Author's Note: Hello, everyone! This is yet another story that I am excited to present to you. This idea came about through a collaborative effort with the amazing hinatagirl18. This is a true SasuSaku centric story, so we hope you enjoy it. Welcome to Infidelity.

Infidelity: Chapter 1 – A Chance Yet Life-Changing Encounter

She wanted to sleep, but she couldn't. She yawned loudly and rubbed the longing sleep from her eyes as she looked out at the empty convenience store in front of her. It was the middle of the night, and she was stuck working the graveyard shift because her co-worker called out "sick" and asked her to cover the shift. She wanted to say no. Hell, she needed to say no because she was nearing the thirty-six-hour mark of no sleep at all. But, there she was standing behind the counter with The Konoha Chronicle open in front of her and this week's playlist starting its fourth cycle.

The convenience store she worked in was a local mom and pop type of place and carried the generic convenience store necessities. There were about five rows of snacks, and in the front window was an extensive collection of magazines. They were neatly organized between lifestyle, health, entertainment, and manga. On the wall opposite the main counter was the cooler holding an array of sodas, juice, water, and teas while the wall to the left held their limited alcohol selection.

There were random knickknacks on the tops of the rows that varied from keychains and crafts made from neighborhood artists, and some weeks the selections sold better than others. This week, there had been some adorable animal keychains that sold out after about two days once word got out. She wasn't sure what would sit on the shelves come Monday morning.

The store's bell jingled as the door opened, and she heard the joyous laughter of the store's first patrons in the last three hours. She glanced over at the register and saw it was nearing two in the morning. She had at least another four hours on her shift before the owners came, but that only gave her time for at least a forty-five-minute nap on her train ride back to Konoha University so she can make her eight o'clock lecture.

She closed her magazine and hid it beneath the counter to at least pretend she had been working and started straightening up an already absurdly neat counter.

"Excuse me."

She looked up and saw one of the patrons put two bottles of water and a bag of chips on the counter before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his wallet. He had narrow brown eyes, and she wasn't sure if he was bored or irritated by the expression on his face. He had black hair that was tied up into a spiky ponytail, and she couldn't help but think of a pineapple.

"Can I get two packs of Seven Stars," he requested before tapping the clear plastic case on the counter, "and the green lighter, please." He pulled out his ID, and she glanced at it. Nara Shikamaru. Oddly enough, the name sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't think of why. She didn't dwell on it long before looking behind her and locating the Seven Stars cigarettes.

"I thought you told Temari you were going to quit smoking?" one of the patrons asked as he walked over and placed his two cans of Monster and bag of dried ramen on the counter.

She scanned the Seven Stars cigarettes before scanning the waters and chips. She typed in the price of the lighter, then she looked at his friend. She saw that Shikamaru's friend had short blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He felt oddly familiar, and then she noticed his whisker markings and saw the way he grinned.

"Naruto?"

"Hm?" The blonde looked at her and lit up at the sight of her, "Sakura?"

She smiled a bit, "Long time no see."

"An old friend?" Shikamaru asked as he swiped his credit card and signed the keypad.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. Sakura-chan and I used to play together all the time when we were kids."

"Yeah." Sakura pulled Shikamaru's receipt before unlocking the plastic case and removing the green lighter. She thought to share the circumstances of their friendship, but she found herself remaining silent on the fact that her mother used to make her living by cleaning Naruto's parents' house.

"How have you been?" Naruto asked as he pulled out his wallet while Sakura scanned his items.

"I can't complain," she lied. All she wanted to do was complain, but she remembered her father's saying that complaining doesn't fix a problem, it just helped it fester. "I started studying at Konoha University about two years ago. I just applied to enter into their medical program, so I've been waiting to hear back from them about that."

"Really?" Naruto sounded genuinely interested. "That's amazing, Sakura-chan."

"Thank you." Sakura smiled and then watched as Naruto turned around and look around as though he were looking for someone. Then she heard the bathroom door opened and watched as the person Naruto had been looking for walked out.

