Wanna go on a date today?

Hanging out with Sasuke today.

Awww, that's no fun. I miss you.

You saw me three days ago. I haven't seen Sasuke in a while.

Let's go on a date this weekend.

Fine.

Where do you wanna go?

For two and a half happy months, Madara and Sakura had been dating in secret. Soon after their impromptu ramen-date, they'd agreed to start going out officially. Of course, Sakura had laid out several terms before they could do so, such as keeping their relationship a secret (several Uchiha family members would have far too many questions) and promising that he wouldn't send her absurdly expensive gifts anymore. Despite the conditions, Madara was simply happy that his relationship with Sakura was flourishing; it'd been quite the process to get her to confront her attraction. While she still had trouble conveying her emotions, progress was still being made.

Besides, he could express his love to her in other ways; a few lyrics he'd written about her sat in his phone, ready for revision whenever Obito wanted to go over songwriting stuff for their unofficial band of two. Hopefully, he wouldn't be too irked to depart from their usual themes of revolution and politics.

In fact, he was filled with so much bliss that a secret smile constantly graced his lips. Many people had asked him about his recent excitement, but he kept quiet, instead looking through his text messages and wondering what Sakura might reply with - most of the time, he sent pictures of cute birds, cats, and dogs he'd seen while browsing the internet, and Sakura would exasperatedly ask him to focus on his job. "Surely," she would message, "hearing witnesses of a robbery investigation is more important than hearing my opinion on the latest post by Umiko the Shiba Inu."

Today was no different. Having just finished work, Madara lounged around in the Uchiha living room lazily, thinking of a melody he could assign to the lyrics he'd written and planning out their date during the weekend. Speculative fingers plucked at metal strings as he mulled over each chord.

Musical jingling of house keys and shuffling feet quickly snapped him out of his reverie.

Madara stopped strumming his guitar and looked up from his nest of blankets on the couch. He watched his nephew readjust the sleeves on his jacket and tie his shoelaces. "Where are you going?"

"A bar," Sasuke replied curtly. He remained focused on his shoes.

Madara tilted his head, an innocent smile on his lips. "Alone?" With this question, two pairs of dark eyes clashed.

"Hn."

Their staring contest lasted a full minute, snarky grin meeting annoyed pout, but in the end, the tension subsided as Madara waved him off and returned to strumming his guitar. "Have fun drinking alone." Being nicer to Sasuke had been one of Sakura's requests. On a normal night, he'd call Sasuke's bluff and crash the party, but Sakura wasn't wrong when she'd said that making a certain moody nephew's life 10x more difficult might bite him in the behind one day. Even though Madara knew himself to be a big dick sometimes, he wasn't completely heartless.

"Sasuke?" The younger Uchiha stopped at the door, hands grasping the knob tightly. "Let me know if you need a ride home."

As expected, the door opened and slammed shut.

"Hey, Sasuke."

Sakura nodded at the brooding man as he slid onto the dingy barstool beside hers with a grunt. The light above their heads flickered and generic rock music blared from a broken speaker in the ceiling. She sipped her whiskey and sighed in appreciation, relishing the burn deep within her chest. Today had been a difficult day; when a family of 5 rushes in, all plagued with some kind of infection, broken limb, or both, you're bound to get overwhelmed, and a nice drink of whiskey does wonders to an agitated mind. Also, keeping her new relationship under wraps was harder than she'd expected, especially when words like "boyfriend," "Madara," or "girlfriend" popped up, startling her (admittedly, the relationship was going pretty well, and Madara was rather dedicated to the guidelines she'd set). It may have been the middle of the week, but Sakura seriously needed a de-stressor.

With each glass, all her worries slowly melted away, loosening her limbs and sending a faint buzz into the back of her mind. She seriously considered getting wasted; her hangovers were never that unbearable after all. It was too bad that getting totally smashed at bars normally costed her boatloads of money, even if they were at one of the cheaper places in town.

"How many drinks have you had?" Sasuke flagged down the bartender and muttered his order.

"Hmm." She delicately sniffed her drink. "Five? Six? I don't really remember."

"You've had eight, miss," the bartender offered, sliding her companion a shot of tequila. "That's your ninth."

