XxMoonlightCharmxX: Forgive me if Sasori or Sakura get OOC, because this is my first time writing Naruto. Oh, and there might be some grammatical mistakes in the story since I couldn't get a Beta Reader!

P.S. I specially finished this for Gigira who told me she would read this fanfic even if she wasn't familiar with Naruto! ^_^

Okay, Mr. Poe.

I felt the muscles in my arms stretch and strain.

Now, if I can just - get your brilliant, angsty-self… right into… I bit lip in concentration.

"Gotcha." I sighed in relief.

… Oh no.

I tried to grip for the ladder, bookcase - anything, really, to keep me from a painful collision with the century-old marble flooring. "Eep!" … Please Kami, if I break anything, don't let it be the arm. (I couldn't afford that, not with final exams coming around in less than two weeks.) Oh please - "Oof."

Astonishingly, the marble flooring wasn't as hard as I imagined it would be, or as cold. Wait… I was saved! Someone had been able to catch me - somewhat. My hands were pressed up against something solid and warm. And breathing.

Well, humiliation was a small price to pay. Our arm was saved, right?

I could deal with this.

I opened one eye… then the other… and saw black. Black cloak, familiar-looking red clouds over it and then - oh hello, white skin - and then finally, there was a face. A very handsome face. Oh, curses. "Hi."

"Hello," the red-haired man answered. After a pause, he asked in a nonchalant tone, "Are you all right?"

I backed away as he disengaged his arms around me. "Fine, fine," I replied hastily, busily brushing my knee-length skirt. "Thanks to you, anyway. Sorry about that." I finally looked up from the ground and gave him my best 'forgive-me-I'm- not-usually-a-clumsy-idiot' smile.

He nodded. "… Try not to be so careless next time."

I felt the tips of my ears burn pink. "Um, sure. No problem." I turned away as quick as humanly possible and began walking towards my desk station. Now I did feel like a clumsy idiot. I'm sure he didn't mean it to sound so… I really shouldn't take it like that. But, I was… taking it like that. I felt a growl in the back of my throat. What nerve. I whipped around again, intent on confronting then telling off my 'savior' when suddenly, scarcely three inches from my nose was that black cloak again. Needless to say, I turned back and headed to my desk.

Coward.

I ignored my inner and went around the table, plopping myself onto the roller chair. I swayed it a little back, and I scooted forward to get closer to my station. It was about half an hour more before I could meet Ino for lunch. The blonde was anxious for me to meet someone there too. I drummed my fingers on my desk once before seeing a shadow loom over the surface. Well, back to work. "Welcome to Konoha University Library. How can I help you…?"

How fortuitous. I was looking up at him. Those strange, brown eyes of his were downcast. What exactly was he looking at?

"Actually, I-," he paused. "Carnal lusts…" he trailed off.

"Excuse me?" God, was this some kind of joke? Did you have to make my savior a perverted sicko? I'm grateful you spared the arm but - He motioned towards something in front of me. A book; opened partway and face down. My eyes widened.

A picture of a bare-chested man passionately embracing a curvaceous brunette adorned the front.

Carnal Lusts.

I was going to kill Ino.

"Friend of mine's." I embarrassedly took the book with the eyebrow-quirking cover, in one hand and attempted to pry open my desk drawer with the other. "She's on break," I laughed nervously. "Must've left it out." Stupid drawer - had to get stuck - today of all, I jerked the compartment free with a grunt, days. "It's not mine. Really," I firmly insisted, the volume now safely "tucked" into the drawer.

"Ah," he seemed to accept. But after a moment, he delicately lifted an eyebrow. "… Really?"

I reddened at his tone. "Yes, really."

I cleared my throat. Moving away from Sakura's humiliation fest of the evening. "So can I help you?"

He seemed to remember something. "Oh…"

Right. Okay, so was that an 'oh' yes? Or an 'oh' no?

"Yes."

Ah, we have progress.

"I was searching for a book."

I could only nod slowly at his reply. This was a library.

He continued. "This book. I was wondering, by any chance, do you have it?"

Wait, what? He hadn't told me the title already, had he? I was sure he didn't -

"Tell me, are you a student here?"

"What? Oh, yeah -," Well, aren't we random. "Yes. I'm sophomore here at Konoha University."

"Oh, that's nice." Kami, could I sound anymore boring? I searched his eyes. "You're…?"

"An alumni. A year ago."

I smiled. "That's great." I laughed and gestured to my surroundings. "Doing some on campus work this year. Besides this I do a little tutoring."

He half-smiled. "Admirable."

I flushed. "Yeah. It's nothing, really."

Really, Sakura. A one-word compliment and you're blushing like a junior higher.

Argh. I silently groaned. If I could only shush inner. "You know, I'm actually really enjoying the extra work. But enough about me, what brings you back to your old Alma Mater?"

"My friends." He leaned a hand on my desk. "We meet up a few times each year." He glanced around at the shelves. "I like to stop by when…"

"You're here," I finished. A scholar. "That's nice. It's good to keep in touch with friends." Hm… "Alumni too?"

"Most of them."

"Say, who do they happen to be? Maybe, by some off chance, I know them." It wasn't likely, but conversation with him was… nice.

"Akatsuki."

No .Way.

"Akatsuki?" I gestured, "As in the Akatsuki? Most feared gang in all of Konoha?"

Oh, the red clouds really did seem familiar.

"Yes." He frowned, and I wasn't quite sure why.

"What a coincidence! I do know them."

Sasori paused. He should've known.

It seemed they had beaten him, and he had used the nameless book ploy for nothing. "Well, then. You must be," he shifted, "Yamanaka Ino, I take it?" Who else could she have been? As it was obvious, Sasori was an infrequent visitor at the library.

"Oh, no. I'm Sakura." His eyebrows rose. "A friend of Ino's. We met as roommates this year."

She grinned. "I'm actually about to meet her -" The pinkette realized something. "… Hold on, what'syour name?"

"I'm Sasori." He tilted his head slightly. "And guilty."

What a surprise; she wasn't taken after all.

Don't act too shocked, Sakura. Don't act too shocked… or thrilled.

I started. "Oh… Oh wow, I'm glad. I mean that's nice. I mean, I'm glad, and that is nice." My words continued a little broken. "That… you are … guilty." Ugh, that came out horrible. I'm glad, and that is nice that you are guilty? Was Japanese suddenly my second language?

She was too adorable.

"If you say so." Sasori glanced at the clock that hung above her desk then looked back at her, the hint of a smirk present. "You're definitely a pleasant surprise, in any case. Shall we?"

Shall we what? To put it mildly, I was still a little thrown and also trying to recover from my earlier babbling.

"Oh, already?" I recovered spotting the time at the bottom-right corner of my computer screen. "You know, you don't have to take me. It might be suspicious."

He actually smiled at that last word.

"Really, you don't," I insisted. Even to my own ears I sounded unconvincing. And "suspicious"? I sounded like we were sneaking around or something - which we weren't.

"But I want to… Really." His eyes and voice lowered in seductive insistence.

How could I possibly say no to that? (How could anyone?) And the man had saved me. Not to mention, he was… cute? No, he was much more than cute. I don't think there was a word in any dictionary that I could've used to accurately describe him. Sasori's company was enjoyable even if did get jittery around him. And now, I had the chance to get to really know him. What did I have to lose?

I finally let out an "exasperated" sigh then shook my head.

I went to take his arm. "Really?"

Sasori looked down at me, his gaze on the upturned corner of my mouth.

His eyes then lifted back to mine. "Really."