Sakura Haruno had resolved a long time ago to take no bullshit from anyone. It had ended up being one of the best decisions of her life, despite the extent to which it drove people away.

Sakura was a kind person at heart, but years of people talking down to her and years of being underestimated had given her a tough skin and a short fuse as far as other people were concerned. She had a circle of close friends and the guys at the garage, and she considered both groups her family. And after her latest relationship and a short (and unsatisfying) series of dates, Sakura had decided that she didn't need anyone else.

But she couldn't help thinking about Sasuke Uchiha. As much as she didn't want to admit it, there was something about him. Despite coming from opposite lifestyles (it was laughable, really, how different their lives were), Sakura had sensed something in him that she recognized in herself. Beneath the surface, they had uncanny similarities; and somehow they just understood each other. She would say it was on a deeper level, if that wasn't so unbearably cliché.

"So who was that guy you were out with?" Kiba asked. The two of them were in the garage alone on Monday, doing an early morning waxing job on someone's Camaro.

"His name's Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura said, rubbing at a stubborn grease mark.

"Yeah, I know, I saw him at the garage when he was here." Kiba grinned. "You like him?"

Sakura just gave him a look and Kiba held up his hands in mock-surrender. "He's a friend of a friend. We just had dinner." She said.

"So you do like him."

"Jesus Christ. No, I don't. Or, I don't know. I thought he was a total asshole when we first met, but now…I don't think so."

"I see." Kiba smirked and loaded up his rag with more polish.

"We're not going to talk about this anymore." Sakura said, vaguely annoyed. She attacked the grease mark even harder.

"Fine. Whatever." Kiba grinned.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Anyway, how's Fuki?" She asked.

"Eh. I don't think it's gonna last. She complains about everything."

"Don't draw it out too long." She warned him.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not an idiot." Kiba sighed. "Why are all the decent girls my friends?"

"Oh yeah, sucks to be you." Sakura rolled her eyes. "There's plenty of people out there. What about that girl in your Econ class?"

"Hotaru? I'm pretty sure she's got a boyfriend. Some guy in the music program." Kiba sighed.

"Oh my God, stop feeling so sorry for yourself." Sakura said. "You just need to go out and meet people."

"Coming from the girl who never goes out and meets people."

"You know full well why I don't go out and meet guys." Sakura said in a low voice. "It's a nightmare."

"Yeah. Sorry." Kiba went back to polishing in silence.

But few minutes later, he couldn't stop himself from bringing up Sasuke again. "So…Did you guys hit it off?" He smirked. "You know, after you totally kicked his ass."

He was the second person to use that phrase, after Naruto a few days before, and Sakura couldn't help thinking that it was strange.

Sakura rolled her eyes but figured she shouldn't deny it. "Yeah, we kind of did. I was thinking I'd bring him to the fire pit on Saturday night."

"Oh, wow." Kiba raised his eyebrows, looking interested. "So you really hit it off."

"God, shut up." Sakura said. "I told you, he's just a friend."

"Yeah, but this is a big step."

"Right. Especially because you brought Fuki last time, and you guys are really serious."

"Good point." Kiba said, looking slightly embarrassed. He finished polishing his side of the car and leaned back on the concrete floor. "Wait, this guy's not a KCHS kid, is he?"

"No. Academy." Sakura said.

"That's what I figured. Didn't think I'd ever seen him before." Kiba frowned and then started to put away the sponges.

Sakura frowned at him for a moment before going back to her section of the car. She paused for a moment and blew a few strands of hair off her forehead. "What time do you have to be at school?"

"I've got Bio at eleven. What about you?"

"Psych at one."

"I'd give you a ride, but getting there two hours early is probably a waste of time."

"No, I was planning to go in earlier, anyway. I told Ino I'd meet her for lunch. We have to study for the final and she's busy tonight."

"Ino's studying for the final?"

Sakura glared at him. "You are such a jerk."

"I'm joking. I promise!" Kiba held up his hands at Sakura's cold glare.

"Don't even." Sakura shook her head. "If you make any more fucking stupid jokes, I will dump this bucket of water on your head."

"Point made." Kiba said.

Sakura finished her side and Kiba waited while she packed up her own sponges and the large bottle of wax. He rolled up his sleeves and picked up the two buckets of water.

"So are you going to get that new tattoo?" Sakura asked him as they walked back to the storage room, glancing at his arm.

Kiba shrugged. "I don't think so. Not enough room." He grinned and looked down at the full sleeves of ink on his arms.

"Touché." Sakura said. "Don't start piling them on top of each other."

"I'm not a total idiot." Kiba said.

"Wow. It took you a long time to admit that."

"Admit what?"

"That you're a partial idiot. Well, more than partial."

"I swear to God…"

Sakura grinned. "Come on. Let's go to school."


Sakura changed out of her dirty work clothes while Kiba got his car. She ran into Kakashi in the kitchen of their apartment.

"You're up late." She said with a grin, glancing at the clock. It was ten thirty.

"I've been up since seven doing paperwork." Kakashi said. "And I don't remember when I gave you permission to comment on my sleeping habits." He smirked underneath his bandana.

Sakura rolled her eyes and shoved her books into her backpack. "I'm going to school with Kiba, I'll be back by four. Do you still need me to fix the doors on that Toyota?"

"That'd be great."

Sakura nodded and swung her backpack over her shoulders.

"Hey," Kakashi fixed her with a frown. "Don't just walk out. Did you eat breakfast?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and then smiled slightly. "Yeah, early this morning. And I'm meeting Ino for lunch. So don't worry."

"I have to check, you know." Kakashi said.

"Yeah. I'll see you later."

"Have a good day." Kakashi said with an infuriating smile.

Sakura just shook her head.


