Friends & Family   von dragonfighter
                           (The Clumsy & The Lonely)
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                         Kapitel 16: Step 16 - Laugher
                         -----------------------------


Laughing is an important part of our life. We laugh for joy, we laugh to ward
off a possible social conflict, or state of fear. Laughing is healthy. Laughter
is important. One should always be able to laugh at themselves. It's nice to
laugh with someone, or to make someone laugh. It is nice when our partner can
distract us from something sad, for example. But the most beautiful thing is
still when one can make their partner laugh and their partner them.
 
"Well, we should actually record that when Karin tries to pick on you again."
Natsuki grins at her across the screen. The pink haired woman laughs softly at
her remark. “You can do that if you want. I'm definitely not going to stop
you." Sakura shrugs her shoulders calmly, before she looks out of the window.
For the last few days it has rained without a break, as if the weather was
mourning Mikoto and crying incessantly. A gentle, barely visible smile shows up
on the young Haruno's lips. It's been a week since her mother-in-law passed away
so suddenly. It hit them all hard. But life and work has already caught up with
them all, giving none of them the time to think about the death of the Uchiha.
 
The gaze of the green eyed woman returns to the screen and onto the clock
display there. Sighing softly, she finally gets up and looks confused at her
colleague, who got up at the same time. They look at each other somewhat
surprised before they both start laughing. "I'll get a coffee and what are you
going to do?" The Hondo asks with a smile as she walks around her table and
walks towards the office door. "I was told to come to Sasuke's office." The pink
haired woman says and shrugs her shoulders, following the brunette before she
closes the office door behind herself. "Lately he's been asking for you a lot,
is everything okay?" The blue eyed woman notes as they stride down the hallway
together and finally enter the main hallway. Smiling, Sakura looks up from the
floor and down the hall. "Yes, of course, he just likes me... around him." She
replies, suddenly faltering and getting quieter before falling silent. In
disbelief but also amazed, she looks at Karin, who comes up to her with a
magazine in her arm. Natsuki also looks at the redhead in amazement.
 
"Haruno, what are you standing around here, don't you have any work?", The
Kaseguchi immediately approaches her and looks at her disdainfully. The pink
haired, however, just stares spellbound at the outfit and finally the woman's
shoes. "What are you looking at? Oh, do you like my new outfit? Yes?" The
redhead smiles self confident and snooty and sticks her nose in the air. "I
think that mr. Uchiha will like it to-“ " You aren’t wobbling... " Sakura
interrupts her in disbelief, throwing a panicked look over her shoulder towards
Natsuki, whereupon she has to suppress a laugh and looks down again at the
redhead's shoes. Chucks. “What does that mean?” Karin looks angrily at the
green-eyed woman, while a wrinkle forms on her forehead. The pink haired woman
shrugs her shoulders calmly. “That you can't walk in high heels without
wobbling threateningly, to the extend that half the staff has to get to safety
when they see you. That's also the reason why you always spill your coffee all
over the place when you walk. So chucks are actually a good choice, because if
you were to wobble around in them like that too, one really would have to start
worrying about you." Sakura says with an amused grin, while she thinks about it
and puts her finger on her chin and critically looks at the Kaseguchi.
 
The latter snorts when she hears Sakura’s words. "Hmpf! This magazine says
that mr. Uchiha is into women who are shorter than him.” The redhead starts to
explain and points to the magazine which she is carrying around in her right
arm. "Pretty much almost every man does that." The green eyed woman shrugs her
shoulders in amusement and looks over her shoulder at the Hondo, who is leaning
against the wall and following the scene. “So I wear chucks to show that I'm
smaller than before. As it is shown in this magazine.” The Kaseguchi says with
a self confident and self-satisfied smile and strokes her hair. "Does it say
that Sasuke prefers to wear business clothes during work too?" The Haruno
explores and raises her eyebrow, critically looking again at the redhead's
outfit. “What is that supposed to mean now?” Karin looks at the green eyed
woman, confused and also indignant. “I stood right next to you two when mr.
Hatake explained that to you. Don’t tell me that you weren't listening, even
though he is your superior!" Shaken Sakura puts her hand on her sternum before
she lets her gaze wander over the Kaseguchi's outfit one more time. A black,
tight, short, strapless party dress peeks out from underneath the redheads jeans
jacket.

The redhead shrugs her shoulders calmly before noticing the next thing. "Where
does your alleged knowledge of mr. Uchiha's fashion taste come from?" She looks
at the pink haired woman with a skeptical look. Bored, Sakura looks around from
Natsuki back to the Kaseguchi in front of her before raising an eyebrow. "Uhm,
I'm friends with him and often go shopping with his wife and sometimes even with
him?" Says the Haruno, in a tone as if she were an innocent angel. “Oh, then
his wife has the same style of clothing as you? Well then, with my style, I have
a lot better chances with Mr. Uchiha.” The redhead smiles happily and happily
runs her hand through her hair. Laughing, the pink haired woman shakes her head.
That woman sure is living in some hefty delusions. "No, I do not think so.
Sasuke doesn’t like public prostitution.” Sakura really tries to stay
indifferent and doubtful, but the red heads behaviour and delusion really make
it hard not to laugh.
 
