Wanting What You Get by vampirella
Summary:
Wanting What You Get
"I know this is going to sound strange, but would you mind being my girlfriend for the next five minutes?”
Sakura answers Sasuke's question by putting her hand around his neck and pulling his face down to hers.
As the two make their journey throughout beautiful New York surrounded by the Evil Ex's, a beat up junker named Jessie, a jacket named Salvatore, a wise cab driver, and rockin jams to last eons, Sasuke and Sakura venture out in the awkward first date.

From Nick & Norah's Infinate Playlist. Good read ;3

Categories: Alternate Universe & Crossovers > Real World, Het Romance > Top Six Pairs > Sasuke and Sakura Characters: All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Humor, Romance, Supernatural
Warnings: Sexual Themes, Yaoi
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 5 Completed: No Word count: 8641 Read: 7589 Published: 22/07/08 Updated: 12/03/10

1. Gettin' None by vampirella

2. Candy Dip by vampirella

3. The Big Bang by vampirella

4. Blue Monday by vampirella

5. Comin' Back by vampirella

Gettin' None by vampirella
Author's Notes:
hope you like and enjoy

l:~Ileana
The day begins in the middle of the night. Sasuke doesn't focus on anything except the bass in his hand, the noise in his ears. Kiba is screaming, Deidara failing, and Sasuke is Clockwork. Taking the thing called Music and lines it up with the thing called Time. Every note, a piece of himself, every strung of his chords, a piece of himself. They don't have a drummer. He's listening and he's not listening because what he's playing isn't something he's thinking about, it's something he's feeling all over. All eyes are on him. Or at least that's what he can imagine in his stage blindness. It's a small room and they're a big noise and he is the bassist in a queercore band. Sasuke lets out another round of sound engulf the cheering upbeat crowd as Kiba sing-screams, Fuck the man / Fuck the man / I really want to / fuck the man.. Sasuke is pounding his body into the warm glow of the scene before him as his fingers press hard against the chords. And although he's firmly planted on stage, he knows he is moving hard. This is release, he thinks. Or maybe it's just a plea for release. Kiba takes the microphone into his mouth and he's screaming the words. Sasuke throws the chords at them, drenching them in the sound waves, he is making time so loud that they have to hear it. He is stronger than words and stronger than the box he's in, and then he spots her in the crowd and he falls apart.

He had fucking told her specifically not to come. Not ever. Please don't come to the shows. I don't want to see you there. And she had said yes, and it hadn't been a lie. Of course, it was a lie at some point because here she was, low-and-behold, here was Erika. Sasuke's fingers are losing their beat and his stage buzz is losing its edge and everything around him goes from crying out to just plain crying. It doesn't take Sasuke long to figure out that --oh fuck no-- she's not alone, she's with some guy, and while she'll say she's here to watch him, there's no doubt in his mind that she's come so he can watch her. Deidara is playing faster and Sasuke is struggling to keep up. Erika is dancing around, body moving to the beautiful release of melody, word and sound, like Sasuke was making this music for her. And wasn't that the biggest mistake of all?

Tonight they are the Fuck Offs, although, Sasuke believes it will only survive three more gigs before Kiba decides to change their name again. They've already been Porn Yesterday, The Black Handkerchiefs, The Vengeful Hairdressers, and None Of Your Business. Sasuke doesn't really use his vote, except to veto Kiba's stupider ideas. ("Dude," He had told him, "Nobody wants to see a band called Dickache.") Kiba's out to pierce the pierced, tattoo the tattooed, and have his way with the messy punk boys who come to their shows not knowing they'll want to mess around with the guy challenging How big is your cocker spaniel? into the mic. Kiba is from a town in Jersey called Lodi, and that made the best sense to Sasuke, since Kiba is nothing if not an idol in reverse. Deidara Thomas is from South Orange and has only had the 'h' in his last name for two months. Sasuke's from Hoboken. As close as you can get to the city without actually being in the city. On nights like this, he would swim across to get to where he is now, just to get away from reality, from life, from the pain and sorrow your ex-girlfriend has caused you when she broke up with you, but that doesn't really work when you find her in the same club you're at and you notice you're bleeding across the stage from just looking at her.

Take the Power / Fuck the Man / Take the Power / And fuck the Man. Kiba is taking the song somewhere it's never been before: a fourth minute. Deidara looks like he's about to break out into a solo which is never a good place for Deidara to be. Sasuke moves his feet, turns away from her, to try to pretend she's not there, which was the biggest fucking joke he's never laughed at. Finally, Kiba get an energy burst and sends it out to the crowd of bodies. Sasuke, too, gets power of his own and sends them one last lurch of noise before he's completely engulfed at the matter of the night. In return, the crowd sends them a noise of their own, and he is lost, she is lost. She's as lost to him as she was the night Sasuke cried and she didn't turn back to see if he was okay. Three weeks, two days, and twenty-three hours ago. And she's already with someone else.

The next band is waiting by the side of the stage as the manager orders the Fuck Offs to fuckin' get off the stage. Sasuke can't say he's not disappointed because he is. Because the crowd wanted it. Wanted more. Craved it, with all their being. He's equipment bitch for his band's gigs, so as Kiba jumps into the crowd to find his most willing admirer and Deidara blushingly retreats to his understanding-but-emo boyfriend, Sasuke must immediately detox enough to get the things in bed for the night. He went from chords to cords, amped to amps. The next band was nice enough to offer Sasuke help with taking down equipment, although he is the only one who can touch them. They were even nice enough to let him help them set up. Getting plugged in the soundboards instead of spending his energy looking for her.

