Story Concept: Sasuke is smitten with a woman he sees while waiting for his dentist appointment. After that fateful meeting, he takes it upon himself to try to formally meet her, and finds out that she is actually a part of his extended circle of friends. He does everything in his power to get to know her better, and the more they hang out together, the more intrigued he becomes. He wants her to like him, but you see, Sasuke does not merely "show off." He leaves an impression.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Also, a bunch of random advice/quotations are taken from 1001 Rules for My Unborn Son.
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Sasuke wiped the sweat off his brow with an old hand towel and took a sip of his Gatorade. Twisting the cap back on the bottle, he threw the towel around his neck and strode towards the treadmill section of the fitness club. The Uchiha had just finished working out his upper body and torso, and was looking forward to end his trip to the gym with a good run.
He tossed the bottle into the recycling container, rolling his eyes as it hit the rim and bounced out. "Try to help the planet out, and this is what happens," Sasuke muttered to himself, bending down to grab the bottle, which had landed several feet away. As he straightened up, he felt a slim woman's body crash into his, and he leaned back on one leg to steady himself. "Whoa," he murmured. "Easy there. You alright?"
The woman looked up at him and he saw those pale eyes that seemed so familiar, and yet, so foreign at the same time. And at that split second, Sasuke's eyes lit up with recognition as he realized exactly who this woman was.
"Oh! I'm so sorry," she apologized profusely, stepping out of his steadying grasp. "I didn't even see you there!" She flipped her hair back with a nervous grin. He wondered if she recognized him or not.
"It's no problem," he assured with a wave of his hand. She nodded at him politely and continued on her way towards the other side of the gym.
And thus, the common misconception that almost all women have about men—men know what they want, and when they see it, they go after it. A real man will not play coy or hard to get; that is the womanly thing to do, in which most women unconsciously assume that men function in the same manner. Men will go out of their way to introduce themselves and sure to meet a chick they find attractive, and they will try to be a part of their lives as much as possible.
At present, Sasuke reached out his arm and extended it just before she passed him, basically blocking her from walking any further. "Do I know you?" he asked, feigning ignorance. "I feel like I've seen you before."
An ever-present brilliant smile on her face, the young woman paused for a moment and apologized once more. "I-I'm sorry, I don't think I've…" And as her voice trailed off, Sasuke resisted the urge to bow his head in disappointment. So he didn't leave as great an impression like he'd planned—big whoop! There were plenty of opportunities to do so in the future. All he had to do was try to get to know her better and keep a good eye for her, since it was clearly obvious they lived in the same area.
"Actually—" Her gentle voice startled him out of his thoughts, and he looked at her once more. "Actually, I think I do recognize you. I saw you at the dentist last week, didn't I?" Sasuke released a relieved breath and ran a hand through his messy hair.
"You're right," he said thoughtfully, tapping a finger to his chin. "So? Any cavities?"
She laughed at him, knowing he was only joking with her. "Well, of course not," she replied in lilting tones. "I have an impeccable track record when it comes to taking care of my teeth!"
He smirked confidently, folding his arms across his chest, and noticed her eyes dart down to his arms as he subconsciously flexed his muscles. "Good to know. You come around here often?"
"Once in a while," she admitted, looking up at him once more. "When I find time. One of my friends is a fitness trainer here, so I come by once in a while to see her. Do you?"
"Ah," replied Sasuke with an acknowledging nod. "Yeah, I've been coming here for a while now. My name is Sasuke, by the way, Sasuke Uchiha." He uncrossed his arms and extended his right hand.
She took it, shyly placing her feminine hand in his much larger one. "Hinata Hyuuga. A pleasure to meet you."
"No, no, the pleasure's mine," he contested, firmly grasping her hand. "Well, I'll let you get back to whatever it is you were doing. I'll see you around." He gave her a mock-salute and grinned cheekily, walking towards the treadmills once more.
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"Ino?"
The blonde looked up from a fitness magazine she had been reading and smiled when she saw the familiar face. "Hinata! Haven't seen you here for a while. What's up?"