He was tall, about Naruto's height, if not an inch or two taller, and he had near shoulder-length pitch-black hair. He wore an expression similar to Shikamaru's but was clearly one of disinterest rather than boredom. His black eyes didn't say much, though. Then she noticed his clothes. He wore a pair of black jeans that were loose enough to not be considered skinny jeans paired with sleek sneakers. He wore a plain white t-shirt with a slight v-neck underneath a leather jacket. Around his neck, he wore a simple chain with a charm at the end, and that's when she recognized him.

"Sasuke, do you want anything? I'll cover it," Naruto said as Sasuke made his way to a cooler and pulled out a glass bottle of lemonade that was notorious for being more bitter than sweet. Naruto visibly cringed while Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

Sasuke pulled a bag of tomato snacks off the shelf before finally making his way to the counter and putting them down, "And a pack of Heaven cigarettes."

Uchiha Sasuke. He was standing on the cover of the lifestyle magazine Sakura had been reading just before they entered. He had been praised as Konoha's most eligible bachelor for the last seven years, with him being next in line to inherit his family's company, Uchiha Enterprise, which was currently valued at a few trillion yen.

The name Uchiha was synonymous with wealth and privilege. Uchiha Enterprise powered Fire Country. It was impossible not to see the famous Uchiha Crest stamped on anything that required electricity. From light bulbs to the bullet trains, Uchiha Enterprise powered them.

Sakura pulled a pack of Heaven cigarettes off the wall behind her and started scanning their items. While scanning, she couldn't help but glanced at Sasuke, because she'd only seen him through magazine covers and TV appearances alongside his family.

"Sasuke," Naruto wrapped his arm around Sasuke's shoulder, "this is a childhood friend of mine, Haruno Sakura. Sakura-chan, this is Uchiha Sasuke. He's getting married tomorrow."

Sakura knew. There wasn't a media outlet that wasn't talking about Konoha's "Wedding of the Century." Not only was Konoha's most eligible bachelor about to be off the market, but it was solidifying a merger between Sannin Industries and Uchiha Enterprise because he was marrying Uzumaki Karin. Granted, she wasn't next in line to run Sannin Industries, but because the Chairman – Namikaze Minato – only had a son, they chose the Senior Vice President's daughter, Karin.

And she was going. Not as a guest, but as a waitress. She worked for the catering company that'd been hired to work the reception, and the training she'd just been through for Karin's and Sasuke's wedding was grueling.

"Congratulations," Sakura said as she bagged their items.

"Thanks," he muttered as he took the bag while Naruto paid for their things. "Hurry up, I still have time to drink myself into a coma."

"Karin would kill me if you did that." Naruto took his receipt from Sakura and tucked away his credit card, "It was really good seeing you again, Sakura. Ah, wait." He searched through his wallet and pulled out a business card. He picked up a pen and scribbled a number on the back before passing the card to Sakura, "That's my personal cellphone number on the back. Call me, and we'll meet up for lunch."

"Lunch sounds nice," Sakura admitted. "I'll give you a call in a few days."

"I'll be looking forward to it," Naruto said with a grin before patting Sasuke's back. "Come on, we have one more stop to make before the night is over."

"Yay." Sasuke was extremely unenthusiastic as he unwrapped his pack of cigarettes and bumped a cigarette out. He held it between his lips and reached into his pocket to pull out a black lighter.

Sakura watched as they headed out of the convenience store, and she couldn't help but switch the security cameras to the outside cameras to see the limo waiting outside. She saw several other young men hanging around outside of it that seemed to be chatting with one another before Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sasuke approached them.

Shikamaru and Sasuke went off to the side and started smoking while Naruto joined the rest of the young men at the limo. She let out a heavy sigh before flipping through the security cameras outside to ensure there wasn't anything else going on. Once she saw it was empty except for Naruto and the others in the parking lot, she switched back to the internal cameras.

"I'm so tired," Sakura whined as she sat on the stool behind the counter and buried her face in her hands. She had half a mind to skip her lecture, but she couldn't afford to miss a class. She was already paying her own way through school, and the thought of missing a class absolutely mortified her, especially when she had calculated how much one lecture cost.

