A/N : Don't ask.
Disclaimer : Nope.
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Fusilli à la Sasuke
by Queen of Pascalities
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Okay.
It's official.
I hate fusilli.
I know what you must be thinking. Why the hell would anyone hate fusilli? I have to admit that you're right. No one could hate fusilli. It's the best kind of pasta there's ever been.
Well, it was, up until today. Because today, something troubling, tormenting, terrible, terrifying and tragic happened. What happened, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.
I was comfortably sitting in my usual spot in my favourite Italian restaurant, in front of my best friend Ino, and we were waiting for our orders to arrive. Like every Thursday, I allowed myself to order fusilli sauce rosée. Now, it's not because I'm extremely conscious of my weight, but this restaurant's fusilli bowl is quite something.
It's served in the biggest pasta bowl I've ever seen (it looks more like a salad bowl than anything else). The fusilli are cooked just the right way, not too crunchy and not too soft, and there's just enough sauce so that your noodles aren't floating like cereal but they're still very well coated.
The sauce, let's talk about that, is just the perfect kind of thick, tastes not too much and not too little and you can smell it as soon as the dish comes out of the kitchen, even if you're miles away, at the back of the restaurant. There's just the right amount of cheese and it creates the longest and most deliciously fun-to-pull strings. All in all, it's the best pasta dish in the whole freaking wide world and it's the one thing that I wait for the entire week.
Now you're thinking "What could be wrong with this wonderful piece of grub?" I'm getting there! Relax! Geez…
So, yeah, here I was, waiting for my weekly pasta extravaganza, merrily talking with Ino. We've been best friends since kindergarten, but recently, we'd been seeing less of each other, both having our own lives, our own jobs and our own apartments. So we met once or twice a week to talk.
"So, how's work?" Ino asks me innocently. I send her a glare, because I know she knows exactly how work is for me, but I answer nonetheless.
"Oh, well, you know, the usual," I reply sinuously. "Lots of paperwork, crazy overtime hours and my boss is a jerk."
"Oh really?" Oh God, I hate her.
"Yes, really."
"How come?"
"He's actually the, er… the reason for the loads of paperwork and the overtime hours."
"Ouch," she fakely winces. "That's a hard blow."
"Tell me about it."
"Are you sure it's not because of that date you went on two days ago. Maybe he's jealous."
I just wish I could poke her eyes out and make her eat her own tongue.
"Why would he be jealous? That's absurd."
"Well, who knows? Maybe he did notice that you hung out with Kiba a lot recently."
"Kiba's just my friend."
"So what? Sakura, do you really think your boss can read your mind? He can't even tell if you liked the date, how could he know that Kiba's just your friend?"
"Oh well, I don't know, maybe because I never kissed Kiba."
"Yeah, but he doesn't know that!"
"He's my boss, he should know everything."
"Well, that would just suck, wouldn't it?"
I didn't answer. I was very well aware that my boss couldn't know everything. Sometimes, though, I wished he did, just to make my life not as complicated as it was right at that moment.
Out of nowhere, the delicious smell of sauce rosée filled my nostrils and my boss instantly left my thoughts. I remembered that I was here to have fun with my best friend, not to talk about work. I didn't want to talk about it anymore, anyway. My stomach grumbled as I grabbed my fork and waited for the waitress to come across the twenty feet of restaurant separating my table from the kitchen and to give me my long-awaited food.
Finally, the gigantic bowl was placed in front of me. Without any hesitation, I swung my fork towards the bowl along with my gaze. Three millimetres before I reached the noodles, though, I stopped abruptly and frowned very deeply.
Why?
Well, I had just seen something troubling, tormenting, terrible, terrifying and tragic. But what, do you ask, is so troubling and what-not in my food?
There, among the perfect noodles, the perfect sauce and the perfect cheese, right in the most delicious-looking part of my bowl, was Uchiha Sasuke's face.
Not literally, mind you. But I saw very clearly his face formed by the curves in the fusilli. Now you probably have another question, which is "Who's Uchiha Sasuke?"
Well, for your information, Uchiha Sasuke is my boss.
Uchiha Sasuke's also the idiotic jerk who didn't call me back after our date two days ago.
And the man I'm so completely, desperately in love with.
Now you understand my frown.
Rather obviously, Ino didn't.
"Sakura? What's wrong? Is there something in your food?"
"…Yeah."
"Do you want me to call the waitress?"
She rose her arm, but before she could snap her fingers to get the waitress's attention, I grabbed her wrist and yanked her arm back on the table.
"Sakura, what are you doing? If there's something in your food, they'll bring another plate, it doesn't matter."
"Ino. This is not something material."
"What?"
Okay, maybe I needed to be a little bit clearer.
"What's in my food is not… Something. You can pick it up and put it somewhere else."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You know, when you see someone's face in your soup? When you're in love?"
"…Yeeeaaah?"
"Well, I can see someone's face. In. My. Fusilli."
