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(7.3)

FOOLS

"/We can talk about… us, when this is over."/

Sakura was sitting by the bar inside a 24 hours donburi restaurant, waiting for her order.

She hears her alarm and immediately knew what she would read if she check her phone.

…

'Wake-up-call:USasuke'

['Right. I keep forgetting to cancel this reminder.']

Smiling to herself, she dialed Sasuke's number.

He didn't answer.

She tried again.

['He's still not picking up.']

"Here you go miss.", the woman behind the bar told her as she handed her the food in a takeout bag. "Two orders of gyudon."

"Thank you." Sakura smiled at the woman before looking back at her phone.

She then searched her contacts for Suigetsu's name and dialed his number instead.

…

"W-Wha… I mean H-Hello?"

-grumbled Suigetsu.

"Hi. Suigetsu. Good morning. Sorry to call you so early."

"Sak- Sakura?… what the fuck?! It's barely after dawn!"

"Yeah. I'm really sorry. Can you do me a favor and wake Sasuke-kun up for me."

"Huh?"

"I know he's probably tired and only got into bed only a few hours ago but I really need to tell him something."

"Sasuke… (yawns) isn't here-"

…

"Uhm… Hello? Suigetsu? /Hello/?"

…

['Did he fall back to sleep?']

Sakura ended the call.

['Sasuke's probably still at the bar. Either he was too tired to go home or… he's not done working.']

Sakura stood up got her things and left the restaurant.

.

.

.

The sky was already bright by the time Sakura got back at the bar. She walked into the alley at the side of the building.

She headed straight for the service door, reached for the lever handle and tried to open the door but surely enough it was locked.

Then, she tried knocking a few times

"Sasuke-kun!", she called.

Her knocks eventually became harder and heavier and her calls became louder but there was still no response coming from inside.

She stepped away from the door and carefully laid down the take out packaging on the door steps in order to free her other hand. She then took her phone out of her bag to check for the time.

'06:09 am / Sun, Aug 16'

['Does he not here me? Could he just be deep in his sleep? But… what if… he passed out due to exhaustion?']

Sakura looked around and noticed the high window directly above the garbage bin placed beside the door. She put her phone back inside her tote bag and laid the bag beside the take out packaging.

She climbed up on the garbage bin then realized that she was still too short. She had to stand on her toes so she could take a peek inside.

As she was looking through the window, Sasuke suddenly opened the door and peeked outside while in the middle of putting on a plain white t-shirt. The zipper of his pants was barely closed and both the button and his belt buckle were undone. He was slightly confused after finding no one in front of the door until he turned his head and found her in her current position.

"Sakura?!" His initial reaction was to finish adjusting his shirt and finally fastening his belt buckle.

"Oh. There you are-" Sakura recklessly allowed her legs to relax and almost lost her balance.

"Sak-!"

Sasuke got worried for a second but she prevented her fall by leaning her weight towards the wall.

Sakura sighed in relief. "That… was close."

Sasuke decided to assist her down as soon as possible. He side-stepped the bags placed on the door steps as he moved closer to Sakura and held out his hand.

Sakura blushed but accepted the help with a smile. She let Sasuke hold her right hand as she carefully got down from the garbage bin.

Sakura breathe in Sasuke's scent for the first time in a long while.

['It's been a while. He's not wearing his perfume but… there's a strong smell of shampoo coming from him.']

She then just noticed that apart from the fresh clean clothes he had changed into, his hair was still slightly damp. He was also only wearing slippers.

"Oh I see. You were in the shower.", said Sakura just as her face was on the same level as his.

"A-Aa.", confirmed Sasuke with slightly pink cheeks.

Once Sakura was safely stepping on the pavement, she pulled away and flashed him a warm smile. "Good morning by the way."

"Aa. What are you doing here? You haven't gone home yet, have you?" Sasuke was looking at her clothes.

"No. Not yet." Sakura admitted.

"Where were you up until now then?"