His eye is still used to searching for her in a crowd. His breath was still used to catching when he saw her. His body was still used to hers moving next to his. They were together for six months. It's over can't kill that.

Sasuke gives the crowd his back until he can store the equipment and put it somewhere safe. Then comes the time when you can't keep your back to the audience any longer, since there's only so long that you can stare at a wall before you feel like an idiot. Sasuke is saved as the next band cranks up the volume even higher and engulfs them all in beautiful chaos. They're called Are You Randy? and the lead singer is actually singing instead of moaning and Ramoning. Sasuke dares a glance into the crowd and doesn't see her anymore. He doesn't see a lot of hers at all --it's a see of hims pressing and crashing against one another.

I think Erika would really like this band, Sasuke thought. And the fact that he knows this, stabs at his heart yet again because now it's perfectly useless to him. He's suddenly glad he didn't really see Erika's boy because then he'd think of them naked. Now he only thinks of her naked. Such a vivid memory that it digs and rips and grips his heart with a fiery intensity of a burning thousand suns. He turns away, as if he's really seen her, and turns to see Deidara and his boyfriend Sasori making-out to the music in a corner-of-the-universe way. Kiba, he guesses, is at the bar, still putting on a show. The crowd is mostly older than them --mainly collage or should-be-in collage kids-- and he realizes he doesn't fit in. Some of the guys check Sasuke out, giving him a nod. It's not like he wears a Badge of Straight or anything. He nods back sometimes, when he thinks it's a musical acknowledgement and not an invitation. He always keeps moving.

Sasuke found Kiba at the bar, talking to a guy about their age who looked familiar in the Type kind of way. When he gets to where they're standing, Sasuke's introduced as "the bass god, Sasuke," and the other guy is introduced as "Sai from Sai." Kiba thanks Sasuke for being equipment bitch, and from the way the conversation doesn't continue from there, he knows he's interrupting. If it was Deidara, Sasuke's agitation would probably be noticed. But Kiba needs Sasuke to spell emotions out for him, and right now Sasuke was not in the mood. So he just tells Kiba where he left the stuff and pretend he's going off to search for a clear spot on the bar to summon the bartender from. And once he's pretending that's the truth, he figures it might as well be the truth. Sasuke still can't see Erika, and there's a small part of him that's wondering if it was even her in the crowd. Maybe it was someone who looked like Erika, which would explain the guy who didn't look like anybody.

Are You Randy? stop playing their instruments one by one, until the lead singer croons a final note. Sasuke wishes for their sake the club falls into silence at this, but in truth the air is one-half conversation. Still, that's better than average, and the band gets a big lunge of applause and cheers. Sasuke claps, too, and notices that the girl next to him puts two fingers in her mouth to whistle old-fashion country style. The sound is clear and spirited, and makes him think of Little League. The girl is dressed in a flannel shirt, and Sasuke can't tell whether that's because she's trying to bring back the only fashion style of the past fifty years that hasn't been brought back or whether it's because the shirt is as damn comfortable as it looks. She has very pale skin and pink hair that could stand out anywhere. Even in a sea of teens that think to stand out from the rest of the crowd is the only form of life in this crazy mixed up universe. She's also sitting on a guys lap almost as if they were together and they almost could have gotten away with it, if the guys wasn't making out with the guy sitting next to him. Pinky says and does nothing, therefore, she's as alone as he is. The next band opened for Le Tigre on their last tour, and Sasuke figures this girl's here to see them. If he was a different kind of guy, he might have tried to strike up a friendly conversation, just to be friends. But he feels that if he talks to someone else right now, all he'll be able to do is unload.

Sasori and Deidara would probably be ready to go if Sasuke wanted them to, but he was pretty sure Kiba hasn't figured out yet whether he was coming back with them or not, and he would be an asshole to put him on the spot and ask. So he's stuck and he knows it, and that's when Sasuke looks to his right and sees Erika and her new guy approaching the beer-spilled bar to order another round of whatever Sasuke's not having. It's definitely her, and he's definitely fucked, because the between-band rush is pressing toward him now and if he tries to leave, he'll have to push his way out, and if he has to push his way out, she'll see him making an escape and she'll know for sure that he can't take it, and even if that's the goddamn truth Sasuke doesn't want her to have actual proof. She is looking so hot and Sasuke is feeling so cold and the guy she's with has his hand on her arm in a way that a gay friend would never, ever think of, and he guesses that's his own proof. Sasuke is the old model and this is the new model and he could crash out a year's worth of time on his bass and nothing, absolutely nothing, would change.

She spots Sasuke. She can't fake surprise at seeing him here, because of course she fucking knew he'd be here. So she does a little smile thing and whispers something to the new model and Sasuke can tell just from her expression that after they get their now-being-poured drinks they are going to come over and say hello and good show and --could she be so stupid and cruel? --how are you doing? And Sasuke can't stand the thought of it. He sees it all unfolding and he knows he has to do something, anything, to stop it.

