The Senju Prince & The Last Uchiha

Knowing his love for ramen, Sakura had already guessed that they'd be at Ichiraku's. She didn't feel much of an appetite but Haruto-kun was looking at her and Satsuki with doe eyes. "Extra-small," she added after giving her order; she could just eat a little, after all, she was on a diet. She glanced at Satsuki's order, the taller girl had taken a large one, it made Sakura grimace. "Don't you ever diet?"

"No," replied Satsuki, seeming confused for a moment before that look passed. "Why should I?"

"Aren't you worried that you'll… er, put on weight?"

Satsuki scowled. "No. Ninjas are never overweight or underweight as long as they train daily and have a strict regime. The only fat sort of ninjas are the Akimichis or ninjas who's abilities need them to have fat. Or, there are ninjas who laze around and neglect their training for other purposes." Sakura blushed, feeling Satsuki's gaze on her at the last part. Maybe it was time she picked up the slack and started working out.

"Hey, come on, girls, eat up!"

Sakura's jaw dropped. If she thought Satsuki was already eating too much, she couldn't believe what she saw when her eyes landed on Haruto. The redhead was already devouring his third bowl of ramen, she hadn't even started, and Satsuki was only halfway through.

"I think I'm full," the Uchiha muttered, onyx eyes concentrated on the busy ramen stand. There was only one person serving everybody while the other guy played the role of a chef. She tapped the waitress's shoulder. "A drink please."

Ayame nodded once, and without looking properly at her customer's face, served a bottle of sake, "Help yourself!" she yelled as she ran to serve another customer, not noticing that the Uchiha was underage for a drink.

Satsuki blinked, she'd never tasted sake before and she was slightly curious about the taste. She took one of the glasses handed to her and uncorked the sake bottle, pouring the beverage. Sakura, who was staring at Satsuki, blanched. "We can't drink that!"

"Who says?" the pale girl challenged stubbornly. "Your parents forbid it but mine aren't here to have a say-so." Her voice was cold and her face hard when she said this, it silenced Sakura effectively.

"What's that you're drinking?" The two girls glanced at their third teammate briefly; Satsuki thought that he looked slightly adorable—like the bear plush toy she used to lug around—with his mouth stuffed with food, before she cursed herself for thinking so.

"Sake." Came the curt reply which made Haruto splutter and nearly choke on his food. Satsuki ignored him, bringing the cup to her lips and downed it in one go. She blinked before she poured more into her cup and drank it in one go again.

"So…" Sakura darted a glance at the drink. "How does it taste like?"

Instead of answering, the Uchiha placed the cup down and grunted softly. But when she made to pour more into her cup, Haruto snatched her wrist. "Hey!" the Senju protested. "You shouldn't drink that. My dad said that shinobi shouldn't drink before they reach the age of twenty-one!"

"And we're thirteen," said Satsuki, irritated. "You want me to wait eight years?" She scowled when he grinned sheepishly. "Daddy's boy."

"It's his last words. I can't possibly ignore it." Satsuki twitched; man, was the Senju good at getting sympathy from others or what. She slammed the bottle down with more force than intended, throwing the boy a furious glare and standing. "I'm leaving," she said coldly, already turning and leaving.

Sakura glanced at the empty seat beside her then back at Haruto's face which was full of stunned hurt. It was the perfect opportunity to get closer to her crush but he didn't seem to be in the mood anymore.

"I think we should all head home," offered the pinkette. "My parents would be roaming the streets for me." Just as she said that, she heard a familiar woman's voice shouting her name. She winced, knowing that she was in for an earful. "Sorry, they're here. Gotta go!"

Haruto sighed heavily, watching as Sakura ran towards her father and mother. He glanced down, feeling nostalgic, missing something he'd never known. His mood worsened when he saw Sakura's father ruffled her pink hair; he wondered how it'd feel like. Guess he'd never know for the rest of his life; the Ero-sennin had ruffled his hair before and the perverted sage was really the only father-figure he had in life, but what he really wanted was a real and living dad, not a hero.

He considered his options as he left the ramen stand—dimly recalling that he hadn't paid for the food but he was too depressed and the owners weren't paying attention—walking in the night. Sounds of scuffles and a man's voice leering reached his ears, prompting him to turn.

His eyes widened in surprise when he saw two grown men cornering a pale and much smaller in comparison girl; what surprised him even more was that the girl was Satsuki! "Why… why isn't she fighting back?" he wondered as he approached. But when one of the men reached out to touch the girl's raven hair, he snapped; seeing red, he lunged, punching the man and sending him flying into the lamppost.

He glanced back at Satsuki as he kicked the other man in the groin. "Why didn't you fight back?" he demanded hotly.

Satsuki scowled at him, her cheeks flushed. "I.. I don't need your… urh… help…" she was slurring, like she was drunk.

"Wait, just a few glasses and you're down!?" The Uchiha scowled at him before she turned and stumbled.