"Well, it doesn't matter, I have to go on then.” The Haruno waves it off and
takes two steps past the indignantly angry Karin before she stops again. “Oh
yes, Karin. I’m actually thinking that, now that you don't complain about me
to Sasuke anymore, I could start to complain about you to him instead.” The
green eyed woman winks at the Kaseguchi, with a grin on her lips. “You won't
find any credible and good reasons to do that.” She spat arrogantly at her.
"Oh is that so? Actually, there are a lot of good reasons for me to do so. How
about, for example: you hold me up every single time I'm called to him? You keep
bothering me with your prostitution fashion no one in this environment, in this
whole building, gives a damn about? That you keep complaining and keep me from
doing or going to important places, while you walk around with those gossip and
head-canon magazines?” Suggests the Haruno and turns around with satisfaction,
after seeing how Karin's expression slowly becomes more and more bewildered. It
had to be said and Sakura is enjoying it to her hearts content. With a satisfied
smile, Sakura walks down the hall, while hearing the Hondo's soft laughter.
 




 
                                                                              
~> * <~



The raindrops fall and patter against the window in a regular rhythm. In the
course of the afternoon, after a whole week of raining, this should finally
stop. The black haired man quietly puts his glass down on the desk and in the
next moment is already typing around on his tablet again. His dark blue eyes,
which always look so black, move from the tablet screen to the documents and
back. The Uchiha pulls this repeatedly a few times and then puts the tablet back
to one side to concentrate on the documents again.
 
Sighing softly, he leans back in his desk chair and turns the ballpoint pen
between his fingers as he reads through the documents. Again and again he turns
the pen between his fingers, lets it rest for a moment and turns it again the
next moment. His focus is on the white pages and the lines and letters and
sentences printed on them. The ballpoint pen hits the floor with a quiet thud
and rolls over it. Thus, it attracts the Uchiha's attention. He slowly rolls
back with the desk chair and looks around for the pen, but doesn’t find it
anywhere on the floor. Letting out a deep sigh, he slides off the seat onto his
knees and searches the floor again before climbing under his desk to find it.
Grumbling to himself, he finally leans close to the floor to look under the two
cupboards that represent the legs of his desk. After locating the pen, Sasuke
grumbles out once again. As if it were a law of nature, the ballpoint pen has of
course rolled so far under the cupboard that he can barely touch it with his
fingertips. Sighing, he endures this game that is forever associated with it,
until he finally makes it and lets the pen roll out from under the cupboard with
one movement.

A knock on the office door makes him startle. The faint cracking and clinking of
dishes testifies to the result of the sore back of his head. A painful hiss
comes from his mouth as he rubs the area with his palm. "Come in!" He grumbles
loudly and slowly climbs backwards, out from under the table. Annoyed, he stares
in front of himself, actually, he doesn't want to see anyone at the moment.
There is constant knocking on his door and the employees just alternately walk
in and out. Although he had, maybe, ordered 3 of 10 employees to his office.
"Hey. Are you okay?” A little amused Sakura appears in front of his desk and
in his field of vision. He sighs a little relieved upon seeing her face and gets
up from the ground. "Yes, your knocking just surprised me and made me hit my
head. And all that although I was already expecting you." He explains. His wife
looks at him worriedly as he dusts his suit pants. She quietly walks around the
table and feels his head. “Is everything really okay?” She asks softly and
gently goes through his dark hair.
 
Gradually she found pleasure in touching and caressing his hair. "Yeah,
everything’s fine." He sighs softly and places the ballpoint pen on the upper
edge of the documents. He leans back in his chair in silence and enjoys the feel
of her fingers brushing his hair and gently massaging his head. "Why did you
want me to come here?" The green eyed woman breaks the silence after a while.
Sasuke opens his eyes again, having to think about it for a moment. Her light
head massage made him relax and forget so nicely. "We both are going to
lunch.” he explains and looks up at her. "Really?" She asks at him a little
surprised, which is not surprising. After all until now he has never said of his
own accord that they are going to lunch. It was rather her who had to ask him,
or had to bring him something of her own accord, mostly, simply without asking.
Exactly because otherwise he wouldn’t eat anything at all. "Yes. My father and
Itachi are also coming and we'll meet Misuki down in the entrance floor.
”Sasuke explains while he slowly gets up. Smiling slightly, Sakura walks
around the table while he switches the tablet and the computer to standby. "I
still have to get my bag from my office.” She then utters and heads for the
door. He follows her in silence when something else occurs to him. “And
tonight we'll meet at Kiba's.” The dark grey eyed man then suddenly adds
casually.
 
"Wait!" The Haruno suddenly exclaims in shock, while a loud slap sounds through
the room. The Uchiha blinks perplexed and then places his right hand on his
cheek and the bridge of his nose, which burn slightly. "Oh my God. I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry Sasuke! That wasn’t my intention. Please forgive me, it was a
mistake!“ It comes panicked from the Haruno. Somewhat surprised, the black
haired man looks at his wife, who is constantly saying her apologies and repeats
herself several times. It takes a few seconds for him to realize what exactly
has just happened. During her “wait!” she threw both her arms back and
caught his cheek with the back of her right hand, slapping him in the face.
"Please forgive me, it wasn't on purpose." The pink haired woman continues. The
Uchiha rolls his eyes a little annoyed and waits for a while until she may fall
silent on her own. He silently watches her as she continues to apologize and
doesn’t show any sign of stopping any time soon. She is and always will be a
clumsy woman. Sometimes she can compensate it really well, but sometimes it just
breaks out of her. The black-haired man lets out a sigh before smiling slightly.
Without her noticing, his hands come up to her head and lie on her cheeks,
pulling her towards himself with gentle force and at the same time takes a step
forward, sealing her lips with his and thus interrupting her torrent of speech.
His right thumb gently strokes her cheek and only a few seconds later he
releases her lips again. And look there, it did it’s magic.
 
