenderly and a blush brushed quickly across his pale cheeks. "Are you ready to go?"
He nodded and followed docilly beside her, glancing around as she led them back to where Shino was still smoking in the kitchen, petting Meru absentmindedly.
"Shino," green eyes darted through the room looking for Sasuke's shoes and coat. "Do you know where Sasuke's stuff is?" The young man shrugged, offering a cigarette to Sasuke when he reached out with wanting fingers. She sighed and settled Sasuke into the chair beside Shino's. "Can you stay here while I find your things?"
He nodded, popping the cigarette into his mouth, and taking a puff. His energy was dipping from his initial excitement of seeing her, sinking down on the seat and legs stretching far under the table. Meru sniffed his toes and pawed at him.
The cool air in the kitchen was a relief for Sakura, who was heated from Sasuke's prior proximity. She shouldered off her jacket, leaving only her thin cotton t-shirt. "Hold onto this?" She asked as she set the warm fabric into Sasuke's hands.
"Aye, aye cap'n." He saluted her, giggling with Shino, eyes fluttering closed while smoke wisped from his mouth.
She rolled her eyes, swiftly moving from the room, wondering where the chaotic nature of the earlier phone call left the rest of the party. She stalked between rooms, finding exhausted furniture, flocks of bottles along window sills and side tables, someone's stereo pushing out calming melodies to an empty room, and messy bedrooms. Just as she was getting frustrated that her winding journey seemed to provide no answers on her quest to uncover Sasuke's things, her nose wrinkled at an earthy, musky smell that drifted through the halls. Like a hound, she quickly followed the scent through another bedroom that led to a small balcony, where chaos had clearly morphed into peaceful harmony.
Shikamaru paused his actions, a bowl in his hands, when Sakura knocked on the glass of the doorway. He had on a puffer jacket along with a scarf emblazoned with Suna University. A huskier man sat on the concrete opposite of Shikamaru, cuddled in a blanket, munching happily on snacks. His legs were extended and clearly entangled with the legs of a boy she knew to be Kiba, who was clearly passed out. Kiba's shoulders and torso were under the table and a large tan and brown dog laid across his stomach, tail wagging. A woman she almost didn't recognize as Temari was bundled in multiple blankets and settled on a chair that matched Shikamaru's, with another young woman on her lap who had her arms wrapped around Temari's shoulders, facing away from Sakura. The only thing Sakura could note about the second woman was the shock of violently red hair that tumbled over her shoulders. Temari's gloved hands were held out to take the bowl from Shikamaru's hands. He nodded to the heavier man, who pushed the glass door open. Cold wind carrying snowflakes blasted into the room, immediately causing shivers to run down Sakura's spine. The mouthful of musky smoke Shikamaru blew out soon followed into the room.
"Hey Sakura," Temari greeted through clattering teeth.
"What'd'ya want?" Temari's hand swatted at her boyfriend at his bluntness.
Sakura stepped further into the doorway, toes numbing entirely. "Hey Temari," she smiled at the other woman in return. "Where the hell is Sasuke's shit? It's cold as fuck out there, I need his shoes so we can go." Shikamaru groaned while the man crunching on the chips paused, intently staring at Sakura.
"Oi, you're Perky Tits girl, right?" he flashed a shit eating grin at Shikamaru, dusting his dust coated fingers off on his thigh. "She is, right? I mean, shit," his eyes darted back to her chest with a whistle. "Sasuke was right on that one."
Sakura immediately flushed, glancing down to realize in horror that she hadn't put a bra on before she left her apartment. She crossed her arms quickly, a mixture of annoyance, shyness, and curiosity of what exactly Sasuke may have mentioned all twisted in her gut.
"Choji!" Temari shrieked, the girl on her lap twisting to glare at the boy.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" The red head spit back at him, squirming off of Temari's lap to swipe the still full bag of chips from his hands.