"Ino. I was with her until I- I… changed my mind. I'm available." Sakura blushed heavily. "I mean, I'm free so… if you still need me… for… whatever. I'm here."

"You came here just to tell me that in person?"

"I tried calling you but you weren't picking up. I ended up calling Suigetsu too."

"You did?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her.

Sakura nodded. "In his half sleep state, he told me that you weren't there with him. Then he just stopped talking. I think he fell asleep again. Well… I figured that you'd still be here so I decided to just come by and check. Oh yeah!" Sakura picked up the bags. "I got us breakfast." She held the take out bag up to him.

"I see." Sasuke accepted the food. "Thanks. Hn… Seems like you were in such a hurry to tell me you changed your mind."

"I-I… uhm… I felt really bad shutting you down like that. I didn't even hear you out at all."

"It's okay. I just thought I'd try asking you first. I completely understand if you have your own thing to do today. It's not like I can't ask someone else."

Sakura frowned. "That's the thing! I realized I didn't want you to ask someone else."

"…?!"

"I mean… I… really do… want to help you out.", Sakura bashfully avoided eye contact.

"Well… this is great." Sasuke sighed. "I had been gathering up the courage to ask you for this favor all week actually."

"All week?" Sakura was taken aback. "Oh. I-I'm sorry. To think I almost turned you down. Now I feel really horrible."

"Anyway, you're here now."

"Yes. So… what was that favor anyway?"

"Right… well… Why don't we come in first.", Sasuke invited her in.

"Yeah. Sure." Sakura trailed after him.

.

.

.

In the break room;

Sasuke came back from the kitchen with two cups of coffee. He joined Sakura on the table, sitting across her.

Sakura had already set up the food ready for consumption.

"Thanks.", said Sasuke as he accepted the utensils from her. "So, today is my father's birthday."

"Really?" Sakura put a spoonful of beef and rice into her mouth.

He also started digging into his food. "It's also… his and my mother's death anniversary."

Sakura almost choke on her food.

"I normally just pay a visit to their graves on my own but this year, I thought I'd honor the anniversary of their death with… uhm…" Sasuke cleared his throat. "My uncle and… Rin."

"Oh." Sakura washed the food down with coffee. "That's… I think Rin would like that."

Sasuke nodded. "You know, I'm the reason why those two haven't gotten married yet. Rin acts like it was her fault that I moved out of the house. She probably felt like it wouldn't be right for her to move in with my uncle if I myself refuse to stay and live there.". added Sasuke "Since she got here, she's been nothing but kind and considerate towards me.", he continued. "She tried her best to show me how much she was willing to play the role of a mother without ever overstepping her boundaries..."

Sakura almost choke on her food again. "R-Role of a m-mother. Of course!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her as she set her spoon down and downed her coffee in one go.

"But… I've never been able to show her my gratitude.", he continued. "I've never been able to make her feel like I accept her as a part of the family. Both her and my uncle."

"But you want to?" Sakura was gently smiling at him.

Sasuke left his food alone and rested his elbows on the table.

"Yes. And I was thinking of giving them a surprise dinner to show my thanks and appreciation. Also to celebrate my uncle's recovery and discharge from the hospital."

"That's really wonderful!", Sakura beamed. "So, you need my help setting up this surprise?"

"Indeed. Whenever the three of us had the chance to eat a meal together, Rin was a hundred percent hands on. She would always make a great effort to prepare a wonderful feast. She would try way too hard to make sure the meal goes perfectly well. She's too devoted and pays way too much attention to details so… in order for my surprise to work, she has to have absolutely no idea about this dinner whatsoever. Which is why, I decided to have it on the same day as my parent's death anniversary. I'll have her and Obito accompany me to the memorial while my accomplish – /you, /make the last minute preparation."

"Okay."

"I also plan on inviting Kakashi, Naruto and Karin so it can be a legitimate celebration."

"That's a great idea."

"Hn. Their presence would make it less emotional between the three of us. Besides, if it were just the three of us, it will probably be awkward and dull."

