Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Neither do I own genetically modified (read: mutated) fish.
Day 01, 0912 hrs
Sasuke observed the twenty odd people milling around the lobby in various stages of boredom. A fair majority were tapping away at their phones; a few were reading the articles posted on the opposite wall that detailed the numerous achievements of the scientists who worked here. One guy had actually managed to fall asleep while standing up.
Sasuke's mild irritation grew slightly when a glance at his watch told him that their instructor was late. Normally, he wouldn't even care, but he was missing three days of school for a program he hadn't even wanted to go for in the first place, only to waste his time doing absolutely nothing.
The glass doors swung open and several heads, including his, looked up expectantly. It didn't take long for them to figure out that it wasn't their missing instructor and quickly go back to whatever it was they were doing.
The petite, pink-haired girl who'd just stepped into the building stared somewhat bewilderedly at the small crowd gathered in the lobby before her expression changed to one of relief.
Since all the seats were taken, she made her way to the nearest wall, which also happened to be the one he was leaning against. Sasuke waited resignedly for the inevitable sideways glance and flirtatious smile that happened almost every time a female approached him but it never came. She was too busy rummaging through her pink messenger bag to do much else and what she pulled out surprised him.
'The History of Modern Genetics' the title read and Sasuke was admittedly impressed. But before she could so much as open the thick book, the doors opened again to admit a tall, silver-haired man in a lab coat.
"Well, it seems like everyone's here," he drawled, one lone eye taking in his new group of students. "I'm Hatake Kakashi, your instructor for the next three days."
Day 01, 1013 hrs
She was in his bench. They weren't exactly partners but they would be working on the same experiment for the next few days. It was an arrangement he could live with since all the other girls were annoying as hell with all their giggling and staring.
The only task their instructor had given them so far was "get to know one another" before he vanished off somewhere. Sasuke didn't see the need. She on the other hand had abandoned her book in favour of the small stack of notes they'd been given. She was utterly absorbed in her reading, studiously making little notes anywhere they would fit in pink ink.
When she pulled out a bright pink cell phone to reply to a text, Sasuke started to wonder if everything this girl owned was pink. Then he wondered why he even cared.
Luckily, Kakashi reappeared and decided to begin their first lesson before Sasuke could notice anything else about his new bench-mate.
Day 01, 1328 hrs
"Excuse me."
It took a second for Sasuke to realize that she was talking to him and he immediately redirected his attention from his work to her. Her short pink hair was now pulled back into a practical ponytail and the smile on her lips reached her vivid green eyes.
"Would you mind if I borrowed your microscope? The magnification on mine isn't high enough to examine this clearly," she explained, holding up her petri dish.
Sasuke wordlessly shifted his chair and she thanked him politely.
The way she adjusted the dials was efficient and professional. Once she found what she was looking for, she made more notes with her pink pen on her book. That focused look on her face and too big lab coat she was wearing made her look rather cute.
Sasuke promptly ignored that thought and returned to his own specimen.
Day 02, 1456 hrs
Sakura loved learning, she really did. She loved absorbing knowledge from just about anywhere and she equally loved putting said knowledge to good use. She especially loved discovering new things about her world and everything in it.
Out of all the programs and attachments she'd done so far, this one was proving to be the best one yet.
According to their schedule, half of everyday would be spent attending lectures and the other half was reserved for them to complete their own mini-research project. The lectures were interesting, her experiment was proceeding quite successfully and there were all sorts of opportunities for them to learn every single minute. It was needless to say that Sakura was enjoying herself completely.
At least she was until their instructor cheerfully informed them that they had to do a fifteen minute presentation of their findings the following day with the person sharing their bench.
There were groans of frustration and disbelieving complaints from almost everyone in the lab. Sakura turned to see her bench-mate's reaction but his expression was pretty much unreadable.
"We should get started," he said quietly. He stood up and headed to the room beside the lab where there were computers set up for them to use.
He sighed. "Are you coming?" Sakura blinked and picked up her notebook before following him.
Day 02, 1637 hrs
They were the only ones left in the room. Everyone else was already gone, having collectively decided to procrastinate and finish the presentation tomorrow.
Sakura wasn't so stupid and thankfully, neither was her bench-mate.
"This doesn't make sense," she murmured thoughtfully as she scrolled through their background research.
He paused in his flipping through her notes. "What is it?"
"The chemical we added is actually necessary for activation of a certain set of genes for normal embryonic development. So why do the embryos mutate in the first place?"
"Too much of something is never a good thing," he said wisely and Sakura laughed a little at that.
"So what you're saying is that after we added the chemical, the new concentration was above the normal levels?"
He shrugged. "Why else would they tell us to add it."
Sakura's highlighted a section of text with a swipe of the mouse. "It says here that this chemical is regulated by enzymes. If my hypothesis is right, the increased concentration prevents effective regulation which disrupts the normal functioning of the genes and hence causes the abnormal development."
For a second, she could have sworn that the boy beside her looked somewhat bemused by her quick, logical analysis before he nodded in approval. "We can try looking for similar experiments tomorrow to compare their results and conclusion to ours."
Sakura grinned. It wasn't often that she found someone with similar interests and she was glad to have him as her partner.
"You'd make a good researcher," he commented offhandedly. But the tiny smirk on his handsome face made her heart skip a beat.
"You too," she returned, hoping that the glow from the computer screen would hide her blush.
Day 02, 2138 hrs
"Let me get this straight," Ino started incredulously. "You spent two hours with your amazingly hot lab partner discussing ugly mutated fish. How in the world can you call that romantic?"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "I never said it was romantic, Ino. I was just surprised that someone who looked like him would be so…"
"Nerdy?" Ino filled in.