"Hey!" He protested; any attention previously given to Sakura was immediately dropped. The red head held the bag up out of his reach, even with her short stature. "Karin, no!"
"Don't say gross shit to girls!" the red head growled.
"I couldn't help it!" Choji whined, pointing to Sakura. "It's her fault her nipples were staring at me!" he asserted.
"What's wrong with you!" Temari yelled as Sakura scoffed not knowing what to say.
"You fucked up," Karin declared, glaring daggers at him before tipping his precious snack over the edge of the porch.
"No!" Choji cried, lunging towards the chips as they gained acceleration in their descent to the ground. Karin crumpled up the empty bag and tossed it into his face.
"Dude," Shikamaru pulled another hit, eyelids drooping in irritation as his high was jarred. "Don't blame Sasuke for a name Naruto came up with."
"And Naruto," Temari added, nabbing the bowl from Shikamaru's hands. "Is going to get a piece of my mind when I see him next." She glared between the two conscious boys as she took the next hit.
"And I'm going to kick Naruto directly in the nuts." Karin added in.
Choji frowned at his empty snack bag. "You two are just annoyed that your nicknames aren't Perky Tits." With a pout he looked at Sakura from the side of his eye. "Regardless of who said it, the name is not inaccurate."
"I hate you. Angel Choji my ass." Sakura bit out crossly. "The shoes and coat?" she sighed.
"Hall closet," Shikamaru supplied, ignoring the scowl Choji sent his way. "Right down the hall and to the left."
"That's the bathroom, idiot." Karin stepped confidently over Choji's legs and pulled at Sakura's arm. "I'll show you. Clearly, he's too blitzed to realize the layout of his own apartment."
""Thanks," Sakura muttered and sent a halfhearted wave to Temari, who nodded back, before she followed after the red head. She willed her goosebumps away as she was tugged back into the warmth of the building. Karin led her to the correct door and dug out Sasuke's jacket while Sakura grabbed his shoes.
"Thanks," Sakura started, reaching out for the fabric but Karin pulled it out of reach.
"So," Karin started, carmine eyes appraising Sakura. "They really aren't wrong about your tits. They really are perky."
Sakura flushed and dropped Sasuke's shoes with a clatter to cover her face. "Why would you say that?" she groaned.
Karin flashed a beautiful smile and patted Sakura on the head. "Because the female body should be praised without the weird sexual baggage men bring to it. And," she winked when Sakura peeked at her from behind her fingers. "I'm a bit jealous of you." The red head paused, finally handing over the jacket and picked the shoes back up for the pink haired woman. "How long have you and Sasuke been a thing for?"
The question was innocent enough, but Sakura felt her anxiety spike. "What makes you think we're a thing?" the way she laughed off the question rang hollow even in her own ears.
"Usually, they don't call someone to pick up your dude unless there's a thing going on." Karin sighed. "It doesn't matter. I know how the Uchiha are." She gave Sakura a soft smile. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
"There's really nothing to be sorry for, because there's no thing." Sakura's smile didn't reach her eyes. "Thanks for your help." She swallowed and shifted past Karin to head for the kitchen.
When she made it back to the kitchen, she found Sasuke alone, softly snoring, still diligently holding her jacket.
She shoved his feet into his sneakers before gently bumping his shoulder to try and wake him enough to put on his coat. Nothing but a grumble fell from his throat as he tried to shift to be more comfortable on the hard chair. Sighing, Sakura toed her wet shoes back on, shouldered on her jacket, and wished briefly that she had not been roped into this quest. Setting her hands on her hips, she stared at her maybe kind of boyfriend that she couldn't actually say was her maybe kind of boyfriend – who really was entirely too adorable in this exposed state – and immediately decided she didn't mind too much that she was the one called to come collect him at ungodly hours of the morning.
