One Regret, a naruto fanfic

STANDARD DISCLAIMER APPLIED

the one-shot of doom—!

dedicated to everyone who hates Monday mornings—!
especially dedicated to my yaoi-babe, Sarah—!

"Taxi!"

It was official; Sasuke hated Mondays. He hated them more than Valentines Day and fan-girls and rainbows and all the sweet, lovey-dovey things in the world. He hated them because of the early mornings and the freezing cold showers and the fact that everyone else seemed to be so happy.

Jeez, were Mondays only out to get him?

He'd gone through work in his usual manner; his beautiful wife— Haruno Sakura— had kissed his cheek, adjusted his tie, and then waved him on his way, before hurrying back inside the house to finish preparing breakfast for their adorable little child.

At work, he'd finished all of his jobs swiftly, gone out for lunch with his work-mates (who he could only slightly stand being around); none of the food he'd ordered was available, the coffee machine was broken and he'd had to spend more than an hour with Naruto.

Oh, the injustice of it all!

He'd gone back to work pissed off and relatively depressed; his boss had then asked him to stay late and now? It seemed he was going to be late home, as well.

Because every frickin' taxi drove straight past him.

"Taxi!" He tried again, scowling slightly; was it beginning to rain? Shit, it had better not—

It began to rain.

He swore loudly, running a hand through his glossy midnight-black hair, and then turned to glare at a random passing girl, who was, like normal, staring at him.

"Ex—excuse me…" She whispered, her eyes wide in obvious awe. "Y—you're Uchiha I—Itachi's brother, right?"

"Fuck off."

She let out an indignant squeak and turned away, blonde hair flicking out behind her. "I—I think you're brother's really cute, but you're j—just an asshole!" With that final cry, she hurried off in the opposite direction, glancing back over her shoulder once or twice.

Sasuke merely hn'ed and went back to his call-himself-a-taxi quest, all the while thinking of what the girl had said.

So she'd been a loser Itachi fan-girl; his brother just so happened to be an extremely famous businessman; famous for dating multiple celebrity girlfriends and then breaking their hearts—so, surely his brother was the real asshole.

But, of course, no girl saw it in that way.

Apart from Sakura, of course, but she was his wife— she couldn't help but see it in that way.

And Ino— but that was because Itachi had previously broken the bubbly blonde's heart, and she had no choice but to see it in that way.

But, every other girl hated him because he was an asshole.

It had been like that since high school, for crying out loud! When would Sasuke get his break?! When would they say, "oh, sorry Sasuke; our judgment was clouded simply because your sexy manliness blinded us"?

He sighed, before scowling angrily. "For Christ's sake— TAXI!" He yelled, practically throwing himself in front of an oncoming taxi; the yellow car screeched to a halt, stopping directly in front of him.

He rolled his eyes. "Thank God," he murmured, before circling around the car and throwing open the back door. There was no way he was sitting in the front, in case he so happened to be next to a female driver— and, hell, that would suck.

"Thanks for stopping." He said, smirking despite himself, as he shut the door behind him and buckled his seat-belt. "Take me to 34 Leaf Avenue."

"No problem." The driver sounded female; he caught her eye in the mirror and found himself staring into the most mesmerizing brown eyes— for a few seconds, he was captivated. She smiled slightly, brushing a piece of long, dark cerise-coloured hair back into her ponytail and pushed her glasses further up her nose. "I'll go as quickly as I can— I am, after all, one of the fastest taxi drivers in this country!" She boasted, obviously proud of herself, and then she began to pull away.

"Hn."

"I can't help but notice— you're an Uchiha, aren't you? Ooh, I can't remember which. I'm not good with names, see? Uh… Itachi?" She asked, biting her lip and looking cautiously at him in the mirror.

He glowered at her. "That's my brother."

"Oh… Oh! You're Uchiha Sasuke then!" She grinned happily, pleased with her newfound discovery.

"Yes."