"What? You're in love?"
"No!" Yes, I was conscious that I had answered way too quickly.
"Yes, you are!"
"Ugh… Don't make this any weirder."
"Well, who are you seeing?"
"Er… It's… Sasuke."
Her face blanked for a second. Then her eyes widened and a humongous grin formed on her lips.
"Oh. My. God!"
"Ino…"
"Oh my God!"
"Ino!"
"OH MY GOD! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!"
"Ino, stop screaming, everyone's looking."
"MY LITTLE SAKURA'S IN LOVE!"
"Ino, please."
"OH NO, MISS. I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL YOU'VE ADMITTED THAT YOU LOVE HIM."
"Love who?"
Time stopped. I closed my eyes, praying to every powerful entity in the world that the deep, beautiful, masculine voice I had just heard didn't belong to the person I thought it did. Unfortunately, it did.
"So, Haruno. Are you going to answer my question?"
I opened my eyes and slowly turned my head towards him. There, in all his Uchiha greatness, stood my boss. His black, black eyes were on me, void of emotions, simply searching for an answer – which meant they were trying to dig a whole through my head. Except for that, his face held no particular feeling, except maybe boredom. He had his hands in his pockets and looked rather laid-back in his black trench-coat. Then again, he always looked laid-back, so why bother noticing?
I must have been staring for a long time because I felt Ino's foot kick my shin under the table. I jumped and looked back at my bowl of pasta. Nope, Sasuke was still there. I looked back at my boss nervously and, just as I opened my mouth to stutter a high-pitched "No one!", someone else's voice came out instead of my quavering one.
"She loves Uchiha Sasuke. You know, the guy from Uchiha Co. who supposedly is the most handsome man in the country? Yeah, he's her boss. She saw him in her fusilli."
My head turned slowly toward Ino, my face halfway between "What are you doing" and "Shut the hell up or I rip your jugular out of your throat". She apparently didn't notice. She was politely looking at my boss, a small smile on her lips, oblivious to my glare.
"So," she said. "How do you two know each other?" Oh yeah. Oblivious to all.
I could feel my boss turn his head to me for a second before looking back at Ino. I just stayed there, with my gob-smacked/murderous flushed-red face turned to her. Ino probably followed my boss's glance, because her eyes fell to me just a few seconds after I had stopped breathing.
"Whoa, Sakura! What's up with y-… Wait," she turned to my emotionless superior. "Oh… Oh, God. You… You! You are… A-and she… And I just-… Oh my God!"
And then, you know what?
She.
Started.
Laughing.
"Oh, I'm-… I'm so sorry, Sakura, I had no idea that… that he was… You are the Uchiha Sasuke, right? Sakura's boss?" She asked him, still giggling.
I felt Sasuke nod slowly and glance at me. I didn't pay him much attention, though. I was slightly busy trying to remember my biology classes to find where Ino's jugular was. I'm pretty sure she noticed.
"Ahem. Well, I think it's time for me to leave, now. Bye!"
And she left.
Running for her life, I suppose.
"Well, Haruno. I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning in my office, then. Nine o'clock sharp."
I don't even bother replying. What use would there be? Never would he listen to me. Even if he did, he wouldn't mind firing me here, in the middle of the restaurant. Because I knew he was going to fire me. It was so obvious. If you had seen his face, you would've understood.
So, now here I am, sitting in a restaurant, alone and soon-to-be fired. Oh, and everyone is staring at me.
Oh yes.
I hate fusili.
--
Knock knock.
"Come in, Haruno."
I oblige. I have to. He's my boss. However, as soon as the door is open, I regret ever turning the doorknob.
He's sitting behind his desk, his elbows resting on the wood surface, entwined hands supporting his chin, and he is looking at me with his (oh-so-totally wonderful) black eyes. How can a man so powerful and so about to fire someone be so handsome? I don't get it!
But I can't let him fire me! This is not my fault. It's Ino's! She's the one who put me into this. She knew Sasuke was my boss. How could she not? I told her everything about him. Well, everything I knew, anyway. She should have recognized him!
. . .
Okay, who am I kidding? Of course she couldn't know. She'd never seen him before and there are plenty of men who are tall, dark and handsome in this bloody city.
But, still, I have to tell Sasuke the truth. Well, not the entire truth, just the one that gets me out of trouble. You know, the one where Ino assumed that I was in love with him because I had had the illusion of his face in my fusilli? Yeah, that one.
Unfortunately, he didn't let me start.
"You saw my face," he said flatly.
"Er… Yes. Yes, I did." As embarrassing as it sounds, I wanted to add.
"In your fusili."
"In my fusili." Damn those fusili.
"Why?"
I love you! I freakin' love you, damn it! It's like the trick with the soup, it works just the same. It's just that I didn't happen to have soup in front of me at that moment, I had fusili.
"I don't know."
"You don't know."
"Look, just tell me now, am I fired?"
"Fired? No."
"I'm-… I'm not?"