So Sasuke, this random bassist in an average queercore band, turns to this girl in flannel who he doesn't even know and says:

"I know this is going to sound strange, but would you mind being my girlfriend for the next five minutes?"
Candy Dip by vampirella
Author's Notes:
walla chapter numero dos. enjoy

l:~Ileana
Randy from Are You Randy? insisted the bassist from the queercore band is a 'mo, but Sakura tells him "No, the guy is straight." Whether or not he was the one responsible for his band's shit lyrics (Fuck the Man / Fuck the Man—what's that trite crap?), she has no idea, but he's no 'mo. There are certain things a girl just knows, like that a fourth minute on a punk song is a bad, bad idea, or that no way does a Jersey-boy bassist with Astor Place hair who wears torn-up, bleach-stained black jeans and a faded black T-shirt with orange lettering that says When I say Jesus, you say Christ, swing down boy-boy alley; he's working the ironic punk boy Johnny Cash angle too hard to be a 'mo.

"Maybe he's a little emo," Sakura tells Randy, but just because he doesn't look like a White snake-relic-reject like all the other bands, does not automatically mean the guy's gay.

The incidental fact of his straightness doesn't mean she wants to be NoMo's five-minute girlfriend, like Sakura is some sort of 7-Eleven quick stop on his slut train. Only because she's the only loser there who hasn't lost all her senses to beer, dope, or hormones does she have the sense to hold back her original instinct, to yell back "FUCK, NO!" in response to NoMo's question.

Sakura has to think about Ino. She always has to think about Ino.

She noticed NoMo loading equipment after his band's set while his bandmates abandoned him to score some action. She understood that scene. She was that scene, cleaning up everyone else's mess.

NoMo dresses bad, he has to be from Jersey, Sakura concludes. And if Jersey Boy is equipment bitch, he has a van. The van was probably a piece of scrap metal with a leaking carburetor that will likely pop a tire or run out of gas in the middle of a tunnel, but it's a risk she had to take. Somebody's got to get Ino home. She's too drunk to risk taking on the bus. She's also too drunk she'll go home with Randy if Sakura wasn't there to take her back to their house where she can sleep it off.

She couldn't trust Ino's safety with Deidara or Sasori either, even though they all lived in the same house, they were more Naruto's friends than hers, and that made peachy sense not to trust them.

Mello, the guy's lap she was sitting on, had taken off somewhere with his boy Matt, probably striking up an "interesting conversation." Sakura couldn't ask Matt and Mello to give up lip locking for her or Ino's sake. It just wouldn't be right. Which led back to Ino in her drunken state. Groupie bitch. If Sakura didn't feel Ino being her responsibility, she'd kill her.

This was actually the one place her father forbade her from coming to. Not in the if-I-ever-see-you-here-I'll-ground-you-for-life way, but more in the just-don't-even-bother-okay? way. She could be scoring weed in Tompkins Square Park right now, on her way to a bondage bar on Avenue D, and her dad would applaud with encouragement and thank her for being such a rebellious daughter. (He loved her for that.) Clara, her bitch step mom, on the other hand, would certainly freak. And Sakura hated her for being so damn normal.

But this club, this was the only club in all of Manhattan she was supposedly disowned from due to a bad record deal with Crazy Kent (known as Uncle Kent before the feud that marked him as Crazy). Kent was such an old punk he was around when The Ramones were junkie hustlers first and musicians second. But she loved that about him.

Sakura looked around the club as people swarm past/through/into her like she was a ghost with the inconvenience of malleable flesh getting in their way to the beer. Fuck, she's lost Ino again. Ino's big on Are You Randy? tonight. Which is cool --Are You Randy? don't completely suck-- but Randy himself is big on E tonight and Sakura doesn't want Ino and him alone in a corner somewhere.

Sakura is 5-foot-6 on tippy toes and 6-foot NoMo is standing in front of her, waiting to find out if she wants to be his five minute girlfriend and looking like that lost animal who goes around asking "Are you my mom?" in a kid book.

From behind him she doesn't see Ino but she does see that stupid bitch Erika Tris, rhymes with bris, because that's what she'll do to a guy, rip apart his piece. She's doing her Erika strut with her big boobs sticking out in front of her, wiggling her ass in that way that gets the instant attention of every dumb schmo in her wake, even the gay boys, who seem to be highly represented here tonight.

She's coming right toward her. No No NOOOOOOOOOOO! How did she find out Ino and her would be here tonight? Does she have lookouts with text pagers set up every place Ino and Sakura go on a Saturday night, or what?

Boyfriend to the rescue! Sakura answers NoMo's question by putting her hand around his neck and pulling his face down to hers. God, she would do anything to avoid Erika talking to her.

FUCK! Sakura didn't expect for NoMo to be such a good kisser. But she isn't here to find chemistry, only a ride home for her and her girl. She was also not looking for tongue, but NoMo's waste no time sliding its way into her mouth. But no matter how sweet and delectable his mouth tastes, she has to come up for air sometime. She pushes him back after a while longer. Hoping Erika hasn't seen her and just passed by.

WOW. She feels like she's just been kicked in the stomach by the giddy police. Her insides feel fluttery and her mouth wishes to go back to the place where its just left. Forget about the need for oxygen!

Unfortunately, Erika is standing in front of them, her new slobber victim with her. He is close enough for Sakura to ID him as one of Ino's recent rejects. He's buddies with Sai from Sai, whose band, Sai Does Sai, is scheduled to play next. You're welcome for introducing you to Kent, Sai, Sakura thinks in all the commotion.

"Sakura? Sasuke? How do you, like, know each other?" It's not bad enough that Sakura has to hear Erika's horrible language skills, but now she's being coxed into talking to her! Not a cool way to spend ones Saturday night. Not by a long shot.