"It’s okay, my little clumsy wife." He whispers against her lips, almost only
breathing the "my” and also lowering his hands again. A little red around her
cheeks, Sakura looks shyly up at him. "Let's go. The others are probably already
waiting for us and you wanted to get your bag.“ He then utters and follows his
clumsy wife out of the office. "I hope Karin doesn't bother me again." The young
Haruno just says as they leave the secretary's office.
 






 
                                                                           ~> *
<~
 




Sasuke runs his hand through his hair and looks through the kitchen window
outside, at the wet ground. Shortly after he left the office, it finally stopped
raining. However, clouds still cover the sky and so the ground can only dry out
slowly, while he can see light clouds of fog slowly appearing on the through
dark clouds dimmed streets. “Are you ready?” The Uchiha calls into the
foyer, to let his voice reach his wife who is still upstairs. The evening has
set in and Kiba has invited everyone for a nice round between friends. Sasuke
hopes to end the day calmly and comfortably after today was clearly not his day.
First, his office was stormed every ten minutes and then there was this annoying
pen search game and his head hasn’t been damaged just once.
 
"Yes, i’m coming!" The bright voice of his wife sounds before he can already
hear her walking down the stairs. The black haired man leaves the kitchen and
stands in the hallway, putting on his shoes. He scrutinizes the pink haired
woman, who looks stunning in her black skinny jeans and beige short dress. "The
company celebration isn't until next week.” he reminds her while a smile pulls
on the corner of his lips. The pink haired woman only sticks out her tongue,
puts on her heels and throws her handbag over her shoulder, before walking down
the foyer to the side entrance which leads to the garage. "It really must be too
difficult to say that I'm pretty." Sakura grumbles quietly to herself and opens
the door through which she goes into the garage. Waiting, she leans against her
husband's car and looks down at herself. She has put on a simple cream coloured,
knitted dress with the black skin-tight jeans, the shoulders are exposed, a wide
waistband covers the upper part of the chest and also represents the short
sleeves. In the middle of the collarbones there was a black button bar on each
side, attached for decoration.
 
The door opens again and her husband steps into the garage, looking at her
through his dark grey eyes. He silently locks the house behind him and opens the
car by remote control. “You didn't need to dress up like that, we're just
meeting up with our friends.” Sasuke says while he walks around his car as
both of them sit down. "Leave me alone." Sakura says back, forming her lips into
a small pout, because she can’t believe that it’s so difficult for him to
compliment her. Without any further comment, Sasuke starts the car and steers it
out of the driveway and onto the streets. Annoyed, she rolls her eyes and looks
through the window, watching the houses and trees passing by. She makes herself
extra pretty for him, because it was him who decided that they would go out that
evening and then he just says that she made herself too pretty. Or maybe he
thinks that she isn’t pretty at all? Silently she searches through her
memories for any statements from him, that indeed he finds her beautiful, but
unfortunately she cannot find anything and that makes her somehow sad.

"Tell me Sasuke, do you think that i’m pretty?" She asks quietly and a little
shyly. The black haired man looks at her in surprise. "How do you come up with
that now?" He asks back completely perplexed and looks back at the traffic. “I
just noticed, that you never told me that I am pretty or even cute. Except for
the one time at our wedding, you said that I was pretty in that dress.” She
explains, obviously down. The youngest Uchiha stops on the side of the road and
turns off the engine. Sakura looks around briefly to see that they have already
reached Kiba. Sighing, he crosses his forearms on the steering wheel and looks
at his wife, who is sitting there and looks like a small, frightened girl. "Do
you know what I was thinking when you came down the aisle at our wedding? That
you are the prettiest woman in the world. But that wasn't because of the dress,
because to me you're pretty in short pajamas too." He explains to her and sees
how she slowly turns red “Why do you ask?” He then adds, watching her with
curiosity. Embarrassed, the young Haruno looks up and into his eyes before
looking back on her lap. "Because you never tell me. You never make any
compliments." She then admits quietly and suddenly she is as shy as on Monday
again.
 
Sasuke sighs softly and leans over to her seat, leaning his forearm on his
wife’s backrest. "Okay." He then says and leans his upper body on his forearm.
The pink haired woman doesn’t even dare to look up, staring quietly on her
hands. "Sakura, you look beautiful today.” He whispers softly right next to
her ear. Hesitant, she glances up and looks into his dark grey eyes. She could
see it in his gaze that he really means it. That he is serious. A gentle smile
settles on her lips as she leans over to him and presses a kiss on his, which he
returns just as gently. "Let's go in." It comes from him after they break the
kiss. Smiling, Sakura nods and in the next moment they both get out of the car.
Sasuke locks the car before he goes around it and walks with his wife, hand in
hand, through the small park in front of the entrance to the residential
building. Both of them follow the path, which leads around a small fountain to
the entrance of the residential complex. The sliding doors open with a low
whirring sound and the two of them enter the warm foyer of the tall building.
 
