Title: Muse

Pairing: SasuSaku

AU: Designer/Model AU

Rating: T

Genre: fluffy fluff fluff!

A/N: happy birthday, Ana! This is terribly late, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. :)

Ino stood outside the building, wearing an impeccably white jumpsuit with a halter strap. Her long, blond hair flowed freely down her back, with a pair of dangling gold and diamond earring on each ear. She looked as fabulous as always, and Sakura immediately regretted coming to this art gallery. She felt so underdressed.

"Forehead, over here!" Ino waved, a large smile on her face. Sakura made it up the steps and waved back. "Oh my god, I thought you were going to flake on me!"

The pinkette laughed nervously. "It's hard to when you kept calling every ten minutes. Hard to get any studying done like that, you know?"

"You can study later!" Ino grinned. "Besides, I would have picked you up myself to help you get ready but," her blue eyes scanned Sakura from head to toe. Her pink hair was up in a loose bun, and she wore a silky black spaghetti strap top and matching square pants with high heels. Her ears dripped with a string of diamonds. Simple, but sophisticated. "I guess I didn't need to. I love that we unconsciously matched, too!"

Sakura's eyes widened and took in their outfits again. She was right, they did match. And it made Sakura relax a bit, easing her worry of being underdressed. This wasn't the first art exhibition that she attended, but it was definitely her first with all these big names going.

Ino's boyfriend, Sai, was in the running for becoming a national artist, and he arranged an art exhibit with various artists from different fields to create art pieces with the theme "Muse" to celebrate unity amongst artists and to show off various multimedia and mixed media art. But that wasn't even what made Sakura nervous. It was the fact that Sasuke Uchiha would be part of the exhibit and presenting his art, as well.

She had spoken to the designer before, at a gala wherein Ino made Sakura her plus one. The pinkette was a new face in the fashion and modeling scene. Everything amazed and overwhelmed Sakura. Her best friend had been in the industry since she was a child, practically at home with this crowd and scene, but it was all different for Sakura.

She was studying medicine when Ino called her to accompany her to a go-see nearby. Little did she know, Ino signed her up, too. And the agency loved her. It took a little more convincing but the pay was good, and Sakura told herself she would only accept projects if it fits in with her schedule.

Everything was going well, everyone she met was nice, fabulous, and downright rich and famous. Everyone was a somebody, and she often had to stop herself from fangirling whenever she would meet someone she followed on Ninstagram.

That included Sasuke Uchiha.

Sakura followed him because other than posting photos of his clothes on models, he also posted photos of his sketches and concept pieces from time to time, and Sakura adored his style. He was also really handsome—that was more than a plus. She thought she would faint once she met him, but his aura was really calm yet strong. He was a man of little words, but every conversation they'd had so far, she found herself more and more interested in him.

To say she had developed a crush was a bit of an understatement, but in the course of a few months, they would occasionally text and send each other photos, bump into each other during events and runway shows, and she even met his brother during a charity gala.

But never did they go out alone, or him as her out on a date. It saddened her, but she understood. They were both busy people, and Sasuke lives on a whole other world, as did Sakura.

He was still nice to look at, though. And fun to be with. Thinking about him made Sakura smile, and excited her to see what pieces he made for the exhibit. This had been in the works for six months, giving the artists roughly four months to create.

The two girls walked into the building and were greeted by staff who ushered them into the main hall as they offered them champagne and wine. Sakura took a flute filled with champagne and walked into the gallery arm in arm with Ino. They chatted as they looked around and bumped into people.

It wasn't long until they found Sai. Ino immediately let go of Sakura and ran to him, engulfing him in a big hug, and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Sakura stood there, feeling a little awkward but was also happy to see them together again.

"It's been so long," Ino gushed. "Everything looks amazing!"

Sai slipped an arm around her waist and thanked her. He then turned his gaze towards Sakura. "Glad you could make it. Have you looked around already?"

"Just a bit," Sakura smiled. "I haven't seen all the pieces yet."

Sai's smile widened. It was a little creepy, but Sakura learned to get used to it. "You have to see the East Wing. The pieces there are… interesting."

"Oh really?" Ino asked. "Then maybe we should have a look. Wait, where's your area?"

"It's over on the North Side, beautiful. Do you want to see it?"

"Of course!" Ino's eyes were practically sparkling.

Once Sakura saw Sai's exhibit, she wanted to cringe. To say his sketch, oil painting, and pastel work were… explicit was an understatement. No one needed to guess who his muse was. Sakura thought Ino would be embarrassed but oh no, quite the opposite. She was ecstatic. Despite the erotic looks on her faces, on in bed, the other by a dresser, and the sketches showed various… positions. It left very little to the imagination.

