Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, then it's SaixSakura all the way. I'm still praying for it.

The Color Pink

Chapter 1- One night was all it took

It was a brand new day. A ray of sunlight filtered through the glass window and sprayed across the jounin, Sakura Haruno's bedroom floor. Feeling the sun's heat, the kunoichi slowly opened her eyes and blinked several times in an attempt to get rid of sleep. A sudden stab of pain went through her head and she groaned.

Closing her eyes, she turned on her other side to hug her pillow. Taking in the mixed scent of ink and peppermint, she sighed.

Wait, ink? Peppermint? Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. How did that happen? What happened to my Cherry Blossom air freshener? When an arm snaked around her waist, she became even more confused and panicky. Huh? Pillows don't hug you back!

With her heart battering against her chest, the kunoichi untangled herself, sat up, and opened her eyes with dread. Her clothes were strewn all over the floor along with a familiar long-sleeved midriff shirt and matching pants.

No… Please… Let it be someone else, anyone else…

She turned her head to the person next to her. And screamed.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE YOU BASTARD?!" She tried to jump out of bed, but Sai's arm was still around her waist. Besides, she just realized that she wasn't wearing any clothes and the blanket was her only cover.

Stirred from sleep by her screeching, Sai opened his eyes and seeing her next to him, only blinked. "Hello," he said.

"Ahhhh!" Sakura grabbed the bedclothes and jumped out of bed. Seeing that Sai was also… unclothed, she screamed again and turned around, squeezing her eyes closed. "P-Put some clothes on!"

Sai didn't reply, simply shuffled around. Sakura waited, her eyes closed as tightly as she could. Please let this be a dream! Please let this be a nightmare! Please! I did not sleep with Sai…. I did not sleep with this ink-using bastard.

"I'm decent," came his soft voice.

Red-faced and infuriated, the kunoichi turned to face him with a death glare. "How dare you take advantage of me!"

At first, he looked taken aback. Then, his lips upturned into amusement. "Me? Take advantage of you? You are gravelly mistaken, Hag. It was you who took advantage of me. I simply went along with it."

"WHAT?" she yelled at him. "I-I-I… I would never-"

"Oh, but you did." He kept that stupid fake-smile of his plastered on his face. "I wouldn't dream of ever sleeping with you, but you were quite persistent last night. Don't you remember?"

Sakura racked her brains. What did happen last night? The last thing she remembered was indulging herself in sake after sake with Ino. She must have had gotten drunk and…

"No…" Shaking her head, she backed to the wall. "No way. I wouldn't-"

"Ah… But you did."

"But I have no reason to! I know you're my friend Sai but I don't like you in that way." She began pacing around the room. "There has to be a more acceptable, logical explanation to this-"

"There is no other explanation, hag." He was suddenly in front of her and heat rushed to her face. "Would you like me to help you recall?"

Flashback

The cocktail glass landed with a slam on the wooden bar table.

"One more round," the pinkette drawled to the bartender.

Beside her, a blonde-haired girl shook her head. "Forehead, don't you think you've had enough? You're beating Tsunade-sama's record."

"Leave me alone, pig!" Sakura snapped.

Ino sighed. "Look, I know Sasuke hurt you and all but-"

"Hurt me? Hurt me?!" Sakura let out a sarcastic laugh. "Hurt is an understatement. It's more like he tore my heart from my chest, played with it before stabbing it multiple times then leaving it in the dirt." Tears flowed down her cheeks. "Five years. I waited for him to return for five years. And when he did, he told me he loved me. Six months of being together, one fight over something so stupid as me spending too much time at the hospital and he goes and gets a girl pregnant. And where does that leave me? Huh? Tell me Ino-pig, where does that leave me?!"

With a wail, Sakura slumped head-first onto the table. Sighing, Ino rubbed her best friend's back, soothingly.

"What's wrong with the hag?"

Sakura raised her head and frowned. "What do you want, Sai?"