So, Sakura settled on buying another 5-Hour Energy shot to get her through the rest of her shift. To keep herself busy, she straightened up sections that were already neat and swept the floor. She scrubbed down the bathroom, and only had another two or three customers before the sunlight started spilling into the convenience store. Despite how much she hated working the graveyard shift, she always felt like it was worth it when she got to see the sunrise.

At seven o'clock, the owner came shuffling through the front door. He was an older man pushing into his sixties, but despite that, he looked good for his age. It was only in the morning though that his age betrayed him, and he would moan and groan for a good hour or so before he was lifting boxes and doing some heavy lifting in the back.

"Good morning," he said with an impressive yawn as he came behind the register and put down his bag. "Was everything okay?"

Sakura nodded as she quickly removed her apron, "Everything was quiet. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You're not working tonight?" He walked over to the register and opened it. He found a note tucked away in one of the slots and recognized Sakura's handwriting. "Already counted," he read. He chuckled to himself and looked up just in time to see Sakura had already left from behind the register and was heading out the door. "Grab something to eat!"

Sakura quickly turned on her heel and snatched up two granola bars, a bottle of juice, and a bottle of water. She stuffed them all into a bag that the owner had placed on the counter, and with that, she quickly left. As she began to jog, she stuffed the black plastic bag into her backpack and looked down at her watch.

She started running. She had an hour before her lecture, but she still needed to catch the train. Fortunately for her, today was a good day, and she managed to run onto the train before the doors shut. She found a seat near the door and indulged herself in her dry granola bars and tart juice.

"Can you believe Sasuke's getting married?"

"It sucks! I was hoping I'd get to be the future Mrs. Uchiha Sasuke."

"As if. You're hardly Sasuke-sama's type."

Sakura looked over and saw a group of high school girls all looking in The Konoha Chronicle. It was a weekly publication detailing the lives of the elite of Konoha. Though it mostly focused on the socialites, it occasionally mentioned more of the obscure individuals like Uchiha Sasuke.

Lately, The Konoha Chronicle had been focusing on the developing drama between Outsutsuki Pharmaceuticals and Sannin Industries. Though the two companies had no direct business with one another, there had been issues because the heir to Outsutsuki Pharmaceuticals, Outsutsuki Toneri, had been engaged to the Hyuuga Group's heiress, Hyuuga Hinata. Something or another had happened to where their engagement ended, and not too soon after their engagement had ended was it announced that Hinata would be marrying Naruto.

Rumors spread like wildfire that Hinata had been unfaithful, and though it should've tarnished her reputation, Hinata's previously established persona of being an angel shielded her from any negative press. That and the Hyuuga Group shoveled out a nearly six-figure salary to keep Hinata's name out of the press. Some were saying that Sannin Industries helped extinguish the rumors in a somewhat unorthodox way, however, since there had been rumors for years that high-ranking members of Sannin Industries had ties to local yakuzas.

Nowadays, The Konoha Chronicle had pictures of Hinata and Naruto out and about around town, a lot of the pictures showing the two of them holding hands and being an absolutely perfect couple. They were so perfect in fact that they got the hashtag "NaruHina" trending in their city on every social media platform. There were even a few social media pages dedicated to the two that had pictures of them that not even The Konoha Chronicle had.

"Now stopping at Konoha University. Now stopping at Konoha University."

Sakura squeezed out of the train with the bulk of people she had ridden with. She borrowed one of the campus rideshare bikes and pedaled herself towards her academic building all the way on the other side of the campus. She maneuvered through her classmates as best as she could, but she gained a few curses along the way. By the time she made it to her building, she hooked the bike up to its designated rack and hurried inside. She made it to her seat just a few minutes before her professor came in and began her lecture.

As Sakura had mentioned earlier, she had recently applied to Konoha Unversity's School of Medicine. It was notorious in Fire Country for having the number one medical program in the country and was infamous for having an acceptance rate lower than fifteen percent. Though Sakura had maintained an above 4.0 GPA since she was in middle school with near-perfect scores on every standardized test she ever had to take, she wasn't too worried about being accepted. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but have a little anxiety about being accepted into the program. However, even if she was accepted, she wasn't sure how she would afford it, considering that her scholarships would only cover half.