Deciding to roll the dice and try to move him without help, she shoved her red beanie onto his head, tucked his jacket around his waist, and pulled one of his arms over her shoulder, determined to carry him out the door. She wasn't sure if 3 am Sakura just happened to have herculean strength or how exactly she managed, but she was able to wrangle Sasuke to her car, tucking his limbs safely into the back seat. Even with the extra snow coating the ground, the drive to Sasuke's apartment took little time, though the numbness of her feet made the drive unpleasant.
"Are we goin't' Taco Bell?" he briefly woke, quickly sitting up as she parked outside his apartment complex. "Two chalupas with the good good sauce."
"We're not going to Taco Bell." Sakura said, unbuckling and shifting to look at him. "Do you have your apartment keys?"
"Keys!" he dug into his pocket and dropped them into her hand. "Are we goin't' Wendy's?" he yawned and blinked obviously blurry eyes. "M'hungry."
Sakura shook her head with a small smile and stepped out of the car before gritting her teeth to the cold. "Yes," she lied after opening his door, pulling at the seatbelt she had managed to secure over his prone form. "We'll go to Wendy's, but you have to help me take you inside."
"B'RGERS!" Sasuke bellowed before sinking into a fit of giggles as the seatbelt released his semiliquid body to sink into the floor.
"Come on," she tugged his arm over her neck again, thankful that this time he could at least take on some of his own weight. "Let's go."
They walked in silence – Sakura walked, and Sasuke stumbled like a new baby giraffe at her side.. The wind had picked up since they left Shikamaru's, but luckily, Sasuke's larger form was taking the brunt of it. She felt more than heard him whine after a few steps.
"Sak'ra," black, wide, watery doe eyes met her gaze, his brows were furrowed high on his forehead and his mouth was twisting. "Sak'ra are you mad at me?" it came out breathy and a higher pitch than was normal for him.
She tried not to think of Karin asking about them, tried instead to just enjoy the way his side was warm and firm against hers. "I'm not mad."
He huffed at her, breath puffing into vapor clouds. "You're mad at me."
She tried, mostly successfully, to hide a smirk at his persistence. "I'm not!" she retorted. "It's just cold out here."
He sagged against her as she maneuvered them towards the door. He pressed his cold nose into her cheek at the same moment she shifted to readjust his weight. "You are mad!" he proclaimed. Previously useless arms sought her face and tugged it closer to his as he searched her, clearly distraught. "What'd I'do?" his warm breath fanned across her cheeks.
"I promise I'm not mad," she repeated, his frown reminded her of the one he sent her way when they were just children the time she accidentally took his swing during recess. He searched her face again, a momentary glimmer of coherency flitted across his expression when he looked at her mouth, before glazing back over.
"Sa-ku-raaaa," he fussed at her, icy fingers tangling into her pink hair, thumbs tracing the shell of her ears. A shiver shot down her spine. "Sakura," his feet firmly rooted to the ground, halting them. "What'd I'do?" It was utterly earnest and desperate; panic laced the edges of his garbled speech.
Snow landed in his hair that stuck out of her red beanie, mixed into his incredibly long lashes, and melted into crystal droplets on his pale skin. His cheeks were flushed, lips parted, and brows furrowed.
"Please," he murmured to her, listing to the right as he dipped and kissed along her jawline while she desperately held onto his waist to keep him from tumbling into the snow at their feet. "M'sorry," he slurred at her sincerely, a whimper skirting the back of his throat.
"Sasuke," her arms were sore from keeping him upright, exhausted by the day, but she resolutely pressed her forehead into his. "I am not angry with you."
She wasn't sure if he believed her, allowed a few erratic heartbeats to pass entangled in each other's arms before walking them backwards towards his door. Somehow, she kept a tight grip on his larger form, lightening spidering along her skin each time he drunkenly kissed at her jaw and pulse, and managed not to drop him when she juggled the keys to his apartment. She pushed the door open and shuffled them into the warm building. She helped him find his way to the beat-up orange couch before pulling off both sets of their wet shoes and placed them in the entrance way. The door shut with a click as she stepped over their small puddles to pour a glass of water for him.
