This is a remake of one of my SasuSaku month 2014 chapters, so I edited a bit of the first chapter since I originally wrote it in a rush. Hit me up with a review if you're interested in me continuing this story!

Although Sakura had always been consistently 15 minutes early for every shift, today she unfortunately found herself about to be at least a half hour late.

She pressed her stiletto-clad foot on the gas pedal, speeding along the highway as quickly as possible.

While she was getting ready for work, she completely lost track of time, and even though she looked fantastic, she was going to be late, something her supervisor never tolerated. She seriously doubted that Tsunade would consider perfectly-applied eyeliner an acceptable excuse for clocking in late.

She hadn't put on her doctor's coat yet, and it lay on the passenger seat along with her overstuffed purse. The only good thing about the morning was that she was wearing her favorite dress, a skintight crimson number that made every curve on her body stand out. After all, she had a blind date right after work, and she wanted to look her best, even if it turned out to be a loser (like the last guy Naruto set her up with).

The past few years of her love life hadn't exactly been ideal, with only a handful of flings that had never lasted more than a few months. There was Shi, who would always put his job way over her (though she was also admittedly a bit of a workaholic, his devotion was much more extreme); Sai, would always find ways to criticize her appearance; and Genma, who had lied about his age from the start, which wasn't exactly a good start to a relationship.

Needless to say, Naruto and Ino had made it their personal mission to "find someone to complete you so you don't end up a spinster with lots of cats."

Suddenly, Sakura heard a sound she had dreaded ever since getting her driver's license ten years ago.

A police siren.

She immediately pulled over to the side of the road, feeling her heart clench with nervousness. She definitely was not the type of person to get tickets, and she definitely had never had any run-ins with the law before. The only experience she had with police officers was her friendship with Naruto (who was a well-known policeman), and then again he never really explained exactly what he did at work anyways. All she knew was that it had always been his dream to be a detective.

The siren stopped, but the lights kept flashing as the police car pulled up behind her. It was humiliating watching cars drive by on the highway, every driver sparing her a judgmental glance as they passed.

She saw a figure approach her window, and with a shaky sigh, she rolled the window down.

Her heart sunk even further.

Oh no, he's hot.

The policeman standing just two feet away from her was probably the most attractive man she had seen in a long time, perfectly fitting the "tall, dark, and handsome" stereotype, complete with the lack of emotion on his handsome face.

Why do I always manage to run into guys with such icy personalities?

"You were going fifteen miles over the speed limit," he said matter-of-factly, his eyes never wavering from her own. She gulped, and had a feeling that her feminine charm wasn't going to be of any use in this situation. He seemed too serious to let anyone off the hook, no matter how much they begged.

"Oh….uh….sorry, I'm uh—late for work and I might be needed in surgery and-"

"Why would you be needed in surgery?" he asked with a frown, giving her a once-over which only succeeded in making her more nervous. However, as soon as his words sunk in and she realized what he was implying, it suddenly didn't matter how hot this man was.

"I'm a doctor," she practically hissed out. Although she got the same reaction occasionally, she still felt a sting every time someone doubted her. He rolled his eyes, making her eyes narrow in irritation.

"Sure you are. I still need license and registration."

Resisting the urge to drive away and leave him on the side of the highway, she pulled the required items from her side compartment, silently daring him to insult her again. She handed him the paperwork and waited for the scolding that was sure to come. Thankfully, she was more angry than upset, so she was far from tearful.

"You're only 26," he stated. Sakura raised an eyebrow. "So don't go around telling people you're a doctor when you're not even old enough to be."

"I skipped a few grades in high school," Sakura muttered, fists clenched in her lap. She watched him finish writing up a ticket, and he eventually handed her back her things, their fingers brushing as he did so.

She ignored the electrical current that seemed to travel up her arm and stifled the subsequent blush.

He drove away soon after, making her drive the rest of the way to work in a cloud of dread, feeling all sorts of hatred towards that "Officer Sasuke Uchiha" (which she read off the ticket).

What an ass. Hopefully I can tell Naruto about him and somehow get him in trouble for being so rude.

When she got to the hospital, Tsunade had magically not noticed that she was a whole hour late. Apparently she had been nursing a hangover all morning, and wouldn't let anyone in her office until noon. That meant Sakura had several hours to herself, and as she stormed into her office and pulled out a pile of paperwork to complete, she also picked up her cellphone, dialing the only number (besides Ino's) that she had memorized.

Hey Sakura, what's up?

"I got a speeding ticket," Sakura groaned into the speaker, holding the phone with one hand as she grabbed a pen and started signing the sheets that required her scribble of a signature.

Wow! The world must be ending because the Sakura Haruno got in trouble with the law!"

