Hello, everyone! Here is the third chapter of Healing Demons. Please review and enjoy! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto only.
SUMMARY: Sakura was a diligent medical student with dreams and aspirations of greatness. Sasuke's dreams had been crushed by a dark past, leaving him broke and depressed. What happened when these two crossed paths and their lives got interwoven together? Modern world AU
Sasuke could almost feel the steam emanating off of him. He was tomato red from both anger and embarrassment. Anticipating wearing the orange apron and green visor Naruto donned daily at the coffee shop, Sasuke no longer felt the miniscule amount of pride he had left. It flew right out the window once he threw that ridiculous uniform on just moments ago.
Sasuke arrived at TonTon with merely five minutes to spare before his last-minute shift. His dark eyes spotted Naruto inside conversing with someone Sasuke assumed was the manager of the establishment. Dragging his dark black boots across the brick walkway up to the store and bravely heaving the front door open, Sasuke ignored the screaming in the back of his mind to run away while he still could. The bell hanging from the door chimed the moment he entered the coffee shop, drawing Naruto's attention directly to his friend. With his eyes lighting up from across the room, Sasuke could tell that Naruto was going to do everything in his power to make this an interesting experience. And what Naruto considered interesting, Sasuke considered something as painful as possible. The blond took long, determined strides over to his friend to animatedly greet Sasuke, excited that he would finally get to spend more time with his best friend.
Naruto thought back to the previous week, when he promised Sasuke he was aid in his search for a job. Or, in Sasuke's case, lack thereof. It hurt the Uzumaki to stop by Sasuke's place frequently unannounced and come across such a broken and disheveled abode. Sasuke lived all alone and could barely support himself, financially or emotionally. He eventually swore that he was going to do whatever he could to help the Uchiha get back on his feet. Determined and wholeheartedly devoted to helping Sasuke, Naruto tried his best to get him to face the world again. Every day that he was able to, Naruto would stop by with a plethora of jobs to complete around town. He would have a family friend who needed their lost cat returned back home or a family member who needed errands to be completed. Naruto was even guilty of paying Sasuke to do chores around his own apartment, which was littered with old ramen cups and water bottles all over the place. But, hey, any little thing to help, right?
After weeks of begging and quite a few overtime shifts, the manager of TonTon finally caved and agreed to let Sasuke have a shot at the new position. Normally, a new employee wouldn't get hired until the summertime when traffic reached its peak, but Naruto was relentless and Iruka had a soft spot for him. He was always willing to give someone at least one chance to do well if they had Naruto's support and wholehearted recommendation.
"Welcome to your first day on the job, Sasuke," Naruto loudly greeted, bringing a firm, reassuring right hand to Sasuke's tense left shoulder. Naruto was ecstatic that Sasuke actually came but, then again, he wasn't surprised. Naruto always had complete faith in his friend and that was why he pushed so incessantly for him to do his best even when he severely doubted himself. Naruto flashed a bright grin and continued. "You're gonna love it here, bro."
Sasuke simply grunted and nodded in response, when Naruto took as a cue to bring him over to Iruka to formally introduce them. Resisting pulling Sasuke's arm to drag him and fast as possible over to the counter, Naruto simply enthusiastically led the way to a patiently waiting manager, who was standing with crossed arms and critically examining eyes. Sasuke walked right up to him, offering the firmest handshake he could muster, hoping to at least make a good first impression on his new boss. Iruka grasped Sasuke's hand with much more strength than the younger man, returning the handshake with a slight smile.
"Ah, Sasuke Uchiha. I've heard so much about you," the manager spoke, slyly glancing over to Naruto, who was standing behind Sasuke with an excited smile and two reassuring thumbs up, "I sincerely hope you can live up to your friend's expectations."
Live up to expectations? Come on, it was a job at a coffee shop. Sasuke didn't really think there was much to live up to. At least, he didn't think he could possibly screw this up much more than anything else in his life. Briefly shutting his eyes, Sasuke took a steadying breath. He held his tongue and resisted the urge to storm right of the shop in a huff of irritance. Instead of releasing the retort that itched to spill out of his mouth, Sasuke plastered a small, fake smirk on his full lips.