The ink-user just smiled before sitting on her other side. "Naruto told me you were here committing suicide."

Indeed, the blonde-haired jounin ran into him while Sai was on his way home and narrated Sakura's plight in a frantic tone. When asked why he couldn't take care of it himself, he was gone in a matter of twenty seconds. And being the "considerate" friend that he was, Sai decided to check on the kunoichi.

"Pfft, not committing suicide," Ino replied. "Just guaranteeing herself a heck of a hangover tomorrow morning. Sasuke dumped her."

Sakura growled. "He did not dump me! He betrayed me! But you know what?" She wagged a finger in front of her, shakily. "You know what? I've had it with the Uchiha!" She said the name with a lot of venom. "I've had it with Sasuke. He can die for all I care. Orochimaru can come back here and take him again and I wouldn't care."

The bartender placed another glass of sake in front of her. She grabbed it and downed the alcohol in two gulps. Wiping her lips with her hand, she called for another glass.

"No! No more!" Ino glared at the bartender. "Don't you dare give her another!"

The bartender looked fearfully at her before scampering away. Sakura frowned before glaring at her. "What are you doing, pig? I want another glass!"

"No, you don't! Come on!" The blonde tried to lift the eighteen-year old from the bar stool. But it wasn't like Sakura was heavy. It was just that she wouldn't budge. "Ugh! Sai, help me here!"

Without a word, Sai stood up and before Sakura knew it, he had picked her up, bridal-style. She squirmed in his arms.

"Lemme down, you bastard! Lemme down!"

But Sai held on to her. After Ino had slammed down some ryos to pay for her one martini and Sakura's many sakes, the two exited the bar with Sakura still struggling to be free from Sai's arms. It was difficult to take a persistent, drunk kunoichi back to her apartment. She squirmed and squealed and cried and cursed at them. Sai's arm was aching from the pink-haired woman's constant moving, but he held onto her.

When they reached Sakura's apartment complex, Sai told Ino that he would take it from there and that the blonde should go home. After telling him that there was a spare key in the flower pot outside Sakura's door, Ino left for home. Sai carried a still struggling and cursing Sakura to her apartment. Finding the spare key exactly where Ino said it was, he carried her in. He had been here so many times before so he knew where her bedroom was. He gently placed the pinkette on the bed and was about to turn to leave when her hand yanked him back onto the bed next to her. Despite being drunk, she was still surprisingly strong.

The pink-haired girl giggled and snuggled to his side. "You know what, Sai? You're very handsome… You look a lot like Sasuke.'

Sai felt heat rush to his cheeks. She never called him handsome before.

She sniffed his neck. As her nose touched his skin, he shivered slightly. "Hmm… You smell nice too. Ink… Fresh paper… Mmm, and peppermint. I like peppermint."

He smelled nice? Really?

"I wish you were Sasuke. No, wait, forget it. Don't be Sasuke." She raised herself from the bed and plopped on top of him, ignoring his grunt of pain. "You're way better than Sasuke." Her fingers traced the contours of his face, leaving goosebumps on his skin. At his tomato-red face, she giggled again before smiling sadly. "Why can't it just be you? You call me names and everything." She brought her face close to his. "But at least you wouldn't hurt me, right? You wouldn't tear my heart out and leave it in the dust, right Sai? "

Without waiting for an answer, she leaned down and pressed her lips to his. Surprised, Sai didn't know what to do. Sure, he was kissed before (by Ino, but that was another story and besides, he didn't have a choice when it happened) but how come Sakura's lips sent a different sort of electricity through him? Her tongue brushed his closed lips, begging for entrance. He let her in and felt like exploding as he responded to the kiss. Their tongues explored each other's mouth and noticing that Sakura's grip on him was weakening, he took the chance to grab her by the waist and flip her onto her back, his lips never leaving hers. She moaned and pulled him closer. Finally, his lips left hers and trailed to her chin down to her neck.

