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Three Days Later: Saturday Night

"So basically," Ino started, "Sasuke disrespected his mother, tried to reconcile by creating a customized frame for your mom which you broke, he lost the original photo, you went to find it, you got sick, and he carried you home. Then he made you work the next day, you guys had a gross fertilizer fight, and you two took a shower together?"

Sakura made an affirming noise.

Ino let out an airy laugh through the receiver, ”You really need to call me more often. My brain doesn't have enough capacity to hold all of that in."

Sakura lifted herself up from the desk chair with a sigh and proceeded to climb into bed, propping her back up against a mountain of pillows. She took the pillow once supporting her head and hugged it tightly to her chest. "This is not okay. I'm supposed to hate him." She whined.

"And you're saying that you don't hate him anymore?”

“No, of course I do! I mean, wait," Sakura paused as she tried to detangle her feelings which lay in a mangled mess where her brain should be. Her fingers reached to her temples to rub them slowly. She thought maybe the motion would promote some sort of circulation to get her mind out of the rut it had been wearing into her for the past week. She let out a frustrated huff.

Ino waited patiently on the other line for her friend to regain some sanity. "Seems like you're having a bit of boy trouble."

It was so obvious, and she hated when Ino was right. ”Wow, Ino. Thank you for pointing that out, I would have never guessed it myself.” Sarcasm was a language they shared fluently, and at this Ino laughed again and joked about needing payment for her services.

The maid smiled softly in appreciation of her best friend’s humor and kindness, however her lips quivered into a downturn.

”Why does he make it so hard for me to hate him?" A shot in the dark, hoping Ino held the answer. If she did, she really would pay her for her services.

“He’s rude. He’s arrogant. He’s entitled. But at the same time he’s thoughtful and lately has shown an empathetic streak in him. Not to mention his body is a thing of art. The negatives outweigh everything, but for some reason I can't stop thinking about him. I can't stop thinking about the way he held me.” Sakura explained.

The blonde sighed, ”If I knew the answer to that question you know I would tell you.”

This was a half-lie. She knew the answer but how could she put this into words without putting Sakura into a state of shock or denial? She couldn't state the obvious, that Sakura had feelings for him. Ino knew her best friend well and had over ten years experience reminding her a situation like this would only push her to avoid rather than approach and accept. Instead, she tried to redirect the situation.

“So how has it been between you two since the shower situation?”

Sakura bit her lip while gathering her memories of the last three days. After Sasuke washed her neck and she retreated downstairs in his oversized sweatshirt, the idol disappeared for the remainder of the day. Oddly enough, she hadn’t seen him since and if she was in her right mind, she would guess he were avoiding her in every way possible. Even at dinner, his presence enforced by Naruto, Sasuke never glanced her way.

She was a ghost.

Moving from one chore to another on the written list in her room, Sakura obediently did as the paper required her. It was eerie, doing her job without his snarky comments and laundry list of requests. Just yesterday, the idol walked in on her from the kitchen as she swept the foyer. His black eyes fell on her face and, alarmed, he immediately turned back the way he came.

Ino hummed along as Sakura told her story.

"When I'm with Sasuke I feel," She inhaled deeply as she wracked her brain for a word to do the feeling justice, ”good."

A moment of silence passed.

”I was hoping for something a bit more, what, descriptive?” Ino said flatly.

“I’m doing my best, Pig! When he touches me, my mind goes blank and when we aren't together I," Sakura inhaled, considering her next words carefully, "I miss him."

Across the Konoha metropolitan area, Ino sprawled herself out on the couch with a wide grin. "Now that's what I wanted to hear." She whispered to herself but the words caught and pulled into the receiver, transferring them to Sakura.

"Did you say something?"

"Oh, nothing, that was the television; It's on mute now.”

The pink-haired maid pouted, “I’m clueless about what to do.”

Ino shifted her gaze toward an analog clock when a thought sprung to her mind.

