Tale As Old As Time / SasuSaku

A Dance of Emotions *lemon*

Sakura woke up with a pounding headache. How much did she drink last night, anyway? She slowly got up, trying to piece together the hazy memories of the previous night's banquet.

Grabbing her phone, she noticed a few messages from Hinata. It seemed she got pretty close to blackout drunk. Sakura sighed, realizing she hadn't gone that wild since her college days.

She wondered what had driven her to drink so much.

Oh yeah, him.

She had thought she could handle seeing him with Karin, but last night had been her breaking point. Watching Karin practically attack his lips had pushed her over the edge. She had felt a surge of anger towards both of them, even though it was her own fault for suggesting they get together.

Glancing at the alarm clock, Sakura winced at the early hour. It was already 7am, and she assumed Sasuke was still asleep since he usually woke up later. Just as she was lost in her thoughts, the doorbell rang.

"Who seriously bothers people at this time?!" Sakura muttered irritably. She was trying her best to stay calm despite the pounding headache and the events of last night.

Opening the door, she was greeted by Ino's unusual excitement. "Forehead! Where have you been? I've been trying to call you since last night!"

Sakura winced at her best friend's loud voice. "Sorry... I got pretty wasted at Naruto's banquet."

"Yeah, figured that much! Heard it from Hinata. Anyway, speaking of being wasted, are you up for checking out this new club downtown? Hinata and Naruto are in, and I'm bringing Sai-" Ino's eyes widened as they landed on someone behind Sakura. "Um... who's that guy behind you, Sakura? No way, did you hook up last night?!" Ino exclaimed, her voice full of excitement. Sakura turned around, confused, only to see Sasuke standing there in his pajamas. It seemed Ino's loud voice had woken him up.

"Of course not, Ino!" Sakura rolled her eyes, feeling her irritation building up. She knew any lie she came up with would only make Ino more suspicious.

Giving her best friend a warning look, Sakura lowered her voice just enough for Ino to hear. "I'll explain later."

Ino's gaze shifted from Sakura to Sasuke, and she nodded knowingly. "Okay, you better. Anyway, both of you should come to the club. We're going to Ichiraku tonight. See you!" Ino glanced at Sasuke one more time before walking away. Sakura sighed inwardly before closing the door, locking eyes with Sasuke.

"You feeling alright?" Sasuke asked out of the blue. She had almost forgotten that he had brought her home last night and confessed he couldn't fall in love with her. It was a lose-lose situation.

"I'm fine, just have a headache. I might stick around until the club tonight," Sakura replied, making her way to the kitchen. She heard footsteps behind her as Sasuke followed.

"So, what do you think about Karin? Seems like you two are getting along," Sakura asked, unable to resist her curiosity.

Sasuke shrugged. "She's alright. She won't stop texting me, though. I might invite her to the club tonight. Naruto just texted me about it." He glanced down at his phone.

Sakura was tempted to call Sasuke's phone carrier and ask them to block any texts or calls from Karin's number. But she knew it was just a passing thought, and she couldn't bring herself to actually do it.

"Can you send me the pictures we took last night?" Sasuke suddenly asked, catching Sakura off guard. She had completely forgotten about those pictures!

"Yeah, sure. I'll send them in a few minutes," Sakura replied, walking past him with a cup of coffee in her hands and heading to her room. She knew she might snap at him any minute, releasing her pent-up irritation from seeing him with Karin last night.