"I'm Karin." She smiled, before twisting to look out of her window; a car sped quickly around her, making her honk her horn and swear loudly. "WOAH! BASTARD! Sheesh, people need to learn how to drive."

Sasuke didn't bother replying.

"I mean, I was dropping off some loud-mouthed blonde cutie to his house and some guy in a van almost crashed into us!" She shuddered. "Actually, he was pretty creepy. He had the longest tongue ever and it was lolling all over the steering wheel, and he winked at me instead of apologizing."

"Orochimaru."

"Huh?"

"He's a family friend. If you can call him that." Sasuke explained, leaning his head on his hand and staring out of the window.

Karin glanced back at him. "Hey, what's up? I mean, I know it's Monday and all and most people are pretty depressed then, but…" She trailed off.

"Nothing's wrong."

"Have you got someone waiting for you at home, then?" She asked, turning down yet another road.

He raised an eyebrow. "That's a strange question."

"I—I'm not asking you out, or anything! I have a boyfriend, thank you very much, though he's not as good-looking as you—! Argh! I'm acting like an idiot!"

He sniggered.

"S—shut up! I was trying to say, have you got someone waiting for you? Do I need to go faster, or…?"

"Or what?"

"Well, you can't be really unhappy if there's someone you love waiting at home for you. So, uh, I was trying to figure out why you seemed so grumpy."

He paused, remembering the girl from earlier. He bit back his sharp retort, as her words floated through his mind.

"I—I think you're brother's really cute, but you're j—just an asshole!"

"…Because I'm an asshole."

"What?" She looked sharply at him and, once again, onyx eyes were captivated by gentle brown eyes.

"I'm grumpy because I'm an asshole." He scowled, pushing his bangs out of his eyes and staring directly at her.

"You're not."

"Pardon?"

"I mean, you don't seem like an asshole. If you let people call you asshole and get you down like that, well… You just shouldn't! You seem like a really nice guy, Sasuke, and if we weren't both taken, I'd have jumped you already."

He chuckled. "That's nice to know."

"H—hey! It's a compliment— oh God, I sound like a right slut. I'm not, really. I'm perfectly nice, I am." Karin blustered, embarrassed with herself, but Sasuke didn't really mind.

She was quite cute really.

Not like Sakura— Sakura was warm and gentle and beautiful, and she was the perfect wife and the perfect mother. She was so sweet and angelic, with such a pretty smile and such a pretty laugh. She wasn't particularly curvaceous, but her body was nice to look at, and she understood him.

They were best friends, as well as partners.

No, Karin was definitely something else; she was witty and loud and couldn't help but say whatever was on her mind. And it made her beautiful as well and she was so confident with herself.

And her eyes…

Sakura's eyes were a vivid, exciting emerald-green; and they'd been so wonderful, promising late-night parties and other wild adventures. But, as beautiful as they were, they were extremely misleading; Sakura was so old-fashioned, to the point of being boring; but he loved her because of that.

Sasuke was old-fashioned.

But Karin's eyes were something different; they seemed glamorous and mysterious, as though she would stay forever as 'the taxi woman', who occasionally picked him up and dropped him off.

He wanted to get to know her, he really did; it was a terrible ache inside his heart, telling him that he should.

But then he remembered Sakura and her loving smile, and that ache vanished.

"I'm sure you aren't a slut." He murmured. "You're actually quite pretty."

"Ah! Stop; you'll make me blush!" Karin giggled good-naturedly, slowing down the cab to a halt. "Since we're friends and all, I'll half the cost."

"So what'll that be, then?" Sasuke asked, curiously.

"Five pounds and ninety-three pence!"

He paid her quickly, suddenly desperate to go home and see his wife; Karin watched him leave, waving happily.

He simply smiled in return.

And then she pulled away, zooming down the road in her rather speedy little taxi, and he never saw her again.

At least, that's how things should have ended.