“Hey, it's only nine in the evening; why don't you go use the dance studio to relieve some stress, get a clearer picture of what you want?”

The thought of dancing again thrilled Sakura to the point that her body already jumped out of the bed and was rummaging for comfortable clothes before she could consider it. She tossed a pair of sweat pants and long sleeved crop top to the ground.

“You're a genius! I'm going to go now, okay? I’ll talk to you soon.” Her finger tapped the ‘speaker’ button on the screen of her phone as she undressed.

Ino chuckled, "Okay, have fun. I'll hang up first."

She dressed herself hurriedly, all the while her mind praised her best friend and scolded herself. The past few weeks had been a challenge and she lost sight of herself, her goals along the way. What had been regular routine, second nature, her first love, had been pushed aside in a hurricane of events and emotions. She was completely out of practice but the beauty of dance was progression- Set by set, the fluidity of her movements increasing as her breath settled in time with the beat.

Once dressed, Sakura stood in front of her body length mirror adjusting the drawstrings of her black sweats. She reached to tug her pink crop top downwards, then stretched for her iPod which she stuck in her pocket when she noticed the reflection of a foreign item sitting on her table.

Looking over her shoulder curiously, the woman found the same customized picture frame propped up next to the picture of her mother. Sakura rolled her eyes and made her way over to the frame and took note of a slip of paper attached to the corner of it. She peeled off the paper and brought the writing closer to view.

“I’m sorry I upset you. I thought your mother needed to be kept in a place as beautiful as she is. Just in case you change your mind.”

- My back hurts from carrying your deadweight

“Hmph, nobody asked you to carry me,” She whispered to herself.

Her fingers twitched with uncertainty as Sakura reached for the frame and unlatched the back. She glanced at her mother’s smiling face as she thought again of Sasuke’s note.

“I thought your mother needed to be kept in a place as beautiful as she is.”

He may be arrogant, but at least he isn’t blind, she thought to herself as she secured the photo into the frame and set it back in place. She stood back from the photo and smiled in admiration. Aside from the chaotic situation which unfolded from this, the gesture was sweet and she was grateful.

And, she owed him an apology.

She would sort out exactly what she wanted to say after tonight.

The maid snuck out of her room and shut the door behind her quietly. As she made towards the practice room, she wondered how Sasuke knew she was her mom because she never recalled mentioning it in conversation.

"What's up, Sakura?" A voice asked from behind.

Like a thief caught red handed, Sakura jolted at the unexpected sound and slowly turned to find Ten-Ten waving her hand.

“Ten-Ten! Y-You scared me for a second." The pink-haired maid cackled awkwardly in an attempt to cover her initial startle. "I'm going to the, uh," Her eyes darted around the room and landed on a bottle of water in her friend’s hand.

Sakura flickered her eyes back up to meet Ten-Ten’s, "I was headed towards the kitchen for a bottle of cold water." She lied as Ten-ten eyed the way her fingers tapped against her thigh nervously. The woman seemed to noticed, but said nothing as she walked past Sakura and entered her room and shut the door with a click.

She sighed with relief. Sakura wasn’t sure why she felt the need to be secretive, especially when the mansion’s facilities were free for staff to use during their off hours, but she guessed it had to do with stage fright which only occurred when she felt out of practice.

Approaching the training room on the other end of the house, Sakura came across a door with a circular window at face height. Peering in, she could barely make out the studio if not for the faint glow of a wall light. Her hand gripped the cold metal handle popped it open without a sound.

Light illuminated the room revealing her reflection in a large mirror making up the entirety of the wall across from her. In the corner furthest from her, two shelves sat beside each other; one holding the main stereo system, and the other carrying stacked CDs. Sakura examined both searching for a docking system.

She fiddled with an auxiliary wire she found and plugged it into her iPod, the stereo blinking green to confirm the connection. Sakura thumbed through a playlist of some of her favorite songs organized by genre. While she was trained in ballet and lyrical, the same her mother danced to professionally, she had to admit her heart drew closest to hip-hop. And with that, she decided on a high energy dance mix.