Sakura chuckled. "It sounds like you're planning on throwing a big party?"

"Kind of. I almost feel guilty for doing it today of all days but… I figured my parents wouldn't mind it this one time.", said Sasuke with a gentle smile.

Sakura happily became more engaged in the conversation. "Where gonna have to prepare a lot of food, taking Naruto into consideration. Where are you having this dinner by the way? Oh and what about work? Will this place be okay if you're not here later? Karin too?"

"This place will be close for today. I'm holding the dinner right here. It's less suspicious since she'll surely offer to drive me to work after visiting the memorial. I don't have to come up with an excuse to have them come here."

"Oh. Okay. Orochimaru-san's okay with that?"

"A-Aa. H-He said… I'm… in charge anyway."

"Wow. Orochimaru-san really does treat you like a precious employee. He gives you that much authority?"

"A-Aa. Anyway, back to the topic of food. I plan on preparing some of Rin's favorite."

"Leave it to me. I'll help you any way I can."

"Aa. Thanks."

Exchanging gentle smiles at one another, the two of them shared a moment for as long as it lasted.

Sakura eventually looked down when she couldn't take much more of the warm and fuzzy feeling she got from staring into his eyes.

"Err… speaking of food." Sakura finally paid attention to her bowl. "We should hurry up and eat this. It's already gotten cold."

"Right."

As they were eating, Sakura would steal a few glances at Sasuke.

['He's really making an effort to make this surprise happen. It's probably best that I let him focus on it for now. I don't really mind waiting a little bit more. I'll tell him how I feel about him after the party. We can talk about… /us/,when this is over.']

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.

.

Sakura was the first to walk out of the door. She heard her ringtone and made a move to check her inbox. She learned that it was another picture sent by Sasori. She looked closely at the picture while making her way down the steps.

It was probably taken from the night before. This time Sasori was not in the picture. It was only his friends. One group was gathered around a small circle supposedly playing with non-aerial consumer fireworks. The other group, further in the back, was lined up facing the shore. The people from both groups have two things in common. First, they were all marvelling the fireworks frozen in the sky. Second, each of them was particularly positioned closer to a certain other person.

A hint of guilt showed on Sakura's face. The fireworks alone were a very significant reminder of the night Sasori had let her go. The fact that he was surrounded by couples during the time that picture was taken probably made recalling the experience much worse.

Then she received another picture.

It was a picture of him alone. He was making a sad face, but more so to poke fun at her. Of course, it was the next message that truly hit Sakura right in the feels.

Make it worth it.

Sasuke finally stepped out and proceeded to lock the door behind him.

"Something wrong?", he wondered, finding Sakura just standing still there for so long.

"N-No. Nothing's wrong.", she eagerly answered.

Sasuke nodded then led the way.

Sakura walked a few feet behind him.

Sakura was about to hide her phone when an idea crossed her mind. Sasuke had his back on her, so she took the opportunity to take a stolen picture of him. She then sent the picture of Sasuke to Sasori followed by a message;

Working on it.

['To think that these are my first words to him since that time.']

Sakura immediately got a reply from him.

As if a picture of him ALONE with his back turned is any reassurance.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke's direction again. He was still looking onward while adjusting his backpack.

Sakura slowed down, turned around and started walking backwards, as she kept up with Sasuke. She quickly took a picture of herself then checked if she got Sasuke in the shot. Satisfied, she then sent the picture to Sasori.

Then she received another message from Sasori.

['That was fast.']

I'm still looking at his back.

Sakura tried to type a reply but she was interrupted as she received a follow up message/./

You can do better than that.

Knowing that she was not up for the challenge, Sakura just got annoyed at this point. She took another picture of herself with her eyes tightly shut and her tongue sticking out.

As she turned around to face forward, she realized that Sasuke was looking at her.

"Err… I…" Sakura knew that it was time to put her phone away then. "I had a bad reception. I was looking for a good signal!"

Sakura let out a sigh of relief when Sasuke just walked on.

