The phone call
(the call of love)
Summary: He stared at the display which showed the number he was about to dial, not knowing it was going to be the call of love [AU]
Chapter one
When he came back to his apartment that night, he was exhausted. It had been one of his busiest days at the office, with meeting after meeting, then nerve-cracking sessions.
He must have drunk dozens of coffee cups and while it kept him going, it also made him more stressed than he usually was. And when he found two of his employees not doing their jobs he felt like an erupting volcano, forgiving nothing in his way. He clearly remembered as one of the two pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and grinned at the other one as he showed what was written on it.
"Guess what…" at the bewildered look of his colleague he continued "I found out what her phone number is." he finished as the other one had his eyes wide from disbelief.
"How did you do it? I thought…"
"One of her colleagues was kind enough to share it with me." the first employee replied then winked at the second one.
And they would have continued their little chat if the paper wouldn't have been ripped from between the man's fingers by Sasuke.
"You might want to go back to your work…" he had said coldly, yet menacing, leaving a threat pending over their heads.
When lunch break came that day, Sasuke found the same subordinates engrossed in a discussion over the same mysterious woman. Leaning over his office's door frame, he listened to those two, who just happened to have their backs towards him again.
"Believe me when I say she is charming. And to think that two days ago it could have been just the two of us…"
"Wait, wait, wait… what do you mean by that?"
"What I mean is that I was walking on the street when I spotted her. It's really not that hard to miss her anyway. She was patting a little boy's head and I couldn't help but imagine her as a mother; what a good and kind one she would be. But as I was imagining all that stuff she had already began moving and when I spotted her again she was already in a cab and departing. So I missed my chance…I'm so stupid…"
"But sure you can meet her again. You mentioned a friend of hers…"
"Yeah, I did. I seriously hope she will give me her number again, because this time I won't lose it."
"It really sucks you lost it like that."
"Hmm. Well, it doesn't matter. I will take this as a test. And the prize will be her…"
He, now, wished he would have fired them. Indiscipline was not tolerated by him and that's why his business went that well.
After having stripped off his clothes he headed straight towards the shower, intent on relaxing. And as he replayed that day's events, he realized he must have unconsciously put the paper he took from his subordinates, into his pants' pocket.
He got out of the bathroom as soon as he finished showering and drying and searched for his pants, curious to see if he actually took the paper with the phone number. When his finger came across the smooth and thin piece of paper he was a bit surprised as it wasn't in his nature to do things unconsciously and which he did not remember after.
That showed perfectly just how tired he was. As he stared at the phone number he began imagining himself walking like a zombie if he stood awake any longer. Sighing, he threw the piece of paper in the air and went to his bed without a second thought. One last glance at the clock told him it was past twelve p.m. and he was about to close his eyes when he spotted the slightly crumbled piece of paper, seemingly glowing under the thin moon ray which covered it only.
He suddenly got an itching curiosity to find out who owned that number that caused such a ruckus in his office. He remembered having heard it was a "she" but her name or who she might be was left unknown.
It was probably a prostitute his subordinates knew and wanted to still have fun with.
But curiosity was only human and Sasuke knew he wouldn't fall asleep unless he dialed the number. She might as well be his neighbor for all he knew.
Having decided he wanted to fall asleep once and for all, he angrily got up from bet and grabbed the paper and his phone, and began dialing. For a moment he stared at the display, thinking of how childish this was and how rude it was from him to call someone at an hour at which most slept soundly.
But he was known to be selfish and at the moment all he cared about was getting a proper rest.
He pressed the button and pun the phone next to his ear, listening to the same ringing for several seconds. He began thinking that maybe it was a wrong number but he couldn't know that, or that she simply wasn't home, which only fueled his thoughts that she was a prostitute or something around that.
When she did answer, he was almost startled, as he almost fell asleep.
"Hello?" a feminine voice was heard on the other line. It was a bit hoarse and growling, and he had no doubt he had disturbed her sleep. She could be working in an office as he was and had just fallen asleep…but he couldn't know.
"Taro?" he tentatively asked, not knowing what to say. He suddenly realized he should have prepared a background story in order to find out who she was.
"I'm sorry but there is no Taro here…" he heard her sigh. She must be cursing him in her thoughts for being disturbed by a simple mistake.
"Are you sure? I was told that…" but he didn't get the chance to continue, being interrupted by an angry voice.
"Listen. Doctor Sakura Haruno here, and for your own concern, I meet dozens of people everyday. And I don't know any Taro, so I kindly ask you not to disturb me anymore."
She then ended their 'conversation' as the insufferable beeping sound was heard…but he felt amused. He didn't even ask for her name, yet she had unintentionally given it to him. Also, the woman he first thought to be a mere prostitute turned out to be a doctor and these two jobs were so much in contrast that he felt the corner of his mouth turn upwards in amusement. He knew she was quite young, judging by her voice and by the fact that she couldn't attract two young men's attention if being old.
She was probably quite good looking too but he didn't know what type of person she was. The woman apparently didn't like having her sleep interrupted but he couldn't quite imagine a doctor who had trouble waking up.
Shaking his head as if that would clear his mind of all those thoughts regarding the person he had just spoken with, he went back to his bed, telling himself that he could sleep now, and he could think about everything else when he had time.
-x-
The next day at his office wasn't as busy as the previous one and Sasuke considered himself lucky to go home four hours earlier.
As he waited for the lights to turn green he suddenly remembered Doctor Haruno Sakura, or whoever she was. Moving across the streets again he spotted a signpost which indicated how to reach the hospital and an unknown something pulled him that way.