"No."
"Oh my God! Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"I didn't call you here to tell you you're fired."
"You didn't?"
"No. I wanted to know what happened exactly."
"From what moment?"
"Well, let's say from the moment you started avoiding me. After our date, remember?"
He had that smirk, you know, the crooked kind of smile that just send very pleasant chills down your spine and wakes up a whole vanguard of grasshoppers in your stomach? Yeah, Sasuke does that. It almost made me forget what we were talking about.
"Er… Whoa, wait, what? Avoiding you? Excuse me, mister, but it was you who didn't call me back!"
"Why would I be the one to call you back?"
"Because! That's what boys do! It's a rule! After a date, if the guy enjoyed it, he calls the girl back and asks her out on another date. Everybody knows that!"
"Well, I'm sorry, I didn't know there were rules."
Oh, he's not smirking anymore. Thank God, now I can focus on the conversation.
"Well, now you know."
"Had I known, though, I don't think I would've done it, since you very obviously didn't enjoy the date yourself."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, I don't know, maybe the date you had with Dog Boy on Wednesday?"
"Kiba's just a friend!"
"Right."
"And I did enjoy our date, thank you very much."
"Why did you go on a date with someone else, then?"
"His girlfriend just dumped him and he wanted to be comforted."
That was a lie, but he didn't need to know that.
"Wait… You know Kiba?"
"He's a friend of Naruto's."
"Oh." Well, damn. He probably knows I'm lying. Then again, he's almost psychic.
There was a silence. A very awkward silence. Sasuke got up and came to sit on the other side of his desk, close to me. He seemed to be thinking. Or debating inwardly. Oh God, he's sexy. Finally, he spoke.
"Did you really think I was going to fire you?"
"Er… Well, yeah."
"Why?"
"It's because… Oh, you know! I saw your face in my fusili and Ino assumed that it was because I'm in love with you, which is true, but I didn't want you to know because I thought you didn't even like me, since you didn't call me back, and when you arrived, I thought I could make you believe something else, but then Ino went and told you everything, and she knew it was you, and I was scared that you would fire me because I was in love with you and it's not a good thing for a boss to have an employee who's in love with him, and now you're getting really close to me and you're smirking and, oh God, stop looking at me that way, I-…"
Well, that's not fair. He didn't even let me catch my breath before he kissed me. Then again, I still have my nose. And I'm not going to complain. He kisses so well. Just with the right amount of lips and tongue. Oh, and his big, warm hands on both sides of my face. Oh. No, wait, one of them is sliding down to my waist. And pulling me closer.
Oh God. Both his arms are wrapped around me.
Must hold on to something.
Well, his (broad) shoulders are a good idea.
Whoa, he's picking me up from the ground.
Oh, I love kissing him.
Knock, knock.
Who's stupid enough to come and knock at a moment like this?
Sasuke seems to think the same thing and keeps on kissing me.
KNOCK, KNOCK.
"Oi, Teme! Can I come in, I gotta ask you something!"
Sasuke sighs and puts me back down. Needless to say, I'm disappointed. My (slightly swollen) lips form an annoyed pout. Sasuke goes to open the door and Naruto stumbles in, screaming.
"TEME! WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU MAKE ME WAIT? IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT!"
"I was busy."
"Oh… Ooooooh." He says when he finally notices me. "Well, well, Teme. I didn't know you snogged with your secretary during work time."
Sasuke slapped him behind the head, as annoyed as I am.
"We had things to discuss."
"And what were those things?"
"Why do you need to know?"
"Aaw, come on, Teme! I'm your best friend! Tell me, come on!"
"Sakura, you can go back to work."
I nod. I just hope he didn't kiss me on a whim. He didn't tell Naruto. Maybe he's embarrassed of me? I get out of the office and go back to my own desk, right next to his door.
A few moments later, I see Naruto come out of Sasuke's office. He gives me a huge grin. As soon as he's around the corner, my phone rings. I jump, startled, then pick it up.
"Hello, you've reached Uchiha Co., how can I help you?"
"Sakura?"
"Sasuke-kun?" I swear, it just came out on its own.
"I really enjoyed our date on Tuesday. Do you want to go on another date with me?"
Now, I'm smiling. A really wide, goofy smile. He called back. He called me back. Oh God, I love him.
"Sure, I'd love to." I did try to keep my composure, but my eagerness could be very easily heard in my voice.
"How about tonight?" I can hear the satisfied smirk in his voice.
"Tonight would be great. I know this little place, they make the best fusili in the world."
Oh, yes.
I love fusili.
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A/N: I thought of that while eating fusili. In case you don't know, it's the short, twisted pasta. My favourite. And it was my best shot at sauce rosée. So, yeah. What did you think? Tell me!
This is the last fanfic I'll post before I go back to school, which is tomorrow. I'm in my last year of high school! I'll try to update everything, but I can't make any promises.
Anyway, see ya!
Queen of Pascalities