After playing with the volume and adjusting it according to the time of night, the dancer proceeded to the middle of the floor and stretched her stiff muscles for the first minutes of the song. As soon as it ended and the next one began, Sakura took a breath, submitting herself to the score’s commands under the guise of a melody.

It was obvious in the way her eyes shimmered with determination. It was obvious in the tiny smirk she wore if you were lucky enough to catch a glimpse- blink and you’ll miss it. It was obvious she trained hard to do what she loved, but the truth was, it wasn’t her putting in the work. Sakura doesn’t believe in an afterlife, but she does believe in guardian angels and her mom was the one guiding her movements, living on her passion through her daughter. At least that’s what she’s told herself.

The last song came to a close and ended in silence, an indication of the end of the playlist which gave Sakura permission to fall to the floor gasping for air like a guppy out of water. A few strands of pink hair clung to her sweat dampened forehead and neck to which she carelessly dabbed with the sleeve of her top. She peered at her reflection in the mirror- a literal hot mess- and the smile on her face grew wide before she rolled over on her side and laughed. Laughed until her stomach hurt and her abs grew sore from the contractions of her diaphragm.

Was the exhaustion getting to her? Maybe. But there was no question she was happy.

Dance had always been cathartic. Memories of first training in ballet and lyrical under her mother’s guidance lent a soothing effect to even the harshest of circumstances. Her mom taught her the importance of taking care of the body and the mind will follow.

Sakura wanted to shame herself for waiting so long to get back into the studio.

Slowly, Sakura sat up with her hands supporting her from behind. She was happy, but was not satisfied. Not yet.

The raven-haired idol crossed her mind.

Her eyes wandered to the stereo system once more, a subliminal sign for her follow her mother’s advice and hopefully, emerge through the end of the song with a better sense of her feelings for him.
_______

The bass of the practice room vibrated softly beneath his slipper-fitted feet as he made his way through the darkness of the room.

Naruto pressed me to get a good night’s sleep for my meeting tomorrow, but how can I sleep with this? I thought I crushed his dream of being my back-up dancer a while ago. Sasuke thought to himself. The training room was nearly soundproof but did not stop the vibration of bass from traveling.

After taking a moment to allow his eyesight to adjust to the dim of the mansion, the man squinted and made his way down the stairs and approached the door before pausing as a blur of pink crossed the floor. It was definitely not Naruto.

Sasuke was mesmerized. The sharp pops of her limbs, isolation of her joints and clean, movements presented effortlessly as she glided across the floor in time with the beat. The way a single wave of her hand caused a chain reaction to the rest of her limbs made her appear as a single rolling wave of water. He stood at the door, staring in through the window at Sakura, observing with eyes the size of tea saucers.

Her movements were predicable, nearly familiar, until he realized she was dancing to his own song and one of the toughest dances he had to learn. Sasuke wondered how somebody could cover his own dance and portray such mastery to a choreography he himself still had difficulty performing. He had to admit he was impressed and dare he say she had him beat.

The idol placed his hands on the door in front of him to keep him stable as he memorized Sakura's facial expression, full of concentration and fiery intensity. He was entranced by her beauty, long lasting despite the ephemeral motions of her lithe arms and legs.

One moment, a door stood between him and the next room, the next, his forearms connected with the floor. He could only assume he was in such a trance that he mindlessly pushed through door because all of a sudden, he found himself looking up into the moistened face of Sakura who stood over him, huffing.

"Oh, hey." Sasuke tried playing it off like he didn't just intrude. He sat back on his hind legs now looking up at her with her hands on her hips, the milky white skin of her naval showing where her shirt cropped off.

"Were you watching me the whole time?!" Sakura demanded, embarrassed that she was caught dancing to Sasuke's discography. A part of her felt distraught, knowing this would be fuel for him to hold over her head the fact she knew his dances by heart.