['Seems like he bought it.']

.

.

.

Sakura and Sasuke found themselves on the sidewalk again, hailing a taxi cab.

When the car stopped in front of them, they made a move to get on. Sasuke held the door open for Sakura as she got inside the back. He then closed the door behind her and took the seat beside the driver.

…

As soon as the cab was a certain distance away from the bar, Sakura took out her phone.

She realized that Sasori had spammed her.

Sakura immediately search for the most recent picture she just took.

She found it and was shocked. "EH?!"

['What the-']

She tried to calm down and straighten herself because both Sasuke and the driver were glancing back at her worriedly.

"Everything okay back there?", inquired the driver.

She smiled at him apologetically. "Y-Yeah. Everything's fine. Sorry. I… uhm… just saw something really shocking."

The driver immediately focused back on the road up ahead and so did Sasuke looking very amused.

Sakura also returned her attention to her phone screen.

In the last picture she took, she still caught Sasuke behind her. Except this time, he was looking at the camera with an almost faint smile.

She was extremely blushing while alternately looking the picture and at Sasuke's smirk reflected in the rear view mirror. Her other hand immediately went over her mouth, attempting to hide her goofy grin.

The picture somehow made her happy. Her one and only regret about the picture;

['My face… though.']

.

.

.

Sasuke had the cab take them to a farmer's market to buy ingredients for the planned dinner. They spent the next twenty minutes or so looking at fresh and beautiful produce,

~Those hardest to love need it most

I watched our bodies turn to ghosts

Such good friends, it has to end it always does

That's the way life is

Do we take that risk?~

A vendor mistakens them for a couple which Sakura could blame on Sasuke's inability to care about sharing paper cups and even using the same spoon after her when they're trying out free samples of secondary products. But then again, at some point she did offer and insisted on feeding Sasuke when he got his hands full with carrying the shopping bags. There also came a point when Sasuke had to reluctantly ask her to take his wallet out of the back pocket of his pants in which she executed with shaking hands while holding her breath and sweating buckets.

~And so it all boils down to this

We've got our aim but we might miss

We are too fragile just to guess

And I've been in this place before

Fine as we are but we want more

That's human nature at its best~

Back at the bar;

They immediately started on the food that required a long time to prepare. They moved around each other while working. Sakura washed the vegetables while Sasuke took out the meat from the freezer.

As she got ready to start peeling and cutting the veregtables, Sakura stole glances at Sasuke while he placed the meat in hot water in order to thaw it. She then decided to focus more on her work which required the use of a knife.

Unbeknownst to her, Sasuke also took a moment to gaze at her when she looked away. Her hair was up in a messy bun. Locks that escaped the bun were sticking to the sweaty skin of her face and her slender neck. The short sleeves of her white shirt had been rolled up exposing the fair skin of her shoulders.

~What if we ruin it all, and we love like fools?

And all we have we lose?

And I don't want you to go but I want you so

So tell me what we choose…~

She felt his eyes on him and so she turned her head and looked his way. She caught him looking from her lean arm and back up to her flushed face. They stared into each other's eyes.

She suddenly winced and Sasuke quickly moved towards her. She pulled her towards the sink in order to wash the cut on her finger but the faucet broke at how eager he was to turn the handle. Water sprayed all over and both of them got wet.

~/Friends, I watched us as we changed/

The feelings in my headspace rearranged

I want you more than I've wanted anyone

/Isn't that dangerous?/~

Sasuke had to take his shirt off and used it to isolate the splashes towards the sink as he frantically worked on shutting the faucet off.

Each found the other's state both hilarious and attractive. Sasuke attempted to fix the messy mop Saskura's top bun had become. He clears Sakura's face of sticky wet hair and found himself loss in her eyes.

~The anticipation before the kiss~

Sakura's cheeks burned at his touch.

His eyes darted down to her lips.

~Mirrored in my shaking lips-~

As soon as she felt his thumb brushed along her lips, Sakura closed her eyes.