She doesn't know why, but Sakura finds herself doing the thing Ino usually does to her victims where instead of taking the hand of NoMo, she places her hand at the back of his neck and scratches the nape softly, possessively, while the bitch watches. Sakura's fingers feel around his messy raven locks and can feel goosebumps rising for his neck.

Sakura likee.

And whatever Sakura is doing, it's working because Erika eventually storms off, wet drooling poodle following after her. Phew. That was easier than expected.

Sakura looks down at her watch and finds she has about two minutes forty-five on NoMo's offer still. So she puckers up and gets ready to be let back in to his mouth.

NoMo must have learned something around the little trouble they ran into because he isn't coming back to any mouth-to-mouth contact. Instead, he asks, "How the hell do you know Erika?"

That's when Sakura remembered something very, very important. Erika called him SASUKE. Noooooo. That's him! The Hoboken boy! The guy Erika was dating when she and Sakura went to the same all-girl private school together. The same boy who wrote the songs and poems about Erika. The same boy who every girl wanted to be with at Sacred Heart. He was the one Sakura had just been kissing a few seconds ago… oh

FUCK.

But Sakura doesn't bother to answer Sasuke's question about how she knows Erika. She's got to find Ino.

Jumping onto to barstool so she could get a better picture of the club, it's the only way to see over the partygoers, loud music, and flashing lights as she begins the search for her sister-not-sister. Placing her hand on the top of Sasuke's head so she can keep her balance, she can't help to ruffle his raven locks, just a little.

Ah-ha! Found her! She's at some corner with that snake Randy, just to the right of Sai from Sai Does Sai, who is now taking the mic. She doesn't know what song his band had prepared but the lyrics Sai was singing are clearly made up on the spot and have nothing to do with the fast and furious guitar chords: Kiba, go home with me, Kiba Kiba Kiba, I want you to fuck this man.

Sakura jumps off from the barstool, on her way to get Ino, when Sasuke grabs her arm, bringing her into a halt. "Seriously," he says. "How the hell do you know Erika?"

He gives her wrist a squeeze and the ow breaks her focus from Ino and bringing it back to Sasuke, with those dark and pain filled eyes. She hated that look. Knowing that that bitch had broken him. Knowing that he was probably going to hate women and write bad songs about them because one of them broke his heart. He was probably going to become a depressed old fuck before he was of legal drinking age. Don't get her wrong, she wasn't one of those swooning girls in Sacred Heart. Sure she agreed that Sasuke's work was beautiful and deep, but to actually go far as to be with him, that was on a whole new terrain of daisies. She didn't even know who the fuck he was! Although, she did have suggestions for him if they were ever to hook up. 1) Getting a drummer, it's like key, you fucking need one. And 2) If they were to date, could he let the past go? Flow? That was the billion dollar question.

She extract her wrist from his grip and makes to turn and head off towards Ino. But suddenly turns back and places a hand on his cheek, making small soft circles along his jaw line with her index finger.

She says, "You poor schmuck."
The Big Bang by vampirella
Author's Notes:
FYI i DO own a yugo. really. theyre not that bad. x3

l:~Ileana
When Erika passed by Sasuke, it was like his whole world fell to pieces. Bit by bit, wall by wall, every micro matter of his being, his very soul! And there was nothing he could do about it. Like every dimension came crashing down around him. First the first, then the second, finally the third. And the third just happen to be walking away from him with another guy's arms wrapped around her.

But of course there was a third. And that was time. And although time is a tricky matter, there was an even trickier matter standing next to him.

He's now left with this girl, this Siren of Mixed Signals, this Sakura. She's a fuck-good kisser, Sasuke thinks. But she clearly had issues. He asked her how she knew Erika, because that's leaving him totally confused, and she's looking at him like he's this guy she didn't just start kissing out of nowhere, but then she's got her hand on his arm in a way that makes him realize he has an arm, and then she's making to run away, and at the same time looking at him like he's some Cancer Child.

Then Sasuke takes a hold of her arm and she resists without really resisting. Finally she pulls away, only to touch his face in this way that reminds him exactly of her kiss.

She calls him "you poor schmuck."

And like some poor schmuck, he's like, "Why?"

She knows something, Sasuke can tell from her eyes along, but she's not talking. Instead, she says, "I've got to get my friend."

"I'll come with," Sasuke hears himself saying. Besides, it's not like he has nothing better to do than to follow a fuck-good kisser around just in case Erika is watching him from behind. Kiba has just jumped up on stage to be Sai's backup dancer, and Deidara and Sasori are nowhere in his line of vision.

"Tell ya what," Sakura says. "You give us a ride, and I'll add two extra minutes on your original offer."

"Seven's my lucky number." And she's looking at Sasuke like PUH-lease… "But really," he coughs. "How do you know Erika?"

"I fucked up her Babies in the fifth grade." She says, not looking sorry in the least. "And that's the way it's been ever since."

"You're from Sacred?"

"Sacred Heart. Sacred is a name of a church."

She's pushing through the crowd now, and Sasuke is following.

"She was just here a few seconds ago," she says.

"Who?"

"No one. Ino, I mean. Just shut up for a second so I can think, okay?"

Like is he's quiet she'll suddenly be able to hear every fucking footstep in the club.

While Sakura is peering around the club, Sasuke makes the idiot move of looking around to see if Erika was anywhere in view. He spots her making-out with her new model. That was it. Sasuke was the old model, and that was the new model. Phases. Fads. Some go in, but they always go out. Like him.

