Hello all,
I hope you are doing well and having a great day!
Middle school went on.
It was the spring of his second year when Sasuke was invited to his first 'big-boy' party. It was weird. All the kids in his grade had been invited. He wasn't stupid—this wasn't the usual supervised birthday parties he had gone to when he was in primary school. No, for the first time to the young 13-year-old it felt older.
Suddenly, the entire grade was talking about it. It was the event of the century. It was organized by a girl a year older than them. Somehow, her parents weren't there, and she had decided to open her house for the night. Everyone in her grade and older was going. She was even allowing people to sleep over if they needed.
The girls in the class were excited—finally, they could try on nice outfits. The boys, immature as they were, laughed and claimed it was lame that older kids would be there. In reality, everyone was desperate to go.
Somehow, they had heard about the punch and the music. Most of them were still so innocent… but at the same time, they were all starting to bloom, slowly becoming aware of things.
Sex education had kicked in. Most of them had heard about… things…
Boys and girls were not playing together anymore. The small primary school they were in couldn't have prepared them for the shock of middle school.
The girls had slightly outgrown the boys in height. They were non-stop talking about love and romanticism, mentioning how all the boys their age were so immature. They were dreaming of Prince Charming… probably a classy high-school boy—or Sasuke—whom they would love to snatch to the party with.
The boys, on the other hand, since they arrived in middle-school, had started to look up to the older classmates. The culture at school was quite intense, and they had seen the "pictures."
Sasuke learned about it by accident, the year before.
He was just scrolling on a site when suddenly something had popped up. He didn't click, but he was curious, so he googled it.
The first reaction was, of course, disgust and incomprehension.
He was so …unaware.
Sasuke was smart. But he had never guessed before. Contrary to other kids, his parents had never brought up the subject of sex with him.
Things started to be said in the locker room and in the boys' bathroom.
And some of the kids had somehow already gotten girlfriends and were suddenly sharing things, dropping hints like it was some grand secret—one hidden in plain sight. Everyone was excited and talking about it, yet, somehow, they all had to pretend it wasn't happening.
Some of the kids had learned it in worse ways than Sasuke did. In his shared PE class, he learned that Kiba had walked in on his parents doing it on the couch by accident when he was 11 (of course, in Sasuke's eyes, the entire family was made of dogs, so that checked out.)
Then, pictures had started to spread in their year. Older girls. Slightly more mature than the pimpled faces of the girls in their year. More than once, Sasuke had wondered if the person in the picture really wanted to have their face -and body- shared like that all around. But… it was not like he was going to comment. He was doing his best to not get too involved.
His parents were too strict.
He remembered a Sunday lunch a year ago, where Obito, now in high school had mentioned something about a date. Their aunt Hazuki had scolded him quite harshly. Sasuke remembered—she had made it clear. They were Uchiha. They had a name and a reputation. Obito wasn't allowed to do anything that was not officially approved by the family. His aunt had used the word 'improper.' Sasuke had not understand right away, he thought she had meant Obito behaviour, but it was clearly… well, not that.
While Sasuke did feel a little weird about not being able to get his questions answered, it was okay. If he was curious, he had the internet.
This was why this party was so special in all their eyes. For the first time, most of the teenagers would know what it was like to go to a real party without their parents around.
Most parents were not fools, and many had already arranged to pick up their 13-year-old children at the end of the night. Additionally, most kids had curfews.
When thinking through whether he should go, Sasuke was not very interested, but he ended up asking his mother. While, Mikoto was open minded, she could be weirdly protective sometimes and he wanted to know how she would feel if he went.
To Sasuke's surprise, his mother had been very understanding and had even encouraged him to go.
"It'll be good for you to relax a bit! Spending time with your friends and all!" she had said.
Sasuke was not convinced, but his mother seemed to trust him, and that made him feel good.
After all, he was always on time for his homework, his extracurriculars, and the house duties. Plus, since the fight with Naruto a year and a half ago, he had not had any major incidents -that got to his parents' ears-.
Still, to make sure, his mother had called the Sunano-san parents to ensure it was safe. She confirmed to him that although the parents would not be there, they had informed the neighbor, who knew the birthday girl very well and had promised to be there in case of an emergency. Sasuke was still hesitant, and his mother told him it was his choice and that if he wanted, he could arrange for his ride to be around 11 p.m. to pick him up if he decided to leave early.