"Yeah, sure hope so," he shortly replied as he let go of Iruka's hand and let it fall against his right pant leg. Sasuke was never one for pleasantries unless there was an underlying benefit to it, so he kept everything as short and precise as possible. At that quick exchange, Iruka took that as the moment to give Sasuke a mini tour behind the counter, guiding him through the bakery and coffee machines.
"You will be in charge of the cash register, Sasuke," Iruka began, motioning to the computerized system that seemed foreign to the young man, "I'm going to assume you haven't used one of these before and reassure you that it isn't hard to use at all. The customer will merely let you know what they want to order, and you'll follow accordingly. Here, if a customer orders a regular coffee and a plain donut, these are the steps you will need to take." At that, Iruka went through the steps Sasuke would need to take in order to operate the cash register. He carefully explained that though most orders would be pretty much self-explanatory, if he needed any help handling transactions or difficult customers, he would just need to flag Naruto down.
"Naruto will be in charge and look after you," Iruka started, "If you need anything, call him over. I will be in the back office balancing the blasted finances." Hearing that Naruto will be his superior for his tenure at the shop definitely rubbed Sasuke the wrong way and was yet another straw on the camel's back. It took all the power he could muster not to blush from embarrassment, though he would never admit that it got under his skin. He could almost anticipate the judging eyes of people seeping into his skin and the thought of being on his own for even a moment caused the air around him to grow thinner and thinner. It wasn't as if he couldn't handle the work itself, but Sasuke felt the anxiety of starting something brand new gripping him as tightly as possible. He internally tried his best to pull himself together and do what he needed to do in order to merely get by. Sensing that Sasuke was growing increasingly nervous and uncomfortable, Naruto placed a reassuring but inconspicuous hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed, "Let's do this!" He went in to the back closet to grab another bright orange apron and green visor that Sasuke would wear as his uniform. Striding right back over to Sasuke, the excited blond held them out to him. Sasuke didn't even attempt to hide the look of disgust spread across his features as he reluctantly grabbed the clothing. Shrugging off the leather jacket that felt like a safety net for him and hanging it on the coat rack behind the counter, Sasuke defeatedly threw on the new uniform. He never felt so ridiculous in his life.
Within fifteen minutes, the doors were unlocked to customers and the next hour was filled with frustration and muttered curses. There was a nasty customer here and there, but, according to Naruto, Sasuke didn't need his help since his glare was scarily deadly enough to cause them to run away with their tails between their legs. Their service be damned, because they didn't need ungrateful people as their patrons, anyway. Naruto called Sasuke the Guard Dog of TonTon Coffee Shop, to Sasuke's chagrin.
After Naruto bid Sasuke farewell at the cash register, Sasuke watched irritatedly as he essentially prance over to the familiar girls seated outside. He could spy the group of females through the freshly cleaned glass, where the sun was directly beaming them, illuminating the strawberry blonde female. Sasuke could only spy a portion of her delicate features when she interacted with her other friends, but he could swear that she was as beautiful as the sun shining on the first day of spring. Her perceptive eyes would hold the attention of her companions and her smile would flash as bright as the daylight when she found something amusing. It was the quiet subtleties that Sasuke could spy from his position inside that caught his eye and snagged his attention, unnerving him to the core.
As he continued assisting the few customers that poured in, Sasuke tried to distract himself by observing the other companions Naruto found himself with. He didn't care. No, he convinced himself that he was merely only being aware of his surroundings.
Sasuke recognized the dark haired girl as Naruto's girlfriend; he never shut up about her. They had been dating long distance for almost five years, but Sasuke didn't care all that much about her. He knew she came from a prestigious family, but that honestly caused his dislike to grow even more. Of course, he didn't harbor a strong hatred for her per se, but he had heard more than his fair share about her doting family. And it didn't sit well with him at all. Maybe it was a slight twinge of jealousy that nagged at him, but Sasuke would never admit that was the root of the bad taste in his mouth.
Sasuke's eyes shifted over to the blonde girl sitting across from Naruto's girlfriend; she was conventionally pretty by society's standards. Really, even he could admit that. The girl had long blonde hair pinned together high on the back of her head with a purple butterfly pin that oozed luxuriousness. Her hair seemed so silky smooth, almost like a waterfall cascading in the midst of summer. And her ocean blue eyes held the potential to be mesmerizing, only second to her plump lips that seemed to dance as she spoke. Gorgeous eyes, full lips, button nose; everything about her features were conventionally beautiful. If Sasuke cared, he would consider pursuing the girl on looks alone, but from what he could remember growing up, this creature was Ino Yamanaka. She was annoyingly persistent in making and maintaining conversation and loved to hear the sound of her own voice. Extroversion was nearly repulsive to Sasuke and oh, how he hated to be around people like that.