Smiling, the pink haired woman takes the lead and walks towards the elevators,
as both of them get into one of them and go up to the 20th floor. The young
Haruno briefly throws a side glance at her husband, who, as it’s usually the
case, looks around the area with a listless look. When the noise is heard, which
shows that they have reached the destination floor, the young woman turns back
to the front and immediately strives for a door on the right passage of the
elevator. The Uchiha looks around in silence, examining the hallway, which has
been designed to be friendly with a few plants. He stops next to his wife and
looks at the door number before the door opens and Kiba looks at them both.
“Hey, there you are!” The brunette man says with a smile and lets them both
enter. He closes the door and watches them briefly as they take off their shoes.
"Hey. How's it going? Is Ino already there? The other girls?“ Sakura then
explores immediately and in the next moment disappears across the hall into a
room. Surprised, Sasuke looks after his wife, while Kiba just laughs on his
left. "They only saw each other last week." The Inuzuka remarks with a raised
eyebrow and turns to him. "Hey." He finally greets the Uchiha, who returns the
greeting with a handshake. “It’s is your first time here at my home, you are
welcome to take a look around. The bathroom is right there. The kitchen is
there, and the living room is where Sakura stormed in." Kiba explains briefly,
pointing to the corresponding doors one after the other. Sasuke just nods and
then follows him into the living room, where Naruto, Hinata and Ino have already
gathered and talk to each other.

"Sasuke!" The blonde man immediately calls out loudly and comes up to him in a
good mood to greet him with the typical male greeting. “What would you like to
drink?” Asks the brunette man who appears next to the two of them. "Anything
is fine, really. Just no alcohol." The Uchiha replies and looks around the
living room. Kiba nods and disappears into the kitchen. Sasuke meanwhile sits
down on the couch opposite the large flat screen TV and briefly watches his
wife, who is in a good mood talking to her two friends. After a moment, he
finally turns to look at the interior. A few minutes pass. Naruto sits down next
to him on the couch and the two talk about work and everyday things. Again and
again, the two of them are drowned out by a loud laugh, as well as once by the
doorbell. A moment later, Kiba leads Neji and Tenten into the living room. "It
looks like we're complete." The host exclaims with a grin and returns to the
kitchen.
 
Tenten and Neji are also greeted friendly and the Hyuga immediately sits down
with Naruto and Sasuke. When the Uchiha has settled down, Kiba approaches him
and hands him a Citrus Peach Cooler and Neji a beer bottle. Sasuke gratefully
accepts the glass and takes a sip to taste it’s content. He had to smile at
the fact that Kiba seems to have made the drink by remembering how he had
ordered some iced tea on his birthday two months ago. He follows the Inuzuka
with his dark eyes, as he goes to Sakura and hands her a glass with an opaque,
red liquid, which she accepts with beaming eyes and Tenten also receives a glass
with red wine. He looks skeptically at the brunette man. Sasuke didn't even
notice that he had asked Sakura for a drink. With a quiet sigh, the host finally
sinks down between the men and attracts the black haired man's attention. In a
good mood, Naruto immediately includes him in the conversation.
 
“I wanted to thank you again, Sakura! Because I was allowed to organize your
wedding, I now have tons of orders. At the moment I'm planning three
weddings.” It comes from the Hyuga after Ino has finished with her stories
from work. Even if the blonde will take over the company one day, she prefers to
look after customers in the shop and put together bouquets. The blue haired
woman has a soft smile, she really loves to plan weddings, even if they are only
small. She likes to be infected with the bride's anticipation, but always keeps
a cool head and also calms the bride down if she threatens to panic or freak
out. "Glad Hinata, it was nice to have you there." The Haruno smiles, sad for a
moment. She feels hurt when she thinks about the fact that her parents weren't
there for her and Sasuke’s wedding and that they will never be there when
something important happens in their life. "And of course, Yamanaka Flowers &
More is number one in the flower list!" The blonde beams and grins happily,
perhaps already a little drunk, and pulls the pinkette out of her sad thoughts.
The women's group breaks out in general laughter, while Haruno's gaze wanders
from Ino to the boys and she doesn't miss the Uzumaki's gaze, who has turned to
the Hyuga.

"How's it going for you Tenten. I heard from my brother you are his best
employee." The young Haruno asks as the laughter slowly subsides. Said brunette
turns red and looks embarrassed at the table. "Well, I just enjoy my work and I
work with really great people and Ryosuke also takes really good care of us
all." The Ama explains truthfully, looking up from the table. “And how is it
to work for your husband?” She then asks back, to distract from herself. A
smile settles on the lips of the pink haired woman. “Well, I can’t complain.
Sasuke isn’t a direct superior, but the head of the department in between. We
come and go at different times. He leaves earlier and leaves later. By the way I
have a nice colleague with whom I share the office, we get along pretty well,
often go to lunch together and like to make fun of Karin.” Sakura explains
with an amused smile towards the end. "Who is Karin?" Grinning, Ino supports her
chin on the heel of her hand and looks at her with curiosity. "Karin is our
group leader who is assigned to collect all the finished drawings of all our
colleagues so that Sasuke doesn’t have to be bothered every ten minutes. By
the way, she has a total crush on Sasuke, like those totally crazy women. She
reads magazines and articles about him, for example, but ignores everything that
has to do with his wife and therefore still doesn't know that I am his wife. The
woman is so annoying! Every time I leave my office and meet her in the hallway,
she has to correct me, or complain about me about the most banal things and
pesters me with her stupid obsession and how, apparently, she’s so much more
suited as Sasuke’s partner than his wife." The young Haruno explains and rolls
her green eyes in complete annoyance. "Sounds like fun." Tenten says while
grinning completely amused. "But only because I have the opportunity to roast
her every time she tries." The green eyed woman agrees with a smile. "You have
to record that. I want to see how you finish her off!" Ino says
enthusiastically. "Natsuki already suggested that to me today as well." The pink
haired woman says and laughs softly at the coincidence.