The day of the party, Sasuke was still unsure. He didn't really care.
Would he even like it?
He didn't like to dance, and he did not know this Temari girl. Everyone else would be there… It was dumb.
The party was from 8 PM until 11 PM, with clubs finishing around 6pm. He could just come back home, do his homework, and stay in.
Did he really want to stay home? Plus, Sakura insisted. She nagged him, even.
The fact that, during the afternoon break, Naruto had intervened—telling him he was probably too scared to stay out late—was definitely not the reason he finally made up his mind to go.
So, of course, he went.
And…
Sasuke did not know what to do.
His entire body was tense. He had no one to talk to. He was bored, and he hated it. And yet, he was here. Maybe wishing for something. He did not know what.
The house where the party was happening wasn't that big.
Why would anyone organize a party this size in such a small house?
This was stupid.
Diligently ignoring the fact that, somehow, a part of him liked being here, he sight.
With the lights dimmed in the house, an interesting obscurity surrounded the teenagers. The large windows were open to let the air in, and outside, there was only darkness, but the nice breeze was definelty needed in the very stuffed space. The music was kind of loud as well, and most of the teens were dancing around or talking to their friends, pushing people onto the dance floor without realizing it.
They were all weirdly dressed.
Most of the girls wore short dresses with a lot of intricacies, as if they were planning to go to a ball but weren't going for the full outfit. The boys, on the other hand… well, let's say that Sasuke was definitely the most well-dressed, and he wasn't even trying.
There were also many people sitting around, playing cards and sharing drinks, as well as others stuffing their mouths with some available food—which, in Sasuke's opinion, looked disgusting. As he walked around, finding it all somewhat repulsive, he was also a little envious of how they all had smiles on their faces, having fun.
"Sasuke-kun! I am so happy you came!" The pink-haired girl jumped on him, grabbing his arm.
"Hn," he growled slightly, trying to get away from her grasp, but Sakura was weirdly strong.
To anyone else looking, Sakura looked lovely that night. She wore a tank top with pink sparkles and a small skirt that was also very disco-like. The sequins had a cute, age-appropriate feel but still made her look mature with her accessories and her makeup.
To Sasuke, the glitter was just getting on his shirt.
"Do you want to dance, Sasuke-kun?"
He grimaced.
"No."
"Oh, maybe later! Have you seen the lights? They are so great! We're going to have so much fun tonight!"
Ignoring her, he tried again to get away.
"Hn."
"There are card games over there. Come with me…"
He tried to resist but very quickly gave up. It was useless to make a scene or try to escape from Sakura in moments like these—he knew it. She would just come back stronger. He needed to find another way.
Sasuke ended up playing cards for a moment with a random group while Sakura excitedly blabbered on about gossip and her everyday life.
It was fine. He just… didn't care.
He waited for her to go to the bathroom before finally managing to escape. Slowly, he made his way toward the bar—or what looked like a bar in the kitchen. They didn't even have alcohol, just juice. He didn't know why it was even called a "bar." He was just trying to get a glass of water or something remotely drinkable.
Finally, with some lemon juice in his hand and a huge headache from the noise, he was about to head back to the main room when he suddenly heard the pink-haired girl calling for him. In great horror, he quickly made his way—more like ran away—to a darker room on his left, hiding.
He stayed quiet as he carefully peeked through the slight opening of the door to see if Sakura was following him. Stepping back a little, Sasuke bumped into a couch in the corner of the room, made a small movement, spilled his drink, and then sighed.
It was decided. He hated this party.
"Would you mind sharing a bit of that?"
He froze suddenly.
On the other side of the room, sitting in an armchair, was another guest. The room was dark, and there was no way Sasuke would have seen him if the boy hadn't spoken.
No, fuck no, do you know how thirsty I am? I did not even get a sip.
A moment of silence. He looked up, ready to tell the other boy to go fuck himself. The boy had a very flat voice and didn't seem too… well… actually, he looked awfully tired, with huge black bags under his eyes and pale, gloomy skin. Maybe it was just the darkness, but Sasuke could swear the other one was completely exhausted. Slowly, he extended his hand so the other boy could take the drink.