Sasuke turns back to realize Sakura isn't in front of him anymore, but luckily is a few feet away from him. And the girl she's trying to pry off someone looks kind of familiar. Not in a Didn't We Go To Camp Walla Walla Together? way, but more like, Didn't I Step Over You To Get To The Men's Room Last Night? The guy she's locked onto is the guy from Are You Randy? like she's auditioning to be a pocket on his jacket. And Sasuke can tell he's about ready to sew her on.

Only his Seven-Minute Girlfriend stands in the way. Saying Ino's name like they were sister. And Sasuke would have thought that, if Sakura hadn't already called her a friend. And just for a millisecond, Sasuke wonders if they're a couple, but something in Sakura's expression makes it clear that they are friends without benefits.

Ino looks like she's about to say something, when all of a sudden, Kiba and Sai break out into a fucking Orgy cover and we're all seven years old again. Jumping, screaming, shouting, flailing. They're all apart of something big, something loud and beautiful, and Sasuke wonders if Erika is apart of it. Because if she is, then in some way they are connected. At least connect through this viable piece of rhythm. Yes, all connect --except Sakura, she's the kind of statue no one make, of something totally unhuman, unearthly.

"What's up?" Sasuke shouts over the music to be heard. She turns to him as if she forgot he exists. And if she forgot he was just there, her defenses are down and Sasuke can see something in her eyes. Like if she was, different.

Sasuke decides to change his question. "What's wrong?" And just like that, whatever it was is gone. But he's curious. Damn, curious.

"Not a fucking thing." She says. "And I think maybe our time is up."

"You don't need a ride anymore?" He asks because he's not against spending time with a complicated girl

"Fuck." The song's ended but everyone is shouting and Sasuke could barely hear her shout, "Wait right here."

Kiba and Sai take their bows like they're already spooning, Kiba curled over Sai's back as they dip in union. While the guy from Are You Randy? uses his hands to clap, Sakura has hers on either side of Ino's shoulders, yelling at her, and over the cheers and screaming, Sasuke can't make any of it out until Ino yells out, "I am not trashed!" which of course means she is, because who the hell else would use such a completely wasted phrase?

The guy from Are you Randy? is starting to catch on and is trying to catch up by catching hold. His instincts totally defeat, because his hand swerve somewhere near Ino's breasts, which really isn't the terrain he needs to keep his grounds. Sakura's yanks his away quickly, and Ino is soon Stumbling in Sasuke's direction.

Before he even got the 411, Ino's tilting into him and he's catching her. Then she's heaving down, and Sasuke is sure she's gonna puke all over him. Until she raises her head and says, "You have really ugly shoes."

Sakura is next to him now saying, "Let's go." She leaves him to carry Ino while she's yelling, "Get the fuck out of my way" to people. It feels as if though Sasuke has something important to say. His heart's pounding, blood flowing, mind racing. But by the time he's out of his head and focused enough to use his eyes, there's someone in their way, and that someone is the girl who took the key to his heart and swallowed it with a smile.

"I need your car," she says.

For a second, it's like his mind has forgotten that the word for "What?" is "What?" because all he can do is stare and look at her and think she's talking to me and that somehow translates into she's giving me a second chance.

"I need to go somewhere," she says. "I promise I'll bring it back."

He's reaching into his pockets for the keys. And all he can think of is I'll come go you, while a voice outside his head is saying, "I'm afraid the car's already full. No more room for you, Erika. Sorry."

She grins like a cat who has just swallowed the family canary and those stupid farts don't suspect their darling Fluffy could have done it.

"Excuse me?" Erika quirks a blonde brow.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't clear. Let me try again. FUCK OFF."

"I think turning off to fucking is your department, Sakura. Now why don't you take Drunkzilla here and go find some nice Weezer fans to rock-tease. I'm talking to Sasuke not you."

And Sasuke is thinking: She's fighting over me.

But for some reason it is Sakura who is putting her arm around him and into his back pocket.

He's about to push her away, but then Erika says, "Come on, Sasuke --we're late and need the car." And he knows that he's not apart of her 'we.' He's been fucking exiled from her 'we.'

"I'm going to find Randy," Ino decides.

"Hell no, you're not," Sakura says, taking her arm from Sasuke's shoulder ad linking it around Ino's elbow. Which leaves them in this weird we're off to see the Wizard pose, with Erika blocking them like the Wicked Witch of the Past.

Finally, she can't take anymore and says, "You can take him. I only wanted his car." And walks away with New Model.

Sakura takes her hand from his back pocket and steadies Ino with her full weight. It's Sasuke's turn to lead, and he can barely do it. He's not that drunk or stoned or spiraling high. It's just that he's defeated. And that alone is taking his toll on just standing upright. Although, there was one good thing. Him leaving the club with her. He wanted that.

She says good-bye to the club manager and now they are outside. The sidewalk is filled with smokers. Talking or posing their way to ash. Sasuke gets some nods from people he vaguely knows. Ordinarily if Sasuke left the club with two hot girls, there'd also be looks of admiration. Maybe it's because the clear anger of Sakura and Ino, or maybe it's because they really so think Sasuke is gay --whatever the case, he gets no more congratulations than a cabdriver does for picking up a fare.

Sasuke can't wait till his inside. It feels as if though he's legs can't hold him up much longer. He's fishing through his pockets for his keys, somehow wishing Erika would just pop up and greet him. But no, he doesn't want to go there because he can't, he won't. It's just too much.

They're at his car now.

