Sasusaku haters, please don't kill me.
Naruto characters (c) Kishimoto
Reiko + Natsumi are mine.

Chapter 1: Coffee is your friend

“Owowowow! That’s hot!�
Sakura yelled as the piping hot coffee spilled down her dark red skirt to her bare skin.
“Aah! I’m so sorry�
The girl looked around frantically, whipping her long brown ponytail around dangerously. The girl next to her just stood there with a dull expression and took a handkerchief out of her bag and handed it to Sakura.
“Sorry about her. She’s not normal.�
She clearly wasn’t either. Who can stand to be in a thick Eskimo jacket in the middle of summer! After a few seconds on cleaning the coffee off Sakura and about half an hour of trying to calm down the crazy girl, the café returned to its normal state and the three girls sat down at a table.
“I’m so sorry for messing up you skirt! I’ll tell you what~ I’ll treat you to a coffee�
Her brown hair was a bit of a mess from the commotion before but Sakura could tell she was quite pretty under her round glasses and baggy clothes.
“I think her skirt is worth more than a coffee.�
“Quiet Reiko-chan!�
The girl just rolled her eyes and leaned back into her chair. A sweat drop formed on Sakura’s head.
“It’s alright. This skirt wasn’t expensive or anything. I’m Haruno Sakura by the way�
“Natsumi deeeeeeeesu!�
She raised her hand as if she was answering the roll at school. Her emerald eyes even glittered with excitement behind her glasses.
“Reiko deeeeeeeesu!�
She mimicked Natsumi’s actions and waved her black nails around in the air. Another sweat drop appeared on Sakura’s head.
Remember Sakura. Don’t judge a book by its cover. They seem nice enough.

The three girls started chatting about absolutely anything: the new bakery down the street, latest movies, old classics and how ugly the new street lights were. They actually got along quite well. A pink haired girl with a forehead that’s slightly larger than usual and an energetic hippy girl with another girl who looks as if she has an average body temperature of 105 degrees. They became friends and started to hang out together.


It was a normal Saturday afternoon. Nastumi, Reiko and Sakura were eating lunch at their favorite café near the edge of Kohona. Sakura poked at her salad as the other two sulked.
“How can they just change my hours without consulting me! I have to get up two hours earlier now! I don’t even get to go home earlier.�
“You think you got it bad. I’ve been changed to night shifts. My daily routine has to be changed completely!�
Reiko and Natsumi slouched in there chairs and Sakura took a stab at a cherry tomato. Reiko and Natsumi turned to each other then stared at Sakura. She felt two pairs of eyeballs fixed on her and she looked up.
“Um... What’s up?�
“We’ve just realized, we don’t know what you do for a living.“
“Me? What do I do?�
Sakura started to sweat while the other two bent in closer.
“Don’t tell me you’re a ho-“
“A WHOOOOOOOOREE�
Natsumi had shot up from her seat and pointed at Sakura. The other customers and the waiters all turned around gave them a weird look. Even the dogs that were tied to the pole turned around. Reiko reached for her bag and whacked Natsumi hard on the head with it.
“I was going to say HOBO�
Okay. This is probably the most embarrassing moment in my life.
Sakura’s face was crimson and she sunk into her chair.
“I’m not a hobo or a whore!�
“Then what do you do?�
Natsumi made a fast recovery leaned in closer with her eyes focused on Sakura.
“I.. umm.. work in the hospital�
Natsumi shot up again, knocking her chair.
“AS A BRAIN DOCTOR?!?!?�
“It’s called a NEUROLOGIST.� Reiko mumbled as she knocked Natsumi down again.
“N-no. Nothing like that! I’m ju-ust a- a…�
Sakura trailed off and sunk into her chair even further.
“A nurse?�
Natsumi peered up from under the table.
“Something like that… People are staring. Let’s get out of here.�
Sakura hurried them out of their seats and the three girls paid the bill and left the café. The truth was Sakura wasn’t a nurse, but she was one a few years ago so she technically didn’t lie. But she had climbed a lot higher up the ladder since then. She was now the head of Medical Ninjas at Kohona hospital. Sakura had found out the hard way that this position had its downside. Somehow, the heads of this department got the reputation of being very intimidating and cold. It’s quite unfair but this reputation sticks with the role and now it was passed down to Sakura. When she first started telling regular people, she noticed that they seemed to stay away from her, therefore she was a bit lacking in the friends department.

