Chapter One: The Meeting
A knock sounded on the mahogany door.
"Come in."
The door creaked open and a middle-age lady dressed in a sharp business suit strode in. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun and her stride was prim and proper. Unfortunately, her picture of formality was destroyed by the youth behind her. He was so contradictory to her image that one had to wonder if he was placed there on purpose, to emphasize the woman's etiquette.
A brunette sitting in the mahogany desk that matched the door looked up. "Are you the one o'clock appointment?" she looked down at the clipboard clutched in her fingers. "Er… Uchiha Sasuke?"
The harassed-looking lady nodded while gesturing towards the man behind her. "I am Special Officer Ayumi Inoue assigned to this man as parole officer. He is here for his therapy appointment."
The brunette raised an eyebrow while eyeing the man.
Black hair, piercings, I-don't-give-a-shit expression, street clothes... the usual bastard.
"Thank you," Tenten addressed the parole officer. "Dr. Haruno will be with you in a minute; she's on lunch break now. When she comes back, we can talk with the client and determine how often he should have meetings. After your first session, please come see me and we can set up a schedule."
"Does he need to fill in any information right now?" Ayumi asked.
"No, his file was already sent down a few days ago. I already scanned it into the system."
Sasuke, who hadn't moved through out the entire conversation, sat down on one of the burgundy couches and promptly began to glare a hole through the poor floor.
Tenten noticed his expression and sighed to herself.
I need a new job. Any more of these loopy people and I'm gonna need a shrink myself. How does Sakura put up with it?
She turned to the computer on her desk and filled in the appointment on an open Excel window. Then, since she wasn't allowed to instant message on the job, she opened a Minesweeper window and proceeded to blast away at the blank gray squares.
The room was fell silent, and Ayumi began to tap her heel against the couch's wooden legs. Sasuke turned his glare from the carpet to Ayumi's shoes.
Tap, tap. Tiki-tiki tap.
Ayumi beat out a rhythm in her impatience. Just as she began another cycle, the mahogany door slammed open on its hinges. The posters of happy people on the wall shook.
A pink haired lady slid into the room with a file in one hand, the door knob in the other, and a half-eated bagel in her mouth. When she looked up and saw the room's occupants staring at her, she blushed.
Oh, shit, the new clients are here That must have been an amazing first impression.
"Uh," she studdered in embarrassment as her face heated. "Please excuse me. I was running a little late. I'll be right back." Then with an apologetic smile, she quickly took the bagel out of her mouth and slammed it into a nearby garbage can. Then she walked up to Tenten and handed her the file that she was reading.
"Smooth," Tenten mouthed, grinning widely.
Sakura silenced her with a glare and strode towards the adjacent door into her office.
"I'll be with you in a second," she called back.
The social worker looked at Tenten and raised a skeptical eyebrow, while Sasuke fought the urge to jump out the penthouse window.
Was this some kind of joke? He stayed in juvie and was a damn goody-goody. He didn't smoke and didn't struggle. When he was on parole, he was a perfect angel. Now what does he get in return? A psych ward with a pink haired shrink.
Allow him to repeat that.
Pink.
Yeah...
His gaze passed from his officer, to the posters on the wall, to the secretary hacking with a vengeance at her mouse, and finally to the door the shrink entered. His stomach sank.
When Sakura got into her office, she frantically began to clean up the mess that was her desk.
"Why didn't I look at the time?" she muttered to herself, "This is all Ino's fault, dragging me to that fancy Italian place for lunch. Just because I'm her friend and a registered psych doesn't mean she can freeload off of me and get free rant sessions. God, she's so emotional when she's on her period..."
She was so caught up in her rant that she didn't notice the door to her office opening.
"Ahem," Sasuke coughed for her attention. The secretary had told him to go in, saying that Dr. Haruno must be ready. That was clearly not the case. When he entered the room, the shrink was encased in a flurry of papers and files and muttering vehemently. Sasuke caught "Italian", "psych", "emotional", and "period".
Sakura jumped and blushed furiously when she noticed him in the room. Oh my god, did he hear me? Damn you, Tenten... I didn't say I was ready yet. She decided to pretend that nothing awkward had happened and took a seat on one of the chairs in her office gesturing for him to do the same.
He obliged while raising an eyebrow at the doctor's clumsiness.
What a moron, he thought. Is she really a psychiatrist? She looks around my age...
"So..." she settled down and eyed the clipboard with her new client's file "Uchiha Sasuke?"
"Hn."
Sakura smiled. She got that often.
"It says that you're here to do psych treatment as part of your parole." She stated the facts to avoid any uncomfortable subjects. Patients didn't like it when you attack them on your second sentence.
"Hn."
"Okay, how about some introductions? I'm Haruno Sakura, your shrink for the next…" she checked his file. Her eyes fell on the "Suggested treatment time" column. "Three months," she finished perkily. She had this theory that happiness was contagious.
"You make it sound like you're not getting paid to do this," came his monotone reply.
She twitched. Rude little bastard...
"Why don't we start by introducing yourself, Uchiha-san."
"Bite me."
"As appealing as that sounds, I'd rather not." Although she actually, she would. This new patient was what she guessed Ino would call "eye candy" Wow. Wait.
Ino was rubbing off on her. Uh…
Sasuke glared at the girl in front of him who had apparently dozed off. She was putting much less effort into this than all of his previous counselors. To her favor though, they gave up after the first few conversations with him while she didn't seem fazed. Maybe that's why the police moved his case to this clinic- Haruno's style was different from the norm.
The sound of a bird flying into her office window snapped Sakura out of her trance "So, introduce yourself."
Sasuke kept glaring. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke," he said in the most dead-panned voice Sakura had ever heard.
"Yes, we've established that. I mean what are your likes, dislikes, hobbies- anything you think is worth bringing up."
He gave up on glaring- it was hurting his eye sockets. "I like anything I don't dislike."
"And what do you dislike?"
"The list is too long."
"Can you name something in particular?"
"Yes."
"What?"
"I said yes."
"What do you mean yes?"
"I'm a psych patient, not a basic English teacher."
"I don't mean the meaning of 'yes'. I mean what do you mean 'yes'."
"Yes, I can name something in particular I don't like."
When Sakura realized that he wasn't going to elaborate, she added, "And what don't you like?"
"You."
Okay, now they were getting somewhere. Sakura learned from experience that if you start to talk about a subject that the client themselves bring up, they'll drop their guard a little. Yes, she treated cracking a psych patient like a strategic battle.
"What don't you like about me?"
"Everything."
"Can you name something in particular?"
"Yes."
"What?"
"I said yes."
"What do you mean yes?"
"As I've said before, I'm a psych patient, not a basic English teacher."
They were starting the familiar cycle again. Sakura glared while Sasuke sat back with a smug look. Obviously, he won this round.
Fine, Uchiha You want a battle? I'll give you a war.
A/N: What do you think? Good? Bad? Burn in Hell?