"What the fuck is that?"

Sasuke shrugs and says, "It's a Yugo."
Blue Monday by vampirella
From inside, Sakura could very clearly hear Sai and Kiba singing another Orgy song. Blue Monday. Sakura wished she were in there, because despite the night and how it was going, (Sasuke's fucking car wouldn't start) Sakura was still craving more music. But she knew she needed to get Ino home. Knew that it would be right thing to do, even though she feels wrong. Wrong for… too many things. From inside Sakura swears her keen hearing is picking up the DJ mixing a sample of Michael Jackson about how Billie Jean is not my lover, the kid is not my son into the groove. How was that possible and why does it sound so damn good and if the Yugo doesn't start within one second she was outta there. She didn't really care if she felt a slight 'ting' for Sasuke. She would get over it. She knew she would. And if she didn't, she would have all eternity to sulk. Really, she did have that much time. Sai, Matt and Mello, would hopefully understand her leaving the party early. Ah, who cares about him, she thought. He knows where the house is.

"Do you hear that?" Sakura asks Sasuke.

"What? Is the engine starting?" He tries the key once more.

"No. Dude. Listen up, that rhythmic banging inside the club? It's called drumming. It's, like, a god." Sakura plays the drums on the glove compartment of the Yugo. The compartment pops open from her banging and a Polaroid of Erika is taped inside. Blood hell! Sakura takes the picture and rips it out. Then opens the window slightly to throw the shit away and turns back to face Sasuke. "Your fucking band needs a drummer. Get a drummer for your band, guy. Really."

And just as if Sakura and Ino plan these things out, Ino interjects by saying, "Really," because Ino is always picking up sentences where Sakura leaves them off. "Driver person. Hey!" She taps Sasuke's shoulder from behind him. Sasuke looks around to her but quickly turns back around to face Sakura. Such a pretty girl, such rancid tequila breath. Ino wants to know, "Why would you wear such ugly shoes? Answer me, driver person. Please?"

"The shoes go with the car, Ino." Sakura tells her. "Yugo drivers are required to wear torn-and-graffitied hi-top- Chucks shit on their feet. It's like a rule. It's in the manual." Sakura pulls the Yugo car manual from the glove compartment. A chewed-up wad of gum extends from the manual back to the compartment. Fucking Erika and her Bubblicious. Sakura takes a McDonald's napkin to rid the book of gum and throws the book into the backseat for Ino's pleasure.

She ignores the Good Book. "Are you Yugoslavian, driver person?" Ino asks Sasuke. "Sakura, is that why he's driving us home? He's the taxi driver, right?"

"Sure," she tells her. He'll be the taxi driver once his Yugo-cab will fucking start.

"Is there such an ethnicity as Yugoslavian anymore?" Sasuke asks. "Now that the country's all broken up? That was some bad shit that went down there in Serbia and Croatia, right? Damn shame." To anyone else, Sasuke may have looked like he felt bad for Yugoslavia. But Sakura knew better, he wasn't grieving for that, he was grieving for Erika.

Ino informs them, "I'm part Yugoslavian, you know. On my great-grandpa's side."

Sakura tells her, "You're part Transylvanian, too, bitch. Be quiet. I need to think." How the hell were they gonna get home? And why should Sakura care all that much about Ino? She didn't really care BFF style. But Sakura knew it was her fault for what happened then at the club in Trans. Why Ino was what she was. Which led back to what Sakura was. A vam…

NO!

Now was not the time. Here she was in Manhattan, like her dad's favorite Stevie Wonder song goes: New York, just like I pictured it --skyscrapers, and everything. Shit is suppose to be happening here, not stalled Yugo shit.

Soon enough, Ino is still and quiet. Wow, really? Sakura looks in the passenger-side mirror to see Ino asleep, cheek pressed up on the window glass. Sakura had never seen her pass-out without heaving first. Sasuke and his Yugo may have magical properties, after all. She prayed they would make it to Jersey.

"That's one problem solved," Sakura tells Sasuke. She places her left hand on his right hand, which is clutched around the stick shift. "Now, what are we gonna do about this other one?"

Sasuke flinches a bit, then decides to pull his hand away and try the key again. Now why did she do that? Maybe it's all the alcohol talking. She hasn't feed tonight and that's starting to take a toll on her body.

He wants to know, "Why would you fuck up Erika's Barbies?" and Sakura's like, Shit, is this the price of the sacrifice for Ino passing out unexpectedly early? --that Sasuke has taken over the melancholy stage that usually follows Ino's inquisitive one? "I know guys that have sisters and I know that's some serious business, messing with another girl's Barbies." Okay, maybe he's not being melancholy because his sarcastic smile lets her know he's back to being standard-issue band-boy irony creature. Damn him that it somewhat makes Sakura want to jump his bones.

A white van barrels down the one-way street in the wrong direction, stopping in front of the fire hydrant directly ahead on the Yugo.

"Oh, thank God," Sasuke says.

A guy emerges from the van and she right away knows who he is. Not only was he the guy who made out with the non-singing member of Sasuke's band after their band's set, he was also one of Naruto's friends. Not her friend though because they rarely talked. Only, acquaintances. Which was weird considering they should do more talking since they all lived together in the Manor.

Sasori leans into Sasuke's open window. He tells Sasuke, "Pop the hood and we'll try to jump-start this baby."

"Yeah," Sasuke says, like it's their routine. "Thanks, Sasori."