Sasuke looks up in surprise when suddenly a light weight drops to his left and
presses against him. Smiling, the pink haired woman puts her empty glass on the
table and in the next moment Kiba takes it and gets up. Sasuke looks after him
skeptically. “Tell me what's going on, Ino? You've been looking at Kiba so
strangely all the time." Sakura asks when she notices Ino following her best
boy-friend with her eyes. Sasuke briefly observes the women who make themselves
comfortable on the couch and join them as they sit down on one of the cushions.
Tenten laughs easily. “That is probably due to this afternoon. We saw Kiba in
the mall. He was in a tea shop and had a really good conversation with the
saleswoman there.“ It comes amused from the Ama and takes a sip from her wine.
Hinata and Sakura nod in understanding before glancing sideways. “In a tea
shop. Tea shop! He doesn't even drink tea!” The Yamanaka interjects sharply.
The Haruno sighs aloud. “Jealousy speaks again. Do you think we will survive
this again?” She turns to Hinata, who is just as worried. "I'm not sure." She
says after a moment's hesitation. "What are you talking about?" It comes visibly
confused from Tenten. “At school, it was always the worst times when Kiba was
taken. Ino was jealous and bitchy the whole time and Kiba wasn't there. But it
wasn't better the other way around either, only that Kiba and Ino were gone. Ino
with her boyfriend and Kiba was always at the sports field.” Sakura explains
so that she could understand the situation as well. "That was always the worst."
The Hyuga agrees with a sigh. The Ama just laughs in amusement.
 
“What was always the worst?” Kiba inquires as he enters the room and hands
Sakura and Hinata a full glass. "Girls stuff." The Ama just says with a grin,
while the other two thank him for the drinks and Ino sucks on her straw, visibly
annoyed, until this loud noise can be heard when you suck through the straw and
the glass is empty. Sasuke eyes the drink in his wife's hand skeptically and
tries to recognize it from the smell, which his wife takes notice of. "Do you
want a sip? Is strawberry daiquiri. Nobody does it better than Kiba!" She smiles
and holds her glass out to him. Sasuke shakes his head in silence and sees the
brown haired guy coming back into the living room with a few bottles of beer and
two glasses filled with alocohol free drinks. "Yay replenishment!” The Uzumaki
exclaims happily and immediately reaches for a beer bottle. "And for the two
drivers." The voice of the Inuzuka sounds, which draws Sasuke's attention to the
glass in front of his nose, which he takes with a small thanks. Smiling, Kiba
leaves the room to come back with a bottle of wine and hands Ino a new full
glass. “Do you want something else?“ The Haruno suggest and looks her
husband in the eyes. He in the other hand just shakes his head in silence and
puts his arm around her back.

After everyone has been taken care of again, they engage in a conversation
again, this time the groups talk to each other and conversations emerge in
between. With a slight smile, Sasuke follows the conversations, even if he
doesn't participate too much, he still enjoys the stories of the others and has
fun, wondering if he shouldn't be feeling guilty right now for sitting and
having fun with his friends, only one week after his mother’s death. Laughing,
the young Haruno leans back in her husband’s arm and looks up at him. He
smiles gently at her and knows that it is a good thing after all. His mother
would have wanted it to be that way, rather than him breaking down from it.
 
"Hey, maybe we can watch a movie or something?" The Uzumaki suggests while he
greedily reaches into the bowl with the chips, which is standing next to a few
other bowls full of snacks and immediately throws a couple of the potato chips
out of the bowl. "Sure!" It comes in a good mood from the Yamanaka and takes the
remote control for the television in hand to switch it on and to switch through
the programs. "So we have Riddick." The blonde woman begins and opens the
overview program. "Yay. Lets watch it!” Naruto exclaims enthusiastically, Neji
and Kiba also approve of the film. Sasuke just sits next to it, indifferently.
"No, not Riddick!" The girls vehemently disagree with the idea. Sasuke smiles
amused and runs his fingers over his wife’s upper arm. "Then there would be
You Again." the blonde girl continues to list. “No!” Kiba immediately
replies. "Oh yes, it's funny!" Sakura says in a good mood. "And finally, Nemo."
The Blonde woman concludes and looks around. "Let’s watch it!" Ino then
includes while smiling like a child. “This is a children's film!” Neji
throws in in dismay. "So what. The film is funny and lovely.” Tenten replies,
finding the idea to watch it good too. “Besides, it's always good to be able
to enjoy such childlike things. It's good for the inner child.” Hinata then
agrees as well.


