AN: This is an author / publisher AU as requested by vylkon over on tumblr. How close to home this hits! I'd like to say I'm more like Sasuke here but to be honest, I'm Sakura!
"Sasuke, I've got a proposition for you," Kakashi said, beckoning him over with a commanding finger.
As much as he wished, Sasuke couldn't exactly ignore his boss, and so he made his way past the precarious stacks of manuscripts and empty coffee cups, navigating the chaos that belonged to the chief editor of Leaf Publishing.
"What?" he huffed, watching as the gifted chief editor flicked through a clipboard with his glasses perched halfway down his nose.
"Mah, always so impatient, Sasuke… no wonder half our writers are frightened of you."
Sasuke heard the stifled chuckle from Naruto behind him, aborted only when he spun on his heel to give his colleague what the office privately liked to call the Uchiha stare.
"Anyway," Kakashi continued, obviously seeking to stave off the inevitable confrontation between two of his best editors, "We've signed a new author, and I'd like you to work with them."
"I'm already handling three right now, Kakashi, and Nara-sensei has delayed his book again-"
"Ah, about that," his boss interrupted, holding up a placating hand. "Don't worry - I'd really like this to be a fruitful partnership, so I've seen to it that other editors take over your workload. You can still meet your authors if you feel it's useful for their development, but…"
Kakashi clapped his hands together, looking up at his protege through the lenses of his glasses as they balanced on his nose. "I'd like this to be a one on one kind of deal."
Sasuke frowned deeply. That wasn't the Leaf method; writers were added to their publishing house as a kind of talent bank, working with an editor who managed several others at the same time. For this person to get special treatment, it had to be…
"Did you finally manage to onboard Jiraiya-sensei?" Sasuke queried, folding his arms. "I can't think of anyone else who'd get this attention."
"If it was Jiraiya," Kakashi said with a laugh, "I'd be working with him myself."
That was true. All the other literary greats of their age were firmly ensconced in rival publishing houses, and Jiraiya liked to roam between them as the mood took him, but there really wasn't anyone else Sasuke could think of that would merit a dedicated editor.
"It's Haruno-sensei's debut," Kakashi continued, "and I think we could really work together for a long time, all going well."
There was a sudden silence in the busy office; even the omnipresent typing halted as the other staff processed this announcement.
"You assigned me to an unknown author?" Sasuke demanded, not caring if it sounded arrogant. It was rooted in truth; he was the second-best they had after Kakashi, who rarely took on individual projects any more.
"Read this," Kakashi said, handing him a manuscript and trying and failing to hold back a smug tone, "and then meet up with our newest author tomorrow. I've arranged for lunch at that place you all love."
No matter his thoughts on the matter Sasuke was, first and foremost, a great lover of books. So that night when he went home, he threw the paper onto his coffee table - somewhat unceremoniously in his sulk - and read.
And read. Then flicked through the pages one by one, his red editor's pen highlighting the sentences that stood out, that made him hold his breath, that made him grip the edges of the manuscript firmly. When he finished, the manuscript was a tapestry of stars and lines and exclamation marks; the words on the pages were simply that good. For a debut novel, for the first draft of a debut novel, it was a triumph. Though he couldn't help it, the editor felt the frissions of excitement that he got whenever he was about to meet a rising star: Haruno-sensei must, Sasuke thought as he finally fell into bed, be a dignified, commanding presence, to write like that.
He'd built up this image in his head so much that by the time Sasuke swung open Ichiraku's painted red doors at lunch, he half expected to be greeted by a figure out of literary history. Of course, there was nobody like that, but then again, there was nobody else in the restaurant that fit his expectations either.
They're late, he thought, but it wasn't uncommon. Writers and creative types tended to play fast and loose with time demands - lunch meetings, deadlines; he'd seen it all before, and so Sasuke went to sit down in his usual seat before being waylaid by Teuchi, the proprietor.
