The Bartender, a naruto fanfic

Prompts: Pina coladas

Pairing: SasuSaku

For: Pina….sorry for the really, really late present. What's worse, is that it's now a chapter!fic too…In my defense, it turned into a really, really long one-shot.

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They are wrong who say that love is blind. On the contrary, nothing-not even the smallest detail-escapes the eyes; one sees everything in the loved one, notices everything; but melts it all into one flame with the great and simple: I love you.

--unknown

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The Bartender

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When they first met, it wasn't the most memorable moment. She was depressed, wanting to get drunk. He was a bartender trying to get by. A customer and a server, an ordinary pairing; which was why they didn't make a big impression on each other.

"I want a scotch on the rocks," she ordered, waving a pale hand to get his attention. She didn't have to try that hard—it was late and she was the only other person there. In the dim light, her hair appeared to be dark red and her eyes gray.

"Here's your drink, ma'am." It was a phrase he had to repeat, politely, to his customers.

The glass twinkled in her hands as she slowly pushed it on the counter with her hands. Side to side, it slid for a few moments and the ice made a quiet cracking sound as it got covered with her drink.

Slowly, she raised it to her lips and took a sip. It was delicate, almost lady-like, and he looked away from the familiar gesture.

They remained quiet, with the occasional sound of ice clinking and cloth swiping keeping the silence at bay.

"I want another," she finally said when she's finished. He paused from his washing, putting down the glass he was drying, "No, make that a pina colada. I doubt Ino will be driving me home today." She mumbled more to herself.

After she got the glass, she drained it in a long sip. "Thanks." Her smile, when she gave it, wasn't special or brilliant. She paid her bill, the full amount with an average tip, and then grabbed her purse and left.

All in all, an ordinary meeting.

-x-

Their next meeting, a few days later, was their first 'real' meeting.

"Hey, Sasuke-teme," one of the waiters yelled to him, "I need a Fuquay Friday Night and a Chewybubu."

"Dobe," Sasuke muttered as he made the drinks. "You're not supposed to call me that here."

"Yes, Naruto, you aren't. Don't forget that," a waitress, her dark hair tied up in buns, added. Her eyes narrowed and she glared at Naruto. "I'm in charge here and I don't want you screwing up; making our customers think we curse all the time."

"What's a small curse going to do, Tenten?" A blond eyebrow rose as a look of disbelief covered his face. "Burn the place down?"

"No." She jabbed his chest in reply and continued to do so with every word. "But, you are not going to jeopardize my chance of a promotion. And call me Tenten-sama. Got it?"

There was a steely look in her eyes and Naruto nodded quickly. A tray was pushed to him on the counter. "Here's your drinks, now do your job." Tenten snapped as she watched him disappeared into the crowd. "It's a good thing I…appropriately punished that other new comer. Seems I get respect this way."

Sasuke didn't reply and she sighed. "Why is it that every guy I work with has to be silent?" Throwing up her hands in annoyance, she left the bar and mingled with the crowd.

It was packed, a Saturday night, and Sasuke wasn't surprised when he saw the people lining up for drinks. It just meant he had to work faster. Luckily, he was good at what he did.

Only after the rush died down and he only had to serve the people lounging by the counter did he see her.

"Can I have a pina colada?" she asked, her head rising slightly from the counter so she could speak clearly. The light was brighter because of the huge party and he could make out green eyes before she pillowed her face in her arms again.

Silently, he gave it to her before moving onto the next person. Sasuke didn't remember her at all, her face joining the hundreds he had served. She didn't do anything special or different when they met earlier, so there was no reason to pay attention to her.

"A pina colada!" she ordered after fifteen minutes. He poured a glass, served it, moved to another customer. She ordered again, fifteen minutes later, and then another fifteen minutes after that. Like clockwork, they went, a pattern that continued without fail but he didn't quite realize it yet.

It was only later, when they were closing up, that he realized how much she had to drink. While what she drank wasn't too alcoholic, she had had more than enough. And that was bound to get her drunk.

"Hey," he said when she was about to ask for another, "Go home."