((It's just another manic Monday,

I wish it was Sunday…

Because that's my fun-day,

It's just another manic Monday…))

Sasuke scowled, tugging his earphones out of his ears and paused his iPod, so that he could call for a taxi again. A month had passed since his meeting with Karin and he hadn't thought about her once— apart from every Monday, as he stood calling for a taxi.

And the rain drizzled miserably, soaking him.

"Taxi!" He called, with no particular urgency. It wasn't that he didn't care anymore, but he wasn't sure whether Sakura'd be at home. Recently, he'd felt as though she was avoiding him and he'd come home to a babysitter snoring on his sofa.

He hadn't asked her about it; after all, he couldn't blame her if she decided she didn't love him anymore.

Everything was the same with him.

"For Christ's sake— TAXI!" Woah; déjà vu. He shrugged and threw himself in front of the next taxi; it screeched to a halt and he threw open the door, slipping into the passenger seat; screw the backseat, he was pissed.

"Sasuke?"

He blinked, turning to stare. Yes, it was her! She looked shocked and pretty and surprised and— he stared openly at her long legs, which were revealed due to the fact that she was wearing a black mini-skirt, and her cleavage.

"Karin." He murmured, after a second longer of blatant staring.

"Uh, are you okay? See, you threw yourself in front of me with less effort than last time, y'know? I almost didn't knock you over." She pouted, folding her arms angrily.

"You didn't knock me over anyway."

"T—that's not the point!" She paused, biting her lip; and he could tell she was worried, and he knew exactly what question she was going to ask. "Do you still have someone waiting for you at home?"

"Not sure."

"Ouch. That's why you seem so pissed off." Karin sighed, pushing her glasses further up her nose.

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

Sasuke didn't bother looking at her; he didn't particularly want to see her reaction. "Do you still have someone waiting for you at home?"

She laughed bitterly. "He was gay."

"Oh."

Silence.

And then he couldn't help but chuckle. She scowled, glowering at him. "It's not funny!"

"It is."

"I really liked him!"

"He really liked guys."

"Ugh, don't act like such a dork. It's not funny so stop talking about it." She sighed and steered the taxi out into the busy street. "Same place as last time, right?"

"Yes."

They sat in silence, before—

"—it's funny how much changed in a month." Karin murmured, over-taking a slow BMW.

"It is." He agreed.

"…Monday's suck."

"They do."

She laughed quietly, before flicking on the radio. "—and here's a song picked especially for you from yours truly! Get home safe, everyone!" A particularly chirpy DJ shouted, before the first notes of a song started.

((Tell me baby; what's your story?

Where'd you come from?

And where you wanna go this time?))

"Get home safe?" Karin scoffed, flicking her middle finger up at an impatient motorcyclist. "Not with these morons driving. Shit, if we crash, I just want to tell you that you aren't that much of a prick, Sasuke."

Sasuke snorted.

"…Idiot."

((Tell me lover; are you lonely?

The thing we need is never all that hard to find.))

"Karin…"

"What?"

"You missed the turning."

"Oh. Yeah, sorry. I need to show you something first. I need you to… I need you to feel better, before I drop you off."

((Tell me baby; what's your story?

Where'd you come from?

And where you wanna go this time?))

They began to slow down and Sasuke felt curious; curious and excited. What did she want to show him?

Not the view, obviously; it was a lousy view of a little park and, besides, it was getting dark.

The stars were out.

((You're so lovely— are you lonely?

Giving up on the innocence you left behind…))

"Sasuke—"

And he crushed his lips against hers and they kissed.

One thing led to another and Sasuke found himself staring down at a naked Karin. She was beautiful— she was so unlike Sakura, in every way, and so new! So different!

But, Sakura…

He still loved her.

Everything felt so wrong.

…

Yet, that didn't stop him.

They stopped by her house first, to clean up; surprisingly, Karin lived closer to Sasuke than he'd known. He'd never seen her around.

After he'd showered and removed all evidence of him ever meeting Karin, let alone having sex with her, he wandered back to her front door.