Once more, Sasuke's distracted eyes shifted to the female adjacent to the young blonde woman, and he tried his damndest not to let it show that his heart, which he swore up and down that he no longer possessed, sped a little bit faster. Sasuke would have thought his heart stopped beating years ago, but this was proof to him that it indeed irritatingly functioned. It was also a frustrating glimpse of the inadvertent effect the girl had on him without any effort. Her vibrant green eyes studied her surroundings so intently while her pink lips wrapped deliciously around her cup of tea. Her strawberry blonde hair bordered on abnormal; as it flowed in the spring breeze, one could argue that it was drenched in hues of pink. It served as a golden frame to her fascinating features. Sasuke noticed that her eyes lit up when she spotted Naruto, causing him to feel a mixture of confusion and jealousy. How does she know Naruto? Are they new friends? Should he know who the girl was?
Sasuke felt as if he had seen her around Naruto before, but he had been too far down his road of destruction to pay much attention to anyone around him. He felt like he should know who this mysterious girl was, but it was a challenge to wrack his brain for any memory or hint as to who she was, or why she evoked such an effect from his subconscious from such a distance. It made absolutely no sense to Sasuke, and he didn't know whether to dislike her or be intrigued.
Sucking his teeth and averting his gaze away from the group seated outside, Sasuke focused on the register and the annoying customers he had to deal with. Naruto had gone over most of what he needed to know before he got distracted like a puppy to a squirrel. Most of it was self-explanatory: everything was spelled out right in front of him and had a picture. It was like he was back in kindergarten again, except now he got paid to handle these nuisances called customers.
Sasuke tried so hard to focus, but after being jobless for so long, his mind couldn't remain on the task at hand. His thoughts roamed from the previous night, where he got much too plastered on his own at his apartment, to growing up in elementary school, where he met Naruto. It was also where he started on his trouble-making path. Reminiscing on good and bad times was proving to be successful in keeping Sasuke's mind on his work and not on the people conversing in the corner of his eye. They had been spending quite some time outside, hours even, with Naruto back and forth between them and his work.
It was a wonder how he got any work done at all with all of his social butterfly tendencies.
However, in a moment of temporary weakness, Sasuke's dark eyes flickered over to the table out on the patio briefly, but stopped short as he noticed that the pinkette was not seated with her friends anymore. Where did she go? Did she go home? But, wait, why did he even seem to care? Sasuke had no idea who this girl was, and Sasuke Uchiha did not stress out over women. He focused solely on himself. Shaking the unfamiliar feeling down and turning to the next customer that seemed to sneak up on him, Sasuke tried his best to swallow the lump that unfortunately formed in the back of his throat. He cleared it and began his stupid greeting.
"What would you like?" Sasuke heard himself ask the girl in front of him. It took the young man a brief moment to register just who stood in front of him and try everything in his power not to make his surprise noticeable. He couldn't remember the last time he was so distracted that he lost concentration on his surroundings, and it took a hit at Sasuke's own pride. Tightly pursing his lips together, willing his throat to not let any unwarranted noise to escape, Sasuke focused on the young woman in front of him. He took this split second to really soak in her appearance up close.
Her bright apple green eyes were delightfully accentuated with heavy bags; they were very telling that she had spent the previous nights awake and grueling over something Sasuke had no idea about. Her hair was messily in place, tied together by a single hair band that was unable to grasp all of the strands of her short strawberry hair that wildly escaped to frame her face. Sasuke's eyes lingered to her lips, perfectly round and so damn kissable. She had the kind of effortlessly beautiful, I-didn't-try-to-look-this-appealing, look that was driving Sasuke insane. And yet, he hadn't even gotten to know the girl yet. Sasuke watched intently as she cleared her throat once, twice, and responded.
"Hot chocolate, please," he heard her reply as he gazed discreetly as her lips wrapped around each word, "Not too hot, either. My tongue is very sensitive."