"Wh…wh….at?" It took a few minutes for her to register his question and her answer confirmed his suspicions.

"We're closing. Go home. Call a friend." Naruto and Tenten were on the floor, shooing people out, and he couldn't call them to help. Instead he approached her and repeated himself. "We're closing the bar."

"Ohhhhhhhh……I….seeee…." She looked at him and cocked her head. "You're…..pretty. Veryyy prettyyy…."

"…" He wasn't sure of how to respond and instead just waited for her to leave. When she didn't make any sign of moving, he bent down to shake her arm only to find her asleep. She slumped on the counter, looking as comfortable as though she was sleeping on her bed. "Hey, get up."

There was no response, only the muffled snores coming every now and then.

"Hey, teme." Naruto popped out of nowhere and peered down at the girl on the stool. "Who's she?"

Tenten joined them shortly after and looked at the girl. "Did she get too drunk?"

"Yes."

"Oh…hm…well, we can wait until we're done closing the place down. If she isn't awake by then, we'll try to wake her up." Tenten decided, bringing out a wash cloth from the cabinet behind the bar and handing one to Naruto. "Now, hurry up. I want to get to bed soon."

Sasuke remained behind the bar, washing each glass carefully before drying them manually with a cloth.

Scrub, wipe, rinse, wipe.

He glanced at her, saw her still asleep, and got back to his work. Scrubbed another glass, rinsed it, and wiped it dry. Put the two cups into their special places and glanced at her again.

When they were done with the cleaning, Sasuke was about to pick her up when the girl suddenly jolted awake. "It must be…laaaatteee…" she said, glancing up at Sasuke. "Wow, you're a pretty…girrrl….I think I'l…go hooome…and…"

"Oi, teme, you're a girl now?" Naruto laughed as he said this, Tenten was unable to keep a smile off her face, and Sasuke scowled. In the corner of his eye, he saw a blur of pink and glanced back at her, watching her stagger away. Naruto approached her, asking if she wanted a ride home, but she refused and disappeared.

Sasuke didn't think he would see her again but that would prove to be a faulty assumption.

-x-

"Hey, handsome." The girl appeared in front of him, waving to catch his eye. Sasuke stared at her for a moment, trying to place her face, when she continued. "I'm Haruno Sakura and I heard that you're the one who found me drunk yesterday. You are Uchiha Sasuke, right?"

Oh, that's right, it was her. He gave a brief nod.

"Sorry about that…I usually don't let myself get so drunk," she told him, grinning sheepishly. "Apparently you kept an eye on me and were going to take me to a hotel or something. Thank you."

Sasuke only had to look up to see a grinning Tenten; knowing she had been the one to tell her and who knew what else. The girl was still looking up at him expectantly and he gave a small shrug. "It was nothing." And that was the truth. He really did nothing.

"No, really, other guys would have left me there or taken advantage of me or something. With everything you did," once again, he wondered what Tenten told her, "I need to make it up to you," she continued, a determined look in her eyes.

"It was nothing," he repeated, even though he hated repeating himself. In response, she sat down on a stool and he could tell that she was going to be more trouble than he expected.

"Well, I'll wait here until you do let me make it up to you. And I'll have a pina colada."

Yes, she was definitely going to be more trouble than she was worth.

-x-

He's rather handsome, she thought. He was handsome in that strikingly pretty way, so much that he was also very feminine. His face was aristocratic with the fine arches of his eyebrows and narrow cheekbones. Long dark eyelashes briefly hid darker eyes, probed that were fathomless in their depths. In a sense, he was a black and white photograph, pale skin and black hair, and if she didn't see him herself, she would have thought he was a ghost.

He wasn't fully alive, though, because his eyes were dead. Sometimes, when he was arguing with one of the other waiters—Uzumaki Naruto, if she remembered correctly—there was a brief flash of life in them, lightening on a stormy day.

Sakura liked those moments because he stopped looking like a porcelain doll and seemed human.

As the night grew longer and she got ready to leave, she already knew what she would do to repay his kindness. She was going to make those small moments last longer and longer, until there was no 'off' button.

Sakura was going to make him live.

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