Everthing you needed to be happy
Was a mystery
-"Opposites Attract", by Adam Cohen
The rest of the week had dragged tortuously by. Sasuke was convinced that someone (damn Tsunade!) had rigged the date, the time, the sun! Sasuke glared at it again. Had it moved an inch closer to the Tower? It had to have. He'd been standing here since an hour ago, a day ago, the beginning of time! Sasuke stormed off in the direction of the market. He had been pacing around his apartment until his roommate, Shika-something-or-the-other had kicked him out, mumbling something ANOSAbout his peace and quiet and clouds.
He glared up at them now, ordering them mentally to push the sun on its way or something. A wind gusted up, as if in answer to his silent command, but oh no, that would mean his hair—Sasuke fled to the nearest storefront, smoothing his hair down and checking it in the mirror-like glass window.
Sakana found him leaning, apparently nonchalantly, on the edge of the counter of Konoha's sweet shop, just as the sun glanced the peak of the Tower.
He bought both of them a stick of dango, and they set off down Konoha's main street, each chewing on the sweet dough.
Sakana was a terrific companion, Sasuke found, witty and bright and knowledgeable. They had been arguing about the consequences of a seemingly innocuous comment in a series they were both reading, dango long finished, when they met up with Sakura.
"Oh," she had said, looking at Sasuke, then at Sakana, rebalancing the groceries in her arms. Sasuke noticed with surprise that the sun was already sinking behind the distant tree line. Did the afternoon really go that fast?
"Sasuke-kun," she said, and then turning to Sakana, "I don't believe I've seen you around here before."
The venom behind the sugary tone was unmistakable.
"Sakura, this is Sakana, she's new," said Sasuke mechanically, feeling a headache come on, "Sakana, Sakura, an old teammate,"
There was a pregnant pause, during which Sasuke fidgeted. Hey, hey, said a voice in his head, you hafta-
"Oh," said Sakura, breaking both the silence and Sasuke's train of thoughts, "you're showing her around? How sweet."
She shifted the oversized brown paper bags in her arms again. Sasuke wondered absentmindedly at the slight waver in her voice.
"Well, I've got to be going. Bye, Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke watched her retreating back, realizing belatedly that she was wearing the most kowaii outfit he'd ever seen—bright pink tank top under an orange long-sleeve shirt tied around her shoulders, white- and green-checkered skort and oversized, floppy, lime-green knee-length socks bulging from her standard black sandals. He idly wondered if she had been spending too much time around Lee.
"Well," said Sakana, breaking the silence, "I think I'll have to be going too. Thanks for this afternoon! I had a marvelous time,"
And with that she was gone, with a shimmer of midnight blue and fishnets and flashes of silver. It was like-it was like...Sasuke's mind quickly stomped the metaphor out of his mind, before he could be sick.
Dango-a type of Japanese candy made of colored sticky rice dough filled with various, well, fillings, such as red bean paste, mitarashi, etc. and served on a skewer.