Sakura glared at her best friend. "Smart was the word I was looking for. And chivalrous."
"Chivalrous?" the blonde perked up. Chivalry was a rare commodity these days.
"He walked me to the bus stop after we were done," Sakura replied, trying to make it sound as though it wasn't a big deal.
"You like him," Ino declared happily.
"I met him yesterday, Pig. Besides, I don't even know his name," she protested half-heartedly, throwing herself onto her bed.
Ino wagged a French manicured finger. "There's always tomorrow, Forehead. I'll be waiting for the all the juicy details."
Sakura's groan was muffled by her pillow.
Day 03, 0906 hrs
An internet browser was open with multiple tabs for various scientific journals, but Sasuke was too busy glaring at the clock in the corner of the computer screen to read them.
She was late.
Sasuke didn't understand why he was so bothered by her absence. Then again, the only time in the past two day that he'd sort of not minded being here was when she was there, taking in page after page of their research and discussing scientific theories with him.
He forced himself to stop glaring at the clock, only for his finger to start tapping the table impatiently.
Where the hell was she?
Day 03, 0912 hrs
She was late. She was late. She was so so late.
It wasn't even her fault since Ino suddenly insisted on waking up early just so she could do her hair. Her hair of all things. And while she agreed that the French braid Ino had done was much prettier than the ponytail she would have usually scraped her hair into, it so wasn't worth being late for.
Sakura prayed that whatever-his-name-was wouldn't be too upset.
She arrived at the lab fifteen minutes past their agreed time, apologizing profusely between pants.
He simply pulled one of the rolling office chairs over and gestured for her to sit.
Sakura gave him a grateful smile as she took her seat. But she couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed that he hadn't noticed or cared about the change in her hairstyle.
Day 03, 1157 hrs
They were almost done. At the rate they were going, they would have enough time after lunch to finish the slides. But after experiencing the ridiculously long queues over the last two days, they decided to finish their work during lunch instead and eat when everyone else was done.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw a group of girls approaching them. He must have seen them too but he ignored them.
"Hey, would you like to join us for lunch?"
Sakura knew the invitation was for him so she offered. "You can go if you want to. I can finish up here by myself."
"I'll go with you later. Leave," he ordered the girls who glared enviously at a stunned Sakura before doing as they were told.
Day 03, 1310 hrs
He wasn't really one for conversation, but she talked enough for them both and was sensible enough to ask too personal questions, unlike his previous experiences with other girls. In return, he found himself responding more than he usually would, intrigued by her wit and amused by her passion for all things scientific.
They had at least another half hour to themselves to explore the expansive, well-landscaped complex before they had to head back to the lab. Or, as she'd quite eloquently put it, 'We'll only get to be here once in our lifetime so we'd better look around when we can.'
"Now I'm not sure if I want to be a doctor or a researcher," she mused to herself with a laugh. "What do you want to do when you grow up?"
His reply was immediate. "I'll take over my father's company."
Her cheerful expression faltered as her brows furrowed. "Then why are you here?"
"My school had some vacancies for the program and I was the only one good enough," he answered truthfully.
Her face fell and Sasuke knew instantly that he had said something wrong.
Day 03, 1316 hrs
Sakura told herself she wasn't upset. There was no reason to be. All she'd thought was that she'd finally found someone who shared her interests, someone that she could share her interests with. It wasn't important, really.
"I think we'd better get going," she said lightly. "It's-"
He caught her arm to prevent her from leaving.
"I know I didn't want to come here before. Hell, I hadn't wanted to come at all. But I learnt a lot thanks to you and having you." She could hear the urgency in his tone; he was trying to make her understand. "Having you with me made my time here worthwhile."
Sakura's eyes widened as she realized what he was saying. Then she smiled brightly at him with pure joy shining in her emerald eyes.
It was enough of an answer.
Day 03, 1643 hrs
Their presentation went very well and Sasuke could quite safely say that theirs was the definitely the best.
She had to leave early for some reason or another and she did after a quick goodbye, leaving him to finish clearing up their bench.
He was just about to leave after collecting his things when he noticed something sticking out from a corner of his folder. It was a note and he would have recognized the handwriting even if it weren't written in its signature pink.
Thanks for everything.
PS: My name's Sakura (8732 2372)
Without thinking, Sasuke reached for his phone.
Day 03, 1647 hrs
Sakura didn't know what she was thinking, leaving him her number like that. She wasn't usually so forward but she knew that if she didn't do something, she would never see him again.
Nonetheless, she was quite startled with her phone rang and she flipped it open to find a new message from an unknown number. It contained only two lines, but then he was always a man of few words.
Sasuke
PS: The ponytail suits you more
Well the ending wasn't nearly as cute or fluffy as I'd hope it would be but I tried. As for the weird format, it was supposed to look like the logbook from a lab but it turned out kinda odd. Again, I tried. T-T
I know I made Sakura sound kinda geeky in this but she was always a bookworm in the actual series so I figured it would be okay.
This is based on an entirely true story, with some minor adjustments so that the characters would fit. No prizes for guessing who this story was based on *wink* but it didn't end as well as it did for Sasuke and Sakura, that's for sure. To be honest, it was actually rather okay for a while but after that it just went downhill from there due to differences in our values. In other words, he was rather indiscriminate in his affections/a bit of a pervert so I dumped him.
And yes, researchers who study on genetic abnormalities caused to environmental agents do use fish as their animal of choice. Zebrafish to be exact. And the unnamed chemical Sakura and Sasuke were experimenting with was Retinoic Acid. If you're interested, you can go wiki it or PM me and I can send you the info.