"But this is a children's movie.” Naruto repeats. "Yes, but what if we make
this film a little more fun?" The Inuzuka then suggests, getting up from the
couch and walking towards a closet. The next moment he turns around and holds a
bottle of tequila and a bottle of vodka in the air. "Every time someone calls
‘Nemo’ or a seagull says 'Mine' we have to have a short drink.” The host
explains while wiggling his eyebrows and puts the two bottles on the table
before he fetches glasses for the short ones. “Under those aspects i agree."
Naruto says and places the seat cushion on which he is sitting next to the
coffee table. Tenten, Kiba, Ino and Hinata also sit around the table. Smiling,
Sakura sinks down to them and leans against Sasuke's leg. The glasses are
distributed and immediately filled, before the film finally starts. "Nemo!"
Naruto exclaims and raises his glass in the direction of the television. The
others do the same and finally tip the glass down their throat and immediately
fill it up again. "Nemo!" It comes one more time from the Uzumaki and the
procedure repeats itself. Just as the glasses are filled again, the game repeats
itself from the beginning and so it happens that within the first 10 minutes 8
shorts are tilted. Sasuke, amused, watches his friends and takes one of the
chips bowls. Neji also reaches for the chips and so everyone is taken care of.
The friends on the floor get drunk on alcohol while the two on the couch enjoy
their own drinks.


They keep watching the film with excitement, sipping the short or sipping their
other drinks, which are empty halfway through the film. Immediately Kiba gets up
to fill the women's glasses again, and Tenten also switches from wine to
Cranberry Cooler. Neji and Sasuke, amused, watch their friends watch the film
with excitement. "Nemo!" Naruto exclaims again. The group raises their glasses
to empty them in one go. A chuckle comes from Neji while the Uchiha's attention
is on his wife, who is leaning against the couch trying to get herself into a
more comfortable position. The Uchiha smiles gently and sits down on the floor
next to her. Surprised, she turns to him, smiling, leans against him and then
looks back at the television, before Kiba comes back and puts the full glasses
in front of the women. In a good mood, Sakura grabs hers right away and takes a
strong sip from the glass. While the next round of shorts is being drunk. Sasuke
looks around to his right and discovers Neji sitting on the floor next to him.
He smiles in amusement and then looks back at the television.
 
When only a quarter of the film is missing, the Haruno’s glass is already
empty again and when the Inuzuka notices this, he immediately gets up to refill
it. Sasuke follows him again with a skeptical look. Is Kiba trying to fill up
his wife or something? He skeptically follows every movement of the brunette
man. Just as Kiba is about to hand Sakura the glass, Sasuke pulls her close and
puts his arm around her. “Mine!” He growls at the Inuzuka. Surprised, he
looks at him before he smiles gently and puts the glass in front of Sakura at
the table. "Mine!" Naruto repeats immediately and the friends tip the next round
of shorts. Neji on his right laughs because Naruto reacted to the Uchiha’s
‘Mine!’. Him too escapes a soft laugh at it, before they follow the film
closely again. The Haruno looks at her husband with a smile, before she cuddles
up against his shoulder. "Mine!" It comes once more from the blonde. "How many
were that already?" Tenten explores, already drunk. "Just drink your glass on
ex!" Naruto replies while reeching for his beer bottle. "Okee." Ino giggles and
puts her glass to her lips. The others do the same and a few minutes later the
credits roll. “Yaay!” When Nemo is back with his father, the drinking-game
participants shout out in delight.
 
Sasuke is watching his friends with a smile when the Inuzuka suddenly gets up
and taps his shoulder. He raises his eyebrow questioningly, but the brown haired
man just smiles and shows him to follow him. Sighing softly, the Uchiha gets up
on his feet and follows the host. “That wash a nice movie.” Ino slurs with a
blissful smile. "Ouh yesh." Hinata nods. “And what we doin now?” Tenten
explores enthusiastically and looks around. “Lesh play shomething else.”
Suggests the blue haired woman. The others happily agree, while Sakura greedily
takes a sip of her husbands drink and puts the half empty glass back on the
table. "Hmm." It sounds from the blonde, who looks at the ceiling. Everyone in
the area is looking thoughtfully when suddenly three full cocktail glasses are
placed on the table. Sasuke smiles and passes the Strawberry Daiquiri on to his
wife. "But that's the last one.” He explains to her. The Haruno just nods like
a good girl and then immediately sips the drink. "Ouh! I know what we play!
Let’s play hide and seek.” The Uzumaki suddenly exclaims, while the others
enthusiastically agree. “We hide here, in the kitchen, hall or bathroom, but
don't lock anything. Anyone who is found goes to Neji and Sake on the couch.”
Naruto explains shortly. "My name is still Sasuke." It comes grimly from the
Uchiha, who sits calmly on the couch and follows the news. "I do, Sa-ke." Naruto
nods. "Okay. I'm counting!" Sakura smiles and raises her hand. "Till 30." Kiba
comments before he turns off the big light in the room and then hides. It was
funny for the two on the couch to watch, how Naruto, the one who complained
about Nemo before, is now playing drunken-hide and seek with everyone. They all
are so drunken to the extent that none of them can talk properly at all.
 