"Shut up," she muttered. "The officer was also so rude! I told him I was speeding because I was late to the hospital, and he kept telling me to stop lying that I was a doctor!"

Naruto laughed, making her wince.

Well to his credit, Sakura, you definitely look too young and pretty to be a doctor. You seem more like an actress that plays one on tv.

Sakura gritted her teeth. "You're not helping."

I'm sorry, Sakura! By the way, what was the name of the guy?"

"Sasuke Uchiha," she sighed, the name forever branded into her brain. "You should get him written up for being so rude to me." Naruto went silent.

Did you say 'Sasuke Uchiha'?

"Uh…yeah," Sakura replied. "Why? Do you know him?"

She was met with the sound of awkward laughter.

My boss just came in the office so I gotta hang up! ByeSakuraandIhopeyouenjoyyourdatetonight!

Sakura sighed as the line went dead. Naruto could be so confusing sometimes.

Though her shift was unforgivably long, Sakura never minded seeing the patient she had last on her schedule. Itachi was one of the kindest people she knew, and was the most pleasant patient she had ever had. A few months ago he came in with a disease no other hospital had found the cure for, but Sakura identified it in only a few hours, immediately operating on him and restoring his lungs to full function. However, every week she had him come in to make sure he didn't have any symptoms, as well as monitor his stress levels.

She never asked what he did for a living that put so much strain on his body, but she guessed that he really didn't want to talk about it. Although they had grown decently close, she didn't want to upset him. He was a very private person.

"How are you doing today, Itachi?" she said sweetly, glancing at his chart briefly before looking him over. He was quiet as usual, sitting on the edge of the examination bed with a patient look.

"The medicine you gave me for anxiety has really been helping me," he said, smiling briefly. "I think my blood pressure has gone down."

"That's excellent!" Sakura commented. "I'll just take your vitals to make sure, although I'd like to take your word for it!"

He laughed lightly at her positive attitude, and she was always quite jealous of how he managed to look so dignified all the time, even in one of the uncomfortably designed hospital robes.

She took his blood pressure and heart rate, and to her pleasure, his numbers had actually gone down slightly (as he had guessed).

"Have you been eating a healthy diet as well as taking your medicine?" she asked.

"Of course. I always follow your advice," Itachi responded.

"Your vitals have improved so much over these past months. I'm sure you'll soon be back to your peak health," Sakura assured, picking up a pen so she could write down the stats she had just taken.

Reading the top of the sheet, her hand froze.

Itachi Uchiha?

"Uh…Itachi…," she muttered. "By chance are you related to a Sasuke Uchiha?"

Itachi nodded. "That's my little brother. Why do you ask?"

"He gave me a speeding ticket this morning," she said bluntly, still bitter.

Itachi nodded. "That sounds like him. Giving tickets even to the pretty girls."

Sakura blushed. "Thanks, Itachi. But I still have a $250 fine to pay off. And hopefully my car insurance won't go up very high."

"You're welcome," he nodded, expressionless. "Also, I couldn't help but notice—why are you so dressed up today?"

Sakura breathed out deeply. "My friend Naruto set me up on a blind date after work."

Itachi raised an eyebrow as if he knew something she didn't, then his lips curled into a half-smirk.

"Good luck on the date, Sakura," he spoke as he stood up to leave now that the examination was over. "Don't have too high of expectations."

She narrowed her eyes, not in anger, but in plain confusion. But Sakura didn't have too long to dwell on it, since she happened to glance at the clock and realized she had fifteen minutes to take the twenty-minute drive to the restaurant she was supposed to meet her date.

Today really isn't my day….she thought sadly to herself as she ran the rest of her paperwork to her office and quickly made it to her car in the employee parking lot.

By the time she made it to the restaurant, she was ten minutes late, and she half-expected her date to have left already. Naruto didn't give him her number, but said he'd be sitting in the corner of the café with a dark grey shirt and black hair.

Scanning the building with her green eyes, she nearly gaped with horror as she saw a certain someone sitting at a table by himself.

It was none other than Sasuke Uchiha—sipping a mug of coffee with a disgruntled look on his face. Hopefully my date isn't sitting too close to him. Sakura thought. It would be so awkward if he saw me.

Looking around once more, she came to realize two things:

The first, that there weren't made people in the room. Only four other couples without a single un-paired individual in sight..

The second, that all the other male occupants were definitely not wearing dark grey, and she didn't see anyone else with dark hair.

She gulped and looked back at Sasuke.

Sure enough, he was wearing the aforementioned shirt, and she already knew that he sported a shaggy black hairstyle, even if it was partially covered by his uniform hat before.

Cautiously, she asked a waitress how long he had been there.

"Oh, about ten minutes!" the middle-aged woman chirped happily, giving her a bright smile. "Are you the woman he is waiting for?"