She had bent over to set the glass down on the coffee table when he lifted his arms into the air and pouted. "Couch not big'nough." Anxiety and distress momentarily forgotten. "Bed." He requested.
"You know I can't carry you there." She whispered, watching in amusement as his pout deepened.
"Don't b'mean."
She huffed playfully at him, coming around so that he could see her exaggeratedly roll her eyes at his request, and he smiled sweetly at her. Their fingers folded together as she gripped his hands. "But you have to help, I did most of the work dragging you here after all."
He smirked and obliged to the best of his ability. He unlaced their fingers and instead wrapped his arms around her neck. A whimper fell from his mouth, incredibly hot against the soft skin under her earlobe. She swallowed, trying to ignore the way her heart leapt in her chest. He unsteadily took a step backwards towards his bedroom, almost upending them both back onto the couch, but caught himself before they could. A small gasp slipped from his mouth.
"That's why you're mad," he muttered, brain latching onto a reason still secret to her. "But," doe eyes caught her gaze, cheeks pink in shyness. "You don't hav't'worry," his expression softened. "You never have to worry about that."
She settled him onto his mattress and found herself being pulled alongside him as he laid back into the bed. Sasuke released her long enough to pull the blood red duvet over them, and as Sakura continued to shiver, he wriggled under the blanket, fingers pulling down the waistband of her sweat pants.
"Sasuke!" she squeaked, green eyes wide in a mix of panic and embarrassment. He glanced up at her, a glint she couldn't read in his gaze, his hair tickling her thighs.
"Pant legs're wet," he offered as reasoning, and peeled the damp fabric from her skin. He threw the offending article out from under the blanket before pulling off her similarly wet socks and discarding them as well. "Cold," he noted, wrapping his warm hands around her icy toes, cheeks resting on her knees, hot breath fanning her skin.
The young woman's heart was beating almost violently in her throat, heat pooling beneath her navel as her freezing toes curled. Tentatively, hesitantly, she reached out and threaded her fingers through his hair. He glanced up at her again, that unknown glint drilling into her, causing her breath to hitch as he ever so slowly kissed her thigh. With the singular movement, that simple pressing of soft lips against tender skin, flames trailed across her. Searing and blistering, she forgot about the chill that had settled in her flesh, burned away when he opened his mouth and gently bit her.
"Sasuke," for the first time that night, since she got the call, his name fell from her lips like a prayer. Soft, awed, reverent. She realized then, that she had never answered him, all those weeks ago, when he asked if she had ever done this before. Done more than this before.
She had never answered because the answer was a bit more complicated than yes or no. She wasn't ready to tell him of the boy who at her new school that touched her with greedy fingers and took her when she wasn't ready. Took her of his own selfish desire rather than her own want. And that all of these years later, now as an entire adult, she had been hesitant and timid with anything more than heavy kissing. Hesitant and timid and fearful that someone else would take from her.
Yet here he was. Soft and gentle and careful, his mouth a dream she couldn't shake. His fingers moving to her hips in a question rather than a demand, his gaze seeking and pleading.
And even though she wanted nothing more than to submit to him, see and explore the vast expanse of his supple skin, experience something different, that didn't make her feel grimy, dirtied, and used, she couldn't. She couldn't, and when she shook her head, tears springing to her eyes through no doing of his own, he stopped.
He stopped, and there was no irritation, no disappointment, and no expectation. When he repositioned himself to lay beside her, he didn't speak, didn't ask or question or blame. Simply opened his arms for her to seek refuge if she wanted to seek it in him. She was angry with herself when the liquid spilled over her eyes. But she buried herself in his chest and felt relief when his arms wound around her, fingers trailing along her spine comforting and reassuring.
"I told you," he mumbled into her hair with a tender kiss. "You never have to worry with me."
Thanks for reading, please leave a review!