Chương 12: Why'd It Have To Be Him?
Sasuke wonders why he stupidly agreed to come to Matsuri's birthday party. He's severely uncomfortable going to bars and clubs but even more so when a majority of the people around are his employees!
He'd like to say that having Naruto present brings some solace, but he'd be lying. That idiot blonde is one of the rowdiest people in the group of young professionals. It doesn't help that the majority of those attending the get-together are women. Other than him and Naruto, Sai is the only man. Three men compared to at least ten women.
For the first time, they were introduced to the head of the Hyuga branch's cousin, a quiet and intelligent woman named Hinata. She's the one Naruto mentioned had a hand in the creation of AC.
Sasuke steals a glance her way while sipping his whiskey with a frown. She seems to be close with his assistant.
Now that he's thinking about it, everyone appears to get along with Sakura easily, even Sai, who's notorious for having a prickly disposition. He wonders why she and him can't get along smoothly. Sure, they're capable of doing their jobs together, but it's all business.
Ino is trying to goad Sai into a drinking contest, unsuccessfully, while Naruto and a brunette that Sasuke believes works for Neji Hyuga try to convince Sakura and Hinata to get drunk, also unsuccessfully. He noticed during their welcoming dinner that his assistant didn't drink much. Is she a lightweight?
Attentive green eyes suddenly lock onto his, and Sasuke quickly looks away, glaring at the bar.
He's having trouble not staring because Sakura's dressed casually for the first time. Gone is the pantsuit. Instead, she's wearing a short skirt over thin black tights and an oversized white sweater. Ankle boots with short heels are on her feet. It's like seeing a school professor at the grocery store. It almost seems like she's a completely different person in an outfit like that. It makes Sasuke realize, once again, that he knows absolutely nothing about his assistant.
"Oh, thank you, Sir! It's perfect! I don't know how you figured out what I wanted, but you're the best!" A tipsy and excited Matsuri suddenly stands beside him, jumping up and down with a pink gift bag in her hands.
He nods, "Happy birthday."
He has no clue what he gifted her because Sakura took care of it. Deja vu sweeps over him, and he sighs, shaking his head. This has happened before, right? At least this time, the recipient is happy with what she received. The birthday girl returns to her group of H.R. friends nearby, and soon Sasuke hears a familiar voice, "You're her favorite person right now, you know."
It's Sakura. She must've gotten up when she caught him staring and overheard Matsuri gushing about the gift. He didn't look her way as she slid onto the barstool to his left.
"This is the part where you tell me how great I am and give me a massive raise."
"Thank you for getting something she'd like and not sabotaging me," he mutters, rolling his eyes in irritation.
She seems surprised but quickly snaps out of it, "You're welcome!"
The woman turns her back to him when Ino flounces up to say something. Sakura's hair is in a ponytail and it brushes his shoulder as she turns. The familiar scent of her shampoo meets the Uchiha man's nose, and he closes his eyes.
Time passes.
For most of the evening, Sakura remains at Sasuke's side, though she doesn't attempt to force him into conversations and only says a thing or two every so often to remind him that she's aware of his presence. She keeps him company so he's not the odd man out of the group. It isn't as uncomfortable as he thought it'd be. In fact, the D.O.O greedily uses her as a buffer for any coworkers or random women who approach, and she either allows it or doesn't notice.
Around one in the morning, people begin to slowly say their goodbyes. Sakura seems completely sober when she finally addresses him completely, "Should I call you a cab? You've drank a bit." Without waiting for his response, she notices his keys in his coat pocket and points, "Or I can drive you home. I'd hate to see what'll happen if you leave a car like that on this side of town overnight."
"You don't have to do that. You're not on the clock," he mumbles, somewhere between tipsy and drunk but somehow composed for the most part.
Sakura scoffs, fishing his keys out of the pocket and gesturing for him to get ready to go, "I know. You're gonna pay for my drinks, so we'll be even, right?"