With a smile, Sasuke searches on the table for his glass. He looks sceptically
at the half empty glass and then looks around at his wife. "12, 13, F-fourteen.
Five teen.“ The Haruno counts and sticks a finger away. “Did you drink from
my glass?” "Yeah!" She nods happily and then looks back at her fingers. "Ou
maan now I have miscounted." She sighs out loud. "20." Neji then helps her.
Smiling, she continues counting. "30! Here I come! Wuhu!” Sakura calls out and
gets up before she runs out of the room. "Found you!" She says with a smile and
taps Naruto’s shoulder, who has stood between the jackets. In a good mood, she
searches further, finds Tenten and Kiba before she returns to the living room
and finds Hinata behind the couch. “Ino I saw you!” The Haruno laughs out
happily and walks towards the balcony door. "That will hurt." Neji comments and
thus draws the Uchiha’s attention to his wife. She happily runs towards the
closed balcony door to catch Ino, who is standing calmly on the balcony and
looks into the night sky. Alarmed, Sasuke gets up and goes after his wife.
Laughing, she approaches the balcony door, against which she slams with a loud
crash and stumbles back in a daze. "Found you, Ino!" She says quietly and grabs
her forehead while Sasuke catches her. Worried, the Yamanaka comes through the
door and looks at Sakura. “Found you!” She laughs and makes the others laugh
too. "Okay! Now it’s Naruto’s turn!" Tenten exclaims with a grin. “And
cover your eyes!” Naruto follows the instructions and the others leave the
room or hide in it. 

A few laps later, the green eyed woman is looking for a new hiding place. The
last five laps she was always found at the end. Giggling, she sits in the shower
in the bathroom and waits. A few minutes pass before Ino enters the room. "Found
you!" She exclaims and looks around for the others. Sakura lets out a soft sigh
and goes into the living room, where she sits down next to her husband. The
tiredness tugging on her eyelids, but she doesn't want to go home yet. She pulls
her legs up to her torso and cuddles on her husband's shoulder. She closes her
eyes tiredly. "Like a little girl.” Neji smiles when he sees her cuddled up
like that. "A cute little girl." Sasuke agrees with a nod when Naruto enters the
room and sits down on the couch. Hinata and Tenten joining in right after, as
Ino comes and falls into the couch to cuddle onto one of the cushions. 

Sasuke and Neji look surprised at each other, while the blonde has dozed off
already. "I'll go look for Kiba." The Hyuga rises and leaves the room, as they
can hear him calling for the Inuzuka. Sasuke, smiling slightly, puts his arm
around his wife and rubs over her upper arm. "Ino just fell asleep on the
couch.” Neji explains when he and Kiba enter the room. Said man looks at his
best friend and then smiles gently before lifting her up. Sakura blinks tiredly
and watches the spectacle in front of her. "I'll put her to bed.” He says.
“Don’t chu do anything indecent! I shaw your look!“ The Haruno says with a
grin before she cuddles back closer to Sasuke. The Inuzuka looks perplexed at
the pink haired woman. Laughing, Sasuke and Neji shrug their shoulders, before
the host leaves the room. "We should also go, it's getting late." Neji says when
the host returns. "Yes, Sakura is almost asleep anyway." Sasuke nods. He gently
nudges the green eyed woman, who grumbles softly and then straightens up.
“We're going.” He explains to her and she just nods while looking fascinated
into his dark grey eyes, as if seeing them for the first time. Slowly she gets
up and trots with the others into the hallway and everyone slips into their
shoes. Kiba also puts on his shoes to accompany his guests downstairs.
 
The elevator ride is quiet and nobody says a word until they are down in front
of the building complex. "Naruto, Hinata, how do you get home?" Sasuke asks
after he has checked out his drunk best friend. “It's not far from here. We're
going on foot.” Explains the blonde who can speak again without babbling after
a few deep breaths. "Okay. We'll see you." It comes from Neji and holds Tenten
tight because she is almost falling over. "Bye." The Haruno waves even though
they are still standing in front of each other. Sasuke smiles in amusement
before nodding to his best friend. Kiba also says goodbye with a handshake.
"Bay-Bay." Hinata says, before she turns around with Naruto and leaves. "Be good
Hinata!" The pink haired woman calls after the two of them. The blue haired
woman just turns around, giggling. "I always am!" She grins and looks forward
again before almost tripping over her own foot. "Okay then, let’s get you home
too.” The remaining Hyuga sighs out and says goodbye to his friends before he
supports Tenten, who only waves with a smile. "Bye. Kiba!" Sakura laughs and
hugs the brown haired man briefly before standing next to Sasuke again. “Good
night you two.” Kiba says back with an amused smile. The Uchiha nods to him
and then turns around with his wife. Chuckling to herself, she runs after him
and climbs onto the cobblestones as if she saw a game ahead of her. A gentle
smile lays on his lips while he watches her doing so and also swings her handbag
back and forth a bit. Her soft mumbling shows him that she is still walking
behind him, which is why he calmly heads for the car. "Wah!" Suddenly it sounds
behind him. Confused, Sasuke looks around for her, but the area around him is
completely empty. He looks around searchingly when he hears a rustling and looks
at the ground. Bushes were planted by the sides of the way and his wife is
sitting in one of them. The damp leaves slowly soaking her clothes.
 
"What kind of things are you doing?" He asks, shaking his head and reaching for
her hands. Giggling, she looks around and takes his hand. "Mister bush caught
me." She explains with a grin and lets herself be pulled back on her feet.
Sasuke shakes his head again and then takes her hand, so that he can catch her
if she should threaten to fall again. In a good mood, she keeps walking while
holding his hand and follows him to the car. The Uchiha opens the door for her
and helps her get in so that she doesn't get hurt or something. "Hold on
tight.” He says and puts her handbag on her lap. “Yes, sir!” The young
Haruno says seriously. Sasuke closes the passenger door with a grin and sits
down on his seat. Only when his wife has fastened her seat belt, he dares to
start the engine and finally drives off.
 
