holding hands
by: ohwhatsherface

4. keep your hands off my baby

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“Good. By sunrise you’re going to be in love with me.”

Uh… Is it just me or did that come out of my mouth?

Judging by the look on Sasuke’s face, yes, it did come out.

OH, MY GOD.

Oh, why did I say that?

Why, oh why, Sakura?!

Why can’t you learn how to keep your mouth shut?

Here is a perfectly perfect man standing right in front of me looking positively rape-worthy and I screw it up by spouting off the l-word. That was me trying to be coy and flirty. It is because of epic failures like that that I keep my mouth shut around guys. Ugh.

Way to be an idiot, Sakura.

Seriously – love?!

WHO MENTIONS LOVE TO A GUY THEY HAVE KNOWN FOR SIX MINUTES?

Who?!

This is so impeccably lame…

Fuck my life!

Sasuke recovers from his apparent shock and then smirks back at me and I struggle in my battle against jumping his bones right at that moment. “Are you sure about that?” he asks in a haughty voice. He almost sounds flirtatious, like what I started is a game and now that he’s in it, he won’t let me win. He seems like that type – the competitive, challenge-conquering type. I don’t know.

Well, I might as well maintain the act…

I simply grin back at him smugly. I open my mouth to say something flirty and coy since I don’t want to attempt some come hither eyes and only end up failing, but before I can speak, I feel someone bump into me and something cold and sticky seeping into my t-shirt.

Naruto.

The mood between Sasuke and I is murdered the moment we both look at the dumbass that I vehemently refuse to believe I am related to.

“Idiot,” Sasuke mutters, shaking his head. His eyes are closed for a moment in exasperation, as if he was expecting Naruto to do something like this… how very smart of him. I probably should have been expecting something stupid, too. “Shouldn’t you be out celebrating your anniversary?”

Instead of answering Sasuke, Naruto gasps overdramatically and points to my shirt. I look down at it and groan.

So much for a plain white t…

“Oh, crap, Sakura!” Naruto yells. He grabs my wrist and pulls on it. “Come on, let’s go get you out of that wet shirt.”

“What?”

Before I can protest or say bye to Sasuke or anything, Naruto is dragging me over to the ladies’ room. I turn my head, trusting Naruto to guide me, and see Sai come over to Sasuke and start chatting him up – in a friendly sort of way, of course.

The door to the bathroom closes with a thud and Naruto locks it. He smiles at me deviously before pouncing and making a grab for my shirt.

“Um, hi, not only do I not know you like that, but we are related!” I scream, slapping his grabby hands away. I close my coat and cross my arms over my chest protectively. “Back off, idiot!”

Naruto waves a hand and smiles. “Oh, Sakura, we’re all ladies here.”

Oh, my god.

He did not just say that.

He then moves my arms away and takes off my jacket. I’m too shocked and freaked out by his behaviour to fight back anymore. Naruto tosses the jacket over the sink and snickers at the large, pink stain he made on the t-shirt. The dress, however, made it out fine.

“God, I hate ungrateful bitches like you, Sakura,” he murmurs, pulling the t-shirt from the back to take it away from the dress. “Do you not see these melons?!”

I roll my eyes and step back to take the shirt off by myself. “Oh, I see them.”

“You know,” Naruto drawls as I drop the t-shirt on the floor and start fixing the dress properly. “You’re a pretty girl, Sakura. Why do you wear such not-pretty clothes? I mean like, if you have a figure, show it the fuck off.”

“It’s not that easy,” I reply, fixing my bra. I frown at my reflection. Since I was wearing a t-shirt, I just wore a normal bra, not a strapless one! How completely trashy looking! I guess that means the jacket is staying on for the night.

“Oh, my god, is someone wearing a little black bra?” Naruto claps like a moron and skips over to me. “Wow, Sakura, someone was so hoping to get laid!”

I frown. “Excuse you?”

“Well when girls wear their black sexy underwear, it’s when they’re waiting for their special someone to see them,” he says. If I wasn’t a girl, I would have believed him, but since I am one, I have the grounds to call him a complete dumbass. Naruto then gives me a once over. “See, now you have cleavage, Sakura! Sasuke will love you now!”