A smirk tugs at his lips. He nods, wordlessly handing a card to the bartender who'd been waiting patiently. It seems natural to have her make joking demands. Is it because he's not sober? Sasuke's feeling relaxed and warm. It's rare that he feels like this when he's drunk because he usually drinks when he's stressed or upset. This…This is kind of nice.
Ino, Sai, and Naruto are all leaving at the same time as them. The two blondes are trashed and loud, while the pale-skinned man complains about being their designated driver.
Sasuke stumbles a little when Sakura turns to say goodbye to the others, and she giggles, grabbing onto his arm to steady him while waving with her other hand, "Text me when you guys get home safe!" Inebriated cheers are returned before the duo continue their journey to the parking garage.
"If you feel wobbly or sick, just let me know," she says while looking at the screen of her phone.
Then, it's quiet and comfortable.
The man walks slightly behind his assistant, staring at the fading bruise on the back of her neck that continues beneath the cloth of her sweater where he can't see. He never noticed before, but her skin is quite fair. Maybe the darkness of the injury makes it stand out. Her frame is small, too. Now that he thinks about it, she doesn't look like most women, does she? She doesn't act like them, either. Sakura's appearance is soft and feminine, while her personality is rough and tumble.
A chuckle passes his lips as he tries to picture this dainty person in a fight.
She looks back at him and grins amusedly, "What's so funny?"
They reach the car, and she opens the passenger side door, watching as he gets inside to make sure he's not too drunk to properly buckle in. Then, she gets in the driver's seat, adjusts it so she can drive, and they're on the road toward his condo.
Again, things are silent but not awkward.
Sasuke's too tipsy to notice that he's staring again.
Minutes pass before Sakura notices. She anxiously glances his way before focusing on the road again, "I'll get nervous if you keep looking at me. Are you okay? Should I pull over so you can be sick?"
"Why are you driving me home?"
She laughs, "Because you're drunk and can't drive yourself."
"No, I mean why are you, um, driving me home?" Idiot. That's exactly the same question.
"Um, well…." Sakura shrugs, "I guess it didn't feel right to send you off alone in a cab since I'm not sure how well you handle your alcohol, and if I'm gonna go with you to make sure you get there in one piece, we might as well take your car, right?"
He doesn't say anything because he isn't sure of how to respond to that logic in his state.
The woman apparently takes it as his being annoyed because her mood seems to fall a little, "You're right. I should've considered what sober-you would want. I'm sorry. Let's just get you home for now."
What is she talking about? It's not like he's one of those guys who are crazy about who drives their cars or something.
Soon, they pull into his garage and she turns the vehicle off, cautiously helping the Uchiha man inside and into his condo. He feels amused as the pink-haired woman struggles to help him take his shoes off, chuckling when she stumbles under his weight when he nearly topples over at one point.
She grumbles, shoving him toward the bed, "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Jerk. You're gonna have a headache tomorrow."
Sasuke sighs when his back hits the mattress, and the blanket is tossed over him. For what could've been five minutes or an hour, he falls in and out of consciousness before his assistant's voice makes him stir again, "Here's some water. Sleep on your side in case you throw up. I'll head home now."
"Sakura…." His eyes creep open as he feels her gingerly help him onto his side.
"Hm?" She hums.
The room is dark, so his vision isn't clear, but for some reason, the woman looks different than usual. "Sleep here tonight," he sleepily mumbles.
A bright blush meets her face, "Sir?"
He snickers, "Guest bedroom, Idiot."
"Ugh, you're so annoying. I'll go to bed, then. Yell if you need something, okay?"
The next thing Sasuke knows, he's waking up and the sun is up. On autopilot, he downs a glass of water that sat on the nightstand, takes a shower, and goes out to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.