Oh God I feel so unprepared-

SCRATCH~

Sakura felt the warmth of Sasuke's breath at one moment and then she felt cold the next. The kiss she was anticipating never came.

Listening closely, she heard a voice.

("Sasuke?")

Suigetsu's voice.

Her eyes snapped open just as Sasuke was pulling himself away from her.

("Sasuke? You in here?")

Suigetsu's voice seemed closer.

Sakura was suddenly in a state of panic and Sasuke was trying to remember what he was doing before he lost his mind. He walked back to the meat while Sakura picked up the knife once again.

"Sasuke?! If you're here then answer me. I've called you like a dozen times.", Suigetsu saw Sasuke first. He continued making his way towards the kitchen. He was wearing a plain black t-shirt and blue cuffed skinny jeans. "I was about to walk away after the first four times. Good thing I tried the door and realized that it wasn't lock. Why aren't you wearing a shirt? Oh and… By the way… Did sakura contact you yet? She called me earlier to- S-/Sakura?/!"

Suigetsu finally noticed Sakura. "Whoah! Erm…" He suddenly looked away.

Sakura and Sasuke were confused at first but then they realized that Sakura's shirt was wet and see through.

"Kya~!" Sakura covered what she could with both her hands. "Excuse me!", she told them before running out of the kitchen.

.

.

.

Sakura tried to dry herself with a hand towel inside the bathroom foyer.

['What the hell? What the hell was that? We almost kissed like… for real this time.

Wait?! Isn't this a good thing?

He- Sasuke-kun tried to kiss me.']

She suddenly heard a knock on the door.

"…?!"

("Sakura?")

"Y-Yes?"

("You okay in there?)

"YES! I'm fine. Just…" She looked down at her shirt. It was still wet. "I- I'll need a few more minutes!"

("I got your bag right here.")

['My bag. That's perfect!']

"Thanks! I actually need it right now." Sakura approached the door.

("And a clean shirt if… you need it as well.")

Sakura made sure she held the hand towel over her chest properly before unlocking the door.

("Uh… I also brought you a clean towel and some bath supplies. Just in case you want to… uh… go ahead and take a/… /shower.")

"You have no idea!", she blurted as soon as she opened the door.

"H-here." He awkwardly handed the items to her. He's now wearing his blue t-shirt with the sound logo.

"Thank you. Err… I'm just gonna… ", Sakura pointed a thumb back inside the bathroom.

"Aa. Okay."

"I'll be back out soon. Thanks again." Sakura told him before closing the door.

She leaned her back on the door as she listened to the sound of his footsteps. She let out a sigh as soon as he was gone.

.

.

.

Sakura's damp hair cascaded down on her shoulders as she adjusted her tights.

['Good thing we were required to wear this under our skirt or else I'd be down to my underwear right now.']

She then straightened the red and white striped t-shirt that Sasuke had lent her. The hem of the oversized t-shirt ended exactly at her mid-thigh, hiding her tights.

Sakura then walked across the hallway barefooted.

…

On her way back to the kitchen, she noticed someone standing by the door from her peripheral view. She stopped to do a double take and saw Naruto who was donning a black and orange jumpsuit. He was frozen in place, looking at her dumbfounded.

"Naruto?", she was the first to speak.

"T-That shirt…" Naruto sounded confused. "I gave that to Sasuke as a present."

Sakura nodded. "H-He lent it to me. I didn't have anything to change into. I didn't go home-"

Sakura realized the misunderstanding her words would generate a little too late.

"T-TEME!~", Naruto yelled

Sasuke quickly came out of the kitchen. "What?!", he snapped.

He saw Sakura's look and Naruto's furious expression.

"Is this what you have me come over to see?!", implored Naruto.

"This… is…" Sakura tried to speak.

Naruto glared at them alternately. "I- I… Does Karin know about the… /two of you/?!"

The feeling of guilt quickly came over Sakura at the mention of Karin's name.

"It's a misunderstanding." Sasuke stated matter of fact. "You're mistaken."