"Geez."

"Oh." Sakura gulped the rest of her whiskey and slammed the cup on the table. "Make it ten - I want a Screwdriver. You can call a taxi for me later, right?" Her tired eyes met Sasuke's as he placed his glass down firmly and nodded. His distaste with his drink showed through narrowed eyes and furrowed brows. "Why'd you order that? I know you hate tequila." She half-smiled, catching the glass the bartender eased over. Orange liquid sloshed over the rim.

An aggravated sigh escaped his lips. "Madara's been acting weird for the last few weeks. It's been getting on my nerves. Wanna numb the feeling a little."

Sakura stiffened, fingers tightening around her glass at the mention of her (secret) boyfriend's name. Boyfriend. It was so weird to label Madara as her boyfriend after years of hectic friendship. Thinking of how he'd attack her with cuddles and spam her messages with cute animals sent a faint flush into her cheeks. "How so?"

"He hasn't been bothering me as much and he's had this weird grin on his face. He hasn't been acting … normal."

Sakura chugged her new drink. Maybe if she drank enough, Sasuke could mistake the redness on her cheeks for the effects of the alcohol. "I can't imagine why," she muttered, motioning to the bartender. She wanted another drink and fast. Right on cue, the bartender slid a margarita her way, and Sakura sipped her drink in silence.

"Hn. It feels weird that he's been bothering me less. Maybe it's a girl."

"TBTTHTH!" A projectile of alcohol and spit flew towards Sasuke's face, which he expertly ducked under.

"Hey, what was that for!?"

"Sorry," she coughed, aiming her mouth into her sleeve. Damn, he's perceptive! It was no wonder he had become a private investigator. "But Madara? And a girl? Why do you say that? He's a pretty strange guy - I mean, who could find that alien attractive?" she rambled.

Me. I find him attractive.

Sasuke looked at her strangely, quirking an eyebrow, regarding his friend for a few, long seconds. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but he's liked you for the longest time."

"Whaaat? No way!" Sakura widened her eyes and slackened her jaw, hoping she was a passable actress. Thankfully, he and Naruto always had this weird belief that their pink-haired friend was oblivious to other people's feelings.

"I didn't want to creep you out," he continued, "but I guess it doesn't matter anymore." He tapped a finger on the table, signaling for another shot, which he promptly downed. "You know how he used to talk to you a lot when Naruto, you, and I were together? Well, he'd also always ask if I was meeting up with you and it was annoying. Like a middle schooler in love." A half lidded stare landed on Sakura. "And you know how he once told me about this - ugh - dream that involved you and I said it was just a really messed up dream? He doesn't bring it up anymore. He's stopped talking about you completely but still has a far-away look on his face. I'm confident he's moved onto someone else he can obsess over … Sakura?"

She blinked owlishly. "What?"

"You're strangling your cup."

She looked at the web of cracks spidering up the glass. "Whoops," she breathed. Having seemingly superhuman could be so inconvenient at times. And hearing Madara's affection for her out loud from Sasuke of all people only helped solidify her embarrassment.

"You never liked him back though, right?"

CRACK!

The glass in her grip shattered, shards spilling out of her palms and onto the table.

"Shit! Are you ok?" Strong hands grasped hers, picking away the remaining flecks of glass.

Blood rushed to her cheeks. "N-no!"

Sasuke whipped out his phone, panic in his normally calm, stoic eyes. "Should I call an ambulance?"

"No, I'm fine," she corrected hastily, grabbing a napkin and sweeping the shards into a tiny pile. "I just have to wash it." Helplessly, her body began overheating from anxiety.

In a flash, the blur of pink was in the restroom, holding her hands under the sink and glaring in the mirror. Staring at herself, Sakura repeated: "you will get yourself under control" as she scrunched her face up.

Out of all the people who should know about her relationship with Madara, Sasuke was the person who most absolutely could not know. Despite his acknowledgements that Sakura was a grown woman and could make decisions for herself, Sasuke would undoubtedly do his best to keep them apart, making everything a bigger deal that it should've been.

Once her racing heart calmed (and after she apologized to a very worried patron waiting to use the sink), she clambered her way back to her seat at the bar. The mess had been cleaned up, and she apologized profusely to the disgruntled bartender.