The three girls headed into the park for a walk. It was a clear day so there were quite a lot of people there. Couples, families, little children had all come out to enjoy the summer afternoon.
“I’m thirsty… I never got to finish my iced coffee…�
Natsumi swayed side to side as if she was going to collapse.
“You guys wait for me at our usual place and I’ll go get us some sodas!�
Sakura ran off in the opposite direction while Reiko cursed her for leaving her to be alone with an almost-dead Natsumi. She bought the sodas and headed for the meeting spot. On the way she noticed that the happy couples she passed earlier where arguing and they all seemed to be arguing. The guys were yelling about ‘wondering eyes’ and there was stomping and tears.
“Hey guys. Have you noticed that all those couples are arguing now? I wonder what happened.�
Natsumi and Reiko weren’t listening. Instead they were huddled together spying on something over the hedge.
“Hey guys. What are you looking at? “
Natsumi tilted her head to one side and drooled slightly.
“All those couples are arguing ‘cause the girls kept staring at him and hitting on him in front of their boyfriends. He’s such a juicy piece of man-steak! I should have brought my camera with me today“
Reiko’s eyes widened as if she was taking mental pictures of the hot guy.
“Who’s this ‘juicy piece of man-steak’?�
Both of them pointed at a guy leaning against a tree.
“Him!�
Sakura looked over to the tree and snorted. She grabbed one of the sodas and threw it at the guy, hitting him right on his forehead. All the girls gasped with horror.
“What the hell! Who did that!?�
The hot guy looked around angrily.
“Getting a little sloppy, aren’t you Sasuke-kun�
“Sa-Sakura!�

Chapter 2

“Sakura! What are you doing here?�

Sakura walked up to her former teammate and raised an eyebrow.

“Is it unusual for me to be here at my favorite park on my day off?�

Sasuke turned his head slightly and ignored her, acting all cool as usual. Sakura smiled slightly. Even though they don’t get to spend time with each other anymore, she’s glad to see that he hasn’t changed one bit. Team Kakashi had disbanded a few years back. Each member went their separate ways.

“When did you get back? Never mind that. What are you doing in a park? This place is much too happy for you. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, can you handle all that?�

A sweat drop formed on Sasuke’s head. Ever since Sakura got over her crush on Sasuke she’s found him to be a fun target for teasing. She smiled cheekily and Sasuke decided to ignore that comment too. He turned around and started to walk away.

“What? That’s it?� Sakura teased. “No comeback at all? You’re no fun Sasuke-kuuun~�

She poked her tongue out as he walked away. It was at that moment when she realized the dark aura coming from all around her. She turned around to see all the women in the park glaring evilly at her. A sweat drop formed on her head and she went back to where Natsumi and Reiko where, hoping to escape the aura. How wrong she was. The same deadly aura was coming from them too.

“Sakura Haruno! Why didn’t you introduce us! How do you know him? Why is he so hot?!�

Sakura did not enjoy them shouting in either ears or the violent shaking but she managed to pull away.

“Err, he’s not very sociable, he’s a childhood friends and he was born that way?�

The deadly aura was coming off stronger than ever so Sakura ended up running for her life.