The pale-eyed beauty grinned at her long-time friend and shrugged. "Not much. Just looking to squeeze in a good work-out before the week is over." She glanced over her shoulder to see if the coast was clear and leaned over the counter conspiratorially, voicing in a quieter voice, "Hey, do you know a guy named Sasuke Uchiha? He says he comes by here often, and I was wondering if you've met him."
"Sasuke?" replied Ino. "Oh, yeah. He comes by here all the time. Why, got your eye on him or something?" she teased, winking at the shy Hinata, who in turn flushed a bright red.
"N-no, I was just curious… Do you talk to him a lot?"
Ino laughed at her antics. "Well, yeah. I see him all the time! That's Naruto's roommate, Hina. I can't believe you guys have never met before!"
Hinata's eyes softened with recognition. So that was Naruto's roommate. Not being one to intrude, she had never formally visited Naruto's place, even though he was Ino's current boyfriend. He came by their apartment often to see Ino, but Hinata didn't find it necessary to visit him, or his apartment.
"He used to date Sakura," continued Ino, throwing her long ponytail over her shoulder. "But it didn't work out. He's a great guy though. Really, Hinata, why do you ask?"
"Well, I kind of saw him at the dentist the other week. And today I ran into him again, and he recognized me. That's all—I'm just curious as to who he is," replied Hinata, grabbing a towel from the stack provided on the counter and using it to rub the back of her neck. "He seems really nice."
"He is, I think. I don't know him very well, but I suppose you could ask Sakura about that."
Hinata nodded mutely, leaning onto the counter once more. "When do you get off work? I've been meaning to try that new Thai place that just opened up, but I haven't really had a chance…"
"Oh!" exclaimed Ino. "I know what you're talking about. I can leave in about an hour or so. Why don't you cool off for a bit and get freshened up after that. I should be done by the time you get changed."
The Hyuuga smiled widely, and pushed off the counter. "Sounds great! I'll go for a quick jog around the track and then clean up. See you in a bit!"
Ino waved her off and grinned to herself as she reached under the table to grab her purse. Fishing out her cell phone, she texted her beau quickly, before shoving it back under the desk.
"Feeling Thai tonight? Bring Sasuke. xx"
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"Hey Sasuke!" yelled an enthusiastic blonde, stomping down the stairs of their luxurious condo. Sasuke emerged from his bathroom, a towel wrapped tightly around his waist, obviously just finished with his shower. "What, dobe," he sneered in return, leaning against the doorframe.
Naruto rolled his eyes and chose to ignore the insult. "Ino wants you to come with us to dinner tonight."
Sasuke raised a skeptical eyebrow. That woman always meddled in his life, trying to set him up with various girls. He didn't mind as much, since they were all fairly good-looking girls with decent minds, but he had his eye on a particular someone now. "Dinner? Where at?"
"There's a new Thai place that opened up downtown," replied Naruto, waving a flyer in his face. "I heard it's really good! And they give free refills on Thai iced tea!"
"Free refills on Thai iced tea? Wow, I'm totally sold," remarked Sasuke, blatant sarcasm laced in his voice. "I'll go though. What time should we leave?"
Naruto shrugged. "Just be ready in half an hour or something. I think she's just getting off work, so it shouldn't be too bad." The Uchiha nodded in agreement, and turned back into his bathroom. "Sounds good," he voiced, before shutting the door.
The blue-eyed young man smiled satisfactorily and reached into his back pocket to pull out his phone.
"We'll be there. See you soon babe!"
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AN: Just started school again this week, so I wrote this to relieve some stress (: Still a tad shorter than I'd like, but I want their relationship to grow as normally as possible.
I'm also not planning to delve too deep into their thoughts, in terms of five-page character monologues and such. I've never been fond of having to plow through such tangents in other stories, and I just want this to be a relatively normal story about a guy in pursuit of a girl.
Btw, "xx" is basically an "xoxo" sort of thing, just trendier hehe.