That's when he recalls the events of last night because there, on the sofa, is a sleeping Sakura Haruno. First, he's mortified because of all the uncharacteristic things he said to her while drunk, but then he's confused as to why she's on the sofa and not in one of the guest rooms. She doesn't even have a blanket! No, the woman's curled up with a pillow, her hair wild and messy.
Without thinking, he kneels beside her, "...Sakura."
Her delicate brows furrow, a soft groan leaving her mouth as she stirs. She opens her eyes and, for a moment, the duo simply stares at one another in surprise before she gasps and sits up, "S-Sir! Good morning!" Her face swiftly turns darker shades of red as she fumbles to her feet and frantically tries to soothe her messy hair, "I'll go now. Sorry!"
"Why are you sorry?"
Green eyes turn onto Sasuke before widening, then the woman covers them with one hand, "I meant to leave before you woke up, and, um, well…You're…."
He looks down at himself and immediately understands. He's in a pair of gray sweatpants and nothing else. His brow lifts. Is she really this shy? It's not like he's naked or something. "I'll put on a shirt."
"Oh, no. I'll just go. It's no problem."
He watches her gather her coat and shoes as he heads into the kitchen before noticing her phone sitting on the sofa, "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Sakura's eyes lock onto him, and she freezes, her lips tugging downward, "...Right." She digs into her purse before pulling out the key to his condo and sitting it on the island counter between them. After that, she grabs her phone and wordlessly leaves with her head low.
Sasuke is too stunned to stop her.
Why does she look upset?
…..
Sakura throws herself onto her bed with a loud groan when she arrives home. She wants to pull her hair out because she's so annoyed with herself. No matter how much S tells her or she tells herself to keep distance from Sasuke, she keeps unconsciously finding herself involved. Last night she saw a new side of him. Though it was because he was drunk, it was exciting to see him smile and laugh compared to his usual stoicism.
And this morning-! The pinkette covers her face and squeals, kicking her feet and rolling side to side atop the blankets. How does a man who works twelve hours a day maintain a body that looks that good?
Immediately after her burst of humiliation, she texts S, 'Hypothetically, let's imagine that I didn't follow your advice and now have a crush on a colleague. What would you say?'
Suddenly, she sits up with a gasp.
Karin will be back to work on Monday. She can't find out what happened, or she'll get so annoyed!
Sakura proceeds to set an alarm earlier than usual for that day so she can arrive first and somehow ask her boss to keep what happened a secret.
'I'd say you're annoying and wonder why you bother asking for my advice if you're not going to follow it.'
She snickers aloud, responding, 'It wasn't on purpose. I just couldn't help myself!'
'What happened?'
'I saw them shirtless. They're as hot as they are mean.'
'You're a masochist.' Another message comes in before she can reply. 'What will you do now? Try to date them?'
Sakura's amusement falters and then entirely crumbles. One of the biggest reasons she doesn't want to fall for her boss's charm is that he'll never see her as anything but an annoying coworker. If she hadn't proved to be so good at this job, he probably would've fired her by now because their personalities often clash.
Once again, she's reminded of her station in life. It's been obvious since the moment they first met. Even if he miraculously feels the same, which will never happen, he's much too professional to do anything about it, plus Karin said his mother intends to arrange political marriages for both Uchiha sons.
Acknowledging the futility of her emotions, Sakura feels down on herself, 'There's nothing to do. They'll never see me like that. I'll just have to deal with this until it goes away.'
'Maybe date someone else to get them off your mind?'
'That'd be cruel to whoever I'd date!'
'Well, I don't have any other ideas.'
The woman sighs, clicking her phone screen off and pouting. Maybe S is right. It won't be so bad if she goes into it being honest about the expectations, right?
She shakes her head, voicing her disgust with an odd groan. She can't see herself doing that type of thing with her level of dating and sex expertise. No, she'll just have to put all of her energy into working hard so she doesn't have the time or energy to notice Sasuke Uchiha.
Above all else, Sakura wants to know why the first man she's taken an interest in since high school has to be him, of all people.
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