"Sai…" she sighed, her fingers locking themselves in his dark hair.

He kissed her on the lips again, his hand caressing her cheek. When her fingers tugged at his shirt with utmost urgency, Sai was brought back to his senses. He pulled his lips away from hers, reluctantly.

"S-Sakura-san, you're drunk. We shouldn't-"

"No!" With a great amount of strength, she pulled him back down to her lips. When she pulled away to look at him, he saw that she was crying. Her eyes were teary and her lips trembled. "Please Sai. Please. Help me forget him." She placed a hand on his cheek. "Please help me forget Sasuke."

She was pleading with him. Sai couldn't resist. There she was, giving herself to him. So he gave in.

End of Flashback

"… and that's what happened," Sai finished, still smiling. "Really now, hag, you can't blame me. In Naruto's words, I'm a man and I have weaknesses. You were offering yourself to me and I took it."

Meanwhile, Sakura had sunk on the bed and was running a hand through her tousled pink hair. She remembered now. She remembered the event that triggered everything: Sasuke's betrayal.

It was after Sakura decided to increase her hours at the hospital because she felt that she needed more time for herself. Sasuke had been much too possessive of her and monitored every action she took. Everything she did had to be approved by Sasuke and whenever he didn't like her being anywhere or with anyone, he expected her to go along with it or else he would leave her. Sakura didn't want him to leave her but she just felt so suffocated.

When Sasuke asked, no, commanded her to lower her hospital hours, that was the last straw. The hospital was the only place where she could be free and do as she pleased, and he was going to take that away too? She confronted him about it which resulted into a full-scale fight that led to him being slapped and she being slapped in return. They made amends a week after the fight but a few days ago, Sakura found out that the night of the fight, he went to a club, went home with a girl, slept with her, and got her pregnant. And last night, she just broke down. And in an attempt to forget him, she used Sai. And lost her virginity.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, watching the carpet, refusing to meet his gaze. "I'm so sorry, Sai. That was so stupid of me last night-"

"Yes, it was."

"And I was drunk-"

"I know."

The pink-haired medic glared before sighing. "Look, how about we just forget last night happened, okay? It didn't mean anything."

Sai just looked at her. "Of course."

An awkward silence hung between them. Sakura was still red in embarrassment while Sai continued to smile at her. What was wrong with him? Couldn't he tell how wrong and humiliating the situation was?! How could he remain calm?!

Sakura cleared her throat. "Um… I don't mean to be rude, but will you please leave my room? You can use the shower in the guest room and fix yourself some breakfast in the kitchen."

"Okay." He left the room.

Sakura picked up her clothes from the floor and placed them in the hamper. After showering and changing into a new set of clothes, she met Sai in the kitchen. His hair was damp and he smiled at her as he placed a plate of eggs, rice, and a mug of coffee in front of her.

"For your hang-over," he said.

They ate breakfast in silence and afterwards, he helped her with the dishes.

"Well, hag. It's time for me to leave."

"Oh, sure."

He went to the door.

"Sai?"

"Hai?"

Sakura bit her lip. "Um… thanks."

He smiled. "No problem." He opened the door but before stepping out, he turned. "Oh, about your question last night, yes."

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Excuse me?"

He continued to smile. "You asked whether I would not hurt you if we were together. And my answer is yes, I wouldn't hurt you."

Leaving a red-faced Sakura behind, he left.

A month later…

Ino tapped her foot, impatiently. "Sakura, you done in there?" She called through the bathroom door. "Come on, it's been more than three minutes! Show me!"

Slowly, the door opened and out came a lip-biting Sakura. Ino gave her an expectant look. "Well?"

With a shaking hand, Sakura showed her the white stick. Nervously, Ino took the stick and stared open-mouthed at the little pink plus sign. When she looked up, Sakura's eyes were filled with tears.

"I'm pregnant."

To be continued…