"I'll walk back."

She opened her mouth to say something.

Onyx eyes met brown eyes, and they shared a moment of understanding— he didn't love her, it was an accident, a nice accident, but an accident nonetheless, he already regretted it— and she nodded sadly.

"Bye then, Sasuke."

He merely smiled in farewell.

Sakura was sat up waiting for him, tears streaming down her face, dressed in her pyjama bottoms and was that his t-shirt? He thought so.

"Sakura…"

She slapped him.

"S—Sasuke, you idiot! I was so s—scared and w—worried and y—you—! You were off s—shagging some slut—!"

He shook his head. "No, it's not like that—."

"Then what is it like, Sasuke? I l—love you too much to lose you! I l—love you t—too m—m—much…!"

She burst into tears.

He reached out, longing to hold her and comfort her, but what could he say? She'd figured it all out so quickly, so easily, and nothing he could say would make her forgive him.

"I—I've spent e—every evening w—with N—Naruto, discussing w—where you'd like to go f—for our anniversary…"

Shit; he'd forgotten.

He'd forgotten?!

"…Sakura, I'm sorry."

She looked up at him with tear-filled emerald eyes. So bright, so vivid, so attractive— so heart-wrenchingly sad.

"I'm so, so sorry." He repeated, and he could feel his body shaking; was he crying? He must have been, as Sakura suddenly looked so shocked. "I'm so, so sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm s—sorry…"

She reached up for him, putting her arms around his neck, hugging him and holding him. He sunk to his knees and she crouched with him, all the while hugging him and forgiving him.

"I'm sorry—"

"—I forgive you, I forgive you… Hush now, everything's fine. Everything's okay. I forgive you…"

"I'm sorry—"

"I forgive you."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

He still hates Mondays, even to this day. Oh, he managed to get his life back on track; his wife loves him more than ever, and he appreciates her more than ever. He's the boss of a large business and has been seen shaking hands with the stars; he's possibly as famous as his brother— or perhaps more so.

But, when Monday comes, he can't help but wonder what might have been.

If he'd stayed with Karin, if he hadn't felt so guilty, if he hadn't loved Sakura so much…

What would have happened?

Would he wake up every morning to see those exciting brown eyes gazing lovingly down at him? Or would they have promised too much— would they have been so misleading?

Would anything really have changed?

"Taxi!"

Sasuke scowled, his hair already plastered to his face by the pouring rain; onyx eyes grew darker and angrier, as his shirt began to stick to his body.

"Ex—excuse me? You're—! UCHIHA SASUKE!" Some random girl squealed. "LOOK, TAYA!"

"SQUEE! UCHIHA SASUKE!"

"AH, LOOK AT HIM!"

"HE'S SO CUTE!"

Sasuke glowered at the group of girls, but they refused to move; at least they weren't calling him asshole now. No, wait— he liked it better when they all hated him.

"TAXI!" He stuck his hand in the air, waving it in front of a passing taxi; the driver's eyes widened and the car screeched to a halt.

He climbed in.

"Sasuke!"

"Karin."

"Woah, we should stop meeting each other like this. How long has it been?"

"A year."

"Same place— same person waiting?" Karin smiled, her eyes crinkling with happiness.

"Yes. You?"

"Oh no, I moved out. I'm sharing a flat with this really cute guy, Juugo; he's so sweet and kind and everything a girl could ask for."

"Is he gay?"

"SH—SHUT UP!"

He smirked.

"Its funny how some things don't change, isn't it?"

"Hn."

She was wrong.

Things had changed so much.

But it just keeps getting better.

Author's Note;

Hope you like it.
A SASUSAKU slash SASUKARIN fic.

And, yes, yes; I know Karin can act like a slut-faced skank.
But she obviously feels something for Sasuke.
And I think Sasuke could possibly feel something for her.
(coughHORMONEScough)

If he WEREN'T deeply in love with Sakura.

_fallin
_sunshine
_xxx