"You are so troublesome," Haruto grumbled as he took her hand, gently guiding her away from running straight into the wall; he had run into a wall once, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. "I'll take you home." He paused. "Wait, where do you live?" He received no answer; when he glanced down, he figured that from her closed eyelids, she was asleep. "Oh, great," he muttered sarcastically as he carried her on his back and made his way back to his own apartment.

When they reached, Satsuki had already woken up but instead of making things easier for him, she was doing the opposite. Haruto regretted jostling her so much when he was searching for his apartment key. The moment the raven saw his apartment, which was a fucking mess, she was already complaining.

"This place," she grumbled as he carried her in. "is a fucking mess. It's like a dumpster."

Haruto wanted to say something scathing back, but he calmed himself down by arguing that she was drunk and maybe she didn't mean what she said. Satsuki squinted, scowling. "Put me down," she whined.

"Sure," the redhead said, letting her onto her feet, keeping a hold on her forearm in case she stumbled and fell. "Anyways, you'll be sleeping on the couch."

"Hell no," the black-eyed girl instantly rebuked. "I refuse to sleep on that… rock."

"Are you seeing things?" Haruto demanded, frustrated, but he sighed; it was pointless arguing with a drunk and stubborn Uchiha. "Fine," he grumbled. "Take the bed, princess, I'll sleep on the couch which is pretty much comfortable." The last part was a lie and they both knew it, from the triumphant look Satsuki gave him as she stumbled to the bed and crumpled on it.

Haruto went about his business first, and after he showered he carelessly threw himself down on the couch, and it was really ouch. He hissed in pain, at where his neck had hit the armrest; he was going to sue the guy who made this. He tried to make himself comfortable on the couch, but no matter how he tossed or turned, he couldn't fall asleep and it was wholly uncomfortable.

Dammit; Satsuki was such a bother, he glared at the ceiling. Abruptly, he sat up and glanced around at the dark room. His eyes eventually landed on the migraine of his day—and might be for the rest of his life—which was currently holding the form of a very pretty girl with pale skin and black hair. But unlike when she was awake, her face was unguarded, the hard and cold mask was done and she looked almost friendlier and cheerful when she was asleep.

He could almost picture a much younger Satsuki, the girl who had her family and gave her smiles freely to anyone who looked.

Huh, he wondered how she would look like now if she smiled.

***

In the morning, with the hangover bugging her, Satsuki was even more of an asshole than usual. She moaned, groaned and complained. Even things that shouldn't bother her or usually bypass her bitchy radar became noticeable; Haruto wondered did Uchiha eyes see things in more detail when the beholder were drunk.

"This place is a fucking mess."

"You said that last night, bastard."

"Clean it up. Throw that away. Clear the scrolls, what if someone tripped? Wash your clothes, moron, it's clogging my nose with the bad smell." With patience he didn't know he had, Haruto did as told even though it was through gritted teeth, clenched fists and mantras of don't kill Satsuki, hangover's the reason she's acting like this. Just as he was done piling his dirty clothes, Satsuki spoke up again. "Buy some curtains why don't you. The sun's killing my eyes."

By this point, Haruto was all but ready to throw the girl out but his dad had said to be more polite with the ladies after all.

He grumbled this thought out loud as he prepared an ice pack for the Uchiha. She snatched it out of his grasp without so much as a word of gratitude. Eventually, she spoke, "He sounds wise, unlike you."

"No idea. Never met him." A brief confused glance and he elaborated. "He wrote a letter for me, in case he really died on a mission, filled with things he wanted to teach me and tell me."

Satsuki remained silent, pressing the ice pack to her forehead and closing her eyes. She didn't say anything, merely nodded, and Haruto knew that she understood his feelings. She turned away from the blinding sun though—It had to be about, what, nine, judging from the sun's position— "Holy cow!" he yelled, unintentionally raising his voice in the presence of a hangover victim.

Satsuki threw him a furious glare, clasping her ears and nursing her migraine. "Idiot," she hissed venomously. "Keep your voice down!"

"We're late! Kakashi-sensei must've been there already, we're already later than him!" Haruto was about to rush around, getting ready when he felt his wrist being enclosed in a grip. "Let go of me, bastard, I have to get ready!"

"Let him taste his own medicine," Satsuki grumbled in return. "Let me sleep. Besides, you still haven't swept the floor of crumbs. Where's breakfast?"

Haruto's jaw dropped, did the girl think this was her apartment or something? But when Satsuki shot him a furious glare, he complied hastily as she shuffled into the bathroom. When she emerged, drying her hair with his towel (he better not point that out lest she vent her anger on him), she looked at him oddly.

"Why did you do as I told you to?" she asked, confused. "Why did you help me in the first place?"

"Firstly, I'm not your man servant, your bitching is just the motivation I needed to clean this place up. Secondly, that's what friends are for." Haruto turned to look at her with a long-suffering look on his face. "Got it—" his voice died when he saw the slightest quirk of her lips.

It was a smile, he knew it was a smile. But in the blink of an eye, the smile was gone as she'd turned her head. "Hurry up and clean up. We'll be late."

He grinned.