Dark brows knit together. "You ok?"

"Yep."

"Why'd you break the glass then?"

"I was just … rattled ... by your question."

"Which question?"

Sakura stared at a particular bottle of liquor sitting on the shelf and pointed at it, to which the bartender pulled it down from the shelf. "Nothing. Can I get some of that?" His question had hit a little too close to home. A foul tasting liquid slid down her throat, but it was strong, and her grip on the shot glass hid any quivering.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, most likely not in a mood to pry; he did enough as a career anyway. Perhaps he thought Madara was just too "creepy" of a subject to discuss. "Ok then. What about you? Why are you drinking so much tonight?"

Her grip slightly loosened at the change in subject. "Just … stress with patients in general. It was a crazy day at the clinic today." She laughed breathlessly. "A whole family came in with all kinds of problems. Even after they left, they just made more problems."

"Oh?"

"You wouldn't believe the story my patients told me even if I told you. You should've been there." Her eyelids drooped as the stronger, dizzying effects of alcohol started kicking in.

Sasuke smirked. "Try me."

Madara glanced at his watch as the TV program went to commercial. It was late. The hour hand ticked to the one, and he narrowed his eyes as he stifled a yawn. Sasuke never stayed out this late one a work day. Not to mention that Sakura was with him, and they'd gone out drinking. Had something gone wrong?

His phone flashed with a notification from Sakura, and he snatched it up.

Oskjldksjf

"... Huh?"

As soon as the word left his mouth, his phone flashed with an incoming call. He picked it up immediately.

"Hello? Sakura?"

"M-draaaa~" Her voice slurred into his ears, a lot more playful and loose than normal.

He rubbed his forehead with the heel of his palm. He was now up on his feet and pacing back and forth. "Sakura, how drunk are you?"

"Super drunk!" She giggled hysterically, but annoyance quickly pervaded her tone. "Sasukeee, what do you think you're doing?"

For a moment, Madara could hear nothing but fumbling noises and loud hiccups.

"Sasuke?"

"Hello?" Sasuke replied. "Uncle?" he breathed, shock in his voice. "I don't know why she called you of all people."

In the background noise, Madara could make out faint groaning and retching sounds.

"Does it really matter? What's going on?" he sighed.

It took Sasuke a moment to reply. "Sakura got super hammered tonight. I tried stopping her. I've been trying to send her home for the past hour but she refuses to move from her stool."

"Can you try to carry her to a taxi?"

"No, she struggles too much, and she probably couldn't make it into her apartment anyway. Normally Naruto would be here to help, but … Anyway, she's also got a huge tab and I didn't bring enough cash."

"What happened to her money?"

"She doesn't have enough either."

"Should I come get you two?" In his mind, Madara already knew the answer.

Now, he could hear Sakura crying, laughing, and yelling, all at once.

"Whoa, Sakura put that down!" Faint arguing echoed into the receiver. Mostly, it was Sakura shouting expletives and loudly groaning about how she regretted drinking as much as she did and how she might puke if she moved. "...yeah," Sasuke groaned after a few moments, voice tinged with reluctance. "Come get us. We're at the bar on Founder's Street."

Within a few seconds, Madara had his car keys and wallet in hand, a streak of determination in his eyes, and within minutes, his car was screaming down empty streets and screeching around corners, filling the night air with the smell of burning rubber. One of the perks of being a police officer also included blasting his siren to scare off straggler cars blocking his way as he made his way to one of the sketchier places in town.

He parked himself in front of the rickety building that was illuminated by a half-broken neon sign and swept inside. Sure enough, there they were, huddled at the bar. At the sound of the door crashing open, Sasuke snapped his head towards it, and for the first time in his life, seemed happy to be in Madara's presence (though he wouldn't admit it out loud).

"Is she ok?" He stooped down by the passed out drunk and brushed pink hair aside to get a better look at her glowing red face. Drool leaked out of the corner of her mouth, and her cheek was squished against the wooden table.

"She'll wake up every few minutes and ask where she is," Sasuke replied, wearily wiping sweat from his brow. Now, he seemed completely sober. "And if you try to move her she'll complain."