As Naruto ushers me out of the bathroom, I can’t help but want to say that I think Sasuke liked me without it. I don’t know. He was using I-like-you eyes. Or well, more so you-have-my-interest-for-the-current-moment eyes. Good enough.

I strut as sexily as I can towards Sasuke. He finally catches my eyes and I try to be coy all over again.

You can do this, Sakura. You can totally do this.

Apparently I can’t, though.

As I’m about a foot away from him, I catch one boot in a crack on the floor or something and crash forward. I shut my eyes as I prepare myself to meet the cold, hard, completely unsanitary floor. Ugh, I can only imagine all the gum wads I’ll touch. Fuck, there is no way my luck can be this bad—

“Are you okay?”

I open my eyes slowly and realize that I didn’t hit the ground. Sasuke’s arms are around me, steadying me. He’s staring down at me with a semi-amused smirk, which seems kind of condescending, I think.

Oh, Sakura, way to be complete fucking cliché.

Really – falling into his arms? Tch, the Universe is totally laughing its ass off at you now.

“I’m fine,” I say, pulling away and stepping back. With all the dignity I can muster, I go beside him and lean against the counter. “Sorry about that. So uh, where’d Sai go?”

Sasuke shrugs. “Don’t care.” He then looks away from my face and goes downwards. As subtly as I can, when his gaze passes on the bare skin of my chest, I jut back my shoulders back ever so slightly to catch his attention.

Oh, yes. I am hot.

“You changed.”

“No.” I shake my head. “Actually, I did not change. You see, I removed an article of clothing. There is a difference, you see.”

“Really now?”

“I kid you not.”

“Whatever.”

“So who do you think tops?”

…Bad, Sakura. Bad.

Oh, my god, get a fucking rein over your mouth now!

Sasuke raises an eyebrow after his shock fades away. “Excuse me?”

“Uh.” Well, since I started it I guess I have to finish. “You know, with Naruto and Sai – who do you think tops?”

“Well,” he coughs and looks away. I notice him gag. “Frankly, I don’t think about that. Ever. Nor do I want to. Ever.”

I laugh. “I think Sai does. Top, I mean. From the fifteen minutes I spent in his company, I heard him call Naruto ‘dickless’ a couple of times. Now, I wasn’t to sure if that was a lame nickname or my cousin’s actually a eunuch, but that usually implies that Naru-chan’s the girl.” I nod to conclude it. “Uh huh.”

“Right.”

Nice job, Sakura. Way to slaughter his sex drive.

“So…” I smile at him and begin to fiddle with the ribbon on the dress, tied under my breasts. “Like… you’re single, huh?” I can’t help but let out my giddy giggle. It’s quiet, but he still hears it.

Once again, Sasuke shrugs. “Yeah. A guy usually considers himself single when he catches his girlfriend making out with someone under the bleachers.” He nods. Frankly, he doesn’t seem too fazed by what he’s just told me, but whatever. “Doesn’t really matter, anyway.”

“It doesn’t?” I ask, frowning. “Did you love her?”

“No.” Sasuke snorts. “No fucking way.” He does it another time – shrug, that is. “I liked her, sure, but I didn’t love her.”

I chuckle lightly and grin. “Well, did you like her ‘just for this moment’ like her, or like, like her ‘maybe someday love her’ like her?”

Oh, Sakura. You’re such a nosy bitch.

“I don’t know,” he answers after a moment. “It’s like, if the first option was zero, and the second was ten, then I would’ve liked her at a 3.7, I think.” Sasuke goes over his decision with a contemplative look. “No wait, a 3.6, actually.”

I nod back at him rather mockingly. “Yes, because 0.1 really makes a difference in these sorts of things.”

“Truly.”

“Most definitely.”

“I think it’s more of 3.575, actually.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

I take a moment before asking my next question – like, a real question, not a sad attempt at… whatever I was just attempting. This one’s pretty serious, I think, so I look away just in case it makes him all emotional. “So then, she cheated on you… does that make you damaged goods?”

Sasuke looks slightly offended. “Fuck no.”

