Temper, Temper

Storming down the empty road, high-heels in hand, Sakura tried hard to steady her breathing and calm her mind, but she was simply too furious to think straight. She was sure the alcohol wasn't helping much, but she wasn't too inebriated. In fact, she had been planning on getting a lot drunker that night until a certain friend of hers decided to play traitor and abandon their outing…

When she'd met up with Ino earlier in the day and demanded to have a girl's night out, she had meant just that: a girls' night out. But of course Ino decided that it would be more fun for her to ditch her best friend in order to hook up with some random chuunin she'd met at the bar.

Oh man, she was going to hear it tomorrow.

Sakura wasn't even sure what time it was, but judging by the emptiness of the roads and the complete lack of lights on in any of the passing windows, she was sure it must've been at least two o'clock in the morning. Last call at the bar was probably happening right about now, and as she thought about it Sakura's glare deepened; if it wasn't for Ino bailing, she'd still be knocking back drinks right now. But, knowing how dumb it would be to continue drinking by herself, she'd cut herself off and then proceeded to pout before storming outside the building.

Grimacing, she could still taste the smoke in her mouth.

She wasn't a smoker in the least, but she'd been so angry that she'd just about demanded the group of guys hanging out by the door to give her a cigarette. It had felt good at the time but now it just left her with a gross taste in her mouth and a foul smell on her clothes. She inwardly scolded herself; oh, she was the real queen of great choices that night.

Stepping on a particularly pointy pebble she cursed aloud, contemplating putting her heels back on, but with the uneven pavement she was sure it would be much safer to stay on the ground as opposed to teetering six inches above it.

She was probably about six or seven blocks from her apartment when she heard it.

It didn't even take her a few seconds to recognize the chakra. And the moment she did, her fury was suddenly back tenfold.

At first she contemplated just ignoring their presence and simply continuing her trek home, quietly and obviously ignoring them. But—and maybe it was the alcohol pushing her forward—she simple couldn't find it in herself to disregard him. "You are honestly the last person I want to see right now, Sasuke-kun."

He was the reason that she'd been so frustrated today and had demanded a girl's night.

They'd been training earlier that morning, just the two of them since Naruto was out of the village on a mission. Things had started out normally enough until Sasuke suddenly cut the training session short, just as things were getting interesting.

"What the hell?" Sakura had shouted, exasperated as she allowed her green, chakra-lit hands to hover over a gash across her neck and chest, healing the torn flesh easily. "We hardly started ten minutes ago!"

"I said, I'm done for the day." He repeated, his back turned to her as he collected his weapons pouch and his small towel.

"Why? We were just getting started!?"

Sasuke paused, turning toward her and shooting her an unreadable look. He studied her for a long moment before shaking his head. "Take a look at yourself."

And so she did. Allowing her eyes to take in her appearance she searched and searched but found nothing wrong or out of the ordinary. She had scrapes and already-forming bruises here and there—which would only take a minute or so to get rid of—and there was blood staining the top of her shirt, but she couldn't find anything that would prompt him to end their training so quickly.

"What?" She asked, throwing her arms out in exasperation. "What's wrong with me?"

"You're already covered in blood. It's only been ten minutes. I think it's best if we stop." He then turned his back on her and began to walk away.

It was at that moment when something inside her snapped, her temper boiling over and her body beginning to shake with fury.

"You've… got to be fucking kidding me." Storming up to him, the impact of her feet hitting the ground causing the forest around them to rumble dangerously, she grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and spun him around. "You're kidding me, right?" She spat, glaring into his one exposed eye. "Like, you're honestly joking."

Sasuke glared back, not yet pulling his shoulder out of her grasp, but clearly not enjoying being manhandled. "I don't joke."

Sakura scoffed. "Tell me something I don't know. What the fuck is wrong with you? Why can't you ever take me seriously?"

"We sparred, you got all bloodied up, and so now we're done." His words were spoken slowly in a quiet voice, as if he were talking to a child.

