Raining Coincidence
It might be coincidence; it might be destiny.
Either way, it happened.
—
Raindrops patter relentlessly on the glass exterior of the café, adding to the gloomy aura of the cold night.
"It really must be destiny," she murmurs, taking a sip of the hazelnut cappuccino she ordered a while ago. "I mean, how people end up together."
"Destiny?" he repeats, his dark eyes resting on the woman in front of him. She looks so delicate—she always has. So delicate, so fragile… so beautiful.
"Yeah," she replies, stirring the chocolate-brown beverage she drinks every day. "Yeah, it's destiny. It has to be."
"More like coincidence," he counters, gulping his share of coffee.
"Coincidence, eh?" She raises a pink eyebrow, slightly offended. "You mean everything just happens by chance, just like that?"
"Exactly."
She sighs, resting her emerald eyes on her cup. She taps the table lightly with her fingers, indicating she is deep in thought. It has to be destiny, she tells herself.
He looks out the window, waiting patiently for her to speak up whatever she's come up with.
"Care to explain how Naruto ended up with Hinata?" she says suddenly, a small smile gracing her delicate lips.
He turns to look at her, his eyes questioning. He's confused, obviously, though he's determined not to show it. "What for?" he asks slowly, as if trying to see through the sudden request.
Her smile widens. "If everything is a coincidence, Sasuke, tell me how and why they ended up together."
It is his turn to sigh as he runs his hand through his black hair. It's an easy question; a no-brainer: oversimplifying things has never been hard. Yet, answering it is a mouthful, and he has always hated too much talking. Still, he doesn't have much choice at the moment. He inhales deeply as he starts to answer.
"It just so happened that they were at the park at the same day. It just happened to rain, forcing Naruto to take shelter under a tree. It just so happened that Hinata saw him and offered to share her umbrella with him… and you know how it went from that."
She frowns, obviously disagreeing with his it-just-so-happened explanation. She shakes her head, causing her rosette locks to stray from her face. "You make it sound so unromantic," she says as-a-matter-of-factly. "You're leaving out the details. I'm not satisfied."
"Not my problem." He smirks, turning his attention to his drink. Tch, women and their sentiments.
"I still think they were destined to meet there," she insists stubbornly. "They were meantto meet there."
"Suit yourself," he says, his smirk growing wider as he rests his chin on his palm. "Anyway, you're starting to sound like Neji."
She ignores his last statement as she thinks of another question to prove him wrong. Tapping her chin with her fingers, she looks at him with wide green eyes. "How about Shikamaru and Ino?"
He frowns at her. Still not giving up, eh?
"Sakura, they've known each other since childhood," he says, frown still in place. Somehow, he feels that he'll be doing a lot of talking tonight.
"Right," she agrees. "They're destinedto grow up together. Care to prove me wrong?"
He sighs for the second time that day, wondering how this mini-debate even began. She, on the other hand, just looked at him expectantly.
"It just so—"
"Omit that phrase, will you?" she growls. He notices her tightened grip on her cup. He smirks, apparently finding the situation amusing.
She growls again, a little less audible than the first one. Bastard. It's not funny.
"Alright then," he concedes. "They met when they were just five. They grew up together, studied together, went to the same high school, same college, and it just so happens"—Sakura growls yet again, which he chooses to ignore—"that they currently work under the same company."
"Do you know how they met?" she asks, her expression solemn.
"Through their parents?" he questions back, unsure of what to say.
"No." She smiles softly. "It was raining that day… they were just five. Ino loves running in the rain, and while doing so, she bumped into Shikamaru, who was frantically running home."
"Still a coincidence," he murmurs, looking straight at her.
"Whatever," she says, rolling her eyes. "Don't you think it's funny, how rain brings people together? I mean, there's Naruto and Hinata; Shikamaru and Ino…" she trails off. "Funny how it's raining today."
He doesn't answer. He stares at her, letting a comfortable silence settle between them. Her eyes dart here and there, avoiding him on purpose. She fidgets, twirling a strand of pink hair between her fingers.
"Do you remember how we met?" she asks quietly, refusing to meet his eyes. She bites her lower lip, silently wishing she hadn't said anything. Please let him remember. Please let him remember.
"Of course," comes his reply. Relief washes over her. She looks up at him, and sees his eyes meeting everything but her.
She was running, drenched. Soaking wet. And cold. "I knew I should've brought my umbrella with me," she muttered to herself, hugging her arms. She looked up, eyes misty from the rain, and sighed inwardly.Just my luck. Every shop and house she passed by was closed, though it was just early evening. So she ran again, hoping to find shelter from the storm.
Suddenly, she skidded to a stop. A coffee shop was still open, though it was rather crowded. She paused, pondering whether to come in or just stay outside and wait for the rain to stop. "I'm soaking wet," she murmured, her voice shaking, "I don't think they'd want me in."
"It's warm inside," a deep voice said. She looked up and saw a dark-haired man, his hand holding the glass door open, looking at her passively. Shrugging, he was about to enter when he stopped and looked at her again. "You'll catch a cold if you stay here."
She smiled at him thankfully. She hugged herself tighter, wringing out the raindrops from the sleeves of her sweater. "You can dry yourself in the ladies' room," the stranger said, a hint of impatience lacing his tone, "and you can borrow my jacket. You coming or not?"
"Yes I am, thank you," she said, "I'm Sakura."
"Hn."
"Won't you tell me your name?" she pressed. "Usually, when someone tells you their name, you tell yours in return."
"You're annoying," he said flatly. "It's Sasuke."
"Care to explain that?" she asks again, her voice barely higher than a whisper. "How we met, I mean."
He looks out the window, watching the raindrops patter on the paved sidewalk. He gulps the last drops of his coffee before answering.
"It was clearly a coincidence," he mumbles, closing his eyes briefly. "It was raining then, just like now."
She smiles at him, happiness clear in her eyes. "You still remember," she says. "I think it was destiny."
He pauses for a moment, and then smirks. "It was a coincidence."
She shrugs, reaching out and lightly running her fingertips on the back of his hand. "Whatever. Either way, we're still married." She laughs lightly. "And I'm not complaining."
He smiles. Not a smirk like he always does, but a genuine smile. He entwines his fingers with hers and looks straight at her.
"Neither am I."
"Happy Anniversary, Sasuke."
"Hn."
The rain continues to patter relentlessly on the glass windows of the café, though somehow, it's not as gloomy as before.
Meanwhile, somewhere else, in the midst of the downpour, a girl is huddled against a tree, shivering against the cold.
She doesn't notice the figure walking towards her, carrying a black umbrella.
"TenTen?" a masculine voice asks, drowning in the soft pitter-patter of raindrops.
She squints up at the person, and even through the haze on her eyes, she recognizes him.
"Neji…" she says, her voice quivering. "What a coincidence."
"Coincidence?" he says, motioning her to get under the umbrella. "I don't believe in coincidence."
And here we go again…
a/n: Um, help? Please?
1. Well, this is my first fic and I really, really need to know what to improve on. Please? The plot sucks, I know… I'm not good at plots.
2.I've read lots of fics where Neji seems to have a 'thing' with destiny. Where did the destiny thing come from? I think it's somewhere in the Chuunin exams, but I'm not sure. Please tell me!
Anyway, thank you so much for reading! :D