A flash of red over Sasuke’s shoulder catches my eye before I flirt further.

Oh.

Damn.

Karin.

I want to say we’re like, I don’t know, frenemies but we’re more so two girls who don’t quite like each other but will help the other when they’re in a rough spot.

For example, that time last year when she was dating some guy – Suigetsu, I think – I found her in the bathroom, sitting on the floor, against the wall, looking just about dead. She told me she was late so then we ditched school, I drove her out to a drug store, picked her up a test and shoved her into the bathroom. Then when it came out negative, we got a celebratory six pack and drank it in the park together.

She’s been there for me, too – this ‘being there’ having been only about a few weeks ago when my ex dumped me. Ino was on vacation and I had never felt so alone. Karin was the one who found me sitting in the library staring at my trig homework and took me out for coffee.

I think my biggest problem with her is that she has this little habit of reminding me of my singleness. Bitch.

Whatever.

I still don’t fucking like her. Not right now, at least.

Oh, Universe, please don’t let her see me.

“Could you do me a favour?” I whisper to Sasuke, slouching ever so slightly in the hopes that his broad shoulders would hide me. “Um, please?”

“What’s wrong with you?” Sasuke asks as he raises an eyebrow.

Nice try, Sakura. So much for coy… Sasuke frowns a little and is about to turn his head to look at what I’m looking at so I go in for the kill and press my lips against his.

Oh.

Oh, damn.

I knew he wasn’t gay! He better not be gay. Oh, god, no, he cannot be gay. That would just be cruel to the female race – to me!

He’s a little shocked at first, which is a given, so I bring a hand to the back of his head to keep him in his place, and damn straight his place is with his too talented mouth locked on mine—

And oh, my god, was that his tongue?!

It looks like little Sasucakes is way too good to be true. He’s fucking gorgeous, he has a sexy voice, he can play guitar and well would you look at this – he’s an amazing kisser! Sure, I have only one guy to compare him to, but like – ugh, why am I thinking about another guy when Sasuke’s practically fucking my mouth with his tongue?! He’s got one hand running through my hair and the other’s roaming around on my hip. And ass.

Wow…

I think I’m in love – and it’s only been what, ten minutes?

“Sakura? Oh, my god… Sasuke?”

I pull back. It’s not because I hear Karin’s annoying voice – no way, if anything, I’d kiss him harder in hopes of hiding my face and making her think I don’t know who she is. It’s the fact that I can’t breathe and it’s getting pretty hot and I’m feeling a little uh…

Yeah.

“Karin,” I draw with a dazed smile. “Uh, hi.”

She ignores me and instead gawks at Sexy Sasuke. How’d she know his name, anyway?

“Ah, Karin.”

I look over at Sasuke, confused. How did he know her? Karin simply glances from him to me and back with the most bewildered look on her face. Seriously, she looks so shocked right now it’s not even funny. Or well, it is. It’s pretty funny.

“Sasuke,” Karin starts. She laughs a little, but it isn’t really hard to detect how fake it is. “Hun, how do you know little Sakura over here?”

…Little Sakura—what the hell?!

“We’re dating,” I say before Sasuke can answer. He doesn’t really do anything to go against my declaration. “My cousin introduced us. They play together…”

Sasuke nods, adding a none-too-helpful, “Yeah.”

Karin simply gawks at us and I can’t help but laugh madly on the inside at the stupefied she’s got.

“So uh…” I lace my fingers through Sasuke’s and smile at him dazzlingly. “You ready to go, lover boy?”

“Let’s.”

I begin to drag him away from Karin and the bulky guy who’s standing behind her. The smile on my face is a bit too smug for even my own tastes and if Sasuke saw it, he’d probably be confused over what’s making me so giddy right now. I wouldn’t be sure what to tell him, really. There are too many reasons to choose from – the fact that I totally just showed up Karin, Naruto helped me embrace my inner hottie, or maybe the fact that I just made out with a Sex God.

Fuck if I know.

“Where to?” Sasuke asks when we make it outside. His hand is still holding mine and something in my chest flutters.

“Doesn’t matter.”

Just as long as I’m with you.

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TBC

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