"Don't use that tone with me," she pushed his shoulder, causing him to step back a few paces to regain his footing, "I'm not an idiot. And I'm not fucking weak. I can handle getting hurt. I can handle getting knocked around. What I can't handle, is you being a complete asshole and completely disregarding me!"

His glare sharpened, "We're done here," he mumbled under his breath as he turned around and began to walk away again.

Sakura laughed mockingly. "Of course we are! God forbid you ever take me seriously as a shinobi! Wouldn't that be something? Ugh, you know what? Just get out of here. I'm sick of this shit from you."

"Sakura," his voice held warning as he stopped walking. "Cut it out. Go home. Fix yourself up."

Fury seething through every ounce of her, she balled her fists at her sides and had to resist the urge to resume their sparring session then and there. So when she felt her chest swell with frustration she couldn't hold back the angry "fuck you!" she screamed at him before turning around and storming away.

And of course now, after her plan to let loose and have fun completely crashed and burned right before her eyes, Sasuke just had to be the one for her to see next.

Marching barefoot down the street she waiting for Sasuke to say something—anything really—but when he remained silent yet continued to follow her from a slight distance, she almost exploded on him right there.

Spinning around to face him, glare already etched on her usually-soft features she found his form easily. He was only a few meters away from her at that point and despite the fact that she'd stopped moving, he hadn't. He continued until he was less than a meter away before stopping, hands shoved in his pockets and eyes looking at anything that wasn't her.

She sighed loudly, lifting a hand to drag down her face. She wasn't sober enough to deal with this right now. "What do you want?"

"You're upset."

Sakura blinked at him a few times before letting out a mocking laugh. "Wow, did you figure that one out all on your own?"

"You're upset because of me."

She rolled her eyes. "Again, you're a genius." Taking a couple of steps backward she shook her head. "Y'know, I'd love to stay and play a game of 'let's point out the obvious' with you, but I'm drunk and I'd much rather go home and sleep right now."

"Why are you drunk?" His eyebrows scrunched up with concern.

"Because I'm an adult and I can drink if I want to."

"But you're all alone."

Sakura frowned. "That wasn't part of the plan exactly."

"That's not safe."

Just as he finished speaking, Sakura had closed the distance between the two of them in a blink on an eye. During her movements she'd produced a kunai seemingly from out of nowhere and placed it against his throat. Her other hand was lifted behind her and poised to attack, her fingertips lit green as chakra scalpels threatened to slice away at muscle and tissue.

"I can take care of myself," she whispered out of frustration, holding her aggressive stance.

Sasuke did not seem amused though. Lifting his arm he pulled her arm, and the kunai, back from his neck. "Let me walk you home."

Sakura blinked a few times, staring blankly at him. "What is wrong with you?"

"I'm trying to… be nice."

"Why?"

"Because I upset you."

"Yeah, you do that a lot. I don't see why today is any different."

Sasuke let out a quick, frustrated breath. "I'm sorry."

Sakura gaped at him. "What?"

"You heard me," he mumbled, shifting on his feet.

"Yeah but I'm having a hard time believing my ears since I'm pretty shitfaced right now."

He scowled at her choice of words but then let out a long breath of air. "I'm sorry, Sakura."

"Why?" She asked, her voice noticeably softer and her eyes no longer glaring. "You've never been sorry before. I honestly don't think I've ever even heard you say sorry."

He lifted his head and looked up at the sky as if staring at the stars. "I know you're not weak. I just don't like seeing you hurt," he seemed to struggle for words before sighing and lowering his eyes back down to watch her, "especially when I'm the one who did it."

Sakura stared at him for a long moment as she absorbed his words. "Oh," she replied quietly.

"I just—the thought just doesn't sit well with me," he admitted with frustration, shuffling on his feet some more. "I've almost hurt you before—badly. I don't…"

"I get it," she said softly, her anger finally subsiding. "It's okay." For a moment, their earlier confrontation made sense; frustratingly bothersome sense, but sense nonetheless. "I'm still pissed at you though."

He half-smirked at her. "I would expect no less."

Grabbing his sleeve and pulling him after her to get him walking, she supposed the least she could do would be let him walk her home.

She'd just be sure to kick his ass during their next training session.