Every week like clockwork, when Sakura and her friend Ino met up for coffee at their local coffee shop there was always the same man sitting there at the same table, in the same seat. Week after week, when they came to meet up and exchange stories, catch up or just gossip he was always sitting there, reading quietly to himself, no one ever approached him and he never seemed to be meeting anyone. It was almost as if he just came to sit and read in the warmth of the coffee shop on his own.
Even when Sakura and Ino had talked for hours he was still there when they left and he was always already there before they arrived. He was an enigma, and one they frequently enjoyed discussing, making wild speculations about what he was doing there ranging from the mundane, such as just wanting some peace and quiet, to the absurd, like he worked as a spy, for this one Ino had suggested that he was investigating the plump, middle age owner of the coffee shop that they had seen on occasion who was secretly running a prostitutes ring.
The idea was so ridiculous that Sakura had laughed for almost five minutes as tears streamed from her eyes. That time he seemed to have noticed them as he had shot Sakura a strange look as she was slumped on the table giggling helplessly.
"Cold" Sakura muttered to herself as she walked briskly to the coffee shop, she pulled her scarf up so it covered her nose and mouth some more as she chill in the air made her wish she'd stayed at home.
"Great idea Sakura" she berated herself "Go for a walk in the middle of winter with frost everywhere and it being too cold to even damn well snow". Although both she and Ino had been too busy in recent weeks to met up, breaking their tradition, Sakura had been feeling restless just staying in her house or leaving for work so she had decided to go to the coffee shop just for a reason to leave her house. However she had sorely regretted it by the time she had gotten to the end of the road and had lost all feeling in her fingers, even through her gloves, she had carried on to the coffee shop through sheer determination and the thought of a caramel latte to spur her on.
Finally, after what felt like an age, she reached the coffee shop and shoved the door open, sighing in relief as a wave of warmth washed over her along with the smell of freshly ground coffee. Unfortunately it was packed, it was as if everyone who had been brave enough to venture outside had ended up here to warm themselves up. But, Sakura reflected, the most important thing was that she was warming up at last.
Sakura joined the queue, rather impatiently, to order her drink. After walking in the cold she was desperate for her coffee. When she finally reached the front she ordered her usual coffee with some relish, and spun round to look for a seat. Sure enough the same guy was there reading and she smiled slightly to herself, thinking that it would feel strange if he was ever not there.
There was an empty seat opposite him she saw and decided that as there wasn't an empty table she might as well sit with the object of their wild speculations. Besides it would be something to tell Ino when she next saw her. Sakura picked up her coffee and straightened her shoulders as she hardened her resolve and walked over to him.
"Mind if I take this seat?" She asked.
"Sure" The man replied without even looking up from his book. Sakura sat and gave a contented sigh as she removed the lid of the coffee cup, breathing in its fumes as the scent of the bitter coffee and sweet caramel filled her nose. She sat back, taking a sip and almost scalding her tongue, as she studied the man opposite her. He had dark hair and eyes, and she wondered if his hair was really black or whether it was the lighting in the coffee shop that made it look that way. She frowned slightly as she tried to commit these details to memory knowing that Ino would probably want a full report, preferably with a bit of exaggeration thrown in there as well.
"What?" The man said irritably, as he turned a page of his book.
"Huh?" Sakura said, surprised that he had said anything.
"I can feel you staring at me." He still hadn't taken his eyes off the book.
"Oh, nothing, it's nothing" Sakura said sheepishly as she hadn't realised she was being so obvious. Although she made a note to tell Ino that he certainly wasn't Mr. Cheerful.
Silence.
A long and dangerous silence as Sakura wondered if she could get him talking to her at least a little bit so she could maybe put to rest some of their wilder theories (prostitute rings aside) and maybe find something out about the man that was true. And it was then when Sakura realised she was just as bad for wanting gossip as Ino was. Usually she liked to think she was above gossiping about people all the time whereas Ino seemed to treat it as a national sport. A sport she was a gold medallist in.
"So…I seem to see you around here a lot." She started hesitantly.
"Hmm."
"Nice coffee isn't it?"
"Hmm."
"Marvellous weather we're having don't you think?" Sakura said sarcastically as the wind blew in some more customers who were hoping desperately for a warm drink to thaw them out from the cold weather.
"Mmm." Great he could make more than one sound. Sakura narrowed her eyes.
"Don't you just love gravy." She said innocently.
"Hn" Bastard, he wasn't even listening to her. She drained her coffee and stood up, suddenly preferring the long, cold walk home over sitting in the warmth with a rude bastard for company.
"It was nice talking to you." Sakura muttered under her breath but he seemed to have heard what she said.
"It was annoying listening to you talk." He answered smoothly, mimicking the tone of voice she had used. Sakura seethed, now he was responding?
"You know you could just be polite and say it was nice talking to me too, or something like that, its good manners, and I was only being polite. If I were more honest I'd say; it was nice talking to a human brick wall!" For the first time he looked up and met her eyes, he gave her an half smile. That is, one corner of his mouth was quirked up in amusement.
"Well it's been interesting." He held out his hand. "I'm Sasuke." She didn't take his hand and only stared at him feeling completely nonplussed.
"You introduce yourself now?" She asked feeling exasperated with his strange behaviour he shrugged; she stared at his extended hand a bit longer then reluctantly took it.
"Sakura." She said slowly as she stared at his face, committing it to memory. Now she could tell Ino that he was Mr. Not-so-cheerful-brick-wall-with-a-poor-idea-of-ettiquette-but-an-oh-so-handsome-face. Maybe she needed to shorten it, Mr. Weirdly Grumpy but Gorgeous might be better.
Out of sheer curiosity Sakura found herself walking to that same coffee shop the same day next week, this time she wasn't meeting up with Ino again because she was out doing a 'family thing'. She still hadn't told Ino about her brief encounter with Mr Weirdly Grumpy- Sorry, with Sasuke. She'd tell her eventually but for now she wanted to keep it to herself. Nevertheless Sakura entered the coffee shop alone again, enjoying the warmth of the coffee shop as she entered that meant she could unwind her scarf and start removing her many layers as she took in the aroma of ground coffee. She ordered her usual coffee and noticed that there were many empty tables today, but-
"Mind if I take this seat?" She asked and Sasuke stared, glanced up at her, and a small smile crept across his face.
"Sure" He said and this time he closed his book and gave her his full attention. Maybe she was doing something right.