Once the guests noticed Ino and Sai's presence, they were swarmed, and Sakura took steps back until she slipped away from the crowd. She was thankful for the escape, looking at art, she thought, was better alone.

For now, at least.

Chatting was seldom, and she wandered into another hall, taking a sip from her champagne from time to time until it was only half full.

The next ball was a little livelier, and She noticed it was because there were a handful of well-known artists and a group of reporters had just left the scene. There was one particular set of sketches that caught her eye from afar, and she gravitated to it. It looked so… familiar.

The three sketches were of the same outfit. A woman wearing a short, white dress with a simple cut. The movement was dynamic and Sakura could feel the model's delight wearing the dress, despite having no face drawn on.

The next piece was of a mannequin, dressed in a beautiful, long, moss-colored gown. The details were intricate, filled with flowers and lace that dripped down the skirt.

"Sakura. Nice to see you here."

She whipped around and grinned. "Itachi!"

He leaned in to kiss both her cheeks and he gave her a soft smile. "I didn't think I would see you here." Itachi turned, and called out, "Sasuke, look who it is."

A tall man with jet-black hair stopped mid-conversation with someone and excused himself before approaching the two of them. Unlike Itachi, he didn't kiss both of Sakura's cheeks.

"Sakura." He gave her a slight bow and gave his brother a nervous look. "Itachi, could you—"

Itachi pretended not to hear him. "Sakura, have you seen all the art in this hall yet?"

"Oh, no," Sakura felt quite embarrassed having to admit. "I've been taking my time."

Itachi nodded. "They have such a lovely collection. I'm so glad I came to support my little brother."

Sasuke glared at him, his lower lip jutting out.

"Yeah, I agree." Sakura grinned. "Sasuke, your sketches and this dress are beautiful."

"Ah. You already saw?" His eyes slightly widened, and his cheeks colored by the slightest bit.

"How can I not?" She laughed. "Your sketches caught my eye and this dress is remarkable."

Sasuke looked behind her, and then at his brother, but refused to meet her eye. "Aa. Thank you…"

Itachi's dark eyes glittered. "This invitation is probably the best thing to happen to him," he turned to face Sasuke. "Don't you think so?"

"... Hn."

Sakura tilted her head, observing Sasuke a little more. He never said much to begin with, but he was so reserved this time and looked a little… shy. The shit-eating grin on Itachi's face made her realize that Itachi was teasing his little brother, and decided to steer the conversation elsewhere. "I heard each exhibitor gets to showcase three pieces, where's your third on, Sasuke-kun?"

"Right behind you," Itachi smirked, taking the flute of champagne from her hand.

Her brows scrunched together but when she turned around and came face to face with Sasuke's final piece, both of her hands came up to her mouth, to muffle a gasp. It was a large portrait of her, sitting by a window with a cherry blossom tree outside. Her hand cheek was resting on her hand, a soft smile on her face.

She recognized it, it was the time she had coffee with Sasuke back in Japan, when she was showing him around the city after a shoot. It had only been a brief encounter, but thinking about how much it might have meant to him made her cheeks redden. The detail on the canvas was amazing, as well as the strong and precise strokes. Sakura was completely at a loss for words.

"Sasuke hasn't picked up a paintbrush in years," Sakura could hear Itachi's grin, as well as Sasuke's strangled protests. "I'm just glad he found the inspiration to do so again."

Finally, she turned around to face them, Itachi excused himself and left her with his brother. Sakura suddenly felt so shy but also honored that Sasuke would pick her, out of all of the models, to paint. "It's beautiful, Sasuke-kun," Sakura blushed and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "The best one I've seen so far."

Sasuke gave her a warm smile. "Thank you."

For a moment, they just stood there, looking at each other's eyes, and small smiles on their faces, until Sasuke offered his arm to her. "Would you care to join me to see the other exhibits?"

Her green eyes glittered, and she eagerly took his arm. "Yes, of course. I would love to."

Just as Sasuke was leading her out of the hall, Sakura took one more look at the portrait, and the sketches and the dress, and noticed the cohesiveness of the look. Her eyes darted to the name of the exhibit, MUSE, before turning her gaze back ahead, heart pounding at the realization why Sasuke chose spring and earthy colors, why he painted a portrait of her…

Her heart was pounding and her hold on him tightened by a little bit.

"Have you figured it out yet, Sakura?" Sasuke asked quietly, a smug smile on his face. When she didn't speak, he leaned down and whispered close to her ear. "Because you're my muse."

A/N: I adore this AU, and can't get enough of it. I've been putting off finishing this fic for weeks, but it's finally here! Please do leave me a review and share your thoughts with me! :)

Have a great week ahead!

Write on, darling.

Kairi