Kiba drove them both to school and Sakura went to meet Ino, her best friend, in one of the school dining halls. The two of them spent almost two hours talking and studying, which meant Sakura got to her Intro to Psychology class with about a minute to spare. Her Psych professor was the only teacher she had who cared about being on time.

"Hey, babe." An idiot from her world history class was waiting outside the classroom when Sakura arrived. One of the assholes who couldn't take a hint.

"Fuck off." Sakura said, not even looking at him as she walked past.

She made her way to an empty chair at the back of the lecture hall, getting the customary looks on the way back.

It was always a quick glance; they always tried to be subtle (key word: tried). Eyes sliding down her torso, and then looking away. Never eye contact. She'd read somewhere that making eye contact with someone showed that you were acknowledging their existence. When she'd first thought about it, Sakura had thought that was clever and so true. Like that acknowledgement was a good thing.

It was bullshit, and Sakura had figured it out after she'd gotten enough leers to make her realize that people were acknowledging an existence that she didn't want or deserve.

She'd been to enough repair shops with Kakashi, on various trips, where the only decorations on garage walls were pages torn from porn calendars. Kakashi had been angry about it every time (he'd alway apologized to her), but she never blamed him for it (how could she? Kakashi didn't think like that, thankfully). Sakura had stopped being surprised by all of it a long time ago.

People had stopped messing with her in high school (it had only taken a few slaps) but starting college had meant that she had to deal with the same thing all over again. And unlike in high school, information spread much slower among fifteen thousand people than it did among fifteen hundred.

"Mind if I sit here?" The douchebag from the door was back. Of course.

"Yeah. I do." Sakura said, staring ahead.

"Aw, come on..." He whined.

That was it. Sakura just looked at him, expressionless. It had taken practice, but now she could detach herself from all of it. "Go fuck yourself."

He looked offended, and Sakura felt slightly more satisfied. He slunk off to find another seat and she turned to face the front of the classroom just as the professor walked in.


She had time after Psych before Kiba finished class, so Sakura decided to just call Sasuke. Something about talking to people was always better than texting. So later that afternoon she hoisted herself up onto one of the walls outside the Science building. It was a quieter section of campus, away from the hordes of people that always congregated by KCC's rundown athletic center and the quad.

He answered the phone on the third ring. "Hey."

Sakura had to admit, he had an incredibly attractive voice. Along with an incredibly attractive appearance, but that had no relevance whatsoever. She'd made her feelings clear to him, and she wasn't having any second thoughts about it.

"Hey. Look, do you want to hang out on Saturday night? There's a big fire pit at the park, we hang out there some nights. You can meet some of my friends."

"Yeah. Sure." Sasuke said.

"Cool. Is five thirty okay to meet? You can come over to the garage and I'll drive."

"Sounds good."

Sakura swung her legs back and forth. "Great. See you then?"

"Aa. See you."


Sakura met Kiba back at the parking lot outside the Student Center and the two of them went back to the garage.

"Asuma moved the Camry over to your station." Kiba said when she came into the garage after changing back into work clothes. He was pulling on old, battered sneakers. "He started working on it earlier."

"Cool. Is he still here or did he go home?"

"He left literally ten minutes ago." Genma stuck his head out from behind the body of a small Mercedes. "You need him for something?" He was chewing on the ever-present toothpick in his mouth.

"I just wanted to see his notes on the Camry. Whatever, it's fine." Sakura waved a hand.

"Hey, Sakura...You think you could help me with the engine on this thing when you're free? I've never worked with something like this before." Genma said. "Not really sure what's wrong."

"Sure. Actually…" Sakura thought for a moment. "Do you want to swap? I'm pretty sure it's just the locking system on the Camry that's broken. You can do that and I'll do the engine."

Genma looked relieved. "You'd do that?"

Sakura shrugged. "Yeah, I don't mind." Her fingers were itching for something more technical; fixing bent-up locks didn't count.

"That'd be great." Genma said with a grin. "I'll do it now. Tell me what you did on the engine, though, or Kakashi'll have my ass."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Sure."

She pulled on a pair of gloves and plunged herself into repairs. She pieced through the wiring as she read over the notes that Genma had made, tuning out the music and the sound of a drill from the other side of the garage.

For some reason she kept thinking about Sasuke. It was something in his eyes that intrigued her; they were black and bottomless and she couldn't really figure him out, which was unusual. She pegged people soon after meeting them (which she knew wasn't a good idea), but everything she'd thought about Sasuke had been proved wrong so far. Well, almost everything. He was still completely arrogant, but he wasn't an asshole. Well, not really.

Suddenly Sakura found the engine problem, and Sasuke slipped out of her head.

"Genma," she called.

"What's up?"

"It's just a clogged filter."

"Shit. You serious?"

"Of course I'm serious."

"Well now I feel like an idiot."

"To be fair it was hidden pretty well. I had to take apart some of the wiring, but it should be fine now."

"God. I still feel like an idiot. Thanks a lot, though. I'll go and test it before I leave."

Besides Kiba, Genma was the newest addition to the small group of mechanics working under Kakashi. He was just out of trade school, and was technically apprenticed to Asuma, one of the more experienced mechanics (he'd been working with Kakashi since he'd started the business). Kiba was also Asuma's apprentice, though that was a much less official agreement. Iruka, who was slightly younger than Kakashi, rounded out the group at the garage.

Sakura went back over to the Camry to help Genma finish up, feeling re-energized after fixing the engine problem. She always felt better when she was working. Any stupid stuff that had happened today was already far away in her mind.

Then again, she always felt better when she was here, no matter what bullshit came up sometimes. However atypical, this place was home.


A/N: Primarily Sasuke's POV in this story, but I'm going to intersperse some Sakura chapters :)

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