The other half would have to come from an educational grant from Uchiha Enterprise. It was only granted to a handful of students who were seeking higher education in science, technology, engineering, and medicine. Luckily for Sakura, Uchiha Enterprise was heavily involved with Konoha University, so Konoha University students usually got first dibs. With Sakura's glowing letters of recommendations from her professors, there wasn't a chance in hell that Sakura wouldn't get the grant.

Once her lecture ended, Sakura kept herself awake through two more classes. Fortunately for Sakura, she didn't need to report to her waitressing gig until six that evening, and it was only noon. She grabbed lunch from a campus restaurant and boarded the next train. On her thirty-minute ride, she ate her lunch, and once at her stop, she stepped off the train.

She removed a few bills from her wallet and dropped them into the hat of the homeless man who always hung out on the train platform. She even dropped off a plastic bag with extra food she picked up from a campus restaurant.

"Thank you as always, Sakura-chan," the homeless man thanked her.

She smiled, "You're welcome. Stay safe, okay?"

The homeless man nodded, "Always. Same to you."

"I always am," she assured him before waving and heading down the train platform. While Konoha University was in the upscale part of town, Sakura lived in the nearby rundown neighborhood. It was the cheapest she could afford near the train station. It wasn't exactly safe, but Sakura made it work.

She walked the five blocks to her apartment and climbed the five flights of stairs. She inserted her key, turned the knob, and slightly lifted her door before pressing her weight against the door and forcing it open. It'd been close to forty-eight hours since Sakura had been home, so the sense of relief she felt at the sight of her abysmally small apartment was unparalleled. That was until she saw her bed.

She forced her door shut and applied its many locks before dragging herself to her bed and collapsing on top of it. It creaked beneath her weight, and though she felt a spring or two that nudged her, she didn't care. She only slept when she was nearing exhaustion, so the springs never bothered her. She set her alarm for five, and once she was sure her alarm was set to go off, she fell asleep.

When her alarm went off, she had half a mind to turn it off and stay in bed. Then she remembered how much she was going to make tonight, and hopped out of bed. She took a cold shower to wake herself up, brushed her teeth, combed her hair, and was dressed in thirty minutes. She wore light make-up – per Karin's request of all the waitresses – and once she was satisfied, she hurried out the door.

"Are you going to be out late tonight, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura looked down the hall and saw her neighbor, Handa Itsuki, just outside his door with a bag of groceries in hand. He was well-known around the building as "Kuma," because even though he was nearly seven feet and was built like a football player, he was extremely sweet. The children of the building had started calling him "Teddy Bear" whenever they saw him, and it eventually turned into "Kuma."

Aside from being impressively tall, Itsuki had long dark-red hair that was shaggy and often pulled back into a messy half ponytail. He had hazel eyes that were always warm and tanned skin he'd earned from working in construction during the day. At night, he was either a bartender down the street, or a bouncer depending on which paid better that night.

"Yeah." Sakura checked her watch and saw she had a few extra minutes. She walked back down the hallway towards him and took his groceries while he grabbed his doorknob with both hands. Just like Sakura had done earlier, he lifted the door and used his body weight to force the door open.

"I should talk to the landlord about replacing my door," Itsuki grumbled as he hung up his keys on a hook. He took his groceries from Sakura, then noticed her uniform, "Catering job?"

Sakura nodded, "I'm catering the 'Wedding of the Century.'"

Itsuki chuckled, "Really? I bet all your friends are jealous."

Sakura shrugged, "I'm sure they would be if I had any."

"Come on," Itsuki rolled his eyes, "don't do that. You have friends."

"Yeah, you," Sakura assured him. "I'm always working, Kuma. I don't have time to hang out." She glanced down at her watch, "I need to get going, but I'll see you later."

"Uh-huh." Itsuki waved as Sakura hurried down the stairs. He leaned over the railing and called, "Be safe!"

