There she was. It was pure chance and there she was, seated at the opposite end of the bar like it was a fucking movie.
The bartender set his drink on a napkin. Old Fashioned. On the rocks. The condensation was already beginning to collect on the glass.
He briefly thought about how that didn't make sense because it was the dead of winter.
He looked up from the glass and straight into those green eyes.
Shit.
She was looking right at him.
((Days earlier))
January turned to February and Sasuke continued with his life as normal. Normal did not include calling Sakura Haruno.
But then it started happening.
It started on February 4th. It was Monday. On Monday's, just coffee doesn't do it and he stops at the coffee shop just down the street on his way to the station for an extra shot of espresso.
He'd ordered ahead on his phone, as always, and was reaching for the cup labeled "Sasuke" (a perk of ordering on his phone: they fucking spelled his name correctly) when he saw it.
Pink.
He felt a little embarrassed that he recognized that shade instantly, but it couldn't be anyone else. She stood in the line, facing away from him, and looking at her phone.
He grabbed the cup and left immediately.
Two days later he was driving along 10th when he spotted pink again. She was jogging down the street in a puffy jacket and black leggings. He averted his eyes and put pressure on the gas pedal.
The day after that he'd been jogging and took a detour through the drive in Quincy Park when he spotted her distinct pink head leaning down while she pet a stray cat. He jogged faster.
A few days later, he was driving west on 66 and looked over at the car in the lane next to him only to see her.
He thought it was just chance. Chance, her pink hair, and his tendency to be overly perceptive. Naruto had said she was just a few blocks away. How many people in his neighborhood did he see regularly but just didn't notice because they didn't have pink hair and an ass that looked like a peach in those annoying black leggings?
Jesus Christ, he'd stared at her ass.
He saw her at the library, the cereal aisle of the grocery store, the bakery on the corner of 15th and Courthouse during his lunch break.
He once pulled into a gas station only to turn around when he saw her standing next to her car at the pump.
There was one close call where he'd reluctantly gone for a drink after work with Kiba and Shikamaru (he didn't mind his new partner, Shikamaru, but Kiba pissed him off) and he'd spotted her in line for the bathroom with Ino, a friend of Naruto, Shikamaru, and, apparently, Sakura's. He bolted before Ino could notice him.
When Kiba asked about it at work the next day, he lamely offered that he'd forgotten to finish the report on a home robbery case.
Kiba rolled his eyes.
Two weeks went by and the frequency at which he spotted her only increased. One time her saw he three times in one day. He had literally woken up, looked out his window, and there she was, jogging down the street in her stupid puffy jacket and black leggings.
The universe must be fucking with him. There was no way any of this was just chance. Something, somewhere was punishing him.
The phone rang four times before Naruto answered.
"Hey, man, what's up?"
"Are you going to be back home this week?"
"Uhh… Yeah, let me see…"
He heard the tapping of Naruto pulling up his calendar app.
"Nah man, we added a rally in Newport News, and we got an interview in Richmond…"
"You said the end of February."
"Yeah, I know, shit's just getting crazy with this campaign. And fucking Jiraiya doesn't make it easy. Jesus, who thought it'd be a good idea for him to run for Congress?"
"Who thought it'd be a good idea to take leave and work on his campaign?"
"Shut up, yeah well… geez, ya must miss me, huh? Sasuke a little lonely?"
Sasuke said nothing.
"Hey," Naruto asked. "Did you ever meet up with Sakura?"
"Hn." Sasuke paused and added. "I've seen her around."
"The fuck does that mean? Look just-" Naruto was interrupted by commotion and yelling from his end.
"Quiet your asses down, I'm on the phone!" Sasuke heard muffled through the phone.
"Naruto get your ass in here, McCoy just put this shit out! You need to take a look at it!" Another muffled voice called followed by the scratching sounds of Naruto moving the phone back to his ear.
"Hey, bud, listen, I gotta go, but you should really text her… Look, I know this time of the year is hard for you and if I could come back, I would but… I just think her company might do you both some good…"
Sasuke hung up.
The fuck did Naruto know any way.
He kept seeing her with with increasing frequency until…
He didn't anymore.
Funny, how she seemed to just disappear right before that day.
He stopped thinking about her.
It was that day. The day.
In college, he'd skip class, get fucked up, and pass out until the day was over. Naruto didn't ask. The idiot figured it out somehow. He always had a bottle of Jack ready for him.
He'd dissociate for days. One time, someone was sent to do a wellness check. He didn't remember any of the questions they had asked. They tried to lead him outside to a car. A blue car. He couldn't tell you if it was a Camry or what, but it was a blue sedan and he would not-could not get in that car. He was dizzy, his chest had hurt, it felt like his lungs couldn't-wouldn't expand. Naruto had been there, yelling about something…
What the fuck was wrong with him?
He'd been better through the years.
A diagnosis and therapy had helped. He had once been afraid of admitting something was different after it had happened. He had been afraid of a diagnosis, confirmation that he wasn't the same, not entirely.
Afraid it would keep him from his goals.
It hadn't.
Not getting treating might've.
He wouldn't know now. He didn't think about it.
He tried not to think about it.
In 2005, it had been President's Day. This year, it was just a stupid, normal Thursday.
...TBC...
A/N: I'm going to have the companion to this chapter up soon.
Please offer input on my portrayal of Sasuke's PTSD. I've read a few articles about other's experiences with PTSD, but I'm still learning. Unlike in the manga, I wanted to Sasuke of this world to get the treatment he needed at a young age because I think that's important and it's pretty shitty how the manga/anime doesn't really acknowledge how fucked up Sasuke's childhood was and, like, how he should have gotten help but didn't? Any way...
i don't own naruto.