On The Same Path [SasuxSaku]

Chapter 14: Haruno Punch

~ Sakura's POV

Sakura woke to bright sunlight pressing against her eyelids, a tightness in her chest, and a pounding headache.

It took her a few minutes to collect herself.

Right... the hangover from last night.

Why did I have to drink so much sake again?

Oh, that's right...

Because of those onyx eyes staring at me.

When did Sasuke return? The nerve of him, showing up at the party and looking at her like... like...

She didn't want to think about it. His gaze had always been so penetrating that she could never quite meet it. So instead, she had done the next best thing—kept taking sake shots until she didn't have to think about him anymore.

It wasn't exactly responsible.

Then again, she'd picked up more than a few questionable habits from being Lady Tsunade's protégé.

"The mark of a strong shinobi is how much alcohol they can drink without getting drunk!"

Sakura should have known better than to take that advice seriously. Her head was pounding so badly that she couldn't even focus enough to gather chakra and heal herself. After several failed attempts, she gave up and forced herself out of bed in search of a glass of water.

Wait... the kitchen...

How did I get home?

Why can't I remember anything from last night...?

She frowned.

All she could remember was...

...purple light. Like an aura.

She was still lost in thought when a knock sounded at the door.

Opening it, she barely had time to greet her visitor before a cheerful Ino walked straight past her as though she'd been invited.

"We need to leave," Ino announced, handing her a mission scroll.

"Okay...? Care to explain a little more?" Sakura asked, thoroughly confused.

"You're still hungover, aren't you?" Ino sighed dramatically. "Man, you're worse than Lady Tsunade. Come here. I'll fix it."

Sakura obediently sat on the couch while Ino placed a glowing hand against her forehead, beginning a healing jutsu.

"Honestly..." Ino began hesitantly. "I was a little nervous coming over today."

Sakura looked up. "Nervous? Why?"

"I wasn't sure if you'd be alone."

Sakura blinked. "What do you mean?"

"You don't remember?" Ino asked, pausing her healing.

Suddenly, Sakura didn't seem hungover anymore.

"Remember what?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"You got really drunk last night. Sai and I were planning to take you home, but Sasuke kind of... took over."

"Sasuke—what?!"

"Oh wow." Ino blinked. "You really blacked out, huh?"

Sakura simply stared.

"Yeah," Ino continued. "He just walked up to us and said, 'I'll take her.' You know how Sasuke is. He sounded so serious, like someone had just assigned him an S-rank mission." She paused. "But at the same time..."