Temptation (NEW)

Chapter Twenty-Six

after a long vacation, it's time to get back to updating! yay!

anyways, prepare for some angst. it's a great way to come back! ;) pain is coming (and no, i don't mean the hot akatsuki guy).
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This is really the first time Sasuke and I have been under the influence without us acting like complete fools. It's an incredible accomplishment for us, honestly. I mean, I have actually been pacing myself. I might have had three or four shots of vodka and that's about it. Still relatively sober and can function like a normal human—which is a huge feat for me. Sasuke has probably taken every chance to take a shot, though. He kind of turned into a party animal at the bar, which I guess helped his chances with my friends. They ate up a fun-loving Sasuke. However, right now, it's coming with a lot of consequences. So maybe I was wrong—one of us is still acting like a fool. But hey! No one has gotten into a fight yet! That's a win in my book.

"Just put him on the bed," I strained, barely having a grip on Sasuke's side. I had the wonderful task of lugging him around since he could barely stand up straight once we got out of the bar. He still had some fight in him, too, despite being absolutely wasted. I might wake up with a few bruises tomorrow.

"He's worse than Kankuro," Gaara muttered under his breath. He had to dodge a few flailing limbs in the process, making him sport a fearful expression.

We struggled, but we managed to place him on the bed somewhat safely. There's a chance we pulled a few muscles and such. Maybe even knocked his body into furniture, too. But at least we made it.

"He's kind of fun when he's drunk," Shikamaru spoke from behind us with a stifled chuckle. He gave me a playful shove on my shoulder, making my tipsy self wobble a bit. "You know, when he's not knocking your head into beer bottles or whatever."

I shot him a glare. "You could have helped carry him since you and Choji kept feeding him alcohol."

"I had to keep Kankuro from banging on all of our neighbors' doors," Shikamaru argued. "And in my defense, I wasn't pouring the alcohol down his throat. He chose to do it."

I could hear Shikamaru step down the hall, staggering a bit his own self. He can hold his liquor, despite preferring smoking. However, he might have actually gotten pretty drunk himself. Giggles from Temari erupted in his room until they were silenced from him shutting the door. I rolled my eyes and returned my attention back to Gaara, who stood beside me.

"Thanks for, you know, everything," I sighed, nudging him with my shoulder.

"It's cool," Gaara chuckled. "I like to think that I am a reasonable guy."

"That's a fair assessment," I smiled. "You've been a major help without needing–"

To my surprise, I noticed movement from my bed. It stopped my words dead in their tracks.

"H-Hey," Sasuke slurred. He somehow could manage sitting up in the bed even though he swayed dramatically to each side. "Stop talking...to...him."

I felt heat rush to my face as I heard Gaara chuckle at Sasuke's drunken jealousy. If he had been sober, his demand might have sounded a bit more threatening. A drunk Sasuke that can barely walk is far from scary. In an instant, Gaara left my side. I guess he didn't want the slight chance of Sasuke remembering everything in the morning. It might end up in a terrible fiasco. All that was left to do was shut the door and guide Sasuke back into bed.

"You need to sleep this off," I chuckled, watching him make grabby hands towards me.

"Help me sleep by f-fucking me," he continued to slur.

I laughed, "You're barely coherent. I'm not going to do that."

He still managed to make a pouty face. I'm amazed that he had any sort of control over his body at this point.

"But I love you," he spoke with somewhat of a whine. The words sounded sober and clear.

Not gonna lie, hearing those words made me freeze a bit. My heart began to pound and race rapidly. I almost believed it. The alcohol in his system made me doubt it, though. He was just clouded by intoxication and horniness. That had to be it, right?

Still, part of me didn't think so.

"I love you, Naruto," he repeated. This time, his grabby hands managed to pull me onto the bed with him. We fumbled around until we both settled beside each other.

"You're so wasted," I sighed, yet I still cracked a smile. "Maybe even a little cross-faded, too."

"I'm fine." The slur in his words was coming back again.

I did my best to try to slither out of his grasp. He clearly needed some water and Tylenol to prevent a major hangover in the morning. Maybe some bread, too. In the process, Sasuke try to latch back onto me. He must have moved too fast, or maybe it was his body's natural reaction to expressing his feelings. All I know was within seconds he was hunched over the side of my bed, puking out all of the blue Jell-o shots from earlier.

Normally if a hook-up puked near me, I'd find the closest exit and bounce. It's happened twice in my life and those moments still haunted me sometimes. I never felt inclined to stick around. Surprisingly, a wave of nurturing emotions rushed through me. I felt terrible for him. I wanted to take care of him.

"Don't move," I urged in a panic. "I'll clean it up."

"I—I..." His words trailed off, only to be followed by sniffling and whines.

"Sasuke?"

Christ, I have always pictured him as this perfect being. Even when I basically hated him, I still believed he had his whole life perfectly laid out. All of the bottled up emotions are pouring out of him, literally and figuratively. Since being with him, I've known that he didn't actually have a perfect life. Yet, it's still shocking to see that everything has fell apart. He isn't perfect. He never was. He's a real person with real problems and it has finally crushed him into this blob of a mess. I don't know why this has finally dawned on me. He's hurting and he didn't want to allow anyone to see it. His inhibitions are lost from the alcohol and it's all finally releasing.

"Sasuke, just lay down," I softly begged, tugging him towards the pillows. "You need rest, okay?"

He couldn't fight back from all the alcohol and just slumped back onto the bed. Or maybe he was just finally defeated.

"I'm so sorry," he mumbled as the tears streamed down his blotchy face. The break in his voice made my heart lurch. It will be my goal to never see him this way again.

"Let me clean everything up," I told him. I pressed a kiss on his temple for reassurance. "I'll be right back."

Even with the door shut and myself on the other side, I could still hear his cries. It was a blessing that everyone else was too preoccupied on having a good time to notice it. I grabbed everything I needed from the kitchen—water, towels, and pain meds. I was so quick to get back to him, desperate to just lay down and hold him. His pain was becoming my pain. I wanted to take on the burden for him.

Huh. Maybe I do love him, after all.