He knew him, after all. They had never really talked before, but he had known him since they were four.
He waited a minute, and the messy, dark-haired boy gave him back the drink, with most of the juice still inside—yes, Sasuke was still very thirsty.
"Thanks. I was too lazy to get one myself. I hate the noise."
Now that Sasuke's eyes had adjusted to the dim light, Shikamaru looked more normal.
"Me too," he answered.
Nara-san nodded.
"Yeah, I was surprised to see you here. I thought you wouldn't come."
"Hn… Sakura forced me."
"Well, Ino forced me."
A small smile appeared on Sasuke's lips, and it was partially shared by Shikamaru.
"Hm, you too, then."
"It's bothersome. She said something about this party being super important or something…"
Sasuke grimaced.
"Stupid."
"Yeah."
A nice silence followed, and Sasuke didn't know what to do anymore. He had never talked to Shikamaru this long. Over the last year, the only time he had shared words with the boys was to insult them. Suddenly, he felt flustered.
What should he do?
Should he talk more?
Should he walk away?
But… that couch looked pretty comfy. He had a glass of lemon juice. It was less noisy in this part of the house, and well… Nara-san wasn't that bad of company, was he? He had seen him express himself—rarely, but still—in class. The guy wasn't that stupid. Plus, he was… well, Sasuke didn't know.
This was so random.
But there was something about the boy that repelled him less than the others.
Sasuke was in the middle of a weird reflection when Shikamaru finally spoke again.
"Hm, are you going to join the student council in the end?"
"…Oh. Sorry, what?"
Nara-san shrugged, then lazily repeated his question.
"Are you joining the student council?"
"Probably… why?"
He shrugged.
"Just asking," he added. "I was asked to as well."
"Oh, so are you?"
"Don't know… sounds… bothersome."
"But it gives you great advantages for your resume."
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Sure… You're thinking about that already, huh?"
"Well… why not? Clubs are a good way to diversify." Sasuke could swear he sounded like his father.
"But don't you want to do something you like?"
"Well, I do already, but student council will look good for future endeavors."
"Hm… maybe."
Shikamaru did not look convinced.
"What? Is there another club you're interested in?"
"Hm, I like chess… so maybe."
Hm. Okay. Well, there wasn't much else to say after that.
Was there?
Another silence fell, and again, Sasuke started to wonder what to say when someone else entered the room.
"Oh, I see. This is where the calm kids hide. Can I join you?"
Shikamaru made an inviting gesture for the guy to sit next to him, without even bothering to open his mouth.
Then, finally settled, the newcomer noticed Sasuke and gave him a quick, acknowledging nod.
"Uchiha."
"Aburame…"
And just like that, Sasuke found himself strangely at ease and discreetly sat down.
"Why are you here, Shino?" asked Shikamaru.
"Hmm, TenTen convinced me it'd be nice."
"Huh, you too."
"Hm."
A small chuckle escaped Shikamaru's throat, and suddenly, the two boys started talking—calmly and quickly—about some school matter. Sasuke just sat there. His own silence seemed to fit quite nicely between the short and sharp remarks of his peers.
Even the humor made him tilt his head from time to time, especially when Shikamaru sarcastically commented on their history professor's nicotine addiction. And before he realized it, he was also adding one or two points to the conversation. Slowly, in the background, the music and the screams of their classmates began to fade. A nice, almost comfortable aura started to surround Sasuke.
"Hm, I didn't know you drank, Uchiha," whispered Shino after a brief silence.
"Drank? What do you mean?"
The boy pointed to Sasuke's lemon juice.
"Isn't that just water and lemon?"
"Hmm, from what I heard, they mixed some alcohol with it."
Sasuke sighed. Of course. That was his luck. He looked down at the now-empty glass in his hand. Then, he glanced at Shikamaru, who simply shrugged.
"Don't know, mate."
"It's fine, I guess."
If his mother knew, she would be upset. But honestly, it hadn't been that bad.
He looked up. He liked this feeling of warmth he was experiencing.
Alcohol in lemon juice wasn't so bad after all.