"I always am!" Sakura called back.

The trip to the venue was longer than Sakura would've liked, but then she continued to remember how much she was getting for this job and stopped complaining. After three trains and a cab ride, Sakura made it to the venue and saw dozens of her co-workers arriving as well.

From then on, it was chaotic. Sakura helped carry tables and chairs to their rightful places, while more people followed behind her and draped the tables in table cloths and went to work decorating them. She swept up broken glass and mopped up unsightly scuff marks, and this was all before the wedding guests even began to arrive.

By then, there were the occasional guests who would try to sneak into the reception hall, only to be blocked by security. Sakura helped hang blackout curtains to keep the reception hall out of view from nosey guests and the occasional paparazzo who managed to slip through the first wall of security.

"Pst! Sakura-chan!"

Sakura looked around, unsure of who was calling her until she saw the flash of blonde hair disappear around a corner. She looked around to make sure her boss was nowhere in sight, and she slipped away from the crowd and found Naruto hiding just on the other side of the wall.

"Hi," Naruto greeted her with another large grin. "It's funny that I keep running into you."

Sakura couldn't help but smile a bit, "Yeah, it is. What're you doing over here? No one's allowed anywhere near the reception hall until after the ceremony."

"Ah, well, I was hoping to sneak a bottle of vodka from the bar," Naruto admitted. "Sasuke's being a little… difficult right now, to say the least. Do you think you can help me?"

Sakura thought about it for a moment before nodding, "I'll handle it. Now shoo. Ah, wait. Is he in the Groom's Suite?"

Naruto nodded, "He is."

"Okay, give me ten minutes." Sakura pulled a notepad and pen from her apron and scribbled down an order before hurrying off towards the reception hall. She was allowed in, and as she approached the bar, she leaned against it and eyed the piece of paper. "I have an order."

"Not fulfilling anything right now," the bartender responded.

"Ah, really? Even though it's for the groom?" Sakura asked.

The bartender tensed up immediately and let out a nervous laugh, "The groom? Why didn't you say so? What does he need?"

Sakura read off a few simple drink orders followed by the bottle of vodka. The bartender was quick to fulfill the order, once it was on the tray, Sakura headed out the reception hall and made her way to the Groom's Suite. She had to ask for directions a few times, but she eventually made it.

She knocked twice, and before she could knock a third time, the door opened, and Naruto was on the other side. She smiled and showed Naruto the tray of drinks that surrounded the bucket of ice that held the bottle of vodka.

"Mission accomplished," Sakura announced.

"Ah, you're the best," Naruto exclaimed as he stepped aside and let Sakura into the suite. "Over there on that table is fine."

As Sakura entered, she saw several other young men standing around in their matching suits. She didn't see Sasuke, but before she could even put the tray down, Sasuke came from out of nowhere and snatched the bottle of vodka out of the bucket of ice and unscrewed the cap. She stood back and watched as he downed a quarter of the bottle before coming up for air.

"Slow down," one of the groomsmen suggested as he approached Sasuke and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. He was slightly taller than Sasuke with the same pitch-black hair and hair. His hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and as Sakura looked back and forth between the two of them, she could see the similarities between the two.

"The only way I'm going through with this wedding is if I'm drunk," Sasuke announced. "I told you, and Mother, and Father, that I didn't want to marry her, and that I've never wanted to marry her, yet here we are."

"Sasuke," the groomsmen spoke in a sterner tone now, "we've been through already."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him, "And like I said before, the only way I'm going through with this wedding is if I'm drunk."

The groomsmen looked as though he wanted to explode, but he let out a heavy sigh, "Sasuke…"

"Aniki," Sasuke cut him off, "just at least let me do one thing my way today. That can be my wedding present from you. Just…"

"I understand," the groomsmen said with a sympathetic smile before patting Sasuke's cheek. He watched as Sasuke disappeared into an adjourning suite and shut the door behind him. With Sasuke out of the room, the smile faded, and Sakura could see the saddened expression on his face. "Naruto, can you?"

