Title: The Odds
Chapter One
Genre: Friendship, Romance
Characters: Sasuke Uchiha & Sakura Haruno
Disclaimer: Characters involved are not mine.
It doesn't matter why they were there. It doesn't matter how blue the sky was that spring morning or how the breeze gently caress the grass as it pass by. It doesn't matter who they were with or without at that humble café near the university or what clothes they were wearing.
It doesn't matter that her face was nude with make-up that fails to conceal the graveyard shifts, endless tests, and sleep-deprived nights filled with medical terms. Her hair constricted in a chaotic bun, a humongous textbook lay on the table as she mumbles incoherent words whilst painting it with a loud-colored highlighter.
It doesn't matter that he was still wearing the now crumpled dress shirt from the day before, leaking with the scent of booze and a few lipstick marks in the collar. His hair messier than it normally was, sipping his coffee silently in an attempt to ease the skull-breaking hangover he is experiencing at the moment.
It doesn't matter that they were a pair of tables and chairs apart from each other that fine morning.
None of it mattered, not until their eyes met.
They were basking in the comfortable silence the café provides. Sakura bit her lip in concentration as she arrived in a rather complex paragraph. Her right hand methodically highlighting complicated words as she carved its letters to her brain. She was so deep in her own medical world that the ruckus in the table a couple of chairs away from her baffled her. "Gomen." She heard the man spoke to the shop owner as he picks up the broken pieces of the coffee mug.
"Oh, it's quite alright dear. Don't move you might cut yourself." The kind owner of the shop said as she retracts the cleaning tools. But alas, the warning was a tad bit late as Sasuke grunts from the stinging pain of the newly accumulated wound.
It wasn't that deep of a wound and may have been classified as a scratch. But nonetheless, Sakura's medic instincts kicked in as she briskly walked to the scene with her first aid kit in toll. "Are you alright?" she said as she gently encompasses his injured hand with her highlighter-stained ones. He looked at her oddly, too stunned to break away and too hangover to be rude.
She brings out a band-aid bombarded with tiny red hearts all over and attends to the injury. "There you go." She said, quite satisfied with her work and gives the stranger a warm smile. "Thanks." He grunted still eyeing the strange band-aid plastered in his hand.
"It's quite handy to have a doctor near the premises." The owner teased the regular pink-haired customer which she retorted to with, "I'm not a doctor. Not yet." whilst blushing.
"Not yet?" he asked with a sudden curiosity and he silently wonders where this interest for the woman came from. "I'm a med student at KU. Are you a student too?" She explained as she stores her first-aid kit away. "Aa. Architecture." He responded as he helped the owner clean up the mess he made.
"Oh, you're from the opposite side of the campus. What bring you here?" she inquired in light interest. "I don't know." He said, sitting down as a wave of vertigo pass through his head.
She stared at him as he helplessly attempts to ease the pain, all the while sporting a knowing smile. "Here." She said, handing him medicine which he quizzically stared at. "It will help ease the hangover." She explained. "Aa. Thanks." He said, a bit embarrass that this stranger have him all figured out in less than a minute.
"Wild party?" she asked. "You have no idea." He grunted as he takes the medicine. She laughs and he wondered why that sound lessen the pain he was experiencing. "Well, the Art department is known for those, aren't they?" she commented which he grunted with unfortunate agreement. She stood up from the table and expressed her goodbyes but not a single step was made before Sasuke stopped her.
"Hang on, at least let me buy you a cup of coffee for…this." He awkwardly ended, pointing to the heart-filled band-aid. She can't help but laugh as she stationed herself to his table again and agreed with a warm smile.
He ordered another set of coffee and hands her the other. "Thank you." She said as she inhales that bittersweet comfort of the beverage.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I totally skipped introductions. I'm Sakura." She said extending her hand to the man on the other side of the table. "Sasuke." He said, taking her hand into his for a handshake.
It was weird.
It was weird that they sat in that little café for hours, ceaselessly talking about random and mundane things to deep and personal facts; from what did you have for breakfast to what are your dreams. It was weird that she didn't once comment on the obvious lipstick marks in his shirt or revolted to scent leaking from his clothes or chided him for his bad decisions in life. It was weird that he didn't comment on her messy hair or disgusted by her present lack of good grooming or judged her for being boring and a prude.
It was weird how comforting and natural the atmosphere was. It was weird that for every word they speak they became less than the stranger they were a few hours ago. It was weird because not once did he check his phone for a party invitation or a booty call. It was weird because her textbook lay in the table completely forgotten.
"I just transferred here last year." He explained, sipping to nth coffee delivered to them that day. "Really? Where are you from?" she asked. "Oto." He answered.
"I lived in Oto 10 years ago." She offered whilst stirring her coffee. He looked at her with sudden interest and urged her to elaborate further. She answered with a nostalgic smile, "Our house was just outside the main city. It wasn't that big but it was enough. It was a two-storey wooden house with a huge garden full of cherry blossoms. It was just across a temple. We had to move here in Konoha when I was nine."
"The house across the temple and two blocks away from the park?" he asked, eyes shining with disbelief and interest.
"Yeah." She answered still stuck in the memories of the past and unable to comprehend the situation.
"A three bedroom house with the dining hall directly connected to the garden? The one with the century old Sakura tree? And one of the rooms has a door jamb carved with cherry blossoms? The same room has a single big window that has the clear view of the garden and the temple across the street." he asked.
Sakura was taken aback with the factual details he presented of her former home. Indeed, she and her mom carved her room's door with cherry blossoms when she was a child.
"Uhm..This is getting really creepy but..yes. How did you know the look of my former house, much more my room?" she answered awkwardly.
"It's my room now. Well, for the summer at least." He answered coolly, satisfied with the look of disbelief he acquired from the maiden.
"No way! 2170 Kobaico St. Yorikimachi, Otokagure?" she huffed in surprise, her voice raising a pitch higher due to excitement.
Amusement dance in Sasuke's face as he confirmed the address. And elaborated, "We were originally from Konoha but moved to Oto for business when I was ten. Now that I think about it, that room was too..feminine when I first saw it."
"Feminine, huh?" she chuckled. "This is…creepy and amazing at the same time." She added in which he agreed with a nod and a smirk.
As they look at each other, a single thought crosses their minds in light amusement and wonder, "What are the odds.."
End of Chapter One