"No! No, just this song." Sasuke swore, helping himself from the floor as Sakura went to turn down the music. "Where did you learn to dance like that?" He wondered, dusting off the hem of his white tank top. While he knew her mother’s identity already, the question produced organically- An honest attempt at getting to know the maid.

The pinkette casually walked up to the idol with an air of confidence cultivated by the rush of dancing, no doubt. She bent down to his face with a smirk, “I’ve had some training here and there, but mostly self taught. Why, jealous?” Her last words were playful and maybe intended to be be a bit provocative.

Heat rushed to Sasuke’s face… and elsewhere. While it would have driven him to insanity month before, her confidence was attractive, especially knowing she had the skills to back it up. “Tch, you wish. It's my own song; Original over the copy, right?” His words insinuated the situation over the photo.

Sakura threw her head back in a mocking laugh. ”Really? Then show me." With that, she turned up the music and skipped to the next song.

To Sakura, the next song was perfect because it incorporated many of her favorite moves, but to Sasuke, it couldn’t have been a worse choice. He sighed in already admitted defeat as he made his way towards the shared center of the room beside Sakura. As the two waited through the intro, Sasuke kicked off his slippers and settled for the use of his socks instead.

Sakura caught Sasuke’s eyes in the mirror, a competitive fire in her’s, daring him to bring his best. The idol felt a small smile tug at his lips. This girl, she was quite amusing.

On cue, the two moved through the motions in sync. Their bodies twisted and turned in similar ways before Sasuke fell behind a few beats due to his socks slipping against the slick floor. Sweat dampened their foreheads and their lips parted slightly for air. As they neared the end of the song, the idol struggled to maintain his footing since the choreography was fast paced and demanding. He withdrew explosiveness to compensate for the instability in his feet.

A jump here, a step there, and he accidentally overstepped which sent him plummeting into Sakura and crashing into the floor.

“Sasuke you-!"

Sakura winced in pain as her back hit the wood and braced for her skull to meet a similar fate, her eyes shut tight. The impact of her head hurt much less than it would have if not for Sasuke’s large hand gripping the back of it, fingers intertwined with her pink locks. She undid the tightening of her eyes and found Sasuke’s an inch from her face.

“-cheater." She finished in a dazed whisper.

Sasuke was careful to not lean his full body weight atop the maid and placed his free hand on the opposite side of her for extra support. She was caged beneath him, and admittedly, neither want out. The man glanced at Sakura’s lips, her tongue grazing the bottom and leaving a sheen of wetness, then back to her jade eyes, first with surprise then a surrender, half-lidded with want.

He had enough.

This was it. He'd spent the last week away from the woman to get his head straight and understand his intentions. He wanted to know why his heart wouldn't stop fluttering when with her. He wanted to know what made this woman so goddamn special that it was only her taking up space in his mind. Maybe watching her move in perfect harmony with the beats sealed the deal. Maybe it was the compelling eyes she owns which made Sasuke feel like he was a sailor lost at sea. Or perhaps it was the way Sakura was licking her lips at this moment, tempting him for a taste.

This was the type of moment that he was delighted to be caught in: one with opportunity. Gently, the idol cupped Sakura's left cheek which flushed a rosy color in partial to the dancing. Instinctively, Sasuke shut his eyes as he began closing the space between them.

Sakura felt the air between them thicken with desire as Sasuke's lips approached hers. Mindlessly, her lips parted slightly, an unconscious invitation.

Four centimeters from his lips.

Sakura never needed a dance session to know.

Three centimeters from his lips.

Before, it was infatuation. But now, it was something more.

Two centimeters from his lips.

She loved him.

One.

“Naruto, you dumbass!"

Sasuke rolled off Sakura's body hastily. The two of them, faces flushed with irritation now as Ten-ten and Naruto tumbled in.