"I can try," Naruto replied. He looked to Sakura and tried his best to wear a smile, but she could see he was concerned, "Thank you, Sakura-chan."

Sakura nodded, "Of course."

As Sakura left, Naruto headed into the suite that Sasuke had disappeared into. After that, Sakura made her way back to the reception hall, and from there, the "Wedding of the Century" began. From where Sakura and the other employees stood, they could see that anybody who was anybody in Konoha's high society was in attendance. To put it simply, it was a star-studded event.

As for the prenuptial themselves, none of the employees were allowed into the ceremony. From what Sakura heard, it was per the bride's request. However, after the ceremony, the guests filtered into the reception hall.

Sakura made her way around with trays of champagne. As she made her way through the crowd, she felt someone tap her shoulder, and when she turned, she was surprised to see Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato standing hand in hand and smiling at her.

"I knew I recognized that pink hair," Kushina giggled.

"Aunty Kushina," Sakura exclaimed and carefully hugged her, and giggled when Minato gently pet her head like he used to when she was little. "Uncle Minato. It's been too long."

"It really has been," Minato agreed.

"You've grown so much," Kushina commented as she eyed Sakura. "You were always adorable as a child, but you've certainly grown into a beautiful young woman. How are Mebuki-chan and Kizashi-kun?"

"The same," Sakura answered. "How have you been?"

"We can't complain," Minato replied. "Naruto had mentioned that he ran into you the other day. He says you're attending Konoha University now?"

Sakura nodded, "I am. I'm in the middle of applying for their medical program, but it's ridiculously hard to get into. And not only that, it's pretty expensive, so even if I do get in, I'd have to figure out how to pay for it."

"That'll be easy," Kushina said. "You know about the Uchiha Enterprise Grant, don't you? It's a fund that provides assistance for students seeking a degree in fields related to science, medicine, technology, and mathematics."

"I'm aware of it," Sakura replied. "I've already applied for the grant, but they only fund about five students a year, don't they? I mean, not that my chances aren't already high, but still. Sometimes even some of the most qualified students don't get it because they only give it to so many students a year. And then if I don't – "

Kushina held Sakura's face in her hands and stopped her nervous rant. "Don't worry about the grant," Kushina encouraged. "And Minato-kun will speak with Tsunade-chan about your application into the medical program."

"Huh?" Sakura looked at Minato.

"My mother is in charge of the medical program at Konoha University," Minato informed her. "If you want, I can speak with her about pushing your application through. Of course, if I do that, you'll need to be prepared to do the interview right away."

Sakura pursed her lips together, "I don't know."

Kushina smiled a bit, "Minato-kun, and I don't doubt that you'll be accepted into the program on your own merit and accomplishments. You've always been hardworking and intelligent, so the program at Konoha University will be easy for you once you're in. Just consider this an expedited process."

Sakura looked back and forth between Kushina and Minato. She smiled a bit, then nodded, "I appreciate the assistance."

"Of course." Minato smiled, "You've always been special to Kushina-chan and me, so we want to help in any way we can."

"Sakura, back to work!"

"Ah, yes, sir!" Sakura called back before looking at Kushina and Minato. "It was really great to see you again."

"Get my number from Naruto-kun," Kushina told her. "Call me during the week, and we'll get lunch together."

"I'll do that," Sakura assured her before hugging Kushina once more. She hugged Minato as well, and then she hurried off.

As she continued to serve, she seemed in better spirits. She even managed to make conversation with a few of the guests and managed to get a few of them laughing.

"Presenting for the first time, Mr. Uchiha Sasuke and Mrs. Uchiha Karin!"

Sasuke wasn't smiling, but Karin seemed to be glowing. From where Sakura stood, she could see Karin's ball gown wedding dress that was pure white with crystal embroidering on the skirt. The top part of the dress was form-fitting with more crystal embroidery that shimmered underneath the light.

"At least try and smile," Karin warned through her smile as Sasuke guided her into the reception hall. "I don't want you looking like a prisoner in all of our wedding photos."