...Wait, what? Sasuke took a bit longer than a moment to realize what just spilled out of her mouth. The man in him was immediately awakened by such an innocent blunder of words. But all the same, it made his insides churn with excitement of what could be. And what would most likely never happen. Sasuke's eyes filled with lustful surprise and followed the girl's fingers as they shot up to cover her mouth in obvious embarrassment. Doe-eyed and frantically trying to fix her mistake, the girl really seemed adorable.
Sasuke cringed at that word. Adorable? Since when did he think things, let alone people, were adorable?! This young woman was taking a toll on him, and she had absolutely no idea. Sasuke started to hate himself for it, but he decided to have just a little bit of fun with her.
"So, one hot chocolate, cooled down for your tongue, right?" Sasuke tried his best to purr, though his inexperience caused him to fail drastically. Flirting was not his strong suit since he never felt inclined to give any female such attention. He had absolutely no idea how to go about it, so he just said what came to mind, trying to maintain the fiery eye contact between them. Sasuke smirked, hoping to evoke a reaction from the young woman, but was slightly disappointed when she merely nodded profusely in response.
"That'll be 500 yen for your cold hot chocolate, then," Sasuke huffed, visibly upset at his rustiness that resulted in a clearly emotional girl to not even react to his words. Turning his eyes to the cash register, he impatiently waited for her response. "Anything else?"
"No, just that," the girl replied, almost sounding annoyed. Pft, he didn't care if she didn't like him. If she didn't, he swore he didn't care. She wouldn't want to be around him once she got to know him, anyway.
Sasuke decided he needed to get the damned transaction over with because in the minute that dragged on and felt like an eternity, he found himself questioning the little sanity he even had remaining. This stupid girl made him painfully aware of each word he spoke, the tone of his voice, any expression his face made, and even the fact that he had a warmth brewing deep down under his skin. With a mere awkward, brief conversation, the young woman found her place in Sasuke's mind and it unfortunately seemed like she wasn't going to go anywhere anytime soon.
Sasuke bit his cheek to prevent any curses from slipping from his lips. The girl's captivating hold on him made him increasingly frustrated to the core.
"Here, you can have this," the girl stated, handing Sasuke the card that held her money. He silently wondered how she earned her money. Did she work all day hoping to make ends meet or did her parents have a trust fund for their princess? Sasuke was almost determined to figure that out. Almost.
He was snapped from his thoughts as their fingers brushed together. Sasuke was absolutely sure he felt utter lighting shoot from his hand. He wasn't sure if he had felt the sensation before, but if he had, it didn't matter. He was completely taken aback by the effect a mere brush of fingers had on his psyche. This damn woman had to go.
Nearly tossing the cup in her direction and looking past her to the next customer, Sasuke narrowly avoided even more skin contact. He really didn't need any more confusing emotions that he didn't even know existed within him anymore. There was not enough time or patience in the world for him to tolerate yet another person making him...feel things.
It was no use forging those bonds when all love would turn into was hate and pain in the end.
Sasuke eyed the girl one last time, and decided against his better judgment that it was worth one more shot garnering a reaction from her effortlessly enticing face. As she turned away after an utterance of thanks, Sasuke's lips moved on their own and decided to take charge.
"See you again, Sakura." This caused her pale face flush as pink as her hair and her feet to stumble over each other. Regaining her briefly lost composure, Sakura threw a shy, sweet look over her left shoulder and connected with his gaze one last time.
"I definitely will, Sasuke," she delightfully replied, throwing a slight, delicate hand up as a farewell. He found himself wondering what it would be like having those hands raking through his tresses and down his back for a moment, but shook away the unwelcome thoughts just as quickly as they invade his mind.
Sasuke knew he would come to regret exploring this interaction in due time, but for now, he decided to merely succumb to the thoughts surrounding this inviting vixen, slowly consuming him like his own personal darkness.
Hello everyone! This was chapter three. I hope you enjoyed it! I know everything is starting off fairly slow, but as I promised, it will pick up once everything has been established, which is essentially now. The next chapter, the plot will pick up and we will see much more action/interactions. I just wanted to give two different perspectives to one singular interaction between Sasuke and Sakura. :)
As always, please like/subscribe/review and let me know what you think! Have a great week :)