Disclaimer: Disclaimed. I don't own Naruto.
trains.
Reference to The Antlers, because they make beautiful music.
Listen if you get the chance, but you don't have to have listened to them to read this fic :)
Enjoy
The train she had just missed by a millisecond whizzed past, faster than sound. It blew her flyaway dress violently, as she used one of her hands to hold down the hem, and the other to hold down her eccentrically (natural) pink hair.
She was a sight to behold in a dirty, bland underground station. A strapless, bustier dress which stopped at mid-thigh with corsetry, frills, bows and a complete lace overdo (think Dior, people), and her thin strands of hair pulled into a simple, yet messy up-do, with Choo heels and semi-transparent black gloves, Sakura Haruno was like a beautifully tamed flower sprouting in the middle of the Sahara. Can you write 'out-of-place' any simpler?
A pretty social gathering (turned wasted-till-dawn-parrr-tay!) kept Sakura up till the morning after the night before (say 6 o'clock-ish) to catch the morning underground service.
"The 5:43 morning train is now approaching. Please stand behind the yellow line," the female robotic voice chimed through the intercom.
She waited patiently, tapping her feet in a dainty rhythm on the gum-ridden floor, as she bit her lower lip in bad habit. Her 'smoky eyes' from the night before had transferred from the top of her eyes, to the bottom. Her eyeliner from the night before was now twice as dense from the addition of mascara, and her provocative red lipstick had faded.
The train suddenly approached, as she clutched her small purse tighter from the pressure coming towards her. No one else seemed like they were boarding this train, as she was alone on the platform and not many people seemed like they were seated in the carriages either, as there were millions of vacated seats and spaces that she observed through the windows.
The train slowed down, screeching against the railroad, before stopping completely, a double door positioned perfectly in front of Sakura.
She smiled slightly, as she skipped through the doors. She held onto the pole next to the door for support as she glanced at her thin wristwatch, which was fastened on top of her right glove.
When the train started to move, she pursued through her little black clutch for her compact mirror. Sticking her tongue out in mild concentration, and knitting her neatly drawn-on eyebrows together, she finally found her mirror. Taking it out she flipped it open, and searched through her clutch again to look for her red lipstick this time. She found it, but poorly noticed that, with her daintily small hands, she would never be able to juggle her mirror, her lipstick lid and her actual lipstick with only two hands.
She sighed out deeply, as a strand of hair in front of her face was breezily blown back on top of her head in its rightful position.
She looked around the carriage for anyone to help her, but it was currently empty. However, she peeped into the next carriage with a large cat-like eye, and successfully spotted a raven haired man in all-black apparel with gothic features and a black leather guitar case held protectively between his knees.
She thanked her rare luck, and rushed over to him. She broadly seated herself next to him, sitting in a mannerly position, and held out her compact mirror abruptly.
"Will you please be a darling, and hold this for me?" she innocently asked.
He stared at her incredulously, a pierced eyebrow suddenly rising in suspicion.
"Please?" she repeated.
He annoyingly sighed, and snatched the mirror from her keen hands, and held it in front of her face.
She smiled warmly and started to apply her lipstick, as she subtly peered at him every now and again.
He was fixatedly staring at the opposite side of the carriage, thinking about blue bears, man-eating unicorns and a pink-haired lady currently reapplying her smudged and smeared make-up.
He startled slightly, when she addressed him with a, "A little higher, darling".
Her voice was breezy and light-hearted. He raised the mirror slightly, reddening in the process.
"Are you in a band?" she asked curiously, pointing at his guitar case, as she moved onto fixing her hair. She took a few pins out of her hair and held them between her teeth. She re-shaped and re-formed her simplistic up-do and then inserted the pins back into place one-by-one.
"Yeah," he replied, after a few moments of staring at her working magic.
"That's cool. And you're taking the 5:43 because you wanted an early practice?" She was now removing the extreme panda-eyes with a Kleenex found mysteriously in her bag, as she swiped under each eye expertly.
"Something like that…" he replied enigmatically. He went back to watching her with awe at how she handled herself so well in the presence of a complete gothic stranger. "What about you? Why are you up so early?"
"Truthfully," she started, raising her orbs to look into his deep charcoal eyes with a petite amused smile on her plump red lips, "I never slept. 6 cups of caffeine enhanced coffees in the small café at the station back there." She pointed her hand mindlessly in the direction she had come from. She then grinned and chuckled before laying her head back to rest on the seat.
He smiled a little at this. She was definitely rare in the species of human.
She brought her knees up to her chest as her 5 inch heels clicked against the metal seat. She took back her mirror and pulled out an exquisite bottle of No. 5 Chanel eau de toilette and started to gently dab a bit of the magical formula behind her knees, onto her wrists and around her slim neck.
She hummed lightly, before realizing that she had not asked this man his name, nor had she given her own.
"Sakura Haruno, it's nice to meet you…?"
"Sasuke Uchiha," he finished.
"It's nice to meet you, Sasuke Uchiha." She smiled brightly, before adding, "And thank you for helping me get ready for the day."
'"Get ready for the day?" Is she not going back to her home to sleep after, what looks like, partying all night?' Sasuke thought mindlessly. But thenit would explain that she was reapplying her make-up, instead of taking it off. But before Sasuke could ask what she fully meant, she cut in his train of questions and said,
"Would you like to meet again after today?"
He smiled a little at the thought.
"Sure, here's my number." He dug in his pocket for a piece of paper, and ripped a corner off of, what looked like, a medical form. He then scribbled something down, and passed it to her.
"Hmm," she hummed in thought, and then took the paper and looked at the number with slight irritation. "I don't think there's any need for phone numbers." She then popped the small piece of paper into her mouth and swallowed immediately, grinning sheepishly afterwards. "I hate mobiles and they hate me."
He stared at her in disbelief.
"I know – why don't we stay in contact via Antlers? It would be a great date," she foxily winked before looking out of the window.
He was confused, to say the least. But he was tongue-tied, and he couldn't say a word when she started to gather her clutch and wave a casual hand behind her back.
"This is my stop – I'll see you later, Sasuke," she silkily purred.
She then ran out of the train before he could stop her.
And when Sasuke got his senses back, he suddenly stood up and grabbed his guitar, running out of the train doors just as they were closing in pursuit of Sakura Haruno.
"Wait!" he shouted, to an empty underground station. "Wait…" he trailed off.
The train started to whiz by in exiting the station. Exhausted, he slumped on a chair, and placed his guitar case between his knees, sighing in disappointment. He finally meets a decent girl with charisma and entertainment in her personality, yet he let her slip away.
But before he could touch the edge of all lost hope; he noticed the poster on the dark wall. Completely red except for a centre image of two hands loosely cupping the words, 'THE ANTLERS | HOSPICE', Sasuke came to a sudden exciting realization.
She had mentioned that they would stay in touch via Antlers, and in front of him was a poster of a supposed band, named the Antlers… on closer inspection, a date was sprawled at the bottom – 28th January 2010, and a venue.
Smiling, he noted it all down on his hand. He was definitely going to the gig.
Antlers, eh? What a way of contacting each other.
Adieu.