Sakura isn't appalled when Sasori just looks at her and says, "Deidara could use some help in the van if you don't mind" like he didn't even fucking know her. He does. But then again, she didn't even bother to tell Sasuke that she knew no, LIVED with Deidara and Sasori and Sai and a bunch of other people in a big house because her father was a well known record-label producer and she was, well, rich. No, Sasuke couldn't and hopefully wouldn't know that bit about her. Among her other secret…

Sakura shrugs and gets out of the Yugo while Sasori pops the Yugo hood to attach the jumper cables. She steps inside the passenger side of the van and sees band equipment back there. She knew Sasuke's band had a van! Why didn't she specify --van, not Yugo, back to Jersey?

Deidara sitting in the driver side of the van says, "Hi. I'm Deidara Thomas. With an 'h.'" He extends his hand out to her. He knows who she is, and she knows about him, too. Sort of… But whatever, Sakura thinks. This could be the start of a loving friendship. She totally digs guy on guy.

She shakes his hand and says, "I'm Sakura Gnorah. With a 'g.' The 'g' is silent. Like 'gnome.'"

"Really?" Thomas says.

"No, not really. I have an 'h' too. At the end. Used to be just N-O-R-A but then I had it legally changed."

"Really?" Thomas says again.

Not really. "Really," she says. "But I can't imagine why I am in this van to talk about H's. What's up?"

Deidara hands me a fifty-dollar bill. He says, "Sasori and I chipped in. We saw that kiss between you guys." Deidara was not the singer of the band, but nevertheless can channel the Aretha, not En Vogue, version of a song when he sings out, "Giving him something he can feel!"

"I don't get it," Sakura says.

The hood of the van obscures the view, but Sakura and Deidara can clearly hear the Yugo come to life. "No time to explain, let's just say Sasori and I hate the fucking guts of Sasuke's ex and we'd like to give him a little assistance with moving on with his life. So, please, take the boy out tonight, see the city, see the backseat of the Yugo, I don't care, just take our friend out tonight. We've decided that we like you better and that you'll be Sasuke's salvation. No pressure or anything."

Flattery could get him everywhere and Sakura is all about salvation right now, but, "Can't," she says to him, although she's really tempted. "Sasuke's giving me and Ino a ride back home to Jersey. She's asleep in the back of the Yugo now."

Deidara says, "We've got a mattress in the back of the van. We'll trade you. We'll get her home if you'll take on Sasuke tonight."

She decides some living is with doing. "Done," she tells him and slips the fifty into the inside of her shirt pocket.

So they're settled, and Sakura gets out of the van with Deidara who enlists Sasori to help him transport Ino from the Yugo to the van. But once back inside the Yugo, Sakura doesn't get a chance to explain to Sasuke the new order of this middle of the night.

Because Sakura has just spotted Randy and Uncle Kent all shaking hands with the new guy who just arrived. Apparently, Uncle Kent's actual nephew is back from wherever he was and back in Manhattan. And oh fuck, the Evil Ex has just seen her and now he's at her side of the Yugo and he's saying, "Hey, baby, you ready to pick up where we left off?"
Comin' Back by vampirella
Author's Notes:
i feel like im obligated to say, "I'm sorry its been a long time since iv updated!!!!! i've just been really super busy!!!!! im really super sorry!!!!!!!!!!!"
you know? except with WAY more exclamation points.
but instead, im not gonne say that. instead, ill just tell you that i turned into a fish and traveled to Sin City, where i met a really cool herion addict hawk and his poo-flinging cousin, the snake *FYI they dont get along*

im glad im back :] and enjoy
P.S. the movie was different than the book. it was like playing Spot-The-Not when i was watching it. i respect the book even more now.

l:~Ileana
Sasuke never thought Jessie would betray him. He'd don't nothing but love her and treat her right. He'd stood by her side and defended her when people called her trash and said they didn't understand why he kept her. He thought that meant something. But no. now when he needed her most, she totally bailed. He turns the key and he turns the key and he turns the key and she doesn't do a damn thing. How alone is he right now? Even his own car gave up on him.

He could be mad at her. But he's not. He's mostly afraid. That this is it --terminal. He can work her day and night trying to get a spark, a blink, ANYTHING going from her and she would just sit there and do nothing. He can't afford to fix her again. If this is it, then this is really it.

He isn't really paying attention when Sasori and Deidara remove Ino from the backseat. After all the time it took for them to put her back there. But he could understand the impulse to abandon ship.

Sasuke is about to help Sasori connect the jumper cables when this guy Sasuke's never seen before leans into Sakura's window and says, "Hey, baby, yous ready to pick up wheres wes left off?"

What. The. Fuck?

Sasuke expects Sakura will put him in his place. Tell this damn Yank to take a hike, or to shove it up where the sun don't shine. But instead, she just looks away. That surprised him more than his car dying on him.

"Baby, I'm back," the guy goes on. "Hows about yous gets outta dis heap and sayin' hello?"

Now, it was one thing to try to harass Sakura out of his passenger seat. But to bring Jessie into it is completely uncalled for.

"Can I help you?" Sasuke asks.

He keeps looking at Sakura as he talks to him, "Yeah, buddy. I just gots backs to da States and I'ves beens looking for this lil lady rights here. Can you spares her fors a second?" He reaches in the window, unlocks the door, and opens it. "We'll be right back," he goes on. At that moment Sasuke was about to tell Sakura she didn't have to do a damn thing. But then she clicks off her seatbelt. And Sasuke thinks that's it, she made up her mind. But she just stays in the car.