Sasuke's words hit Sakura more painfully than Naruto's upset face and the thought of Karin.

['Well… off course it's a misunderstanding. Nothing really happened after all but…']

"How Teme? How am I mistaken? You and… her/. She said she hasn't gone home. And I clearly read your message that said; 'you… /stayed here'. You two were alone together… all this time?! And… Y- S-She's wearing only your shirt."

"Calm down Dobe. There is a good explanation for that."

['We almost… /kissed/!']

"Fine! Explain!"

"It's true that I stayed here after closing up but she didn't. She was with Ino until she came back here a little after six. And she's wearing my shirt because her uniform got wet from the faucet breaking in the kitchen. That's all there is."

['So why does he sound like he truly believes that nothing almost happened?']

"I-Is that true?", Naruto turned to her.

"Eh? Y-Yes! You can ask Ino. Shikamaru and Choji saw me as well. Besides, I didn't even know he stayed here. I thought he went home."

"Yep. I can vouch for her. She called me to ask me to wake Sasuke up." Suigetsu finally joined them. "I told her that he didn't come home and that's probably when she went looking for him here."

"See." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Suigetsu. "And when did you get here?"

"Just… a while ago. I came to check on him myself since neither one of them were answering my calls or replying to my messages."

"Sakura came here a little after six, right? Which means, you two spent at least a few of hours alone before this-" Naruto pointed at Suigetsu. "…/he/ got here."

"Are you serious?", Sasuke deadpanned. "You're going to continue with that… /assumption/? You're not making any sense Dobe."

"I am making complete sense. Tell me. If it was you in my shoes and this is what you found yourself looking at. Tell me what you'll think?"

"…"

Naruto looked at Suigetsu particularly. "Won't you also arrive to the conclusion of these two… erm… these two… ehmmmmm~"

"Why don't you just go ahead and say it Naruto!" Sakura had enough. "You think Sasuke-kun and I HAD SEX!"

The three men were taken aback by how Sakura said the 'S' word with a straight (angry) face.

"Well we didn't!", she continued, angrily. "We didn't do anything! We didn't kiss or touch each other and we certainly didn't have sex!"

Sakura walked (stomped) out on them and went into the kitchen.

…

There was a deafening silence between the three guys she left behind.

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.

.

After a few minutes of solitude in the kitchen the murmurs that came from where she had left the three boys came to a stop.

"Err… Sakura-chan?", Naruto peeked into the kitchen. "I want to apologize. I- I… jump to conclusions. S-Sorry for the things I said earlier."

Sakura stayed silent and went back to slicing onions.

"I totally understand if you're mad." Naruto slowly walked into the kitchen. "That was… really… I was wrong and I'm really, really sorry."

Sasuke and Suigetsu were soon following behind him.

"So you called this guy over after Sakura refused to help you?", Suigetsu asked him.

"I only refused him at first!", Sakura finally spoke. "I changed my mind. That's why I'm here."

"Why didn't you ask me?!" Suigetsu was upset.

Sasuke ignored him. "My bad Naruto. I forgot to get back to you. I should've informed you that Sakura agreed to help me out so I didn't have to settle for you."

"Yeah! Your bad! If only you mentioned about the surprise earlier, I wouldn't have been so shocked to see Sakura here." Naruto scolded him. "Wait?! What do you mean settle for me? Do you have that little faith in me or something?!"

"At least he thought of asking you even though you're a last resort.", Suigetsu bitterly remarked as he was seasoning the thawed meat.

…

"I should probably call everyone right now and inform them that we won't be opening tonight, before anyone else walks in on u- … shows up."

It made Sakura blushed.

Suigetsu rolled his eyes awkwardly.

"And delay the preparation.", Sasuke added. "I can only explain this surprise one last time and I'm saving it for My uncle and Rin.", said Sasuke before taking out his phone.

"What about Karin?", asked Naruto.

"Aa. Except her. She'll be here for her shift unaware of the surprise."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other briefly before he left.

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