A sweet tinkling of twin bells could be heard, signaling the opening of the shop's front door.
It was a relatively lazy afternoon, and the shop was surprisingly absent of the common animal noises that was often heard.
Just perfect for a cat nap. Apparently, Sakura thought so too.
Light footsteps thudded against the wooden floors and stopped in front of the slumbering girl, growing more and more impatient by the second. If the repetitive foot tapping was any indication.
The visitor heaved a sigh of displeasure and decided to clear his throat loudly.
"Annoying" he muttered, glancing at his watch.
Blissfully unaware, Sakura made no indication that she was going to wake up any time soon.
So, he settled for glaring a hole at the back of the rosette's head.
Like that would work, idiot.
Grunting, he looked around for anyone else who could assist him. And… there were none, sad to say.
His onyx-eyed gaze swept to the rosette's form once again, and decided to wake her up before he could grow a beard.
"Oi, wake up." He said none too patiently, grabbing her neon jacket's sleeve in the process.
Said girl blearily opened her eyes. They turned out to be a brilliant shade of emerald, which weirdly complimented her candy-colored hair.
The man immediately retracted his hand once she woke up.
"Darn. That was the best nap I had in years." Sakura said, yawning and stretching her arms at the same time. Not realizing she practically looked like a gorilla right then and there.
The man remained unmoving from where he stood and glared at her again, irritation pouring from his being.
Realizing she wasn't alone, Sakura was utterly mortified by her behavior.
She quickly stood up and bowed.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I'd dozed off…" she said, looking at him.
Now that she could see the man, she couldn't help but realize that he was actually extremely handsome. His eyes were deep-set onyx orbs that were steely and cold; he was also blessed with a straight patrician nose and naturally pink, pouty lips. But his skin was an almost unhealthy pale though, compared to her rosy complexion.
Sakura quickly stopped her open admiration of him when his unpleasant expression only seemed to deepen further.
"Uh… How may I help you?" she smiled apologetically.
He ran a hand through his onyx locks and looked around.
"Where's Akihiko-san." He inquired, complete with swoon-worthy voice. It was actually more of a statement than an inquiry.
This guy is seriously inhuman, thought Sakura.
She patted her hair for a bit, trying to tame her sleep-ruined locks. Sakura thought he undoubtedly made her look like a lowly servant girl in contrast.
"You must be looking for my father. He's currently on vacation with my mum, so you probably won't be able to see him for another couple of days." replied Sakura.
He gave a sigh of frustration, and pivoted towards the door.
Sakura sharpened her eyes at his rudeness, but decided to be the bigger person.
"Wait!" she jogged towards him, narrowly missing an unpacked box of fish pellets.
His abrupt pause caused Sakura to crash into his back, but thankfully causing no damage.
The man's sour mood quickly worsened.
The place was a bit crammed, since a delivery was made earlier in the morning. Medium-sized boxes were stacked all over the place, yet to be unpacked.
In one corner, there was a cage for multiple-colored parakeets. An array of aquariums filled with different kinds of fish lined the shelves on the wall, while another corner housed guinea pigs. Turtles, puppies, and kittens were present too. It was a pretty cozy pet shop, clean and well ventilated.
"I'm sorry!" bowed Sakura, face flushed.
"What?" he asked pitilessly.
"I'm Sakura, Akihiko-san's daughter. I'm in charge of the place until my dad gets back. So…if you need anything, you can ask me." Sakura said, meeting his eyes.
He glanced at his watch for the second time that day and gave a sigh, seemingly clipped for time.
"Hn. I'm Sasuke." He said.
Sasuke…even his name is perfect, thought Sakura moodily.
Sasuke raised an elegant brow in amusement.
"Did I say that out loud?" asked Sakura, face-palming.
"Never mind, what were you looking for, Sasuke?" she questioned in curiosity, successfully changing the potentially embarrassing topic.
The way she tilted her head was undeniably cute. Sasuke coughed at the thought.
Now that he looked at her, she didn't seem so bad herself. Her features were petite and spritely and her skin was a healthy rosy complexion. She had big, doe-like eyes and a cute button nose, while her lips were pouty and full. But what was most striking about her was her hair, it was pink. He'd never seen anyone with pink hair before.
"Interesting." said Sasuke absently.
"Excuse me?" asked Sakura, thoroughly confused.
Sasuke decided not to reply, settling for a smirk instead. He fished out a list from his tan shorts and handed it to Sakura, who took the piece of paper in interest.
Dog shampoo
20 lbs. of dog food
Treats
Puppy pee pee pads
Anti-flea powder
Sakura skimmed the list, giggling lightly once she read over puppy pee pee pads.
The handwriting was impeccably neat, even the cursive letters flowed with the words written. It was so neat; it was almost unbelievable that a man wrote it. Heck, it would probably take her a day to copy that list.
Sasuke seemed slightly peeved at her reaction.
"It's for my mom's dog." He said.
She glanced at him quickly and nodded once again, grinning.
"Just give me a minute and I'll get you all of these." She said, leaving him be.
When Sakura returned, she handed him a large plastic bag. Their fingers lightly grazed each other's but neither seemed to mind the contact.
"That'll be 45.50" said Sakura.
"Aa"
"By the way," Sasuke said, receiving the change at the same time. Sakura looked at him expectantly and waited for him to continue.
"The dog's due for a vaccination. Akihiko-san usually administers it, but…" he continued, leaving it at that.
"I can administer the shots, if that's okay with you." offered Sakura, tucking her hands in her jacket.
Sasuke looked at her thoughtfully and gave a nod.
"My mom doesn't really like bringing Sookie outside, is it possible for you to come over?" he asked, absolutely looking nonchalant about asking Sakura to come over. At his house.
He's practically asking you out, Sakura!
Sakura averted his gaze and pondered for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. If she did decide to come over at his house, she would probably have to ask someone to watch over the pet shop. She would also have to pay said substitute. Darn.
But if she did decide to go, it would mean good business for the shop. Besides, her dad probably wouldn't want to lose such a valued customer, considering they did know each other on a first name basis.
Of course, it had nothing to do with the fact that Sasuke was essentially a god in human form. Or that he had drool-worthy handwriting and that he could have honestly walked out from a magazine to boot.
Yeah, it had nothing to do with that.
"I bet Sookie's really cute. It's an okay then." said Sakura, hoping she didn't just make a big, possibly humiliating experience from what she decided to do.
Sasuke seemed pleased with her answer.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow, at noon." he said, coughing lightly; a faint color dusting his cheeks.
It was gone as soon as it came.
Sakura looked completely floored by his offer.
"There's really no need, if you can just give me the address I could-"she started waving her hands rapidly in decline, determined to say no.
"Be ready by noon." A sense of finality laced his tone.
"But I really think there's no need to-"
Judging by his strong scrutiny, there was obviously no room for argument.
Sakura could only hang her head in defeat.
"Okay."
Strange, Sasuke was smirking more times than he ever did in his entire life today.
"Maybe you aren't so annoying after all." He remarked, turning to leave.
A look of horror flitted across Sakura's face, completely baffled by his comment. As far as she was concerned, she didn't do anything to offend him.
Or did I?
"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?" she shouted after him. But he was gone before she knew it.
"I'm really looking forward to tomorrow." mumbled Sakura to herself, note sarcasm.
It's been a way too long since I last wrote a story...
Hope you liked it guys R&R.
There wasn't really much romance, but you probably didn't need to squint to find some traces in there.
I do not own anything except the story. ^^