A few minutes pass before he parks the car in the garage and circles around to
help her out of the car. Giggling, she looks around and finally stumbles in the
direction of the door, which Sasuke immediately unlocks and opens for her.
Chuckling, the green eyed girl staggers towards the door, running against the
door frame. "Sorry." She smiles at him and then continues on her way. The black
haired man smiles in amusement and locks the door before he takes off their
shoes and then gets her up on his arms and carries her up to the bedroom, where
he sets her down on the bed.
 
Sighing softly, he helps her out of her dress and pulls it over her head, as she
tampers with one of his shirt buttons. “What are you doing?” He asks,
confused but also amused. "Help you out." She mumbles and stares hard at the
button. "Okay Sakura, how many fingers do I hold up?” He smiles and holds up
four fingers. "Sasuke, ish unfair if you take both hands and wiggle them back
and forth." She only replies and lets herself fall back on the blanket. The
black haired man looks at his hand skeptically before turning away with a sigh.
In the next moment he hears a dull noise and looks around confused, but instead
of finding Sakura lying on the bed, he only sees her legs looking out from
behind the bed. Immediately he stands by her side and looks at her, who lies on
the ground. "Hello." Smiling tiredly, she waves to him. He exhales with relief
and then lifts her onto the bed where he sets her down in the middle. He is
about to go to the closet when he reconsiders, the risk of her falling off the
bed is too great. He briefly thinks about how to give her a shirt or something
to sleep on. “Let's just do it. Here, put this on.” He exclaims and pulls
his shirt over his head. Ready at any moment to support his wife or to keep him
from falling, he holds out his shirt to her with one hand. Concentrated, she
looks at the fabric before stretching her arms up.

Sighing softly, he pulls his shirt over her arms and head. A giggle escapes her
lips as his fingers brush over her sides and when her head peeks out from under
the blue shirt, her lips come to rest on his. He returns the kiss gently and
leans over her so that she has to lie on her back in bed. He breaks the kiss and
turns around to pick out a shirt and sweatpants to sleep on. He only needs a few
minutes to take off his jeans and put on his sweatpants and shirt. When he looks
back at his wife, she is lying on the bed, her legs straight up. One of the
jeans legs on one leg has already been pulled halfway out, while she got stuck
in the waistband that is pulled down only halfway. "Will you help me?" she asks
and fidgets with her legs. Sasuke approaches the bed with a smile and first
frees her foot from the waistband before he grabs the ends of the jeans and
takes them off. Giggling, she finally crawls to the head end and sits there,
watching his every move with her big eyes while he closes the curtains. Then he
goes around the bed and pulls the covers to one side. Sakura lies beneath it and
cuddles in her pillow. Sasuke also lies down on his side of the bed and covers
her and himself before turning off the bedside light. Sakura giggles softly as
the dark grey eyed man's arm wraps around her stomach and pulls her to himself.
“What you doin?” She mumbles softly. "Making sure that you won’t fall out
of bed again." He just explains silently and leans his cheek against her
forehead. She giggles again and then cuddles up close to him. A few minutes of
silence pass, in which they lay there, but somehow Sasuke can’t close his
eyes. He is somehow still thinking about all the drinks she had and how much it
has affected her. He found her behaviour kinda cute, but... “Sakura... can you
promise me something?” He whispers next to her ear as he lets his cheek rest
on her temple. “Hmmm?” It comes back from her, waiting curiously what he is
going to say. “Please stop drinking so much... can you do that for me?”
“Eeeeh whyyy?” She quickly slurs out with a soft pout. He somehow can’t
stop his heart from racing in his chest. He wouldn’t be talking about this,
asking such a favour of her, especially when she’s drunk and will probably
forget it over night anyway, but he knows that things between them have changed.
She isn’t a stranger to him any longer. He still finds it hard to admit, but
he is still painfully aware that she has become important to him. Very
important. “I can’t tell you to stop drinking completely, i know I don’t
have any right to do that and I know it can sound stupid to you, but... I
already lost my mother to an incurable disease only an week ago. I just don’t
want you to overdo it every time we go out...” He whispers, visibly uneasy
about the silence that follows. A while passes and all he can hear is her soft
breathing. It seems that she was too drunk to stay awake after all. Pressing his
lips together into a thin line, he looks sad into the darkness of their room.
Unwillingly he closes his eyes, pulling and cuddling her closer to his chest. He
knows that he won’t be able to sleep now anyway. “Okay.” He then suddenly
hears her soft voice, startling and making him open his eyes again. Surprised at
the fact that she’s still awake after such a long silence. What he doesn’t
know is, that she was seriously thinking about his plead and considered his
reasoning. She then pulls away to smile and look at him, which he can barely
make out in the darkness. His lips curl up into a smile as well and feels relief
wash over him. As if a huge weight has lifted from his shoulders just now.
Gently he pulls her back against his chest, to cuddle her close to himself.
“Thank you, Sakura.” He whispers with honesty, feeling her respond to his
hug and hearing her yawn tiredly. "Good night." He then whispers into her ear,
but all he can hear from her are soft, even breaths. His smile becoming softer
and even more loving, before he presses a kiss on her hair and places his cheek
back on her forehead.

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