"Don't push it," Sasuke countered as he and Karin made it to the center of the dancefloor. "You're lucky I made it through the ceremony without vomiting."

"Yeah, you only vomited afterward," Karin reminded him. "There are too many cameras here for you to act like you're unhappily married right now, Sasuke. No need for bad publicity in the special issue of The Konoha Chronicle."

As the band began to play, Sasuke guided Karin in a waltz.

"Publicity and imagery," Sasuke muttered. "Is that all you care about?"

"You know me better than that, Sasuke," Karin cooed. "I care about you. Truly, I do."

Sasuke scoffed, and then he felt Karin's nails dig into his shoulder. He winched and saw she was still smiling, "Don't push it."

"You and I both know that you're not going to blow this up in front of everybody," Karin reminded him. "You don't want to embarrass your mother, or your father, or even your brother. You know how important this marriage is to both of our families, so behave like the obedient son you are."

From where Sakura stood, she could see how miserable Sasuke looked, and if she noticed it, she was sure that everyone else did too. After their first dance, the dance floor became flooded, and the party kicked it into high gear. Some people sat at their tables and were served their meals while others stood around and chatted.

Sakura made her runs between the kitchen, bar, and reception hall. She and her co-workers chatted and laughed when they could spare a few minutes, but usually, their boss was quick to notice if someone wasn't working. When Sakura finally got her break, she headed out the back doors of the kitchen and stretched.

"Ugh," she groaned and rubbed the back of her neck. As she shook the work from muscles, she could hear the click of a lighter. That's when she noticed Sasuke sitting on a crate with a lit cigarette hanging between his lips.

She hadn't realized until just now that he had disappeared shortly after his first dance, and from the cluster of burnt down cigarettes that were scattered at his feet, he'd been out there for a while. She saw an empty bottle of vodka beside him with another in his left hand that was nearly empty.

Without saying a word, and without thinking, Sakura took a seat beside him. Sasuke eyed her, and without saying a word, held out his bottle of vodka. She accepted and took a swig, then coughed as the liquid burned the back of her throat as it made its way down to her stomach.

"Oh man," Sakura groaned as she wiped her mouth.

"Never had one-thousand-dollar vodka before?" Sasuke joked as he took the bottle back and took a swig.

"One-thousand-dollars?" Sakura repeated. "I can't say that I have, considering that that's two month's rent."

Sasuke took a drag of his cigarette and flicked the ashes onto the ground, "You're Naruto's friend, aren't you? From the convenience store?"

Sakura nodded, slightly surprised that he recognized her, "I am."

"Say," Sasuke looked at her, "can you keep a secret?"

"Sure." Sakura stretched her legs out in front of her and crossed them at her ankles.

"I'm not happy," Sasuke admitted as he leaned back against the wall behind him. "Like, at all, and I'm losing hope that I'll ever truly be happy," he said with a half-hearted chuckle before finishing the last of the vodka.

"Hm," Sakura hugged her knees, "can I give you a piece of advice?"

"Advice?" Sasuke repeated as he lazily turned his head to look at Sakura.

Sakura nodded, "My father, he's a simple man. He always used to tell me growing up that if I do nothing with my life, and I'm happy with that nothingness, then he'll be proud of me for having lived a full life. I didn't really know what it meant when I was little, but as I got older, I realized that there are a lot of people who do things just to survive and appease others rather than do what they want, or do what makes them happy.

"So, I guess my advice to you is that maybe you should do more of the thing or things that make you happy," Sakura explained. "I can't make any assumptions about your life, or how you've lived your life up until this point, but anyone with eyes and a brain can tell you're miserable. Luckily you're young, so you still have time to be happy."

Sasuke eyed Sakura for a bit. Sakura saw the way he stared at her, and she couldn't help but blush a bit and let out an awkward chuckle, "I'm sorry, was that odd?"

Sasuke smiled a bit and shook his head, "Not at all. What was your name again?"

"Haruno Sakura," Sakura reintroduced herself.

Sasuke held out his hand, "Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura took his outstretched hand, "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," he replied.

To Be Continued…