Madara observed her quietly before turning to his nephew. There was no way she was getting home herself. "Have you paid your tab?"

"Of course," Sasuke huffed, nodding to the obviously bothered bartender, who was vigorously polishing a cup.

Madara reached into his wallet tossed a few bills onto the table. "Get a taxi home. I'll take care of her."

Annoyed, Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest. "No."

"Why not?"

"You're going to be a pervert and take advantage of her."

Madara rolled his eyes and snorted. "While I may have taken pleasure in annoying you, I have no intentions of becoming a sexual assaulter. Go home and rest. You have work tomorrow," he replied in his 'official police officer' tone.

"Swear it on your job," Sasuke hissed after a moment of consideration. It was clear that the notion of work pushed him into more convincible territory. "If I find that you do anything … untoward … to Sakura, you quit your job as Chief-of-Police and you leave her alone. Forever."

Madara stared right back calmly. "I swear it." Sasuke may have been one of the finest investigators in the country, but there'd be nothing untoward for him to discover.

"Hn." Sasuke trudged out of the bar, throwing doubtful looks over his shoulder, but he eventually disappeared as the door slammed shut behind him.

Now, Madara directed his attention towards the bartender. "I'd like to close her tab, please."

"This is what's left of it." A long receipt was slid in front of him, and his eyes widened in surprise. For a person of any size, drinking that much was certainly impressive. He made a note to himself to never challenge his girlfriend to a drinking contest because he'd surely lose. Nevertheless, he placed a few (very large) notes in front of the bartender. "Keep the change."

The various broken cups and bottles littering the floor were no doubt results of Sakura's handiwork.

"Sakura?" Madara leaned in and stroked her sweaty pink locks gently.

"Mdara?" Disbelief colored her voice as she lifted her head out of her arms and filled his nostrils with alcohol-breath. "... hands?" Her eyes were swollen from crying as she held out her scraped hands, and a thin sheet of ice gripped his heart.

He stared hard at the cuts - there weren't any visible pieces of glass. "What happened? Did you clean it yet?"

"Yesh," she sniffled, eyes tearing up. Her body rocked unsteadily. "Sorry I panicked when he asked if I ever liked you." Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. "I broke the cup n' now the bartender hates meeee."

A tiny grin fought its way onto Madara's lips. It was funny how even in this situation, the woman before him could still be so charming. Large hands rubbed circles over Sakura's back. "It'll be ok. I paid him back for the stuff you broke."

"...oki."

"I'm taking you home. Can you walk?"

She nodded weakly. He watched as she stumbled off her barstool, catching her before she face planted onto the ground. Her weak flailing limbs, calmed the moment he hugged her close, and a chuckle rumbled in his chest as she took a sudden interest in a lock of his hair, yanking and twirling it around her fingers.

"Upsy Daisy." In one smooth motion, Madara lifted her into his arms, cradling her. He could feel her burrow her face into his chest, hand still entangled in his hair, sending heat to his cheeks. Carefully, he pressed a kiss onto her forehead. If it weren't for the fact that she could puke her guts out at any minute, Madara would consider this to be a heartwarming moment. "So why did my princess drink so much tonight?" He strode out the entrance and tugged open the passenger door to his car. Carefully, he slid her into the seat, making sure that the seatbelt was completely secured.

"Don't call me princess," she complained. Suddenly, she whipped out a hand and waved it in front of Madara's face. "I was this close to spillin' our relationship to Sasuke," she admitted. "An' I also had 'n awful day at work."

"I see. Let's try to limit alcohol consumption next time." He shut her door and made his way to the driver's seat, taking care to accelerate slowly and pull into the road at a comfortable speed. In the back of his mind, he could clearly picture the path to her apartment; he'd spent the past few weekends at her domicile and making his way there was almost instinctual by now. The ride was completed in relative silence; Sakura dozed off part way, filling the cabin with light snoring.