"Uchiha-san," Teuchi called, "your 12pm is here: I've put them in the booth."
So many of the Leaf's meetings were done in Ichiraku that Sasuke was half-sure they were keeping the place open, hence the special treatment. With a nod, he continued on to the booth before being confronted with the back of a messy pink head of hair.
"Excuse me," Sasuke said, clearing his throat. Looking down, he could see that it belonged to an equally dishevelled woman, who was scribbling something down on the edge of a napkin, the ragged nails of her free hand tapping agitatedly against the formica table. Sasuke sighed; he didn't have time to chase someone out of the chair, and so he simply dropped into the seat opposite, waiting for the interloper to take notice of him.
Only she didn't. In fact, she didn't even look up from what she was doing; she was so hunched over the napkin that it seemed like she hadn't even sensed his presence, so Sasuke cleared his throat in irritation.
"Excuse me," he repeated, the edge of politeness leaving his tone, "I'm waiting for someone to arrive here."
Finally, the woman looked up and he was confronted by the most startlingly beautiful pair of green eyes he'd ever seen, set in a face that was currently frowning in abstract thought. She was around his age and completely disinterested; Sasuke blinked in surprise at the way she turned her eyebrows down at him, which was the opposite of the warm reception he normally elicited from his female peers.
"Oh," she said, sounding distracted, "me too. But they're late."
With that, she turned her head back to whatever she was writing. Half curious, half incredulous at the social faux pas, Sasuke leaned across the table to try and catch a glimpse of her notes, but the mystery woman clearly sensed that; with a start, she slammed her other palm down over the napkin, blocking it from his view.
"That's rude," she started, before doing a double take at the folder he'd dropped on the table as he sat down.
"What are you doing with my manuscript?" she asked, curiously, and Sasuke felt the bottom of his stomach lurch uncomfortably.
"You're… Haruno-sensei?"
She grinned unexpectedly, showing sparkling teeth at odds with her messy appearance. On closer inspection, Sasuke noticed that she wasn't actually dirty; merely dressed as though she'd run out of somewhere in a hurry, with not enough to time to run a comb through her hair.
"Not what you expected?" the author queried. "Neither are you, if you're the editor."
He nodded, dumbstruck, the image of a dignified older gentleman crumbling before his eyes.
"Well, you're certainly good looking," Haruno-sensei observed, "if a little pretentious."
Sasuke spluttered.
"I'm Haruno Sakura," she introduced, holding out a hand with a disarming smile, "and you must be…?"
"Uchiha Sasuke," he managed, taking her hand and watching as the ink stains on her fingers transferred to his palm.
"Shall we make this quick?" Sakura asked, gesturing for two bowls of ramen over her shoulder. "I have to get back to work."
"Work?" Sasuke repeated, still feeling as though this was some great joke at his expense. Regardless, he was going to kill Kakashi.
"Yes, I'm a nurse. I wrote that," she pointed to the manuscript where it was cradled securely in his folder, "on my lunch breaks."
He followed her gaze down to the masterpiece by his right, adorned as it was with his comments and general praise, and thought about this young woman hunched over a sandwich in a busy hospital, penning the best novel he'd read in years. When he looked back at her, Sakura was smiling with clear mirth at his expense, and he recalled how every person in her work had the tinge of real character, real experiences. Of course, Sasuke thought, steepling his fingers under his chin, she's probably met them all.
"Well," he eventually said, nodding at Teuchi as the man placed two bowls of ramen in front of them. "This should be interesting."
Trying to recover his poise, Sasuke smiled at his latest charge over the steaming bowl, watching as she tucked a strand of pink behind her ear.
It didn't last, because as soon as he took a mouthful of noodles, Sakura winked at him, causing Sasuke to choke.
"Oh yes," she laughed, passing him a napkin that wasn't covered with what was probably another masterpiece, "I definitely think so, too."
AN: Hotshot Editor Sasuke is love.
I hope you're enjoying this anthology! Would love to hear what you think.