"I guess so," Sakura grumbled before gathering the courage to walk over.

"Lucky woman," the waitress winked. "You're definitely a cute couple."

He only noticed her when she was a foot away from the table as she looked at him skeptically.

"Are you Naruto's friend?" she asked slowly, to which he nodded. Sakura sat down reluctantly.

"You're ten minutes late," he observed. Did he remember her from before? He certainly didn't give any indication of it.

"I was with a patient," she explained, glancing over the menu to successfully avoid eye contact.

"Naruto told me you were a doctor."

"So you believe me now?" Sakura couldn't help but add, making him smirk. (which was definitely not her expected reaction)

Ah shit. If he didn't remember before, he definitely did now.

"I guess. Naruto always talks about you. It's ridiculous. You'd think he had a crush on you or something."

"What else does he say?" Sakura asked, a bit nervous. Thanks a lot, Naruto. Now he's going to have high expectations.

"That you were valedictorian, you've known my uncle Kakashi since you were little, and that you used to date Sai, and that you somehow didn't know that Genma was 40 years old."

Sakura flushed. "Uh—okay. More information than I thought you'd know."

Whelp, there goes the date. Thanks a lot, Naruto.

"And that you saved Itachi's life."

Her face softened as she saw the brief expression of gratitude that crossed his face.

"Itachi is one of my best patients. He's actually the reason I was late. I just finished his check-up. His health is improving rapidly."

"So that's why he texted me that you'd be my date," Sasuke shrugged. "You must've told him you had a blind date, and he knew I was going on one at the same time, so he just concluded that we were matched up."

Thankfully the waitress chose that moment to intervene, so Sasuke didn't see how Sakura bit her lip when he said they were "matched up."

They had both ordered the grilled chicken, and after the woman left, Sakura nervously sipped her decaf coffee, which he had ordered for her before she arrived.

"I didn't know what you looked like before you walked in. I never would've expected the Sakura Naruto always talked about would be the type to get speeding tickets."

Sakura wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

"Can we please not mention that ever again?"

Ah. Great. Just implied that we'd be meeting again, even though I have no idea if he wants to."

"And then you were late here, as well. Are you late to everything?" he asked, and she wasn't sure if he was teasing or not.

"Today's the first day I've ever been late to work in my entire life," she admitted, and he gave her a look of approval.

"You're exactly how Naruto described," he said off-handedly, making Sakura wonder just how she had been described as.

The rest of the meal went surprisingly well, with her finding out that they had gone to the same college (though she had graduated early), and that Sasuke had known Naruto for just about as long as he did. He also mentioned his heavy dislike for Sai, which she hoped didn't tarnish his opinion of her since she had actually dated him. (At least she recovered by mentioning that it had only been for a few weeks)

Even though she probably made more than him, he still paid for the meal, and casually slipped her his number on a clean napkin. It happened so quickly, she probably would've missed it if she wasn't looking at him so intently.

Sakura soon found herself ready to give Naruto a big hug of appreciation the next time she saw him.

Immediately after Sasuke came home, he dialed one of the only numbers in his phone.

How'd it go? Naruto said anxiously.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, opening the door to his apartment and stepping inside. Since Sakura had driven to the restaurant herself, he didn't have the option of driving her home, although he would love to see her reaction to how he had used his police car to drive there.

That's not a real answer, Sasuke. Naruto whined. How did it go? Did she wear that one red dress of hers? I mean, I love her like a sister, but that her in that dress is literally one of the sexiest things in the entire wo—

"She's impressive. I realize why Itachi likes her so much. I also don't think he's trying to pursue her since he pretty much implied that she'd work out with me."

I'm gonna be honest, Sasuke. I can actually see you guys being in a relationship.

Sasuke nodded.

Did you just nod? You do realize I can't see you do that through the phone!

"Hn."

Heh…you can't fool me, Uchiha! I know that you like her already! Did you get her number?

"Technically I had it before when I had to collect it for her speeding ticket. And I already gave her mine."

Sasuke you are so weird. Naruto sighed. Just call her, you bastard. Otherwise I'll get Gaara or something to take her out instead. He was my second choice, so just be glad I got you first.

Sasuke frowned deeply. "Don't."

Awwww…You're already getting possessive! You guys are so cute…..

"I'm hanging up," Sasuke said sharply before ending the call. He sat for a few seconds in silence before opening his phone contact list and selecting the "add new contact" option. He'd definitely wait until tomorrow since it was getting late and he didn't look like a stalker, but he quickly wrote down the number she had given him when he had pulled her over. Yeah. Definitely not creepy at all.

Not that he'd ever admit it, but he was pretty thankful for Naruto at the moment.