"Baby…," he purrs as he reaches her. "I've missed yous so much."

Sasuke tries the keys one more time. But no dice. That's when Sasori leans over into Sasuke's window and says, "Problem here?"

And just like that, the spell she had on her is broken.

"Mick," she says with a razor dullness to her voice. "You haven't missed me for one fucking minute in your entire pathetic life."

"C'mon, baby," Mick says, leaning into her. Sasuke can sense Sasori is gonna say something, but Sasuke beats him to it.

"Dude, nobody puts baby in a corner. Get the fuck out of my car."

Mick hold his hands up and steps out of the doorway. "Just giving the lady a choice," Mick says. "I didn't know she was already ruining another guy's life. I hope you have better luck than I did."

"Asshole," Sakura mutters.

Mick laughs. "Piece of shit car: five dollars. Value of Sakura's opinion: three cents. Irony of her calling me an asshole: priceless."

"Go. Away," Sakura says.

Sasuke is about to…. do something to the guy if he doesn't leave, but then hears Deidara from somewhere beyond the hood yell, "Gentlemen, start your engine!"

Sasuke can't find a way to pray to God or any higher being now. But he is damn well to praying to Jessie. He turns the key in the ignition. There's a slight catch. And then…

Jessie's talking to him again. And she's saying, Let's get the hell out of here.

"I'd love to stay a chat," Sasuke says to Mick, "but we've got somewhere to be."

"Fine," Mick says, shutting the door more gently than Sasuke would've expected. Wuss. "Just don't say I didn't warn you. You're dating the Tine Woman here. Look for a heart, and you'll only come up with dead air."

"Thanks for the tip!" Sasuke says with mock cheer. Mick turns to leave but not before glancing over to Sakura one last time. Then he disappears into the club. "Seems like a nice guy," Sasuke says. Sakura doesn't respond.

Sasori leans into Sasuke's window. "Don't worry about her friend," he says. "We'll get her home. You two kids have fun now, you hear?"

"Sure thing," Sasuke tells him, even though Sakura looks like the only use she has for the word fun is to make the word funeral.

Deidara shuts the hood and gives me a thumbs-up. Then he and Sasori walk hand in hand back to the van, the jumper cables dangling over their shoulders like a boa.

Sakura hasn't put on her seatbelt yet and Sasuke doesn't know what that means. So he asks, "You okay?"

"Honestly I have no idea." She says.

Sasuke puts Jessie into reverse and heads into the street. It's only then when he sets out into the dark streets that he realizes he has no idea where they're going.

"Do you want to go home?" He takes her silence for a no because wanting to go home is something you speak up about.

He follows up with, "What do you want to do?"

It seemed to Sasuke that the question is straightforward, but she just keep staring at him with this total incomprehension.

He tries again. "You hungry?"

She looks out the window.

"You thirsty?"

For all Sasuke knows, she's counting the streetlamps.

"Know any other bands playing?"

Tumbleweed blowing down the armrest between them.

"Wanna watch some nuns make out?"

Is he even speaking out loud?

"Maybe see if E.T. is up for a threeway?"

This time she looks at him. And is she isn't exactly smiling, at least he thinks he sees the potential for one.

"No," she says. "I'd much rather watch some nuns make-out."

"Okay, then," he says spinning the car down to the Lower East Side. "It's time for a little burlesque."

Kiba once told him about a place where strippers dress like nuns and did this tease to "Climb Ev'ry Mountain." And that was only one of the acts. And since Sakura didn't seem to mind the queercore scene back at the club, she wouldn't mind this. Or he thought she wouldn't.

As they drive across Houston, Sakura reaches over and turns on the radio. A black-lipstick oldie is playing: The Cure, "Pictures of You" --track four of his Breakup Desolation Mix.

"I so don't need this right now," Sakura says, but she doesn't change the song.

"Have you ever thought about their name?" Sasuke asks, looking for conversation in the car. "I mean, for what?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The Cure. What do you think they're the cure for? Happiness?"

"This coming from the bassist for The Fuck Offs?"

"Kiba's thinking of changing it to The Fuck Ons," he tells her.

"How 'bout simply Fuck On?"

"Maybe one word? Fuckon?"

"The Friendly Fuckons?"

"My Fuckon Or Yours?"

"Why is he such a fucking Fuckon?"

Sasuke looks at her. "Is that a band name or a statement?"

"He had no right to do that. None."

They break into silence a bit before he asks, "Who is he?"

"An ex. The ex, I guess."

"Like Erika," Sasuke says relating.

She gives him an evil glare. "No. Not like Erika at all. This was real."

He pauses from their conversation before saying, "That was mean, you have no idea."

"Well, neither do you so lets just drop this whole thing. I'm suppose to be showing you a good time."

Sasuke takes that last sentence as an apology. Because he mostly wants it to be.

They eventually find a parking space on the darker side of Ludlow then head over to the joint where a pink door is facing them.

"Camera Obscura?" Sakura asks.

Sasuke nods.

"Bring on the nuns," she says.

It's then Sasuke realizes he doesn't know what to do. Does he knock or open the door... The answer is given to him in the form of a burly bouncer dressed in a Playboy Bunny outfit.

"ID?" he asks.

Sasuke reaches for his cousin's license from Illinois, won in an intense Xbox challenge.

Sakura pats her pockets down. Blank.

And just as Sasuke thinks, Oh fuck, she says those exact words.
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