Finally, the car arrived at a quaint, two story apartment complex, and Madara carefully extricated the sleeping girl from the car and lifted her in his arms, carrying her up to her room. He had fished the spare key out of his pocket and gently unlocked the door to her cozy apartment. As best as he could, Madara prepared her for bed, wriggling her out of alcohol stained sweatpants and sweaty top and sliding a clean, oversized shirt onto her body. And of course, the shirt he'd slid onto her was the one he'd "accidentally" left at her apartment a week ago. As for himself, Madara simply stripped off his shirt.

As he settled down beside her, much like how he had the past few weekends, he hugged her to his chest.

"Madara?" A groggy voice mumbled against his skin. "Love … you"

A gentle smile touched his lips, and he shut his eyes, ready for sleep to consume him.

Despite the painful throbbing in her head, Sakura could feel that her body was encased in a familiar warmth, comforting enough to counteract her bitch of a headache. She could barely remember what had happened last night after trying to drunkenly explain nonsensical medical jargon to Sasuke while he tried to snatch her cup. After that, only bits and pieces came to mind. She did, however, recall nearly kissing the dirty floor before Madara caught her.

She could feel slight pinching and poking at her cheeks, distracting her from the gentle warmth. A weary hand attempted to bat the annoyance away, but a stronger one grasped her wrist, and rough lips peppered kisses along her palm.

She cracked open an eye to greet a bare chest. She guessed that was pretty normal in itself now - waking up to see a photo shoot-ready Madara lying next to her in bed. Except today was a weekday, she stank of alcohol, and her pink locks were piled into a rat's nest. Pulling back, she saw that Madara was teasingly poking and prodding her, an amused glint in his eyes.

"Good morning." He continued to poke exposed parts of her flesh.

She regarded him wearily before rolling back into the comfort of his wide chest. "I'm dying." That in itself was an understatement. Her entire body ached, and her head was pounding. Drinking so much last night had been a mistake.

"Well, it's a good thing I contacted the clinic and told them you were unwell, then. They called in backup today."

Sakura blinked, trying to get used to the feeling of having her needs met. It definitely felt strange to have some burdens taken off her shoulders, especially when she'd been rather self-reliant up until they'd started dating. "What about you? Don't you have work?"

"They'll understand." As if he could sense her uneasiness with his disappearance from his work for the day, Madara pinched her cheek reassuringly. "Obito is very capable."

Wordlessly, she hugged him closer; she was, at the end of the day, content that her boyfriend was with her. She hummed softly as his fingers tugged through her hair.

"Do you know what you told me last night before you fell asleep?" His chest rumbled with the deep rasp of his morning voice. Lazily, she shook her head and let the scent of his cologne fill her lungs. "You said you loved me."

Immediately, her face flushed red. She had no recollection of saying that, and it certainly sent all kinds of weird feelings tingling through her body to hear that she'd said it out loud. "Oh." she muttered. With the new heat in her cheeks she tried to roll away, but the hands encircling her waist and the legs entangling hers prevented any movement. In the two and a half months they'd been dating, the words "I love you" had never even slipped from her tongue out of sheer stubbornness. In her mind, Sakura had acknowledged that she'd grown to love the infuriating man beside her, but saying it out loud was entirely different; getting used to hugging him had already been hard enough.

"Could you say it again?" Madara whispered huskily.

Biting her lip, Sakura mustered the courage to utter the words again. He'd taken care of her while she'd been drunk (Naruto and Sasuke could first handedly affirm that was no easy task) and being her boyfriend had to be difficult. He deserved to hear it from her.

"I-I love you," she managed, the thrill of speaking those words coursing through her veins as she snuggled deeper into his chest.

Moments later, an achingly familiar voice filled the air. "I-I love you."

The bastard had made a recording of her voice. "You are such an asshole."

"I love you too," Madara chuckled, smothering her with a bear hug.

tbh i wasn't expecting to write this much for this story. I'd originally intended it to just be a one-shot kinda thing but it's now 4 chapters long o.o

im not quite sure what direction i'll have this take, but it'll most likely be snapshots of their relationship as time goes on. I think i'd be better at shorter stories (like one or two shots (?)) but i'll try my best

thanks for reading, and don't be afraid to give constructive criticism! I know what i'm doing like 50% of the time

[I only have 2 modes: I either write a rough draft of a chapter all at once or I just stare at a blank google doc and type one word every other day]