You Kept Your Promise (Sequel to Jade And Onyx)

Chapter Twenty-Five: Fragile Masculinity

Disclaimer: I don't own it my dudes.

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Whether I liked it or not, the night did have to end and Sasuke did have to go home and I did have to invite Ino over to explain things.

Whether I liked it or not.

Spoiler, I didn't.

I immediately received a text from Ino after I'd kicked Sasuke out of my house asking for the details, but I told her I was tired and I'd let her come over tomorrow after work.

I mean, it's not a lie...I really am tired and I know Sasuke is too from staying up all night talking about our feelings. I had to basically kick him out because we were falling asleep on the couch.

I decided to make a quick dinner before bed and I offered Sasuke to stay for it in the middle of kicking him out, but I think his fragile masculinity was wounded and he said he'd make something at home.

"Let's see..." I said as I rummaged through the freezer trying to find something easy and quick to make.

Luckily, I bought a few boxes of TV frozen dinner type stuff and I pulled out frozen fettuccini Alfredo that was conveniently yummy and microwaveable. I had to wait seven whole ass minutes for the alfredo to cook, so I pulled out my phone and noticed I had a text from Sasuke.

Sasuke: I made it home since you were so focused on kicking me out I decided I'd let you know your mission was complete

I laughed at him before replying with a really big smile on my face.

Me: don't be dramatic

Me: I'm glad you made it home safely though

Sasuke: Yep

Sasuke: Well

Sasuke: Time to fend for myself and make dinner

Me: ...I ASKED you if you wanted to stay

Sasuke: Yeah...as you were kicking me out

Me: I still asked so don't try me

Sasuke: I'm not

Me: -cough- fragile masculinity

Sasuke: -_-

The microwave started beeping and I had to put my phone down to get my dinner. I poked the container tentatively with my finger and quickly retracted it; I was definitely not expecting it to be that hot. Looking around the kitchen, I finally found an oven mitt and used it to take out my pasta and place it on the counter to cool. It still had the plastic covering on top as the package requested, so I took it off and steam immediately rose.

It was definitely too hot for consumption, so I dragged the container closer to the bar stool on the other side of the counter and grabbed a fork from the drawer. Sitting on said bar stool, I waited for the food to cool and texted Sasuke back for a few minutes and laughed to myself at the conversation.

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Mornings were definitely a cruel reminder. I'd gone to bed at 8 that night and got 10 hours, but I still felt tired. I always wondered what the use of sleeping so long was if you always felt tired when you woke up. If anything, I should be jumping in energy to face the day but here I am instead, lying on my bed and squinting at my phone that's too bright for my eyes.

I had quite the busy day today as well, the morning would be devoted to the Hara investigation and after lunch I'd be in with the chief medical examiner, Tsunade to learn under her.

I stretched and sat up in my bed, already missing the warmth of my blankets, and got up to start my day.

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"There's been a lead," Hinata told us when we gathered in one of the building's meeting rooms that morning. "We received a call early this morning and they gave us an anonymous tip which Naruto, Tenten and I went to investigate."

"We took a few pictures of where he was reported to be seen and found this," Tenten said before giving her phone to Naruto to pass around. "We had actual cameras of course, but I decided to take pictures with my phone as well."

"He was seen at this gas station late last night," Naruto said before pointing something out in the picture before passing the phone around. "It was a 24-hour one, so we were able to ask the cashier in the convenience store a few questions."

"We showed him the picture of Hara," Tenten sighed. "The cashier definitely saw him that night. He said he saw him get into a red car which he believes is a Toyota Corolla."

"He said he didn't notice anything weird about Hara though, so we don't have a license plate picture," said Hinata.

Sasuke and Neji wore matching frowns.

"I suppose we couldn't have expected it to be that easy," Sasuke told everyone.

"He did say that Hara was quite charming," Naruto added.

I scoffed. "Charming? More like bizarre."

Everyone looked at me.

"Well, it was the weirdest thing," I crossed my arms. "I was sitting in my office on my first day and it had to be the end of the day because he burst in and called me by my last name. He was wearing the brightest neon tie on this planet and when he introduced himself to me, he kneeled. We had a small conversation but it quickly became awkward and he ran off and then a minute later Sasuke came in."

Everyone looked at Sasuke, who in turn looked uncomfortable with the attention.

"Did you see him?" Neji asked.

"I saw someone practically running out of her office, but I didn't think much of it," he shrugged before leaning in to stage-whisper in Neji's ear. "Between us, she does tend to attract the weird and creepy ones."

"I hope you know you're calling yourself weird and creepy," I laughed.

Everyone looked at me again.

At this point it seemed like they were the audience and Sasuke and I were a tennis match.

I suppressed a laugh and made eye contact with Sasuke for a few seconds.

Everyone smiled at each other.

"What?" Sasuke and I asked at the same time before I turned red and he coughed.

The smiles got wider.

"Sakura, we were thinking..." Tenten said.

"Oh boy here we go," I said and leaned back in my seat.

"We were thinking," Tenten said more pointedly, "We should have a night out. Girls with girls and guys with guys."

"This weekend," Hinata grinned.

"That sounds like a great idea," Naruto nodded to himself.

I looked over at Sasuke, both of us knowing exactly why this sudden plan came about. We both looked over at Neji who was always the serious one and the voice of reason in our friend group, but he only looked at us with an innocent smile and went back to his laptop to work.

My mouth dropped open.

I saw Sasuke mumble "traitor" at him, but it was clear that Ino the pig had squealed loudly to everyone and we were on our own.

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