---

Three days had past and Sakura could still feel the dark aura engulfing her. She tried to avoid Natsumi and Reiko for the time being so she could be spared the ongoing questioning about the ‘man-steak’. Sakura had just buried herself in work, even offering to help Shikamaru out with his paperwork. They were working late at night in an office in the academy, marking chuunin exam papers. Shikamaru couldn’t hold it in any longer and finally had to ask about Sakura’s unusual behavior.

“I’m not complaining or anything, but this is just too weird. You’re voluntarily here at 10pm doing the worst kind of paperwork there is. Something must be up.�

Sakura shifted some paper around and then looked up at Shikamaru and blinked.

“Then I’ll just leave then, if it’s bothering you that much.�

Shikamaru just sat there staring at her. She stared back. This little staring contest went on for a few minutes until Sakura reached for more papers in defeat. Shikamaru’s guess was right. She couldn’t leave yet.

“You women are so troublesome. If you want to stay just say so. What’s going on with you anyway?�

Sakura let out a big sigh. Shikamaru is smart so he probably would have figured it out anyway so Sakura told him about the trip to the park and the deadly aura. Sakura has had to avoid her own home since Reiko and Natsumi have started to visit her apartment frequently, trying to squeeze more information out of her about Sasuke. Sakura has been hiding on top of buildings and checking the perimeter before going into her own home.

“I knew you women were troublesome, but this is just ridiculous. That Sasuke guy is just too much. Don’t worry. We probably won’t get through this pile of paperwork until 1-ish. My mother’s not going to be happy with me coming home so late but this has to be done or my head is going to be put on a platter and served to the messenger pigeons.�

Sakura chuckled.

“Why are you still living at home? Come on. We’re already 24 years old. Go find an apartment. They aren’t that expensive.�

“It’s too troublesome.�

With that Shikamaru moved another huge pile of papers in front of them and they worked till the early hours of the morning.

---

It’s been 15 days since the incident at the park. Sakura could now walk through the streets in peace. The dark aura had completely disintegrated as the weather got colder. Sakura has even managed to go out for lunch with Reiko and Natsumi without running away.

Tonight was a special night. Sakura had actually gotten off work on time for once! She wrapped her red overcoat tight around her body to keep herself warm as she walked through the street.

It’s official winter. I can’t believe how cold it’s gotten lately

It was 8:10pm and she was walking home briskly through the shopping district. The cake shop caught her eye and she was staring at the selection of fake cakes in the display.

Wow. These look so good!

A finger tapped her left shoulder. She turned her head to see who it was only to be stopped halfway by a finger poking her cheek.

“Gotcha. You fall for that every time. Those cakes render your brain useless.�

Sasuke was standing behind her. He looked warm wearing his long navy coat and black scarf, topped off with his signature ‘I win’ smirk. Sakura just scowled.

“Did you just get off work?�

“Yip! I finished on time for once!�


A cold gust blew and it sent shivers up Sakura’s spine.

“It’s so cold! Hey I know. Let’s go eat some hot ramen! Yeah! That’ll warm us up!�

Before Sasuke had the chance to retaliate Sakura was already dragging him off toward the ramen stall.

“Sakura! I hate to say it but right now you’re sounding a lot like a certain idiot�

Sakura smiled at this and her strides turned into frolicking skips, still dragging a stumbling Uchiha behind her. They were getting some weird looks but Sakura didn’t seem to be phased by this. Sasuke on the other hand was totally humiliated but tried not to show it on his face. Sakura finally let Sasuke go once they were outside the ramen stand.

“We’re here! Wow~ It’s so nice to go out for a proper dinner after work rather than having a midnight snack and getting fat. Shannaro!�

Sakura was so ecstatic that Sasuke was regretting ever leaving his house. Sakura began cheering loudly by herself and a sweat drop formed on Sasuke’s head. He decided to get out of there quickly and into the shop away from the weird looks people were giving him and Sakura. He was still staring at Sakura and bumped into someone.

“Oh. Sorry I wasn’t look- YOU!�

“Ah! Uchiha Sasuke-kun! Long time no see.