But, if she was a doctor, did she work in the hospital or in a private clinic? And, supposing she was a respected doctor, how did she become the centerpiece of two young men's attention, young men fascinated by dating and flirting?
He reached the hospital.
Once the vehicle was stopped he had to think of a way to meet or, at least, see her. But when finding none he was angry with himself. Angry because he became preoccupied with a name and a voice…no face, no past, no present, nothing else…or maybe her present was already partially revealed to him.
This was one of the most ridiculous things he has ever done, he thought, and he wasn't a man to do ridiculous things. For this reason he left the hospital parking lot without a glance back. He would go to his apartment to a nice relaxing evening…
…But his phone rang…
"Hey Sasuke" his best friend's voice greeted as soon as he answered the call "I heard you've been quite nervous at office today" the blonde didn't even wait to see if Sasuke was the one who really answered the phone "and you should definitely hang out with us, guys, tonight."
What an absurd things to do, the dark haired male thought.
"Why would I do that?" his monotonous voice asked, betraying nothing but the challenge thrown at the blond.
"Oh come on…You know it's been almost a month since we last gathered as a group…Jeez…and here I thought…"
"Shut up."
But the blond was right. Sure the two of them met occasionally but he had completely ignored the others.
"Alright. Where?" he imagined the grin playing on his friend's face.
"Ichiraku, of course!"
Quite predictable…
"You have a lot to catch on…"
"Whatever…See you later…"
And with that the call was ended.
-x-
"I met the prettiest girl I've ever seen today." Naruto said, his eyes telling the others around him that he was recalling that happening.
"Really?" his dark haired friend raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Yeah…and she has the most beautiful eyes." he then suddenly laughed "it's funny that we already knew each other but I guess…"
"You're an idiot." someone at his left interrupted him, causing several smiles and one or two chuckles.
"Shut up, Sasuke. As if you're doing any better."
"Hn."
A typical "quarrel" between the two…
"So…you're telling us you've had a beautiful woman, maybe the love of your life, right under your nose and you didn't see it…what a drag…" Shikamaru observed in the most laid-back way possible.
"I don't know if she's the love of my life…" Naruto replied as he began thinking if such a thing was possible.
"Have you asked her out?" Kiba asked with a grin on his face.
"Actually…" a small blush appeared on the blond's face "I didn't."
"I sure remember you eagerly asking girls on dates…" Neji said in disbelief. Sasuke turned to the blond with a smirk.
"I never thought I will get to see the deadlast turned to jelly because of a girl." but his smirk turned to a real but small smile as he noticed the short glare he received.
That day was the most surprising day.
"Hey…leaving joke behind…" Neji interrupted, his voice and expression serious "I heard Hayate died."
As expected the atmosphere of the group matched the gravity of Neji's words.
"You mean Hayate, the examiner two years ago?"
Neji gave a nod as soon as Naruto finished with his question.
"He did appear to be sick though…" Shikamaru voiced his thoughts.
"He died of lung cancer…it seems that his disease has finally caught up on him." Neji said once again, sharing his knowledge with the rest of his friends.
Fortunately for the group, the gloomy moment faded away and they began joking and having a good time together once again.
Sasuke reached his home past midnight, barely managing to escape his blond friend's pleas to stay more. And in the solitude of his apartment he remembered Hayate's death and his disease. The connections were quickly made and the result was the mysterious doctor. Now he had a good reason to speak to her.
The only problem was that it was nearing one a.m. She was definitely asleep by now.
But he found he didn't care.
He grabbed his phone and quickly dialed her number, waiting for the annoying ringing to stop.
"Hello?" the same feminine voice from the night before answered moments ago. He felt so strange hearing it again, with the same sleepiness obvious in it.
For a moment he kept silent, as if he had lost the small sheet of paper on which he wrote his replies. But he was struggling to say something.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your sleep, but I need to know what exactly lung cancer is." She must be utterly surprised to receive such a call at such an hour, he thought, as he began to doubt this was the best reason to have her talking to him.
"Who am I talking to?" she asked, yet Sasuke was somehow reluctant to answer her. She probably remembered his voice from the other night and that fact made him feel slightly stupid.
"Sasuke." he finally gave up, thinking she had the right to know a name if he kept bothering her in the middle of the night.
"Okay, Sasuke…" there was a pause as though she herself was having difficulties searching for words. But he was just imagining things, he said to himself. "Lung cancer is a dangerous disease which results from the abnormal cell growth in the tissues of the lung. The most common symptoms are coughing, in some cases coughing blood, chest pain…are you still listening?"
Her words flew past his ears, the only thing absorbed by him being her voice, which he now realized was warm and soothing. He could tell she had a passion for all things medicine, a passion he could hear in her simple explanation.
"I am." he replied to her question as soon as he realized it. A pause followed before she resumed talking.
"Are you having the symptoms I told you about?" she inquired.
"No."
He could imagine how confused she was. He could have imagined how the confusion played on her face if he knew how she looked like.
"Someone I know died of it and I wanted to know what this disease was about." He thought he rushed with this explanation but he was aware that he will have to hang up soon.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
Somehow it was such an awkward call. She seemed to try to be nice when there was no need for her to be. After all, it was him who woke her at almost one in the morning and his uneasiness grew the more she tried to be nice.
"I hope I've been of help to you, Sasuke…good night."
He was then left wondering why she still waited for a few seconds as if waiting for an answer. The seconds passed by and there was probably a minute before he gave a low "good night" to her just as she ended the call.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter of this fanfic. I could have made it a one-shot as the fanfic won't be long but I was eager to know what your opinion is.
Please leave a review. ^^